Book 21 Chapter 20
Episode 210
To the Land of Decisive Battle!
The City of Beginning and End, Raptas Decisive Battle (14)
"More insignificant than a grain of sand in the desert… Do these mortal remnants dare to not know their place and challenge me, the immortal incarnation!"
The moment Mauna Loa opened its lava-spewing maw towards Rista, who was charging in, aiming the tip of her sword at the superimposed territory.
'I've waited…'
Sixteen Heavenly Blossom Arrows, nocked on Kyess's bowstring, shot forth, scattering the radiance of new growth.
'The moment you were about to open that insolent maw of yours…!'
Since your limbs were practically sealed by Lin, the only way you could counter Rista's movement was with that maw!
'It was impossible to stop the movement of your limbs, but it is possible to apply slowness the moment your jaw opens!'
Mauna Loa shuddered for a moment, then struck that area… the space where Freida was reciting the Genesis Ode, with its ferocious tail.
Was it instinctive fear?
No, it wasn't instinct.
All <Forgotten Kings> are pinnacles of war and combat, having destroyed a world and received divinity.
They set a priority, fearing expulsion to another dimension by the shackles of Genesis.
"Hold on, Holtranks! Glory to the firstborn!"
However… a shield wall stood in Freida's way: the ancient Holtranks faction.
The fairy soldiers threw themselves forward, forming a wall of flesh, not even fearing becoming fodder.
The tail ground nearly 90% of the approximately 80 surviving fairy soldiers into minced flesh…!
It stopped before Leonia's axe blade and Ryuminik's long strike.
"Damn it, if this Ryuminik had been even a little late, it would have been a disaster."
In short, it didn't reach.
To Freida, by a hair's breadth.
'We'll win…!'
'We can win…!'
'We are winning…!'
Shirpen's sword tip reached the territorial space.
"Haaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh───!"
Even if it felt like it would shatter, even if it felt like it would collapse…
Even if his right hand felt like it would break…!
He desperately supported it with his left hand from below, as if praying, earnestly, desperately, and with conviction!
"────Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
The sword tip, tracing an artistic trajectory, carved five principles into the five territories.
The Creator's command was issued.
The light emanating from the territorial space soon began to hack away at the ancient evil located within it.
"The, the, core has been extracted!"
"Prevent it from regenerating until the power of the Genesis Ode reaches it!"
Nils, who had been indiscriminately showering Cap-tilt-II's light bullets, received a warning that all ammunition was exhausted.
'Recharge by solar heat is impossible because the sky is blocked… Then.'
Nils opened the artifact panel, entered the self-destruct command, and launched it into his chest, which was still not completely filled.
'No, it can't be…'
The blue True Dragon Rageldaran gasped, watching the battle situation with despair.
'The effective time of that freezing isn't an opportunity, but rather a time of restraint, making movements monotonous.'
Mauna Loa is the incarnation of a being who destroyed a world and became a god… such an offensive can already be fully anticipated.
'This way, this way, it shouldn't be.'
He should stand up and shout…
He should lead…
His body, crumbling in the king's abyss, utterly refuses to obey…
"Faster, even faster!"
"Finish it, Freida!"
"Quickly, before Lin's ice melts! Before Mauna Loa regenerates!"
At that moment, when Mauna Loa temporarily broke free from the cooling effect by concentrating lava with one left arm.
Just when the word Defeat was slowly about to be completed!
An echo, as if a firm and sharp strike-through line was drawn over that word.
"The strongest Archmage, appears───!"
The chilling cold of the freezing, which was melting due to the rampaging lava, surged once again! It cooled the demon's left arm, which had escaped its bindings, chillingly once more.
'A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is a double-edged sword. While it may push the opponent into a crisis, it often leads to oneself being driven into a corner.'
Rageldaran's eyes trembled with bewilderment.
'But this situation isn't just a "once-in-a-lifetime" chance… Even if this offensive fails… a shout of encouragement that as long as he is here, opportunities can be created again and again.'
Memories from the mythical era, received upon separation from the Water Dragon Yeriserika… the Black Sun Kalenden seen there was also such a being.
'Lin.'
But the emotion of this moment…
It couldn't help but touch the hearts of Lin's comrades in the hero party, who had watched him for five years, even more profoundly.
- I am the strongest.
- Why can't I fight the strongest?
- I've graduated from being the strongest mage now, so I don't do that.
He was such a boy.
He was such a mage.
'Saying he graduated from such things, and yet trying to show that he's still strong…'
'No, I think I'm going to cry…'
'That naive kid, somehow he's grown into an adult…'
The next moment, the chains of Genesis appeared from various dimensions, piercing the volcanic body that was just about to regenerate, and seized its core.
"I am… the echo of evil!"
Just as the lava's roar seemed to transform into a scream… the chains of the Genesis Ode violently trembled and, shockingly, began to melt.
"I am the eternal shadow of evil, neither vanishing nor fading!"
Then, the power of the exploding Lizard Lord Neygalas suddenly began to calm down…
"This is no longer your kingdom, Neygalas! It's all over!"
The city…!
The Yellow City <Raptas>…!
…was completely liberated from the encroachment of the <City of 108 Pillars: Larien> by the manifestation of its essence, and regained the majesty of an ancient fortress city…!
"GuRuShyAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA─────!"
The power that seemed capable of melting even the chains of the Genesis Ode was completely suppressed, and simultaneously, the heavy pressure on all souls subsided.
Meanwhile, the chains of the Ode…!
The light spewed forth by the chains, which expel impurities unsuitable for the providence of creation, reached its apex… becoming so intense it was impossible to look directly at it!
'It's ending…!'
'It's over…!'
'Now everything…!'
The moment all nightmares were about to be sucked into the extreme heat of the light!
The moment Rista lost Shirpen and knelt on one knee!
The moment cracks spread across Mauna Loa's core!
From there, darkness appeared.
It was incomparably faint compared to the murderous presence emanating from Mauna Loa, which was being dragged into the rift while bound by chains, but it was unmistakably darkness.
"Perfect, absolutely perfect! This is what they call a fisherman's gain, isn't it?"
Everyone present felt a spine-chilling sense of crisis.
Darkness gathered above the uninvited guest's hands the moment he appeared.
It was colossal and ferocious enough to swallow the entire horizon.
'No, this aura… is it Zernix?'
However, even amidst such clear fear and bewilderment, not a single person could move.
'Of course not.'
Zernix smiled triumphantly.
'They must have already poured out all their strength, even what they didn't have, in the battle against Mauna Loa!'
What a truly perfect plan.
To be honest, at the moment I was being swallowed by Mauna Loa, it's true I worried that the plan might all go to waste.
'But this core, I never imagined it would manage to preserve my consciousness even within Mauna Loa's depths?'
It has now completely dissolved and is unusable, but that alone is enough.
Zernix pulled out the ungracefully dissolved core, still impaled in his heart, and threw it away.
'From the start, this world is such a perfect toy! It doesn't wish for complete destruction. Mauna Loa is sealed, and the hero party is completely incapacitated. Could there be a more perfect situation than this?'
The twisted and contorted obsession of evil within the currents of time, the power into which Zernix poured more than 50% of his total magical energy, was truly ultimate.
"You haven't forgotten that I said I would definitely kill you, have you?"
Secret Art, Elemental Deployment.
"You hero party members were just as much a thorn in my side as Mauna Loa!"
The elemental compass pointed to all eight attributes.
If one uses a Forbidden Orbios Rune when mixing all eight attributes, it can be transformed into such a dense abyss attribute.
"For a world where only I reign, I'll send you all to the underworld together now, peacefully!"
Someone moved forward into the darkness that was surging in, covering the world, desperately moving their feet, in front of their comrades.
"Lin…?!"
When Zhurakh Kepel shattered into ashes, and the end seemed imminent, in that single moment, everything changed.
In that single moment, the world was divided.
From the sea beyond the city, an abyssal torrent, tainting even the horizon dark blue, surged forward, raising a cliff across the entire field of vision.
"I told you, I'd definitely come back to kick your three asses."
Was it instinct?
Or was it the inevitable will to survive that a living being possesses in the face of sudden death, that made him break through his limits?
Lin extended his golden staff with his right hand and formed a mudra with his left.
'Osarius-style Mudra, 5-Star.'
It was truly the best he could produce right now, no, the greatest barrier, which could not be made more powerful even in optimal condition.
Yeong (Glory).
Gyeon (Silk).
Seon (Line).
Rang (Boat).
Gyo (Bridge).
Light particles, blooming like flowers (榮), instantly intertwined into countless strings and lines (絹, 線), shaping into a transcendent breakwater (艆, 橋).
"Gyuwoooot!"
Blood poured from his mouth.
It's no exaggeration to say his internal organs were completely pulped.
Without healing from Freida, he would die from excessive bleeding and internal organ damage.
'In terms of power, I can't win…'
The opponent's power itself felt like it possessed an independent geometric space.
The logical structure of the force that collided with the barrier seemed like this at first glance.
Straight lines connecting two different points continuously formed (Axiom 1), and arbitrary line segments expanded endlessly (Axiom 2), eroding deep into the barrier and soon appearing to dismantle its internal structure.
'I have to deflect it.'
But where to?
His brain, already like a blank slate, went white once more… as if hope was severed…
Not an overload of information, but an agony stemming from a dilemma of choice, making him forget even how to breathe.
'Rista, Freida, and Kyess are right behind me.'
If I let it pass behind me, Rista, Freida, and Kyess will die.
'Nils and the fairies are on the left…'
I can't let it pass to the left either.
'Ryuminik and Leonia are on the right…'
If I let it pass to the right, Muchen and Leonia will instantly die.
'If I pass it upwards…'
The Red Dragon Legion, which is spewing flames from above and annihilating the demon forces pouring out of the city, would suffer catastrophic damage.
Then Freida would grieve.
'The remaining time is 0.5 seconds at most.'
He had to choose.
In that short time, he had to weigh the scale of lives and their importance, and abandon someone.
Who?
Who am I to abandon?
Hadn't he clearly realized during this five-year journey that all lives are precious, without distinction of weight or importance?
- To resemble someone, you see? It means to become like them, from their actions to their heart.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind. He had an ingenious idea.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
He bit his lip until it bled.
'I want to live. I want to live and return with everyone.'
To do that, he had to save everyone, and he also had to live. But if he could sacrifice one to surely save the other…
'Dean…'
That method, it existed.
Only one, existed.
It was almost a gamble with an extremely low chance of success, but it existed.
'Is this what it means to resemble someone…?'
If he abandoned someone here and now.
Because it felt like he would never again be able to return to the path of resembling you, beyond the daily life and laughter he had shared with you until now.
Because it felt like he would never again be able to reach this place of realization.
'Let's do it, I have to, I can do it.'
He had already gained some insight in the final engagement with Zhurakh Kepel earlier.
'By changing the rune engraving, replace Rang (艆) with Ron (論), and change the property of defense to the property of absorption.'
Compared to having to replace all five runes, this is easy.
"Sval, you go to Rista!"
The difficult part was only the moment of decision…
Like this, just like this…
What if the journey so far ends…?
'I can no longer be with everyone, and I can't go back to the magic tower to meet the Dean again…'
Because of the anxiety that he might never be able to go to where the Dean is, to his side, for the rest of his life…
"Gyuwooong!"
"Go, you fool! What if you get swallowed too!"
"Gyung, gyung, gyung!"
Sval puffed up both cheeks greatly, then permeated Lin's body in the form of a chill.
"Hey!"
As the clash between the power that painted the horizon and the entire landscape with darkness and the power that resisted it reached its climax…
No explosion occurred.
The power that had overwhelmed everything with colossal waves of destruction gradually diminished in form, shrinking, shrinking, and then shrinking further… until it was completely sucked into the body with these words from the young Archmage who held out his stone staff with both hands.
"Rune engraving… alteration, success…"