Book 21 Chapter 23

Chapter 213

To the Land of Decisive Battle!

The City of Beginning and End, The Decisive Battle of Laptas (17)

"A way to defeat me? You, who are practically dying corpses? There's a limit to how far you can crawl!"

The Lizard Lord, Neigalass. The ultimate power isn't felt as strongly as when he swallowed the King's Abyss, but…

I don't need such excessive power.

With this power now, I can wield a power close to the transcendence I've pursued my entire life.

- Abyss, doesn't this boast the greatest power among all attributes?

In the days Zernix grew up under his master, Ryuken Ludwig, what he focused on was the elements!

- Don't say such things again, Zernix! The Abyss is dangerous. You must never touch it.

The idea that the Four Minor Elements were a joint research with Ryuken was merely Zernix's consideration for his master's honor.

- I don't understand. Why the Papacy restricts research on the Abyss… could it be because of the dragon race's continuous ambition to dominate the world?

Extracting only the core from the Four Major Elements to establish the Four Minor Elements was entirely his doing!

'But that wasn't enough. The Four Minor Elements boasted speed compared to the Four Major Elements, but most were half-baked. Their power was terribly inferior compared to the Four Major Elements.'

A power stronger than the Four Major Elements, faster than the Four Major Elements… he wanted to obtain such simple strength.

'And finally…!'

After obtaining Neigalass's Abyss, everything changed.

He was flustered when the attributes he could control were limited to lava and corrupted wind… in other words, Neigalass's Abyss.

However, the more he explored this power, the more he couldn't help but rejoice.

'This absurd power and speed! A primal strength that effortlessly crushes even the most powerful flame attribute among the Four Major Elements!'

He tried destroying various places around the world to test that power, and it was truly a heartwarming experience.

And then one day…!

The moment [Secret Art: Elemental Deployment] and the power of the Abyss intertwined, allowing him to imbue the Abyss with diverse properties, he experienced the refreshing sensation of entering the realm of unique supremacy.

"I am the Emperor! This world has now completely fallen into a toy I can play with as I please!"

He had obtained strength that overwhelmed all mages, no, all powerful individuals, so this was a natural consequence!

"An Emperor is an Emperor because he is alone! You last remnants resisting my destiny of domination, this is goodbye!"

At that moment, from the elemental compass deployed behind Zernix, all eight attributes were absorbed into the central ring.

"This is 8-star! The pinnacle of magic, compared to the 7-star limit of magic wielded by Archsages (7-star) rank, I am 8-star… meaning I, Zernix, have transcended even a Great Sage!"

As the ultimate power, enough to destroy the entire area of <Laptas> and more, concentrated, Kiese reached for the small quiver on his thigh.

- A way to defeat Zernix?

The arrow inside was just one.

- Right now, we can't win because we're three. But there's a way for us to become four, even if only for a moment. Kiese, right inside your quiver.

Kiese was a master at weaving arrows with magic, so he didn't need arrows, but he always carried this quiver because Aena had given it to him as a gift when he was a child.

- Lynn's gift is in there, isn't it?

That's why right here, he carefully kept the gift from a past connection that Lynn had conveyed to him.

'The origin of Serwewon, what the World Tree foresees is the future of the world.'

Kiese always thought whenever he saw his White Crystal Bow.

'If so, through this White Crystal Bow Serwewon… I wanted to see Lynn's future, and my comrades' future.'

After losing Aena, he thought he would never meet someone so precious again… he had thought that.

- Kiese, study languages too!

- Hey, think for a bit. Will that drunkard brute study? He'll just use emojis his whole life.

- Freede~ that's too harsh.

Rista and Freede.

And until he met Lynn.

Five years of travel. Comrades closer than family.

'Perhaps family is something like this, something I've dreamt of my entire life because I never truly experienced it…'

Kiese loaded that baby arrow into the quillon of his flat arrow, placed it on the bowstring, and instantly concentrated magic.

'I will never forgive you, who took away that precious thing…'

Rista told him at that moment, which made him remember this important thing.

- Here, use this.

Had he truly forgotten?

Or was it just because he dismissed it as trivial?

- When the time comes that you want to pierce through the parallel line barrier, shoot this.

Surely, he didn't think the day would come to use this… perhaps he had selectively forgotten it, hoping the day would never come.

- Kiese is a genius type, so once he understands how his magic transforms, he'll grasp it instantly.

If it's the moment he has to use it…

Lynn, it would only be moments like now, when you can no longer fight alongside us…

"Unfold the Canticle! I'll show you the overwhelming difference in power that even that barrier cannot stop!"

However, two things disconcerted Zernix at that moment.

One was that the Canticle scroll Freede unfurled was not an Oath of Faith for a barrier, but a Revelation of sealing.

The other was that the arrow Kiese shot, the attack he tried to brush off with a laugh… pierced the parallel line barrier.

"Hah, useless acts… Hmm?"

The World Tree's arrow…?

How did this arrow… my parallel line barrier…!

'This… roots of restraint are spreading near the penetration point! Damn it, the Hero is approaching too! I need to retract the magic I'm casting now and get rid of this first!'

Zernix, for that one moment, recognized Lynn's magic embedded in the foundation of that arrow and gnashed his teeth.

'That brat dares… even after death, to Zernix…!'

However, another arrow of verdant light shot into the safe zone he arrived at through spatial leap… and the intense pain of his body being pierced ran through him.

'Impossible… that archer, those ignorant beasts, could never have figured out the principle of my parallel line barrier…!'

Kiese aimed at Zernix like that, continuously weaving brilliant arrows, and cried out with his gaze.

'Yes! I set the refined magic property in the arrow not as penetration or blockade, but as connection.'

The moment the arrow touched the parallel line barrier, the World Tree's magic extended roots perpendicular to the parallel nature of his barrier!

'Now, the barrier you can deploy is barely about 2 meters by 2 meters! That barrier you were so confident was invincible is now practically in my palm, Zernix!'

Lynn, you taught me all of this.

Ah, it's just as you said.

When the magic you carved into Jack's baby arrow transformed my arrows, I could perfectly understand that sensation.

'Take this, Zernix! The continuous volley of World Tree arrows that will penetrate after neutralizing your barrier!'

What Kiese chose to defeat Zernix was a three-shot volley.

Two shots created perpendicular lines erasing the parallel lines.

Taking advantage of the neutralized barrier, the remaining shot would pierce his body.

'Of all things, of all things… these trashy beasts who don't even know the letter for mathematics… to break my secret of parallel lines and enter its interior…!'

Kiese's archery skill was truly divine; in this situation where the barrier was breached, it was impossible for Zernix to carry out a 1-on-3 combined front.

'Lynn…!'

From Rista's fingertips, Shirpeng repeatedly pressed Zernix with brilliant yet deadly trajectories.

The holy sword is not just a tool, but a companion of destiny.

Holy swords weep and laugh and grow with their wielder, and Rista felt the wrath contained within Shirpeng's blade.

'Now, the lifespan I have left to use in battle is, at most, 1 minute.'

I have to end it within that time.

The path leading to the future that Lynn created, Lynn opened… I have to walk to the other end.

I have to reach the marker. Not dead, but alive.

'Because I promised you. That we would meet again, and together with everyone, travel to the other side of the world…!'

The surging power from the holy sword accelerated her internal time, i.e., concentration, to the extreme, slowing the flow of time and making even the curtain of air touching her body feel distinct.

'I see it, the elemental compass!'

The primary attribute of the rune became Wind.

The elemental compass imbued lava with new properties, forming lava that raged like a storm.

As it used the properties of wind, it was similar to the nature of a great storm, so its eye, the eye of the typhoon, was calm.

'I'll break through head-on, by making that flow itself backflow with Shirpeng!'

Shirpeng, thrust into the torrent of lava, roared violently, purifying its power into the Abyss itself.

All power has a flow.

It's possible to counterattack by reversing or disrupting that flow, and in the case of wind, these advantages and disadvantages are most pronounced.

"Damn it, a living corpse with no trace of vitality now… how dare you…!"

Zernix, who barely evaded the holy sword's strike that broke through the lava typhoon head-on and rushed in, gasped for breath.

'I'll change strategy. I'm certain. I win even if I just keep dodging.'

That hero girl is in a state where moving is almost a miracle, practically a corpse.

'I'll perfectly calculate the evasion path, and on the fourth dodge, I'll finish that priestess and neutralize the Revelation Canticle. Perfect.'

But it wasn't as easy as he thought… because the flash of the holy sword and the extreme of verdant light kept flying in without end.

'My bones are creaking…'

Rista spewed blood from her mouth but did not stop her slashes.

'Now, even regeneration by dragon's blood serum is impossible.'

How much lifespan do I have left? Three months? Two months? One month?

Even a day is fine.

Even half a day, no, even a few minutes are fine. If I can scold Lynn, who has returned, with "You're late," then even that one moment is fine.

"Whoooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah────!"

The power that shaved off her lifespan was imbued in each slash, and the continuous attacks, performing infinitely with overwhelming heat, completely crushed Zernix's plan.

"─────Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Zernix, amidst all this, gasped in astonishment, spitting blood from a World Tree arrow that pierced some part of his body.

How are they moving?

How are they swinging?

The beings who defy providence are not me. It's these brats. These pieces of trash, who haven't even lived 100 years combined, how on earth can they do this…!

'…No, the Revelation Canticle is being completed! If I'm caught by those canticle chains, even I will be finished!'

The moment Zernix finished his geometric calculations for a spatial leap, just as a dimensional rift was about to open, its entrance was instantaneously blocked.

"I told you… you must vanish beyond history!"

Shuan, descendant of the <Ones Who Came>.

With his last ounce of energy, the very last bit remaining, he unleashed the power of 'Embodiment of Peach Blossom'.

Zernix was completely off guard when he saw Shuan not using any power at all, and Shuan calmly watched until the Hero party drove Zernix into a corner, then!

"Don't trifle with me! I, Zernix, am a Great Mage, hailed as the apex of all mages and the father of geometry!"

Chwa-reureureuk… the canticle chains pierced through the veil of providence and surged forth, flying towards their designated target, Zernix.

At that moment, Zernix!

Immediately interpreted the phase forcefully modified by Shuan, and completed his geometric calculations through perfect computation.

'There's no time for a long-distance leap!'

But there's no problem!

If I repeat short-distance leaps, I'll be able to shake off those Revelation Canticle chains!

That hero girl will either die or be incapacitated within tens of seconds, and that priestess's use of this Revelation Canticle was her last energy.

'In short, it's my victory!'

Zernix's calculations were very accurate.

For Freede, this was her full power.

And for Rista, it was her dying effort.

Even Kiese would soon be pushed to his limit, so they could only watch, spitting out painful congested blood, as the canticle chains relentlessly pursued Zernix, who was leaping through dimensions.

'If my consciousness breaks, those chains will disappear too. That can't happen. Here, I must end it here…!'

At that moment, Rista called out to Freede.

Rista clearly didn't make a sound, but somehow Freede felt as if Rista had placed a hand on her shoulder.

As soon as Rista's gaze met Freede's, she pointed the tip of the holy sword straight at Zernix and formed a cube above its blade.

"Domain Set."

Freede, at that moment, immediately changed the target of the Revelation Canticle.

That target was the holy sword.

Towards the sword of the hero who had run to the ends of the earth, hoping for a world where everyone smiled in this age of turmoil.

"Swallow it───────!"

It is said that the true holy sword Sharillion, the origin of the supreme holy sword Shirpeng, had the power to absorb all power and make it its own.

To perfectly imitate that power… might be impossible!

If a domain is set above the blade, if that ultimate power can be drawn out, even if limited, within this small three-dimensional space!

"───────Shirpeng!"

A magic foothold formed in the air with her last dying effort, and at the moment of the leap, an extreme leg power that caused cracks to spread and even break the foothold.

The power of Revelation dancing above the blade.

The chains of Revelation are drawn into the sword blade that inherits the power of Enlightenment, roaring with a dazzling, tear-inducing brilliance.

'The last arrow…!'

Kiese, seeing that, also immediately drew his bowstring, this time aiming at Zernix's head for the first time.

The head is perfect if it can be aimed at, but its stability is low as it can be dodged by a hair's breadth with a turn of the head.

Most importantly, missing would be fatal as the World Tree's power of restraint couldn't be used… but that was exactly what Kiese was aiming for.

"…!"

The moment Zernix, having leaped out of space, instinctively turned his head to evade the arrow that rushed in for an instant.

That one instant…!

For that one instant when the arrow grazed his cheek, for that one instant when his attention was drawn not to the reason of spatial leap but to the instinct of evasion.

'This crazy…!'

The next moment, what Zernix could see, or rather feel, was death itself.

Could there be such warm death?

The power of Revelation explodes from the domain caught on the blade, which cut through his skin, pushed deep, broke his ribs, tore his heart and intestines, further pierced his spine, and exited through his back.

'Transfer, I must transfer…!'

He felt everything that completed the ontological phase of a creature's body and soul being bound by the creator, and all control as a living being was stripped away.

'A part of my body, to somewhere…!'

Zernix desperately spewed blood from both his spirit and body, wielding his still unconstrained wisdom and magic.

'No, not with my body. I must transfer a part of my brain to somewhere, anywhere.'

Before being completely purified!

Before being completely isolated by that power!

'Just once, though it's truly insane, something I considered just once in preparation for a confrontation with Ryukael… I must transfer only a fragment of my brain along with remnants of the Abyss to somewhere!'

In that process, this fragment of divinity he barely obtained, as well as most of his memories, would be lost, and it would take hundreds of years to regain his original power… but there was no other way.

'I must do it. Here, now…!'

The power of Revelation manifested through the blade was different from the existing one.

It was a method of shattering the soul pierced by that power from within, and drawing those fragments into dimensional rifts to extinguish them.

In that process, a blinding radiance that seared the retina exploded forth, then quietly faded.

"Ah…"

Zernix, directly hit by the power of Revelation, was exiled beyond providence by that power.

The sensation Zernix felt when traversing dimensions, like a snake crawling beneath his feet, was no longer felt.

The repose that stemmed from it… yes, a sense of exhaustion sufficient to be called repose enveloped her entire body, and Rista, dropping the holy sword, fell.

"Rista!"

Freede summoned her broom, and just before Rista fell, she barely managed to catch her body.

"Damn it, you did it… you, you accomplished the absurdly insane feat of imbuing the Revelation Canticle into the blade… it's all over now, it's all…"

However, Freede didn't even have the magic power left to control her broom, and she almost tumbled to the ground, rolling off the broom…

But something…

…something received her, a presence of flames, solid as a rock yet soft as a feather, possessing a warmth different from the heat of the desert.

"Freede…"

The Red True Dragon, Pyras.

His body, torn apart by lava, should have already perished, yet for some reason, the Dragon's Orb stubbornly clung to his flesh.

"Your Excellency…"

Ah, right…

This farewell remained…

"Now that it's all over… will you return to your homeland…?"

Your Excellency, for me…

There is no homeland to return to…

Freede could not say that to the True Dragon, who had completely burned his body and soul for his mission.

"Yes, I suppose I should…"

"Every life has the right to enjoy everyday peace… and those born and raised on this land should also have a homeland to return to…"

"I will take responsibility and diligently care for it…"

Pyras, for the last time, exhaled a cold, hollow breath that could no longer be called the breath of life, and looked out at the sea.

"No… bury my remains on that coast… overlooking the sea… so that even in death, I may watch over the Abyss… and light this land's end with my flames…"

"Your Excellency, please…"

"Promise me… if… one day, while you are still alive… my sister… Alakish… completes her mission of watch… and comes here… that you will tell her… that my remains are here…"

This story is the origin of Pyras's Lighthouse.

Pyras's Lighthouse illuminated this land with its warm flames for 300 years from this point… from the beginning to the end of the Golden Age.

Pyras was liberated from this mission 300 years later when he was reunited with his sister through Akilea, who had inherited Alakish's mission.

"Yes, I promise… so now, please, rest in peace…"