Book 4 Chapter 25
Chapter 99
“Ugh, I thought it was over, but we let in one point!”
Sandra twisted and turned, perfectly expressing her emotions. Her words and face might say that, but it was clear she was thrilled to be able to enjoy the game longer.
“I aimed for both sides, but… my aim was slightly off. I apologize.”
Gertrude bowed her head, but Maya lightly waved her hand.
“It’s fine. It’s only one point, after all.”
“Only one point, but this brings Young Master’s team’s rotation back to normal.”
And the fact that Hubert started acting as the setter bothered her. She couldn’t even imagine what kind of variable that might create.
“On top of that, in our current rotation, Senior Lowinbelt can’t come in as a hard receiver.”
Maya, as if it were no big deal, calmly adjusted her glasses and pointed her chin towards the other side of the net.
“The center of that team is Young Master Ludwig. But you can tell just by looking. It’s already over.”
That… was certainly true.
Magic volleyball was a sport that demanded not only physical and mental strength but also magical power. While the former could be endured by gritting one’s teeth, the latter was impossible.
To quickly recover magical power, one had to meditate or get a good night's sleep.
‘There’s a reason normal teams use a lot of substitute players.’
Of course, there was the timing of deploying them at crucial moments, but the biggest purpose was to give the starting members time to recover their magical power.
True to that purpose, Gryffinvalor’s main players had been successively recharging their stamina through substitutions while 1-3 points were exchanged.
“So that’s the problem.”
Balensidis’s eyebrows twitched slightly, having heard a similar explanation from Krista.
“Because they don’t have a single substitute player.”
“Yes. The other five must be just as exhausted, but among them, that guy is the setter who has to touch the ball the most.”
Going even further, he had been recklessly abusing ridiculous double-casting… Elin, too, was slowly starting to worry about her nephew’s body.
‘I was certain after that last spike. That pathetic boy, he can’t last much longer.’
But as if to shatter everyone’s complacency and worry, Rein Ludwig, who had pushed the ball high, once again soared into the air.
“What…?!”
And the moment his palm struck the ball, it let out a terrifying tearing sound and plummeted like an arrow.
‘How can he still serve like that…!’
Gertrude, who was slowly adapting to that ghostly speed, threw herself at the ball and barely managed to get it up.
But there was a mistake in the magical formula, and the problem was that the ball ferociously discharged electricity, floated up, and crossed over the net.
The spectators, who had been watching with bated breath, simultaneously shouted as one.
“Chance ball───!”
Lillian lightly moved the ball to the setter's position with an underhand receive. The one in the setter's position this time was… Hubert.
“Quick attack, Left!”
Sandra urgently shouted, but Logan was already airborne…
Logan’s powerful spike passed over Gryffinvalor’s still incomplete block and landed precisely on the end line.
“…Court in!”
As soon as the line judges, who decided whether the ball was in or out, shouted, another cheer shook the arena.
“19 : 24! They’re catching up!”
“The flow completely changed after Hubert became the setter?”
But the doubts of those who had played magic volleyball for a while grew stronger and stronger.
What is it?
How on earth can he still serve so powerfully? With what strength?
‘Even with a rough estimate, he must have used well over 50,000 magic power by now…!’
‘Among the first-year students, Lillian Carline is the only one with over 50,000 magic power…?’
‘But how on earth…?’
It was strange. Truly strange.
It couldn’t be said that his remaining magic power was sufficient, as he had been touching his main joint repeatedly, as if feeling pain there.
That must be a phenomenon caused by magic power depletion… He hadn’t even taken a potion, so what was it?
‘…’
Only one person among the spectators knew why Rein Ludwig could endure… Cassena Page.
‘Don’t lose to guys like that, Rein.’
The answer lay in the jet-black holy stone, Heukyangrin, which Rein wore around his neck with Cassena, like a pair, on a chain.
Heukyangrin, which pulsed with power in sync with the main joint’s throbbing, fiercely expelled stale magical power from his body while simultaneously circulating fresh magical power.
While the recovery amount couldn't be called large, in the current situation where Hubert was playing setter, giving brief respites between points, it was more than enough to be usable.
‘Do you really think I’d collapse from just this much…?’
He thought with a bitter smile. Using magic without collapsing in a critical situation was something he had done to the point of being sick of it during his Rin days.
It would be more accurate to say he had to do it rather than he just did it… Anyway, compared to that time, this situation was nothing.
He spun the ball on his palm, then tossed it, leaped again, and slammed the ball with all his might.
* * *
Doran Slade, head of the Special Operations Department, returned to his alma mater’s campus after a long time, and there was a whispering that seemed to cling to his shoulders.
“They say Gryffinvalor’s disbandment match still hasn’t ended?”
“They say it’s incredibly fierce.”
“Woah, what? I thought it’d be a one-sided game so I didn’t go to watch…”
Gryffinvalor’s disbandment match?
What did that mean?
A magic volleyball team’s disbandment match only existed in name; it almost never actually happened.
Moreover, among the four great volleyball teams, Gryffinvalor was a royal club where current and former heads of prestigious magic families passed through. Who would dare such recklessness unless they feared their wrath?
“They say Young Master Inseong is playing so well that Gryffinvalor is struggling?”
“Really?”
“Let’s go watch now!”
Young Master Inseong… could they be talking about Rein Ludwig?
‘That makes even less sense. If Rein Ludwig is playing well, why is Gryffinvalor struggling? Is he not part of Gryffinvalor?’
Wondering what was going on, he followed the surging crowd to the first gymnasium. Even before he entered the hall, a fierce roar erupted, shaking the entire gymnasium.
“Whoa!”
“A third consecutive service ace?!”
“He’s truly insane!”
And over the heads of the countless people, what met Doran’s eyes was a sight that was unbelievable by common sense.
‘This matchup…?’
Rein Ludwig was leading the disciples of the Eight Great Academic Factions, who formed the core of the first-year golden generation, to face Gryffinvalor?
“Cover!”
“Last! Get it over now!”
“Chance ball!”
For a moment, he wondered if it was some kind of penalty game, but the camaraderie shown by the six didn’t seem to be bound by such a thing.
‘I wonder what happened…’
The hall was packed with people, leaving no room to step, but there was one exception.
The place where Cassena Page stood.
Whether noble or commoner, perhaps overwhelmed by her innate aura, no one approached her, leaving an empty space of roughly a 2-meter radius around her.
‘Hah, so the rumors were true.’
No, in fact, he didn’t even need to confirm the truth of the rumors with his own eyes.
Because Senior Madelia, who had lost her smile after her daughter became disabled, was smiling so well.
Incidentally, perhaps due to inheriting Madelia’s superior looks, even excluding the pale purple hair that made Page special, she was indeed a girl boasting exquisite beauty.
“Which side are you cheering for, Madam Cassena?”
Cassena, who had been concentrating on the game with her fists clasped in front of her chest, looked back in surprise, a beat late.
“W-what, who are you?! No, are you a professor?!”
“No need to be so wary. My name is Doran Slade, a beloved junior of Her Excellency Madelia.”
Unlike Rein, she seemed to have a less suspicious nature; upon revealing his connection to her mother, the girl immediately dropped her guard.
“If you don’t mind me asking, why did Sir Rein pull such an amusing prank?”
But the moment he asked that question, Doran realized he had made a mistake, seeing resentment bubbling up in the girl’s eyes beyond mere wariness.
“It’s not a prank! What do you know?!”
At that moment, a heavy impact sound echoed simultaneously.
Bang!
It was the sound of Logan’s spike, after receiving Hubert’s toss, piercing through Yors Bautel’s block and flying up to the second-floor railing.
“Woohoo!”
“Logan, nice kill!”
“Nice toss, Hubert★”
As soon as cheers erupted from the stands.
“They defended their serve!”
“It’s 23 : 24! A one-point difference!”
“That means… if they get just one more point, it’s deuce?!”
Cassena’s expression also brightened noticeably.
‘She’s one-dimensional and pure-hearted… It’s no wonder senior cherishes her. She always liked children like that since her youth.’
Like Caroline, whom she took as a disciple, perhaps… As Doran thought this, Cassena turned to Doran with an excited face.
“Rein is doing this to protect the school!”
“Protect the school?”
For a moment, he almost laughed, but he couldn’t miss this good opportunity.
Pretending to be curious, Cassena explained in detail how this incident came about.
How Rein Ludwig countered the rude incident that happened at the executive committee…
“So Rein will win! He’ll never lose!”
It was odd how she constantly shrugged her shoulders as if boasting about something she didn’t do herself.
‘Well… thanks to this, I learned something good.’
Maya, Lowinbelt, and Yors were all candidates for recruitment into the Special Operations Department, but he’d have to withdraw them all.
Given the nature of the Special Operations Department, which required working with wizards from various backgrounds and being able to disguise oneself as a commoner depending on the situation, such individuals would only be a detriment.
Doran glanced at his old junior, Elin, and smiled bitterly.
‘Elin, you must be struggling quite a bit. Looking after such a troublemaker nephew.’
Yes, a troublemaker he was.
Rein Ludwig… A talent worth coveting, but the more he saw him, the more his true nature became frightening.
“Madam Cassena, actually, I’m here on Special Operations Department business.”
“Special Operations Department business? What’s that?!”
“It’s something related to Sir Rein’s safety, so I’d appreciate an honest answer. Has he ever been away for a long time during the final exam period?”
When Rein’s safety was mentioned, Cassena’s expression turned serious, and she touched her chin, groaning as she tried desperately to recall the past.
Doran’s eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her, revealing cunning, snake-like eyes within.
To doubt everything visible – that was the principle of Special Operations Department investigations. No matter if it was a relative of a respected senior.
“Ah, yes, there was!”
A chill flashed in Doran’s eyes, and he swallowed dryly.
Cassena was the type whose emotions showed on her face; she wouldn’t lie.
Therefore, his entire nervous system tensed for what she would say next… because it could be a matter that might make Rein Ludwig a suspect for arrest.
“The first day of final exams!”
Huh?
The first day of final exams?
“He didn’t come to pick me up at the mansion as usual, so I went looking for him, and he was wearing an armband as a student council executive, doing some kind of guidance duty!”
Doran’s eyes narrowed. The date the soldiers mentioned was definitely the second day of final exams.
Should he call it relief, or perhaps regret for letting his prey go… A strange sense of deprivation swept over his body, and the tension softly melted away.
As soon as he confirmed that, Doran’s face was adorned with his characteristic genial smile.
“But why! Is Rein in danger? What is it?!”
“I was just playing a prank. Your reaction was so cute, it was fun to tease you. You seem to like Sir Rein very much.”
“W-what did you say?!”
Cassena’s face flushed bright red, and she was about to explode in anger, but her words were swallowed by the explosive cheers that erupted from the stands at that very moment.
“It’s a, a, a tieee──!”
* * *
“Hey, hey, hey!!! To be caught up to a tie against a hastily put-together team at match point, this isn’t even a laughing matter!”
When the score tied, Elin Ludwig, Gryffinvalor’s advisory coach, had no choice but to call a timeout. As soon as the starters came to the bench, Lowinbelt immediately complained.
“Just get one point! So I can go in! You’re not seeing a powerful serve like that for the first time, so what’s the problem?!”
Maya Snaake bit her lip.
“Speed isn’t the problem.”
“Exactly. The problem is that the mathematical formula ordered with that speed is something like the inverse function of an irrational function…”
Gertrude sighed, supporting Maya’s excuse.
Rein, who had clearly pierced the essence of magic volleyball, attacked by ordering only mathematical formulas that took a long time to solve, whether easy or difficult.
Both his speed and power were cannon-level, and the mathematical formulas ordered were also of that difficulty, so even Gryffinvalor’s players were helplessly being defeated.
“Then there’s no other way.”
Elin, who had been silently listening to the players,’ words, sharpened her eyes.
“From the next serve receive, take it with a body block.”
As soon as they heard that statement, all the players present widened their eyes. Gertrude Fenton barely stammered.
“Are, are you joking? Body blocking?”
“Does this look like a situation for joking? Do as I say. Or be substituted.”
“But we are nobles, aren’t we? How can we lose face in front of so many commoners…?”
Body blocking literally meant blocking the ball with one’s body.
It wasn’t a unique tactical term, but rather a teasing term for novices unfamiliar with magic volleyball who received the opponent’s attack with their chest or face instead of their arms.
It was a ridiculous thing to do, but it wasn’t ineffective. Unlike receiving with arms, when receiving with the chest, the ball didn’t bounce backward or sideways, only forward.
If the team reacted immediately like that, they could save the ball. The problem was the embarrassment involved.
“Embarrassed? You’re embarrassed? That’s really funny! Aren’t you embarrassed that Gryffinvalor will be disbanded for the first time in history after losing a comeback defeat to a team like that? That’s something you should just die for!”
“…”
“Anyone who doesn’t want to do it, take off your uniform right now and submit your club withdrawal application. I won’t stop you.”
Elin’s words weren’t without reason, but the players hesitated for a moment.
Hadn’t they been taught that as nobles, they always had an obligation to maintain their dignity? But to collapse like that in front of so many eyes.
However, Maya Snaake, who clearly weighed the practicalities, was the first to show her intention to obey.
“I will do it.”
Her goal was to draw out Balensidis.
But if she was stopped by Rein Ludwig before even getting to the main point, that would truly be no laughing matter.
And the stigma gained from body blocking was temporary, but the proof of graduating at the top would last a lifetime, no, until the world ended.
“…Then I will too.”
“…Me too.”
If Maya, the de facto captain and team rank No. 2, stepped forward first, the other members below her had no choice but to follow.
Sandra, being an ace, generally didn’t participate in serve receives and was currently at the front, so there was no particular need to ask her intentions…
Most reluctantly agreed, but seeing their gloomy expressions, Elin let out a quiet sigh.
“If you get one point and Lowinbelt can come in, you don’t have to do it, you pathetic fools. What’s so hard about that?”
“…”
“Anyway, I told you to do it. I won’t let anyone who doesn’t.”
The referee Ivan’s whistle signaled the end of the timeout, and both teams’ players re-entered the court. The serve was still with Rein Ludwig.
“Young Master, nice serve!”
His hands and feet trembled as if they would shatter.
His breathing had already collapsed.
He clearly had no more energy to even move, let alone run, yet his body moved by force.
– This time, go out into the world, Rin.
By the voice of Dean Atlante, echoing faintly in his mind like a bell.
– There are countless things in the world that are not written in books. Beautiful things, frightening things, joyful things, sorrowful things…
The first stage of the serve.
Lightly tossing the ball into the sky first.
– It’s not just objects. Among people, there are also strong people, weak people, interesting people, and pitiful people of various kinds.
Three steps of run-up.
Then, a powerful leap.
– As you see those things with your own eyes, hear them with your own ears, and touch them with your own hands, you will gradually realize things without even knowing it.
Reaching the highest point of his jump.
From there, he slammed the ball he had just tossed with all his might.
– What magic is, and how you should use the power inherently given to you.
A tearing sound that seemed to rip eardrums, and simultaneously, the ball, accelerated by both physical and intelligent force, fiercely tore through the air.
Terrifying speed.
Unrealistic trajectory.
The ball, which nonchalantly bypassed Maya Snaake’s fingertips by a hair’s breadth as she threw her body with full power, struck the very edge of the end line and roared fiercely.
“Crazy, how many service aces is this against Gryffinvalor?!”
“With this, Young Master Inseong’s team is at match point!”
The moment he finished his jump serve and landed, his body stumbled as if about to fall, and one knee buckled. He would have fallen if Logan hadn’t immediately supported him.
“Are you alright?”
“Uh, I just made a slight mistake on the landing…”
“Anyway, that was a truly fantastic course!”
“I know, right★ Maya Snaake couldn’t even touch it.”
Seeing Logan and Nora excitedly chattering, and Kaiden and Lillian giving thumbs up, a smile he didn’t understand himself formed on his face.
– That’s how a wizard learns truth from the world. Not by just reading books in a dusty room.
Those were the words Dean Atlante had said when he told her he wanted to follow Lista.
A pure question arose then.
Not trying to tease her as usual, but just vaguely curious, he asked:
– But Auntie, you don’t know the truth either.
– This is just it! If I knew, would I be looking at this crumbling magic tower? I’d be living in a grand magic tower, boasting about it, wouldn’t I?
He thought Atlante would reach out and punch him on the head as usual.
But she didn't.
What Atlante did then was gently stroke Rein’s head and smile softly.
– So, I hope Rin will teach me someday. Because Rin will surely be able to reach it.
Auntie, I’m sorry, but I still don’t know anything about the truth.
But this must be the right path, right?
If I follow this path you taught me, I’ll be able to reach the truth someday, right?
“Everyone, you’ve all worked hard putting up with my stubbornness for the past ten days. I’ll finish it with the next serve.”
Then Hubert, who received a new ball from Professor Ivan, handed it to Rein, his lips curled up as if to say, ‘Don’t joke around.’
“Don’t show baseless confidence, just do it comfortably as you always do. Even if it doesn’t work, I can finish it with my setup.”
Oh, this guy…?
At Hubert’s encouragement, which wasn’t quite encouragement, all the teammates exchanged short laughs. And the whistle signaling the start of the final set blew.
‘Just one more point…!’
‘If we get this one…!’
‘We’ll beat Gryffinvalor…!’
The moment everyone held their breath, Rein once again pushed off the ground and leaped. Doran Slade, watching him, his eyebrows twitched slightly.
‘His run-up seems a bit short?’
Was he really continuing to squeeze his body to its limits…?
As Doran expected, Rein’s serve, with an insufficient run-up, crossed the net with less than half its usual power and speed.
Still, the mathematical formula he ordered was even more difficult and complex than usual; there was no way they could receive it easily.
“───?!”
But as if to utterly crush Rein’s expectations, everyone’s mouths dropped open at Gertrude’s bizarre act of thrusting her body into the ball’s trajectory.
“With her face…?!”
“A face block…?!”
“Lady Fenton…?!”
The ball fiercely discharged electricity as a reactive force from not perfectly solving the mathematical formula, but its rebound direction was straight forward.
“Save it, save it!”
“Yors, last!”
“Okay!”
Gryffinvalor, barely connecting with Gertrude’s desperate dive, sent the ball over the net. Tsk, Hubert clicked his tongue.
‘They’re even resorting to such tactics to win.’
It doesn’t matter anyway.
Chance ball, the right to attack is still ours.
“Chance ball★”
Nora softly lifted the ball to the center where the setter was, killing all its power and momentum with an underhand pass.
“Give it to me!”
Logan leaped with all his might, and Hubert clearly seemed like he would toss it that way, but Hubert’s choice was Lillian on the right.
‘Exquisite…!’
‘No, but…!’
Just in front of her stood a heavy block, Yors Bautel. Lillian’s spike struck Yors’s left hand and lost its power.
“The attack right has shifted!”
“Reorganize!”
While the spectators clamored, Gryffinvalor swiftly formed a perfect attacking formation. Maya’s toss went up to Sandra Keffel.
‘Is it a straightforward quick attack by the ace here…?!’
Logan immediately leaped in front of her… but Sandra’s spike was not something that could be easily blocked by a single block.
Given that the inverse function g(x) of the function f(x)=√(2x+3b) exists, the graph of y=g(x) is tangent to the line y=3x-a. What is the constant a?
If they fall behind in the instantaneous mathematical calculation battle, they will also lose the blocking battle.
Electricity fiercely erupted from the ball that Logan’s hand had stopped, pushing his hand away and simultaneously flying far off.
Lowinbelt, who had been loosening his body with tense movements, clenched his fist.
“Nice kill────?!”
He shouted that, then suddenly gasped and shut his mouth.
Because Kaiden, the mute from Harimun, was throwing his body at the out-of-bounds spot where the ball was falling.
As the movable chairs forming the bench scattered from the impact, Kaiden sent the ball soaring high.
“Nora, cover───!”
Rein somehow saved that ball, and Nora, who received Rein’s toss, sent the ball over the net with all her might.
“Kaiden, are you okay?”
[Yeah….]
As Hubert helped Rein up, Gryffinvalor had already formed a perfect attacking formation again.
“Chance ball!”
Yors lifted the ball to Maya, and Maya’s toss seemed like it would go to Sandra for another quick attack, but──
“Not there!”
──It was already too late when Lillian shouted.
The toss went to the back.
Towards Gertrude Fenton, who had leaped with all her might, throwing both hands back as if spreading wings. Maya smiled triumphantly.
‘Yes, they were severely hit by a quick attack from the ace once, so they had no choice but to guard that side.’
And Sandra was the type to always jump with full power whether the toss came to her or not. By using her as a decoy, they would score with Gertrude.
“Single block───!”
Since Hubert and Logan were on Sandra, the only wall blocking Gertrude was Lillian. Normally, this would be a block easily broken through.
But should it be called a miracle, or the product of desperate will?
Gertrude’s spike was stopped by Lillian’s outstretched hands as she let out a battle cry, losing all its power and spin, and slowly floated over the challenger team’s court.
As Nora Ledon took a receiving stance at the ball’s landing spot, the spectators shouted in unison.
“““───Chance ball!”””
At that moment, Doran Slade also seemed quite surprised, his perpetually smiling eyes half-opened.
‘How did this happen…?’
When he heard the explanation from Cassena, he thought the disciples of the Eight Great Academic Factions were just reluctantly going along… but it was completely different.
There was no way the disciples of the Eight Great Academic Factions could unite so passionately for the sole purpose of Gryffinvalor’s disbandment.
Doran, who was in charge of the Special Operations Department, where countless descendants of academic factions and heirs of noble families mingled, knew this better than anyone.
‘The answer, as expected, lies with you.’
The moment Nora lifted the ball, everyone’s gaze was drawn to Rein Ludwig. Spectators, Gryffinvalor players, and even his teammates.
It couldn’t be helped.
Because Rein was shouting this and rushing to the front.
“Hubert, my ball!”
My ball…?
For a fleeting moment, Hubert, who was entering his setup motion, seemed to give Rein a blank look, then understood his intention and immediately moved out of the setter’s position.
‘Setter position…?’
‘Switch…?’
Gryffinvalor’s front-row players, who had been reading the setter’s movements and preparing to block across the net, flinched.
‘Hubert is preparing to spike…!’
A slight distortion inflicted on the attack flow that should have progressed orderly—that distortion causes a massive crack.
‘Rein’s setup isn’t particularly difficult if one adapts to it and prepares well…’
Elin Ludwig’s eyes widened. But what if they had to face it suddenly, in an instant like this?
‘It’s not just that…!’
Professor Owen’s eyes also widened as if his eyeballs would pop out, for the first time in his life.
‘All five of them jumped up to cover Rein’s weakness…!’
Rein’s setup was that absurd toss speed as his weapon; it was impossible to know for sure who the ball was going to until it was airborne.
However, due to his lack of experience, Gryffinvalor, his opponents, could read his thoughts and react.
But if all five spikers jumped simultaneously like this… the story was bound to change.
“What the…!”
Yors let out a short curse and moved towards Logan, who could be called their ace. Maya was in the center, Sandra on the right.
It was both the best and worst decision they could make in that situation.
Because Rein had tossed the ball diagonally to the back, that is, to Hubert, who had just switched positions with him.
“Zero blocks!”
A mathematical formula of an exponential function, nearly 90% completed in Rein’s mind, flew with the ball──
As Hubert completed that math problem, he slammed the ball with all his might──
Mocking Yors and Maya, the ball that pierced through the empty space between their block──
“────?!”
“────?!”
“────?!”
It fiercely struck the shoulder of a Gryffinvalor second-year student in the back row, causing a violent electrical explosion, and flew even further back.
Far.
So far that no one’s hand could reach it.
‘You can see so many qualities from a single play in magic volleyball.’
In time that seemed to flow slowly as if stopped, a peculiar light glimmered in Doran’s eyes as he watched the ball bounce vigorously on the court.
‘Instant calculation ability, judgment ability, physical ability, and other qualities required of a battlemage…’
But beyond those primary qualities, there are occasionally individuals who display leadership qualities—the ability to unite a seemingly disadvantaged team and lead them to victory—that is, the qualities of a leader.
‘Magic volleyball is ultimately a sport that aims for victory. It’s no different from a microcosm of the magic world.’
Of course, it’s undeniable that a team with many good players has a higher chance of winning.
‘But it’s not impossible to lead a team to victory in a situation where everyone thinks they’re bound to lose.’
It’s not impossible, but that doesn’t mean anyone can do it.
Because it’s a part of a miracle that can only be achieved by someone with true skill and popularity that all members can sincerely follow.
Just as heroes like Lista, who forged the light of an era in dark history, did… A genuine smile formed on Doran’s lips after a very long time.
‘If I had to retire tomorrow and pass on the Special Operations Department to someone… Rein Ludwig, you would indeed be the right person.’
Thump, thump, thump… In the chilling silence where everyone doubted their senses and even the sound of swallowing breaths died out, at last, it sharply resonated.
Peeeeeep──!
The sound of the whistle, announcing the end of this battle that felt as if it would go on forever.