Book 6 Chapter 3

Chapter 127

Even though Rain Ludwig was buying time, nightmares were everywhere.

In the blizzard, things that had become slaves, unable to find rest even in death, endlessly poured out alongside grotesque primeval creatures.

A warrior caught in that wave soon became the same undead, baring fangs at those who had been family and friends.

"Fl- flank is crumbling!"

"Burn them, burn them to finish it!"

"It's a huge one!"

The reason they could somehow get through that chaos was because there were four veteran heroes present.

Frisbia, Gryphion, Barlzen, Opus.

Even Frisbia, who had just blown off an undead's head, thought the war situation was quite desperate… but still, hmm.

*Thud───!*

The raptor beastmen led by Gryphion, who had soared into the sky, dove sharply, slamming the gigantic ancient Brookkudum straight into the ground.

As the ground trembled and the undead swarmed towards it, the wolf beastmen led by Barlzen stretched their necks and unleashed savage howling, causing the heads of the undead to explode one after another, weakening their charge.

And the polar bear beastmen, including Opus, formed the vanguard and charged, tearing apart the bodies of five or six undead at once with each swing of their large arms.

'These beastmen, huh, their coordination is much better than I thought it would be.'

With the cooperation of the four, they were able to somehow establish a defensive formation, but that balance was effortlessly broken the very next moment.

"Huh…?"

A gigantic shadow seemed to sweep over their heads, and then, with a thunderous roar that shook the earth, their bodies involuntarily shot up into the air.

The warriors who looked back one by one felt the despair of their strength draining from their bodies.

The being glaring at them, exhaling muddy thoughts through its nostrils, was none other than… Alakish, who had once been their guardian.

* * *

"Now, let's see how much you're capable of."

Perhaps it was in that very moment, as the fine hairs on his body stood on end and his forehead was drenched in cold sweat, that he instinctively realized.

'Now, I'm going to die here…'

Even if I died and woke up a hundred times, I would never defeat this ancient royalty… Wiping the sweat from his brow, he gulped down his fourth potion.

'At the very least, just some time…'

Just as Alakish had done, if he could inflict a fatal wound, he might be able to buy some time, however little.

- Lyn.

- Master.

- Lyn.

'I've made you wait too long, haven't I? Just wait a little longer, I'll be there soon…'

"Flowing World-Honored One: Warning (警)."

As he formed the hand seal for Gyeong (警), the central core of the mind barrier scattered dazzling brilliance, and that light vigorously shot up as five strands of chains.

"Chains?"

At that moment, when the chains pierced Shar'kas's soul and momentarily sealed its movements.

Lightning (雷).

Field (場).

Cast (投).

Fall (落).

Flash (剡).

Why he had instinctively formed 'this hand seal' at that very moment was a mystery even to himself. Was he planning to use the magic he was most confident in?

The seal for the ultimate magic he had created during his Lyn days.

"Rune Amplification, Lightning Field Puncture (雷場防穴)."

Northerners, who pursued the practicality of magic to the extreme, mainly used the Four Minor Elements (四小元素), which allowed for faster casting speeds than the Four Great Elements.

Electricity, ice, steel, poison… Among them, the Osarius school, or rather, Lyn's most proficient attribute, was none other than electricity.

As the rune of Jon (尊) began to emit a beautiful light, the atmosphere shook explosively, and the sound of lightning flashing in the sky could be heard.

"───?!"

Now, there was no need to calculate anything. No need to form hand seals. Such preparatory actions were completely unnecessary.

A pentagon with a 50-meter radius centered on him; this was the domain of lightning strikes. All enemies within would be swallowed by the thunder (雷鳴).

In an era 300 years ago, when fighting overwhelming enemies was commonplace, magic that possessed both speed and power beyond limits was required.

It was in that very era, created out of such necessity, a magic solely for the purpose of killing.

"First Thunder (第一雷)."

Like thousands of birds screaming, a wedge of light vibrating the sky with an irritating high-frequency sound plunged from the heavens to the ground.

Pure white (純白).

First Shar'kas's pupils, then the entire world was enveloped in pure white, and then the earth trembled as a fearsome heat surged.

"Second Thunder (雷)."

The explosion of pure white light didn't end there. As he formed the next hand seal, wedges of pure white light consecutively surged towards the target fixed by the chains.

"Third Thunder (雷)."

"Fourth Thunder (雷)."

"Fifth Thunder (雷)."

"Sixth Thunder (雷)."

"Seventh Thunder (雷)."

If "Juyeosogye Dae-ban" was the 5-star magic that crowned Lyn's finale, then "Lightning Field Puncture" was the 5-star magic representing the Archmage's glorious exploits.

It is said that the seven lightning strikes, which amplified destructive power to the extreme, annihilated targets without leaving a trace and dyed the world in stillness.

A continuous series of deafening explosions echoed with tinnitus in his ears… his vision was carved away to pure white… thick smoke from the explosion created a deep crater… the stillness immediately after pandemonium.

"……"

Amidst the intense pain crushing his entire body, Rain, kneeling on one knee, uncorked the last potion with trembling fingers.

'Is it over?'

'No, it can't be over with this.'

With forcibly raised magic, he opened his vision to a red hue. Bell Sidious's antennae cut through the fog, detecting the presence of an anomalous being beyond it.

"Huh?"

But… it wasn't there.

Not there?

Nowhere within his sight, was there anything that Bell Sidious could interpret as a mathematical equation.

"Interesting."

That voice coming from behind him was the last moment.

"After waking from my slumber, I killed nearly a hundred of those Karanden followers you call mages."

Turning immediately, he tried to construct a magic circle on his palm, but.

"Ugh───?!"

In an instant, a sharp pain exploded in his shoulder, and then his right arm, spraying blood, flew away from a corner of his vision.

'Spider webs…?!'

His arm had been severed by five strands of spider web oozing from its fingertips, wriggling like maggots.

'I'm sure I had it caught with chains…?'

The chains that should have stopped Shar'kas's movements and sealed the manifestation of its anomalous power had all decayed and melted into a viscous liquid.

His vision went dark. To think that 5-star magic could crumble so helplessly… was it a struggle that had no meaning from the beginning?

The severed surface had already begun to rot black, and a stifled scream surged forth. The erosion of the abyss was progressing.

"Power attribute transformation and qualitative transformation… You are the first to mimic Karanden's power so similarly."

'I need to create distance…' He spread his left hand, trying to construct a magic circle on it, but his fingers wouldn't move.

The spider web that had somehow wrapped around his left arm dug into his wrist, severing tendons, causing a metallic, fishy taste in his mouth, like licking iron.

It didn't end there. The spider webs had somehow bound both of his legs, so he couldn't even step back.

"Even if I had been a little careless, I would have sustained a fatal wound."

Shar'kas, who had walked straight towards him, now unable to move, plunged its glowing dark blue fingertips into his chest.

The hand that had torn through flesh, crushed ribs, and easily sliced arteries like paper… only after grasping his heart did it retrace its path and withdraw.

Thump, thump, thump… He could feel blood circulating in his veins, following the faint twitching of his heart right before his eyes.

"But even so, humans are still humans."

His vision blurred. Strength slowly drained from his limbs. He couldn't breathe. His pulse gradually weakened.

"Weak, to an insignificant degree."

In that final moment, what the boy saw was… not the fear of impending death. Nor was it his own heart.

It was a series of mathematical equations.

A line of anomalous power that started from Shar'kas's fingertips and connected to where a heavy commotion was occurring far away.

'Could this be… Alakish…'

In his fading consciousness, the flower in the boy's eyes quietly rotated, and its four petals blossomed into seven.

'This is a repayment.'

'Perhaps it's a gamble.'

'Anyway, I can't escape alive now. So, so, with this last magic, at least you…'

"……Hm?"

Shar'kas, sensing something unusual, glanced back at Alakish and then narrowed its eyes.

The spider webs broke.

'What? What happened?'

'I can't waste any more time on this one…' At that moment, the heart that had been weakly pulsating in Shar'kas's grasp was crushed into a bloody mass, scattering membranes and blood everywhere.

"Cough…"

A final, searingly hot gush of blood surged up his throat, then gushed from his nose and mouth with a 'khul-uk' sound.

In the eyes of the boy who collapsed onto the snowfield, turning red with blood, the seven petals of the flower dwindled to four, then withered away fleetingly. Snow fell upon his unclosed eyes.

Amidst the fragments of the mind barrier, scattering fleetingly like cherry blossoms swept by the wind, what was the last scene that flashed before his eyes?

- Rain!

- Rain.

- A-oo!

A landscape he had never seen before, walking a reed field path somewhere in the south with Alakish, Alakish's daughter, and Kasena, laughing and talking together…

* * *

When Alakish ripped its maw open, what spewed forth as if vomited was not the flame of life.

A dense, putrid wave of the abyss that numbed the sense of smell… All the warriors caught in that wave rotted and melted away in agonizing screams.

Kasena, witnessing the horrifying spectacle, instinctively sank to her knees and covered both ears, as if that would make the nightmare not real.

'Alakish, Alakish is… killing people…'

Alakish, who had consistently been noble and earned the respect of all beastmen for 1400 years… Alakish, who had been so kind… Alakish, who had smiled wistfully while embracing the egg…

"Hmph, so it comes to this after all. Its movements are several times slower and clumsier than when it was alive, so it's easy, isn't it?"

Frisbia, covered in the blood of the undead on her mechanical armor, rather gestured to her subordinates as if this situation wasn't bad at all.

"Each and every one is an important specimen. Collect them without damage as much as possible."

As Barlzen forcibly helped Kasena, who had been kneeling, to her feet, Kasena felt a faint pulsation reaching her back.

'A delusion, a hallucination?'

No, it wasn't… The basket containing the dragon egg was mournfully swaying. The dragon egg was vigorously squirming.

"Get up! Retreat to a safe place!"

"Get up, get up, get up."

Led by Barlzen and Peach, as she tried to move away from Alakish, the dragon egg's shaking became uncontrollably violent. As if a child was throwing a tantrum.

Could she have felt some will there, Kasena stopped blankly.

And as if responding to that will, when she moved her body slightly towards Alakish, the dragon egg quietly calmed down and emitted a mysterious heat.

"You… want to be taken there?"

"Come here quickly, you brat!"

"Quickly, quickly, quickly."

"Barlzen, Peach. I, I have to go to Alakish."

At her words, Barlzen looked at Kasena with a gaze that asked what on earth she meant.

"Alakish is calling me."

That judgment, though inexplicable to anyone, stemmed from firm conviction.

Whether it was power derived from the lineage Karanden loved like a daughter, or thanks to this black Yanglin, she could clearly feel and know it. The trembling of the soul calling this dragon egg…

Barlzen shook his head decisively.

"That's nonsense. Everything ends the moment one becomes undead! The soul becomes corrupted! Killing and burning them is the last mercy we can offer!"

"Mercy, mercy, mercy."

"Please, help me get to Alakish. Barlzen, Peach."

Barlzen was about to shake his head in annoyance, but then shuddered at a scream from behind.

As many as five warriors had their waists severed by the massive inertia of Alakish's tail… Frisbia, exploiting that weakness, tore off its wings.

Alakish sorrowfully roared, then opened its maw wide at Frisbia and spewed forth putrid blood.

"It's not that I don't understand your feelings, but Lord Alakish is already…"

Mumbling that, Barlzen turned back to Kasena and, seeing something clear and resolute shining in her eyes, fell silent.

"It's Alakish, who has upheld her mission for 1400 years. But, but… if it ends like that, that's, that's too sad…"

How should one explain it, should it be called the morning star of hope?

In those eyes, Barlzen felt something inexpressible by any language… the same dull tremor in his chest he felt when he saw Rain shed tears for them on the day they arrived in Ravenfell.

Perhaps that was why, a moment later, he found himself smiling without even realizing it. And saying this to himself.

"Alright, let's try it. If we fail, what more can happen than death?"