Book 7 Chapter 11

Chapter 160

Though it was broad daylight, it was as dark as midnight due to the rain clouds that had swallowed the sky black. On the New Moon, when the sun sets and even the moon disappears, complete darkness would descend upon the world.

"Fire."

As Toureina's command fell, flames surged up from the fifteen pillars of the Belakior Temple, where torrents of highly toxic acid rain flowed down in waves.

In the past, from these pillars, flames more noble than gold would rise, illuminating the darkness of the world. Not like now, where dark blue flames swallowed the light.

The center of power was the Polantir altar, where the whelping dragon whimpering, bound in chains, the boy trapped in ice, and the Veltar Divine Stone, emanating the colors of the universe, were placed.

"Ah, ow, abuwut!"

From the central circle of the magic circle drawn there, a ferocious darkness overflowed, and soon began to spread in all directions as if a dam had burst.

「Ah… fate begins.」

As the darkness split, unfolded, and rushed along its trajectory, the ground, eroded by rainwater, collapsed, and the forests melted away.

The power of sorcery heading towards the other three peaks, waves of terror imbued with the damp chill of graves, and the temples of the peaks seized by the abyss resonated with this, shooting an unknown darkness into the sky.

Gugugugugugugu…

As tens of thousands of crows flew black into the sky, the earth began to shake violently.

"The omen has begun…"

It was also visible to the trio leaping over the rain-slicked mountainside. As Valencidis narrowed his eyes, Miria, who was pulling Rein up, asked.

"Omen?"

"You could call it a preparatory step to start the ritual precisely at midnight. In terms of magic, it would be a formulaic calculation."

"No time to talk… Let's go."

The high-frequency noise emitted by the darkness piercing the sky gradually subsided, but soon, explosions, shouts, and screams began to resound loudly from various parts of the mountain.

The power of sorcery exploded, severed limbs scattered blood in the air, and the sounds of magic and sorcery, spears and swords clashing, flowed amidst the rain.

On the three peaks, a bloody battle where their beliefs clashed must have begun.

- The Witches of the Seven Calamities (칠흉) will be guarding the three peaks.

Valencidis explained it that way.

The Seven Calamities were usually described as "buds" rather than "roots," former Arch-Witches or practitioners of Arch-Witch level skill.

Yuliana pointed to each detail on the meticulously drawn map of the mountain terrain and said.

- "Rivendell will take the Jiseon Peak in the northwest, the Fayquarrier Legion will take the Yeomgyeong Peak in the southeast, and the Musehyeon and the Witches' Association will take the Hwayeon Peak in the south."

- "Where are we going?"

- "The center of the magic circle, Sinhwa Peak. Climb the Thousand Steps to retrieve the true dragon's remains. And meet Toureina."

The Thousand Steps, though called "Thousand Steps," was not a thousand steps but a staircase with a thousand landings.

Just knowing this, one could more than guess the height of Sinhwa Peak, which was twice as high as the other peaks.

Following Miria's guidance, they advanced silently, assassinating watchers, but even such an advance had its limits.

"Intruders!"

From beyond the gloomy staircase, the outlines of countless conical hats became visible, and soon the powers of sorcery converged into numerous points of light.

"Get out of the way…!"

Before that power could manifest as force, before the supernatural ability could take shape. Before the sound could escape his mouth.

"…Bel Querius!"

0101010001, as it transformed into a ferocious inferno within his mouth, the incantation turned into a painful scream.

He couldn't kill. Not as he was, unable to even resolve to kill Toureina.

Starting with neutralizing the witches, corpses stumbled out from both sides of the staircase.

The victims whose hearts had been eaten by the corpse crows were mostly mountain villagers, but there were also adventurers, soldiers, and even magical beasts.

And displaying an extraordinary presence, a witch in a dark blue conical hat stood at the very back of the defense line. She must be one of the Seven Calamities.

"I don't understand, Valencidis. You, who received the greatest favor from her, why? Indeed, as Lady Frede's famous saying goes, men are not to be trusted."

Almost simultaneously with the end of her words, without even time to interfere with Bel Querius, a rapid incantation of 3-star sorcery was performed.

"Regina is a troublesome opponent. I'll handle her. You go on ahead."

At that moment, Valencidis unfurled his iron fan with a snap and stepped forward.

He forcefully changed the flow of wind. The wind, forged into crescent-shaped blades, tore apart the flesh and blood of the corpse crow hosts rushing from both sides.

Taking that as a signal, the witches assigned by Yuliana also engaged with the waves of death surging from all directions, and as flashes and explosions burst chaotically, I was running forward.

‘Let's go together until the end, we weren't in a position to exchange such sentimental words, and there was no time either.’

In the distant sky above, covering Sinhwa Peak, the abyss of darkness was gradually deepening.

‘I have to go.’

He desperately moved his feet through the wind and rain. The joints of his still-not-fully-recovered body creaked painfully.

‘I must go to them.’

In the tremendous gale, Seresia's clothes fluttered wildly, and she nearly lost her balance more than once or twice, but she did not stop her feet for a single moment.

- Abuwut!

- Master!

What if Aki's body was harmed? Although the possibility of that was close to zero since he had to be offered as a complete living sacrifice. What if the ritual started earlier than expected due to fiercer resistance?

‘Toureina.’

What if Fayquarrier swiftly conquered Yeomgyeong Peak with his overwhelming might and moved to Sinhwa Peak, the center of the magic circle, to kill Toureina?

‘Hurry, I must hurry.’

Behind them, the clamor of crow caws and clashing magic gradually faded into the distance and was vaguely buried by the sound of rain, becoming quiet.

Swaaaaaa…

As if a hole had been torn in the sky, in the fiercely pouring rain, not even five meters ahead was visible.

At some point while running up the stairs through the downpour, a column of darkness, dimly flickering beyond the curtain of rain, rapidly faded.

Miria, whose eyesight was much better than mine, said.

"Southeast… it's Yeomgyeong Peak."

"Yeomgyeong, Yeomgyeong, Yeomgyeong, Yeomgyeong."

It must be a sign that Milone Alter Gaumris had subdued the mission area and neutralized its magic circle. Fayquarrier indeed… incredibly fast.

I must hurry.

Heavy humidity weighed down on his shoulders, and body heat rapidly drained from his soaked body.

‘This damned *Changmyeong Sipiyeon* (Hymn of the Blue Dawn)… how much has it weakened my physical functions?'

Each time he blasted away crows or witches blocking his path with columns of fire, his threadbare stamina depleted even faster.

"Damn it, damn it…"

In a moment when his vision blurred, his foot slipped on the stairs and he nearly fell, but Miria immediately grabbed his arm.

"Just a little more! We're almost there!"

Meanwhile, Toureina, who was observing the rapidly changing situation with a pipe in her mouth in front of the Polantir altar, was bathed in light emitted by the Veltar Divine Stone.

「Ru shi han ter…… Proceed with the ritual of fate.」

"The sun hasn't fully set yet."

「Kirhak, though the physical form will be unstable, it will be better than not having it at all, so begin immediately.」

The sorcery crows sitting by Toureina's side flew up into the wind and rain, scattering feathers, conveying her will to her confidantes stationed throughout the mountain range.

"Isn't it too early than planned?"

May, the Witch of the Seven Calamities guarding the high ground of the Thousand Steps, raised an eyebrow upon seeing the string of characters displayed by the crow.

"Hmm…?"

Far below the stairs, a series of dry explosions reverberated, and soon the source of the commotion appeared. May's eyes widened.

─"It's the dragon's guardian!"

─"Stop him from approaching Sinhwa Peak!"

The witches blocking his path, if they tried to chant, would gag and collapse, or were struck by a staff and sent sprawling down the mountain path outside the stairs.

"Lady May!"

"What happened?"

I heard he was affected by *Changmyeong Sipiyeon*.

But no matter how powerful the strength one holds in their eyes, there is always a limit in a person's vision called a blind spot (死角).

As May raised her hand, with a long, tearing cry, a deep shadow fell over the area. It was a three-eyed monstrous bird (怪鳥).

The monstrous birds that appeared, swirling strong winds in the air, dove towards the boy like arrows in an instant.

"Get lost───!"

As the boy shouted, gasping roughly, blindingly intense flames surged through the ground, and the bodies of the monstrous birds were instantly incinerated.

"…!"

Just one blow, in an instant when one couldn't even guess when the calculations were finished, he could create such a strike?

Even as she felt her eyes tremble, May smiled triumphantly. Because the multi-incantation of 4-star sorcery, coordinated with six witches, was complete.

Just as she was about to extend that intensely powerful force, enough to make the atmosphere vibrate, towards the boy, a flash of silver gleamed at the edge of her vision, and the witches screamed.

"Wha—…?"

Sliding out from the shadows, the swordsman who swiftly subdued the six witches with nimble and silent movements was Miria.

It was a surprise attack that perfectly exploited the moment of vulnerability after the incantation ended.

May, whose side was pierced by the tip of the sword, spat blood but did not relinquish control of the sorcery.

"I can't let her earnest wish be ruined…"

She diverted the enormous wave of destruction, intended for the boy, downwards, to her own feet.

───!

A section of the Thousand Steps, which had guided humanity to the divine peaks since the Age of Origins, began to crumble mercilessly with an earth-shattering tremor that felt like eardrums would burst.

The ground, weakened by the erosion of the abyss, also collapsed, becoming a landslide that poured down, raising a thick smell of earth.

He could have been swept away by that collapse. No, he would have been swept away. If Miria's thrown grappling hook hadn't instantly wrapped around the boy's arm.

‘The tree we're holding onto can't support the weight of both of us…'

The tree, with its roots exposed on the weakened ground, looked as if it would be swept away by the landslide at any moment.

The moment she realized that, Miria immediately threw herself into the chasm created by the collapse. *Siiiiiing*, using the principle of a pulley with the tree as an axis, she pulled the boy's body upward.

The boy, who had been almost flung onto the stairs, gasped in bewilderment and looked down.

"Mi-Miria!"

"Don't worry about me, go to Aki!"

Amidst the chaotic cascade of pebbles, mud, dust, branches, and all sorts of large and small landslide debris, Miria pointed with her other hand.

"I'll follow right away!"

Another iron rope, extending from her grip, was tied to a rock outcrop not caught in the landslide. The boy swallowed painfully, got up, and ran.

Just when it seemed the altitude had reached its limit, at the far end of his vision, the Thousand Steps ended, and the Great Fire Temple Belakior rose up.

Moving his body, pushed to its limit, he let out a scream like a shriek.

"Aki───!"

At Belakior Temple, as Toureina chanted the primal incantation, the *yin* energy (陰氣) forming the defensive formation became so dense it was suffocating, and the temple, no, the entire mountain range, began to shake.

Simultaneously, the moment the Veltar Divine Stone rose, emitting an unholy light, the moment that light intertwined like tendrils (though not actual tendrils) and clung like tumors to the whelping dragon's body and the frozen boy's body.

The moment the whelping dragon let out a piteous cry, the great gate of the temple, enveloped in multiple barriers, was blasted away like charcoal by the violently surging God-Slaying Flames… and from within those flames, a streak of fire shot out like an arrow.

"A-bwaat!"

That flame, condensed into the shape of a staff, *Hwarururuk*, flew, leaving swirling red afterimages in the air, and precisely struck the very center of the Veltar Divine Stone.

「Da ken ro…… What is this……?」

On the surface of the divine stone, which could not even be scratched by any steel, *Jjeojeok*, a single crack appeared with an ominous resonance.

The staff reverted to its primeval flame form and fiercely blazed in the next moment.

Then the Veltar Divine Stone, and the ominous, shapeless spirit residing within the divine stone, roared fiercely…

「Gu, gu guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa……!」

Into the reality dimension, instead of retracting the grotesque tendrils that had stretched to the whelping dragon and the boy's ice prison, it spewed repulsive poisonous gas in a gust.

"No, it can't be…!"

A lifelong wish, a longing of hundreds of years, was now before her eyes… As if trying to grasp the ancient power scattering into a handful of dust in the gust, as if trying to maintain the power of sorcery connected to the three peaks, when she desperately flailed her hands, the boy spoke.

Amidst the transcendent flames fiercely blazing and incinerating the poisonous gas that gnawed at the temple, staggering as if about to collapse at any moment.

"Toureina…"

The name of his first disciple, whom he thought he could never call again, the name of the girl he had given up on, thinking only an echo would respond if he called, in an irresistibly sad voice.

"…You foolish brat."