Book 7 Chapter 18
Episode 167
"Was it Shar'kas, you said?"
A green lightning bolt flashes in the violently and sluggishly, diagonally pouring rain. A night where a horrifyingly humid storm rages.
"A name too hateful even to recall. Is that exceedingly arrogant face still the same?"
The two absolute beings glared at each other for a moment in that world reeking of the universe's stench, then the next moment each began to unleash their transcendent power.
"You don't need to fret, I'll let you confront him directly. Arise."
The quantity (量) rune of the mental barrier shone. Innumerable runes emerged from the magic circle, pairing up in fours to form a dozen or so ranks.
"Rune engraving alteration."
The moment the runes of flow (流) and reverence (尊) simultaneously erupted, runes like 'Air Flotation' transformed into 'Explosion', 'Incineration', and other such runes, turning into a fiery storm accompanied by intense light.
The method of using Karenden's power, from an era when gods fought for the fate of worlds, wielding innumerable elemental abilities beyond their limits.
A humble, degraded version of that power, which involved preparing a dozen or so spells in advance and assigning suitable forms of power according to combat situations.
"───?!"
A carpet of flames incessantly spread across the ground.
Innumerable surging fiery thunderbolts.
There was no temporal gap between the explosions of that transcendent power.
'If only you.'
Blazing flames, the flash when all things sink into ashes, an absolute storm charging through the heart of that power.
'If only you weren't here.'
A clash of power unimaginable even to humans who had reached the pinnacle of their art.
'That pitiful one.'
Amidst that transcendent battle haze, the young man busily moved through the rotting forest, avoiding tornadoes of miasma and unleashing transcendent flames.
'Would have lived and died many times happier.'
Mortal emotions, flames laden with the exaltation of the soul, burned even more intensely, scattering primeval heat across heaven and earth.
There was no preparation time or power vacuum in this rampage of power, which always exists when a mortal handles immense power.
So much so that the absolute being confronting him raised an eyebrow in bewilderment.
'A priest of Karenden? A clone? This is an astonishing level. That troublesome woman couldn't even wield Karenden's power this similarly.'
Against that power, feathers of decay flew in grotesquely unnatural trajectories, spreading a storm of death.
'The potential is indeed outstanding, but it's not enough to have buried Shar'kas, what is the meaning of this?'
The red-eyed young man suppressed a twitch at the corner of his mouth and skillfully struck it away with his staff.
And the next moment, he simultaneously fired five 4-star fire spells.
It seemed as if he would be utterly incinerated by the explosive flames, but the absolute master of time instantly regenerated his body from within the ice of *Juyeosogye Dae-ban*.
"Heh, hehahahahaha, are you hiding your power from me, Bel has? Truly contemptible! Unleash your full strength!"
The being, with the bitter smile of that old boy's face, shook its wings widely and swooped down at a speed transcending the limits of perception.
"Kuk…!"
As mud and water wildly surged up from the impact of the rapid descent, the young man blocked the fan's blade swung by the absolute being with his staff, deflected its force sideways, and thrust his staff forward.
One exchange, five exchanges, ten exchanges.
The absolute being's movements, rapidly moving its small body with its colossal wings and aiming for blind spots in his vision, were like a supernatural typhoon.
'This guy, his movements are getting faster and faster.'
Then, amidst the sparks of the clash, the staff, which had deflected a fan made of meteoric iron, deeply pierced its neck.
The absolute being's wing claw tore long and deep across the young man's hand and back.
'He's starting to adapt to Rin's body… I have to finish this quickly.'
The young man immediately burned off the flesh where the abyss's decay had begun, then kicked off a rock and retreated far back. He formed a seal upon landing.
"First Thunder."
A part of the transcendent flame, waiting in the sky according to the caster's command, was unleashed at that moment.
A blade of flame, descending from the yellowing, decaying mountain range, stripping away all colors and sounds, instantly annihilated the decay and impurity that had plagued the mountain of fire.
Except for one place, where that lightning strike had fallen.
"Time…?"
Not even 10 seconds should have passed yet, and the manipulation speed is getting faster and faster. Too fast for *Bel Kyureus* to interfere.
By the time cold sweat streamed down his forehead like rain, Nariaduke was already behind him.
The distance was just a step and a bit more, *ppudeuk*, the moment his old finger joints let out an ominous bone-cracking sound as they thrust towards his heart.
"This is the period to your destiny."
That cramped gap of death (殺) was ponderously split by a holy sword, emitting dazzling holy light.
"Gaumris!"
The young man's bangs violently swayed, and the absolute being's right hand was crushed by the pressure and simultaneously incinerated in light by the special ability, light pressure (光壓).
"The holy sword, regardless of its authenticity, is indeed a troublesome item…"
The absolute being spread its three pairs of wings and ascended into the sky, above its head, firebolts rained down one after another.
The absolute being wildly shifted its flight path, avoiding the first lightning bolt and blocking the second by transferring the ground above.
But the next moment, a third lightning bolt struck directly on its head, and the overwhelming heat and firepower slammed its body violently into the ground.
Of course, the body, covered in ice again, instantly began to regenerate, but…
"Thanks to you, I'm alive."
Kneeling on one knee, he regulated his breathing and expressed his gratitude. Peyquerier, known for his blunt personality, waved his hand, skipping pleasantries.
"Is it a desperate struggle, or do you have a plan?"
"It's just a desperate struggle."
(I do.)
(I can't say it aloud because they might hear.)
When he conveyed his true intentions with just the movement of his lips, Milonne's lips twitched upwards, and he gripped Gaumris with both hands.
"Then let's struggle together. Any experience fighting in sync with a warrior?"
Five years. Not just any warrior, but the hero you praise as a champion.
Lister Alter Sherpen, specifically.
He couldn't say that, so he just shrugged his chin, indicating not to worry.
"Then…"
Cutting himself off, Milonne took a deep breath, kicked off the ground, and approached Nariaduke at a speed that transcended limits, arriving right before his eyes.
As Nariaduke swung his fan to manipulate providence and suppress the surrounding space with a storm of miasma, a firebolt struck slightly behind him.
It delivered a direct hit without affecting Milonne, scattering the corrupt wind powerlessly, and shaking the ground to break his stance.
Into that instantaneous gap, Milonne plunged.
"Huh."
Blocking Gaumris's strike with his fan, the being flew into the sky, and firebolts poured down onto his flight path.
Overwhelmed by the pressure, his flight became slightly unstable, and the moment he finally used the power of time deletion.
"Got him."
Power cooldown.
Immediately, Milonne stepped forward, ascended into the sky, and Gaumris was plunged into Nariaduke's back.
"Ugh…!"
At the same time, Milonne kicked off a foothold formed by magic and landed on the ground.
Many times faster than the falling absolute being.
Even before landing, transcendent light power (光力) was concentrating on Gaumris, which he held tightly in both hands.
"Three Sparrow Bee Sting, Style 14, Sky Severing Punishment."
Did it sense danger?
Mid-air posture control, the last lightning bolt struck the absolute being's body as it flapped its wings, trying to escape Gaumris's range…
Just as it was about to be slammed into the ground, the supreme holy sword Gaumris, tracing a large arc of light, flew in and shattered the abyssal body.
"A meaningless struggle."
However, even as its upper body was torn from its lower body by that single strike, Nariaduke smiled wryly.
And… no?
Suddenly, the young man realized something was terribly wrong, his hair standing on end. Something, something changed in the blink of an eye.
"You… you are tired. Unlike you, I, Nariaduke, am growing accustomed to this body, making it a suitable vessel to receive all my gifts."
Time had flown. But it was completely different from before, the scale of time that had flown…
It seemed that the time 'to recover its body with *Juyeosogye Dae-ban*' and the time 'from emerging from the ice to binding Milonne's limbs with dark blue wind' had all been deleted.
He had only closed and opened his eyes for an instant, thinking he was controlling the power with *Bel Kyureus*, but the situation had progressed that far.
'Insane…'
Though a comparison was impossible from the start, would Shar'kas have inflicted such helplessness if he had used his full power from the beginning?
"Why does that irreverent gaze still not disappear… Bel has? What do you see amidst the vortex of causality determined before creation…?"
Milonne tore away the binds with superhuman strength and charged, but it was meaningless.
Nariaduke easily evaded the attack by flying into the air.
The absolute being, with its eyes hidden by the fan's blade, its third eye on its forehead ominously twisted, seemed to point the fan at Milonne.
"Is it this forged vessel? Or…"
Suddenly, it swung its fan, tearing space lengthwise, and instantly pulled someone from another space.
This bastard…
The red young man's lips turned pale.
"Is it this one, plotting an insolent scheme while pretending to struggle and buying time?"
Valensidis and Pipi.
Valensidis, who had five layers of magic circles rotating on his palm and chanted spells with his mouth, looked up with a start from the long-unfurled scroll.
It was truly remarkable that he didn't disrupt the flow of magic or the texture of his incantation even in that moment of bewilderment, but now Valensidis was…
'Completely defenseless.'
It was as if he stood naked before the enemy.
"Do not move a single finger. The moment you move, I will scatter this insolent apostate's flesh and blood across the mountain range."
The young man and Milonne, who had been subtly moving, had to immediately halt their actions at that warning.
Valensidis's audacity, not ceasing to synthesize power even with Nariaduke right behind him, was hard to believe, but…
The red-eyed young man gasped for breath and spoke with an urgent voice.
"You don't move either, Pipi."
"Pipi, Pipi, Pipi."
"Please, I beg you, don't move."
In the suffocating silence, as if the world lay on a blade, the absolute being walked before Valensidis with noble, dignified steps.
Then, it lifted Valensidis's chin with its fan, met his gaze, and smiled chillingly.
"You, too, are worthy of receiving the gift of time… a be ses… I will make allowances for a moment's irreverence…"
Then, the next moment, it grabbed Valensidis's neck and lifted him into the air. Stabbing its two wing claws into his abdomen.
"Va, Valensidis!"
The area pierced by the claws, glistening with an indescribably bizarre miasma… first, his flesh gradually began to monstrously transform, into aberrant feathers.
"Damn it, Nariaduke, you son of a bitch!"
Even as Valensidis coughed up frothy red blood, he didn't stop consolidating his power, but… at this rate, the situation was obvious.
Though his resistance to the abyss was strong, making his mutation slower than others, Valensidis would eventually transform into Nariaduke's servant, a monstrous bird.
At that moment, Pipi, unable to bear the sight, finally shook off flames with his wings and soared up, and Nariaduke was about to strike Pipi down with his fan as if it were nothing.
"……?!"
From the darkness, an ominous aura glittered in myriad colors, then sharply tore through space.
'What…'
Milonne, the most proficient in swordsmanship in this place, felt his eyes tremble.
That ripple of magic sharply cutting through the air, that wave of power splitting dimensions, it wasn't a mage's *gyeol* (ManaCircle) or an archer's or ronin's *shim* (Manaheart).
It was a state attainable only by swordsmen who wield *swae* (ManaChain) when they reach the pinnacle through true communion with their sword. It was *geomgi* (sword energy).
'Sword energy? How? No one among the Peyqueriers can wield sword energy right now.'
Perhaps it was because, unlike mages, their power was greatly influenced by catalysts, i.e., equipment.
Though it wasn't even half of the power that legend said could make waterfalls flow backward, it was enough to catch the unsuspecting Nariaduke off guard.
The sword energy, glittering with an eerie light, easily cut off the absolute being's hand and wing, which were corrupting Valensidis, as if cutting silk.
"This is…"
Everyone's gaze, except Valensidis, was drawn to the source of the sword energy.
"What?"
The swordsman standing there, staring blankly at the blade with a look of confusion, was… Miria.
"Such a being wasn't present in the storm of causality that the True King personally showed."
The bandage wrapped around the blade was still partially undone, but a sinister light, identical to the sword energy, flowed like ripples on the blade's surface, proving its nature as a cursed blade.
"Abwoot-!"
And the baby dragon on her back waved vigorously and warmly to the young man.
But the young man had no time to return the greeting; he could only scream, his throat tearing.
"Here, why did you come here!"
Had Nariaduke decided he needed to eliminate the threat immediately? He instantly generated a storm of miasma and moved in that direction.
'Run away? A swordsman who uses sword energy? She's a being beyond the Peyqueriers, why would she run?'
Even as he thought that, Milonne, feeling doubt because her presence was of a lower caliber than what he expected from a master of sword energy, kicked off the ground.
Nariaduke deleted the time when 'the supreme holy sword Gaumris and the lightning of crematory blood attack him,' and reached Miria's eyes in the blink of an eye.
"Ugh…!"
Miria hastily adopted a stance and swung her cursed sword, but it was far inferior to Kashasur, a holy relic of the abyss; the blade split in two the moment it collided with the fan.
"…No, there's no need for that."
Valensidis, sprawled on the muddy ground, coughing up blood, said.
On his palm, the runes of the spell he had whispered and the runes of the magic circle beautifully intertwined.
That harmonious combination of power then shattered with a clear pop.
"───!"
"───!"
"───!"
At that moment, at that very moment, everything happened in an explosive instant.
First, Valensidis's spatiotemporal dark magic moved Miria to their location.
Then the mountain range vibrated as if roaring, and vast radiance began to surge into the sky from the three peaks.
"Hmm…?!"
Those beams of light burned away the dark clouds covering the sky, opening a path to the night sky, and simultaneously combined overhead, then plummeted.
Towards the absolute being, Nariaduke.
When the astoundingly beautiful, pure blue power covered heaven and earth, stealing their sight, they couldn't tell what was happening.
"R, R, R, RuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaKKKKKKKKKKKKKK─────!"
Only the absolute being's scream roughly hinted at the situation.
Milonne, who could see through the flash with the dragon's power dwelling in his body, saw it.
Below a hole nearly twenty meters deep, Nariaduke writhed in agony, amid the endless frost covering his body no matter how much he struck it away.
"What, what in the world, is this, NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU─────!"