Chapter End – 5
ㅡKuh-oohhh!!!!
A mighty roar erupted between the jaws of the Creature that Devours the World, shaking the ground. The crimson liquid compressed to the limit quivered violently.
The Dragon plummeted faster and faster. It flapped its wings, desperately trying to soar back up, but it was nothing but a futile effort.
The sight of a dragon the size of a small mountain descending to the ground was quite a spectacle.
Then, Kwahhhhh! echoed. It was the sound made as the Creature that Devours the World slammed into the blood-soaked ground. It stood firm on its four legs, growling lowly from its maw.
The tremors caused by the impact began to settle. I approached closer to it. Its wide wings had stopped moving altogether, as if it had realized that trying to take off was pointless.
“Finally, we’re at eye level. Right?”
There was a significant gap to claim we were similar, but at least I no longer had to look up at it when it soared above.
Perhaps it was feeling its pride wounded, as its left front leg anxiously scratched at the ground. The crimson liquid compressed to the limit spread in all directions.
It began to move slowly.
The recent spell was only meant to inhibit its flight, as it had in the game. So it could still walk around on all fours without issue.
‘Now I can finally fight properly.’
But now, I was able to fight back too. I just had to do everything as I had in the game.
The patterns I had added to the Darkest Light Mod based on Eclipse‘s experience fighting the Creature that Devours the World were immensely abundant, and since it couldn’t fly anymore, most of its actions would likely fall within those patterns.
Whether it was an unconscious movement or a deliberate one, it’s almost an understatement to say that most of the patterns used in the Darkest Light Mod would show up in this situation.
‘The currently applied spell is probably making it even more so.’
It was a creature from Brightest Darkness 4. As long as I was careful not to be surprised by a sudden attack from behind like last time, everything else was already in my head. There was no need to panic, nor any reason to.
That thing was just the final boss from a game that I had caught barehanded, even while equipped with the Darkest Light Mod.
Regaining my composure, I faced off against the Creature that Devours the World. It was slowly approaching me. Its crimson pupils glowed ominously.
Its movements sharpened gradually, and soon, the sounds of Thud! Thud! combined with tremors as the giant dragon, akin to a small mountain, charged toward me.
‘It’s a charge pattern…and the attack starts with the left leg.’
Having just scraped the ground with its right leg, the first attack would indeed come from the left. Just as I had expected, it raised its left front leg halfway before slamming it down.
Confirming the trajectory of the approaching claws, I swung the Wingless Nightmare and parried the attack. It wasn’t the usual sharp metallic sound heard when parrying, but rather a Boom! like a projectile striking.
‘Ugh.’
A tingling sensation surged through my arm. My body suddenly felt heavy. That meant combat fatigue was filling me up.
Because the rune that allowed me to ignore the combat fatigue debuff had vanished, the debuff began applying again. It had been a while since I felt such a sensation, and I almost dropped the sword.
Even with most of my previous memories recovered and my stats considerably risen, I ended up like this. Given the size difference, it might be a natural outcome, though.
I plunged my sword into the crimson liquid to steady myself. Even so, my body was pushed backward uncontrollably.
The Creature that Devours the World rose on its back legs, seeming about to trample me beneath its claws.
‘I can’t parry that.’
In the game, it was possible to parry that. But if I did, I would immediately be subjected to the follow-up biting attack.
That couldn’t be parried, meaning I would have to roll to evade without fail, but parrying the front leg attack would lead to a full-on combat fatigue.
What happens when I’m fully fatigued? Naturally, I can’t roll.
ㅡKwahhhh!
Counting to myself inwardly, I precisely timed it as its claws came rushing toward me, rolling into the inside of its body. That was the right move.
As soon as I got under its abdomen, an incredible noise erupted as if an earthquake had started. The ground shook violently. A shockwave exploded, making my body stagger.
‘If I had gotten hit, I would’ve been in real trouble.’
In that state, I intended to use True Death upward, but I quickly dodged as a chilling sensation crept up my neck. In less than a second, something had brushed past the very spot I had just occupied.
There wasn’t even time to identify what had passed. The Creature that Devours the World once again stood on its back legs and unleashed a pitch-black breath towards the ground beneath it.
It was much earlier than the game.
“Scatter!”
I shot the breath away with a spell while my opportunity to attack flew away too. As I retreated and created distance, an enormous, thick tail came flying toward me.
Desperately swinging the Wingless Nightmare, I parried it. My legs, unable to absorb all the recoil, lifted off the ground. They would only touch down again after floating for nearly 4-5 seconds.
As I landed atop the crimson liquid, it lowered its raised front leg. The crimson glow glimmered more ominously.
‘Just one solid attack, and it’s over.’
This was not the type of fight where I could take just one hit while it needed to hit me hundreds of times to defeat me like in a Brightest Darkness 4 boss battle.
The moment that pesky thing gets hit with True Death, it’s game over, and the moment I allow any attack of any kind, it’s also game over. It was a battle of who could land that valid hit first.
Of course, the odds were heavily in its favor. Unlike me, whose mana and faith were completely sealed, the Creature that Devours the World was merely grounded; all its other abilities were intact.
So I had to be cautious. While I did draw it down to the ground, I hadn’t sealed its spells. If it caught onto my moves, it would block every True Death I attempted.
While I was contemplating how to land True Death on the Creature that Devours the World, it flapped its wings and soared up.
ㅡYou think you can stop me with such a trivial trick……?!
For a moment, I thought the effect of the spell had ended, causing my heart to skip a beat, but upon closer inspection, that wasn’t the case. Its flight speed was markedly slow compared to before, and its altitude wasn’t high at all.
It was more like it was ignoring some of the laws of the world, as it had done in the game.
The Creature that Devours the World roared toward the sky. Meteors made of fire and lava poured down from the dark sky. During all this, its crimson pupils were precisely fixed on me.
As soon as I showed any signs of vulnerability, it would unleash its breath. Knowing my poorly executed True Death would be blocked, it understood that its poorly executed breath would also be thwarted.
‘It won’t stay airborne long. I have to focus on evasion for now.’
Because that’s how it went in the game. If it ascended from its previous position, it would land after spinning clockwise seven times.
The meteors collided with the ground, causing explosions. I dodged one by rolling aside, allowing another to pass me. I evaded all the subsequent ones as well.
After dodging dozens of meteors, the surroundings had turned into a sea of flames. Not only the ones that fell around me but also hundreds of meteors had erupted in various locations.
The crimson liquid mirrored the orange flames, creating a phantasmagorical atmosphere.
ㅡKuh-woom!
The Creature that Devours the World could no longer endure. Its four legs landed on the scorching inferno, showing no concern for stepping onto the black flame.
As soon as it landed, it moved to kill me. Left leg, right leg, and it lowered its head to bite, followed by two consecutive slams with its left leg and finally twisting its entire body to deliver a tail swipe.
It was the same pattern as in the game.
After parrying the final attack, I took a moment to catch my breath. As the combat fatigue lessened, my heavy limbs returned to their original weight. I lightly shook my arms and gripped the sword handle firmly again.
Seeing that none of my attacks had landed, it clicked its teeth in annoyance. Given its sheer size, even that simple action resonated with a brutal rumble.
‘If only I could use mana…’
I was equally discontented with the current situation. Grounding that thing was merely the bare minimum. It only offered the chance to win, nothing more.
If I hadn’t ended up in a barehanded run, it would have been far smoother than it was now.
As we were about to clash again, the crimson vertically aligned pupil that had been solely focused on me shifted sideways.
I did the same. Instead of the subtle sensation that had persistently clung to my skin since I arrived here, a sensation akin to a cool breeze swept over me.
“……Huh?”
In the center of the red earth, the Sun and Moon began to rise. Beneath the dark sky, they shone radiantly, golden and silver, above the crimson sea.
“What is that…?”
I was dumbfounded. The presence of that colored light could only mean one thing.
From within it, human silhouettes began to appear. The first figure to emerge from the golden light was Floretta, followed closely by Luna walking out of the silver light.
The last to appear was Kaiquilia, her beautifully adorned Holy Sword shimmering faintly in her right hand.
‘…Did they already succeed?’
Arriving here meant they had awakened True Death. Furthermore, they hadn’t lost their souls despite sharing my memories.
Kaiquilia frowned as she surveyed the area. Floretta and Luna also scanned around and broke into bright smiles upon spotting me.
But that didn’t last long. Just as they beamed, their faces suddenly turned pale. Kaiquilia reacted similarly, stiffening her expression before grasping her Holy Sword.
All three seemed to be acting strangely. It certainly wasn’t a welcoming atmosphere.
Floretta and Luna had ghostly pale faces, and Kaiquilia radiated murderous intent.
Perhaps something had gone wrong, I looked down at my body. I had rolled to evade and, not having time for a cleanup, my body was splattered with the red liquid that looked just like blood.
“……”
So that was it.
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