“Ugh!!”
“Sigh!!”
[Ugh!!]
Leje, Kurt, and Fenrir rushed in from three directions, pouring their attacks towards Keres.
“Disappointing.”
However, the trio’s attacks were simply blocked by Keres’ sword and his two arms.
Next, Keres lifted the staff in his remaining hand, and ominous magic began to surge from the skull atop the staff.
At the same time, Leje, Kurt, and Fenrir fell back, and violet lightning exploded around Keres.
The terrain engulfed in the lightning was literally uprooted and destroyed, while Rudell, watching the scene, began to summon his magic power.
The ground beneath Keres’ feet was covered in a black shadow, and something in the shape of a giant hand surged up from within it.
“Shadow Binding!”
Slowly lifting his hand, Rudell clenched his fist, and with that movement, shadowy hands lunged towards Keres.
Countless hands squeezed him from all sides, and Keres created a barrier made of magic to fend off Rudell’s spell.
As Rudell’s magic clashed with Keres’ barrier, torrents of magic flowed out in every direction, and for a moment, their magic engaged in a struggle of strength.
-Clang!!
With a sharp sound, their magic shattered, scattering the dissipated magic into the air like crystal shards.
“Impressive. I heard you absorbed scraps of the Holy Sword, and it certainly lives up to its name.”
“Oh? Then try to withstand this.”
As Keres voiced a brief comment, Rudell responded by waving his hand towards the air once more.
With Rudell’s movement, a black light-emitting magic circle appeared around Keres, then transformed into an endless abyss, starting to suck in everything around it.
“Whaat!?”
“Ugh…!!”
[Growl!!]
The power was so strong that even though Leje and the others were at a considerable distance, they had to brace themselves against the ground to avoid being sucked in.
But…
-Screech!!
A sharp sound pierced their ears, and an ominous violet flash erupted from within the abyss.
Next, the violet sword emerged, tearing through the abyss.
The emerging violet sword split the abyss in half, and the severed abyss shattered into sparkling crystals, vanishing.
“Tch…”
What kind of monster is this?
Rudell clicked his tongue at that thought.
The strength was on a completely different level from when he encountered it in the Labyrinth Forest.
Once again, it seems nothing about this guy is going to be straightforward.
With that thought, Rudell began to channel his magic power again.
[How boring, then shall I take action this time?]
Observing the scene, Keres said that, and his staff began to emit a foreboding violet flash once more.
At the same time, Rudell started to feel vibrations beneath his feet.
“Eleor!”
“Yes!!”
“Yes!!”
As soon as he felt the tremor, Rudell shouted towards Eleor, and she knelt on the ground, beginning her prayer.
Golden divine power enveloped Rudell, Eleor, and Silphier, and Rudell covered it with a barrier made of his magic power.
In the next moment, the ground flipped and took the form of a gigantic hand, crushing Rudell and his companions on both sides.
Rudell’s barrier couldn’t withstand the pressure and shattered, and shortly after, Eleor’s barrier began to crack with a screeching sound.
But that was only for a moment.
“Hyahhhh!!”
Leje, who had rushed in an instant, struck the boulder with her sword imbued with magic, and with her attack, the boulder collapsed with a loud noise.
“Thanks!”
“Save the thanks for later! Right now, focus on taking that thing down!”
Responding to Rudell’s shout, Leje once again infused her sword with magic and charged at Keres.
As Leje, Kurt, and Fenrir engaged Keres in close combat, flashes of magic sparked around them, while Rudell let out low groans, trying to make sense of the situation.
Objectively speaking, the situation wasn’t great.
If they were in perfect condition, it might have been different, but after consecutive battles against monstrous beasts and the church, Rudell and his party weren’t doing too well either.
Even Rudell, with way more magic power than everyone here combined, could feel his magical output noticeably weakened, so it went without saying how the others were faring.
“Hmm…”
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t see a way out, and Rudell could only let out low groans.
He had faced countless crises until now, but this time, he just couldn’t see a path forward.
Then, at that moment.
[How weak! So pitifully weak! I can’t hide my despair at the fact that your abilities, which have been blocking the way of the great one, are only this much!]
“Kyah!?”
Keres shouted out, swinging his massive arm. Leje blocked the attack, but with her magic power pushed to its limits, she couldn’t fully block it.
With a scream, Leje was hurled to the ground, rolling on it. She struggled to lift her head and move to pick up her sword.
“You bastard!!”
“Khuhh!!”
Seeing this, Kurt and Fenrir charged at Keres, but they too were in no condition to fight.
[Not a chance!]
“Kuh!?”
“Khuhng!?”
After a brief exchange of blows, even Kurt and Fenrir couldn’t withstand Keres’ attack and took solid hits.
With painful voices, the two were thrown back like Leje and rolled on the ground, groaning as they stood back up. But as if to show they had reached their limits, they trembled significantly.
“Damn it…”
At this rate, they would be wiped out.
Thinking that, curses slipped from Rudell’s lips.
Now that it had come to this, there was only one way left.
It was a tough decision but far better than having everyone perish.
“Huuh…”
Rudell took a deep breath and slowly composed himself, drawing up all the remaining magic power he had.
[Oh? You’re still trying to do something even at this stage? I must commend your mental strength.]
“Shut up! I didn’t want to push it this far either!”
As he replied, Rudell continued to gather his magic power, while Keres, watching the scene, slowly raised his hand.
A sinister purple magic began to gather at his fingertips, creating a threatening resonating sound.
Even seeing that, Rudell kept drawing up magic power.
At this point, it was do or die.
It was all or nothing.
[But did you really think I’d just let that slide?]
At the same time, the magic gathered at Keres’ fingertips took the form of a beam and shot straight towards Rudell.
Yet, Rudell didn’t budge an inch.
In the next moment.
“WHOOOOAAAAA-!!!”
Leje, who had jumped in, blocked the beam in front of Rudell.
With a sharp sound, Leje’s sword intercepted the beam, and magic flames erupted around her as she was pushed back.
“Uugh… Uggghhh…!!”
It must have been a painfully strong attack, as Leje struggled, biting down so hard that blood trickled from the corners of her mouth.
“RAAAAHHH!!”
With a fierce battle cry, Leje deflected Keres’ beam, altering its trajectory to shoot up and hit the ceiling of the cave.
With a huge explosion shaking the cave, Keres looked at her with amusement.
[I must commend that tenacity. Now then…]
Behind Keres, numerous flashes of magic began to appear, and Leje’s eyes widened in surprise.
Even for her, it would be tough to withstand such an attack in this state.
[Do you think you can block this too?]
“Block it? That’s not my job!”
However, she did not move an inch.
It was a critical moment, but her eyes burned with more determination than ever.
“I’ll protect Rudell no matter when or where! Even at the cost of my life!!”
[Such a tearful love. Well then, let’s just take that life away, shall we?]
With her last remnants of magic being squeezed out, an explosive aura burst forth from her body, and Keres chuckled mockingly as he flicked his finger towards her.
And with that signal, countless beams began to rain down on her.
“AAAAAAH-!!”
Letting out a scream that was nearly monstrous, Leje deflected Keres’ attack.
The beams ricocheted in all directions, causing both big and small explosions, and the shockwave reached just a few meters away from Rudell.
“Please… just hold on a little longer.”
Watching the scene unfold, Rudell felt as if his heart were burning with anxiety.
It was so hard for Rudell to watch her pull every ounce of strength, even the strength of a nursing baby, just to buy time.
But still, Rudell couldn’t stop.
She knew all too well that if she stopped now, the precious time she had earned for her would go up in smoke.
“Please… please!!”
Calmly, even faster.
As Rudell squeezed out the last drop of magic power, time felt like it was stretching into hundreds or thousands of years.
“Got it…!!”
Feeling enough magic power gathered, Rudell unleashed it without a moment of hesitation.
In the next moment, an abyssal darkness began to spread around Rudell, darker than the abyss itself.
The darkness started swallowing all light.
Keres’ attack, the light of magic Leje created, and even the divine radiance that always surrounded Eleor.
All the light was sucked into the darkness, becoming pitch-black gloom.
[What a terrifying amount of magic power, but did you think I would just sit back and take it?]
Said Keres as he began to move his body to escape the range of the magic.
But…
“Do you think I’m such a fool that I wouldn’t think of that?”
[Oh…? This is…]
As Rudell replied, gigantic hands emerged from the abyss and started to grab him.
Clearly caught off guard, a short gasp escaped Keres’ lips…
“You’re too late…”
Watching the scene, Leje collapsed and closed her eyes.
“Fenrir! Save Leje!!”
[Kuheung!!]
With Eleor’s shout, Fenrir, who had rushed toward Leje, bit her and escaped from the range of the magic.
[This little magic…!!]
To shake off the black hands grabbing him, Keres unleashed attacks in all directions, but even more hands sprang from the darkness, grabbing his body.
“I’ll admit, right now it seems we can’t defeat you.”
[You…!!]
“So I swear right here, the next time we meet, I will definitely kill you.”
[Damn it… Rudellheit Weinstein-!!!!]
As soon as Rudell’s oath ended, the hands that seized Keres began to sink into the abyss, dragging him along.
Keres’ shouting figure gradually disappeared into the abyss, and as if nothing had happened, the ground swallowed by the abyss returned to its original state.
And at that moment…
“Ugh…”
Rudell felt a severe dizziness wash over him, and his vision turned upside down.
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