### Chapter: 397
A small woman with fiery red hair tumbled through a space engulfed in white flame.
Abella was experiencing searing pain for the very first time in her life.
It was hot.
Too hot, in fact.
Kraush’s white flame penetrated her defenses and burrowed itself deep into her body.
The heat etched itself into her very soul, an inescapable sensation.
“Ugh, ughh.”
Even inhaling and exhaling felt overwhelming in the scorching heat, threatening to cloud her mind.
But it seemed like her consciousness wouldn’t be allowed to fade away.
As she met the white eyes glaring at her through the light, Abella felt unable to lose her sanity.
If you want to live, struggle!
It felt like that was the message he was conveying.
Kraush was closing in.
He raised his sword to end her life.
“No, no!”
She didn’t want to die.
This was a life she wasn’t meant to end like this.
And, for the first time, she began to struggle for her life.
Images of numerous spells raced through her mind, ready to counter him.
An endless array of incantations and magical circles filled her brain.
Even her genius-level intellect felt overwhelmed; she was bleeding from her nose and tears of blood streamed down.
But whatever flowed from her, thanks to the heat, simply evaporated into nothingness.
Abella accelerated her thinking.
She rifled through the vast library of magical knowledge within her mind until time itself seemed to freeze.
I must survive.
I have to do whatever it takes to live.
As her struggle intensified, ironically, her genius began to manifest as well.
In both emotion and life.
Abella, the ancient sorceress who had discarded everything and merely lived on curiosity and the desire for magic, felt alive for the first time.
In her youth, the driving force behind a child’s rapid growth stemmed from their sense of achievement and curiosity towards life.
Having lived far too long, Abella had interpreted magic as merely a milestone for her academic pursuits.
But at this moment, she was using magic solely for her survival after thousands of years.
This realization, combined with Abella’s inherent talent for magic, was pushing her into a new realm.
The transcendental stone touched Abella’s red eyes.
Her staff had already burned away by early evening, and all that remained in her hand was the transcendental stone.
Even in such heat, the transcendental stone proved its worth, maintaining its shape without burning away.
The transcendental stone bore certain similarities to the Holy Sword.
Like the awakening of the Holy Sword, the stone acted as a sort of catalyst for power.
This meant that if she utilized the transcendental stone…
It wasn’t impossible for her to access a domain similar to Kraush’s.
The mindset of doing anything to survive had already cast aside any notions of safety.
She needed to live in order to survive.
At this point, Abella’s humanity was completely stripped away.
Even if it meant sacrificing herself.
Abella’s body erupted with vast amounts of magical power.
Endless magic etched deep into her very soul through countless reincarnations.
All of this magic was now being sucked into the transcendental stone in this moment.
The light of the galaxy inscribed within the stone began to erupt violently.
The transcendental stone, which had consumed Abella’s sacrifices, unleashed power more overwhelming than ever before.
Abella reached this point in less than 0.1 seconds after being hit by Kraush’s white flames.
It was an absurd result born from her accelerated thoughts driven by survival instinct.
By the time Kraush registered this fact, he briefly felt the world halt.
As if the entire world was stunned by the birth of a vast being, time stood still.
In the eerie stillness of the surroundings, only Kraush moved.
Abella was standing where she once was.
The transcendental stone in her hand now radiated star-like brilliance, equal to Kraush’s white flames.
Kraush’s eyebrows twitched.
He sensed that she was making her last desperate attempt.
Countless lights filled the air above her.
As Abella’s hair grew longer, her star-studded red locks danced freely in the wind.
Within Abella’s eyes, a galaxy similar to the transcendental stone shimmered.
The birth of a red star.
The sky transformed into a nightscape.
Countless stars flowed in circles across the night sky, all existing solely for one person.
The world began to revolve around a single witch.
Abella looked down at her hand, which clutched the transcendental stone.
“I see now.”
At that moment, she finally understood why she had failed to achieve the pinnacle of magic until now.
Despite her scholarly ambition towards magic.
She had forgotten the fundamental reason why beings began to create magic in the first place.
But now she understands.
Every creature lives for their own life and survival.
Having neglected this biological truth, Abella couldn’t reach the end of magic.
But thanks to Kraush at this moment, she realized her biological reason.
It was only after this realization that she finally reached the peak of magic.
“Thank you, Kraush.”
She owed him a debt of gratitude.
The synthesis of the primal reason for the existence of everything in the world and magic was something Abella would never have uncovered had it not been for Kraush.
Thus, she willingly decided to grant him the honor of demonstrating the magic born of the world.
The transcendental stone in Abella’s hand harnessed the power that moved the world.
Lines extended across the night sky, connecting the countless star-like lights.
Drawing a formation that spanned across the cosmos.
The lines connecting the stars spread forth.
Gods living in a different realm beyond this world belatedly began to understand what was happening here.
In that moment when countless gods looked on in shock and awe at the world.
In the center stood Abella, wearing the brightest smile she had ever had.
“Holy Magic.”
The ultimate magic that creates and annihilates stars.
Upon completing it, Abella activated the magic with that smile.
The big bang that marked the beginning of everything occurred.
A magic of such magnitude engulfed the world.
At that moment, Abella sensed the gaze of some deity beyond the divine realm.
The catch was that all the gods were watching her, but one specific god was looking elsewhere entirely.
Just as she pondered about that…
“Abella.”
Kraush’s voice echoed through the activation of holy magic.
“Do you know why I’m called the Glass Cannon?”
Abella’s eyes blinked in surprise.
Before she could even grasp what he meant.
Kraush slowly tightened his grip on the Holy Sword.
“Because I have the highest short-term firepower.”
“W-Wait!”
Abella’s gaze followed Kraush’s sword.
It was then she realized he was wielding something different.
The sword in his hand was not the Holy Sword.
But…
Rain Thunder Prime.
The Sword of the Ten Divine Kings that changes Aura output to the blade.
By some chance, Kraush was standing there, wielding Rain Thunder Prime.
Abella’s eyes gradually widened.
The immense power that had previously surrounded Kraush was now completely depleted.
Instead, he had funneled all that power into…
Rain Thunder Prime.
As if to mark the end with its master, Rain Thunder Prime belted and cracked.
It was overflowing with so much power that even the ten divine kings couldn’t handle it.
But all it would take was one sweeping motion to decapitate the witch.
“The Glass Cannon will always be a Glass Cannon until the end!”
“Stop…!”
Kraush’s eyes emitted intense heat.
The power pouring from Rain Thunder Prime was so overwhelming that it began to warp Abella’s holy magic.
“Just pull the trigger.”
Only once.
This one moment was something Kraush had dedicated his entire life to.
So in this one moment, Kraush felt no regret whatsoever.
“Stop it!”
Abella’s holy magic activated.
As the magic that could wipe out the world descended upon Kraush in that instant…
At the deepest part of Kraush’s mind, a final droplet of water fell.
And then, following the ensuing ripple…
Every life he had built up throughout his life screamed in unison.
Kraush stared directly at Abella, who was screaming in horror.
And he said to her:
Annihilation Erosion.
Essence of Extinction.
I will annihilate the witch of destruction.
———!
The white flames, which swallowed even sound, consumed the light of holy magic and erased everything.
Even Abella’s screams were devoured by the endlessly climbing white flames, reaching skyward towards all creation.
Crack, clang!
The holy magic circles that had filled existence shattered into fragments and faded away.
Slowly descending, a crystal-clear and bright blue sky appeared.
As if to declare that the world posed no more danger.
The hovering sky shone with clarity.
Beneath that sky, a man sat down.
Finally dropping the shattered sword, he gasped for breath.
As Kraush slowly raised his head, the bright blue sky seemed to welcome him with its light.
The last power he had unleashed merged with the world, dissolving into the air.
That spectacle was utterly beautiful.
A sense of unspeakable satisfaction filled his mouth.
Ah, I see now.
He realized that this was the feeling of accomplishment that one can achieve when attaining their only goal.
He protected it.
This damn world.
Kraush truly managed to protect it.
Upon this realization, he let out a self-deprecating laugh.
Yet, this sense of accomplishment was tinged with bitterness, still unresolved.
He couldn’t close his eyes before settling that score.
Kraush began to crawl towards his destination.
He had no strength left in his body.
His mind grew hazier by the second.
A deep sense of fatigue enveloped him; it felt almost profound enough to be considered the “deepest” in his life.
Yet, Kraush had to keep moving.
Finally, Kraush’s hand clutched a crystal orb.
The orb was none other than the transcendental stone Abella had crafted.
The transcendental stone into which she had poured her entire strength for holy magic.
It still contained an enormous amount of magical power.
With the crystal orb in hand, Kraush barely managed to catch his breath.
He then squeezed the last remnants of strength within him and poured it into the stone.
As a result, the transcendental stone began to glow anew.
Seeing this, Kraush inhaled deeply.
“You awful creature.”
Instead, he aimed to resurrect the one he had longed for.
“Let’s try to live a little better this time.”
Kraush activated the transcendental stone.
The light pouring from the stone enveloped the surroundings.
Soon after, Kraush watched as something began to form beyond the stone.
Starting from the organs, followed by muscles, bones, skin, and hair.
The moment it all connected, the being slowly opened its eyelids.
With golden eyes blinking, she scanned the area and finally locked eyes with Kraush.
“Kraush?”
The instant the voice escaped her lips, Kraush lost consciousness and collapsed.
“Kraush!”
Hearing her voice—the voice of the one he needed to save—Kraush finally fell into a peaceful slumber for the first time in ages.
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