Tidi-dik! Tick!
The power of the spirits that surged towards Aaron dissipated.
The fiercely shot wave of destruction was also thwarted by an intangible veil and faded into nothingness.
“Hah.”
Ser, who absorbed every moment of the scene with keen eyes, clicked their tongue and looked up at the sky.
The magnificent reverse archmage remained aloof, continuing to absorb death from the battlefield and grow larger.
“Master… No, Aaron. What on earth have you done…?”
“The plan has gone awry. Those without blessings must prioritize the shaman’s retrieval. After that, we’ll retreat in accordance with Brunhilde’s awakening.”
Aaron, unfazed by Hermila’s voice laced with despair, calmly issued his orders through the communicator.
Simultaneously, the powerful energies scattered across the battlefield began to converge in one place.
The destination was where Rubia lay asleep.
“Go.”
“…What do you mean—”
“I won’t stop you.”
Aaron, having shattered his communication crystal, turned his back and walked in a completely different direction.
“Lady Hermila.”
Ser turned Hermila, whose body had stiffened, to face them.
“I cannot nullify that consciousness, no matter the extent of my knowledge. The second Monster of the End… Brunhilde’s awakening cannot be stopped.”
“…Yes.”
“The summoning ritual devours the blood and flesh of dead humans. And it consumes the divine power within the souls and experiment bodies wandering the battlefield. The souls that are consumed there will have their cycle of reincarnation broken and will never be reborn into this world.”
Her eyes held many meanings.
She could choose to follow Aaron.
She could choose to save her comrades.
She could choose to rest.
But Hermila shook her head and gazed towards Rubia’s direction.
Taking a breath, she answered in a low voice.
“Let’s go to Lady Rubia.”
“Right now, the life of the bald man facing Kalt hangs by a thread. Are you really… okay with this?”
“Yes.”
There was no hesitation in Hermila’s answer.
She had been nourished by the deaths of her comrades until now.
She had walked along the path made of their corpses.
She was ready to bear it all.
“Have you seen a situation like this in the future you’ve observed, Lady Hermila?”
“No… I haven’t.”
“Is that so.”
For some reason, Ser smiled faintly and once more channeled the light spirits into Hermila’s body.
“There are ten in total. Think of it as storage potions.”
Then, with a face of regularity, they summoned countless wind spirits.
“Don’t you want to learn magic?”
“Isn’t this a spirit?”
With a snicker, Hermila grasped Ser’s extended hand and rode the currents of wind.
“Magic can achieve far more than this. It can fulfill any miracle you desire. That is my definition of magic.”
An oddly out-of-place remark.
A light topic thrown into the heavy atmosphere.
As always.
Ser, with a serious face, tossed out a joke.
“…Um, is there also a physical enhancement magic?”
Hermila smiled lightly and took the joke in stride.
“Of course, there is. First, there’s Haste, which speeds you up, and then Strength, which amplifies your muscle power—”
While listening to Ser enthusiastically sharing, Hermila lowered her gaze to the scene unfolding beneath them.
Amidst the bodies drenched in blood, with a will of their own, the ground was being chewed up by the corpses.
The experiment bodies tearing at their limbs while offering their blood.
The sight of the liberation army standing strong even after losing parts of themselves.
And the light spirits moving around, healing the severely wounded.
She turned her head to look at Ser.
They were still passionately detailing magic, yet their eyes were scanning the battlefield, taking in all the injured.
She could see beads of sweat rolling down the back of their neck.
She could see the ten fingers moving tirelessly.
She could see the bloodshot eyes.
“–So, what do you think? Will you try learning magic?”
Eventually, after pouring out everything about magic, Ser looked at Hermila with an arrogant smile.
“Yes… well.”
Someday,
when it all comes to an end,
and peace returns,
“Why not? Let’s give it a try.”
The promise between the two floated off with the wind.
*
Jjeo-eok! Jjeo-jeok!
Standing tall as he swung his tentacles, he didn’t stop despite stepping on rising thorns.
He gazed forward, tearing through the waves of shadows that obscured his vision.
In a landscape shrouded in darkness on all sides, Heinzel drew closer to Kalt.
An overwhelming gap.
Power unlike any adversary he had faced before.
Countless deaths flooded in like a tide.
Before such a towering wall,
Heinzel did not bend.
But perhaps his momentum was not enough, as his fist did not connect with Kalt.
Yet, he did not give up.
He did not retreat in fear.
“Khraaaah!!”
Jjeong—! In one moment, the gravity that gathered around him unleashed a massive wave, creating a crack in the shadowy tide. Gripping his fading consciousness, he extended his prosthetic limb toward the fissure.
Simultaneously, the restored shadows lunged to engulf his prosthetic. Heinzel bit down on it with a gri-tch and twisted his arm.
Jjeo-jeok! From that point, another crack opened.
Heinzel did not let this escape him.
Disregarding defense, he thrust his other hand towards the fissure.
Crack! Countless tentacles whipped across his body.
The rising thorns pierced his ankles.
The skin split.
The muscles tore.
The bones cracked.
Yet, the droplets of blood falling from him did not touch the ground but mixed into the tide of shadows engulfing Heinzel, becoming new thorns, tentacles, and deaths that wedged into his body.
But Heinzel’s hands did not let the fissure go.
With a roar like that of a beast, he gradually widened the crack.
“C’mon, damn it!!”
Boom—!
A rough stomp of his feet disregarded thousands of thorns.
The gravity unleashed from there widened the fissure even further.
Thus,
Jjeo-jeok!
The widening crack further expanded.
Jjeo-jjeok—!
Until finally, it was completely ripped apart,
Puhwaak—!
Scattering into the air.
“Khaha-hahaha!”
Having finally escaped the shadowy tide, Heinzel squeezed out the remaining magical power, unleashing a massive gravity from his back.
Thoo—! Kwang—!
Like a cannonball, Heinzel’s body zoomed straight toward Kalt, landing a full-force punch to Kalt’s face.
Kwaaang—! It sounded like a bomb exploding.
Along with it, Kalt’s new body trembled violently.
“I can finally reach it!!!”
A maniacal roar erupted from him.
With it came the wild swings of his prosthetic.
From Kalt’s body, another wave of shadows poured forth, his shadowy form mixing within as he staggered back.
“Where do you think you’re–!”
But Heinzel wouldn’t let it escape.
Grabbing the entwining mass of shadows that swirled like hair,
Jjeo-jjeok—! He yanked it out.
“The bald man!!! Is the strongest!!!!”
And again,
Jjeo-jjeok—! Kwang—! Kwaaang—!
He furiously unleashed attacks, ignoring defense entirely.
As shadow splattered around, Heinzel’s blood burst forth.
As the shadows dimmed, Heinzel’s breaths thinned as well.
The swirling shadows sliced through skin, embedding in muscle.
A spike shot into his thick thigh.
A pitch-black sword stomped onto his foot.
But Heinzel’s roar did not wane.
His attacks did not cease.
His yearning for victory did not diminish.
He had no clue how to kill Kalt.
He simply thought that if he kept hitting, Kalt would eventually die.
And when he finally succeeded in 18 strikes,
Crack-daddle—!
Golden chains suddenly erupted, entangling his body.
A huge golden spear bloomed in the sky, ready to fall.
Before his eyes, a pitch-black sword swung around.
The chains gnawed at his body.
Thorns rising from the ground pierced his limbs.
The shadows filled the air,
and shot toward Heinzel.
At that moment,
thousands of light spirits
poured over Heinzel.
All wounds were healed.
The blurry sight cleared.
The distant consciousness returned to place.
The twisted and torn muscles regenerated.
Magical power, that had been nearly depleted, surged back like crazy.
“Khuhahaha! Long live the spirits!!!!”
Jjeo-eong—! With a roar that warped the scenery around him, immense gravity erupted from Heinzel’s body.
The golden chains tore, redirecting the course of everything that approached him.
However, the unknown enemy’s assault didn’t cease there. A massive hole opened in the air, revealing an array of countless weapons.
Golden artifacts radiating with the dark light of the black sun. They were launched forth.
Heinzel widened his eyes, taking everything in. Ignoring the pounding headache, he spread his senses wide.
Many spirits sacrificially blocked the oncoming weapons. But even that would eventually give way.
Approximately 10 seconds remained.
The time needed to kill this flimsy bastard.
He didn’t know.
Without a flicker of hesitation, Heinzel made his decision.
“Khahaha!”
With a hearty laugh, just like any other time,
Jjeo-eong—!
He slammed his fist into Kalt’s face.
