Tyrant and Emperor.
Just having two people in the same space was a massive pressure for Rin.
Especially since meeting Sharcarl once in her past life during the fake Nirva incident had engraved deep fear in her, she couldn’t help but be on edge.
‘Magic is useless in his presence.’
Despite being a mage, Sharcarl could be called the anti-thesis of other mages. Not allowing others to use magic while unleashing his own outrageous destructive magic was basically cheating.
However, all three people present possessed a strength that transcended the world’s norms.
No one could point fingers at anyone else.
Kurika calmly assessed the situation and made a suggestion to Sharcarl.
“Sharcarl, that girl is the earliest apocalypse that will consume this continent.”
“Ah, gods wielding the queen as the stage of the continent, I see.”
Sharcarl nodded as if he understood, striking the ground with his staff.
“It will be a very interesting battle!”
“…Sharcarl, this is not just a fight to prove strength as you say. It’s to save the continent…”
“Enough.”
Not wanting to hear more, Sharcarl shook his head. The irritation leaking from his voice flew straight at Kurika.
“Why bring such trivial reasons into this fight? To save the continent? To stop the apocalypse the gods created? Ah! How boring! Such tedious talk, Emperor!”
It’s unclear what expression he wore behind the skull mask, but madness and excitement mixed in Sharcarl’s voice.
“Don’t give me cliché reasons. Don’t fight for a greater cause. Hold your sword solely for yourself and kill your enemies! That is the only path for the strong to live as the strong!”
“Ha.”
Kurika let out a rare sigh.
He knew the man named Sharcarl was originally like this, but seeing it firsthand was a headache.
Thud!
Sharcarl banged his staff on the ground again, shouting at Rin.
“O weapon of the gods! Apocalypse that stirs the continent! Make the heart of this Sharcarl, which has been still for a long time, beat!”
“Anyway, you were next after Kurika.”
Was it a satisfactory answer?
Sharcarl let out a hearty laugh, spreading his arms wide.
“Ah! Good! Take this! Show me how you make the heaviest throne on the continent kneel!”
Sharcarl’s unique mana stirred. Invisible, violent magic flew towards Rin, disregarding all other armies.
“Just because it’s invisible doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
From right in front of Rin, a curtain of darkness arose. The curtain rippled, consuming Sharcarl’s magic. Rin had consumed magic through darkness several times by now.
‘My hands are tingling…’
Sharcarl’s magic was so heavy it felt like pain in her hands. Normally, seeing one’s carefully crafted magic disappear into darkness without effect would be a disheartening experience for mages, as their mana was not infinite.
However, Sharcarl was different.
“Consume my magic? Go ahead, I’ll tear that disguise apart!”
Sharcarl’s magic began to pour out more violently. He was so focused on targeting Rin’s true form that he failed to notice the army rushing at him.
Boom!
Kurika stood before him swinging his sword.
No matter how powerful the army was, with every swing of his sword, Kurika was killing countless soldiers.
Yet, Sharcarl roared angrily.
“What are you doing, Kurika! How dare you help recklessly! Cooperation and unity are for the weak! I am merely the one who wins, steals, and plunders!”
“Think a little more logically…”
The magic pouring toward Rin momentarily halted. Even Sharcarl, after all, couldn’t continuously cast magic, but it was the opposite.
He began to cast spells targeting Kurika, who stood in his way.
‘I heard it, but…’
He’s truly obsessed with combat and power.
Rin, who hadn’t smiled even once since her regression and had not experienced a single pleasant moment, felt a slight lightness in her heart for the first time.
“Sharcarl!”
Kurika, hit by magic on his back, stumbled backward. Seeing the wolf beastman who had been blocking him disappear gave Sharcarl a satisfied nod.
“Your turn is next, Kurika! Clean your neck and wait! Tonight, we will see who the true master of this forest is!”
“Have you lived in the forest for so long that you truly don’t care if the continent collapses?”
“Don’t say anything so obvious!”
Sharcarl’s magic erupted again. He thought he could win just by wearing out magic and pushing the army, but it seemed things wouldn’t flow so easily.
As Rin extended her hand, a sword emerged from the darkness.
The weapon used during the earliest apocalypse in the zero and first rounds. It was a magic sword given directly by the Goddess of Death.
“Oh? You’re coming personally?”
Seeing that, Sharcarl nodded in pleasure and began unleashing even more magic. The pain in Rin’s hands had escalated to a point where it was difficult to hold the sword, yet she bit her lip and tried to ignore the pain.
And she rushed toward Sharcarl, slipping into her army.
‘If I rush in close, I can win.’
Thinking this, Rin was caught off guard when a beast targeting her neck moved.
“I won’t refuse if you come to me.”
Ignoring the army of death entirely, Kurika charged, covered in remnants of wounds. He had no hesitation in running headlong toward Rin, intent on killing her.
“It’s mine!”
Sharcarl shouted fiercely. Magic fall began, filled with a fervent determination that his opponent Kurika wouldn’t take Rin’s life.
The force was so overwhelming that even Rin and Kurika were targeted at once.
Still, Kurika charged towards Rin, ignoring Sharcarl’s magic as if entering a fire pit.
It seemed Sharcarl’s obsession with killing the apocalypse was evident.
Just then, Rin vanished into the darkness.
Boom!
“…!”
“Gah!”
Kurika, struck directly by Sharcarl’s magic, tumbled to the ground. He tried to control his body, which was being forcefully pushed away, but he was dragged through dirt and dust.
The Tyrant gazed down at the magic sword embedded in his chest in disbelief.
“How…?”
“…”
The Forest of the Demon Realm had always been filled with darkness.
Thus, Sharcarl remained unaware that the darkness spreading from Rin’s army had finally reached his feet.
Rin judged that she could now move through the darkness to Sharcarl’s back and execute a stabbing attack.
“Clever trick, you used!”
Sharcarl’s furious shout resonated. Perhaps unhappy that the battle ended too easily, he seemed a bit irritable.
Thump.
He let go of his staff.
“My death is solely…”
As he had done in the zero and first rounds, was about to let go of his staff and self-destruct.
However, the darkness rising from the ground snatched the falling staff and wrapped around his hand. It was as if it had bandaged him, forcing him to grip the staff.
“Hah, ha…”
At this point, even Sharcarl could only chuckle. He realized that even his death could not belong to him and accepted this in silence, nodding.
“I lost, girl.”
“…Even after death, you will remain the object of fear for everyone as you wished.”
It was meant to be comforting, but Sharcarl denied it.
“Yet I’m not the throne, merely a defeated weakling before you. Exercise the rights of the strong.”
The darkness emerging from the magic sword began to engulf Sharcarl. He silently accepted his impending death and soon after.
The wizard with the skull mask holding a staff reappeared from the darkness.
This time, with no emotions or words.
Only with the sole intention of crushing the enemy of the master.
The Goddess of Death had said this in the first round.
Daniel McLean and Kurika.
Just obtaining one of them would not make conquering the continent overly difficult.
Yet, the Daniel of this era was just a simple cursed boy with no strength.
Then, Rin thought that Sharcarl was the power to replace such a Daniel.
Kurika, who had taken Sharcarl’s magic head-on, forced himself to rise. He took a deep breath, gripping his great sword and glaring at Rin.
“Sharcarl is now mine. You have no chance of victory anymore.”
The magical beasts that Kurika and Sharcarl had killed were also slowly recovering and rising again. Sharcarl, who now belonged to Rin, was drawing up his mana as well.
No matter how strong Kurika was, the outcome was already determined.
“During my long life, I’ve never once given up or laid down my sword.”
Still, Kurika, gripping his sword, charged forward with a roar.
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