episode_0242

“……Wasn’t that signal too fast?”

Yang Chan-ho muttered in disbelief, covering the holy sword with a bright, luminous mana.

To him, Seol Hayeon’s earlier cry seemed excessively premature.

While they had managed to bind the Otherworldly Master to some extent for now, they still needed time to prepare their final strike.

“No, it’ll be perfectly timed.”

But Seol Hayeon was calm. With a confident, almost arrogant smile on her lips, she summoned several spears of ice.

The spearheads, floating in the air, sharply targeted the ‘Otherworldly Master’.

“I know my disciple best. I’ve taught them for five years… We’ve practiced the timing countless times.”

“……Is that so?”

“Yes, of course.”

With a gentle smile, Seol Hayeon extended her hand, a clear, untainted smile unsuited for a battlefield.

Yang Chan-ho didn’t ask further questions, merely assumed a stance to swing the holy sword.

“……”

[…….]

A brief silence followed.

Did the enemy sense something as well?

Even with his entire body covered in ice and almost frozen, he moved his arms, beginning to gather immense quantities of black energy.

Nevertheless, it was the Hero and the Archmage who launched the faster attack.

“……Now!”

“You don’t have to say it, you know?”

Yang Chan-ho shouted seriously, and Seol Hayeon swiftly extended her hand forward.

Ice spears followed behind Yang Chan-ho, who leaped into the air holding the holy sword.

[……!]

Thus, the final engagement began.

*****

“—Now!!”

‘?’

At Seol Hayeon’s suddenly resounding command, I hesitated for a very brief moment, a mere few milliseconds, a flicker of time.

My first thought was that it was a truly inconsiderate signal, but my reaction wasn’t significantly delayed.

As soon as my head cleared, I drew mana from my entire body.

Bluish lightning began to coil around my fingertips.

The giant before me had almost completely regenerated. Its three arms and repulsive eyes were as intact as when I first saw it.

‘So what?’

*Crunch!*

It wasn’t difficult to crush all of its arms, body parts, and the eyes that were gathering energy as if to shoot lasers through its openings.

Unusually, I imbued my right arm with ice lightning… and rather than projecting it outwards, I merely swung it using only my physical capabilities.

[……?!]

The blue lightning that extended outwards only moved exactly three times.

Yet, in that fleeting moment, the giant was thoroughly incapacitated.

Its arms were severed, and its maggot-like eyes had all turned to ash.

*Crack!*

“──.”

Just then, the consciousness connected beyond the sky reacted. It seemed that even if not certain, they, too, were looking to finish things now.

A faint image of a holy sword piercing into a black, human-like form was visible.

‘……Should I destroy it now?’

Let’s say that was the Otherworldly Master. Even if the holy sword pierced it, I couldn’t know if that unpleasant form would die immediately, but—

‘Better to be a little early than late.’

*Crackle, crackle!*

In any case, it would be more rational to bring it forth a bit early than to miss the timing from my side.

First, I filled my entire body with heavenly lightning, then manifested ice and flame in each of my hands.

*Rip!*

The strongest ultimate skill I could use at full power. I even mobilized the characteristic of ‘single point’ to fuse the three attributes into one.

What was created was a truly unpleasant, visually unappealing sphere.

But at least I was confident in its power alone.

This attack, even a Hero couldn’t block.

“Die.”

I immediately stepped on the giant’s forehead and began spinning the sphere above it.

Packing in maximum rotation, I plunged it straight into the crown of its head. Both my hand and the sphere.

And then, a blinding flash erupted, momentarily obscuring my vision.

*Flash!*

It regenerated quickly, but an enormous amount of mana was consumed, enough to give even me a throbbing headache, and the sphere slipped from my control.

As I said before, I was confident in its power. Perhaps even to an unpredictable extent.

That’s why I immediately launched myself off the giant’s head. After kicking off its forehead, I threw my body down as if skydiving…

“……*Gasp*.”

I soon realized that it had been an absolutely correct judgment.

Was it about one or two seconds later?

[──!]

The sphere, having entered inside the crushed eyeball, emitted a clear light even within the giant’s massive body, gradually moving downwards.

As it moved, it thoroughly destroyed the giant’s internal organs as a bonus.

*Crunch, crackle!* Along with quite chilling noises, the giant’s body froze, burned, and also became paralyzed.

Absolute, utter destruction, preventing any further resistance or reaction.

Among the choices I could have made just then, there was no better path.

Following that, I earnestly hoped that I had timed it precisely.

*Crack, rupture!*

“?”

As I was falling through the air, a sound reached me. Reflexively, I raised a question mark and simultaneously looked up at the sky.

“Uh…”

And then I let out a profound yet utterly foolish sound. It was a reflexive reaction.

What was that? In other words, it was hard to comprehend the sight I was seeing with my own eyes.

More than anything, it was difficult to regain my composure amidst the deluge of mana pouring down even faster than the ‘collapsing sky’.

‘……No, wait, this shouldn’t be happening, should it?’

I scowled fiercely and frantically channeled mana. Flight magic aside, I needed to generate at least some buoyancy.

If I couldn’t, I would hit the ground headfirst with accelerating speed.

No matter how sturdy my body was, there was no way I could withstand that impact.

It was obvious I would die from the fall, so I, sweating coldly, tried to use magic.

“Ah.”

…Well, I failed immediately, though.

My vision suddenly blurred.

My head grew hazy, and my vision whitened.

My mana circuits weren’t working as intended either.

My head, unconsciously tilted, allowed me to see downwards obliquely, and I swallowed hard, watching the ground rapidly approach.

This, in other words…

‘……Am I really screwed?’

A chuckle escaped me, born of both tension and the absurdity of the situation.

Having no choice, I curled my body as tightly as possible.

Following that, I tried to protect the parts of my body that would hit the ground with the best mana coating I could manage to prepare for the impact, but…

…….

…….

…….

“……Hm.”

A result quite different from what I had expected unfolded.

In other words, it wasn’t a collision or a fatal fall.

Having no choice, I cautiously opened my tightly closed eyes.

There was no impact, no pain. I wondered if I had died instantly, but…

“Heh.”

Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be that outcome.

Did someone catch me? Who?

Could it be Lucretia, who, despite the enormous scale of the battle until just now, showed no signs of waking up?

Or perhaps… Soyul, who saw the broadcast from the helicopter filming me and flew over here…

“A shame, isn’t it? It’s not Cheon Soyul, that girl, but me.”

“……”

“Ahaha, still, I don’t think you need to make such a distorted expression. I’m also a maiden who gets hurt, you know?”

Bright, sky-blue hair, and eyes of indescribably beautiful and mysterious gold.

She was a woman I now knew well. Haru had snatched me from the air, and she smiled sweetly as she looked down at me.

“How about it, Lee Hyunjin? Don’t you think the woman who splendidly saved you at the very last moment should become the main wife?”

“……My head, it hurts quite a lot.”

“Don’t talk to yourself, just answer me. I’ll drop you, okay?”

She shook her arms unstably, as if she would let me go in the air if I didn’t comply.

I felt the natural dizziness that came from my body moving up and down, but…

“……*Sigh*.”

In any case, my tension vanished instantly, and all battle stances were released.

I rested the back of my hand on my throbbing forehead and looked up at the sky.

It was the perfect posture to see the blue sky, which had split open with blackness, gradually regaining its original color.

I chuckled, held in a princess carry by a girl much smaller than me.

It was an utterly humiliating position (?), but well.

Since we succeeded, isn’t that what matters?

The so-called ‘Planet Saving Project’ that I had worked hard on… it was a very difficult battle, but I felt a great sense of accomplishment.

At this point, to emphasize the result once more, yes.

The darkened sky, the collapsing sky.

It had regained its original clear color.

It was a sight beyond beautiful.