Ch.110Rebirth Begins with Destruction (3)

In the vast forest, countless monsters and demonic beasts huddled together, trembling in fear.

The innumerable creatures were completely terrified by the battle raging outside.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Are you alright?”

Grrrr…

The Fairy Queen and her fairies were carefully checking on each creature’s condition.

Fairy Tail, the kingdom of fairies, was now packed to capacity with monsters and demonic beasts who had gathered once again, remembering how they had previously sought refuge in the fairy forest to survive past catastrophes.

“Meil, there’s an injured Shadow Wolf over there. Healing magic and bandages, please. Eisil, there’s an Ogre crying over there. Ask what’s wrong, and if it’s suffering mentally, use sleep magic.”

“Yes—!”

“Okay…”

The Fairy Queen who ruled Fairy Tail continued moving about, checking on everyone’s condition and addressing any issues that arose.

She was extremely busy treating and caring for the many refugees who had sought sanctuary in her kingdom, while also preparing for potential food shortages by sending those who were uninjured to gather supplies.

The greatest help in carrying out her directives came from an old Minotaur.

This Minotaur, whose proudly displayed horns were now reduced to mere stumps, with scars near his eyes from sharp objects and wounds covering his entire body, was like a hero who had overcome great adversity.

[Muuuu! (Queen! I! Finished!)]

“Thank you for your hard work. Thanks to you, gathering food has become easier. Did you encounter any humans?”

[Muuuu! Muu! (Humans! All dead! Where humans lived! Completely destroyed! Our son! Bad humans! All killed!)]

“Hmm… If all the humans in the nearby city are dead, let’s take all their food. Etial! Take whoever can move with this gentleman and bring back all the food from the nearby city!”

“Yes! My Queen! Mrs. Minotaur! Let’s go!”

The Minotaur nodded and followed behind the one called Etial. Watching them leave, the Fairy Queen thought of two beings.

Mary, who had been like a daughter to her for nearly five years, and the Minotaur named Khan who had saved her.

“Mary… Khan… Are you both alright…?”

The Fairy Queen’s sorrowful whisper was carried away by the wind, and she once again gathered her strength to care for the others.

* * * * *

Keeeeee…

The stingray monster, which had manipulated water and wind while also using lightning and poison, met its end impaled on a stone pillar by Khan’s overwhelming power, letting out a death cry.

It had undoubtedly been incredibly powerful—a monster equivalent to a catastrophe-level threat that could have defeated any enemy if fighting in the sea.

However, even a catastrophe-level monster loses its effectiveness when stripped of two major advantages and forced to use secondary attack methods as primary weapons.

With its strongest attributes—lightning and poison—sealed, and its water and wind attacks failing to inflict significant damage, the stingray monster stood little chance.

If the battlefield had been underwater, the stingray might have had a fighting chance… but too intoxicated by her own power, she ultimately died without putting up proper resistance.

Muuuu…

Khan’s face relaxed somewhat, thinking it was finally over.

Keeping his body in constant motion had prevented him from continuously recalling Mary’s death, and leaving the black space meant Mary’s apparition no longer tormented him.

Now that he had killed all the humans and everyone who appeared to be a participant, all that remained was to wait for the gods.

But…

Even after waiting five minutes, ten minutes, the gods did not appear before him.

Despite the fact that the life signatures of everyone gathered here had disappeared when the meteor fell, and all humans had been completely annihilated!

Muuuu…

As soon as Khan stopped moving, he suffered from an excruciating headache, and once again heard Mary’s whispers—demonic whispers urging him to destroy and kill everything.

The nightmares that had plagued him for the past three years had helped him develop strong resistance to mental attacks by killing dozens of participants through splitting the continent, but the mental illness he had already developed was unavoidable.

As a result, Khan, who had been unable to sleep due to hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, and nightmares, had briefly escaped from them, but…

As he began suffering from them again and was considering whether to break apart the continent he had just pieced back together—

Aaaaaaah—!!!!

A light shot up toward the sky, accompanied by sounds like a choir singing.

From the bright light emerged a warrior whose armor was shattered, barely covering vital areas, and a unicorn whose symbolic horn was broken.

They charged toward Khan amid the brilliant light.

Kwaaaaa—!!!

The light that escaped from the warrior’s hand surged forward like a raging tide, engulfing Khan.

Muuuu?

Of course, such a radial attack wasn’t effective against Khan.

Khan’s most superior ability wasn’t his continent-splitting strength, nor his power to call down meteors or lightning that could cover an entire island, but rather his body—an iron fortress that nothing could properly penetrate.

The warrior who emerged through the light unleashed a waterfall of light, then mounted Jerome, her comrade who was a unicorn, and created a spear of light.

Unlike her previous light, however, black flames rose from the tip of her spear, and what had once been bright light was now tinged with dark gray.

Wooong—!!!

The spear howled, then instantly flew from her arm toward Khan. Instinctively, Khan raised an earthen barrier and created a lightning shield on top of it for defense, but…

The gray spear, leading with black flames, pushed forward, piercing through the lightning shield and penetrating the earthen barrier to successfully impale Khan’s arm.

Muuuu…?

The pain from his pierced arm freed Khan from his hallucinations and auditory hallucinations, allowing him to recognize his enemy once more. Blood pouring from the hole in his arm, Khan flashed his four eyes at the warrior, revealing his hostility.

* * * * *

Before the light pierced the sky, when the massive meteor fell, it was none other than Cardinal Baxter who protected them.

Though confused by Uldur’s lack of response despite casting a sacrifice spell, he used the power of Chaos he had been researching recently for the first time, with the determination to use whatever means necessary.

Unable to directly contain magical energy in his body, he broke an ampoule containing magical energy that had been with his Chaos research materials, and used the power of Chaos by combining sacred power and magical energy. The result was beyond imagination.

He thought this might be enough to kill that monster, but… the price was horrific.

As soon as he used Chaos, his body began to slowly disintegrate, starting from his arm.

“Cardinal Baxter…!”

When Lepil saw his arm gradually disappearing, she called his name, but he couldn’t say anything in response.

If he didn’t concentrate completely, he felt he would be completely devoured by the power of Chaos.

So he used the power of Chaos to create a dome-shaped barrier that completely cut them off from the outside, then directed the Chaos power at the charging Agni and Cain, blowing their heads off.

The aftermath of the meteor destroyed everything except the dome Cardinal Baxter had created, preventing Khan from finding them.

“Listen carefully… Lepil… I’m going to… use a forbidden spell now…”

“Forbidden spell…”

“Yes… I will transfer… all of my power and the power of these two… to you… The magical energy of this so-called Sun God and Cain will remain in your body without any consequences and can be used without the repulsion of sacred power…”

By now, one of his arms had disappeared, and his legs had also vanished, causing his body to fall to the ground.

“Even so… I don’t know… if it will be enough to defeat that monster… But you… as Uldur’s warrior… should be able to overcome it…”

With those words, as his consciousness gradually faded, he activated his unique trait.

One for all, all for one.

The ability of this unique trait was either to steal the power of others or to distribute one’s own power to everyone—a trait that could be called blessed or cursed depending on the user’s character.

“Oh… Uldur… Your servant now… seeks to come to you…”

This trait burst through Cardinal Baxter’s back, swallowed Cain and Agni whose heads had disappeared and weren’t regenerating due to Chaos, and finally swallowed Cardinal Baxter himself, producing a round orb.

Until he was consumed by his own unique trait, Cardinal Baxter called out to Uldur as he faced death.

“This is…”

[You just need to eat it… It was… Cardinal Baxter’s… final sacrifice…]

For Jerome, who knew he was a participant, tears clouded his vision at this noble sacrifice.

If he had used that power to consume Lepil three years ago, he would now have power equal to the monster outside…

But he didn’t. He lived solely for Uldur.

Paying his respects to someone who had abandoned the option of winning as a participant and lived only following his faith, Jerome handed the legacy left by Cardinal Baxter to the warrior riding him.

But the warrior only stared blankly at the legacy, not moving.

Her spirit had been broken after watching those who had briefly accompanied her disappear one by one, including Cardinal Baxter whom she had trusted and followed.

[Cardinal Baxter’s power is fading, Lepil. You need to eat it right now.]

Despite Jerome’s urging, Lepil just stared blankly at the orb, so Jerome headbutted her with his broken horn.

“Kyaaaack—!!”

[Snap out of it!!! If you just stand there blankly, what was Cardinal Baxter’s sacrifice for!? The two non-believers, the ice chunk, the traitor! They all moved forward without fearing death! Lepil, the final warrior Lepil! We remain here through their sacrifices! If you just stand there blankly, their sacrifices become meaningless!]

“Through their sacrifices…”

[Yes! The ice guy, the traitor! The fake saintess and the demon! Cardinal Baxter too! Everyone came knowing they might die, and the same goes for me! I didn’t mind risking my life for you, and the same was true for Cardinal Baxter, who left his power to you thinking of the future!]

“Power to me…”

With those words, life returned to the warrior’s eyes that had been staring blankly at the orb, and after firm resolve, she consumed it.

“Mmph—!?”

[Lepil!]

Cardinal Baxter’s sacred power and the magical energy of Agni and Cain surged through her body as soon as she consumed it.

The two energies that normally couldn’t coexist flowed powerfully through her body, and she could now use the power of Chaos that Cardinal Baxter had wielded without any problems.

“Let’s go.”

[We’ll die together.]

The warrior challenges the monster once more.