Ch.135Final Battle (4)

A light embroidered the sky. As it dyed the darkness-filled heavens with brightness once more, Anis’s eyes widened at the light that captured everyone’s attention.

It had only been a moment since Mabet’s magic power had swirled, but Evan’s magic was following behind, completely clearing away the darkness.

The other races stood dumbfounded at the sight, as if witnessing the thousand-year-old battle between Alarr and Mabet all over again. Evan, who had swung his sword toward Mabet, slowly surveyed his surroundings. The slash mark from his recent strike remained in the sky where it had split open.

The clouds had parted, cleanly cut and spread sideways, looking as if a massive line had been drawn through them.

But had Mabet died from that strike? Evan shook his head at the question.

It was clear he probably hadn’t died. How could Mabet possibly die from something like that?

Though he had used his domain ability once, the subtle magic power flowing through his body felt quite different from what he had wielded before. Even the flames were no longer white but golden like his eyes. Whatever this golden light meant…

One thing was certain—it would still deal a significant blow to Mabet.

“Damn… it.”

The wounded ancient dragon growled lowly. Both wings had been torn off, and blood continuously flowed from the long wound across its chest.

Despite using its wings for maximum defense, its body was in tatters. How… how could a human possess such power? It had never been wounded when fighting Alarr. Being sealed was merely because it had been careless against Prid’s purification power.

But to lose both wings—Mabet let out a small sigh. How long had it been since suffering such damage? Probably the first time since it had first seen the light of this world.

Evan’s gaze grew cold as he looked at the dragon crashed into the ground.

So it survived even after blocking that, huh? That attack might have been the only one possible in this battle… He had wanted to kill it with that strike, but Mabet must have used considerable power to defend against it.

‘Still, I managed to tear off its wings.’

A dragon can no longer stay in the sky. That fact alone should give him enough advantage. As Evan slowly moved his feet from the collapsed mountain, golden flames still burned on his body. He thought that if he could land one more strike from his domain, he might be able to end this.

“You got me good.”

A woman’s voice flowed from Mabet’s mouth. Having heard this voice before, Evan’s brow furrowed in displeasure. Mabet, who had possessed Scarlet Terazein’s body.

Now he could clearly understand why Scarlet had used dragon language in the original story. By that point, Scarlet had already had her body taken by Mabet.

Could he save her? He wanted to. Didn’t he now know that she had merely been used by the Extinction? She was just an innocent sacrifice. From childhood, purple paint had been applied to her blank white canvas; she had simply been confused after being stained by them. If he were to judge her sins…

No. To judge her sins at all, he needed to save her first.

“I told you. You will die here.”

“How amusing. To be injured this much by a mere human. I acknowledge you. Even if I lived my entire life again, there would be none as strong as you.”

Mabet chuckled. Despite being severely injured, Mabet hadn’t lost composure. It had certainly taken a hit. But that was all. It had lost its wings and suffered a major wound to its chest.

But it was still alive, wasn’t it? The dragon heart was still beating. The dragon’s darkness, which was like a blessing to it, had not yet abandoned it—a fact that satisfied Mabet.

Dragon language—it hadn’t used it yet. Dragons reigned as the essence of magic. Though it couldn’t fully control its true form’s power yet, being so badly hurt by Evan was merely because it had been careless. With a rumble, Mabet regained its balance and rose again, casting its gaze toward Evan.

Unlike before, its gaze was arrogant and relaxed, causing Evan to narrow his eyes.

What… had changed? There was definitely a change in its attitude, but he couldn’t quite grasp what it was. Had it resigned itself? The golden blade of Ascalon still gleamed.

But he couldn’t easily approach Mabet. Every sense in his body was warning him, sharply honed instincts continuously sounding alarms to prepare for something that could fly at him at any moment.

Why? Mabet wasn’t doing anything. If magic power rose, he could respond immediately. The power flowing through his body now felt like it had reached a level even higher than when he was a Master. Though it didn’t seem like he had crossed a wall, he could definitely respond to Mabet’s attacks.

“Do you think you can dodge it?”

“…What are you suddenly—”

Guooo— Evan’s gaze suddenly jerked toward the sky with a start.

Hundreds, thousands of magic circles adorned the sky, all aimed at the ground below.

If he dodged, he could escape. But if he did, wouldn’t the entire other race be swept away? The darkness rising in the dawn was more alien than anything. Thousands of points split the light. Kwaaang! Lightning from the sky tore through the land, destroying the earth. Falling meteors shattered against Evan’s sword, while simultaneously, the howling wind reopened the wounds on his body.

Blood gushed out, but Evan couldn’t spare a moment to care about his injuries. The pinnacle of magic, the baptism of magic that only dragons could unleash, was something that even Evan couldn’t easily respond to. Blood flowed from his cheek where a beam grazed it. His movements slowed as his joints creaked, and his thigh was pierced through. Bones breaking, flesh tearing. The flames rising from Evan’s body were healing his wounds, but his body was being injured much faster than it could heal.

There seemed to be no end. No matter how many meteors he crushed and shattered, no matter how many winds he cut through or lights he tore apart, no matter how much mana he drew up to break all the magic at once, even more magic poured down. And with the added breath attack, Evan’s body lifted slightly into the air before crashing into the ground, causing blood to spurt from his mouth.

Evan could not escape the overlapping impacts. Finding an opening… was impossible. It was already difficult enough to endure this storm of magic power alone, let alone break through it to advance toward Mabet. His thoughts began to tangle. In the disappearing thoughts, Evan’s consciousness began to stretch toward no-self.

What he was doing now, what he must do now.

With only that thought in mind, Evan closed his eyes tightly while gripping his sword. He listened. In his opened senses, only his hearing remained undamaged. The sound of the ground collapsing, the wind clawing through the air, the sound of black flames rising in the erupting lava.

The world seen and heard through sound was completely different from before. He could see lines. More precisely, it was as if he could see the path he needed to take.

“Try to block this too!”

In the continuous sounds, one path became visible, and Evan’s footsteps finally moved forward. All he needed was a single attack. A breath was fired toward Evan as he broke through the storm of magic. The breath, concentrated with Mabet’s magic power, collided with the reverse-gripped sword, creating a tremendous roar.

As his ears momentarily went deaf from the explosive sound, Evan heard a faint voice.

“Help Evan Prid!”

It was Count Kasim’s voice. Kasim, who had destroyed one spell with his hammer, led the dwarves to approach Evan’s side. He flattened the broken ground with his hammer and defended against the oncoming storm by commanding the earth.

The race beloved by the earth, more than anyone else. It was an act almost like magic that only a race so familiar with the earth could perform.

“Move forward! We’ll hold them back here.”

With narrowed eyes, Evan looked at Count Kasim’s face, grinning widely in the clear view. Then, with a faint smile, he nodded and continued forward. Lightning struck. Anis appeared and drove away the lightning pouring down on Evan with the forest’s energy. Green-tinted magic power collided with the lightning and burst into flames. Flowers bloomed from the damaged earth, and vines rose from the verdant ground to bind Mabet’s body.

Though the binding lasted only briefly, the momentary respite it created gave Evan quite a lot of time.

“Go forward!”

Zanjin, who had cut through the erupting lava with his axe, laughed roughly. The trolls, each with ghoul heads tied to their waists, were already wildly swinging their weapons, tearing through the storm of magic.

Some died after being caught in the magic, but they didn’t stop swinging their weapons until their lives were completely taken.

Because they weren’t afraid of dying, rather, they believed dying in battle was glorious. Zanjin continued swinging his axe without even thinking of dodging the magic.

Though his arms occasionally became tattered when hit by magic, the trolls’ regenerative abilities allowed Zanjin to continue fighting even as he bled.

“Don’t die.”

As he passed by Zanjin, Evan chuckled at the voice that reached his ears. He never intended to die. From the beginning, hadn’t he decided to return home?

Home—Evan quietly regulated his breathing at that word. He had never once engraved the word “home” in his heart since birth.

But now, he had a place to return to. The word “home” no longer felt awkward. Wasn’t Airin waiting? He had proposed, but in the end, Airin said she would do it later, making it as if it never happened.

After this battle ends—though it was an uncertain statement, Evan didn’t consider it uncertain.

The spirits began to whisper. He couldn’t deploy his domain with the mana he had consumed while tearing through the magic storm. What did he have left? Strangely, he didn’t feel anxious, so Evan stared at his hand gripping the sword. The remaining mana wasn’t enough to deploy his domain.

The ring on his sword hand wriggled. Mana flowed from the ring, slowly enveloping Evan. It wasn’t the golden mana he originally possessed but blue mana, yet Evan felt the trace of one person in that mana.

This familiar and warm, yet cold and longing sensation—wasn’t it pointing to only one person in this world? The depleted mana slowly refilled. What flowed through his body was exhilaration, and simultaneously, a warmth that didn’t match this battlefield. Though he didn’t know why Airin’s mana was flowing from the ring, Evan felt as if he was connected to Airin in this moment.

Woong— A magic circle was drawn from the faintly trembling ring. Blue mana mixed and harmonized with golden mana. The light extending behind Evan drew chaotic trajectories in the void.

Navigating through the shadows spread in the dawn, he calmly broke through the magic Mabet was sending with his sword. The domain he could now deploy.

However, Evan didn’t immediately deploy his domain. Even if he deployed it, if this strike couldn’t kill Mabet, it would be of no use.

He thought more calmly. Avoiding the black spears created by Mabet, breaking claws, cutting through magic. As Evan made his way through the hell created by magic, the only thought in his mind was about a single strike.

A way to kill that ancient dragon in one go. He recalled that dragons have a dragon heart, but Mabet had already directly defended against a strike from his domain once.

If Mabet blocked that attack again this time, there would be no next chance. Mabet’s eyes widened at Evan’s cold gaze. His trembling body was proof that he was already feeling fear.

Fear? Him? To fear a mere human. Kwaaang! Shadows pouring down like blades surrounded Evan as they shattered the earth. Mabet’s enormous concentrated magic power in the form of shadows overturned the ground and poured onto the other races.

Some died, some were severely injured and swept away by the wave. But despite this, Evan continued to advance toward Mabet. Even when injured by magic, even when momentarily staggered after being swept by shadows.

Mabet stepped back in surprise when Evan suddenly appeared before him. Kuung, as his foot moved backward and touched the ground, Mabet felt his head turning white.

He had stepped back in fear of a human. Unable to accept that, or more precisely, unable to acknowledge it, Mabet’s face immediately twisted into a fierce grimace.

“I am… I am Mabet.”

He had endured a thousand years to come this far. When he was so close to destroying and denying everything Alarr had achieved, how ridiculous would it be to be defeated by a single human knight? Who would fear him then?

Even if he lost all his power, Mabet was determined to kill this knight. Hwoook— The swollen dragon heart filled Mabet’s mouth with enormous magic power. The maximum magic power he could release—Evan’s body trembled at that magic.

…Could he block it? No, could he pierce through that breath and drive his blade into Mabet?

It was a situation full of questions. Without any certainty, there was nothing given to him except the option to swing his sword.

But if asked if he was afraid, Evan would deny that question. He wasn’t afraid. At this moment, what he felt flowing through him wasn’t just his own mana. Five years—after that time had passed, he had finally come this far.

Ascalon’s flash pierced the sky. The sword, drawing out all the power he could muster, resonated with the dawn in the sky. Kwagagagak—! A golden sword energy formed at the tip of the sword as it cut through the ground.

The light shining down from the sky touched Evan, and once again, the surging golden wave met the breath. Black flames burning in the void touched Evan’s flames. The sky shook, and even as the ground collapsed, Evan’s stance remained unwavering.

A battle that ends with just one strike. The scales on Mabet’s body shattered and scattered. The armor covering Evan’s body burned and melted. Yet he didn’t let go of the sword, and the black flames didn’t disappear. Blood flowed from Evan’s mouth as he gritted his teeth.

How much longer would it take for this to be settled? It was a moment’s collision, but that time felt like an eternity.

Memories flashed by like a panorama. The emotion he recalled when he first became aware of himself as Evan, meeting Airin, the memory of being injured after fighting the dark mage. When he realized his love, when he confessed it and became lovers, when he realized she was pregnant, when he faced the duke and had a conversation.

Among these, there wasn’t a single memory that wasn’t precious to Evan. That’s why he wouldn’t let go. He gripped the sword more tightly to avoid losing it as it slipped with blood. This light shining down on him wasn’t alien. It just felt like he could finally fully control the mana consumed by his domain as his own.

‘I cut the sky.’

When Evan first cut with his domain, he cut the sky with a strike aimed at Mabet. Then, for the next strike, going beyond that level…

If he advanced to the stage beyond Master, what kind of strike could he unleash? That attack wasn’t flashy. It was so simple that it was plain, almost humble. The mana didn’t blaze like a dragon, nor did it cut the sky while crushing mountains.

He didn’t let the power flow outward. The power concentrated in each muscle began to explosively amplify through the blood vessels connected to the heart.

The black flames gradually disappeared, and white flames gradually increased. When Ascalon’s golden light burst forth and completely erased the black flames, what Evan saw was Mabet’s body, its chest fully exposed.

It was cut.

Like wielding a brush on a white canvas, the attack that reached the final period at the end of the score was the finishing point to end this five-year march.

The pouring dawn split Mabet’s body.

Seeing the line of light pouring from that massive body, Evan quietly smiled.