Ch.136Snowfield

The momentary surge in presence weighed down everything around. It was such an overwhelming presence that even the massive dragon and the Void Lord now seemed like ordinary background elements.

In the darkness that had descended, even the moonlight from the sky was blocked. Not even a breath could be heard. Only faint footsteps echoed in the silence.

*Step*

Seiran looked down at her hands. Her small hands were fidgeting constantly, emitting a pitch-black energy. The recovery speed wasn’t as fast as she had hoped.

The Ice Dragon Sword and Fire Dragon Sword. This was the side effect of forcibly trying to use both energies. Her entire body tingled. It was the pain her brother should have felt throughout the battle. Seiran’s brow furrowed.

Rather than her expression contorting from the pain itself, she disliked the fact that her only family had suffered such pain. As the girl’s emotions swirled, the black energy spreading through the air let out a rough cry.

[Are you the one who defeated the Four Dragon King?]

It was the Void Lord’s question. Seiran, who had watched everything from inside her brother’s body, gently raised her head. The swirling black energy spread outward in circles.

Even though they merely made eye contact, her body felt heavier. The Void Lord realized that cold sweat was running down his back.

‘Magic… no, sorcery. The caster doesn’t seem to intend it, but what…’

He had heard of it before. Every action of those called great sorcerers would approach as a curse. If negative emotions were imbued, even breathing would cause a normal person’s lungs to rot.

But this was impossible. A body perfected as a swordsman couldn’t possibly handle another power like this. Unless there were two or more souls in one body…

[That can’t be…]

The Void Lord denied the possibility and drew up mana. The space under his control shook roughly, and mana rose from all directions. Dozens of types of mana gathered quickly toward the dragon’s body.

Eventually, the partially corroded leg began to emit light and slowly regained its original form. But it was a temporary measure. It was merely replacing the severed leg with mana.

Regenerating the body would require a more complex process.

That’s when it happened. Suddenly, Seiran, who had been looking up at the Void Lord, swung her hand. Behind the casual movement toward empty space, black energy whipped around.

*Swoosh!*

The released sorcery took the form of a slash. The small girl’s body was accustomed to sharp slashes using a sword. Therefore, the sorcery she used also took the form of a slash.

That was the signal for a new battle.

The slash-formed sorcery cut off the dragon’s leg again, which had been gathering in the form of light. The dragon’s body tilted greatly from the attack that happened before the Void Lord could react.

However, this too lasted only a moment. Recognizing the situation, the Void Lord once again gathered mana to repair the dragon’s empty body. The dragon’s body, having regained its balance, prepared to counterattack at a very fast speed.

*Whoosh!*

As the massive body began to rotate, its tail whipped around like a lash. At the end, it moved at a speed exceeding the speed of sound, creating a violent explosion.

Seiran looked at the incoming attack without taking any defensive stance. Maintaining her relaxed standing posture, she merely raised the corner of her mouth slightly.

Though only her expression had changed, everyone could tell. The girl using the sword and the girl now were completely different people.

The enormous mass exceeding the speed of sound plowed through part of the forest. At that moment, a black shadow sprang from empty space and pressed down on the dragon’s tail.

*Crash!*

The shadow’s form was unstable, but at a glance, it resembled a wolf’s head.

Seiran murmured.

-Bite and devour.

*Crunch!*

The beast’s teeth began to tear through the gaps between the hard scales, ripping out flesh. The Void Lord hurriedly drew up mana to form a transparent barrier, but it was a meaningless resistance.

Seiran’s sorcery passed right through the mana barrier created for defense.

Being large means being easier to attack. Seiran poured out sorcery from a distance. Black sorcery flowing from her small body transformed into wolf heads and attached to various parts of the dragon’s body.

*Crack!*

Sorcery is fundamentally a power imbued with negative energy. As sharp teeth dug into the dragon’s flesh, strange things happened—parts of its body rotted or corroded.

The Void Lord, who had connected the dragon’s body to his own, experienced the same. He could feel the sensation in his right arm suddenly disappear.

If this continued, he would die without being able to do anything. He immediately severed the mental connection with the dragon’s body and accepted a massive amount of mana into his own body.

*Crash!*

Mana drawn little by little from the outside world through subspace swirled chaotically. After the light escaped from the numerous scales covering the dragon’s body, the Void Lord’s arms and legs regenerated.

Immediately after, the Void Lord’s blurry figure appeared right in front of Seiran. The aftermath of his high-speed movement, kicking off the ground, unfolded belatedly. A straight wave behind him overturned the entire forest.

*Boom!*

At that moment, Seiran’s arm moved lightly. It was a limp movement as if stirring the wind. Simultaneously, twelve swords scattered in all directions rose at once.

Seiran shares a body with Seiran. What her brother could do, she could do as well. It was the Formless Flying Sword technique. She overlaid sorcery on top of it.

The white wind surrounding the twelve swords turned black, emitting a murky energy. Right after, the twelve swords transformed into wolves.

Spirit summoning using swords as mediums.

The twelve wolves created this way rushed toward the Void Lord in an instant. Because they used swords as mediums, each wolf strongly exhibited the characteristics of its sword.

In particular, the wolves summoned from the Ice Dragon Sword and Fire Dragon Sword were larger, with their unique heat and cold flowing through the black sorcery.

Having bound the Void Lord’s feet with the summoned spirits, Seiran formed a hand seal. It was a freestyle ritual without any specific form. Therefore, it was simple, and because it was simple, it was powerful.

A black shadow surging from the ground sent blood to Seiran. It was blood secretly collected from the Void Lord earlier. Using it as a medium, she cast a curse.

Seiran began to sing. It was a song of curses. The gloomy melody that the White Frost tribe sang before going to war to break the enemy’s morale faintly flowed out.

After a massive amount of sorcery poured out, veins bulged on the Void Lord’s face. Muscles twisted, mana disconnected, blood flowing through vessels solidified, and as the pressure inside his body increased, his skin began to swell.

[Urgh…!]

Seiran’s condition wasn’t good either. Curses cast through sorcery required proper payment. The bones of the motionless Seiran shattered, her skin tore, and blood flowed out.

However, as soon as the wounds appeared, they began to heal.

It was a very bizarre sight, hardly resembling a fight. Only the sounds of twisting bones and screams filled the air. There was no collision between them; when the Void Lord approached, Seiran simply maintained distance.

‘Time…’

Seiran, muttering the curse song, frowned. Time was running out. The problem was that she had become overly excited after awakening after so long. The source of sorcery is mental strength. The more it’s used, the more mental strength is depleted.

Seiran no longer had the mental strength to maintain control over the body.

While maintaining the curse song, Seiran spread the twelve wolves in all directions. The wolves that ran quickly arrived at the location where the magicians and elves were gathered.

Upon reaching their destination, the wolves returned to their sword forms. The scattered sorcery wrapped around the swords and plunged into the ground. Right after, strange characters were written on the ground.

No one could read these characters. They were from the White Frost tribe. Seiran murmured.

Go ahead first.

Right after, the elves and magicians sank into the ground as if dissolving into shadows.

Next was her turn. Seiran slowly began to melt into the ground. The sensation beneath her feet grew faint. Even as she disappeared, Seiran did not stop the curse song.

All while glaring at the man before her, the Void Lord, as if to kill him. Her eyes burned fiercely as blood flowed from them.

As the curse strengthened, the Void Lord writhed in greater pain. But he didn’t die. Even as his arms and legs twisted, mana flying from all directions rapidly healed his body. The same happened when his blood vessels burst. She moved her sorcery to damage his internal organs, but his strong willpower pushed it back.

Before Seiran completely disappeared, with only part of her upper body and right hand remaining, she planted her blood in the ground. It was a kind of mark to find this space again anytime.

Right after, Seiran’s body sank completely into darkness.

The recovery of her faint bodily sensations was instantaneous.

*Step*

Seiran, appearing from empty space, landed on the snow-white field. Right after, twelve swords plunged into the ground around her.

*Thud*