Ch.213213. The Final Battle

The whole world was now following the manual.

“Everyone on high alert!”

The curtain had finally risen on the great war they had both feared and awaited.

Park Tae-sang shouted to the allied forces.

“If we overcome this, humanity wins! We can finally live in peace! Does everyone understand?”

As the monsters charged, their long-range attacks began.

Cho Sung-hee was the busiest here.

She had to gather the ancient species and priest-level Jaegers together.

“Don’t recklessly charge at strong monsters. No exceptions! Always coordinate with your sidekicks!”

She brought Dokgo Jun and Park Tae-sang to the ancient species, and sent the priest-level Jaegers as support.

They had already experienced the destructive power of the ancient species.

Moreover, unlike at the Academy, this wasn’t a defensive battle—they had to kill, putting everyone’s lives at risk.

But they had to fight. Everyone was fighting for a better future, to protect this world.

“Hey, something’s coming out from underground!”

But war was reality. The ground beneath the Jaegers split open, and a giant worm emerged.

The terrain was changing.

Not just a building, but a super-massive monster reaching the size of a Mahanaga, over tens of meters tall.

The Jaegers were shocked by its enormous body, even among ancient species, while witnessing countless monsters covering the sky above.

It was terror and despair.

The Jaegers hesitated, intimidated by the horde of monsters rushing in like a pack of dogs.

As magical energy rained down from the sky, a massive crack formed among them.

It absorbed the monsters’ attacks and then fired back at the approaching monsters.

Cho Sung-hee jumped in.

“Don’t lose your focus, everyone!”

At Sung-hee’s sharp command, they barely regained their senses.

“We can do this!”

“Die!”

Those who had come to their senses began to lift the mood again.

The Academy was in the same situation.

The city was already a sea of flames. With tens of thousands of enemy forces descending—not just dozens, hundreds, or thousands—the city was already devastated.

Aerial brought down her sword in front of everyone.

“We need to handle these ‘petty’ monsters. We’re stronger than the others! Right, everyone? Together, we can win!”

Unlike the Aerial of the past, she now thought of everyone.

She was different from when she suffered fragging. Years of fighting had changed her and made her the leader she was now.

The American continent, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Arab world—the entire world had begun to fight against the great offensive.

*

I’ve clearly lost the initiative.

In this fight, there’s only one thing I need to do.

Capture Jiho without killing him.

But is that easy?

The wave of destruction spreading before my eyes had stopped.

[Sub Card]

-Ground Manipulation

-Weather Manipulation

The ground rose to block the wave of destruction, and lightning struck from the sky.

Powerful energy erupted, but Jiho was already gone.

Yet my vision caught him. He’s agile and fast.

[Sub Card]

-Elemental Cannon

-Single Point Focus

[Evolution’s Wildness]

I activated my second sub card. Junhu’s attributes are a mix of wind and earth.

To defeat him, fire and water attributes work especially well.

Opposing attributes? Don’t worry. I have another card.

I replaced the Weather Manipulation sub card.

[Attribute Conversion]

Yes, using the Attribute Conversion card with Elemental Cannon makes the impossible possible.

As the fire-attribute elemental cannon discharged with flames, it began to paint the sky.

The power was astonishing even to me. It set the sky ablaze.

Even this description is an understatement. It had a tremendous range and destructive power, like hell falling from above.

I added attributes to the energy of destruction.

[Trait]

-Golden Radiance

My radiance, now with water attributes, engulfed the enemy. Not just a simple debuff. It’s a crucial means of unleashing destructive energy.

[Not bad.]

But as Jiho smiled confidently, my attack was deflected by a mass of magical energy.

Then Jiho’s hand became covered in scales, forming a spear.

Here it comes.

The moment Jiho threw it, I hastily dodged.

The spear that passed me split into thousands of small arrows and began destroying the city.

[How long can you keep dodging?]

“Right, I shouldn’t just dodge.”

Victory here means minimizing damage while winning. A victory after everything is destroyed would hardly count as a win.

I’ll fight while protecting.

“Jiho. I’ll show you.”

[What nonsense!]

All of this is to bring Jiho back to his original self.

Once again, I replace my sub card.

[Skill]

-Skill Seal

[Sub Card]

-Annihilation Energy Bullet

I activated the most powerful technique I know and a seal to block the enemy’s skills.

At that moment, my golden radiance began to envelop Jiho.

Jiho roughly waved his hand, but nothing happened.

Certain that the technique had taken effect, I shouted.

“Eun Jiho! Block it! Block it with all your might!”

[What nonsense!]

If it’s Jiho, he’ll block it. If it’s Jiho, he can block it.

The Annihilation Bullet, presumed to be the most powerful among my sub cards.

The power to decisively overwhelm enemies from the dinosaur era until now.

The moment I activated the sub card, magical energy concentrated in both my hands.

The energy extended in 12 directions like a clock in front of me and began to rotate.

Soon it transformed into a sphere mixed with black light and began flying toward the enemy.

As it flew, the sphere began to bloom like a flower bud.

Radius 100m, radius 500m, radius 1km.

It enveloped everything in the sky, not allowing escape.

And everything began to be shattered by the annihilation bullet.

Even the clouds were swallowed.

As it enveloped Jiho, preventing his escape, Jiho began to emit magical energy.

“A snake…?”

It appeared like a giant snake above Jiho’s body.

The magical snake expanded as massively as my annihilation bullet, wrapping around Jiho.

It was literally an all-out battle.

I could only hope that Jiho would block it here.

Soon the collision began, and the explosive force felt like it was blocking out the sun.

My power extended relentlessly, while Eun Jiho’s power was shrinking.

The result is obvious. He’ll block it. Then comes the next step.

My Evolution’s Wildness has long finished analyzing the enemy.

The moment he blocks that attack is my time to act.

Somehow, the giant magical snake successfully blocked the annihilation bullet, colliding with it from all directions.

The annihilation bullet disappeared before my eyes, and in front of it was Eun Jiho, breathing heavily.

Though I was already behind him.

When Eun Jiho turned around in that brief moment, Evolution’s Wildness detected this movement.

As if indicating the next action.

Three possible actions.

Swing, magical energy emission, forward evasion.

Eun Jiho chose magical energy emission. Of course, my predicted kick struck Jiho’s arm upward.

[Ugh!]

At that moment, I slashed Eun Jiho with my nails.

“You won’t die.”

[You bastard! I’ll become the ruler…]

“No, you’re not the ruler.”

I grabbed Eun Jiho’s head and threw him to the ground.

I slowly approached Jiho, who had tumbled through dozens of meters.

“Jiho. Come back. I’ve confirmed that you’re still in there.”

[Futile effort, that’s the absurd result of my own stubbornness. He won’t come out again.]

“I didn’t ask you. Get out and let Jiho come. I want to talk to him.”

[Don’t be ridiculous!]

The terminal controlling Jiho pierced through Do Jonghyun’s body.

But Do Jonghyun didn’t block it.

“!”

The terminal’s surprised expression momentarily showed sadness and shock.

[No. This, this can’t be.]

“The very fact that it’s incomplete means it can be exploited. I don’t want to fight you. Come out! Eun Jiho! Let’s start over.”

[You’re being ridiculous!]

The power of destruction that Eun Jiho used struck my body directly.

[Trait]

-Golden Radiance blocks the enemy.

No, it doesn’t need to block.

I could block it. But I didn’t take any defensive stance.

I didn’t avoid it while maintaining eye contact with Eun Jiho.

When Jiho’s hand moved from my shoulder down to my side, I was reassured again.

“You can come back!”

[Die!]

Just as Eun Jiho was about to emit magical energy with bloodshot eyes.

Jiho suddenly lowered his hand. It seemed involuntary.

And I heard footsteps behind me.

Someone calling out urgently.

“Jiho?”

Eun Serin was behind me now. As a mother, and as someone who had disappointed her child, she was facing Eun Jiho.

[Ah, what! Why are you here…]

While Eun Jiho was clutching his head in agony, Eun Serin passed by me.

“Don’t interfere at all.”

She had been prepared from the beginning. She wanted to open her heart to Eun Jiho and try to have a conversation.

There was no reason to part in that state.

Eun Serin’s body was trembling. From here on, I leave everything to her.

I flew up to deal with other areas where fighting was still ongoing.

*

It was still vivid in his mind.

[No! He’s not my son!]

Jiho had only come to protect his mother. Sensing danger and crisis.

But Eun Serin had rejected him and ignored him.

[See? You were just a pawn from the beginning. To Eun Serin, you were just a disposable part]

The whispers of the flowing Milky Way drove him to despair, eventually leading to this situation.

With the terminal controlling him and unable to do anything, Eun Jiho remained still.

Reclaiming a stolen body requires tremendous mental strength and effort.

But he, who had been abandoned, had neither the will nor the effort.

But at some point, he began to hear Do Jonghyun’s voice.

The man who had been kind to him when he was always anxious without human contact.

The man who was with Eun Serin.

The man he had wanted to live with was calling him.

And now, Eun Serin had appeared.

“Now… now of all times!”

A strong feeling of rejection emerged, pushing back the terminal’s consciousness for a moment.

Eun Serin approached such a Jiho.

“Don’t come closer! I’ll kill you! You abandoned me!”

Eun Serin approached the boy who was pouring out his anger. If she touches his magical energy, she’ll die.

Not even Do Jonghyun’s level, let alone Eun Serin. As Eun Serin approached, Eun Jiho withdrew his magical energy.

“Jiho. I’m sorry. I did something unforgivable to you.”

“Mom…?”

[No. Don’t listen! That woman is just using you!]

The terminal’s voice was trying to plant seeds of doubt.

But Eun Serin approached without hesitation.

“I didn’t want to abandon you. I couldn’t be discovered then. I wasn’t worthy of being a mother back then. But now it’s different. I’ve decided to accept and endure everything. Jiho… can you give this mother another chance?”

“Lies! You abandoned me. Now you’re…”

“You can kill me.”

“…!”

Jiho looked at Eun Serin with a shocked face.

“I already told Jonghyun. I won’t commit suicide and I’ll accept your anger. So, you can kill me. But promise me one thing. Help Jonghyun. Can you come back to humanity’s side?”

“That can’t be! Killing you… that’s cowardly.”

“Then shall we live together?”

Eun Serin’s gentle voice resonated. Eun Jiho was already whimpering.

“Now of all times…”

[She’s deceiving you! This isn’t right! Mahanaga! You must come now!]

“Mistakes can be fixed. I don’t want to part with you like this, Jiho. If not now, there won’t be another chance to change things, right? This is the last chance, Jiho.”

Eun Serin approached without hesitation. She, who could die with one blow, came forward and embraced Jiho.

“Mom is really sorry. You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? From now on, we’ll live normally.”

[I possess the will of our great god! I cannot be broken by such trivial matters! Quickly, this body…]

The terminal pressed Eun Jiho with chains in the mental world.

[You must kill…]

“Get lost.”

But the moment cold killing intent reached the terminal, the mental world began to turn white.

Eun Jiho took control and now looked directly at his mother’s face.

“Mom?”

“Jiho… thank you.”

The mother and son embraced each other preciously.