Ch.220219. Starting Point (5)

# 219. Starting Point (5)

Marco, Amelia, Diabolica, Light, Kyle, and many others.

The numerous powerful fighters gathered here were giving their all in battle, hoping for a swift conclusion to their fight.

Their determination to face Solomon, the strongest living being on earth, and the Executioners who were no less formidable than themselves, was extraordinary.

They carried a resolve in their hearts—a willingness to die here if necessary, a conviction that sacrificing themselves to secure victory in this war would be a noble end.

Of course, alongside that resolve was also the thought, “Though I’d prefer to return alive if possible…”

Solomon, a dragon of unimaginable size, didn’t attack relentlessly, but each strike was lethal.

Those who fearlessly inflicted wounds on Solomon’s body were mercilessly crushed beneath him.

-BOOM! CRASH!!-

It was merely the act of stepping down.

Just raising a foot and bringing it down.

Yet it created a tremor and sound as if an earthquake had struck.

That was the kind of monster Solomon was.

Still, he wasn’t using his breath—the symbol of dragons and their most terrifying weapon.

Diabolica felt relieved about this fact as she used her spear to deflect the monster’s attacks.

“A small blessing in this misfortune…”

Kyle, who was helping block the monster’s movements alongside Diabolica, spoke while embedding magic into various parts of the beast’s body.

“He’s staying true to himself—someone who normally despises fighting. Even in this moment, I can see his reluctance to fight us.”

However, Kyle didn’t take comfort in this observation.

“Still, we don’t know when his mind might change, or how much stronger Bael’s control might become.”

“Indeed.”

Diabolica and Kyle, along with tens of thousands of soldiers, were working to contain Solomon’s movements.

Though they had just met for this mission, their coordination was impressive.

There seemed to be an unspoken understanding among those of great power.

The two achieved high-level combination attacks without much explicit communication.

Unlike others, Diabolica fearlessly climbed onto Solomon’s massive body.

She then thrust her spear into his left wing.

-Tch..!-

The enraged Solomon used his magical energy to fix Diabolica’s position.

Then he opened his mouth toward her.

“Maybe I went too far…?”

-WHIIIIING!!-

Magical energy began to gather.

In no time, it grew so massive that even the two people battling far away could sense it.

At that moment, a bright red light like the midday sun was about to engulf the area.

But Kyle’s magic was faster.

-CRACK!!-

Kyle’s spell hit Solomon’s mouth directly.

This diverted the direction of the breath, which was then discharged into the air.

-WHOOOOSH!!!-

The dragon’s breath cut through the empty sky.

It was clearly on a different level from human magic.

If that attack had hit the human army, it would have not only claimed the soldiers’ lives but also demolished the walls behind them.

Realizing this, Diabolica stopped pushing her luck and immediately descended to the ground.

“That was close…”

“That’s why we should just focus on defense.”

“Why didn’t you stop me?”

“I thought I could redirect it in time.”

Given the situation, it seemed best to avoid using powerful skills.

Otherwise, they might end up in the same predicament as before, and there was no guarantee Kyle would be able to block it again.

“This is… frustrating.”

“It’s fine as long as we don’t provoke him too much. I think we should try setting up a barrier first.”

***

“Damn it… shit…”

As I cursed, Agareus, who was watching, said:

“Why don’t you just give up now? This place was never meant for children like you.”

“Shut up.”

I was clearly reaching my physical limit.

But the number of opponents had also noticeably decreased.

I kept reminding myself of this fact to stay focused.

“Big talk from a has-been who can’t even take down one kid.”

“Stop the bravado. I know you’re at your limit.”

If the fight had continued like before, I wouldn’t have been this exhausted.

But thanks to Agareus’s unique skill, I had suffered quite a bit.

And that suffering was ongoing.

Unlike before, there wasn’t just one of him in my field of vision.

“Ten of them?”

“Yes, ten.”

Agareus’s first unique skill, [Division], and his second unique skill, [Halt].

These two skills were incredibly troublesome.

But there was one positive aspect.

“They’ve decreased quite a bit.”

“Huh…?”

“That’s all you have left—just these ten.”

I had already killed half of them.

Taking hope from this fact, I pushed my tired body forward and plunged back into the pain.

Immediately, the ten Agareus copies surrounded me.

And in that state, they used the second unique skill.

Of course, I had my own countermeasure.

I flicked my sword toward my left forearm.

“Stop.”

As soon as Agareus’s voice reached me, my body froze completely.

It felt like only my time had stopped.

But unlike before, this sensation didn’t last long, and extreme pain soon overwhelmed it.

“Ugh…!”

I pulled the sword out of my forearm.

Even removing it hurt.

I felt like crying, but I held back.

Then I swung my sword at these annoying copies before me.

First, I thrust my sword toward the heart of the one in front.

-CLANG!!-

It was blocked.

But I used [Swift] to get closer to him and twisted the arm holding the sword.

-CRACK!!-

This one wasn’t the real one, that was certain.

Still, I stabbed my sword into his heart.

-SQUELCH!!-

Blood spurted out simultaneously.

Without even feeling the coolness of that blood, I targeted another one.

The copies created by [Division] were definitely weaker than the original.

They were slightly weaker than me.

Moreover, with her blocking the attacks of the remaining eight, it was easier to take them out one by one.

Of course, they were only weak compared to the original—each one was still formidable in absolute terms, and her defense wasn’t perfect.

After quickly dispatching one, I created distance between myself and the others.

During that process, I was stabbed by a sword.

-THUD!-

And punched.

-THWACK! THUMP!!-

I bled and bruised.

It hurt. I wanted to give up.

But whenever I felt that way, I remembered that time.

‘This is quite similar…’

It was him back then too.

Because of the memory of that day when I lost her after being defeated by this guy, I couldn’t fall.

I kept getting up, again and again.

Unlike then, she was helping me now.

I was in quite a fortunate situation.

Though my opponent didn’t see it that way.

“You’re persistent…”

“Losing again would wound my pride too much.”

“Again?”

His copies had all vanished at some point.

Their corpses were strewn across the ground.

Looking at those bodies, I said:

“You’ll end up like them.”

I threw the sword I was holding to the ground and summoned a much larger one.

Then, with her covering me, I approached him.

As if he had been waiting for this, he charged at me first.

Agareus leaped lightly and swung his sword at me from mid-air.

I quickly spun my body.

-SWOOSH!-

His sword cut through the air.

But eventually, that sword came after me.

-CLANG!!-

I gripped my sword firmly with both hands and drove him back.

Right trapezius, left leg, arm, leg, head, heart.

I aimed for every vulnerable spot, but neither of us landed a hit on the other.

However, as time passed, I could feel us being pushed back.

And that fact was confirmed with a single attack.

His sword broke through her magic.

-BOOM!!-

And then pierced my abdomen.

-THUD!!-

“Argh..!”

The sharp sword penetrated my stomach.

I felt the blade’s coldness and sharpness vividly through my body.

It was dizzying.

I thought I might lose consciousness.

But there was one fortunate thing.

I managed to gather my remaining consciousness and swung my sword toward his blade.

Or more accurately, I placed it against his sword.

Then I muttered in a low voice:

“I’m not asking for much, just take this…”

-RUMBLE..!!-

An abyss emerged from my sword and gripped his blade tightly.

Surprised, Agareus hurriedly tried to pull his sword out.

But unfortunately, the sword didn’t budge.

“Give up. It’s already too late…”

The abyss devoured his sword.

Slowly but surely, like a parasite tormenting its host.

Of course, he wouldn’t just stand still.

But his attacks didn’t reach me.

I watched him attempting attacks that wouldn’t connect and said:

“You should have just stayed away… making me anxious for nothing… though I guess this is safer.”

And soon after, reinforcements arrived.

Reinforcements I had hoped would never come.