Ch.235Chapter 235: A New Era (7)

# Chapter 235: A New Era (7)

Zmorael’s low-pitched provocation carried a chilling resonance.

His six pairs of black wings spread wide, raising a storm of pure demonic energy along with a pitch-black curtain of darkness that threatened to devour all light on the battlefield.

From his body, demonic energy that could dye the world black blazed intensely.

Against this overwhelming darkness, the five heroes squeezed out their last reserves of strength.

“I can’t leave everything to my junior! Here I go!”

Beast King Lycan roared as he charged forward first. Red aura burned around his fists.

“Destruction God Strike, the final form of the Heaven-Breaking Fist!”

Sword Saint Arka appeared like a shadow from the opposite side of Lycan, unleashing a slash that made space itself seem to become a blade. Spear Emperor Valerius descended from the sky with lightning, while Herb Emperor poured out light of enhancement and healing upon them from the rear, drawing in all life force.

Saint Seraphina’s holy power purified Zmorael’s demonic energy, opening a path for their attacks.

The desperate knowledge that the world was on the brink of destruction elevated their potential to the extreme. It was truly an all-out offensive worthy of heroes from myth.

“Kuhahaha! Insects are indeed best when they swarm together! Very well! I shall personally receive your final struggles!”

Zmorael shouted as he spread a pitch-black demonic barrier.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The heroes’ all-or-nothing attacks struck Zmorael’s barrier simultaneously.

An enormous explosion incomparable to anything before engulfed the battlefield in a flash of light.

The demonic barrier tore apart, and Zmorael’s pitch-black armor screamed as it cracked and fractured in multiple places.

“It’s working! Keep pressing the attack!”

Saint Seraphina shouted with a voice full of hope.

Zmorael was clearly being pushed back by the heroes’ fierce attacks.

He roared in anger and counterattacked with pillars of demonic energy and spatial distortions, but the heroes had already figured out his attack patterns and protected each other while coordinating flawlessly.

‘Now’s the time!’

Valt had been waiting for this moment. A golden opportunity created by the heroes.

Above his right fist, the fundamental powers he possessed began to gather.

Overwhelming physical force, burning aura, Noares’ elemental power, 8th Circle magical power, and even his own life force.

Five powers swirled together at a single point, emitting an unstable light.

The forbidden technique that had previously annihilated the Death Knight. But now, Valt had grown incomparably stronger than before.

Five-Source Fusion Fist!

With Valt’s shout, his fist cut through space and precisely drove into Zmorael’s chest, which had been weakened the most by the heroes’ fierce attacks.

KWAAAAAAANG!!!

A moment of silence as if time had stopped.

Then, in the next instant, an explosion that devoured all sounds in the world occurred.

The fusion of five powers was as explosive as it was unstable, and its destructive power tore through Zmorael’s remaining demonic barrier and armor like paper, striking his chest directly.

“Kuh… hack…!”

For the first time, a groan mixed with pain burst from Zmorael’s mouth.

His massive body was pushed back dozens of meters, carving a deep furrow in the ground.

As the dust settled, everyone held their breath at the sight of him.

His chest was so deeply caved in that it was hard to recognize its shape, and from within, dark red blood and demonic energy were leaking out.

“I-impossible! T-to think I would suffer such a wound!”

Zmorael showed a bewildered expression.

Success. Everyone thought so.

With such a fatal wound, even a great demon would…!

But at that very moment.

“Kuk… kukkuk… Kuhaha… KUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

Zmorael began to laugh maniacally.

It wasn’t laughter filled with pain. It was laughter full of pure joy and mockery, as if he found it too amusing, too hilarious to contain.

SHWAAAK—

Before everyone’s eyes, the terrible wound in his chest was instantly covered with new flesh and disappeared without a trace.

The destructive energy of the Five-Source Fusion Fist writhed inside his body, but Zmorael forcibly suppressed and annihilated that energy with even more powerful demonic force.

“Th-this can’t be…!”

The color drained from Beast King Lycan’s face.

“Was this… all an act…?”

Spear Emperor Valerius muttered in a trembling voice.

Indeed.

Zmorael had never once been pushed back. He had merely been gauging the level of the heroes’ strength, the strongest hand this world could offer, while enjoying himself.

Only Valt’s Five-Source Fusion Fist had been a real attack that surpassed the realm of his amusement, which was why he had allowed himself to be wounded briefly, but even that was meaningless before his power.

“Excellent, young Geruntu. Truly excellent.”

Clap, clap, clap—

Zmorael said while applauding.

In his eyes, the light of amusement had completely disappeared, replaced by what seemed like recognition of his opponent, but also a murderous intent to crush them even more mercilessly because of it.

“That attack of yours reminded me, however faintly, of that accursed Tenger who troubled me ten thousand years ago. So I’ve decided to give you a reward. I’ll show all of you what true despair is.”

KUOOOOOOO!!!

An explosion of magical pressure erupted from Zmorael’s body, on a completely different dimension from before.

DRRRRRRRRR—

The sky and earth trembled, and the five heroes fell to their knees, unable even to breathe.

Valt’s Divine Iron Magic Armor began to crumple with a scream.

This was the Great Demon’s true power.

Despair.

Pure, perfect despair.

Valt’s mind burned white.

His ultimate strike, in which he had invested everything, had been rendered meaningless with just a compliment.

There were no means left.

‘How did it come to this?’

‘Why couldn’t I do it?’

‘Who am I in the first place?’

In the depths of despair, Valt suddenly recalled a fundamental question.

Am I an outsider from modern Earth who loves peace?

Or am I a prince of the Geruntu, called a barbarian race?

A muscular force mage? An 8th Circle archmage?

Numerous identities tangled chaotically in his mind.

But none of them provided an answer to overcome the current despair.

At that moment, ironically, the enemy’s voice flashed through his mind.

“Strong enough to make gods and demons fear them… That was the Geruntu. A race whose name was feared even to speak.”

Yes.

I was running away.

I was denying it.

I love peace.

This is not the world I lived in.

But I have precious comrades here and a world to protect.

And I have the power to protect them.

My origin, which I tried to turn away from.

My essence.

I am… not a guardian of peace.

I am a warrior of destruction.

Valt’s eyes changed.

Something was firmly defined within him.

I am an ancient supreme warrior whom even gods and demons feared.

The ruler of the earth who destroys everything using all power.

“Yes. I am… Geruntu.”

At that moment, the final shackle binding Valt’s soul shattered.

A sensation as if the universe was being reborn within him.

His magic circuits, his very existence, underwent a qualitative change and expanded explosively.

[Absolute will has defined your existence.]

[Chaotic magical power finds a new order.]

[Soul rank has risen one level.]

[You have reached the realm of 9th Circle magic!]

KWAAAAAAAA!!!

From Valt’s body erupted a magical storm incomparable to anything before, seeming to shake the very laws of the world.

Zmorael, who was about to deliver the final blow to the heroes, turned to look at Valt with a face full of surprise for the first time at this overwhelming manifestation of magical power.

What appeared in his eyes was not simple surprise.

It was shock at an incomprehensible phenomenon, bewilderment at the emergence of something that mocked the common sense he had accumulated throughout his long life.

And… for the first time in tens of thousands of years, an instinctive detection of danger that threatened the foundation of his existence.

“Hmm… You reached the 9th Circle realm in the middle of battle? As expected of a Geruntu—a race that must not be allowed to live.”

Zmorael’s voice lowered for the first time.

The Divine Iron Magic Armor enveloping Valt’s body began to creak.

It was about to shatter, unable to handle the energy that far exceeded the 9th Circle design limit.

But faster than it could break, Valt’s will and new magical power recombined and recreated the armor fragments.

The sacred platinum light of Rupenium and the fierce red light of the Blood Demon Armor melted perfectly into one within the fundamental 9th Circle magical power.

The armor was reborn in a form far more elegant, essential, and powerful than before.

It resembled living primordial rock, and looked more like an extension of Valt’s body than armor.

The five heroes who witnessed the battle between Zmorael and Valt later gave this name to Valt’s magic armor.

Or rather, they simply expressed the emotion they felt at that time.

[Primordial Warrior]

Valt’s eyes opened quietly inside the helmet.

There was no longer any emotional fluctuation in his pupils.

He merely gazed at Zmorael with a deep, calm gaze as if looking down upon the world itself.

He now perceived the world differently.

The flow of mana drifting in the air, the subtle vibrations of the earth, the labored breaths of his comrades, even the trembling of Zmorael’s magical power in despair—he felt them all clearly as if they were parts of himself.

“This is… the world of the 9th Circle…”

Valt’s voice, with a completely different resonance than before, flowed from within the Primordial Armor.

“Interesting. Thanks to you, I’ve realized who I am, Great Demon.”

Valt slowly opened his right hand.

Then, where there had been nothing, space distorted and a small black sphere appeared on his palm.

It was a pure concentration of gravity that pulled in and annihilated everything, different from both Zmorael’s void and magical darkness.

9th Circle magic.

Gravity Control.

“That true despair you mentioned.”

Valt lightly tossed the black sphere toward Zmorael.

“I’m thinking of smashing it to pieces now. What do you think?”