Ch.237Chapter 237: A New Era (9).

# Chapter 237: A New Era (9)

Valt was feeling exhilarated by the immense power, but the scene from the outside was quite different.

The magic armor that had been reborn through the power of the 9th Circle was melting, unable to withstand the dissonance of the six powers.

The liquefied armor flowed down his body, then crystallized again with explosive energy, only to turn to dust and scatter—a process that repeated without pause.

Destruction and regeneration, endlessly cycling.

“What… what is that…?!”

The five heroes were struck with awe.

This wasn’t a process of becoming stronger. It looked more like a being staking everything on self-destruction.

Saint Seraphina could only watch with clenched lips as this insane act unfolded—not borrowing divine power through a human body, but trying to absorb it directly and make it his own.

Yet it was astonishing.

The Gerungtu before her was enduring it.

Though it was power she had transferred, she couldn’t believe what was happening before her eyes.

‘Impossible…!’

Even Zmorael, the incarnation of chaos, felt instinctive fear at the sight.

This couldn’t be allowed to continue.

He had seen this once before, tens of thousands of years ago.

That time when his six wings were mercilessly torn apart.

Across tens of centuries, Valt’s appearance was rekindling that day’s terror in Zmorael.

[Stop…! I said STOOOOOP!!]

FWOOOOOSH—!

Zmorael transformed his very existence into a massive tidal wave of chaos, blackening the world as he rushed toward Valt.

But at that moment, a voice echoed within Valt’s mind.

It was his own voice.

‘Shut up.’

He commanded the rampaging powers.

‘I am a warrior of destruction.’

His will seized the reins of the rampaging red aura.

‘I am the ruler of the earth.’

His will rewove the torn blue spirit power and green life force back into one.

‘I am a 9th Circle magician.’

His will inscribed new laws upon the raging golden magical power.

‘And I am… the protector of all this.’

His will embraced the pure white divine power that had been rebelling against him as heresy.

“I AM…! GERUNGTU!!!”

What dominated his inner self was no longer pain.

It was an iron will as an absolute ruler.

The essence of Gerungtu that he had tried to deny—the quality of a ruler who creates order through destruction and places all power beneath himself—had finally bloomed perfectly.

As if by magic, the inner storm subsided.

The six rampaging powers bowed their heads toward the new center that was Valt Gerungtu.

The pain vanished.

The unstable light emanating from Valt’s body converged into a single brilliant, radiant light.

The armor fragments that had been scattering as dust no longer regenerated.

Instead, ancient tattoo-like patterns flowing with six different lights were inscribed across his muscular body. His flesh itself had become divine armor.

He quietly opened his eyes.

Within his pupils flowed a small galaxy.

He slowly looked down at his fist.

The six powers had stopped their destructive dissonance and were now forming a perfect circle of harmony, each one flowing into the next.

It was as if a small universe was breathing in the palm of his hand.

The mythical name of Gerungtu was engraved upon his soul.

He quietly murmured.

“This feels… good.”

Before his calm eyes, a tidal wave of chaos that could devour the world was approaching.

KWAAAAAAAA—!!

The heroes, having already exhausted all their power, were defenseless before this tidal wave.

[DIE! ALONG WITH THIS WORLD!!]

Zmorael’s cursed cry covered the battlefield.

But Valt was no longer swayed by that voice.

He took one step forward.

Swoosh—

Thud—

Then something strange happened.

The tidal wave of chaos rushing toward him began to part naturally before him, like a river before a massive rock.

The field of force formed around his body was pushing back Zmorael’s chaos.

Valt continued walking without stopping.

Thud—

Thud—

One step, then another.

He approached Zmorael’s core steadily, like a savior parting the sea of chaos.

[W-why!! Why again!!]

For the first time, Zmorael’s voice carried primordial fear beyond shock.

His all-out attack couldn’t advance a single step before this being.

Valt did not answer.

He finally stood before the creature’s core.

And quietly raised his fist filled with perfectly harmonized power.

His movement wasn’t fast.

Rather, it was slow.

No, in that brief moment as his fist moved forward, it seemed as if everything in the world slowed down.

It was as if space itself was making way for his fist.

This was no longer a physical attack.

It was the process of one concept pronouncing a death sentence upon another.

Finally, Valt’s fist touched the core of chaos.

There was no thunderous sound.

Instead, a deep silence fell as if the world held its breath.

Tzzat—!

Six-colored light burst from the tip of Valt’s fist.

It did not destroy Zmorael’s chaos.

It understood, deconstructed, and redefined Zmorael’s chaos.

The white divine power purified his curses and malice.

The green life force returned the energy of destruction to the concept of the energy of birth.

The blue spirit power guided his twisted souls toward the concept of natural rest.

The golden magical power rewrote the chaotic laws that constituted his existence into orderly ones.

The red aura and colorless physical force became the absolute power executing the entire process.

[Ah… aah….]

Zmorael’s thousands of screams transformed into a single lament.

He felt his existence vanishing.

But there was no pain in the process.

Rather, he felt a strange serenity as the hatred, thirst, and rage that had dominated him for tens of thousands of years disappeared.

[This… light… what…]

Those were his final words.

The incarnation of chaos quietly scattered into particles of light.

Like darkness naturally dissolving into dawn, his existence was perfectly erased from the records of all dimensions.

Faaaah—

Six-colored light spread gently from where Zmorael had disappeared.

It wasn’t the aftermath of destruction.

It was the breath of creation healing the wounded world.

Saint Seraphina opened her mouth.

“A miracle… of the divine.”

Miracles occurred wherever the light touched.

Fresh sprouts emerged from the blackened earth that had been contaminated by demonic energy, and the torn sky regained its dazzling colors.

***

A completely different scene was unfolding on the eastern front where the main forces of the Continental Alliance were positioned.

Baron Rainer, the First Knight Commander of the Empire, was witnessing hell.

Demon legions endlessly pouring out from the gates of hell.

Before their fierce offensive, the defensive line of the Empire’s proud knights was on the verge of crumpling like paper.

If not for the Emperor’s cold-blooded command and the support of the Archmage and the Palace Diviner, the front would have collapsed long ago.

“Hold! Not one step back! For the glory of the Empire!”

Just as he shouted until his throat was raw, it happened.

The terrible and absolute pressure of demonic energy that had been crushing the world and eating away at souls just by its presence vanished like a lie.

‘What?! The pressure is gone!!’

In that moment, all noise on the battlefield ceased.

The demons charging forward in madness all stopped abruptly.

The fanatical killing intent in their red eyes disappeared, replaced by pure confusion and fear like lost beasts.

As if the massive thread of consciousness controlling them had been snapped from somewhere high above.

“KEEEEEK?!”

“Grrrr…?”

The demon army began to disintegrate.

Some attacked each other in fear, while others, gripped by instinctive terror, wailed as they tried to flee back to the gates of hell.

The Emperor would not miss this golden opportunity.

At the Alliance headquarters.

Emperor Gerhart von Halkin commanded in an ice-cold voice into the magic amplification orb.

His voice thundered in the ears of every soldier on the battlefield.

“ALL-OUT ATTACK!!! ALL UNITS, ANNIHILATE THE DEMONS BEFORE YOU!!”

That single command was the signal.

“The demonic energy is gone!! In the name of the continent, don’t let a single one live!”

“WAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

The morale of the Alliance soldiers, who had been fighting a desperate defensive battle, soared to the heavens.

The tide of battle reversed instantly with roars of pent-up anger and hope.

The knights’ aura ravaged the collapsed demon formations, and the vengeful area spells of the mages reduced the panicking demon hordes to dust.

The continent’s true strength was formidable.

The demons, having lost their means of oppressing humans through demonic energy, were swept away like autumn leaves before the continent’s heroes.

Even the gates of hell closed as the demons lost their lord.

The war would end in human victory.

***

Eventually, all the light subsided.

And in the center of this miraculous victory.

A man who would be recorded as a new myth stood firmly.

The ancient pattern-like light enveloping his body quietly disappeared.

The galaxy flowing in his pupils returned to ordinary golden color.

All the power had vanished as if it had been a lie.

He looked down at his empty hand once, then surveyed the peaceful world around him.

And then, revealing his characteristic white teeth, he smiled faintly.

“…Not a big deal.”