Ch.276The Mourner (5)

Under the already risen sun, a more intensely burning sun emerged.

It was the purest flame. Something that could only be ‘gentle’ to humans if kept at a vast distance, typically granted only to those who raise their heads.

It erupted from the void. An explosion that would never last long, and therefore unmatched in its intensity.

Nerilmaeus, suspended in midair, felt it.

She screams. It cannot be heard. In the intense nuclear flames that steal away all sound and light, an individual’s voice cannot escape.

Not just her voice. For that brief moment suspended in the air, caught in the explosion, the perceived time of the being who considered herself Nerilmaeus stretched to extremes.

Her body breaks apart under the overwhelming heat and shockwaves. She’s swept away by impacts that penetrate every joint and muscle fiber.

In that agony, Nerilmaeus inevitably sank into herself, and thus glimpsed the past.

In other words, she saw the void. She realized that she had never originally existed, that she was not Nerilmaeus.

Even a transcendent being cannot resurrect a single life. She knew that even the “Steward” who aimed for transcendence and chose ascension could not achieve this, and her sense of self crumbled.

An impossible task even for transcendent beings who create stars and build universes: resurrecting a life already lost.

It’s simple to keep existing things from dying, and not difficult to mold new life or weave new minds.

But the effort required to fully resurrect something already dead is immense, with almost no possibility of realization.

Something impossible even for beings who have attained transcendence. Yet, to resurrect something whose time of death cannot even be clearly observed?

It’s impossible. If such a thing were possible, Netel would not have interfered with closing the world. A transcendent being of that caliber could have entered Netel again without any hindrance.

And could have harvested as much as desired.

There was only one reason this didn’t happen. Even transcendent beings who seemed to lack rationality were consistent in this regard. Whatever wore Nerilmaeus’s mask realized this.

Knowing that the madness it possessed was an imitation, a fake.

Knowing that despite calling itself Nerilmaeus and being a fitting existence, it could never become Nerilmaeus.

Furthermore, it knew that its battle had no meaning whatsoever.

But knowing changed nothing.

KUOOOOOOOOOO!

The engulfed air is torn apart and scattered. The explosion that began in the sky burns only Nerilmaeus and the tall trees without touching the ground.

Not burning but completely reduced to ashes and scattered, Nerilmaeus’s body becomes tattered as it repeats regeneration and ignition. Her clothes had already disappeared at the first signs of the explosion.

KUGUGUGUGUGUGUGU!

The air not caught in the explosion becomes a storm sweeping the surroundings, and those preparing to fire lower their bodies, staggering to avoid being caught in the shockwave.

Those familiar saw in it the form of the Guardian Knight.

And “Lucilla’s old enemies,” including Arba, trembled as they murmured the ominous name: Annihilation.

Even the Three Clans were the same. They pondered whether they could overcome such an enemy, what methods they would need to subdue it, and realized that no method could achieve complete victory.

Such was the power of Lucilla’s unique skill.

Named Star’s Death. Truly a secret weapon that could force bleeding no matter how many enemies there were, usable regardless of how overwhelming the gap might be.

Even if she lost all her companions, Lucilla would remain intact. Rather, she would be stronger without interference in using Star’s Death.

If there was a weakness, it would be immediately after using Star’s Death.

KWAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA, KUUUUNG!

In the place where Star’s Death had dissipated, residual heat from Star’s Death lingered around the small body that fell to the ground with a thud.

Abnormal transformation, Star’s Heart.

Star’s Death was something that required both Star’s Heart and Star’s Flame to coexist.

It recreated stellar flames through the heart as a medium, and expelled the star’s fire outside the body.

It was only natural that only Star’s Heart remained after Star’s Death ended. That’s why Lucilla was repeatedly called Annihilation in a short period of growth.

She became a powerful figure proudly ranking among the continent’s Three Powers, and was treated as an enemy worthy of caution even by those three powerful individuals.

Her overwhelming martial arts and transcendent means made her so.

Nerilmaeus shuddered at the “common knowledge” invading her mind, while hastily regenerating and wrapping death around her body.

An energy that could kill even immortal races like the Three Clans upon contact.

SHWAAAACK!

But there was an attack aimed at her.

Hot wind mixed with the naturally resonating sound of wind.

With a slashing sound, it struck—a hand axe.

A short weapon wielded by Annihilation Lucilla.

Weapons used after using Star’s Heart melt. That’s the basic rule. That’s why Lucilla borrowed the hand axe named North Wind from her younger brother.

It was a natural choice considering that Luvellin essentially had blades for limbs and could produce star clusters at any time. She didn’t even draw out the spear she received from her brother.

Nerilmaeus’s head jerked back sharply, and in the gap as she tried to regain her posture, the hand axe flew through the air.

KWADEUK, flesh was torn away and her knee naturally bent.

A throw precisely targeting the joint and tendon. As if it were a law, the hand axe returned to Lucilla’s hand after striking the back of the knee, forcing Nerilmaeus to kneel, and she reflexively crossed her arms.

JJEOEOEOEOEOEK!

An extended leg kicked Nerilmaeus. The firm leg pushed through her defense.

How? She should have wrapped death around her body.

The reason became clear soon enough. The stellar flames wrapped around that body were removing the death wrapped around Nerilmaeus’s body.

Transcendent magical power rivaling divinity. The phenomenon that occurs when a species that cannot possess magical power does possess it, filling its entire blood vessels and body with magical power.

Nerilmaeus barely stopped her body from being dragged backward as she coughed blood, and caught the flying knee kick aimed at her with her hands.

KWAAAAAAAANG!

But there was no chance for counterattack. Her mouth opened, and the breath she had been concentrating shot up into the sky.

It was due to the attack that struck her waist as if to bisect it. The form of Luvellin passing by without needing to turn her head. He was wrapped in sacred blood that was decomposing on his body. The sacred blood, black over his armor, crumbled away but still faithfully obeyed its master’s command.

Strength surpassing even his sister and the dragon wrapped in the power of mourning. The legacy of the Mourner Ulrich.

Nerilmaeus gritted her teeth and endured, but even that couldn’t last long.

PUEOK, her head turned with a sound. An arrow of light precisely embedded in her temple.

Following that arrow, countless arrows and crossbow bolts were fired at her.

In the gap when she tripped over Lucilla’s low sweeping leg, Nerilmaeus felt blades mutilating her entire body.

At the end, a long sword plunged down. The giant’s blade fell straight down like a guillotine.

KWAUUUUUNG!

With a sound like thunder, the ground’s surface flipped over. Two severed arms rose simultaneously, and the Sword Saint smiled bleakly as he crossed his feet and swung his sword repeatedly. Lucilla and Luvellin were no longer visible, having already retreated.

Nerilmaeus had to be wary of those two who could effectively attack her. But where were they?

As her eyes darted around, the Sword Saint’s consecutive attacks continued. Sword strikes that traced solid lines in the air, rushing without making a sound.

Sword strikes at the extreme. She blocked with her elbow, and her forearm was cut off and flew away.

The arm that even Luvellin couldn’t cut through with the Mourner’s physical abilities and draconic qualities was severed.

There was no time to widen her eyes in surprise.

The Sword Saint had already dropped his disciple’s melting sword and retreated.

And what filled that gap was.

“Descend!”

Countless black knights plunging down from the sky.

Black knights impaling Nerilmaeus with their extended lances. Under the darkening sky, Nerilmaeus was pinned to the ground by the lances.

Pinned to the ground. Unable to move. Everyone was keeping their distance.

Star’s Death was coming. Consecutive use would normally be impossible, but such facts didn’t even register to her who had borrowed transcendence.

If it came, it would be at point-blank range. Nerilmaeus tried to deliberately inflate her flesh to create cover, but.

“First row, fire.”

TUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU!

Instantly, the Blood Knights lined up on her left fired blood bullets in unison.

Blood bullets swarming and pounding as if to make holes throughout her body. Though not penetrating due to insufficient piercing power, they were enough to obscure her vision and instill confusion. While they didn’t penetrate, their power was not lacking.

The shaft of the spear tilted and her body touched the ground. She couldn’t melt the ground. With Netel dwelling within, the transcendence she borrowed wasn’t nearly enough.

Then by force.

Her raised arm tilted and.

SWAK!

The Dragon King, who had hastily wrapped some of Luvellin’s sacred blood around his tail, rushed in.

The widely swung tail cut off her arm. The severed forearm landed on the ground with a thud.

Resistance was impossible.

The means she possessed were useless.

There was no method or means to counter. To exercise ingenuity, her power was too strong.

Clever strategies come from the weak, not the strong. Even in an unfavorable situation, her position didn’t change.

Even as an imitation, Nerilmaeus was always strong.

There was no way to turn the tables when cornered and hunted.

But is there no method? Just as she was about to sink into contemplation, she was distracted by someone rushing toward her.

Lucilla, wrapped in high heat and emitting a brilliant radiance. She was running toward her.

The most threatening presence here right now. Nerilmaeus raised her body to counter, and Lucilla, approaching, bent her knee deeply.

‘Here it comes.’

In the moment Nerilmaeus prepared to counter, anticipating the collision.

The last thing she saw was Lucilla’s mouth corners turning up widely.

Half-opened eyes lazily facing Nerilmaeus, she stopped abruptly.

Nerilmaeus couldn’t even question it.

Just.

‘Fool.’

She read those lips.

Belatedly, a shadow fell over her.

Luvellin, who had suppressed noise with Melody and Maya’s magic and killed even his presence, jumped down from the cradle.

He landed on the ground.

In his hand was a sword shining like stars embedded across the night sky.

Nerilmaeus saw that blade impossibly at her feet.

The blade crumbles, perhaps due to the death she had wrapped around herself. It was a sword strike made with regeneration in mind anyway.

There was only one target.

Just like Luvellin himself, it was a part where symbolic death could easily be breathed in through divinity.

“…Ah.”

As the star cluster dissipated, Nerilmaeus’s head fell.

And the death wrapped around her body was lifted.