Ch.82Countdown (2)

“Ragnarok.”

The emotionless voice characteristic of a Death Knight without a will echoed.

Along with that voice, an axe surrounded by purple lightning energy entered my vision.

It was the same strike that had once made me certain of my death, and at this distance, it was an attack impossible to dodge.

“Hup…!”

So instead of dodging, I decided to meet it head-on and wrapped my sword with energy.

And once again, Lilly’s wind attribute magic power settled into my sword with perfect timing.

As if knowing this attack would be incomparable to our previous clash, the magic power surrounding my sword was at least twice as strong as before.

KWAAANG–!!!

The collision of the two attacks created a tremendous roar, and as our weapons clashed, the energies contained within them burst outward.

CHWAJJAK-!

KWADDEUDDEUK-!!

The wind contained in my sword flew outward, leaving slash marks on the already ruined landscape.

The lightning from the axe likewise fell toward the surroundings, beginning to burn and destroy everything around us.

After causing such a brutal collision, my arms trembled uncontrollably.

‘My arms are going numb…’

I had somehow managed to neutralize the attack, but the impact had been fully transmitted to both my arms.

However, this didn’t seem to apply to Vargan who had become a Death Knight, as he moved to swing his axe again.

‘Or maybe I’m just weaker.’

Still, after our recent clash, he couldn’t immediately launch another major attack, and his speed seemed significantly reduced.

Thanks to that, when Vargan raised his axe, I was able to kick him in the solar plexus, sending him flying and preventing his next attack.

‘What now…’

In this brief moment of respite I’d barely managed to secure, I caught my breath and looked up at the succession platform.

There, I could see the prince steadily hammering away.

And I could clearly feel that the end of that hammering was gradually approaching.

If I coolly estimated the remaining time, it seemed like we had barely two hours left.

‘Phew… not much time left…’

Comparing both sides’ forces objectively, we were clearly at a disadvantage.

Vargan was being barely held in check by the three of us—myself, Lilly, and Kitsune—maintaining a precarious balance.

As for the Zombie Dragon, Cecilia seemed to be putting up a good fight, but it appeared to have enough leeway to interfere if we found an opportunity.

In such a situation, the passing time wasn’t on our side either, making me feel increasingly anxious as it reflected in my sword.

‘I’d like nothing more than to just climb up to the succession platform and cut down the prince…’

Thud. Thud.

Unfortunately, right before my eyes, Vargan, who had just been kicked away, was walking back perfectly fine.

If I ignored him and ran to the succession platform, I’d have my head severed by Vargan’s axe.

‘The chances of support from Leon’s side… are slim.’

To be honest, their situation wasn’t much different from ours, so it was difficult to place any hope there.

Perhaps my thoughts showed on my face, as Reisen, who had been watching this battle, smiled unpleasantly and taunted me.

“Tsk tsk, tired already? For someone who started the battle so confidently, you’re looking quite feeble.”

“Not at all. I’m just letting you enjoy your last glimpse of the world at a leisurely pace.”

“Heh heh heh….”

Of course, Reisen shut his mouth, not getting anything out of the exchange.

Perhaps thinking he wouldn’t gain anything from arguing with me, he closed his mouth again and began to control Vargan.

* * *

KWAAANG-!!

The wind-wrapped sword and lightning-enveloped axe collided once again.

By now, I couldn’t even remember how many times this clash had repeated.

“Kugh…!!”

But the result of this collision was different from before. The sword that had clashed with the axe was deflected away, and my body was pushed back by the impact.

It was clearly my defeat.

“Heh heh heh, is that all you’ve got?”

If it were a war of words with Reisen, I was confident I could hold my own no matter how many times we clashed.

But winning an argument doesn’t win a battle, and right now we were facing defeat.

“Haa… haa…”

As expected, the first thing to hold me back was the issue of stamina.

The situation demanded constant vigilance—one slip meant instant death—which rapidly drained both mental and physical energy.

As my stamina depleted, my reactions slowed and my hands couldn’t properly grip the sword.

That’s why I ended up losing in the recent clash.

And I wasn’t the only one reaching my physical limits in this battle. Lilly, who had been providing magical support throughout the fight, was also exhausted.

Lilly never had much magic power to begin with, so she had already done remarkably well to last this long.

“How much magic power does that monster have…?”

“I know… it’s disgustingly abundant…”

Typically, most of the magic power used by a Death Knight is supplied by the necromancer controlling it.

So Reisen must have used a lot of magic power during the battle, yet he still showed no signs of fatigue.

But it wasn’t all bad news.

“■■■■■■–!!!!!”

“I can finally see the end of that infuriating armor!!”

The battle between the Zombie Dragon and Cecilia, which had been raging right above our heads, was beginning to conclude.

And it was ending with Cecilia’s victory, even though she had seemed to be at a slight disadvantage at the beginning.

KWAGWAGWAGWANG-!!!

A tremendous explosion triggered by Cecilia’s single gesture engulfed the Zombie Dragon’s body.

The explosion penetrated the gaps in the Zombie Dragon’s armor, detonating from within and destroying that solid armor.

This feat was possible thanks to a new spell Cecilia had created during the battle.

“With this, your precious poison gas is neutralized.”

She had created a counter-spell that used the dragon’s poison gas as an explosive, causing chain reactions.

The Zombie Dragon still had powerful curses remaining, but with one of its main weapons neutralized, defeating Cecilia seemed unlikely.

‘Cecilia seems to have used a lot of magic power too…’

If we could hold out a little longer, we could receive Cecilia’s help.

With that hope in mind, I steeled myself and pointed my sword at Vargan again.

But it seemed Reisen was a master of frustrating his opponents.

“So there’s such a method of attack, I’ve learned something new. Since I can’t remove the poison immediately… let’s do this.”

Crack-

Bones grew densely over the tattered armor of the Zombie Dragon.

It looked similar to the bone magic used by the necromancer, the Lich, we had faced before.

Of course, given who was casting it, the strength of these bones was on a completely different level.

Moreover, unlike the previous armor, the bones had grown so densely that there were no gaps for poison gas to leak out or for explosions to penetrate.

“It might be softer than the original armor… but it’s perfect for buying time. And that time will be more than enough to finish you off.”

“Damn it all…”

It was bone armor that Cecilia could certainly break through despite her magic consumption.

But whether we could hold out during that time was another matter entirely.

‘I was saving the True Word to kill Reisen… but maybe I should just use it now.’

I wasn’t sure if I could find another way to kill Reisen, but I couldn’t risk dying while holding back.

Just as I was taking my stance again to continue the fight as long as possible…

A very welcome voice reached my ears.

“FUNYAAA!!!”

It wasn’t a voice I’d heard often or for long, but its distinctive quality had made it memorable—the voice of the cat-person girl.

That girl was Canon, who belonged to Leon’s party and was quite fast.

“Express delivery, nya!!”

Having broken through several apostles, Canon’s body was covered in wounds as she held a sword in her arms.

Though I’d never seen this sword before, I could immediately tell what kind of sword it was from the aura it emitted.

“Seriously… aren’t you a bit too late?”

“Heek! I came as soon as I got it, nya! Don’t blame me, nya!!”

“Pfft, don’t worry Canon, I’m not blaming you.”

Breathing heavily from her run, Canon handed me the sword she had been carrying.

Tuk, KWAAAK-

As I received the sword, I naturally felt strength flowing into my body.

Even though I hadn’t drawn the sword from its scabbard yet, the power contained within it vaguely transmitted through my body, filling me with vitality.

The God-Slaying Sword.

It was an incredibly grandiose name that couldn’t be attached to an ordinary sword, but I could feel through my fingertips that this sword lived up to its name.

Because of that, I could also tell that I was still woefully inadequate as its wielder.

‘This isn’t a sword I can draw yet.’

When I tried to draw the sword from its scabbard, it suddenly felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

I could feel the sword telling me that I still lacked the qualifications to draw it.

But even so, I could draw this sword.

That was probably because Arges had already paid the price to this sword.

‘Ignoring the restrictions must have come with a heavy price…’

Arges must have lost a great deal to enable me to draw this sword.

“Lastly, a message from Arges, nya!

He said not to worry about him, nya! And he’ll take responsibility for beating up the first son who ran away from home, nya!”

“Well… that’s reassuring.”