Chapter 301
Whoooooooosh-!
There was a chilling sound that cut through the air.
Driana’s body froze, paralyzed by the sword aiming at her neck.
‘There’s no stopping this!’
Driana was also a Smith, but before that, she had been an outstanding warrior as a hero candidate.
Until now, she had faithfully served as a shield for her group, standing in front of them.
Again and again, she was struck by the sword of the monster before her, yet she persisted and stood firm.
But now, her warrior’s instinct was speaking and she knew for sure.
This attack was going to kill her.
However, it was too late to evade.
Just as she thought this.
Ching-!
That oncoming sword was met with resistance.
Eiran, armed with Animus Armor, had blocked the sword heading in Driana’s path.
“…How beautiful.”
Driana admired the armor, momentarily forgetting the situation.
In the meantime, Ar’s kick struck Erebos’ fragment.
Crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-!
Booooom-!
With a massive shockwave, Erebos’ feet dug deep into the floor.
But that was all.
There was no further hit.
Ar’s face hardened.
“Does this not work…!”
Ar seemed nervous and quickly distanced herself from Erebos’ fragment.
Then, like Eiran, Velkia, armed with Animus Armor, lunged for Erebos’ arms.
A powerful magic struck Velkia, but she broke through the magic head-on with the power of her armor and swung her sword.
Ching-!
Erebos’ fragment prevented Velkia’s attack.
“It’s exactly the same as Master Kyle’s move!”
Velkia clenched her teeth.
It was then.
“Now! Everybody stand back!”
As the sword cried out, the four men blocking Erebos’ fragment spread apart.
Flutter-!
The flames of the bright red Phoenix swirled.
Fwooooooosh-!
A massive mana burst of flames.
Boom-boom-boom-!
Even from a distance, the electric potential swallowed dry saliva in the heat that seemed to ripen.
Carr clenched his teeth as he saw it.
“Please. Take him down.”
That was Carr’s desperate murmur.
Not only Carr but all the party members felt the same way.
With Carr’s command, he made several attacks on the monster in front of him.
But each time, Erebos’ fragment came back to life.
And each time, he exerted even more force back upon them.
Now, it was too much to endure.
Lunia clenched her teeth.
‘If he doesn’t fall here… what the hell can we even do anymore?’
Lunia was burned all over her body.
It was the price of raising her firepower beyond its limits.
Flutter-!
A black flame shot up.
Everyone looked desperate as they saw Erebos’ fragment revived more clearly.
Swoosh!
At that moment, Erebos’ fragment reached out.
Whoooooom-!
For a brief moment, magic was embroidered in the air.
The Sorcery of the Stars.
Suddenly.
Lunia’s face turned white.
“Everyone, get away!”
Whoosh-!
A black sphere of despair formed in Erebos’ hand.
Lunia saw exactly what it was.
“That’s the End!”
Flash!
The light of destruction scattered in all directions.
There was not even a sound.
The light of the End evaporated everything.
That was when.
“M-Miss V-Velkia…”
Eiran looked up at Velkia, who was gazing down at her with a pale blue face.
“Are you okay?” Velkia asked with her characteristic expressionless face.
“I-I I’m just fine… but… M-Miss Velkia… you…”
“…It hurts.”
Velkia fell to her knees.
“W-why are you…”
Eiran looked at Velkia’s wounds in a hurry, looking as if she were about to cry.
“Well… W-why would you… for me?”
Velkia smiled and patted Eiran on the cheek.
“Maybe it’s because I can tell that you and I are the same in our veins.”
“O-Oh…”
“I was convinced when I saw you using Animus Armor.”
Velkia smiled faintly.
“You… You’re my descendant.”
“I-I…”
“Saving a little child… It’s obvious…that’s what Master Kyle would’ve wanted… That’s why I did it.”
Velkia’s voice tapered as she spoke.
“M-Miss… Velkia…”
“Eiran?”
“What is it?”
“My secret sorcery… Do you want me to tell you?”
Velkia gave a benevolent laugh.
That laugh was the same laugh that had been recorded in the literature that Eiran held so dear.
“You… stupid cat.”
Lunia’s voice trembled.
“Why didn’t you dodge it and save yourself?”
“The only one of us that can take down that black flame… is you.”
Lunia clenched her teeth as she saw Ar wrapped around her.
“Luckily, it seems like our leader was also saved by a pervert dwarf… Now let’s get back to work… That fake Black Rabbit.”
Ar tried to get herself up and then fell down again.
Lunia urgently helped Ar.
And looked around.
Carr was urgently giving Driana first aid with a potion.
Eiran was urgently helping Velkia.
Step- step-
Erebos’ fragment approached.
Seeing this, Lunia rose.
‘I have to fight.’
Lunia clenched her teeth and moved forward.
‘If it were Leo here… he would have fought without giving up.’
Lunia tried to spark a flame, recalling the boy who had fought with her time and time again.
“You are very persistent.”
A voice from behind.
Lunia turned her head with a shudder.
There was an arrogant woman with white flames floating in the air, legs crossed.
“Katariu…”
“Lunia El Lunda.”
Katariu smiled.
“What do you think is the essence of flame itself?”
Lunia looked at the black flame at Katariu’s question.
That flame was one that burned forever, reducing everything to ashes.
But was that the nature of all flame?
‘No.’
Dweno said that the essence of a flame was creation.
‘The essence of flame… depends on the person.’
There was no right answer.
For Lunia, who had long yearned for the power of the Phoenix, there was only one true explanation for that Essence of Flame.
“Purity.”
The Phoenix’s flame burned at itself endlessly.
The reason the Phoenix’s flame seems eternal is because of its powerful vitality.
Originally promised close to eternal life, the Phoenix burned its own life to create sparks.
There’s only one reason they burned their lives.
To burn and purify evil.
Katariu smiled strongly at Lunia’s answer.
“Do you want to know something, Lunia? The lineage of the Phoenix King is not inherited by blood.”
“What?”
“The descendents of the Phoenix King inherit the white flame of purity.”
Flutter-
Katariu thrust a white flame right under Lunia’s nose.
“You have the Phoenix’s blood in your body.”
“…”
“Do you want to try using it?”
Lunia looked at Katariu.
“Instead, it will be different from the Dweno’s Essence of Flame. Failure to accept it will kill you because you are not a pure Phoenix.”
“Do I have a choice?”
Lunia swallowed Katariu’s flame without hesitation.
Flutter-
Pure white flames burned from Lunia’s body.
* * *
Dweno’s–who was busy blocking Giath, losing all reasoning–face stiffened.
‘This is…’
Flutter-!
A black flame erupted from Giath’s body.
‘Erebos’ flames!!’
A golden flame shot up from Dweno’s body.
Crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-!
Black flames engulfed Dweno’s flames.
And even burned Dweno.
At that moment-
Flash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-!
Jormungand’s Corpse Sword swung to cut through Dweno.
Swooooosh-!
Dweno managed to fend off the crushing Corpse Sword with his battle axe.
‘Have you gotten stronger?’
Dweno clenched his teeth and held on.
That’s crazy!
“…!”
For a moment, the battle axe began to crack.
Crack-!
Unable to hold on any longer, Dweno was thrust back.
Craaaaaaaaaashhhh-!
Dweno’s body created a huge pit as it was embedded deep in the ground.
“Cough!”
Dweno vomited blood.
He managed to shake off the black flame.
But his body was hit hard.
Crash-crash-!
Giath walked towards Dweno.
[What a ridiculous sight.]
Giath laughed at Dweno.
“I don’t think you’re a proper crook, either.”
Dweno rose using his battle axe as a handle.
Clank-!
The teeth on the axe blade fell to the floor.
A figure on the verge of collapse.
Like Dweno’s armament, Giath’s body was also in tatters.
The Berserker’s rage was loose and his immense resilience couldn’t keep up with his wounds.
He had used up all his strength for the attack that had squeezed everything out of him just moments before.
[But unlike you, I’m blessed by God.]
Flutter-!
The black flame burning on Giath’s body grew stronger.
[And! In the end, I won!]
“I’m not dead yet.”
Dweno smiled resolutely.
“You can’t claim to have beaten me until the moment I die.”
[Hahaha. Hahahahahaha. Hahahahahahahaha!]
At Dweno’s words, Giath burst into laughter.
[You seem completely mistaken, Dweno. I’m not here to take your insignificant life.]
Clink-!
Giath readied Jormungand’s Corpse Sword.
[Behold! This is my magnum opus! Created to defeat the crude armament you created!]
Giath looked at Dweno with dry eyes.
[It’s not worth the lives of the four who died long ago. If I were born with a destiny to destroy the world under God’s will, it would be in the present!]
Crash-!
[You’re nothing but a ghost of the past. Whether you die or live here, you won’t influence the future. Because you’re just a phony fantasy.]
“A f-fantasy?”
Dweno’s face hardened.
When Giath saw this expression, he smiled broadly.
[Hmm, yes. Your life is fake, but a nearly real fantasy. I wonder what kind of faces you would make if only I told you of how you and all your friends’ ends came about.]
Giath giggled.
[Arron was the first to die among you. He tried to protect you and died at God’s judgment. He believed in the precious sword you gave him till the very end. Hah. They call it a noble sacrifice, but… He just ran away to death because he was afraid of facing our great God.]
Giath looked down at Dweno, whose expression had vanished.
Joy rose on Giath’s face.
[It’s you who died second, Dweno. Silly enough, you couldn’t even serve as a shield and burned to death while challenging God’s flame!]
Dweno’s body trembled.
[Next was Luna, the gullible elf girl. She died of mana depletion while performing the same magic! She must have despaired! Her inability to do anything!]
Dweno’s hand tightened with strength.
[The fourth to die was that lizard who stupidly thought she could resist God! It’s fun to think about! The face of the woman who would have died in vain, looking right into the sky that she always knew she would never live to see change! Hahahaha!]
Dweno bowed his head.
Dweno, taking a deep breath, raised his head.
“What about Kyle?”
[What did you say…?]
“How did Kyle die?”
Dweno smiled.
Giath’s face distorted as he saw Dweno’s curiosity about Kyle’s death.
“That’s what I thought.”
The expression disappeared from Dweno’s face.
“Arron, that fool, made himself a shield instead of me, not because he was afraid to fight Erebos. It must have been because he was more afraid of us dying than of losing his own life.”
Dweno’s face darkened.
“He’s such a fool.”
Dweno, clenching her lips, continued.
“I don’t think Luna would have despaired. She’s an idiot too. I bet she didn’t doubt the bright future ahead.”
Flutter-
A golden flame soared from Dweno’s body.
“Lysinas, oh my friend, she must have put on such a sad face.”
Dweno’s expression turned bitter.
“And we left him all alone in the end, too.”
Dweno smiled.
“I have no words to utter for a fool who couldn’t even die in the end.”
Dweno was smiling.
Like the sun itself.
“The bottom line is: we wouldn’t have despaired of him. The Giant Killer, Giath.”
Flutter-
Dweno’s body burned like a bright sun.
“Because I know there’s one fool who doesn’t give up after anything. I never suspected him of doing anything else.”
[You…!]
“He must have resented himself for not being able to do anything more! After all, he has carried the burden of the heroes’ mantle!”
Rumble!
Dweno’s battle axe unleashed a powerful force.
“I’ll ask you again, Giant King, Giath!”
Slam-!
Dweno lowered his position.
“The Surviving Hero… What about Kyle’s end?”
[Arrrgh!]
“You may have tried to mock me with your rambunctious tongue, but that’s too bad! Your mockery is my greatest hope! We are hope, after all!”
Bang, bang, bang!
Giath roared and charged to end Dweno.
As if he could no longer tolerate the words from Dweno’s mouth.
He half-lost his temper and charged with a proud body sword.
“Isn’t it about time to save the world?”
[Shut up! You ghost of the past!]
Schwiiing-!
The Corpse Sword and Dweno’s battle axe clashed.
The Corpse Sword revealed its teeth to break the battle axe.
The small crack at the tip of the battle axe rapidly spread throughout the blade.
“Argh!”
Dweno exclaimed, giving a boost to the raised battle axe.
“This weapon was made to fight!”
When Dweno uttered these words, his battle axe emitted a resonant sound as if responding to his call.
“Do your duty! Exterminate Tartaros!”
Dweno’s eyes flashed.
“Fulfill the purpose for which I forged you!”
Clang-!
[Argh!]
Giath’s eyes flared.
The body of the Corpse Sword began to crack.
Crack!
[No!]
Schwing-!
[Aaaaaargh!]
Dweno’s body soared above the sky.
Dweno’s unnamed battle axe, ragged and half-destroyed by the Corpse Sword, emitted a golden glow.
Dweno, the Divine Blacksmith.
His weapon, which contained his pure, distilled will, was shining unbroken.
Dweno, who rose all the way to Giath’s head, laughed coldly.
“I don’t know how long it’s been since I died.”
Creak-creak-creak-!
Flash-!
Another, larger golden axe blade formed midair.
“But it appears you’ve lost to a sad little ghost.”
[Dwenoooooo!]
Squelch-!
Dweno’s axe pierced through Giath’s throat.
