Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: The Legend's Return (7)
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Kugugugugu...!
The moment of cataclysmic destruction was brief. Yet to those on the battlefield, it felt like an eternity.
The shockwave radiating from the epicenter swept across hundreds of meters.
Considering the destructive power of Light Sword Sea, the aftermath was almost underwhelming. That was because Azel had concentrated the technique's force within a specific area, minimizing the spillover.
"Ugh... If someone claimed this was all a nightmare, I'd back them up completely..."
Amid the swirling waves of dust, Kairen slumped to the ground, gasping for breath. Azel had given him advance warning, which was the only reason he survived. Otherwise, it would have been a disaster.
No, even with preparations, he'd thought he was done for. He'd managed to block the initial shockwave, but the psychic wave that followed would have shattered his mind if he hadn't poured everything into his defenses.
Kairen laughed in disbelief.
"Ha, hahaha. So those absurd records were true? Far from exaggerated—they were understated..."
In the past, he'd read historical accounts of Azel Karzark—himself, in a manner of speaking—in the royal library. He'd told Azel that such fanciful tales diminished his legacy. Now, the memory filled him with embarrassment; he'd crawl into a hole if he could.
"...Hmph. Still alive?"
Suddenly, Leticia's voice came from beside him. Kairen replied.
"More or less. Looks like the mage's blessing made it easier for you."
"I didn't have the spare capacity to protect both of you fully."
Yuren chuckled wryly in response. Just before Azel unleashed his final gambit, Yuren had swiftly erected a barrier around himself and Leticia.
Kairen snorted.
"Yeah, right. Anyway, even for a Dragon Demon General like Reygus, taking that hit should mean he's finished..."
Kairen's expression hardened mid-sentence. A beat later, Leticia and Yuren stared in disbelief toward the dust cloud.
"...He survived that?"
Beyond the towering veil of dust, Reygus had hoisted Azel by the throat.
10
The ultimate secret technique, Light Sword Sea, achievable only through the Sword that Cleaves the Heavens.
It was the move that had once cornered Atein during the Dragon Emperor War's final battle. Atein, unleashing an endless chain of spells in their duel, had been caught off guard when Azel risked everything on Light Sword Sea. All his defensive magic shattered, leaving him gravely wounded.
Azel's Dragon Demon Armament, the density of his Dragon Demon mana, his spirit veins and mana reserves—everything except the technique itself fell short of his prime. Yet the three conditions were met, allowing him to manifest this secret art.
First: time. Reygus had openly given him the window, letting Azel gather the necessary energy.
Second: the Cup of Lament. With his limited mana capacity, he couldn't hold much at once. But the Cup's spatial distortion field let him concentrate vast amounts of mana beyond his normal control.
Third: it was broad daylight. In the past, he could have drawn from moonlight, starlight, and battlefield flares even at night. Today, without the sun's brilliance, it would have been impossible.
These factors bridged 220 years, manifesting Light Sword Sea in this era. However...
[Truly astounding. An utterly ridiculous human, you are.]
Reygus had not perished.
He wasn't unscathed—his body was a wreck.
His left arm was gone entirely, half his upper torso blasted away. His once-white armor was shattered and crumpled everywhere, thick Dragon Demon mana-laced darkness oozing from the cracks like blood.
Yet he had endured the absolute apocalypse of Light Sword Sea and now lifted Azel by the neck.
"You had an ace up your sleeve too, huh? Sly bastard."
Azel gasped, bloodied and broken. His limbs were intact, but his armor was in tatters, his abdomen torn open to expose his guts, his left arm dangling limp from a fracture. Even his unbroken right arm lacked strength; it was a miracle he was conscious.
Reygus laughed.
[I thought I'd been fair enough. Don't you agree? We dueled without knowing each other's hands.]
"Hahaha. Got... nothing to say to that..."
How had Reygus survived Light Sword Sea?
Two reasons.
[To be honest, I never imagined my Dragon Demon Armament could evolve again at my age. Last time was about 400 years ago, I think...]
His evolved armament wasn't just the Sword that Cleaves the Heavens. The Soul Shackle Seal had advanced beyond Azel's knowledge too.
The version Azel knew shattered mind and soul with potent curses and resonated with the earth for massive destruction. Now, that latter function was enhanced: he could freely draw power from the ground and disperse incoming impacts into it.
The earth beneath his feet was his armor, his fortress.
And...
[If that technique had been perfect, I might have returned to the underworld. Magnificent, Azel.]
"Like I'd be... happy to hear that crap...?"
Light Sword Sea was incomplete.
It already demanded three finicky conditions just to manifest. He'd succeeded in unleashing it, but failed to control the aftermath.
At his peak, Azel would have coordinated with his other Dragon Demon Armaments to contain all energy in a bounded zone, maximizing destruction. The shockwaves and psychic torrents that ravaged hundreds of meters would have converged under his command, annihilating the foe—and when the pressure peaked, unleashing the ultimate cataclysm that even awed Atein.
But losing control let much energy dissipate, gutting its power. Absurdly, the Light Sword Sea had unleashed less than half its intended force.
Crack...
A sudden rift echoed. Reygus's arm, gripping Azel's throat, snapped off and fell.
Thud.
Azel tumbled to the ground.
His body wouldn't move. His condition was dire, and his spirit veins weren't functioning.
Yet he rose. Heartbeats vibrated his Life Rings to generate mana; telekinesis righted his body. The Dragon Sword, fallen nearby, flew to his hand.
[We're both wrecks, aren't we?]
Reygus chuckled.
The fight was decided. Azel showed astonishing will, but he couldn't battle. A telekinetic lash from the Soul Shackle Seal—or even a kick, given his useless arms—would end him.
His allies were too far to intervene. The moment they moved, Reygus could finish Azel.
Then darkness fell.
[Hm?]
Reygus realized he was isolated in a spatial distortion field.
[The Cup of Lament? No, I confirmed it was dispelled...]
Regaining composure, he identified the culprit.
[Kayalia. What is this?]
Kayalia had trapped him with a mimicked Cup of Lament distortion. Appearing before the fuming Reygus as a ghostly white figure, she said,
-What do you think? Can't you tell?
[Betraying me at this moment? That's too much.]
-That's not it.
[Hm?]
-Just taking turns fairly. You saved big brother earlier, didn't you?
<...>
Reygus groaned softly at her brazen reply, regretting his lack of hands to clutch his head.
[Good lord. You're supposed to be on our side. What fairness? You should be helping me.]
-Wasn't it a man's one-on-one duel?
[Ugh.]
-Arrogantly strutting and slacking off, nearly dying. If I hadn't saved you, it would've ended there.
He had no retort. Earlier, Kayalia had blocked Azel. Without her, he might have vanished without unleashing his true power. Seeing Azel's ace now left no room for argument.
[Urgh.]
-And I'm still...
Kayalia turned away with a wistful expression.
11
Silence blanketed the battlefield.
Reygus vanished abruptly. Everyone reeled at the unforeseen turn.
Azel muttered in disbelief.
"The Cup of Lament...?"
Impossible—it had been dispelled.
'Laura?'
He'd seen her use spatial distortion to fell Dikal, so it was natural to suspect. But no—Laura was flying in with an anxious face.
'Then who...'
-Still the same, huh.
Suddenly, white fabric fluttered before him—a translucent phantom, faintly see-through.
'Who is it?'
Thinking the voice familiar, Azel tried to look up. A warm touch met his forehead.
-Sorry we meet again but can't properly greet. I'll decide by next time. Whichever side.
With that, Azel's consciousness faded. Kairen caught his collapsing body and demanded of the figure ahead,
"Who are you?"
Kayalia had chosen to reveal herself, so Kairen could see her.
She appeared a Dragon Demon girl of about fifteen by human years. Platinum hair melted into the air, framing rocky grayish horns; her ears were long, and a bluish-gray Dragon Demon Stone matching her eyes gleamed on her hand's back.
Oddly, she lacked substance—not a mage's illusion or mere ghost, yet she emanated Dragon Demon mana.
Kayalia smiled wistfully.
-Once, an enemy of his.
"Dragon Demon King Army?"
Kairen tensed. He didn't know her identity, but his instincts screamed danger.
But she shook her head.
-And once, someone who saw him as a benefactor. That's enough for now.
"What does that mean?"
-I won't tell you. Leave. Don't waste the chance I gave.
"...Hmph."
As Kairen's face hardened, Kayalia dissolved into the air. Laura asked fretfully,
"Azel?"
"No immediate threat to his life, fortunately."
"...In that state?"
Leticia was stunned. It was a mortal wound. Yet unconscious Azel looked strangely serene.
"Hard to believe, but true. Let's evacuate and treat him. I don't know who she was, but that ghost girl saved him. And reinforcements from the Dark Snowfields will arrive soon."
Everyone grasped the implication.
The real ordeal began now. They'd won this battle, but the group was battered. The enemy—somehow tracking them—remained a threat.
Setting aside questions, they fled eastward, abandoning the field.
12
Reygus emerged from Kayalia's spatial distortion over 30 minutes later. Half-repairing his blackening armor as his Dragon Demon mana waned, he grumbled.
[Let a fish nearly hooked slip away.]
"Isn't that how your escapades always go?"
A man approached, speaking as if waiting. Reygus said upon seeing him,
[Hm. You're here. So she released me because of you?]
"Probably. Not showing himself before me suggests he doesn't particularly want to see me."
[Unlike me, you're not cute enough, apparently.]
"Hm?"
[She called me cute.]
"...Same as ever—utterly incomprehensible."
[That said, arriving after the fight's done... What heavy hips you have.]
"Unlike you, I've lived forgotten in everyone's minds, a relic. Emerging from long seclusion brings its share of hassles."
[Couldn't prepare sooner?]
"Such diligence is for busy youth. I'm too old for frantic, dutiful living."
[Your tongue still spins smoothly. Unbefitting your looks.]
"If we're judging by looks, who else is as brutish as you to say that?"
The man chuckled. Trivial banter, yet it evoked ancient camaraderie.
He turned from Reygus, approaching one spot. There, a Dragon Demon—sole survivor besides another from the recent battle—gasped under treatment.
Reygus followed, remarking,
[You held on well.]
"...He served under your command. Don't say that."
[True, but I was trapped by Kayalia. Azel's crew aside, dodging the Guardian Shadows is impressive.]
"Her handiwork, no doubt."
[Ah, right. She wouldn't let dying men get massacred.]
The man sighed at Reygus's words. To the barely conscious Dragon Demon, he said,
"Can you report the situation?"
The Dragon Demon blinked in confusion—this stranger. But confusion turned to shock. In the Dark Snowfields, none could fail to recognize him.
"You...!"