Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Chapter 20 Sword that Cleaves the Heavens (2)
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‘When performing the Dragon Slaying Ritual, transcendent magic links the souls of human and dragon as one. And in this process, the dragon demon power gets drawn toward the dragon’s primal will, which is closer to its origin than the human’s controlling intent.’
It was nothing more than an unproven hypothesis. Still, it was undoubtedly a theory that plausibly explained the phenomena occurring during the Dragon Slaying Ritual.
That was why Azel, after undergoing his third Dragon Slaying Ritual, devoted all his efforts to assimilating it. While doing so, he continuously pondered ways to fully materialize the dragon sword. The answer came from Kairen.
‘If manifesting it as an illusion with power is the limit, why not prepare a separate vessel to hold its substance?’
The moment he heard those words, lightning struck in Azel’s mind.
It was an idea only Kairen—who had created a dragon sword from incomplete records on dragon demon armaments—could have come up with. Taking Kairen’s idea as his guide, Azel set to work manifesting the dragon demon sword through his dragon sword, and in the end, he succeeded.
The result was this. Azel’s dragon demon sword, once the byword for terror among the Dragon Demon King’s forces in ancient times, now displayed its mighty presence.
Nibiris asked,
“…Bearer of that sinful name, what exactly is your true identity?”
“I won’t ask again. Is Saibain alive?”
Azel countered with a question of his own instead of answering. Nibiris furrowed her brow.
“What are you getting at?”
“Just curious. No, it’s not limited to Saibain. How many of you have survived from the Dragon Emperor War?”
Those with the long lifespans of dragon demons had a good chance of still being alive. That was Azel’s thinking as he asked.
Of course, Nibiris didn’t answer. Azel watched her for a moment before speaking.
“Well, it’s information you can’t just divulge easily. Then let me put it this way: pass this on to those still alive. If they’re curious about my identity, tell them to drag their heavy asses over here and find out. Then they can get the answers that confound you.”
A whirlwind laced with blue sparks raged around them. Azel spoke in a cold voice.
“Oh, sorry. That was pointless after all. The failed prince’s daughter—you’re going to die here.”
“You’re the one who dies. Perish while clutching your riddles, bearer of that sinful name!”
Dragon demon armaments clashed. Even Kairen, a dragon demon, found the overwhelming waves of dragon demon power suffocating as darkness swallowed the surroundings like a tsunami and lightning roared ferociously, as if ready to tear the entire world apart.
4
Kwaaaaang! Kwaaang!
Darkness and light collided, intertwining and exploding to shake the earth. A single clash swept away everything in a 100-meter radius. Kairen, who had hoisted Yuren onto his back and fled, was stunned.
“Urk! What insane power!”
There was no one Kairen thought superior to him in instantaneous destructive force. Yet the aftermath of the dragon demon armaments’ clash surpassed his wildest imagination.
From amid the towering dust cloud, Nibiris’s shout echoed thunderously.
“Spirits floating in the endless abyss of darkness! Souls racing through the sky-shrouding gloom!”
Just her incantation warped the surroundings. Without protecting oneself with mana, one’s soul would be overwhelmed and one’s mind shattered by the soul-rending curse.
Hwooooooo…!
All life touching the fog-like spreading darkness perished. From them arose countless wailing spirits tormented by agony.
Kairen swallowed hard.
“My god.”
He had fought many black mages before. He had plenty of experience battling Dragon Demon King worshippers who boasted great power. And since his friend Burein Mirkel was the kingdom’s top mage, he was familiar with the might of high-level magic.
However… the spectacle unfolding before him now overwhelmed every spell he had witnessed in his century of life.
‘What about Azel?’
Was he just watching his opponent unleash such a monstrous spell? Harboring that doubt, Kairen peered into the darkness and soon understood why Azel hadn’t stopped Nibiris’s magic.
Fwaaaaaaaa!
Piercing the heart of the encroaching darkness, a fierce blaze of light erupted. Resembling lightning or pure white flames, it cleaved through the gloom with overwhelming menace.
Azel emerged from within it. He spoke in a crooked tone.
“Stalling for time—impressive. Your skill at summoning abominations has improved since last time.”
Around him, grotesque monsters—taking the forms of all manner of beasts, their bodies of darkness wreathed in purple flames—shattered and collapsed. These were black magic’s kin: abominations born from melting flesh with the pain, grudges of the dead, and the impure energies of death.
Nibiris had summoned countless abominations to tie Azel’s feet. The time it took him to dispatch them wasn’t long, but it was enough for her to complete her intended spell.
“Queen of Darkness.”
Woooooong!
With her low chant, the darkness that had engulfed the area converged on her. As hundreds of spirits ascended to the heavens, howling as if blessing the birth of a great sovereign…
Pashak!
Before the queen could don her crown, a blue sword sliced through her body.
“How… could this… happen…?”
Nibiris gasped in shock.
Without any warning, Azel’s dragon demon sword had risen from the darkness and struck her down.
Impossible. She was a mage who drew power from darkness. Moreover, she wielded the Tome of Dark Souls, a dragon demon armament that commanded it. Not even the tiniest insects in the spread darkness could escape her perception.
Yet she hadn’t noticed Azel approaching right under her nose to attack. He had even been dealing with the abominations far away—how had he crossed over 100 meters?
It was the secret art “Dance of Shadows” that created tangible clones. The technique that Dragon Spirit Art users called incarnations had completely fooled Nibiris’s eyes.
“As expected, your handling of the Tome of Dark Souls is leagues behind Saibain’s. Then again, you haven’t had it long, have you?”
Azel said this as he swung down his dragon demon sword. Blue lightning rent the darkness asunder like a thunderbolt crashing down.
Thud!
Something blocked its path. The sword, which seemed it could cleave the world itself, bounced off upon collision.
“Still the same. For a book, it’s admirable how it tries to protect its master.”
It was the Tome of Dark Souls. To shield the gravely wounded Nibiris from the surprise strike, the tome had blocked Azel’s sword.
“But how many times can it endure?”
Having been through this before, Azel wasn’t surprised. Without hesitation, he unleashed another attack.
Woooooong!
With each sword strike it withstood, the Tome of Dark Souls frayed further. Azel had no intention of bypassing it to strike Nibiris. In this realm of spread darkness, the tome could freely dematerialize and rematerialize, traversing space at will.
Thus, he could only shatter it by force. Nibiris ambushed him then.
Gugugugugu…!
She overcame the agony thanks to her incomplete grand spell “Queen of Darkness.” The immense darkness stanched her wounds and sustained her vital functions.
The moment she seized her fading consciousness, Nibiris launched her assault. Curses born from ultra-dense surrounding darkness poured toward Azel.
At the same time, she witnessed an unbelievable sight.
‘A human turning into darkness?’
Azel transformed into the same darkness as the curses raining upon him, effortlessly deflecting the attack that would shatter body and soul alike.
Only the dragon demon sword vanished. Returning to his original form, Azel seized the Tome of Dark Souls barehanded. Madness. Even for Azel, grabbing an enemy’s dragon demon armament with his bare hands was suicide.
Pajijijik!
A fierce repulsion surged, shaking Azel’s body. As it crumbled into particles of light, Nibiris’s eyes widened in horror.
“Oh, you thought that was my real body? More innocent than you look.”
“Wha…?”
Nibiris was too stunned to speak.
Then, fierce flashes from afar tore through the darkness. Another Azel shredded the curse-spawned products like paper with Flash Step, and in that instant, Nibiris realized everything.
‘From start to finish… it was all according to his plan!’
No matter how Azel could alter his mana like insulation to a specific attribute, there were limits. Transforming his entire self into curse darkness, as he had just done to deflect the attack, was impossible.
But a mana-forged clone? That was possible.
Azel had converted the clone’s composing mana to match the curse’s darkness, then hidden it within the gloom Nibiris gathered to complete her spell, approaching undetected. Her skill was so exquisite that Nibiris fell for it completely.
At the moment the dragon demon sword struck Nibiris, it had been handed to the clone. Just as the Tome of Dark Souls could freely materialize and dematerialize in the darkness, the Sword that Cleaves the Heavens could pass freely between Azel and his clone’s hands.
“Short for a dragon demon, but you’ve lived long enough. Time to meet Atein in the afterlife—the one you worship so devoutly.”
Azel’s clone pinned the Tome of Dark Souls, sealing its power at the cost of its own dissipation. And as Nibiris futilely released the mana she had barely gathered, Azel above her delivered the final blow.
She could do nothing. Death’s strike fell upon the despairing Nibiris.