Chapter 280
Chapter 280
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 280
Chapter Title: Arin's Will
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Puuk, puk! Puuk, puuk!
“Huff, huff!”
Inside the massive dragon’s body.
There, I gasped for breath while relentlessly thrusting my spear.
I kept moving my arms nonstop.
“Die, just die……!”
The protective spell Olena had cast was almost depleted now.
My heart was filled with heat from repeatedly moving my body so violently.
Fresh oxygen needed to come in, carbon dioxide needed to be expelled.
But that wasn’t happening.
My breathing grew labored, my head spinning, but I couldn’t stop.
‘It was like this before, too.’
I thought, tensing every muscle in my body.
Back then.
When I attacked the Giant Dragon’s heart, Aranbalon had been fighting it outside.
That greedy dragon had torn and ripped into the Giant Dragon in my place.
In other words.
No guarantee that stabbing away like this would kill Brius.
Unless someone outside did something.
“Hup!”
Soon, it felt like water flooding my lungs.
That meant Olena’s skill had ended.
‘Ugh.’
I couldn’t breathe anymore, and my body grew unbearably heavy.
Gushes of dragon blood surged into my eyes, nose, and mouth.
‘No.’
I had to endure.
I couldn’t lose consciousness or give up here.
I held my position and held my breath.
My body wasn’t that of an ordinary person—it was a hyper ranker’s.
I still had time to hold out.
‘Right.’
This was a trial.
A trial to shed a layer from my stagnant self.
Trials? I’m used to those, aren’t I?
Chururuk!
I barely washed away the blood with a simple water-attribute spell.
My overheated body cooled slightly, but now the real problem began.
“My lord.”
“Master, we’re here too! We’ll help!”
I sensed Taeyang, Eldrin, and the other Absolutes approaching.
They’d finally arrived, pushing through the flesh I’d torn open.
But I felt a pang of regret.
Eloise Arin.
Her voice wasn’t among them.
Was she really dead?
I even tried summoning her, just in case.
[Using skill, ‘Lord & King Summon’ (S-rank).]
[Bzzzt!]
[Error!]
[Skill, ‘Lord & King Summon’ (S-rank) canceled.]
[No stamina consumed.]
That was all that came up.
If Arin was truly dead, if her soul itself had vanished……
What happened to my skill?
Undead, right?
How could an undead die?
I couldn’t believe it.
No, I refused to.
Unless the system popped up right in front of me saying she’d vanished for sure, I wouldn’t believe it.
If she’d really sacrificed herself to protect me.
If my decision had led to Arin’s sacrifice.
“……”
The guilt would crush me—I’d collapse.
At that moment.
‘Huh?’
Something new stirred in my Heavenly Pure Heart Method.
A mysterious energy I’d never sensed before, inside the dragon, not outside.
‘Hm?’
I widened my eyes.
* * *
Inside the dragon.
There, a purple energy stirred.
Sruk, sruk.
The remnants of ‘Power Word Kill.’
It had begun moving with intent atop Arin’s crumbled bones.
This was unprecedented.
A spell cast on someone transforming on its own.
And moving with will.
Sruruk.
Slowly, stealthily flowing, it reeked unmistakably of death.
* * *
And once more.
Far across the cosmos.
“Hmm?”
The mouth of an unknown being in a pitch-black hood curved in a meaningful smile.
That being was ‘Ancient Magic’ (SSS Grade).
The oldest constellation in the universe.
“Fascinating.”
Eloise Arin.
She was a fragment of itself—‘Follower of Ancient Magic.’
So, how many such fragments existed in this vast universe?
The answer: ‘countless.’
Even the ‘Akashic Records,’ which recorded all things in the universe, couldn’t tally them—and it couldn’t either.
Because.
The universe was that immense.
Thus, the fact that Ancient Magic had taken interest in ‘Eloise Arin’ was surprising in itself.
She was just a single grain of sand in an endless desert.
“Of course, a prettier and kinder grain than most.”
Ancient Magic murmured with a pleased smile.
“……But how did that grain reach me?”
It was the first time.
For a being that had existed since nearly the dawn of time, countless eons ago—this was a first.
Its own fragment had touched its will.
“Heh heh, could it be…… the time has come?”
This was an omen.
Most ‘constellations’ (SSS Grade) cycled through birth and death.
In short, the will of the recently deceased ‘War God’ (SSS Grade) would naturally pass to another candidate.
This was the universe’s law, a natural cycle.
And usually.
That candidate emerged from the fragments of the constellation.
Of course, such births and deaths happened once every billions of years……
Anyway.
“Eloise Arin.”
Ancient Magic murmured delightedly.
“You’re my candidate……”
Of course, the odds of her ascending to constellation in its stead were astronomically low.
And it would take an immense span of time.
But for a being that had endured eternal eons, the first appearance of one who might grant it rest.
“Uhahaha! Good girl!”
Ancient Magic couldn’t hide its genuine joy.
* * *
Gurgle, gurgle.
The purple energy kept flowing.
Flowing until it encountered.
Kwang! Kwa-gang! Kwang!
The dragon heart—Dragon Heart—that Joo Dong-hoon and his minions were bombarding.
At that instant.
- Die.
It expressed a will.
No consciousness.
Unconscious.
But a will to kill something.
Clear murderous intent.
Dragon.
A vague hostility toward it as well.
- Die.
At the same time, the slowly flowing purple energy surged forward.
Kwaaaaa……!
Emitting a eerie sound, it began to move.
As it neared the dragon heart, consciousness dawned in it.
Ah.
I see.
Awakened, it sensed the mana—that immense mana—throughout its form.
Slippery yet soft, intensely warm yet ruthlessly cold.
- This is……!
It.
No, Eloise Arin’s soul cried out in ecstasy.
- Ancient Magic……?
Kwagagaga!
The purple energy began transforming once more.
Into the ultimate instant-death spell, ‘Power Word Kill’ (SSS Grade).
- A body that’s crumbled to dust anyway. No restrictions—I can use forbidden magic freely……!
Eloise Arin, the revived archmage and lord of one of the four great towers.
Her soul chanted the incantation, casting the spell.
Kwaeaeaeak!
The denser purple energy shot toward the heart.
A strike for her dream, her benefactor—her professor.
* * *
- Kraaaaa! Kuaaaaa!
The Earth Guardian Dragon roared.
- Kraaaaaararara!
Roaring mixed with agonized screams, it thrashed wildly.
It threw its head back until its neck twisted, twisted its waist.
At that moment.
“……This is.”
The Demon King, who had ascended high to survey the situation, murmured.
“I can feel it. It’s time to finish this.”
“……”
The Heavenly Demon watching beside him nodded faintly.
The Demon King spoke again.
“I don’t know what trick the Emperor’s pulling inside, but we need to end it.”
- I’ll do it.
Hasera expressed her will without hesitation.
- But I have a request.
A sword strike’s afterimage etched in the air.
- Open the demon realm for a moment.
The Demon King nodded.
“I mentioned it before. The Heavenly Demon’s energy shares much with the demon realm’s.”
Nod.
Hasera nodded quietly.
“Good.”
The Demon King nodded back.
“Most of my demon beasts are spent anyway. I’ll support you this time.”
Swish.
His raised arm and surging immense energy.
Kwagagagaga!
Simultaneously, a massive summoning circle etched into the air.
“But my remaining energy is low. I can only hold it for 10 seconds.”
- That’s enough.
Taat!
Hasera kicked off the air, leaping even higher.
Then she stared straight into the suffering dragon’s maw.
“You don’t mean.”
At that moment, the ghost watching from behind—Kang So-so—spoke up.
“You’re going to use Heavenly Demon Great Annihilation Tribulation?”
Hasera gave a faint affirmation, and Kang So-so was shocked.
The final stance of the first sword of Heavenly Demon Divine Art, Heaven-Shattering Asura Sword.
Its qi manipulation was incredibly tricky, and it drained all internal energy—hence called a mutual destruction technique.
It wasn’t on the level of mind sword or formless sword, known as absolute realms.
“That’s a technique even I’ve only used a couple times in real combat……”
Kang So-so tapped her chin with a finger.
“And you haven’t even reached demon possession yet. Isn’t this too reckless?”
She murmured, but it was too late.
Hasera had drawn her sword and ignored her words.
It felt like her will: to catch a dragon, you had to risk that much.
Kwagagagaga!
At the same time.
[Mid-rank Demon King ‘Jack Smith’ unleashes Demon King power!]
[Demon realm territory under command opens briefly!]
Creeeeak!
The summoning circle cracked grotesquely, demon realm energy overtaking the skies.
Soon.
- Krarararara!
Hasera’s sword strike unfolded toward the bellowing dragon’s maw!
Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Heaven-Shattering Asura Sword.
Heavenly Demon Great Annihilation Tribulation.
Kugugugugu!
In that instant, a black storm devouring all began greedily sucking in the demon realm energy.
Like a dragon’s breath.
Absorbing everything, it charged fiercely at the dragon.
A massive ‘大’-shaped energy.
Kwagagaga!
Entering the dragon’s gaping maw, it tore and shredded flesh like a blender.
- Krararara……!
From inside, from outside.
Buffeted from both sides, the dragon’s cries began to fade.
Draining strength meant life ebbing away.
- Krurrr……
The dragon couldn’t speak.
Its long esophagus already shredded by the Heavenly Demon Great Annihilation Tribulation.
Plus, it had taken a direct hit from Ancient Magic, which could erase even constellation-level beings……
Its demise was inevitable.
In the end.
The ancient dragon, Brius, perished without even last words.
Kwagagaga!
The dragon’s massive body lost balance and plummeted straight down.
Its wing muscles slackened, its neck lolled.
Complete death.
And at that moment.
A message appeared to all hunters within 10 km of the dragon.
[Congratulations!]
[‘Earth Guardian Dragon Brius’ (SSS Grade) defeated!]
Humanity had finally overcome the apocalyptic crisis.