Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Delivery Complete
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“Uahaha! Behold, this is the power of a god!”
Jörmungandr's tail slammed down onto the frozen surface.
With a thunderous roar that shook the heavens, half the frozen lake flipped over.
Kwaaaang!
As shattered ice chunks rained down from the sky...
Jörmungandr opened its maw and spewed forth violet poison mist.
A breath that could melt anything in existence.
Chiiiiiik.
“Urk! E-everyone, scatter!”
The multilayered magic barriers Veronica hastily deployed melted away the instant they made contact.
Seeing the Tower Master's defensive barriers dissolve like that...
Arman burst into mad laughter.
His eyes had long since turned entirely blood-red, not a speck of white remaining.
“Did you really think a pathetic barrier like that could block a god's power?”
“Today, you'll all vanish without a trace!”
The might of a being on another level entirely.
Though its consciousness was unstable due to an imperfect fusion...
The destructive force pouring from this ancient calamity far surpassed human comprehension.
A battlefield straight out of hell.
At the center of the chaos, Darcor's brow furrowed deeply.
'It's definitely strong...'
One moment of carelessness, and I'm done for.
Darcor was analyzing Jörmungandr's patterns and pondering a clever counter when...
Shiiiiiik.
Jörmungandr's tail cleaved through the air once more.
Its target: the Escort Knight Edel, fighting desperately on her own.
“Lady Edel, dodge! It's above you!”
Chloe's scream rang out.
But it was already too late.
A tail vast enough to blot out the sky was crashing down, engulfing Edel's body.
There was no room to evade, no strength left to block.
'Ah...'
Edel knew it instinctively.
She couldn't block this.
It was beyond what her sword could handle.
Sensing her impending death, she squeezed her eyes shut.
Regret hit her before fear did.
'Your Majesty... no... Darcor, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you to the end...'
Kwaaang.
A deafening boom engulfed the ground as blinding snow dust billowed up.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “...Huh? How am I...?”
Edel slowly, very cautiously, opened her eyes.
She felt no pain at all, for some reason.
Before she knew it, Edel was in a safe spot dozens of paces from where she'd stood.
The place she'd been just moments ago had been utterly pulverized by Jörmungandr's tail, reduced to scattered debris without a trace.
“Ow! W-what the...?”
And that wasn't all.
Chloe, who had nearly been swallowed by the poison-spewing maw, was also sitting on her butt beside Edel, looking utterly bewildered.
The two women's gazes naturally converged on one spot.
There, in front of them...
A man in black imperial uniform, brushing snow dust from his clothes.
Emperor Darcor.
He approached Edel, who stood there with her mouth agape in a daze.
He brushed the snow from her shoulders.
“Pull yourself together. You'll get yourself killed spacing out like that.”
Edel's eyes trembled violently.
She hadn't seen it.
She hadn't even sensed his presence.
In that split second when death loomed...
Darcor had saved them with Dawn Step.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Edel's throat tightened.
“Y-Your Majesty...”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “What the...?”
Arman, perched atop Jörmungandr's head, doubted his own eyes.
'It definitely hit.'
The timing and distance had been perfect.
Normally, he should've felt the tail crush the knight, turning bone and flesh to pulp.
But in that instant of contact...
She'd vanished like a ghost.
As if space itself had twisted.
'Why won't it hit...'
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Arman's spine.
Even as he pressed with Jörmungandr's apocalyptic power, grinding the earth to dust...
A bizarre sense of unease lingered in his mind.
His opponent was just a mere human.
'Damn it, I need to hurry. Can't drag this out...'
It felt like fighting a mirage that slipped through his grasp.
Instinct told Arman one thing.
Time was running out.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Darcor was breathing heavily.
'Hoo... Can't keep this up forever...'
He had pushed Dawn Step to its absolute limit moments ago.
His entire body burned hot and throbbed.
Nausea was rising in his throat.
But there was no time to rest.
“Hey, kid. Get up. Time to earn your keep.”
“Mmm... Huh?”
Eris, who had passed out in the corner, came to.
The moment she shook her head and regained her senses, her eyes blazed gold once more.
“G-give me those teeth!”
Eris kicked off the ice and leaped up.
She swung the Holy Sword Excalibur, slashing at Jörmungandr's body.
Kang. Kkang.
Sparks flew.
The holy blade's sharpness tore through the serpent's scales.
But that was it.
Chiiik.
The severed scales regenerated in an instant.
Life force befitting an ancient calamity—despairingly monstrous.
“Waaah... It's too tough. The s-sword won't stick...”
As Eris wailed in frustration, the holy sword vibrated violently, roaring out.
“Hey, you idiot! Hitting the scales won't work. Aim for the vitals, the vitals!” “The reverse scale behind the head. Stab there!” “I-I know that! But how am I supposed to get up there... It's thrashing around like crazy!”
Eris was right.
Jörmungandr was berserk with rage.
Telling her to stab the vital spot on the back of its head in a situation where even approaching was impossible...
That was suicide.
Darcor crossed his arms, coolly assessing the situation.
'The holy sword definitely works... but she can't land the angle.'
His own attack power couldn't pierce Jörmungandr's regeneration.
As the sword said.
But Eris's holy sword could.
The problem: Eris's movements couldn't break through Jörmungandr's frenzy to reach its head.
'In that case...'
The solution was simple.
Darcor's lips curled into a sly grin.
'Time for delivery service.'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “Kuaaaargh!”
Jörmungandr threw its head back.
Vast amounts of mana began condensing deep in its throat.
The surrounding space warped, glowing red-hot.
“It's over now. Die, all of you!”
Arman shouted, certain of victory.
There was no escaping the breath attack here.
One blast, and those annoying pests would be finished.
In this moment of life or death...
Darcor stepped forward.
“Shut up already. Talk too much, and you die first—it's practically a rule. Better watch out.”
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Condition met: Hostile entity outside causality detected.] [Skill: Twilight Step unlocked.] Darcor's head buzzed.
Then, the world lost all color, as if by magic.
Thung.
All sound vanished.
The raging blizzard froze midair.
The red beam about to erupt from Jörmungandr's mouth halted.
Arman's twisted, mad expression froze too.
Like an old black-and-white photo, everything stood still.
A world turned gray.
Darcor alone breathed in the silence.
“Hoo...”
His breath puffed white, then stopped in midair.
Darcor looked down at himself.
His fingertips trembled faintly.
'Mana's draining fast... No time.'
Twilight Step.
Just like against Ouroboros before...
A skill usable only against foes outside causality.
It stopped time—a cheat skill.
But the cost was brutal.
Mana ebbed from his body like the tide, veins burning as if scorched.
He could endure maybe a minute at most in this state.
“Let's end this quick.”
Darcor bolted without hesitation.
His target: Eris, hovering awkwardly in the battlefield's center.
She had been mid-jump toward Jörmungandr when time froze.
Stuck in a ridiculous pose, like a frog mid-leap.
Mouth wide in a wail, eyes squeezed shut.
Not much dignity for a pint-sized hero.
“What a form.”
Darcor chuckled and approached Eris.
Urachacha.
He hoisted her like luggage onto his shoulder.
Darcor shot into the air.
Tadak. Taak!
He dashed along Jörmungandr's body.
The flailing tail made a perfect stepping stone.
He raced over slippery scales, dodging protruding spines.
In the gray world, a single black dot climbed Jörmungandr's massive form like lightning.
'Almost... Damn...'
His heart felt ready to burst.
As his vision blurred from mana depletion...
Darcor gritted his teeth, squeezing out his last strength to leap.
Taak.
“Gotcha.”
Darcor landed gasping right in front of Arman's nose.
In frozen time...
Arman gazed down in triumphant glee, oblivious to Darcor right before him.
Behind Jörmungandr's head...
A white reverse scale gleamed amid the others, shining brighter.
Thud.
Darcor set Eris down from his shoulder.
“Hoo, perfect position.”
He adjusted her stance.
Grabbing her arm suspended in air...
He aimed Excalibur's tip dead center at the reverse scale.
“Angle's spot on.”
Perfect.
Darcor stepped back with a satisfied smirk.
His lips curled wickedly as he snapped his fingers.
Dtak.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Twilight Step deactivated.] “Delivery complete.”
Frozen time began to flow again.