Chapter 513
Chapter Title: A Hero's Lingering Regret
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Luna, having unleashed a barrage of Judgements, stared at where the Necro King had been.
*‘He won’t go down that easily.’*
The Luna of today was the Luna from the era when the Great Heroes embarked on their final expedition.
Back then, the individual might of each Great Hero overwhelmed the Legion Commanders who served as Erebos's trusted subordinates.
The Necro King, the supreme commander of Tartaros, was no different.
*‘But that was only when I was in my prime.’*
Right now, Luna was a heroic spirit.
And what sustained her was her own magic dwelling within the Cometes, supplemented by the magic of Seirun.
Because of that, there were significant restrictions on her use of magic.
*‘Besides, that bag of bones bastard. He’s gotten stronger than he was 5,000 years ago.’*
Luna could easily guess the reason for his increased strength.
*‘It must be because of that Fragment of Erebos he supposedly has.’*
She assessed her current strength against the Necro King's.
*‘Crushing him in a head-on clash of power might be a little difficult.’*
As Luna stroked her chin.
Whoooooosh-!
An ominous dark magic surged upwards.
Seeing this, Luna narrowed her eyes.
*‘Looks like he devoured that Legion Commander.’*
Noticing without difficulty that the Necro King's power had grown even more formidable, Luna clicked her tongue lightly.
Fwoooosh-!
Watching the Necro King appear, wreathed in the same black flames that Eljenie had been spewing just moments before, Luna spoke.
“A tragedy of cannibalism, is it? Then again, that’s about the level I’d expect from you demon bastards.”
“It seems that filthy mouth of yours hasn't improved, even in death.”
“People destined for great things must be consistent, in life and in death.”
Luna smiled brightly and snapped her fingers.
Shwiiiiing-!
A strange resonant sound echoed, and soon, hundreds of swords forged from magic materialized in the surrounding area.
Swords of Exorcism.
It was a spell Luna had created to deal with the Necro King.
A spell that was the natural enemy of the power of the dead.
Seeing this, the Necro King raised his hand.
Whoooosh-!
A black mist poured from his hand.
At Luna's gesture, the hundreds of swords rained down on the Necro King.
Kaboom-boom-boom-boom-boom-!
Instantly, the Swords of Exorcism were blocked, colliding with the Necro King's mist.
“Did you think a trick from 5,000 years ago would work on me?”
“Yeah, you’re right. It doesn't.”
Tap-
Luna calmly gripped the one remaining Sword of Exorcism and conjured her magic.
Flash-!
The Necro King's eyes twitched as he watched Luna vanish in an instant.
*‘Spatial teleportation magic?’*
He quickly deployed his magic detection.
In a fraction of a second.
Sensing killing intent from behind, the Necro King used spatial teleportation magic.
Swish-!
The Sword of Exorcism sliced through empty air.
“So close~”
Luna swung the Sword of Exorcism back and forth, licking her lips.
Watching her, the Necro King's eyes narrowed.
*‘Did she cast an acceleration spell on herself?’*
It wasn't on the level of simply increasing her physical speed.
It was a spell that literally made Luna's own time flow faster.
For a brief moment, Luna had controlled her own time.
*‘That’s a magical concept that didn’t exist 5,000 years ago.’*
The magical concept related to time acceleration was only properly established in recent times.
It was a magic born from a certain mage who possessed a special mana trait.
Even now, mages capable of applying magic in such a way are rare.
*‘As expected, I suppose.’*
It was impossible to know how long she had been in this world.
But the magic she used was distinctly different from 5,000 years ago.
*‘I had anticipated this, but it seems most of the countermeasures I prepared for Luna’s appearance in this era are useless.’*
Last winter.
Ever since he heard the catastrophic news that the invasion plan to topple Seirun had been thwarted by the appearance of the Hero of the Beginning and the Progenitor of the Nebula, the Necro King had been devising countermeasures against them.
It was a clear fact that the Great Heroes had appeared in the current era through the Hero Record.
A literal miracle.
*‘But something that has happened once can happen again.’*
As the Necro King predicted, the Great Heroes continued to appear in the current age.
The Brave Hero Ar-on had even vanquished one of Erebos’s fragments before disappearing.
And now.
The Progenitor of the Nebula, Luna, stood before him.
*‘It would be correct to assume her level of magic has risen a step higher than what I knew.’*
The Necro King used dark magic.
Krrrrrrumble-!
A jet-black smoke composed of malevolent energy enveloped Luna at tremendous speed.
Seeing this, Luna quickly used her acceleration magic to escape the Necro King’s attack.
She could have dodged more easily with spatial teleportation, but Luna used acceleration magic instead.
Approaching the Necro King at incredible speed, Luna clapped her hands once. Slap-!
As her hands parted, grains of light burst forth from between them like buckshot.
Kabooooom-!
A powerful explosion occurred.
But it was blocked by the Necro King's crimson barrier magic.
Fwoooosh-!
In that moment, the Necro King's hand transformed into the bone of a giant beast.
The beast, burning with black flames, opened its maw wide, trying to devour Luna.
Whoosh-!
Luna once again put distance between them.
“How tedious.”
The Necro King clicked his tongue.
The Monster Queen Silatuna, the Giant King Gias, and others.
They were Legion Commanders specialized in close-quarters combat.
In terms of hero classes, they were knights and warriors.
In contrast, the Necro King was a summoner and mage class, specializing in summoning and magic.
Yet Luna continuously engaged such a foe in close-quarters combat.
The reason was simple.
Luna demonstrated incredible power even in close combat.
Enough to easily overwhelm the Necro King, who fought like a traditional mage.
For evasive maneuvers, spatial magic was the most powerful tool.
But Luna didn't use spatial teleportation.
The same was true for the Necro King.
It wasn't because a chaotic battle using spatial teleportation was difficult.
For Luna and the Necro King, it was a simple spell.
However, spatial teleportation had a fatal flaw.
Short-range teleportation was a magic that folded space.
As such, the destination could inevitably be predicted.
Of course, in a normal fight, that would be an impossible feat, but Luna was called the strongest mage in the history of magic, and the Necro King was a being who had existed for thousands of years, notorious as the most powerful user of magic and curses in Tartaros.
Luna avoided using spatial teleportation, wary of having her position tracked and being counterattacked, while the Necro King chose to erect defensive magic where he stood.
“Do you intend to continue this tedious war of attrition?”
“Yep.”
Luna grinned.
Luna was in a situation where she would disappear once her magic was depleted.
The Necro King saw through that as well.
*‘If she had no constraints, she would have shown her true power from the beginning.’*
But unfortunately for him, time was now on Luna's side.
*‘The Surviving Hero.’*
Crack-! Craaaack-!
Leo, trapped in the Mirror Queen’s world, was trying to escape.
“Do you know the decisive difference between us, who seek to destroy the world, and you, who seek to protect it? Luna.”
“Like I care! You bag of bones!”
Luna's eyes flashed.
For an instant, a pentagram appeared in Luna's pupils.
Fzzzzzt-!
The barrier magic surrounding the Necro King was dispelled.
She had understood the structure of the magic formula, reverse-engineered it, and destroyed it.
Luna tried to approach again.
Seeing this, the Necro King curled his lips into a smile.
Whoooooooosh-!
A vast amount of dark magic flowed from the Necro King.
R-r-rumble-!
As the Necro King raised his hand, debris from all over Lumeria City shot up into the sky.
Luna flinched.
“A destroyer need only break what is in sight, but a guardian must protect what is in sight.”
Thwack-crack-crack-!
“Damn it!”
Luna deployed her magic to protect the people.
The falling debris was halted by Luna's psychokinesis.
Luna sent all the debris flying far away.
Seeing this, the Necro King raised his hand.
Whoooooooosh-!
Black flames enveloped the area around Luna.
Just as the black flames were about to turn Luna to ash.
Flash-
A giant magic circle formed from Luna's hand.
“Stella Radius.”
As Luna’s unique spell was completed, a flash of light drew a long trajectory as it flew toward the Necro King.
Kaboooooom-!
Half of the Necro King's body was blown away.
Crunch- cruuuunch-!
But the Necro King's body returned to its original state.
Seeing this, Luna frowned.
“Wow, you’re as disgusting as ever. You just don’t die.”
“You should know this well, Luna. I am already dead.”
The Necro King curled his lips into a smile.
“As long as my core is not destroyed, I am an immortal being.”
“Right, the same structure as those low-grade liches.”
Luna scoffed.
The core was always held by the Necro King.
But destroying it was not easy.
*‘As the heart of his magic, it’s unimaginably durable, and he can move its position at will from moment to moment.’*
Luna scowled.
Looking at Luna, the Necro King laughed.
“The same goes for you, Luna.”
“What?”
“Have you forgotten? You are also one of the dead.”
Crunch-! Cruuuunch-!
The Necro King tore off his opposite arm with the hand imbued with Erebos’s will.
The arm soon took the form of a spear.
Whoooooosh-!
An immense amount of dark magic swirled.
*‘A homing spell!’*
Luna's face stiffened.
It was a spell that would absolutely hit its target.
The moment Luna tried to break the spell.
Thwump-!
“Gah?”
In an instant, the Necro King’s magic pierced Luna’s heart.
“You bastard…”
Luna's face contorted.
Looking at her, the Necro King spoke.
“That spell contains all the power of Lord Erebos that burned using Eljenie as kindling.”
The Necro King said coldly.
“Originally, this power was meant to kill the Surviving Hero, but the moment a being like you intervened, that plan went out the window. Besides, the god’s will that used Eljenie as kindling held an even greater grudge against you.”
Luna choked-! and spat out blood.
“I consumed a piece as valuable as a Legion Commander. So, I must ensure at least one thing is thoroughly broken.”
With her head bowed, Luna's hands trembled.
“Right now, you, who could advance this era’s magic by several stages, are a more threatening existence than the Surviving Hero. Luna.”
If the plan went awry, one had to choose to gain the maximum benefit from the situation.
In the Necro King's eyes, that was the brutal death of Luna.
Pitter-patter-!
In that instant, the bone spear vanished.
It had contained all of Erebos’s black flames in a single spell.
But Luna did not die.
“You will not disappear immediately, Luna.”
The Necro King laughed coldly.
“Even with your heart pierced, your limbs blown off, or your head exploded, you can still exist in this world. Because, like me, you are a dead being. I hope you show me a pathetic sight and die in despair.”
“You son of a bitch…!”
“Because I despise you Great Heroes.”
The Necro King swung his palm.
Wham-!
“Guh!”
The immense impact slammed Luna’s body into the ground.
Kabooooom-!
“Lady Luna!”
Lunia approached Luna, her face pale.
The heroes holding back the Necro King and the Blood Queen’s legion also wore expressions of despair as they saw Luna bleeding from her pierced heart.
“Stay back!”
Luna shouted, coughing up blood.
Then, as if it were nothing, she pushed herself up.
An immense pain, enough to shatter her sanity, wracked her entire body.
It felt like a scream would burst out every time she moved.
The power of Erebos and the curse of the Necro King.
Anyone else would have had their mind collapse and gone insane.
But Luna laughed.
“Great! This means I can fight to my heart's content without having to worry about a thing!”
Spitting blood, Luna laughed belligerently, her face showing no hint of despair.
Thud-
The Necro King, having landed on the ground, shook his head at the sight.
“Truly a Great Hero. How tenacious. To be able to laugh through pain that could shatter one's mind.”
The Necro King, with an exasperated look, opened his mouth.
“Luna. If you exist as a heroic spirit, what is your lingering regret?”
“Not being able to chew up and spit out every last one of you.”
“That could be it. But I doubt you, who entrusted the future to the Surviving Hero who knows not the meaning of giving up, would hold onto that as a regret.”
The Necro King let out a small laugh and said.
“Then perhaps this is your lingering regret.”
The Necro King opened his palm.
It was a necromantic contract circle.
Luna, who had been frowning, began to slowly stiffen as she confirmed the contents of the contract circle.
A moment later, Luna's face turned deathly pale.
“Fufufu. Fufufufufufu- Kuhahahahaha!”
The Necro King suppressed his bursting laughter as much as possible, sneering at Luna.
Luna stared at the ground, her face aghast.
“It seems this is the correct answer.”
The Necro King hid the contract circle.
“Verkia, whom you were so worried about, has been resurrected as an undead. Didn't you teach your disciple properly?”
Kabooooom-!
The Necro King swung his arm, and Luna was sent flying helplessly, crashing into the ground.
Crash-! Craaaack-!
In that moment, the entire space violently rippled and began to crack.
Seeing this, the Necro King's eyes narrowed.
*‘The Surviving Hero is coming soon.’*
He had to crush Luna before that.
Just as he thought that.
Runic words began to be heard.
Flash-!
A giant magic circle was embroidered across the sky.
The Necro King's face hardened at the sight.
“Judgement?”
He looked toward where Luna had been sent flying.
There stood Luna, looking at him with eyes as radiant as ever, her middle finger raised high.
“Seeing your disciple resurrected as an undead has no mental effect on you?”
To the Necro King’s question, Luna grinned and replied.
“Of course it does, you son of a bitch.”