Chapter 337: The Song of Wither And Fireblast - Finale
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 337: The Song of Wither And Fireblast - Finale
The Juggernaut was a special item bestowed upon a Primarch by the Golden Lord. It was a one-of-a-kind tool that only a Primarch could properly wield. Designed from the outset with a Primarch’s abilities in mind, it could display limitless functions when used by a suitable wielder.
Still, if it’s a human tool, then I, the King of Humans, should be able to do something.
I clenched my fist. One of Lord Rocket’s wings erupted in a series of explosions. It wasn’t an external attack, but a chain of internal detonations that twisted its own frame and mangled its structure. The blast was powerful enough to kick up a momentary storm, and the shockwave dealt a severe blow to Lord Rocket, who was caught in it at point-blank range.
“Kraaagh…!”
“Now!”
For the Regressor, who had been preparing an attack, the moment Lord Rocket lost his balance was the perfect opportunity. She swept Chun-aeng across the length of Jizan.
When iron grates against iron, sparks fly. But when earth grates against the sky, lightning strikes. Scattering an energy a bit too menacing to be called static electricity, the Regressor shouted.
“Aerith Blade Supreme, Reverse Thunder!”
Lightning, born from the earth, soared toward the sky. The bolt, seeking to return to the heavens, found a temporary perch in mid-air—a pitiful human, staggering amidst a flurry of steel fragments, laden with armor from head to toe. He was reeling from a massive impact, but the trivial circumstances of a mere mortal were of no concern to the lightning.
The bolt split into thousands of tendrils, following the paths of steel. A torrent of lightning, divided into countless tributaries, engulfed Lord Rocket. Swept up in the rapids of electricity, he let out a great scream as his entire body was scorched by the pain.
“Kuaaaaaaaargh!”
But it wasn't enough to bring him down. Lightning, too, knows how to take the easy way out; if a convenient path exists, it won’t bother with a difficult one. Most of the current had traveled up the Juggernaut, so Lord Rocket’s body had been spared the worst of the impact.
Regardless, the fight was decided. Struck by an explosion and then an electric shock, Lord Rocket was in no condition to continue fighting.
“Lord Rocket! Are you alright?!”
A figure who appeared to be one of Lord Rocket’s subordinates flew in hastily. The fight had dragged on for so long that many were now watching. It wasn’t surprising that Lord Rocket’s men, who hadn’t dared to interfere until now, were finally approaching.
“Lord Rocket! This way!”
The winged subordinate caught the falling Lord Rocket from below. She nearly fell under the weight of the Juggernaut, but a barely conscious Lord Rocket managed to reactivate his propulsion units, allowing her to regain her balance. Supporting him, she asked with concern.
“Are you alright?”
“Ugh… The First Wing. The Winged Assault Squad…”
His ‘subordinate’ answered briskly.
“Don’t worry! They are all waiting!”
“…Don’t wait. Bring them all…! Come and kill them!”
When Lord Rocket snapped in a fit of rage, the ‘subordinate’ showed a troubled expression.
“Th-that might be difficult.”
“Are you scared?! Have you forgotten that I hold your lives in my hands? That’s an order, attack now…! Or I’ll blow up all of your propulsion units…!”
“What ‘I’ mean is…”
“What!”
As Lord Rocket’s face contorted in anger at his hesitating ‘subordinate’…
Something sharp and cold pushed its way into Lord Rocket’s body. It was so stealthy and keen that he didn’t even realize it had happened until the blade was already twisting inside him.
When he finally realized what had happened, his mouth fell open in a silent scream of horror. The ‘subordinate’ spoke in a leisurely voice.
“Because they’re on the other side of a river they can’t return from~. How can you call back the dead?”
Her face had, at some point, changed to Hilde’s. Lord Rocket’s eyes widened at the unexpected sight.
A massive explosion erupted immediately after. Lord Rocket detonated parts of his armor to throw Hilde off. Even for a master of Qi Arts like Hilde, without a foothold, she couldn’t negate the reaction force. The two were flung in opposite directions through the air.
Lord Rocket’s body spun as it plummeted to the ground. With a loud thud, he collided with the earth, and without even trying to right himself, he threw back his cloak. Where the blade had briefly rested, crimson blood was now emerging to greet the world.
“Keuk…! Cough. Gack!”
Hilde, who had landed lightly a short distance away, twirled her blood-stained blade and muttered.
“Hmm~. I was wondering why this blade wasn’t going in smoothly~.”
Hilde’s words trailed off as she looked at Lord Rocket’s body, now exposed from under his cloak. Lord Rocket’s back was hunched.
When hidden by the cloak and Juggernaut, it had looked like he was wearing a backpack, but it was actually his abdomen that was distended. That was why he was still alive, even though Hilde had stabbed him with the intent to kill.
Though, it was only a matter of ‘for now.’
“Fireblastarch Rocket. The most powerful of the pro-war activists in the Fallen Dominion. You operate a unit that flies through the sky with propulsion units, correct? According to my information, the Winged Assault Squad is also used as messengers for the Golden Palace.”
“Kuh, heuk…!”
“They would have been a tricky unit to deal with without Historia. I never thought I’d get to take care of them here. How lucky for me~.”
Hilde smiled innocently and glanced back at me.
“I can kill this one, right, Father?”
“Wait a moment.”
“Oh? Why again? Is there something you need to check?”
The Regressor strode forward and slammed Chun-aeng into Lord Rocket’s wing. Pinning him down by stepping on the sword, she asked in a thoroughly intimidating tone.
“This is your last chance. Tell me the location of the Golden Palace.”
“Cough…! You bastards…!”
“If you call yourself a messenger of the Golden Palace, you must know where it is now and what it looks like. If you want to live, spill it. I’ll at least spare your life.”
“Hah, haah… To that extent…”
To that extent, they know…? The Military State… they should be nothing but fools who killed their own king… How could they know that fact…
Heh, Lord Rocket let out a short laugh. As if he had made up his mind, he spoke in broken phrases, spitting out a bloody cough.
“…Cough. Fine. I’ll tell you…”
…My forces, my reputation, my fortune, and even my Juggernaut. I’ve already lost everything. I have no reason to live… and these bastards won’t let me live anyway. In that case…
He then mumbled something, but it wasn’t meant to be heard, and the Regressor couldn’t make it out. Annoyed, she walked toward him.
“What are you saying? Speak clearly.”
As the Regressor moved forward, Hilde naturally leaned in as well, ready to take his life at a moment’s notice… but that was exactly what Lord Rocket had been waiting for.
Lord Rocket unleashed his Unique Magic. The metal that composed his Juggernaut, the Wyvern, was an alchemic steel forged by the Golden Lord himself for Rocket. It was an immortal alloy that would not be consumed no matter how much Rocket burned or exploded it. Thus, Rocket could fly through the skies almost eternally without worrying about depleting his metal.
However, in the final moments, he could even use that immortality as fuel for one last blast.
“You… will die…”
“What?”
Lord Rocket raised his blood-stained arm. The last of his mana flowed through his arm and into the Juggernaut. The metal made by the Golden Lord was of a transcendentally high grade, but a Primarch… could, however faintly, alter its structure.
From immortal metal to mortal metal. All to incinerate his enemies in a single blow.
“…With this legacy bestowed by the Golden Lord…! I’ll take you with me!”
Lord Rocket roared as he released his Unique Magic all at once. It was too late to react. The final explosion, which would have laid waste to a radius of several hundred meters, was about to sweep over the Regressor and Hilde…
However.
“What’s he doing?”
The Regressor muttered blankly.
Heavenly Counter Domain did not activate. The defensive Qi Art engraved on the Regressor’s body did not signal any danger.
Because there was no danger.
“H-how…”
Lord Rocket stared at his fading Juggernaut. The legacy bestowed by the Golden Lord himself, the trump card he had saved until his dying breath, was rusting.
Only metal could serve as a sacrifice for the explosion, but that which has rusted and worn away loses its qualification. Metal that has lost its value cannot be used. Not even by a Primarch.
“Wi…ther…!”
Clop, clop.
The leisurely sound of hooves echoed across the dry ground. Peru, riding Aurea, approached Lord Rocket. As if to defy Peru’s emotionless gaze, Lord Rocket screamed furiously.
“Why…! Why are you interfering, Wither…!”
Peru slowly opened her mouth.
“…You were going to self-destruct.”
“They… should have died here…! Then that land would have become ours…! So why! Why did you turn my Juggernaut to Wither…?!”
“…It’s the same. Your Fireblast. My Wither. They’re the same. They make the Juggernaut unusable.”
…And if both lead to the same result anyway. If it’s an act that will erase one Juggernaut from this Fallen Dominion…
Peru said softly.
“…The side with fewer deaths is better.”
Peru doesn’t fight because she lacks the ability. She avoids conflict because her power erases value.
But in a situation like this, where the Fireblastarch would sacrifice all value to bring about a destruction that leaves nothing behind—a result even more terrible than Wither—Peru would intervene.
The Juggernaut ceased to respond. Feeling the life of the Golden Lord’s masterpiece fade away, Fireblastarch Rocket wailed.
“Don’t be ridiculous!!! You should know, our great desire…! You…! You’ve stolen our second home…!!”
“Yeees~. Heard you loud and clear.”
Slice.
The scream was cut off as if severed by a knife. A moment later, Lord Rocket’s head fell sideways. The Fireblastarch, who had spewed his rage at the Regressor, at the Military State, and finally at Peru for stopping him, died with a face full of indignation.
A period was placed on a book covered in soot. Standing a little ways off, I offered him a silent farewell.
Farewell, Lord Rocket. A man like a flame that burned until his last breath.
When I finished my farewell and looked up, Hilde was hiding her blade behind her back, offering an awkward smile to the Regressor and Peru.
“Don’t look at me like that~. ‘I’ just took on the dirty work no one else could bring themselves to do. Could we really have let him live? If anything, I deserve praise!”
Such a fake. She was planning to kill him from the start.
I’m the one who did the most to neutralize Rocket, though. They say the left hand shouldn’t know what the right hand is doing, but aren’t I working too hard without getting any recognition?
Anyway, I should go mediate before the atmosphere gets any weirder. Sighing inwardly, I called for Azzy.
“Azzy.”
“Good job, woof!”
“…No, that’s not why I called you.”