Chapter 196
Chapter 196
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 196
Chapter Title: Eternal Unquenchable Flame (2)
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Shin-Young burst out from the rift's crevice and free-fell toward the base of the World Tree. His body rapidly drew closer to the ground, soon becoming clearly visible to the naked eye.
The onlookers quickly noticed something off.
"Uh...?"
"Wh-what?"
Kadim hung motionless in the air, looking as if he'd lost consciousness. There was no way he could stop his fall on his own like that.
In other words, if left alone, he was obviously going to smash into the ground.
Ilenia and Duncan had just guided the "clone" to the World Tree and rendezvoused with Remillion. They were anxiously watching the upper branches, wondering if the clone and Lilia would cooperate smoothly, if Lilia could safely enter the World Tree's dream—when this unforeseen disaster struck.
Duncan urgently grabbed Ilenia's hem.
"M-Miss! C-Can't you do something? The young master is about to just crash into the ground...!"
"Th-That's..."
For some reason, Ilenia stood rigid, not using her holy magic. She stared at the clear sky where the dark veil had burned away, the fierce sunlight glaring down, like a blind man beholding light for the first time in his life.
Duncan had no choice but to look elsewhere: the dragon and his comrade, Remillion. But the dragon was barely clinging to life like a half-dead corpse, and the dragonkin wasn't much better off.
Even so, Remillion didn't ignore the desperate gaze of the traveling merchant.
"...I'll fly up and catch Lord Kadim."
"A-Are you sure, Lord Remillion? You don't look well at all..."
"Still, I have to. How could I let the warrior of revelation, who volunteered to venture even into hell, just die like this?"
The dragonkin donned his soot-stained helmet and spread his charred and torn wings. He staggered into the air, arms outstretched to catch Kadim.
Anyone could see it was a reckless attempt. Kadim only looked small due to perspective—his actual bulk was as massive as Remillion with wings spread. Catching that giant falling from such height with an injured body would surely kill them both.
Duncan clenched his fists and made his decision.
"L-Lord Remillion! Please move aside for a moment!"
"...What?"
Whoosh—
In the blink of an eye, the afterimage of the falling giant brushed past. Remillion's eyes widened in shock.
But Kadim didn't turn to mush. Duncan had timed it perfectly, opening a warp hole at the impact point.
Whoooong, whooooong—!
Kadim passed through one hole and emerged from another, shooting high into the sky again. Ilenia's stunned gaze bored into Duncan's side, but he had no attention to spare.
"Now! Catch him now, Lord Remillion!!"
"Hup!"
Defying gravity, the body's acceleration slowed. Remillion glided in precariously and caught Kadim. Only after seeing them both descend safely did Duncan finally wipe his brow.
Ilenia blinked in bewilderment. How had this man... used dark holy magic in the sunlight and come out unscathed?
Only after scanning the surroundings did she realize why. A stray cloud and a World Tree branch overlapped, their shadow cleverly concealing Duncan's warp hole.
"Phew..."
After thanking the Forgotten God's providence with the sign of the cross, she urgently ordered Duncan to close the hole. Then, in a small but firm whisper:
"Lord Duncan, you did very well. But from now on, you must be extremely cautious when using dark holy magic. The 'Nightshadow Veil' covered the sky until now, so it was fine... but using it openly under the sun invites 'Divine Punishment'."
"Pardon? What's Divine Punish—"
Something else crashing down cut him off.
——Crash, crash, crash, boom—BANG!!
"...Eek!!"
The falling object buried itself deep into the earth amid a plume of dust. It was Kadim's axe, Judgment of Atala... but the timing was so coincidental that Duncan completely misunderstood.
"D-Does this mean... th-this is Divine Punishment?!"
Ilenia chuckled inwardly to herself.
"...No. But well, you could call it similar. Divine Punishment is what turned that dragon, Ra... Rapustran, into that mess."
- Kruruk, krraaak! Kruk, kuh...
Right on cue, blood gushed as the dragon sprayed nosebleeds and vomited blood.
"..."
Duncan vowed never to use dark holy magic again.
...Except in moments like this, when someone's life hung in the balance.
*
Kadim awoke in short order.
He surveyed his surroundings and grasped the situation instantly.
The burning Hesiliad, the sky bathed in radiant sunlight, the dragon reduced to a wreck, his companions gazing at him worriedly, the absent Lilia and Parneo, and... the World Tree's upper branches where flames exploded repeatedly.
...Boom, kaboom, kababoom...
It wasn't Melissa's solo explosions, but clashes with someone's magic. His languid gaze turned to Ilenia, priestess of the Forgotten God who had brought the tribute.
"You ended up using it after all, that clone."
"...Yes, I'm sorry. The core squad was surrounded by Infernos, making it unavoidable."
"No, it's all in the past, so I won't blame you for it. More importantly, did that dark elf apostle make it safely into the World Tree's dream?"
Ilenia nodded firmly and looked upward. Following her gaze, a turquoise energy surged over the World Tree like a nebula.
Whiiiiiing! Crackle, craaaackle—!
The energy regenerated the withered roots. Revitalized roots tightened cracks and sealed gaps. The rift's core, thick with demonic energy, began to narrow. Proof that the true World Tree guardian had entered the 'dream' and was redistributing its power.
Yet Kadim's expression remained grim.
Ilenia and the others vaguely assumed it was for the same reason as them.
"Yes, I know what worries you. We've passed the biggest hurdle, but major ones remain. As you know, the grand sorceress didn't pursue you. To safely complete all plans... we must defeat that 'World-Burning Cataclysm Flame' up there as quickly as possible."
"..."
Their guess was only half right. His hollow eyes fixed not on Melissa, but higher—on the 'Hell Rift' itself, branching and closing.
But Kadim didn't mention it. What he'd seen in hell was simply impossible to explain convincingly to others.
Ilenia, sensing his mood, continued cautiously.
"But as you see, the supreme being is combat-incapable, and though her clone fights valiantly, victory is unlikely. Did you... perhaps secure a 'sure path to victory' in hell, Lord Kadim?"
"..."
Ignoring their anxious, expectant, doubtful, uneasy stares, he quietly closed his eyes.
"...Everyone except the dragon, step back for a moment."
Kadim spoke in a voice laced with dry exhaustion. Following Remillion's nod to comply, the others withdrew.
The dragon was a horrific sight, hard to behold with eyes open. His golden scales were scraped off like they'd been planed raw, his armor cracked as if hammered, and wounds missing chunks of flesh endlessly bubbled blood.
Yet his presence and posture were even more majestic than in his lair. The dragon didn't crouch but proudly propped himself on his forelegs, looking down at the savage barbarian who'd summoned him.
- 38... 156... no, 157.
"..."
- Yes, number 38... and number 157.
"...What are you talking about?"
- The Divine Punishments I blocked, and those my body endured. No powerhouse in this world—not even my kin who fell during the 'Night of Divine Punishment'—could withstand this many, kruk...
"..."
- Now... tell me, minion of the dust god. Do I still look like a mere coward whelp to you? Do you still see me as some lowly lizard or reptile?"
'Divine Punishment' was the absolute judgment that brooked no resistance.
He recalled even the Arch Paladin, unscathed by an axe to the forehead, trembling in agony from a mere weak Divine Punishment. And this dragon had witnessed a thousand kin annihilated by those light beams right beside him.
Yet he'd endured over a hundred without retreat...
"No, my eyes were wrong."
- ....
"I swear on Atala's name. You are no coward. You are, beyond any doubt, the mightiest creature on earth, feared by all heavens and lands, unbroken even by that celestial god... a true 'dragon'."
Rapustran laboriously curled the tip of his maw. He drew a deep breath and spat blood-mingled laughter.
- Kruruk, kuhahaha! Anyone would think I endured Divine Punishment just for your approval! I need no recognition from a trivial worm like you! From the mythic age to now, without exception, without anyone's ashes, I have always been the great 'dragon'...
Despite his words, he seemed immensely pleased. The bloody laughter faded, leaving a resonant aftertaste.
After a moment's silence, Rapustran asked lowly.
- ...Did you fail to secure a 'path to victory' in hell?
"..."
- No need for self-recrimination, mortal... It was an impossible plan from the start. Even I dread hell. For a human body to return alive from its demons... kruk, that's achievement enough...
The cause and process differed vastly from the dragon's guess... but Kadim had lost his 'path to victory'.
At least he'd escaped hell via that light cluster at the end. The problem: it had purged not just his frenzy, but the blood energy he'd gathered too. Some residual blood energy lingered, but far too little to form the divine artifact as planned.
Still, he couldn't just sit idle. Kadim yanked Judgment of Atala from the ground with a thud.
"You're right. Securing a 'path to victory' in hell was a failure."
- ....
"But I uncovered why Melissa became like that. Exploiting it might change her heart significantly. Slim chance, but she might cease her rampage and repent."
- ...And if not?
"I'll kill her. Somehow, on Atala's name, staking my life, with my own hands."
A declaration brimming with the resolve to strangle life itself.
Rapustran narrowed his eyes, lids quivering. As if beholding an excessively bright glow. He swallowed blood, forgot pain, and let out a guttural croak lost in an unfamiliar sensation after millennia.
- Kruruk... The god of darkness and chaos... about twenty years ago... gave that revelation you'd topple the 'fake Elga'...
"..."
- I... don't trust prophecies from a god who's lost even his name. But right now... having clearly witnessed with my own eyes... your 'light' makes me want to believe, just once...
As Kadim raised a puzzled brow, the dragon finalized his resolve and proposed.
- Drink... my blood.
"...What?"
- To use your planned method... you need immense 'blood energy', right...? If it doesn't have to be demon blood... better than those pathetic demons' foul blood... one drop of mine will grant you far superior 'blood energy'...
"..."
- Don't hesitate... Bathe your soul in this blood... Devour the world-burning cataclysm flame... And someday, surely, trample my corpse to reach the heavens... shatter that false sun and hurl it crashing to this land, Great Warrior of Atala...
Golden eyes emanating light more majestic than the sun.
The dragon's pooled blood flowed quietly, scalding Kadim's ankles like lava.
*
With a single gesture, all flames died down.
Roar, roooar...
Acrid embers and smoke cleared. The scorched ruins of the 'Hall of Eternal Dreams' lay revealed. Simultaneously, the fierce battle between grand sorceresses reached its conclusion.
A past burned to ash, a future looming down.
"..."
"..."
The red-haired woman approached the red-haired girl.
The girl magician who'd fought with heroic zeal to save the world, ultimately defeated by the experience gap, mana depleted and outer wounds fully taken, flesh melted black revealing her as a fake—yet still clutching her record without losing heart.
"Kill me. I won't beg for my life."
"..."
Melissa ignited hellfire as if to grant it immediately.
But at the last moment, meeting those steadfast blazing eyes, she changed her mind.
"No, that'd be too merciful for your crimes."
"..."
"That record—you value it more than your life, right?"
A merciless foot crushed her blackened thigh. As the girl writhed in pain, a hand snatched the record.
"Hng, n-no, give it back..."
"Curse your birth here and die slowly, fake. I'll be back after cleaning up the ashes you scattered."
Melissa tucked the record under her arm and turned. In an instant, cold flames surged, completely engulfing Shin-Young.
When the fire cleared, the record was gone from her arms. Despair filled the girl's eyes, but Melissa didn't spare a glance, heading toward an object.
A massive translucent orb, the 'World Tree's Dream'.
She passed through the hole Kadim had once broken into.
Woooong—!
Fresh meadow breeze gave way to thick, humid forest air.
A sanctuary of tangled roots, turquoise mist, and damp atmosphere.
A haven prepared for reunion with the warrior had transformed into a space to expel the World Tree's power. Sealed like a bottle, but with an open ceiling center. A dark elf woman sat cross-legged at the core, sending up verdant energy.
"Not a landscape I care for."
Melissa spat the name like expelling stale root juice.
"Lilia."
"...Melissa."
Lilia met her former sister's gaze with eyes full of bitterness.