Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: The Perfect Sword's Descent
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Kwa-chang!Kwa-cha-a-a-a-ang!
Paon's sword, now filled with the final fragment of enlightenment, was perfect and complete.
Even through Karakthus's Draconic Eye, no weakness could be discerned in this supreme blade. It crushed the magical chains woven by the Earth Dragon and Arkdor one by one, slowly descending toward the ground.
-Do you really think I'll just take this lying down...!!
Woo-ooo-ooo-oong!
As Karakthus's will surged forth, countless magic circles manifested behind his wings.
Nedyr had assumed magic couldn't block Paon's sword, but that was merely from a human perspective.
The magic of dragons, the progenitors and sovereigns of sorcery, embodied the power to shatter laws and origins in their purest form.
In that sense, it shared something in common with Paon's enlightenment—the desire to bend the world to one's will.
Thus, Karakthus sought to overwhelm Paon's sword with sheer volume through his own magic.
'Far less efficient than striking at its weakness... but I have no choice now...!!'
It was a desperate move, one that even drained his recovering life force.
But right now, staunching Paon's onslaught was far more urgent.
However.
"Heh heh heh! You seem to be underestimating me greatly, you relic from the past trying to defy the flow of time. Did you think I'd just sit here sucking my thumb, posing no threat to you at all?"
Woo-ooo-ooo-ooo-oong!
"The reason I waited idly, without clashing with you even after arriving late, was all for this very moment."
With those words, Midas—who had been quietly weaving magic circles beside Paon—finally sprang into action.
Known as the Grand Sage, he was the first name that came to mind when speaking of Agena's greatest mage.
After all, he was one of the four heroes who had shone brightest in the conquest of the Northern Continent.
The spell he had prepared over such a long time could hardly be anything less than extraordinary.
Kwa-cha-a-a-a-a-ang!
The moment Midas moved his hand, every spell surging across the battlefield vanished in an instant.
The battle mages of the Magic Tower unleashing spells on the Great Veil's monsters.
Arkdor's dark magic ceaselessly spawning the undead legion.
The elemental spirits commanded by Drakella.
And even the dragon tongue spells the Earth Dragon had mustered against Paon's sword.
All of them.
-What...!
Without regard for friend or foe, every single spell was nullified by Midas's single gesture.
-What is this... impossible...!!
The Earth Dragon Karakthus's yellow eyes widened like saucers.
Magic was the act of distorting the world's mana to manifest the caster's will through predefined formulas.
Dragons could initiate that lengthy computation process with mere intent alone, allowing them to wield power near-divine compared to other races.
Yet dispelling every spell across such a vast area—let alone a specific domain—was impossible even for a dragon.
It required subjugating the mana of an entire space beneath one's feet, a true miracle.
In other words, in this confined space... this human had forced the 'laws' bestowed upon the world of Agena itself to kneel before his will...!!
-Such a thing... impossible for a mere human...!!
"Heh heh heh! You've underestimated human limits too much, dragon. While you slumbered, humanity advanced without end. But is that really okay?"
Midas chuckled heartily, toying with the Earth Dragon.
"Doesn't seem like the time to be admiring so leisurely, does it?"
-......!!
At Midas's words, the Earth Dragon frantically looked to the skies.
The nullification of all magic meant the chains he and Arkdor had woven had also dissipated into nothingness in an instant.
Gooo-ooo-ooo...!!
"N-No! We must protect the Earth Dragon's noble form at all costs! All creatures of the Great Veil, block that damned sword with your lives!!"
Realizing this, Arkdor shrieked in fury, shoving the Great Veil's monsters forward as meat shields to guard the dragon's front.
With his undead turned to dust by Midas's spell, only the living monsters' flesh could stand against it now.
Yet.
Before Paon's perfected enlightenment, all monsters met death as equals.
Goblins, trolls, dark elves, even ogres.
The moment Paon's sword touched them, they crumbled to handfuls of dust.
"Kek, ke-ruk...!"
"This can't... be...!! It's just a dog death!!"
The surviving monsters of the Great Veil lost their will to fight one by one at the sight.
They had no choice.
The true reason they had endured in this barren desert, following the Earth Dragon's revival, was to stand at the side of the resurrected dragon and rule the world.
Not to die meaningless deaths in this wasteland.
"Y-You worthless scum...!!"
Arkdor gnashed his teeth at the dark elves and ogres starting to flee, but he himself was too busy fending off the concentrated fire from the Lichtenauer Martial Clan's captains.
With the magical bombardment lifted from him, he wasn't in a comfortable spot either.
Thus, nothing stood between the Earth Dragon and Paon's sword anymore.
-This... trivial... thing...!!
Kwa-a-a-a-a-a-a-a!!
The Earth Dragon summoned black flames once more.
The inferno rising from his heart, heated like a superhigh-temperature furnace, clashed against Paon's heavenly sword.
But.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu...!!
Just as in the ancient tales of the celestial race parting the seas, the dragon's black flames split in two.
-Kuh... ugh...!!
Kii-i-i-ing!
The Earth Dragon's Draconic Eye flashed, desperately seeking any other flaw in Paon's sword.
But nothing.
Not even the Draconic Eye's insight could find a single defect.
Finally, Paon's sword reached the Earth Dragon's jaw.
Facing it head-on, the Earth Dragon.
-...What an ironic twist, isn't it.
Did not turn away.
-After waiting and preparing for so many long ages.
He merely revealed a hollow heart as his ambitions crumbled like sea foam swept away by waves.
-Once again, this Agena... refuses to accept me in the end.
Pu-ooo-oook...!!
The sound of hide tearing and flesh ripping shook the entire dragon's tomb.
Not loud, yet the noise of Paon's sword piercing the Earth Dragon's body rang clearly in the ears of everyone on the battlefield, friend and foe alike.
...Urk!
Black blood erupted from the Earth Dragon's massive maw.
Sss...
Wiping his mouth slowly with his own claw, the Earth Dragon soon wore a hollow smile.
This wound... was beyond recovery.
-...Kukuku! How utterly boring. This Agena... it never allows anyone, any being, to fully claim it.
No entity had ever unified Agena's long history—that was the proof.
The Earth Dragon.
The last dragon still existing in the present age of Agena.
That was Karakthus.
He had dismissed Agena's vermin and sought to rule it alone, only to fail laughably.
So he changed.
After his first Path of Domination failed due to lacking forces, he realized solo domination was impossible.
Thus, he ordered Arkdor to build the Great Veil—a horde of monsters loyal to him.
But this time... transcendent foes beyond racial limits emerged one after another to bar his way.
Two had fallen, exhausted.
But the current Lichtenauer Patriarch, who finally toppled him and survived... would claim the right to reign over Agena.
'Kukuku, to think the first race to dominate Agena... would be humans.'
Karakthus gazed at Paon with eyes mixed envy and jealousy.
But.
-...Hm?
Bathed in blood, Karakthus stared silently at Paon for some reason.
-...I see, so that's how it is.
Then, as if realizing something, he nodded.
-...Kukukuku! So your role ends here too.
The reason that human had surpassed mortals with his martial prowess... perhaps because he was Agena's counter sent to stop him.
Karakthus finally shook off his lingering regrets.
Though after ages of waiting, he failed to reign over the world... at least.
-The key to shaking the world... I've undoubtedly turned it myself...!!
In his fading vision, the Earth Dragon's gaze last fell on none other than Ian.
'The human who decisively thwarted my sole domination.'
Though Paon struck him down, without that human's opening, the outcome would have differed.
'...Wait. Then could it be...?!'
As death loomed, Karakthus instinctively knew.
That human was born with a fate to shatter the world's given flow.
If Agena were ever conquered by one... the most likely candidate here was that very human.
'In that case, even if just...'
...Paa-at!
Gathering his last strength, the Earth Dragon subtly beckoned toward Ian, his final energy enveloping the man.
-If you can at least set one foot on the path of sole domination... that too would not be meaningless...
With those enigmatic final words, the Earth Dragon's colossal body slowly toppled sideways.
Kuu-ooo-oong!
The evil dragon, etched in terror across Agena's long history like a myth, had fallen at last.
The Earth Dragon, Karakthus.
"N-Nooooooo!!!"
As the Earth Dragon Karakthus collapsed, a bone-chilling scream laced with resentment shook the dragon's tomb to its core.
It was the cry of Ark Lich and King of Ignorance, Arkdor.
"I, I!! For your revival alone!! How many ages have I devoted myself, waiting?!"
Hundreds of years ago.
In his past as a so-called genius mage revered by all.
Yet... before those with true heaven-sent talent, he was just another mortal.
A tool to highlight true geniuses like Midas—such was his unfortunate fate.
Cursing that fate, cursing it endlessly.
He had sought to burn this unjust, irrational world to ashes...!!
And after ages entangled with stinking monsters in this parched desert, waiting.
Was this absurd end all he got?!
Prudududu...!!
Blue soulfire blazed in Arkdor's eyes.
'You think I'll accept this pathetic result...!!'
Woo-ooo-ooo-oong!
An ominous magic circle bloomed beneath Arkdor's feet.
A pre-prepared teleport spell to the distant grasslands, for just such an emergency escape.
'I'll gather strength again, start over from another continent...!! I'll have my revenge on you who ruined the grand plan...!!'
As Arkdor plotted for the future and tried to flee the battlefield.
"Sorry, but that's not happening."
Kwa-cha-a-a-a-ang!
"......!!"
His ace in the hole rendered pointless, the secretly prepared magic circle lost its light and shattered instantly.
The Magic Tower's Lord, Midas, had nullified his spell.
"I saw plainly how you held off the Lichtenauer Martial Clan's forces alone. That insane anti-army prowess... your undead magic is far too dangerous. Leaving a loose end like you would be the height of folly... something I learned the hard way twenty years ago."
"You damned human whelp...!!"
Arkdor gnashed his teeth as his backup plan was foiled by this young(?) human's magic, but defenseless as he was, he could do nothing.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
In his momentary vulnerability preparing the teleport, all he could do was take the captains' relentless barrage.
"Kra-a-a-a-aack!!"
"Didn't I tell you earlier, skull-face?"
Whiririririk!
As Arkdor's body was mercilessly shredded before the captains' assaults.
The nunchaku of the Martial Shadow Unit's captain, Walter, spun viciously and closed in.
"No need to struggle. Just surrender and yield. You might've even kept your life... tsk tsk tsk. Or maybe not?"
"You accursed human...!!"
Arkdor tried to spit some retort at the taunting Walter, but he never got the words out.
Walter's nunchaku had finally shattered Arkdor's phylactery.
Pu-seo-o-o-eok!!