Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Bell Quirius
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“Bell Quirius.”
Infinite amplification of focus stretched his sense of time endlessly, making everything unfolding before his eyes appear slow and vivid, like flipping through hundreds of frames in sequence.
This was the true power of Bell Quirius, amplified to its limit by the boundless mana swirling within his body.
Unlike ordinary mana, this mana wasn't neutral in nature—it was fire-attributed. From Bell Quirius itself to every spell he cast, all erupted in flames.
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”
The warriors and adventurers who witnessed the spiderwebs raging across the heavens and earth instantly reduced to utter extinction—薪盡火滅—couldn't even close their mouths.
He blocked it?
He actually blocked it?
That strike from the ancient noble, the White Young Lord Shar'kas?
‘To think he gained such overwhelming power…….’
But the thoughts creeping into the boy's mind, the emotions crushing his chest, were nothing but an indescribable sorrow.
【Alakish tightly embracing the hatchling that broke free from its egg.】
Every time he concentrated his mana into one point and wove it into a torrent of flames, a heartrending vision flashed before his eyes.
【Alakish smiling as she watched the hatchling frolic in the snowfield.】
The future Alakish had cherished and yearned for in her heart, the lingering image she refused to abandon, the lingering regret etched into her overwritten soul……
【The hatchling beaming innocently while eating the meal Alakish prepared.】
She must have wanted to hold it herself, to take it south herself, to witness all those scenes with her own eyes.
“You…….”
Are you leaving it all to me now?
Your future, drawn so meagerly it was heartbreaking, so simply it was tragic…… why did it have to end like this?
“I'll never forgive you…….”
It's all because of this bastard.
Everything…… it's all this guy's fault.
「How intriguing. What will you do if you can't forgive me?」
Along with a stench that could rot the nose off his face, hundreds of spiderweb strands split apart and surged in from all directions.
“Rain───!”
No sooner had Kasena's desperate cry reached him than he slammed his staff of fire into the ground, erupting primordial flames that incinerated the incoming webs.
But those webs were a feint—as if by illusion, Shar'kas appeared behind him and pierced the boy's heart.
No, in that split second when he was sure it had pierced through, the summoned beast swung its flames and deflected the attack.
‘That weapon…… does it have a will of its own?’
Shar'kas glared at the novice retreating while erecting a magic barrier, pondering. No wonder—he sensed the presence of Asura's avatar emanating from that weapon.
‘I don't know what's going on, but if this was Karenden's plan…….’
He absolutely couldn't let him escape alive. Right here, right now, Shar'kas would finish him. He could only draw out 20% of his full power, but it was enough.
The next instant, dozens of fireballs blazed fiercely as they dove in.
Shar'kas swung his webs, slicing the fireballs in half midair; their fragments slammed into the ground everywhere, shaking the earth.
In that chaos, in a single moment, Shar'kas closed the distance again, his spider leg targeting the boy's heart.
Kaaaaang────!
But once more, a grating metallic screech rang out, sparks filling his vision as the spider leg was repelled.
This brat……?
Not just the weapon—unlike Karenden, he was skilled in close combat too?
“Rune alteration, Repel (攆), Point (點).”
At those incantations, the Flow (流) barrier suddenly spewed fierce flames…… and the fireballs scattered and burning everywhere floated up, swarming Shar'kas like a encirclement.
「His movements are sharper than before.」
Shar'kas didn't block the attack—instead, he extended a dozen web strands toward the boy.
The webs tore sacrilegiously through the sky, devoured the air gluttonously, blackened and eroded the ground as they flew in—a threatening assault.
But defying Shar'kas's expectations, the boy didn't switch from offense to defense. Instead, silver-white glows erupted from his eyes.
“Bell Quirius.”
He pierced and calculated the establishment formula of the ancient god's blasphemous power, dismantling the framework that made that power real.
Roooar────!
A true dragon's soul was fire itself. When the mana derived from it violated the ancient god's power, the webs about to gouge his pupils didn't just snap—they charred into cinders.
「!」
At the same time, the fireball fragments he'd raised earlier engulfed Shar'kas, and a blinding explosion unleashed an indescribable heatwave in a whirlwind.
“Got him……!”
He heard Griffion shout that.
No……
Sweat trickled down Rain's forehead as he peered through the smoke with Bell Quirius.
「No matter how much you rage, you're still human.」
When exactly? Shar'kas had woven countless webs into a cocoon, shielding his entire body. He dispersed the flames with more webs and strolled out leisurely.
As expected, resolve was needed.
To defeat this monster, he needed the resolve to embrace death. While it was still probing him, still off-guard……
「So, what's next?」
In the endlessly stretched time, primordial fire and primal darkness clashed endlessly, cracks spreading across the earth's strata.
Once, ten times, thirty……
Pillars of fire lit the heavens only for darkness to swallow the world, repeating endlessly. At the center, spider legs and the stone staff clashed repeatedly, sparks flying madly.
‘I'm pouring out 4-star magic amplified to尊 nearly infinitely, but not even a scratch……?’
Panting in despair, he spun his staff to deflect the spider leg lunging right up to his face.
‘4-star magic's power can't take down this immortal. It regenerates effortlessly…….’
But earlier, it said.
The 5-star magic amplified by Flow Sovereign—Thunder Staff Blood Fang—would have been fatal if he'd let his guard down.
So, whether he could land that directly would decide victory or defeat……
“Rune creation, Wing (翪).”
Creating the attribute of ‘wings enveloping the ritual,’ solving the mathematical formula presented by the Quantity (量) rune wrapped his body firmly in wings of flame.
This wasn't a shield—it was a trap.
A trap to make Shar'kas think he'd won……
Shrrrrk────!
At that moment, webs tore through dimensions from all directions; he hurriedly flapped his flame wings to incinerate them. Or so he thought.
「Pathetic compared to Asura's avatar.」
In that instant, a searing pain spread through his side, and he vomited blood.
Cough……
A single writhing strand of web, glowing eerily, had torn through the wings of fire and pierced his flank.
「Full of openings not even worth guarding against.」
The web piercing his side crawled out the other end, coiling around his body to crush his muscles and bones—right then.
“Yeah, an opening…….”
One I deliberately left open…… to create this one moment when you'd drop your guard completely.
Time to play my trump card.
My first and last trump card.
He spat out the leaden rage filling his chest along with his blood, forming the Alert (警) mudra.
“Bind…… Restraining Oath Chain Barrier (制誓鎖攔鍊)!”
Whoosh—the Alert circle ignited brilliantly amid rising flames, and pure karmic fire chains surged forth from within.
Clank────!
Sensing an ominous aura from the incoming chains scattering embers, Shar'kas's body dissolved into pale vapor, leaving a long tail as he retreated.
I won't miss.
I absolutely won't miss.
Bloodlight—from his eyes piercing the essence of all nature burst red waves, rippling through the providence Shar'kas had altered.
「What……?」
For an instant, Shar'kas's eyes widened.
What the hell?
He'd clearly shifted to an amorphous state…… yet suddenly, his form reverted to the one-armed boy's flesh.
Before he could grasp the answer, chains blazing with transcendent heat pierced Shar'kas's soul.
「This is……?」
Shar'kas vomited black blood, grasping the fiery chain through his chest…… but whoosh, his fingers burned away powerlessly.
‘Even ultra-high-speed regeneration isn't working.’
Was this human whelp wielding fire stronger than Asura's avatar? No, that's not it.
It's those eyes.
Those eyes are doing something.
But how…… how could mortal senses interfere with this immortal flesh?
“Gods don't go to hell, or so they say……?”
By the time that voice reached him, the red-eyed boy was already forming mudras.
A sequence preparing power—familiar to Shar'kas's eyes…… that was definitely the technique from earlier, the thunderclap one?
But one thing was different. That one difference shook Shar'kas's eyes with dread.
Fire (火).
Field (場).
Throw (投).
Fall (落).
Edge (剡).
This is dangerous…… Shar'kas's eyes bulged; the ground heaved as if the landscape itself groaned, but the chains held firm even against that.
「You dare, you mere human……!」
Perhaps that insolence was utterly unforgivable—Shar'kas unleashed his immortal power, beyond mortal standards, for the first time.
The parts of Shar'kas's body not yet bound by flames dissolved into countless webs, surging right to the boy's face in an instant, merging into a massively loathsome otherworldly form.
Countless eyeballs writhing in primal madness…… a grotesquely huge maw with hundreds of blasphemously twitching fangs……
Like a vortex, a cosmic nightmare sucking in and corrupting entire dimensions was about to devour the boy whole—that instant.
“This hellfire is what I prepared for you. Take it.”
Fire Realm: Flames surged simultaneously from all primordial truths of Flow Sovereign, coalescing into a dragon shape that ascended to the heavens, drenching the world in cornea-searing flash.
‘No time to divide into seven strikes.’
The next moment, lightning flames incinerating the triune constants of soul, matter, and spirit conceptually stripped the world of all color, shade, and sound as it plunged into the ground.
‘One strike—pouring all infinite mana into one strike to end it.’
More shock than sound—a deafening roar—and skin-melting heatwinds whirled with immense thermal energy, melting all snow and ice in the area.
Whoooo……
The heatwind overwhelming hundreds of meters turned to thick mist, birthing eerie silence.
For a moment, warm coziness seemed to rule the world, but the mad寒風 of this land blew again, sending aches through his whole body.
Pressing the hole in his flank, painfully vomiting blood, Pipi flew over and rubbed against his cheek.
“Pipi…….”
Poison injected when it pierced his side? His whole body was numb.
Thankfully, the red dragon's power flowing through him seemed to prevent abyssal corrosion……
He'd long surpassed his limits using Bell Quirius and mental barriers simultaneously.
‘Pushing the trump card was because of this…….’
Even with near-infinite mana in hand, the human vessel was far too frail to wield it.
“It has to end here. If I can't finish it now…….”
There won't be a next time…… As he thought that, an absolute nightmare emerging from the steam made his body tingle and his heart pound.
The White Young Lord, Shar'kas.
Nearly half his body scorched by primordial flames, dark blue foam repeatedly formed countless eyeballs only to dissolve into webs.
“Run, Pipi. Hurry.”
“No run, no run, no run.”
“Listen to me! Look—it's regenerating…… slowly but surely…….”
Even his ethereally beautiful face had only his right eye intact.
「You dare, you dare, a mere human…….」
The rest was charred to bones, oozing sticky mucus—a truly horrifying sight.
「Don't make me laugh…… I am Shar'kas…… reborn at the king's call…….」
Even staggering toward him as if about to collapse, the aristocratic dignity in his speech and demeanor remained unshakable.
「The Spider Lord Ashron…… shall rule once more the great kingdom…….」
How many seconds did they watch in stunned awe? Griffion snapped to and urgently rallied the warriors.
“Warriors, protect Kevn's son, Rain Ludwig! Don't let the White Young Lord get close!”
“No, stop! Don't! You'll all die!”
Ah, aah……
The warriors blocking his path to protect him were all shredded by webs from his remaining fingers, leaving bloodstains on the black-exposed ground.
「For the new cornerstone of that eternal dynasty…… the true noble and royal awakened personally by the king…… the White Young Lord Shar'kas……!」
Even the warrior among warriors, Griffion, couldn't resist that power—struggling for nearly ten seconds before a wing was severed and he was flung far away.
“At least you go, Pipi, hurry! Please!”
The nightmare approached slowly but surely, yet whether from intense recoil or overwhelming terror, his body wouldn't move.
“Pipi!”
“No, no, no—promised Fride, Pipi protects Lin.”
“I said go───!”
As Shar'kas loomed over his face with a grim shadow, Pipi flew to block him—that instant.
Pipi would lose, Pipi would die—it was obvious—so he screamed in plea.
Suddenly, an invisible hand yanked Pipi back with all its might, and something red flew in to engulf Shar'kas.
‘Red……?’
An intense sense of wrongness from what he'd just seen. Blinking repeatedly, he looked toward its origin—the direction he'd been pulled to.
It was Kasena.
Kasena, her face covered in tears.
She was drawing strange runes in the air—runes he'd never seen, radiating a holy aura.
“No way…….”
Gasping, he turned back: Alakish, limbs shredded by webs yet tackling Shar'kas and tumbling across the ground.
It was a promise.
The promise between Kasena and Alakish.
- The reason this Alakish was chosen as overseer here is one: all true dragons are vessels of seals.
- ……?
- Even if Rain awakens, he can't destroy Shar'kas's divinity. So when that happens, you take over this Alakish's body……
The seal Karenden imprinted on all true dragons—this body becoming the new vessel of the seal to protect humanity from the abyss.
- What are you saying right now……?
- This Alakish dies anyway.
- No die, no die! Why die! Why say that?
- Please, Kasena Page…… You're the only friend I can entrust my mission's end to……
Back then, Kasena stared blankly at Alakish, who smiled sadly; she squeezed her eyes shut and could only nod.
That's why now.
Her tear-trembling fingers finished the final stroke of the rune……
“Goodbye, Alakish…….”
That instant, the more complex rune etched on Alakish's back resonated, glowing brightly.
「This light……?」
Alakish's body transformed into a dragon skeleton, binding not just Shar'kas's body but his mighty soul as well.
A perfect, intricate seal on another dimension from the chains Rain used.
Thud, thud, thump…… Dragon ribs pierced the boy's chest without mercy; wing and leg bones embedded deep into the ground, anchoring the frame firmly.
「What are you touching right now…… this sacred body crafted by the king……!」
As Shar'kas thrashed and swung webs desperately, everything in the area was sliced away as if dimensions were severed.
But that was it.
Weakened like this, could he resist Karenden's surprise ritual? Amid helpless humiliation, his shrieking death cry was Shar'kas's last.
「You filthy…… vermin not even worthy…… how dare, how DARE youuuuu─────!」
The cry carried such abyssal might that nearby beastkin warriors' heads exploded gruesomely, brains scattering everywhere.
Was that truly the end?
Overwhelming silence flowed, then suddenly the ancients and undead assaulting beastkin everywhere began twisting grotesquely, collapsing, rampaging, or fleeing somewhere.
“……?”
Everything—every crucial event—happened in an instant, leaving scant sense of reality.
What is this?
What just happened?
Barely propping up his numb upper body, he saw Kasena rush to the skeleton, embracing it and wailing. Pipi flew atop her head.
“Alakish, Alakish, Alakish.”
Even understanding the situation, something leaden filled his chest, choking back tears. Something, something stifling……
Right then.
Crack, craaack, crrrack…… That sound from behind—the faint but tenacious pulse of life—made his heart sink.
“Huh……?”
Turning urgently, he saw cracks spreading across the dragon egg…… then something peeked out.
Red scales not fully healed.
Wings slathered in mucus.
The dignified golden dragon eyes round and newborn.
Time frozen, he dazedly listened to his thundering heartbeat ringing in his ears.
This, this was the miraculous moment Alakish had cherished for ages…… Breath catching as their eyes met.
The hatchling beamed innocently and barked—heart-shattering pain in that instant.
“Ma kiome!”
Ma kiome.
In dragon tongue, it meant ‘my mother.’
The hatchling finally shattered the egg completely, crawling out gooily.
Adorably clumsy, it flapped into the sky only to fall, crawled on four legs across the ground, finally reaching his feet—rubbing its head against his leg, barking nonstop.
Ma kiome.
“No, not me…….”
His mouth gaped blankly. The one you should call mother, the one worthy of it, isn't me.
Shaking his head frantically in denial was futile.
The hatchling had already climbed his leg to his chest, licking his cheek, jaw, nose excitedly while babbling.
“Ma, mama, ki, kiome.”
The hatchling's body was pleasantly warm, exuding a firewood scent like winter's blaze, just like Alakish.
That familiar life warmth and scent restoring reality, awakening three months' memories—tears streamed endlessly from both eyes.
Just as in Alakish's modest yet dazzling envisioned future, he finally clutched the hatchling tightly and sobbed quietly.
Yes.
That was the moment I met you.