By Zephyria The brilliant figure floating leisurely in the night sky emitted explosive Magic Power, stretching out beams of light in eight directions. As a result, the thick clouds gathered around it retreated in all directions, drawing a circle with it as the center.
Scattered light touched the cross-section of the clouds, drawing curved shadows in various places. Therefore, if you looked at the place that shone particularly brightly even from a distance, you could see the magnificent and bizarre spectacle unfolding in the sky.
“…General!”
Paren’s General, who had been distracted by the sacred presence, woke up from his dazed mind at the voice of his aide, who was close to him. Then, the sound of horseshoes digging deep into the fine sandy beach came back to his ears. At the head of dozens of warhorses running along the southern coastline, that was where he was now.
The General, who had regained his senses, turned to his aide with a face asking what was going on. The aide appealed in a urgent voice to the supreme commander, who was re-gripping the reins of his horse.
“General, it’s dangerous to advance any further! Stop the advance and quickly retreat!”
Paren’s cavalry was currently moving divided into three camps: Partanis, which guarded the main camp, Parzan, which was stationed in the northern plains, and Parandor, which the General led directly.
In front of Parandor, there was a swarm of demon beasts teeming along the coastline. The cavalry was checking the condition of the Barrier Stones embedded in the ground at regular intervals while engaging in a war of nerves with them.
Unlike the northern plains, where Barrier Stones were densely packed, the southern coastline had only a minimum of Barrier Stones to form a defense line due to lack of time and manpower.
If the demon beasts, whose retreat was blocked in the plains, escaped to the coast, the Fidele Territory and Paren attached to the south of the continent could once again become targets of the surviving demon beasts. Therefore, the General, who had been asked by Cordelia to thoroughly punish them this time, was directly inspecting the defense line.
But for some reason, the demon beasts clinging to the coastline would avoid Parandor’s pursuit and occasionally ram their bodies strongly into the Barrier Stones. It was mostly Dermokas that showed such behavior, and since the intelligent ones were showing bizarre movements, he couldn’t let his guard down even for a moment, as he didn’t know when the Barrier Stones would be damaged.
However, there was a reason for the aide’s advice to retreat. A little while ago, news that the volcano would soon erupt was transmitted to all Paren troops in the peninsula.
To suddenly detonate a volcano without the consent of a neighboring country was a serious matter that could lead to a national dispute. Even the commanders of the Paren army, who had been silently cooperating with the Empire, strongly protested, saying that this matter should not be taken lightly.
But now that they had come this far, they couldn’t just stand by and cancel the operation. In the peninsula, where the situation could change in the blink of an eye, they couldn’t suddenly engage in armchair discussions. The General thought that it was best to fulfill his assigned duty according to the Empire’s intention to minimize damage first, even if he was held responsible for any problems that arose later.
“If we retreat from here, it’s no different from encouraging the demon beasts to escape. To check them until the very end and protect the end of the continent. That’s what we have to do now.”
“……”
“The safety of our country is in our hands, so how can I issue a retreat order?”
Seeing the General asking back with a gentle smile even in this situation, the aide trembled his lower lip as he looked at him, who had no intention of backing down. There were many things he wanted to say, but since he was such a stubborn person, it seemed that adding more words would not change the result.
“And.”
The General, who then let out a short word, spurred his horse even faster and shifted his gaze again to the swirling sky. Following his gaze, the aide also looked up at the sky where an unusual current was raging.
Their eyes were also brightly dyed with the golden light that adorned the night sky. The General of Paren, with a hardened expression, muttered quietly towards the one and only existence that illuminated the darkness like the sun.
“Because I believe in ‘him’.”
Small explosions occurred in succession in the sky due to the collision of sharp gusts and the lost gravity. Leonardo, floating leisurely in the center, barely maintained the shape of the Holy Spear, surrounding it with Magic Power.
The Holy Spear, which had disappeared a long time ago, had the characteristic of returning to ‘nothing’ because it had not been of this world for a long time. Perhaps if his concentration was disturbed even a little, not only the Holy Spear and himself, but also everything in the vicinity would return to the primordial ‘nothing’ before they were born into the world.
Each time the sacred object shook in his grasp and caused fierce resistance, golden smoke swirled around the spear shaft and scattered precariously.
As a result, Leonardo, who was looking down at the core from above, felt that the sensation in his right arm holding the spear had almost died. In addition, the taste of blood that came up every time he breathed, due to constantly emitting Magic Power to avoid losing, lingered in his throat and mouth.
The blood flow in his carotid artery accelerated rapidly, and his pupils lost focus and went astray with the beating of his heart.
At the same time, the pulse within him, spreading throughout his body, began to move the hour hand towards the final moment.
The vast flow of the atmosphere and the fierce aura of Magic Power swirled violently around him. The destructive current that penetrated the entire southern sky of the peninsula pierced through the distorted space-time.
A burst of sound, whether it was reality or hallucination, raged in his throbbing head as if he had been beaten. Like a magnificent requiem for the dead, the noise heightened the intense energy that enveloped his body to the point just before destruction.
Everything to eradicate evil was waiting for only one gesture from Leonardo. But one problem, small if small and big if big, was placed before his eyes. The location of the core fixed below was much further to the side than expected due to the struggle of the Council Commanders a little while ago.
‘The location is ambiguous. I don’t know if it will go as planned with this…’
He thought it wouldn’t be easy to catch him right above the crater, but if this happened, he wasn’t sure if he could properly aim at the core and eliminate all the numerous demon beasts below.
But time is fair to all things. It was flowing without rest even at this moment. He had to make a decision as soon as possible.
Leonardo, who bit his lip and pondered for a short time, frowned and let out a deep sigh.
‘Is that the only way after all?’
He didn’t want to use it if possible, but it seemed there was no other way now.
As he stretched his left hand slightly forward, the red ruby ring worn on his index finger slipped off with a small wave. It, floating in the air, was the hidden Artifact that Leonardo had briefly released when he infiltrated the lair of the mining team.
At that time, he had taken out more than half of Kuamer’s Magic Stone inside and refilled half of it with Etaid.
The water attribute of Kuamer’s Magic Stone maximized the expansion effect when it met Etaid in a heated state.
“I didn’t intend to use this here.”
Leonardo, who gave a bitter smile, stretched out his left arm and grabbed the ring tightly.
At that moment, the ring was crushed and a strong red light flashed. The blue Magic Stone and minerals inside were pushed out through the distorted space.
“Blaine, stab it quickly!”
At the same time, Isabella, who was enduring with all her might from below, shouted towards Leonardo, who was standing still. Following her earnest voice, the lines of magnetic force flickered ominously, making an ominous sound as if they were about to break at any moment.
In the sky where the red light flashed, something that shimmered faintly was falling like snowflakes.
Meterion’s eyes, who was watching the sky, widened for a moment. With a stiff expression, his gaze could not be taken away from the falling blue light.
“Captain, hurry!”
Nero, who was holding onto the end of the red thread, also shouted urgently while closing the boundary of the dimension.
Every time he swung the blazing dagger, the torrent that wriggled like lingering feelings was sucked into the closing space-time without leaving anything behind. Nero’s earnest cry was also swallowed into it and did not reach the other party.
Leonardo, gripping Changshin, was enveloped by a maddening heat and flames that erupted around him. Through his wildly fluttering hair, his vivid Gold Eyes glared murderously at the core beyond the falling minerals.
Soon, he tightened his grip on the Holy Spear he held in one hand, now clutching it with both hands with all his might. Immediately, he shot forward at an incredible speed, charging toward the core. Cutting through the resistance of swirling dust and wind, he aimed the tip of the spear solely at one target.
The mythical Holy Spear, imbued with all the wishes of this land, traced a dazzling trajectory in a straight line. A destructive noise, as if the air itself were tearing apart, resonated majestically in the wake of the golden incarnation.
The great nature trembled, and all living beings, holding their breath, witnessed the hero’s manifestation. Though it was a speed that dared not even be pursued, perhaps due to the desperation projected onto it, in this moment alone, it felt frustratingly slow.
Hugo fiercely stared without missing a single moment at the vivid movement of the sun approaching from the opposite side. From him, who brought scorching flames and rough waves, Hugo briefly felt the illusion of a nostalgic shadow overlapping.
An intangible shadow covering Leonardo’s hand. It was gripping the Holy Spear he held, together.
It wasn’t only Hugo who saw this. Within the distortion of spacetime created in the swamp of gravity, the core, trapped for eons, was witnessing the exact same scene from a thousand years ago.
「A mere human dares to try and kill me? How dare you, you insignificant wretch, you!」
The core, struggling within the infinite cycle, roared with fear reaching its peak, baring its teeth. Then, before it knew it, it felt the sacred golden eyes, which had shimmered from within the shattered helmet a thousand years ago, approaching right before it.
Under the burning sky of that day, he was like the sole remaining strand of light upon the land of ruin.
Once again, the golden shadow attempting to pierce its neck. That mystical form evoked a distant feeling as if they had returned to that day. Perhaps because of that, the voice she heard just before being sealed by the Sun King’s hand surfaced in her mind.
“Your petty hypocrisy—despising humanity’s weakness yet fearing it—is precisely your downfall.”
Leonardo, gritting his teeth and reciting, instantly passed through the Pentagon’s boundary. He too should have slowed down, caught in the gravity swamp, but for some reason, in everyone’s sight, he did not stop.
Around the same time, the magic stones of Etaid and Kuamer, which had fallen, reacted to Leonardo’s Magic Power, emitting a sharp light.
Subsequently, the tip of the spear touched the demon’s neck, and a pure white light dyed the entire surroundings.
The core’s pupils contracted endlessly. Only in that moment, facing death, did it finally realize.
「That bastard is playing tricks again….」
The cunning leader, sensing danger, crawled out from the ground, slaughtering and devouring soldiers. Its size was as massive as a mountain, its appearance grotesque, and it had known how to speak human language since ancient times, having fed on human flesh.
Using its sinister power, it manipulated its underlings to trap allies in a quagmire and destroy the base. Surrounding it with a grand circular formation without retreating, even the leader couldn’t move easily.
The dazzling Sun, displaying his spirit, pierced its neck and sealed it in the deep abyss,
A thunderous cheer spread, and there was no one under the heavens who did not rejoice.
“Farewell, Elder Millie.”