Chapter 223: The End of the Battle
Countless figures of death assailed Russell with a variety of diverse attacks. Attacks came from all directions, above and below, left and right, forming a kaleidoscope of violence.
Russell swung his arms, taking care not to strike Kry’s ears or neck while riding.
The combined length of his long arms and the large, long greatsword in his hand cleared a radius of almost 4 meters.
Amidst the severed arms and torsos and the clattering of weapons, Russell whispered against Kry’s neck,
“You’ve worked hard. Rest now.”
At the same time, Russell leaped from the saddle. The impact made him stumble for a moment, but the black horse slowed down, turned left, and went back the way he came.
Russell’s eyesight broadened as he rose above the ground. His eyes, like those of an eagle, took in a panorama that resembled a thriving ant farm.
Skeletons and undead with gray or white bones gnashed their teeth and flung spears at Russell, who was airborne.
Russell repelled incoming arrows, spears, and the occasional sword or axe with his greatsword before raising it high.
The magic he drew in materialized, causing the air to ripple. At the same time, the blue magic shot from Aellasis, who was running from afar, rose high into the sky.
Then, from the pitch black sky where even the starlight and moonlight had hidden, a flash of lightning flashed and thunder roared.
In the blink of an eye, the sky was covered in dark clouds. The clouds, swollen with moisture and concentrated showers, erupted into a vivid blue, fueled by Aellasis’ magic.
Light that seemed like roots made of light growing upside down wriggled in the dark clouds and shot a giant stem downwards.
BOOM!
A massive bolt of lightning struck, so dazzling that it appeared to bleach the air white.
The azure thunderbolt aimed at a single target: Russell, who hovered in the air, his obsidian greatsword raised.
“That’s…!”
Julia, who was running behind him, exclaimed in surprise. The image she was seeing in her retina was almost the same as what she had seen a few years ago in the vast plains.
It was the scene where Russell had absorbed the thunderbolt she had used to help him fight the dragonkin in Calisden and used it to attack.
But this lightning was on a different level. It was so massive that it appeared as if a god had sent it down to punish the mortal planet for its rampant death, and the mana it held was scary.
When the azure lightning struck his blade, a storm of crackling energy swirled around Russell’s torso.
Russell, drenched in electricity, seized his greatsword with both hands and swung it down vertically.
CRACKLE!
Following the path of the great sword, a crescent of electricity split the earth in half. And it wasn’t simply the ground that was split.
Thousands of undead were shattered and vanished with a single stroke. The path was carved to the end of the gorge in an instant.
“Found it.”
Russell’s eyes glittered. With the gorge purged of its thick undead population, the floating stronghold beyond became visible.
It was a gray stone stronghold, supported by a giant skeletal hand and arm formed of bone, with a rhombus-shaped crystal at its apex.
The distance was still hundreds of meters away, but Russell could see through the barrier surrounding the castle and look at the lord within.
Beyond the fortress gates, his vision led to a hall illuminated by blue flames, a huge chamber, and, at the far end, a skeleton seated on a throne.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Qualled Umberto wore bronze armor that showed only his skull, and his eye sockets gleamed green with terrible radiance.
“What is this? Whose gaze is this? Where are you looking from?”
Qualled, the reanimated lich stood up and leaned on his staff.
As he wielded his staff, mana gathered, forming a round mirror that reflected the scene within.
On the other side of the collapsing throng of zombies, a group of individuals advanced like the tip of a spear.
“Is that the warrior and his lackeys you spoke of?”
At Qualled’s question, a figure in a black robe emerged from the shadows.
“……Yes. They are the ones who have interfered with my plans at every turn. Some of these faces are familiar.”
The black-robed figure moved on without pause. Qualled raised his staff as he watched the stranger walk down the long hallway.
“Are you going to watch the end here?”
“The end of fate is not bound by time or place. This is a good enough stage to determine the future.”
“As you wish. Don’t forget you’re tied to me.”
The black-robed person exited the big chamber without speaking. Qualled dropped his staff as he sensed the apparition fading.
The vision in the mirror then expanded, focusing on the man at the front of the party, which had now reached the edge of the floating citadel.
The warrior, his purple eyes blazing, stood with his greatsword poised, staring directly at Qualled as if he could see him.
The warrior smiled and twitched his lips.
Despite his inability to hear the speaker, Qualled understood what the man was saying.
Prepare yourself, skeleton head.
Qualled let out a hollow laugh, raised his staff, and then lowered it.
THUD. The blow caused the stronghold to vibrate fiercely.
“Insolent fool.”
The magic that had filled up began to shake the vibrating castle, shaking the atmosphere.
The protective barrier and wards that had been applied to the outside peeled away, revealing the floating fortress Amrath in all its magnificence.
At the same time, many wyverns with skeletal wings and their skeletal riders ascended to the skies from the fortress, wielding spears.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
“The balance of the world will be decided here.”
The black robe, who had revealed himself from afar, raised both his hands. White skin, an unlikely contrast with the black robe.
His fingers swiped the air as if tapping out a rhythm, and an immense darkness spread out.
“Huh.”
Jess, who had just destroyed dozens of undead with his sword, opened his lips in surprise.
Despite the time being nighttime, the darkness was distinct. Elenora, standing next to him, also stretched out her hand and opened her eyes wide.
“God.”
Her eyes, which shone with golden holy power, could detect the wicked, dark mana.
The dense blackness took on a distinct shape, resembling the body of a giant. The hazy form hardened into a stiff, smooth, leathery skin.
But the head remained vague, like a cloud. Two crimson eyes peered out from the center of the spinning head, examining the scene.
Graaaaah!
The giant’s roar shook the mountains and eroded the cliffs. The overwhelming presence and mana that spread like a net pushed down on the ground.
An invisible shockwave burst into a hemisphere, reducing thousands of undead in the canyon to dust.
Elenora, who had witnessed the spectacle, instantly began chanting a prayer, forming a golden barrier.
“Gather here!”
The shield was erected, protecting the people and horses who gathered immediately, and the intangible shockwave hit it.
“Ugh…”
Elenora bit her lip, her extended hand and arm trembling. Lexi, who had been watching the golden barrier anxiously, swung her curved sword and wiped off the blood.
“What is that? Is that the King of the Undead?”
Calia shook her head.
“No. I don’t sense any necromancy. It’s a different kind of dark mana. It’s more similar to the black magic that the black robe used to summon the otherworldly tree before. Although it’s stronger than before.”
“Then why is he hanging around here with the lich? Were they in cahoots?”
Jess nodded with a sour grimace.
“If they weren’t, there would be no reason for him to be here.”
“Dragon, give me your orders.”
“Stay here. Protect my friends.”
“Understood.”
The black-haired female draugr nodded at Aellasis and grasped her double-bladed axe fiercely.
Julia, dressed in sleek, full-body plate armor and a helmet and armed with a round shield and sword, spoke in an agitated tone.
“This feels like we’re about to fight the demon king from a fairy tale. My heart is pounding.”
“Oh? Is that how you usually speak?”
Julia shrugged in response to Lexi’s remark.
“So what? There aren’t any other aides here. Besides, it’s tiring to always speak in a low, imposing voice.”
“Enough chitchat. It’s coming.”
With Calia’s warning, the shockwave subsided. All that remained were a handful of undead and the black giant approaching from afar.
Jess spoke suddenly, as if he had just remembered something.
“By the way, what about Russell-nim?”
At that very moment, a bright white flare exploded from the top of the cliff, painting the area black.
Aellasis indicated it with her finger and stated,
“He’s over there.”
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
A bolt of lightning, large enough to cleave the sky in two, descended upon the shoulder of the dark giant, splitting its side.
Gyaaaaaaa-!
The monster of darkness staggered back, howling in a voice that clearly contained the color of pain.
As his smooth skin was roughly torn and darkness scattered, the giant quickly covered the wound with his palm and repaired it.
━You!
“You’ve grown stronger than before. Have you obtained a great boon somewhere?”
━Die!
The giant, who had healed his wound, swung his palm while shouting. A hand large enough to slap a mountain’s cheek hit the cliff.
Kwarrrrng!
A huge portion of the cliff was destroyed, sending massive rocks flying. Russell jumped between them, stepping on the rocks that fell.
Just as he was going to swing his arm at Russell again, a blinding light appeared from the canyon’s center.
Unconsciously, he covered his eyes with his palm as a massive shockwave engulfed the dark giant.
━Keuheuk!
As it managed to stop itself from falling, the dark giant realized what had pushed it.
A white dragon, with white scales and two horns on its head, stared down at the giant with piercing eyes.
Aellasis, having turned into a dragon, opened her lips wide.
The magic that had risen on its white scales turned white in an instant, gathered in its mouth, and transformed into a brilliant flash of light.
The giant’s arm and shoulder froze and then shattered as a result of that lightning-cold breath.
Although the damage to his upper body was nearly half, the dark giant was not a living being, so instead of groaning or fainting in agony, he swung his left arm.
A grip that could even grab the mountain’s collar grabbed Aellasis’s long, scaled neck and pushed it forward.
Gyaaaaaaa-!
Kyaaaaaaaak-!
A giant over 30 meters tall and a dragon battled in the canyon.
The canyon, which could have easily held hundreds of people shoulder to shoulder, was crammed full, groaning.
The giant, regenerating its right arm, which was covered in black smoke, swung its fist. Aellasis raised her left hand to block it.
When the giant blocked Aellasis’ right hand, the two were at a stalemate. However, Aellasis possessed wings.
As she flapped her four wings, her massive body began to soar upward.
The sight of a floating body weighing dozens of tons was enough to make anyone’s jaw drop.
Aellasis and the giant, whose arm she held, were in the air above the canyon in an instant. But because of their immense size, the feeling of being high up wasn’t noticeable.
When a long shadow descended across the rocks and earth, Aellasis opened her mouth again.
The air shook wildly, enough to see the air being sucked into its mouth, and thick lightning flashed across its white scales.
The giant, instead of using the arm that was holding the dragon’s arm, created two other arms and made a hand sign.
A hand sign created directly by the giant’s hands. As the giant made the hand sign, the magic inside the black robe moved, and a black magic circle unfolded behind it.
A single mass condensed from the dragon’s mouth ejected in an instant. The deadly cold and lightning that froze and destroyed everything prompted the dark clouds above to form concentric circles.
The giant, who had taken the breath attack head-on, also triggered the magic circle that was drawing a three-dimensional line behind him.
The magic circle, which had been created as a single plane, transformed into a sphere that encircled the giant as its outer perimeter bent.
The dragon’s breath struck the sphere, shattering it to pieces. However, countless black smoke plumes, like hundreds of tentacles, flew out from the broken fragments, enveloping the dragon.
The dragon continued to spew lightning from its mouth, while the giant mass of black smoke swirled around it.
The smoke mass absorbed the breath attack while also exerting power on the tentacles.
The tentacles destroyed the dragon’s wings and legs, making a sound similar to a rock breaking in two.
The dragon’s breath came to a halt as he suffered greatly. They slumped to the ground, side by side.
The black smoke mass that had been directly hit by the breath attack gradually peeled away like a shell and scattered like black powder.
A black robe appeared from within. As he coughed and straightened his back, blood flowed from his heavily-hooded head.
At that moment, a glow flickered across the dragon’s body just before it tumbled, and its large body began to shrink.
Aellasis, who had transformed into a tiny girl among the halo of light that surrounded the region, fell unsteadily.
In a moment, the black robe threw its hand wide. Then, a dark magic force erupted and rushed to protect the falling Aellasis.
The magic that had escaped the black robe’s hand instantly became a snake shape and stretched out like a whip.
There were about a dozen serpents flying around, their eyes red and their teeth keen.
Aellasis, clutching her broken arm, looked at the snakes with a sharp expression and raised her other hand. Just then, something pierced through the magic and Aellasis.
A black greatsword and a white axe created black and white lines in the air. The dozens of thick snakes that were squirming were all cut down at the same time, scattering hundreds of pieces.
The black robe erupted in rage as it glared at Russell, the perpetrator.
“You, bastard! How long!”
Russell did not respond, instead pulling his left arm back behind his shoulder. When he clenched his muscles, his arm swelled, and his garments appeared to burst.
With a whoosh, a white ray of light sliced through the void and emerged. The white axe, now a disc of light, flew directly towards the black robe.
The startled black robe swiftly made a triangle by bringing his thumb and index finger together. A dense magical barrier was placed around him.
However, the axe smashed through all five layers of protection at once, embedding itself in the black robe’s chin.
A ring-shaped shockwave erupted in the air, sending the black robe, which had been struck by the axe, flying backwards and crashing through the floating castle wall.
“He should be dead……”
Russell shook his head, and Aellasis mumbled in disbelief.
“He won’t die with just this much.”
Aellasis and Russell landed on the cliffs.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
Aellasis spoke, waving her arm, which had healed instantaneously.
Russell nodded after checking to see if she was fine.
Kwadeudeudeuk!
A powerful flood of force emerged into full view. The black garment that had erupted from Amrath was generating dark magic power.
And Amrath moved. The sight of the large, gray fortress moving slowly was almost magnificent.
Above it, wyverns with bone wings and riders plummeted like lightning.
Cheoreoreorang!
Russell’s gaze shifted to the clear, ringing sound. The army of the dead, half of which had been killed by Russell’s lightning swordsmanship the first time and the majority of which had been trampled or crushed in the struggle between the dragon and the giant, was now reduced to a few hundred.
Despite being reduced to 1/100th of their previous number, from tens of thousands to hundreds, the the remaining undead were still formidable enough to easily conquer a city.
However, as Elenora and Jess launched ferocious strikes, Calia, who wore a blood armor and swung a long spear, Lexi, who wielded a curved sword like a ghost, the female draugr wielding double-headed axes, and Julia, who had joined the ranks of the superhuman, unleashed a fierce attack.
Russell, looking at them, turned his head again to look at the black robe and the small dot that had emerged from the floating fortress.
That little dot represented a skeleton wearing bronze armor. The skeleton, holding a crooked staff in its left hand, wore armor rather than a wizard’s robe. Russell identified the skeleton as a lich.
“Alright. Let’s take it easy.
Russell and the lich, Qualled, were at least a kilometer apart, but the lich understood what Russell was saying.
Russell’s figure vanished alongside the black robe and qualled from the air.
A massive shockwave shook the atmosphere in the middle of the two, accompanied by a gust of wind.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
The faraway, snow-capped mountain summits rocked in response to the boom and vibration. The peaks, which had been blanketed in white clouds, quickly began to flow downward.
But the avalanche was someone else’s problem. Russell, the black robe, and the skeleton began to tangle in a fight.
━I shall take away your physical freedom.
With the lich’s whisper, a flash of light from the end of the staff bound Russell’s limbs.
As his movement speed was cut by nearly half, the black robe’s ferocious attack began.
“Surrender to fury and accept death!”
The first spell was a magic spell he cast on himself, while the second was an incantation that resulted in instant death.
The flames that burned ferociously all over the black robe’s body quickened his actions and increased his effectiveness to the maximum.
The black robe, moving like a warrior despite being a wizard, delivered a word of death to Russell’s heart.
But just before the word of death reached his heart, it stopped as if it had hit an invisible wall.
Russell, bound by the gray ring, looked at the black robe and the lich with bright eyes.
“Explode.”
As his unambiguous assertion became his intent, the magical power went forward. The spell was shattered on the spot, and the lich’s magic that had bound him was also broken.
At the same time, the greatsword he was wielding in his right hand flew at the black robe with rapid speed.
Kwang!
The black robe, shrouded in black flames and like a fire spirit, deflected the greatsword by detonating precisely in front of him.
To support the black robe, Qualled’s staff fashioned dozens of lines that sliced through the darkness.
Razor fractures developed in the space, and from between them, hundreds of razor blades in the shape of a fist attempted to cut Russell down.
Russell, retrieving the greatsword that had been deflected, extended his left hand. The white axe that had blown away the black robe returned in a horizontal arc from the ground and was grasped by his hand.
A storm of frost came from the white, single-edged axe, freezing the blade hands, while lightning flashed from the greatsword, shattering the blades.
Russell refused to back down, even though he was facing both of them at the same moment. No, he had been overwhelming them from the beginning.
Every time his magical eyes emitted light, the black robe’s body froze, and the lich’s magic shook like a spider caught in a web before losing binding power and dissolving.
The lich, who recognized Russell’s magical eyes, let out an exclamation of surprise.
━There is such a being with eyes like these……?!
“Do not let your guard down!”
The black robe’s outrage was short-lived, as his flames spread and engulfed the surroundings.
The black flames surged forward, engulfing every part of Russell’s front. The flames, all of which were shaped like beasts that did not exist in this world, showed their fangs and molars, and Russell’s hand slowly sank.
Crackle, crackle…!
The attribute of the magic force that had accepted his will was transformed into lightning, which wrapped around his entire body before forming a spiral vortex and encircling the greatsword in his right hand.
Shuaaaaaak!
The clear lightning flashed through the air, piercing the flames.
The black robe instinctively felt it was too late. He clasped his hands together. Then, he instantly emitted darkness from his entire body, generating a powerful recoil.
Kwaaarrrrng!
Qualled, who had moved back to assist the black robe in stopping the lightning with all his strength, flew up, cutting the air with his staff.
As magical force accumulated on the staff, a massive sword was drawn. The big sword was gray, but it was weightless and formed completely of evil energy, so the speed with which it was swung was horrifying.
Russell’s left-hand axe slipped out and collided with Qualled’s massive sword.
Puhwahahaak!
A storm of pure white frost erupted from the air, immediately increasing the distance between the three of them by several hundred meters.
Russell grinned as he stared at the two specks emitting white and black smoke all over their bodies.
“Are you falling behind? What are you all doing standing around?”
His provocation caused magic to surge wildly from the black robe’s entire body. On the other hand, the magic around the lich subsided, making the air heavy.
Russell simultaneously summoned all of his magical strength into both palms.
Uuuuuuuuung!
Russell, with both hands clutching a beam of purple light, crossed paths with the black robe and the lich.
━!
An unearthly roar echoed throughout the heavens and earth.
A beautiful trajectory of light, like the Milky Way descending, became a single line connecting heaven and earth.
The ground where the line struck sank entirely. Fragments, swept up by the fierce shockwave, shot out in all directions.
The fragments exploded with incredible force, overturning everything and crumbling the cliffs.
Kugugugugu……
The floating fortress, Amrath, sank slowly, making a tremendous noise.
The line that fell to the ground didn’t end with a single explosion.
The black-robe sank into the ground, caving in.
The lich in bronze armor swung his staff like a sword, but Russell crushed it with his fist.
The earth plummeted, and a massive earthquake erupted in all directions. The cliff had crumbled a long time ago, leaving a massive pit.
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