200. The Scaled Empress, Sadarkelisa (1)
As someone who could boast of experiencing more deaths than any mortal, he could understand what was happening to his body at this moment more clearly than anyone else.
He was dying. Sadarkelisa’s petrification wasn’t just about freezing time. Her influence was spreading a vast and deadly corruption across all areas she touched.
Though time had stopped, Sadarkelisa’s corruption hadn’t yet manifested its full effects. But that was only because she hadn’t acted.
‘Damn it.’
Had Loft’s plan failed? Or was it because the Great Demon was stronger than he had anticipated? Even the last heroes of civilization, who had gathered to oppose the end of a world in his previous life, had to tear apart and rebuild their souls to remain free from the corruption of Hellish Magic.
Poison flowed through his veins, and he felt his roughly pulsating heart slowly fading. If others hadn’t yet been twisted by the corruption due to the frozen time, then he, the only one free within the frozen time, was facing the corruption head-on without any filter.
-Fernandez.
‘Huh…’
A single breath escaped. His lungs stiffened, and his breathing became labored. Fernandez couldn’t tell if his reddened vision was due to the blazing flames before his eyes or the rupturing of his blood vessels.
But he couldn’t give up.
-Swish.
With great effort, his fingers, which he had barely managed to spread, curled. [Construction]. The first step of all magic. With his divine power drying up and his soul rapidly crumbling, he made a move with his blurred vision.
The distortion in his vision intensified, and his hand felt heavy, as if bound by chains. Glancing down, he saw a black haze entwined around his hand. Without stopping, he twisted his left hand and folded it. Again, [Construction].
-Snap.
The haze dug into both arms. A searing pain accompanied the stiffening of his wrists, turning them to stone.
[I know you.]
A voice echoed from the top of the burning Yggdrasil, resonating through the sky. A noise that crushed his mind began to speak directly to his soul.
[I know you. Sadarkelisa remembers you. The moment you first opposed Sadarkelisa, your birth, and even the events beyond that.]
With a hissing sound, one of Yggdrasil’s branches crumbled. The slow collapse of the massive branch resembled the fall of an ancient city wall.
The branch struck the ground without a sound. The ground twisted, and a part of Yotunheim’s Legion that had been on it disappeared beneath.
[Beyond the line of the horizontal world. Sadarkelisa has long dreamed. A dream of the world burning. A dream of a mortal struggling…]
Even amidst the deafening roar that tore through the sky, Fernandez thought with a cold, calculating mind. Does she want to talk? Why? If her power could freeze time, why would she attempt to converse with him instead of immediately setting the world ablaze?
-Bluffing?
‘Half right.’
No matter how great a demon she was, no matter how powerful and mighty, it was impossible for her to retain her full power within the seal created by the Temple of the Gods. There was still hope.
‘Help me.’
-Swish.
A spirit form extended from his back. A desperate move he had been holding onto. Since losing the function of his right arm, he had prepared this move for this very moment.
Auxiliary spell, Three Heads Six Arms. His signature spell from his previous life was too much for his current body, but Three Heads Six Arms was possible. With the extended hand, he made another move. Once more, [Construction]!
[Your struggle is meaningless. Tearing you apart and devouring you is not difficult, but Sadarkelisa wishes to speak with you. Do not test Sadarkelisa’s patience.]
-Crack.
The haze constricting him intensified, and Hellish Magic began to burn through his veins. The intense flow of magic, starting from his fingertips and toes, climbed through his veins and slowly consumed his body.
His sensory system went haywire. It was itchy, hot, and at the same time, a cold sensation as if being sliced by a blade twisted through his stomach. His heart slowly stopped beating.
Death was close.
‘Heartbeat.’
-Yes.
The heart is not just an organ that pumps blood. It is one of the best organs for containing magic. The arm that rose from Fernandez’s back plunged into his chest, materializing at the fingertips.
-Crunch.
“Ugh…!”
[Do not resist.]
Ignoring Sadarkelisa’s whispers, he focused as much as possible on the sensation in his fingertips. As his hand materialized, it tore through organs and muscles, but that was a secondary loss. Slowly clenching his hand, he forcibly gripped his heart and continued the pulse!
-Thump, thump, thump!
Blood regained its vitality, and reason returned to his overheated brain. Fernandez glared at Sadarkelisa with bloodshot eyes. Far away. The gaze looking down at him from the top of Yggdrasil…
The top?
The seal should have been inside Yggdrasil… in the sanctuary of Karadfel?
‘Faijashi! It’s an illusion!’
-But the magic is real. Even if the surroundings are an illusion, this dense magic itself… the presence of the Great Demon is not an illusion.
‘The seal has been broken. But she hasn’t been fully released yet!’
[Destroyer of worlds. Sadarkelisa has long dreamed. A dream of your world burning. And the wish you desire… Help me fulfill your dream. Submit to Sadarkelisa. I will grant your wish.]
His vision intensified, and the burning world around him began to take shape. A dark green sky, crumbling earth, advancing demons… A familiar scene from his previous life.
And beyond that, a spire… the Crimson Spire. The stronghold Faijashi had built in the past came into view. The demons blackening the sky and the handful of heroes struggling against them.
Sadarkelisa whispered amidst it all.
[Tyban was foolish. He did not know what you desired. But Sadarkelisa is wise. The soul of your kin, abandoned beyond the horizontal world. Sadarkelisa can save it. Isn’t that what you wanted?]
The haze entwined around Fernandez’s arms writhed, and a massive amount of magic seeped into his body. The divinity in his veins completely burned away, and his arms turned black and necrotic. Sensation disappeared below his elbows. But magic overflowed.
[Your]
All power will soon be yours. This world, too, I shall give to you. You need only serve Sadarkelisa. Burn thousands of worlds, and I will turn a blind eye to a playground built for you atop the ashes of those worlds.
“Why are you being so kind to me?”
[Sadarkelisa likes your way of thinking.]
-*Crackle*.
His gaze rolled downward. Fernandez stared at the shadow seeping beneath the burning roots of Yggdrasil. Within the shadow, two red eyes gleamed.
-*Swoosh*.
The mirage wrapped around his arms extended long into the shadow. And at its end, a snake-like woman emerged, smiling faintly.
[Your strength, your tenacity—I admire them. Dragons are a race that collects rare things, and Sadarkelisa has gathered the rarest treasures from thousands of worlds. A mortal who brought about the end of a world, a mortal who betrayed a Great Demon, and yet a mortal who bore divinity and was resurrected—you are the only one of your kind. Sadarkelisa desires you.]
She walked lightly, closing the distance between them. The closer she got, the more her sweet… sticky magic seeped into his mind. The corruption of Hell is something no hero can fully escape, and the temptation of a Great Demon transcends reason and will.
Gradually, Fernandez’s pupils began to darken.
[If Sadarkelisa had wanted you dead, would you have made it this far?]
“First, I don’t like being tied down.”
[What did you say?]
Fernandez glanced down at his blackened hand. Soon, a spectral arm sprouted from his back, grasping the Beastman. [Construction].
“And rewards earned without effort.”
Rewards gained without effort can vanish as easily as they came. That was why Fernandez guarded against the blessings of the gods and never abused them.
Another spectral arm slowly extended. Again, [Construction]. A hand reaching toward the sky grasped the Beastman, and a long thread connected to his blackened left hand.
Next, [Creation], [Distortion]. Three Beastmen were smoothly intertwined in one hand, meticulously, without a single flaw. A perfect angle, a perfect calculation—one move.
‘If this much magic is being supplied, I should be grateful.’
Like a puppet, the thread-connected left hand moved according to the spectral gesture, forming the Beastman. [Reversal]. And as it spun, another arm, and yet another, emerged from behind him.
‘Help me with the calculations!’
-Focus on your own task.
Three pairs of arms spread like wings behind him, and slowly, a figure began to take shape. A head—an old man’s, and a child’s—distorting the air.
[What are you… daring to resist Sadarkelisa? My kindness toward you ends here!]
“Kindness? What kindness.”
Fernandez chuckled briefly. He looked down at the rippling Mercury Lake beneath his feet. The lake, connected to Sadarkelisa’s seal, shimmered below him.
His reflection, and the hissing snake watching him, appeared on the silvery surface. It was as if he were stepping on a mirror, the world unfolding like a decalcomania.
So, [Reversal]. This Yggdrasil, and Asgard, are the center of Bifrost leading to the horizontal world, where the Dimensional Rift rages most fiercely. Even now, gateways to other dimensions are opening across this world.
Forcing open the weakly distorted Dimensional Rift, tearing it apart—[Reversal]. The overflowing Hellish Magic becomes the driving force, forcibly gripping his fading heart and exploding magic throughout his body!
-Yes, yes! This feeling, this fullness…!
‘Stop making a fuss and focus on the calculations.’
-Haha! Calculations? You’re telling me to focus on calculations? I am Faijashi!
Beneath his feet, the mercury rippled, blurring Fernandez’s afterimage. The distortion in his vision grew larger and larger—
A burning earth, a crumbling world, the snake watching him… and the old man facing the snake!
-I am Faijashi Wildcast! In my lifetime, not one spell out of a thousand ever missed its mark!
‘Good for you, really.’
Fernandez laughed, closing one eye. Hellish Magic boiled in his hands, and the arm grasping the Beastman moved not by sensation but by calculation. With the support of three heads and six arms, countless threads intertwined in his hands, moving like a puppet. Each move, each gesture, began to reveal a fragment of an ancient spell.
[Stop this. Your struggle is meaningless! Sadarkelisa will no longer stand by!]
The snake in the form of a woman, her skin peeling away to reveal scales beneath. A fierce energy burst forth, but it did not stop. Even as her soul withered and her divinity dried up.
Never stopping. Another move. [Construction]. This move represents the beginning of all magic.
[Creation]. The foundation of magic. Building the environment.
And again. [Reversal]. Connecting the Hellish Magic spreading in all directions—[Distortion]. The Dimensional Rift, the world beyond the mercury surface, and here, now, the dimension of Asgard. Stopped time, fixed coordinates, channeling power!
“Reversal. Cutting and pasting pieces to turn defeat into victory…”
The final Beastman formed in the air. As precise as a surgeon’s scalpel, as intricate as a craftsman’s saw. Slow, but never rushed… as solemn as a judge’s gavel.
-*Ting!*
A clear sound, like the pluck of a harp, rang out. Sadarkelisa’s eyes widened as she stared ahead. Fernandez’s eyes were both closed. The world remained frozen. Her gaze, unable to endure, had turned even him to stone.
Though this moment was but an illusion. Her influence was real, and her true form was manifesting moment by moment. Though she had failed to break the enemy’s momentum, and though she had failed to sway the enemy’s key figure…
[Foolish creature.]
Sadarkelisa smirked as she looked at the petrified Fernandez. The pathetic end of a foolish mortal. She slowly stepped forward. *Splash*, the mercury lake rippled unpleasantly beneath her feet.
[Sadarkelisa valued your abilities. In the end, you achieved nothing and will perish here. Was this what you desired?]
-*Splash*.
As she slowly raised her hand to take Fernandez’s life, a low voice echoed from beneath the mercury lake.
“Thanks for that.”
[……!!]
-*Ting!*
The sound of a harp plucking rang out again. Sadarkelisa stiffened, staring at the surface below. Beneath it, reflected like a mirror, was her, the burning world… and the old man.
The old man looked down at her and slowly raised his hand.
“Faijashi’s Crimson Spear.”
-*Ting!*
From beneath the surface, upward. Piercing through space, an object shot through Sadarkelisa’s forehead and soared. One, then another. Dozens of red pillars shattered her body and shot into the sky beyond.
[You… wretch!]
“Give a mage magic, time, and leisure… and is there anything impossible?”
Fernandez laughed as he watched Sadarkelisa being torn apart. Beneath the mercury surface, Faijashi also burst into laughter.
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