Beyond the horizon, darkness surges.
Facing this wave that seemed to embody death itself, the legion trembled.
The Demon King who had driven the Empire into terror was no longer alone.
Followers of the Dark God, corpses animated by sheer will, and demons twisted by malice surged alongside the darkness.
This force wasn’t being led by the Demon King.
Responding to the call of the dark gods beyond the stars, they were gathering under the Demon King’s banner, strengthening their numbers.
Now, the Empire’s legions had no choice but to face the Demon King’s forces.
Before the surging darkness could fully cross the horizon, the Imperial Army launched a preemptive strike.
KWAHAAAAAAAA!!!
The earth, which had been trembling with darkness, erupted with an enormous sound.
Whether it was the Empire’s hastily assembled army or the Demon King’s followers, both were similarly cobbled together forces.
The more hastily assembled the force, the more limited their coordination would inevitably be.
However, unlike the formless waves of darkness, the Empire’s legions moved in perfect unison, concentrating overwhelming firepower on the enemy.
The White Tower.
Planned and completed by Luna, this new defensive facility of the Empire transformed its hastily gathered troops into a highly disciplined elite force.
The White Tower detected enemy movements in real-time, providing information to assist in commanding the legions.
Moreover, numerous mages acted as relays, enabling efficient firepower projection.
Despite being hastily assembled with morale at rock bottom, the Empire’s legions moved with mechanical precision and swiftness, burning away the unnatural beings.
AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!
The interception function of the White Tower activated, and from the center of the tower, a blazing yellow beam was fired.
Its heat, intense enough to make one dizzy, passed over the heads of the imperial soldiers, incinerating the horizon.
Powered by the mana veins nearby, the attack was unparalleled in its destructive power.
The cries of triumph from the Imperial Army heated up the battlefield.
“Those disgusting things dared to look down on us…!”
“Burn them all!!”
As the unnatural beings crumbled under the overwhelming firepower, the Imperial soldiers briefly regained their courage.
However, their arrogance did not last long.
Though the Empire’s legions were remarkably skilled for a hastily assembled force, the same could be said about the previous Imperial armies that had fallen before.
And yet, they had all met defeat due to a single absolute existence.
The Demon King, Apostle of the Dark God, who rendered the Empire’s legions and fortresses meaningless with his presence alone.
Without stopping him, nothing else mattered.
“…?”
The brief rise in morale among the Imperial soldiers quickly gave way to a sense of something amiss.
Despite the Empire’s relentless bombardment, setting the earth ablaze, the darkness beyond continued to draw nearer.
“What…?”
No matter how much firepower they concentrated, the surging darkness didn’t slow down. Instead, it surged forward even more violently.
The once valiant Imperial soldiers began to stiffen with fear.
As the darkness drew closer, screams of terror erupted throughout the ranks.
“AAAAGH…!!”
“HIIEEEEK!!!”
Dead bodies rose.
Terrifying illusions obscured their vision.
Trusted weapons lost their shine and crumbled.
Flesh exposed to the darkness began to disintegrate like ash.
“Templars!!”
“Deploy the holy barriers!!”
Commanders instinctively called out for the clerics, whose divine power was known to counter any strange force.
But here, on this battlefield…
The holiness emitted by the clerics was powerless against the approaching darkness, weaker than a flickering candle.
Their divine light wavered as if about to extinguish, and no matter how many prayers they offered, El-Lam granted them no miracle.
AHHHH!!
Surviving followers of the Dark God, cloaked in the Demon King’s darkness, began to tear through the Imperial ranks.
The Imperial Army found itself fighting against malevolence within the darkness, searching in vain for divine salvation.
“…”
Rafaela, the elf participating in the battle, retreated while firing flashes of light as the darkness stained the ground.
Though her flashes pierced through the unnatural beings, Rafaela couldn’t feel any joy.
It was futile resistance.
Encountering the entity known as the Demon King for the first time, Rafaela felt the current battlefield resembled a terrible nightmare.
Humans and elves alike would die helplessly if they couldn’t escape.
Realizing this too late, Rafaela struggled to suppress her labored breathing and fired another flash.
Her flash exploded harmlessly against empty ground.
“…”
Too frightening. I want to run.
Such instincts, which were difficult for Rafaela—who had spent most of her life in her mother’s embrace—to accept, overwhelmed her.
Rafaela forcibly loaded another arrow made of light onto her bowstring.
At that very moment, an unexpected change occurred.
Zzzt!
“…?!”
A familiar energy flowed through the ground toward Rafaela.
Simultaneously, the weak flash she had loaded onto her bowstring grew dramatically brighter.
Rafaela felt her body filled with vitality.
It was undoubtedly a positive transformation, but instead of relief, Rafaela erupted in anger.
“Could those side effects possibly…!!”
*
In the lowest central chamber of the White Tower.
Embedded in the center of the chamber floor was the elven artifact given by Rafaela.
Hayden had literally planted the elven artifact into the ground and began proceeding with the necessary operations.
Sentine, an elf bearing that name, observed Hayden’s work and moved her lips.
“I will not intervene since you asked for cooperation.”
Sentinel, who belonged to the older generation of elves, spoke with a voice and expression devoid of emotion.
“Foolish judgment, human.”
Hayden understood why Sentinel made such a remark.
From Sentinel’s perspective, humans like Hayden were treating the World Tree’s artifact as a disposable consumption item.
Part of Sentinel’s assumption was correct, and part of it was wrong.
Continuing his work, Hayden spoke.
“Not all humans are foolish.”
“…”
“If elves dismissing humans as a base race doesn’t concern me, having you dismiss me as foolish is quite irritating.”
Hayden muttered these words with mock seriousness while continuing his work.
Currently, Hayden and Sentinel were preparing to “restore” the World Tree’s artifact.
The artifact of the World Tree was crafted from the primal roots the World Tree sent into the world.
Thus, restoring the World Tree’s artifact meant returning its form and properties to its primal roots.
Once restored to its primal state, the artifact would sprinkle the surrounding land with the fresh blessing of life.
That blessing would undoubtedly bring warm miracles.
However, the time during which the World Tree’s artifact could bestow blessings would be extremely short.
Unless the restoration happened near the elves’ territory, far from the World Tree’s main body, the isolated root wouldn’t maintain functionality for long.
At best, it could temporarily purify the area.
Therefore, using the World Tree’s artifact for a one-time blessing was truly an incredibly unreasonable decision.
What’s more, the surging malevolence from the Demon King might easily consume the restored World Tree’s artifact.
“…”
Other elves who entered the White Tower with Sentinel also expressed dissatisfaction.
Nevertheless, all the elves cooperated with Hayden because they believed it aligned with their Mother’s will.
While a blood-soaked battle raged outside the White Tower,
humans and elves worked together to prepare for the restoration of the World Tree’s artifact.
Zzzzzztttt!!!!
Finally.
The restoration begins.
There was no turning back now.
The World Tree’s artifact embedded into the ground began to emit a warm energy.
Hwaaaah!!!
With a soft flash,
the fresh blessing of life descended upon the land, temporarily purifying the unholy darkness.
“…!”
Everyone on the battlefield sensed the change.
Imperial soldiers who had been succumbing to madness and fear regained their senses.
Knights who had fallen injured rose again, feeling vigor they had never experienced.
“This is…?!”
The effect of the blessing bestowed by the World Tree’s artifact was especially dramatic for the elves.
For a brief moment, the elves felt as though they had returned home.
During the short duration the blessing lasted, the elves could unleash their full potential as if they were in their homeland.
However, the elves were angered.
They couldn’t ignore the fact that this miracle came at the cost of the World Tree’s artifact.
If there had been a way to use this fleeting miracle to win the war, they might not have been so enraged.
But there wasn’t.
The surging darkness from the Demon King was already erasing the miracle created by the World Tree’s artifact and spreading anew.
As expected.
Sentinel turned to look at Hayden.
At that moment, a massive tremor shook the White Tower.
Koooom—!
“…”
The Royal Magic Tower. The Obelisk there resonates with the White Tower.
The massive wave of energy emanating from the Obelisk reached even Sentinel, who was far away.
Sentinel quietly observed the flow of mana, realized something, and muttered.
“…I see.”
Sentinel’s voice carried a faint trace of anger.
“You dare to plan to drag that fallen entity into our Mother’s embrace?”
“That’s right.”
Hayden calmly answered, and Sentinel stopped questioning him further.
If they couldn’t eliminate or suppress the Demon King, the world would meet its end.
Even Sentinel acknowledged that every available means should be utilized.
However, a serious problem remained.
“Do you have the means to stop that entity?”
In a short while, space at three different points would overlap.
Sentinel revealed an even more pessimistic prediction since she had figured out the Empire’s plan.
The Demon King, responding to the massive power surge moments ago, was rapidly accelerating toward the White Tower.
The mere approach of the Demon King would collapse the magic currently being constructed.
To succeed with this plan, they not only needed to prevent the Demon King from reaching the White Tower but also find a way to partially restrain or neutralize his power at the decisive moment.
Isn’t that an impossible premise?
When Sentinel expressed such pessimistic thoughts, Hayden smirked.
Immediately after.
!!!!!!
Lightning struck the ground.
Massive chunks of mana concentrated from the sky poured down as a storm of lightning, momentarily pushing back the darkness and illuminating the battlefield.
Hayden, who had been looking at Sentinel, grinned mockingly.
“I thought your facial muscles had all atrophied, but I guess I was mistaken.”
Sentinel’s face was unmistakably painted with shock.
Hayden turned his head, clearly satisfied.
“Rare opportunity, so feel free to be astonished.”
From the Warp Gate created by the Obelisk and the White Tower,
someone stepped onto the battlefield.
The red sky began to tear apart.
