The Side Story – Final Battle [7]
[61]
Royal Guard.
Paula still called herself by that title.
Once a symbol of brilliant honor and authority, the Royal Guard had fallen alongside the Empire.
Paula, who willingly bore the remnants of that fallen glory, now had nothing left but duty.
“…It brings back memories of that day.”
Paula muttered as she gazed beyond the horizon.
An overwhelmingly massive flow of power was spreading from beyond the horizon.
The storm of destruction that Spera was creating as she advanced towards the Obelisk was causing tremors where Paula stood.
Spera’s advance was unstoppable.
Nothing the Empire boasted about could stand against Spera’s onslaught.
‘That day’ was no different.
Nothing the Empire boasted about could stop Ray’s advance.
Ray crushed everything in his path until he reached the throne. And there, he died.
“Hah…”
Paula let out a faint laugh.
A bitter sense of satisfaction rose within her heart.
Paula wasn’t pleased with the base emotion that stirred her chest.
“…What a sight.”
With a curt sneer, Paula suppressed the aimless malice in her heart and turned her head toward the Imperial Capital.
She could reach it in an instant as a member of the Royal Guard.
With the aid of an artefact or spirits, the journey could be shortened even further.
Of course, she didn’t intend to rush openly.
She had prepared a covert and swift means of movement for this day.
However, if she were discovered before entering the Imperial Capital, she had no plans to retreat.
This was Paula’s final gamble.
Not just hers, but for everyone gathered here, this would be their last gamble and battle.
“Still… hasn’t happened yet?”
Paula was prepared to accept being surrounded by a large force before even entering the capital if the plan went awry.
However, even if the possibility was slim, some chance had to exist for the prepared plan to be executed.
For Paula, the minimum condition for carrying out this plan was that ‘Luna leaves the capital.’
Approaching the capital while Luna remained would be a meaningless suicide mission.
“Something’s off.”
Everyone gathered here, including Paula, firmly believed that Luna would definitely leave the capital.
Whether to intercept Spera or to counter simultaneous attacks across the continent, this was a situation where Luna needed to move personally.
Yet, there was still no report of Luna’s movements.
Even as Spera approached the Obelisk and key locations across the continent teetered on the brink of collapse…
Luna remained silent.
It was certainly a puzzling situation.
“…”
What strategy had Luna prepared?
Perhaps Luna had already left the capital and was preparing a counterattack.
Or maybe, for some unknown reason, she truly remained in the capital.
Currently, no one here could confidently determine which was true.
After waiting patiently for a while, Paula finally gave up.
“…There’s nothing we can do.”
If Luna was still in the capital, moving now would mean certain death, but they couldn’t stay here indefinitely either.
Paula needed to enter the capital before the ongoing final battle concluded.
Entering after everything ended would yield nothing.
“It’s time to move.”
Paula voiced her decision.
Tuirpits, standing nearby, sighed briefly.
Though it was true that Luna’s exact location hadn’t been confirmed, the plan could no longer be delayed.
Tuirpits glanced around at the gathered forces.
There, in the center, stood the person Tuirpits had to protect, stiff with tension.
He was still a young boy.
Approaching the boy, Tuirpits knelt down.
“May we, unworthy ones, escort you, Your Highness?”
If the boy commanded them to stop, they would halt.
If the boy feared death and wished for a meaningless extension of life, they would follow.
Everyone waited humbly for the boy’s response.
After a brief silence, the boy nodded at Tuirpits.
Tuirpits bowed deeply and then rose.
As the last remnant of the fallen empire, Tuirpits drew his sword.
“To glory for the Empire.”
*
Absolute Domain.
Spera’s Absolute Domain began to neutralize slightly around Johanna.
Watching this scene, Spera couldn’t help but smile wryly.
Spera and Johanna.
Two prodigies blessed with unparalleled talent were catalysts for each other.
They accelerated each other’s growth.
Elements such as the blessing of transcendent beings, the union of flesh and spirit, and ceaseless blood battles…
Though these factors couldn’t be ignored, ultimately, without each other, neither would have been able to reach the peak so quickly.
Certainly…
Without harboring any ill intent, they could have been excellent rivals for each other.
In a world not like this hellish one, but under the warm sunlight, they could have shone brilliantly in each other’s presence.
Each time such thoughts arose, Spera grew extremely irritated.
That irritation was likely due to the resentment towards Ray, who had long since died and frozen over.
Even after several years, every time Spera thought of Ray, a jumble of emotions surged up, making her feel nauseous.
And Johanna always inadvertently reminded Spera of Ray’s existence.
Spera now clearly wanted to sever that connection.
Zzzzzip! Spera’s Absolute Domain began to mutate.
It was originally her last resort, prepared to counter Luna.
That technique was the source of confidence that allowed Spera to march toward the Obelisk, even knowing she might face a combined assault from core imperial forces like Johanna and Luna.
Zzzzzzzip!!!
The Absolute Domain merges with dark radiance.
The mortal power generated by reaching the peak fuses with the divine power bestowed from beyond the stars, mediated through Spera’s eyes, which have undergone the second enlightenment.
The ripple of space and the eye that pierces the hidden side of the world.
Spera uses that eye, which pierces the hidden side of the world, to delve deeper into the essence of the Absolute Domain and the dark radiance, melting them together.
Crack!
The dark radiance absorbed into the Absolute Domain becomes a power that erodes everything.
Even Johanna’s awakening Absolute Domain is no exception.
“…”
Johanna paused her breathing momentarily.
Facing the incomprehensible, sticky wave that began to erode even her Absolute Domain, Johanna froze in place.
Suddenly, Spera thrust her face forward.
“Snap out of it, Johanna.”
“?!”
Zzzeek!!!
With a casual flick of her hand, Spera pushed Johanna away.
Johanna, unable to resist properly, was drawn into the darkly glowing waves created by Spera.
Approaching the disoriented Johanna, Spera once again gripped the Sacred Sword.
“My domain is now impenetrable by anyone.”
The domain Spera deployed has evolved into its own world, cutting off external interference—a characteristic she originally intended for her confrontation with Luna.
“There will be no reinforcements. So discard hope and give your best until the end.”
Spera revealed her hidden desire as she moved the Sacred Sword.
Johanna wielded two swords, using her soul as fuel, within the darkly glowing waves.
But her resistance was meaningless, and Johanna sank deeper into the waves.
Splash!!!
“…”
Johanna’s vision became blurred.
Unfamiliar voices and illusions flashed fragmentarily through her mind.
The dark waves were like Spera’s own world.
And Johanna, being eroded by the dark waves, was gradually losing herself.
Her body, soul, and mind were all disrupted by the dark waves.
If she hesitated like this, everything that made Johanna who she was would soon vanish.
“…!!”
Shrieking a muffled scream, Johanna once again deployed her awakening Absolute Domain.
Just as she was about to grasp the ‘final means,’ a new illusion flashed through her vision.
“…?”
Luna.
The new illusion was of Luna in her childhood.
Luna as a child.
Johanna knew roughly what Luna had experienced in her youth.
In the illusion, little Luna was captured by Locust.
Locust, a high-level mage who had reached the 7th Circle and was a dark elementalist that even the Empire feared seriously, was fighting while holding onto Luna.
The person who confronted Locust was none other than Saria.
Ray’s aunt.
“…?”
Johanna instinctively wondered why Count Philips led the knights himself to eliminate Locust.
Saria joined them in eliminating Locust.
She never faced Locust alone.
Initially, though talented, she wasn’t far above the average graduate level.
Saria couldn’t possibly have resisted Locust alone.
Indeed, in the illusion, Saria was swiftly overwhelmed by Locust’s attacks and was collapsing fast.
Saria’s defeat was an inevitable result.
However, Locust didn’t know where Saria had come back from.
Saria spent ten years struggling in Valerius’ dungeon.
During that long period, she fought relentlessly and survived.
The fighting spirit and focus Saria cultivated during those ten years in Valerius’ dungeon couldn’t simply be quantified and evaluated.
Locust didn’t know this, and thus he let his guard down, which ultimately became his cause of death.
“…”
At the final moment, Saria consumed all her artefacts to create an opening, and Locust’s head was severed by Saria’s blow.
Despite having dominated the entire battle, Locust died rather pointlessly.
Saria, too, fell silent after severing Locust’s head.
By the time she cut off his head, her heart had already stopped.
Luna was left alone on the battlefield.
“…”
At the moment Johanna hesitated upon seeing the incomprehensible illusion.
Behind her, the Sacred Sword descended.
Zzzeek!!!
Johanna blocked the Sacred Sword but lost her balance and rolled along the ground.
As she spat out blood momentarily, Spera smirked.
“How about that? Not interesting?”
“What… are you talking about?”
“The illusion you just saw.”
Spera tapped the Sacred Sword lightly and calmly said something unbelievable.
“This is the future El-Lam foresaw.”
“…?”
“Through the Sacred Sword, I glimpsed what El-Lam saw.”
Johanna only revealed her confusion to Spera.
Spera smiled bitterly at such a Johanna.
“If El-Lam hadn’t brought Ray into this world, this was the future that awaited.”
