< 153. Sunset of the King (2) >
*
The Greatsword slammed down on an invisible wall, sending sparks flying. Fernandez, as soon as his blade was blocked, twisted his body to evade the spot.
-*Crackle!*
Suddenly, an ice spear shot up from the solid floor. The beastman formed a hand seal, and at the same time, light began to seep from the Rune Glyph tattoo on his forearm.
The fusion of the beastman, the knot of magical power, and the manifestation of magic. For a mage of Malerun’s caliber, this series of processes flowed as naturally as breathing—
‘But just because it’s like breathing doesn’t mean there are no gaps.’
Even breathing has a momentary gap. A natural gap that even the breather isn’t aware of. A gap that exists in every living being!
-*Crash!*
The Greatsword swung wildly, slamming down in another direction. Rough sparks scattered amidst the snowflakes, and as soon as the attack was blocked, Fernandez twisted his body again to evade. Another ice spear flew and embedded itself where he had just stood.
Half a beat. Half a breath. The time he had to move before the enemy’s onslaught was just that, and even that brief moment was enough for him.
-*Crack!*
The Greatsword slammed down repeatedly in the air. At the same time, Fernandez’s eyes were aware of the beastman’s hand seal, the knot of magical power, and the massive flow of energy swirling through the entire ship.
His brain was racing madly. To process complex calculations and precise movements simultaneously. A level of brutal mental activity that would have overloaded an ordinary person was being forced upon him.
-*Crash!*
He struck the next opening. Malerun swung his hand repeatedly, blocking the onslaught and countering. Their attacks were like a perfectly choreographed duel between two martial artists, never once touching each other’s bodies.
“How long do you think you can hold out?!”
Malerun roared, his eyes blazing. His defenses were nearly perfect. Dozens of protective spells, activated with a mere gesture, shielded his body like an iron fortress. Fernandez’s actions were no different from waves crashing against a breakwater.
-*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Was it the sound of a heartbeat, or the sound of the Greatsword slamming against the rampart? The boundary between the two was now blurred. His head was spinning, his vision turning red. The sword advanced, struck the wall, retreated, and in the moment of using the recoil to twist his body—
Every moment in this series happened within a single breath, without a single hesitation. Fernandez, gripping the Greatsword with both hands, moved it in different directions, feeling the elasticity each time it struck the rampart.
It was a sword strike that had reached a state of no-mind. His mind no longer had the capacity to pursue the finesse of swordsmanship. His brain was entirely focused on the enemy’s magic, spells, and their manifestations.
In that perfect calm, that complete focus. Fernandez raged like a storm forged of steel.
-*Boom! Boom!*
Just a little more. Fernandez’s eyes burned a deep blue. He struck the rampart with the Greatsword, immediately moved to another position, and struck again—
-*Crack*
Something caught between the ramparts. This was it. Fernandez’s eyes lit up. He bent his waist, aligned his hands horizontally, and swung both Greatswords simultaneously!
-*Crash!*
“W-what?!”
The rampart shattered. For the first time since Malerun began casting spells, he was thrown back. He was in the air, repeatedly forming hand seals, visibly confused.
‘How did he destroy the spell? It wasn’t the kind of magic that could be broken by physical force.’
Malerun formed a new hand seal, preparing another rampart, and cast an offensive spell. The heart hanging from the ceiling pulsed violently, pouring viscous magical power into his spell.
At least in this place, he was no different from a god of magic. Even if he didn’t have time to cast complex and transcendent spells. With countless auxiliary computing devices hanging from the ceiling, he had infinite magical power and computation at his disposal!
-*Crash!*
But the rampart was torn like paper. Malerun stepped back, his face contorted. How? How could he so easily break my spell…
“Mage!”
At that moment, a realization flashed through Malerun’s mind. Two Greatswords. That young man, who seemed like a mix of barbarism and chivalry, was unimaginably powerful, but… he was a mage.
The knot of the spell, the fusion of the beastman, the flow of magical power, the manifestation of magic. Those blazing blue eyes were watching only his fingers in every moment of attack and evasion!
Identifying the weakness of the spell and driving a wedge into it a half-beat faster. It was crude, it was rough, but…
“Y-you… fool!!”
Sparks flew from Malerun’s eyes. At the thought of attempting such a delicate task himself. At the feeling that his talent, his effort, his time were all meaningless in that moment.
At the unbelievable fact that this young mortal’s magic combat was superior to his own. Malerun felt both fear and rage.
“My power is infinite! How dare you, a mere swordsman, oppose millennia of mystery with just two swords!”
“Millennia of mystery.”
Amidst the blades, sweat, heat, and the storm of steel, blue eyes flashed.
“The long corruption that has spanned millennia. You, and those like you. The selfish acts you’ve all committed. And the culmination of all that.”
-*Crash!*
The rampart shattered into pieces, and Malerun’s body was thrown back by the impact. His long silver hair fluttered in the air before he collapsed weakly to the ground. Malerun, on one knee, glared at Fernandez with burning eyes as he approached.
“I come from beyond the end of all those events. King Malerun. The millennia you’ve built, the millennia of exploiting your people and draining your children’s blood, hold no meaning.”
“You will fail.”
“You too.”
“No!”
-*Whoosh.*
The wind howled. Even in the audience hall without windows, snowflakes and wind swirled, conjuring the fierce storm of the North Sea. Amidst the fluttering hair, Malerun’s eyes burned.
“I have grasped infinite power. I am Malerun, the master of the thousand-towered magic tower, the master of a thousand forbidden arts, and finally, I have broken our chains and seized the power of a god!”
-*Crackle!*
Ice spears shot up from all directions. Snowflakes turned into thin, frozen needles and rushed toward Fernandez. Fernandez swung his sword, running and dodging the onslaught.
It was almost instinctive movement. A warning bell rung by Fernandez’s heightened combat senses. In a position with no warning, an attack suddenly emerged, and in that brief moment, Fernandez suffered dozens of wounds and bled.
‘I couldn’t even see the flow of magical power.’
-There was no knot of magical power. It wasn’t magic… It just appeared.
‘Creating the result beyond the cause? That’s… the realm of divine power.’
The Greatsword tore through the air, splitting the snowflakes. Almost simultaneously, an ice spear pierced his thigh. As he was about to lose balance and fall, Fernandez’s other arm swung the Greatsword, striking the ground and bouncing his body.
-*Crash! Crack!*
Dozens of ice spears slammed down where he had been standing. There was no time to stop. The wounds on his body were gradually…
His body was growing, and his sense of balance was a complete mess.
His survival instinct, and his talent that had ignited in the moment of life and death, were blossoming. Even in that moment when the flow of magic was invisible, his instincts—perhaps what could be called a sixth sense for battle—were keeping him alive.
-Wham!
A blizzard raged. So did the greatsword. Two storms, one of snow and one of steel, clashed, tearing through the air. His muscles were pushed beyond their limits, breaking through their thresholds, creaking and groaning. Ligaments snapped, only to reconnect in the same instant. A miraculous moment made possible solely by Diemonica’s physical prowess.
-It could be that he suddenly awakened some divine power, or perhaps the strength he had accumulated over time had reached a divine level…
‘Or maybe he triggered the divinity he had gathered by hunting gods.’
There wasn’t enough time to analyze the situation. All he needed now was a single blade to cut down his enemy. Fernandez broke through the blizzard, taking step after step toward Malerun.
-Wham!
Now, just one step away—the distance where his blade could reach Malerun. Their eyes met. Fernandez swung his greatsword with an instinctive motion, aiming to cleave Malerun’s head.
-Wham!
But Malerun’s arm moved, creating a barrier in midair. The Keyblade lodged itself into the barrier, and in that brief moment—a single breath, a fleeting instant—Malerun’s magic flared.
“Mortal, this is the end!”
Malerun’s eyes gleamed with the certainty of victory. Fernandez, half a beat too slow in the heat of battle, missed his chance. In that brief gap, Malerun’s magic erupted. Dozens of curses and destructive spells were ready to rain down on Fernandez’s body. It was too late to block them now. A single swing of his arm, and Fernandez’s life would be over—
-Wham.
At that moment, Fernandez’s other arm—the one that had been hanging in the air—moved. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the empty air.
-Wham!
And then, the air, the space itself. The obsidian greatsword began to tear through the atmosphere, leaving a black trail.
Space, the boundary between illusion and reality in the material world. To cut through it meant not only affecting physical entities but also projecting power onto magical ones.
The Space-Splitting Slash of the King of Many. It wasn’t a precisely named technique, but Fernandez smiled through the immense strain on his arm. The name didn’t matter. What mattered in this moment, what he needed right now, wasn’t some fancy title.
It was a single blade to cut down his enemy.
-Wham!
Space was torn apart, magic shattered, and the flow of spells was disrupted. Malerun’s arm flew through the air. His dodge, born from millennia of life, was purely instinctual. But his arm, covered in rune glyphs, was now severed.
“Gaaaaah!!”
Malerun, now missing an arm, screamed in a mix of rage, fear, pain, and madness as he stumbled back. The blizzard began to subside, and his sweat-and-blood-soaked hair fell limp.
“Huff.”
Fernandez steadied his breath, planting his sword into the ground. It was time to end this. Time to sever the arrogance and desires that had spanned millennia. Time to kill the ancient spider that had fed on the lives and talents of his people.
“By the authority of the Inquisition, the right to execute heretics, the authority to command the exorcist corps, and the proxy authority of the Church’s sacraments, I hereby conduct the trial of the heretic. King Malerun.”
-Thud.
Dragging his greatsword, Fernandez walked toward Malerun, who was writhing in agony. Malerun, in his confusion and terror, couldn’t fully comprehend his words.
“I am the father of this race.”
“No father treats his children as prey. A father’s role is to nurture his children’s growth. And once that role is fulfilled, he simply watches their backs with blessings.”
“I am not some decrepit old man from history!”
Malerun roared in fury.
“I killed gods and broke chains! All for the freedom of our people! Even when we roamed the seas, when dragons soared and demons whispered, when the dwarves’ cannons roared in those wretched moments! For our people’s freedom, I needed to grow stronger!”
“And is this the freedom you spoke of for your people?”
Fernandez pointed to the ceiling. In the heat of battle, the elves who had withered into corpses hung from the magical lines like fruit. Fernandez frowned at the gruesome sight.
“The crime of slaying your own race’s god and stealing their divinity. The crime of taking the lives of your own children for your own safety. The crime of exploiting the souls and bodies of your people as their king!”
“My only crime is defeat!”
“May the Temple of the Gods grant their blessing. The defendant’s sentence is death.”
Fernandez’s greatsword rose. As he swung it to take Malerun’s head, Malerun’s eyes burned with rage.
“And I will not be defeated here. You will fail!!”
“…What?”
A flash erupted.
*
The senses, heightened to an extreme by the battle, became a liability. The sudden flash of light blinded Fernandez for a moment. He swung his sword without hesitation, but felt nothing.
-Whoosh!
The sound of wind echoed. Malerun’s magic was nowhere to be felt. As his vision returned, he saw the vast, empty audience hall and a massive door in the distance.
Through the shattered door, the horizon was breaking.
“He broke through and fled?”
-Into the middle of the sea… What’s his plan?
‘The Elven King abandoned his flagship and fled? Is that even possible?’
-Well, I guess the ship wasn’t as important as his life.
‘No, the Serpent King’s flagship is more valuable to them than life itself.’
Fernandez glared beyond the shattered hull. Out on the sea, Queen Leia’s ships floated, surrounding the flagship, pounding on the rebuilt magical barrier.
Is there any way to survive jumping into the middle of that? Fernandez was about to chase after Malerun when he glanced at the heart still pulsing on the ceiling.
‘Tsk.’
-Whizz.
After clicking his tongue, he grabbed the Keyblade and hurled it. The blade flew straight and true, embedding itself like a stake into the heart’s center. Soon, a torrent of cursed divinity and sticky magic began to pour out, corroding the ship.
-Sssss.
But amidst it all, Vaitas’s holy sword began to neutralize the poison. After catching his breath, Fernandez shouted.
“Kirhas!”
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
The door opened, and Kirhas rushed in. Through the gap, the elves who had been kneeling in wait were visible.
“Get them down. Separate the living from the dead.”
Kirhas paused, looking at the elves hanging in midair with a stunned expression. Soon, her face twisted in anger and horror. She spoke in a heated voice.
“Was this King Malerun’s doing?”
“Yes.”
“Are you trying to save them?”
“At least those still breathing.”
As Fernandez spoke, Kirhas looked at him with a proud expression for a moment. Fernandez, however, kept his gaze fixed on the massive door in the corner of the audience hall.
“I’m going after him.”
“From here… to there? You’re going to jump?”
“I can’t let him go. If we lose him now, there won’t be another chance.”
“Your Excellency, you don’t have another life to spare either. It would be better to wait, even just a little, for Queen Leia’s ship…”
“There’s no time, Kirhas.”
Fernandez gently stroked Kirhas’s hair. She lowered her eyes slightly and growled.
“Save them, and urge everyone on this ship to surrender. With Malerun gone, the war is meaningless. Further sacrifice is unnecessary. Hand this ship over to Leia and announce the end of the war.”
“Your Excellency…!”
“I must finish what I started.”
With those words, Fernandez threw himself out the door, into the churning North Sea.
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