Chapter 167
Part 2: Conclusion
Those who originally followed Brantley charged forward at Eridanus, leading the assault.
This was their only way to atone for their sins and perhaps save their lives, as well as the righteous path they chose to follow.
As the charging army approached, Eridanus unleashed a spell.
With the Dragonheart acting as a medium, a searing flame storm surged forth.
Hiss!!
The heat from the flames enveloped even Eridanus’s face as he cast the spell.
But soon after, frost began to form on Eridanus’s nose.
“!”
Crack!!!
Ray, having pushed his Core and Circle to their limits, pierced through the flames and swung his sword.
The trajectory drawn by the Empire’s divine blade and Zeppelin’s Omega Series intersected around Eridanus.
Squeak!!!
Eridanus blocked Ray’s sword strike with both arms and was slammed halfway into a wall.
Still embedded in the wall, Eridanus scraped himself out, retreating several dozen meters.
Eridanus’s arms, which had blocked Ray’s attack, were completely crushed and hung limply by his sides.
Knights rushed toward Eridanus, who now seemed incapacitated.
At that moment, Eridanus’s limbs writhed and sprouted dozens of tentacles that shot out in all directions.
Screech!!
The tentacles easily pierced through armor and human flesh alike.
Three knights who had underestimated the threat of the tentacles collapsed, their bodies riddled with holes.
Despite the horrifying sight, the knights did not halt their advance.
Dozens of blades formed from Sword Aura and Sword Energy sliced through the tentacles.
Eridanus quickly retreated and struck the ground, summoning a magic circle.
The circle floated above the ground before exploding, sending debris scattering in all directions.
BOOM!!!
Knights who were caught in the explosion braced themselves, planting their feet firmly into the ground but still stumbled backward.
While the knights absorbed the impact of the explosion, Ray dashed past them toward Eridanus.
As Ray approached, Eridanus’s eyes stretched unnaturally wide, peeling off the skin around his nose.
Eridanus’s two pupils merged into one and began to drip with black liquid.
Creak!!
Ray’s vision twisted as he stared at Eridanus.
Suddenly, the distance between them stretched like rubber, and Eridanus shrank to a pinpoint in Ray’s view.
As Ray stopped, an impenetrable darkness descended around him.
Crack!!
Tentacles burst forth from the darkness.
The tentacles, which could effortlessly pierce through steel armor, swarmed Ray from all directions, obscuring his vision.
In the face of this terrifying scene, Ray activated his power and swung a Spatial Blade horizontally.
When the Leaping Sword Energy descended, it shattered the distorted space with a sound like breaking glass.
Crack!!
As the darkness receded, Ray’s vision returned to normal.
Ray smirked as he stared at Eridanus.
“Trying to mess with space in front of me?”
“Ahh, you truly are a dreadful being.”
Eridanus shuddered theatrically as dozens of tentacles turned bright red and swelled up.
The bloated tentacles exploded like bombs.
BOOM!!!!
“!!”
Before the explosion hit, Ray thrust his cloak forward like a shield.
Chunks of flesh stuck to the cloak, pushing Ray back forcefully.
Though an unholy energy swept through the space where Ray stood, the anti-magic properties of the dragon-leather cloak protected him.
Before the blast of the explosion subsided, Ray propelled himself forward using the cloak’s momentum and stomped on the ground.
While all of Eridanus’s attention was focused on Ray, the knights once again surrounded and attacked Eridanus.
Clang Clang Clang!!
Eridanus’s tentacles intercepted the knights’ swords.
Black liquid was already dripping from Eridanus’s tentacles.
The knights were taken aback.
Wherever the flesh of the tentacles touched the blades, rust spread rapidly, corroding the weapons entirely.
Even as they sacrificed their weapons to sever the tentacles, the severed parts regenerated shortly after.
Even the bravest warriors hesitated at this sight, yet not a single knight stepped back; they continued to fight against Eridanus.
If their swords broke, they wielded the hilts in reverse. When all their weapons shattered, they grabbed pieces of their armor and clung to Eridanus.
“…”
Eridanus realized he was taking longer than expected to deal with these foot soldiers and began deploying magic circles on each of the dozens of tentacles.
Just as the magic circles were about to glow, a Leaping Sword Energy tore through the air, severing the tentacles.
Clang!!
The severed tentacles wriggled briefly before melting away.
Thanks to the knights buying enough time, Ray regained his momentum, leaped into the air, and plummeted toward Eridanus.
Eridanus extended his hand toward Ray.
However, Ray reached Eridanus in the blink of an eye and swung Moros in a diagonal slash before Eridanus could act.
SCREECH!!!!
Eridanus’s body was not just crushed but cleanly bisected.
The knights reflexively clenched their fists tightly upon witnessing this, but Ray frowned instead.
The resistance he felt when swinging his sword was much less than he had anticipated.
Considering the strength of the tentacles, Eridanus should not have been so easily cut.
“…!”
Only then did Ray notice a dark mass behind the bisected remains of Eridanus.
It was then that Ray realized Eridanus had shed an unnecessary shell and retreated.
The true form of Eridanus, the dark mass, resembled a human figure, but gas-like bubbles were boiling across its entire body.
Eridanus slid back like liquid, widening the distance, and planted its gooey hands on the ground.
Hummm—!
A massive amount of mana possessed by Eridanus was instantly depleted, powering the pre-prepared magic circles.
Dozens of activated magic circles floated into the air simultaneously, dripping black liquid.
Ray fired a Leaping Sword Energy to disrupt the deployment of the magic circles.
Though Eridanus moved its grotesque body in every direction, it could not evade all the Leaping Sword Energies that tore through space.
BOOM!!
Eridanus’s body was violently shaken by the direct hit from the Leaping Sword Energy.
Most of the tentacles were severed, and deep wounds across its body bubbled with gas.
Ray noticed that Eridanus’s regeneration was slower due to the exhaustion of energy used to activate the magic circles and prepared to swing his sword again.
At that moment, the Dragonheart at the center of the magic circles emitted light.
Grind!!
The Dragonheart acted as a catalyst, greatly accelerating the activation speed of the magic circles.
The swirling magic circles fused with the power of the abyss and began to mutate.
Eventually, dozens of magic circles merged into one, creating a hollow circular magic circle.
ZzzzZzzt!!
As black liquid poured down like a waterfall from the magic circle, a large, fiery black hand emerged.
It was a hand filled with an indescribably ominous aura.
Even the knights, who had relentlessly sacrificed themselves, froze momentarily.
As Ray watched the approaching large black hand, he plunged Zeppelin’s Omega Series into the ground.
“Huff…”
Ray slowly exhaled.
Facing such a powerful enemy, his heart pounded more fiercely than ever before.
For a moment, Ray closed his eyes and reflected on the swordsmanship bestowed upon him.
“Harshia… I can see the battlefield where you stood.”
Now, now it seemed he faintly understood.
He understood what will and desire Harshia had imbued in this swordsmanship, why Harshia had driven herself so hard, carving away at her life to pursue this art.
That day, the emotions that surged within Harshia were finally something Ray could begin to comprehend.
Ray gripped Moros with both hands.
The Sword Energy that had been swirling around the sword began to compress once more.
Crack!!
Bundles of Sword Aura climbed the silver-white blade and transformed upon reaching the tip.
The bundles slashed and crushed each other until they collapsed into themselves, condensing into a spherical form.
The sphere at the tip of the sword, glowing blue and pulsating like a heart, turned white and ceased its movement.
It looked like a pristine white pearl.
On the grotesque face of Eridanus, whose skin had peeled off, confusion appeared for the first time.
“You haven’t even reached the Transcendent Realm, and yet… you’re using that technique?”
To Eridanus’s bewilderment, Ray responded with a smile.
As Moros was swung, the white sphere left Ray’s possession.
Grind!!
Upon leaving Ray, the white sphere underwent a transformation.
The surrounding space around the white sphere warped and began contracting toward its center.
All matter that entered the distorted space could not escape the influence of the white sphere and was broken down piece by piece, compressed into one.
Cracks formed in the scenery surrounding the white sphere.
As the white sphere, now too small to be properly seen by the naked eye, made contact with the black hand.
Snap!!
The fully extended black hand rapidly shrunk.
The sharp fingers bent and snapped off.
The remnants of the black hand, now reduced to a mass of mana, twisted and contracted into the center of the white sphere.
The sphere that devoured and destroyed even corrupted magic was no longer pristine white.
Having turned crimson, the sphere continued its destructive path, consuming everything in its way, and fell toward Eridanus.
Whoosh!!!!!
A blinding light erupted.
A deafening roar struck the underground plaza.
The range of the explosion caused by the sphere was not wide, but everything within its reach evaporated without a trace.
As the brilliant flash finally subsided,
a new spherical void had formed at the edge of the underground plaza.
Everyone stared blankly at the scene.
Witnessing the spectacle they had only imagined while reading fairy tales, they blinked back tears.
Only Ray, who had stepped back to avoid the aftermath and spat out blood, remained.
“Cough…!!”
An oppressive force squeezed and battered his body.
Blood vessels bursting under the strain painted his skin crimson.
All the unique secret techniques devised by Harshia left one in this state.
Though their power was beyond measure, they severely damaged the user’s body.
Ray wobbled as he spat out blood but managed to stand upright again.
His gaze turned toward the newly formed void.
The dark entity, sensing the chilling stare, trembled in the shadows and wept softly.
“Fearful…”
To think someone who has yet to reach the Transcendent Realm could wield such power.
A boy who should dream of the future recklessly sacrifices his own life to wield the sword.
That overwhelming talent and blind determination rekindled old fears in Eridanus.
Even Harshia, before reaching the Transcendent Realm, never displayed such reckless and overwhelming strength.
Given time… this one would undoubtedly surpass Harshia.
This one would burn through the remainder of their life to achieve what Harshia could not.
Though this one would eventually collapse under the weight of their own power, Eridanus could not predict when that would happen.
This one must be eliminated before truly stepping into the realm of true transcendence.
This was the new mission freshly decreed by the malevolent deity.
