Hello I'm back, thy leg is healed but I don't have molars anymore.
===BREAK===
[KIYEEEEEEE───!]
As Horus's thunderous roar echoed across the battlefield, the monstrous army, which had so far boasted dominance under the authority of the regional overlords, faltered.
Entities surpassing the God of Overflowing Rivers and the Emperor of the Barren Desert.
These were none other than the Turncoats and Horus, who had now revealed themselves on the frontlines.
"...."
With the arrival of the Bone Legion, the tide of battle began to shift.
What was once the despair of the Ark was now becoming the despair of the Kronos Union.
A battle where only one side could survive.
Lania, standing in the heart of that battle, gazed upon the frontlines with an unreadable expression.
"…So, this is the opportunity my brother spoke of."
If the Kronos Union were to emerge victorious in this war, her brother would be left with no chance—forced into making only one choice.
But Carl Marcus had spoken.
The choice was his alone, and he would give everything to see it through.
Lania was now witnessing the result of that conviction with her own eyes.
"But it won't be easy."
With that, a violet flame began to rise from Lania's hand.
At first, it was a mere spark, but soon it spread like wildfire through the surrounding monstrous army.
[KAAAAAAK!]
[KIEK!]
The violet flames that had suddenly begun spreading across the frontlines devoured the monster army voraciously, growing in size.
Given that the Kronos Union was currently allied with the Church of Morte and utilizing the monster army, one could even say this was a form of team kill.
"Hey, your friends are burning up right now. You okay with that?!"
"They're not my friends."
"Funny, they're giving you the kind of look only friends betrayed would give!"
"I said they're not."
Isabel snarked, yet she remained wary of the violet flames slowly encroaching upon the area.
'What is that?'
That ominously blazing violet flame was not a power derived from the Great Will.
It was something far more alien—something incomprehensible.
Though she couldn't identify the flame's origin, Isabel instinctively knew one thing: she must not be exposed to it.
'Whatever it is… I can't let it spread.'
Isabel summoned a storm of ether to intercept the advancing violet fire.
[Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come.]
[KIKIGIK────!]
[It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.]
But Isabel was soon momentarily stunned.
The violet flame was growing, completely unfazed even by the storm of ether she had conjured.
"What the…"
She had known from the beginning that the fire was no ordinary threat.
She had poured everything into trying to extinguish it, yet the foreboding violet blaze remained untouched.
'…I have to stop it.'
Of course, the monster army's destruction was good news for the Ark as well.
But the problem was that their sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.
What if the violet flames continued to spread and reached the Ark?
Could it even be extinguished?
Isabel doubted it.
[KIKIK, KIKIGIK───!]
A high-density storm of ether raged in Isabel's hands.
Each particle of ether was a living will unto itself.
Naturally, when forcefully condensed, ether resisted—resulting in an explosion.
KWAHHHHHH!────
A tremendous blast rippled across the area, as if it defied the laws of physics, and the spreading rift flames wavered.
Yet, even such an explosion was not enough to extinguish the rift fire.
No, from the beginning, it was not a type of fire that could be put out by artificial means.
'…Even this isn't enough?'
Just like Lania, Isabel had inherited immense power through the will of the Great Spirit.
To think that there existed a flame in this world that not even such power could affect?
Even seeing it with her own eyes, she could barely believe it.
Tatatak, tatatak…
The world gradually turned violet.
Isabel poured every ounce of her strength into manipulating the ether, yet the flame only grew larger in response.
'…I have to strike the source.'
This violet flame originated from Lania Marcus.
Then, Lania must be targeted.
With that resolve, Isabel searched for Lania—but her figure had already vanished from view.
"Find her."
With Isabel's command, ether in the area began tracking Lania's presence.
Eventually, they succeeded in detecting her—but Isabel couldn't ease her furrowed brow.
'Already?'
Lania's current position was now far removed from this battlefield.
No, even now, she was still moving between battlegrounds in real time.
No doubt, the violet flames were blazing in those places as well.
'What kind of mobility is that…?'
Isabel wasn't lacking in mobility herself—but Lania's current speed was clearly beyond reason.
As if she were teleporting.
'…No way.'
Was she really traversing through space itself?
It was a ludicrous idea, but Lania's current movement could not be explained otherwise.
'What now…'
As Isabel wrestled with the dilemma—
"Commander, you look like you could use some help."
An unfamiliar voice rang out from behind her.
With monsters and beasts everywhere, even Isabel had failed to sense it ahead of time.
"You're…"
A completely unknown monster.
And yet, that was precisely why Isabel did know who it was.
If someone she had never met before was acting so familiar, there could only be one explanation.
She had experienced this far too often while leading the Shadow Order.
"…Nameless."
The monster smirked.
"Been a while, Commander."
The doppelgänger that once destroyed the old Black Line now appeared once again at the moment of ruin.
* * *
A sky that once belonged to the radiant civilization of the Ark was now steeped in darkness.
The erupting Mount Noah scattered volcanic ash and bombs—fueled by both natural force and human hands.
BOOM!
KWA-KWA-BOOM!──
Amidst the constant thunder of explosions, a massive shadow emerged.
Beyond-Grade Dragon, Ankelenth.
It was him.
[KROOOOOAAAAH!]
With Ankelenth's roar, the combat drones flying around him exploded.
Though Carmen's command and battle algorithms had helped them dodge direct attacks, they couldn't withstand the sheer presence Ankelenth exuded.
"Prepare for deployment."
"Understood."
Brigadier General Victor's jetpack ignited—he had been orchestrating the battle from above, but the situation had deteriorated so much that even he, the de facto commander of this operation, had to personally lead the elite guard into battle.
It couldn't be helped.
Even the elite unit formed from Ark's last reserves had reached its limit; their attacks were waning.
Though composed of Ark's remaining strength, they were ultimately an improvised unit.
Naturally, their supplies were scarce, and finally, their weapons were nearly depleted.
'In the end, it's bullets again.'
Perhaps this was exactly what Shin El had intended.
The Ark and the monster army tearing each other apart, exhausting themselves, and thus reducing the total amount of ether in the world.
But I had no intention of following along with someone else's answer key.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
Kalakin and I flew toward Ankelenth.
As far as I knew, the Noah-01 Matter Disintegrator did not have a very long effective range.
Its principle was to break down matter at the molecular level, so it functioned more like a close-range weapon.
Of course, I didn't know exactly how powerful this early variant—produced ahead of schedule thanks to the Machine Cult's technology—would be, but its basic nature remained the same.
'At least 20 meters. I need to get within that range.'
A 20-meter range.
In a world filled with long-range weaponry, that was practically melee.
Especially considering the target was Ankelenth.
[KROOOOOAAAAH!]
I quickly reached Ankelenth's location and hurled a bone spear imbued with ether.
SHREEEEEEEK!───
Even for Ankelenth, he couldn't ignore an attack infused with Janus's power and overwhelming ether.
He ignored other attacks but responded to mine.
And that was the opening.
Kalakin's Moonlight Sword temporarily tore away the ether shroud surrounding Ankelenth.
I didn't miss the moment.
ZZZZZZING!────
The disintegration effect from the muzzle of the Noah-01 Molecular Disassembler unleashed a flash of all-consuming light.
FSSSSHHH!
Ankelenth's scales scattered into powder.
It worked.
Clearly, the Noah-01 could pierce even Ankelenth's scales.
However, its short effective range made it difficult to land a critical blow.
["It worked!"]
Esther's cheer didn't last long.
Ankelenth's rage—now scale-less—rained down upon Kalakin and me.
PAAAAAANG!
His massive tail lashed out.
Not just raw force, but ether-laced destruction.
[The end…]
[Kik, kikik, kik, kikik, kikik.]
[Die.]
But there was no need to fear.
Big attacks always create big openings.
And this was one.
"Janus."
['Ankelenth's Judgement' is being summoned.]
From my left hand, the Ankelenth's Judgement emerged.
A power I'd saved due to its infrequent usability—but now, there was no need to hold back.
[KIKIK, KIKIGIK...!]
The Judgement, wrapped in a storm of ether, writhed in my hand.
Even Ankelenth couldn't ignore a strike that contained over 100 units of ether.
The power it held was truly a sentence of death.
In short, I was forcing Ankelenth to make a choice:
Dodge—or confront.
"Kh!"
Ankelenth's tail barely missed us.
He chose to dodge.
Even for him, taking a direct hit from my full-powered Ankelenth's Judgement would have been too much.
In other words, he was too smart.
And that was his downfall.
"Now!"
There is no such thing as a perfect victory.
Victory always comes with sacrifice.
Ankelenth tried to win without sacrifice—and thus exposed a gap.
PAAAAAANG!────
His tail cleaved through the air, and the Judgement surged toward him.
Their attacks missed.
Or so it seemed.
SSSSHH!
While Ankelenth's focus was entirely on evading the Judgement, Kalakin had already reached his wing with the Moonlight Sword.
SHRAAAAK!───
The blade shredded the ether veil around him.
[KIEEEEEEE!]
As the vulnerability was exposed, the Noah-01's disintegration beam surged toward Ankelenth's scales—but already aware of its threat, he spread his wings to evade.
Just as I expected.
['Rift Blade' has been activated.]
The [Rift Blade] was too dangerous to swing manually.
But what if I anticipated his movement and placed it in advance?
SHRAAAK!
Just as Ankelenth's wings unfurled, the Rift Blade at that exact spot cleaved his wings apart.
===BREAK===
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