Chapter 357 – The End of the Day
The flame of madness, burning indiscriminately, consuming both the living and the dead, igniting and annihilating everything it touched.
The ruins of the city walls, the streets near the gate, the pools of blood seeping into the ground, the chilling winter air…
Everything standing before Verden blazed crimson, melting and evaporating, even the dragon's ice suspended in the air.
Kwooooooooh!
The Bone-Relic Dragon thrust forward its hardest skull to block the raging inferno.
But its reaction was unlike before.
Even when struck by a meteor compressed to its utmost density, even when engulfed in the flames of
It wasn't simply the overwhelming might of 7th-tier flame magic.
'The Bone-Relic Dragon, wounded by the Saintess's miracle, carries a life that is little more than a countdown.'
Minute fragments of bone crumbled from its shattered skeleton, falling bit by bit.
Unless it replenished itself with an immense flow of death energy from somewhere, its giant form would collapse in no time.
But waiting idly for that to happen was impossible.
Its body could not endure long enough, and before the beast perished, Sacrid would fall.
'So I will end this myself.'
The Bone-Relic Dragon's frame was already gravely destroyed.
Its once impregnable defense had lost its brilliance, and its massive wings, once most threatening, were completely gone.
Of course, Verden himself was no less battered.
His available magic power was far less than usual.
Assaults from without, strain from within, even his breathing came with difficulty.
Maintaining the state that erased the wall of tiers and allowed 7th-tier magic was not something he could endure for long.
Still, for the brief time Archbishop Joseph had spoken of, it would be enough.
Fwooosh…
At last, the flames of
The Bone-Relic Dragon, smoke billowing white from its body, crawled across the molten earth.
From its eyes of blue fire surged an indescribable, overwhelming killing intent.
Its attention was fixed entirely upon Verden.
'I would prefer to keep my distance…'
But his injuries were too severe for fierce
Taking a deep breath, Verden stepped willingly onto the searing ground.
In his right hand he gripped Orient, while his left hand dug into the wound at his abdomen.
"..."
Ssshhhhh.
Inside his body, beyond Ainber's resistance, he froze the damaged flesh.
It was close to self-harm, draining his stamina heavily, but for a short duel, it was the only way to stop the bleeding.
Tendons bulged along his jaw.
With cold eyes flashing blue, Verden focused his magic power.
< Aquilo >
Long ago, a Transcendent abandoned the airy freedom of the wind element, channeling all into destructive might, and thus created this 7th-tier spell.
The currents surged violently.
At the tip of his staff, wind condensed into a three-dimensional ring.
The two beings closed the distance.
Without hesitation, they swung. The extreme storm and the dragon's claws collided.
───!
A shockwave swept the surroundings, followed by a tearing roar of the air.
All of Sacrid trembled.
***
Within the magical world, access to tomes on high-tier spells was strictly restricted.
This was law decreed by the magic tower.
The reason: such profound magic, far beyond ordinary comprehension, must not be left scattered in the streets.
Thus high-tier magic naturally became rare and precious.
And so, mages, whose power was already bound to talent, became even more exceptional.
Above all, spells of 6th-tier and higher were nearly impossible to obtain except through the magic tower, or in illicit dealings on the black market.
Therefore, even among mages, those who could identify such spells at a glance were rare.
Unless, of course, one stood in the lineage of a high-ranking magic tower.
BOOM! CRASH! KWOAAAANG!
Flame, wind, earth, and bone.
The brutal clash of elements and matter continued.
The roar of destruction echoed again and again.
Ordinary folk could hardly stand upright.
Amid the overwhelming sight, Haldirn gazed at the ash-haired Magus fighting the Bone-Relic Dragon.
He murmured absently.
"No way, a 7th-tier…?"
He did not know much about 7th-tier elemental magic.
Yet from the raw power alone, it could be nothing else.
All tiered spells were classified by level, but from the 7th tier upward, each held the essence of its element's ultimate.
Such force could not be borne by a mere human body.
The 7th tier belonged only to Transcendents, beings beyond human.
'Then how is that possible?'
A hypothesis flickered in Haldirn's mind, and he shook his head inwardly.
'Asher is not a Transcendent.'
It was a conviction.
Perhaps one day he would become such, but not now.
No awakening had occurred, nor did he exude the transcendent aura his master once did.
Thus, it defied understanding.
The sheer, abnormal volume of magic power.
The eyes inscribed with strange magic circles.
The manifestation of a 7th-tier spell, supposedly impossible to calculate.
Mystery upon mystery.
And where had he even obtained the knowledge of 7th-tier elemental magic?
Not just one attribute, but multiple.
Perhaps he was of the magic tower.
Or perhaps the disciple of one who was.
If so, there was only one answer.
Only one magic tower that dealt with all elements.
'The Bohemirn Magic Tower.'
As Haldirn recalled the name of one of the Western Continent's towers—
"Haldirn! Please, send me to Lustrous!"
A voice rose from below.
It was Archbishop Joseph.
Descending to the ruined walls, Haldirn lifted him, then soared into the air.
He asked.
"I can take you there, but what do you plan to do with that wrecked airship?"
"Asher said he must drive the Bone-Relic Dragon far from the city. So, I will force the relic to overload."
"…What?"
"So please, Haldirn. I need your help."
***
Near the outer walls where Sacrid's gates once stood.
The streets once bustling with travelers were gone without trace.
Only ash, debris, and ice remained, the land scorched bare.
At its center, Verden instantly raised his magic.
< Wall of Hardened Steel >
The ground surged upward, hardened to extreme density, shielding him.
Overhead, the Bone-Relic Dragon's tail lashed like a whip.
KWAAAANG!
The wall shattered in one blow.
He had blocked the strike, but could not stop the flying shards.
The impact ravaged his body.
His cheek was cut, blood spurted as he dropped to one knee.
"...Kuh, kuhuk!"
His vision blurred.
From his Mystic Eye, thick drops of blood fell. It screamed at him to stop.
The wound at his abdomen, slowed by ice, still bled.
Even his vast magic power could no longer hold.
Only one more casting of 7th-tier magic remained.
The rest, he had other use for.
[GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!]
The Bone-Relic Dragon, body crumbling under immense magic, slammed both feet down.
KRRRRRRRK!
In an instant, freezing cold swept the land.
Verden gripped his staff in both hands, thrust it forward.
< Ardor's Flame >
His body was engulfed in blazing scarlet fire.
Soon, flame and frost collided.
Predator against predator.
In this struggle of power to devour the other, not even steam could rise.
It was nothing but annihilation repeated, a battle to the death.
And then.
'Fortunately, I made it in time.'
Kugugugugugu───!
Behind the Bone-Relic Dragon, a massive object surged forward.
The airship Lustrous, the Archbishop's vessel, its hull grievously damaged.
It raced across the ground, radiating vast divinity.
Two figures stood upon its deck.
"Now, Haldirn."
"I know."
At Joseph's signal, Haldirn unleashed his Mado.
He bound the Archbishop's lifeforce into his curse beforehand.
< Shackles of Sacred Spirit >
The harmony of dark magic and holy power.
A curse of the material plane, unaffected even by the relic's divinity, completed.
Chwarururururk!
From his left and right hands shot chains of darkness, one latching onto Lustrous's relic, the other to the Bone-Relic Dragon's tail.
"Haaaaaap…!!"
Haldirn pulled with all his might, pain and blood bursting from the wound on his shoulder, yet he did not stop.
When his hands finally met, the Bone-Relic Dragon and the relic were bound as one.
The purpose was achieved.
Haldirn swiftly carried Joseph away from Lustrous.
[?!]
The Bone-Relic Dragon staggered, suddenly dragged by the pull.
It bent its torso, claws sinking into the ground.
Ordinarily, it would have overpowered such force with ease.
But not now.
Crackkk.
The forelimbs it pressed into the ground shattered under the strain.
Its already damaged body had only worsened, with Verden's blows adding further ruin.
Kwaaadddrrrk…!
Its resistance was a meaningless struggle.
The Bone-Relic Dragon was dragged away by the airship.
Its claws carved great gouges into the earth as it was swiftly torn from Sacrid.
Thud.
Moments later, the rampaging relic exhausted its strength, and Lustrous halted.
The Bone-Relic Dragon too stopped, but it no longer mattered.
The conditions were met.
'This distance is enough.'
Verden soared into the sky.
He gathered all remaining magic power and consciousness, even unleashing his Mystic Eye, to cast the final spell.
The realm of the stars, Spirit Star Alhena.
The third star of Celestial Magic.
Above Sacrid, the heavens darkened, countless lights flickering in pitch-black night.
'A meteor shower is useless against the Bone-Relic Dragon.'
What he needed now, was only one star.
Verden opened his left hand.
The space of Alhena stirred, myriad stars tracing circular orbits, forming a massive current.
The swirl of starlight converged into one point.
In the darkened sky, only a single light remained in Verden's hand, flickering.
He extended his left arm slowly.
The fused star tore through space, rushing at the Bone-Relic Dragon.
[GRAAAAAAAAAH!]
Its final roar.
Sensing instinctively its end, the Bone-Relic Dragon gathered its remaining lifeforce and unleashed its breath.
A frigid exhalation, against the gray star.
What would happen when they collided, even Verden did not know.
He had no need to.
Intensification.
Adrian, conserving his strength until now, unleashed his technique.
He streaked forth, leaving violet afterimages, swinging his demonic sword with all his might.
A formless slash, speed surpassing limits.
Far above, clouds beyond Alhena split apart.
The earth too, along its vertical line, was severed.
Screeeech.
The Bone-Relic Dragon's shoulder, already fissured with hundreds of cracks, was cleaved in one blow.
Its breath lost its axis, soaring upward, while Verden's star struck its body.
And then.
Star Explosion, Supernova.
───!
A gray flash erupted.
An explosion beyond perception erased Alhena's darkness, annihilating all within its radius.
Immediately, an immense wave of force spread outward.
The stillness before the storm.
In stark contrast, trees were ripped up by the roots, the earth flipped over.
A chill ran down spines.
A knight, eyes wide, shoved down the heads of the soldiers beside him and bellowed.
"Everyone!! Downnnnnnn!!!"
All who still breathed pressed themselves desperately to the ground.
Warriors, mages, priests with strength left threw up barriers, veils, holy shields to brace against the shock.
And then the supernova's aftershock struck Sacrid.
Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwa───!
Every window in every building shattered.
Towers collapsed from mid-level upwards, crashing into the streets, even the city's inner wall cracked.
It was as if a colossal storm had struck head-on.
An eternity stretched in a heartbeat.
Fortunately, it lasted only a moment.
...
Silence descended.
A trembling adventurer cautiously lifted his head.
Others slowly raised their torsos as well.
Far off, the winter sunset gleamed.
Its golden light bathed all of Sacrid.
From the demi-humans' sudden raid at midday, until now…
Only a few hours had passed, yet it felt like an eternity.
Then, a shadow fell across their vision.
Verden—or Asher.
He descended slowly, backlit by the dusk, and touched down upon the ground.
Exhausted.
Covered in ghastly, fatal wounds.
Beneath his closed right eye, blood marked his face.
His fatigue was immense.
Verden raised his head slightly, wiped the blood and sweat from his chin with the back of his hand.
And sighed.
"…Exhausting."
The Transcendent born of death, the Bone-Relic Dragon.
Subjugation, complete.
Under countless gazes, Verden declared the end of the day.
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