Chapter 329
“Hah. Hah…”
Clemens, who had collapsed between the crumbling castle walls.
As she brushed off the dust, her red eyes slowly began to take in her surroundings.
The completely destroyed castle walls. Soldiers lying around, either dead or unconscious. A massive hole blasted towards the Central Church’s main building.
But what was most incomprehensible was the huge battle raging outside the walls between the Altifes.
Kooouuuung—!
The tremor was so immense and chilling that Clemens almost fell to her knees.
With a spear as her staff, she struggled to support herself. As she cautiously surveyed the devastated castle walls, she spotted a corpse.
“…”
She rubbed her eyes and bit her lip.
But nothing changed. The world she inhabited was not a nightmare. Rather, it was a miserable reality where it might be better to just end it all right now.
“…Hic!”
Before she could lose herself again at the thought of her father’s death, Clemens’ body tensed up.
She felt an overwhelming mana emanating from the Central Church. The mana of Bael, the ultimate predator.
She didn’t know since when, but it seemed that Bael had already reached the church’s center.
“Hah, hah…!”
Her breath grew increasingly labored. Clemens felt a torment as if someone was squeezing her heart tightly.
The extreme fear etched into her body tightened around her.
Kneeling under the pressure she couldn’t overcome, Clemens was on the verge of taking drastic actions in front of her father’s headless corpse when—
“Wow, you’ve turned into quite the pathetic sight. I almost didn’t recognize you and walked right past.”
A woman’s voice rang out.
The voice, infused with the cold essence of night, didn’t feel all that unfamiliar.
“I was planning to repay you for everything when we met again… but at this rate, I guess that won’t be possible…”
The woman, with hair reminiscent of soft moonlight and skin as pale as a corpse, could easily be mistaken for a soul-stealing witch.
The spirit summoner, once connected to Clemens, stood amidst rubble.
“How does it feel to lose your family right in front of you? Isn’t it more horrifying than you imagined?”
“…Francesca.”
Spirit Summoner Francesca.
The gifted individual who had disappeared since the Academia’s festival had finally emerged back into the world.
Her unexpected appearance and the surprising situation made Clemens open her mouth to speak, but Francesca interrupted her first.
“We don’t have time for long conversations, so get your wits about you and let’s move.”
“Are we not setting up right away?”
* * *
“Ugh… ack. Guh.”
The main building of the Central Church, shattered to pieces. There stood Bael.
“Tsk. Gah….”
Liam hung by his neck in Bael’s grip, still clutching his sword, though half of it had long been blown away.
Liam’s legs flailed in the air. His breath was almost gone.
“Two souls, huh? Just like someone who’s read the scripture.”
In Bael’s eyes, which seemed to hold the universe, both Liam’s soul and body were visible.
Having two souls in one body was usually impossible. Even Vargan, who was considered to have comprehended the scripture, couldn’t fathom such a phenomenon existing twice in one era.
This fact kept the thread of life holding Liam precariously, but Bael soon lost interest even in that.
It was a bit curious, but a human about to die was like dust.
What mattered was another person who should be here.
“Before the war starts, the Holy Emperor seems to have hidden away his precious one… You lot are bothering me again.”
Bael tightened his grip on Liam’s neck.
Yet, he didn’t kill him right away. Perhaps this young hero might know the location of the Holy Emperor, so he needed to examine his memories.
“Gh… uh….”
Liam had already spent all his strength. Trying to shake off Bael’s hand was impossible.
Bael’s hand rested atop Liam’s head. Liam continued to struggle, rolling his eyes to search for a way out.
“Is there really no way to turn this situation around…? Are there no allies left to fight…?!”
Arha and Erlich, who had been his teammates, lay unconscious.
Gaba, who had been in close combat, was torn apart and dead, and Leon stood there, hands completely crushed, his muscles paralyzed.
Arterion lay on the ground, seriously injured, spitting up blood.
Nearby, Erica was gasping for breath, but her heartbeat was dangerously unstable.
“…I can’t end like this.”
Ferangis, who had used spirit magic, disappeared from the world along with her spirits.
Furthermore, the stench of blood emanated from numerous soldiers and the corpses of heroes.
Emily, who used to perform miracles for all of them, was now half-decayed and couldn’t move.
“I can’t just die like this…!”
Liam fought harder to survive.
Even in a situation where he could barely move a finger, he tried to muster his mana to resist.
However, a gentle breeze couldn’t possibly extinguish a whirlwind.
“Show me.”
“Guh…!”
Liam’s face contorted further.
In a brief moment, Bael saw all of Liam’s memories laid bare.
“…Today is full of surprises.”
Through Liam’s memories, Bael glimpsed another world that didn’t exist here.
A realm teeming with science and technology instead of magic.
The form of this world was merely a pastime in their world.
And the timeline of the original work Liam had read.
The myriad of information that flooded into Bael’s mind conveyed an unpleasant truth, but it did not stir the cold rage that simmered within him.
In contrast to the past, when the original Vargan, possessed by a spirit, had raged about being mere entertainment for the gods, Bael’s reaction was quite different.
It seemed that his emotions had burned away long ago, leaving only ashes behind.
“Though it holds no meaning, it was indeed a surprising fact.”
It was a fact that didn’t have much meaning but was enough to be surprising.
Thus, Bael intended to grant Liam a death free of pain in return.
“…Cough.”
Liam, on the brink of losing consciousness from repeated shocks, laid on the ground, ready to meet his death.
However, at that moment…
『…You’re quite persistent.』
A storm of red maple leaves surged towards Bael, seemingly unwilling to let it go.
Arterion, barely hanging onto life, strained to control it.
Sasa—sasa—!
Like a swarm of bugs gnawing on their prey, it was intense yet precise, aimed solely at Bael.
The Swordmaster Arterion was risking his life right here.
“Liam…! Don’t lose consciousness!”
The first Protagonist shouted. The sword he managed to lift radiated a deeper aura than ever before.
“We didn’t come here to die! We came here to carve out the hearts of those monsters who regard humanity as mere livestock! Have you forgotten that fact!”
“……”
“Liam!”
“…I know… I know well.”
Liam’s heartbeat was fierce.
He spoke, grasping onto consciousness.
“I… I know very well.”
With all his might, Liam forced his blurred vision back into focus.
Liam, the original Protagonist, did not give up.
He had shed his past self; he was practically a different person from when he first possessed the novel, having fought against numerous frustrations and fears to reach this point.
Staggering, Liam got back on his feet.
The two Protagonists stood facing their common enemy, Bael, with their toes lined up.
Both of them were already battered and bruised. The sword edges were dulled, and one even had a large chunk missing.
Even so, they remained unfazed, analyzing the situation.
“Liam… I’m holding him with my aura to buy us some time, but it won’t last much longer.”
“…That’s true. We’ve thrown ourselves into this, and we still haven’t dealt a single lethal blow.”
Liam gasped for breath, still short of air, spitting out the blood that had pooled in his mouth.
His heart was squeezing itself past its limits, like an athlete in the final stretch of a race.
Arterion, too, intuitively realized this final struggle would be his last, drawing out mana to the point of overload as he spoke.
“So, your maximum technique and my maximum technique. I plan to shove both of them into one spot.”
“Shove it in…? That doesn’t sound like something a Prince would say.”
Liam chuckled, the tension that had dulled his body easing a little.
“Isn’t being a Hero about disregarding rank?”
“That’s true… Wow, thinking about it brings back memories. Who would’ve thought I’d spend my last moments with the Protagonist?”
The bodies of both were already beyond the acceptable limit.
Even if they succeeded in inflicting fatal damage to Bael, the moment they used their techniques, Bael would undoubtedly retaliate, leaving no escape from death.
Liam recalled someone who had always been a nuisance and muttered to himself.
“If ‘that guy’ had been here… things might have turned out a bit better.”
However, pondering on someone with unclear motives was pointless.
Liam focused entirely on Bael, clearing his thoughts.
Cha—chack—!
Chwa-hak—!
The maple leaves of Arterion, unable to withstand Bael’s mana, crumble into dust and disperse.
In the midst of this, Bael’s body appears to be in a state where all damage has been completely healed as if he just finished treatment.
3… 2….
The two silently counted the rapidly dwindling candle in their hearts.
Without exchanging a word about the timing, they understood now that they had surpassed their limits.
The instant the candle burns out, they will unleash their technique towards Bael’s heart.
Like a flickering candle about to extinguish, everything will be consumed in flames.
‘Sorry, Emily.’
A message conveyed from Liam’s subconscious. A simple, pure statement was his last will.
* * *
“Tsk, tsk. These youngsters still have plenty of days left to live, yet they’re hastening their own demise.”
Liam and Arterion, who had prepared for death.
Just before their swords could strike, something unknown enveloped Bael and soared away, followed by a cloud crashing down from above.
A cloud with impossible mass and speed.
An old man manipulating the cloud.
With a unique appearance reminiscent of a celestial being, the old man smiled broadly.
“Liam, you foolish boy. Do you think I brought you to the Soul Forge Hall just to die a dog’s death outside?”
The old man’s identity was Kanilisk, one of the Twelve Divine Beasts. Liam was taken aback by the unexpected appearance of this figure.
“W-what are you doing here….”
“Finn. That darn brat wouldn’t fetch my cloud, so I came here myself for a stroll. It’s lonely on my own, so I brought along those who were about to leave.”
Kwa-ja-ja-ja-jak—!
Just as Kanilisk finished speaking, the surrounding terrain changed dramatically.
An ice dragon charged at Bael, exhaling extreme cold.
“Frikkanrisk…!”
It was Liam’s first time seeing her in person, but since there was no other ice dragon, he immediately recognized who it was.
Alongside her, six divine beasts swiftly joined the fray, launching fierce attacks on Bael.
Among them were the griffon he had only seen as a statue back at Academia, and Seiman, famous as the owner of Seiman Gorge and a symbol of luck.
Liam urgently asked Kanilisk.
“Did you bring so many of the Twelve Divine Beasts with you, Kanilisk-nim?”
“You fool. I told you—I just came along with those who were about to leave.”
“T-then who in the world….”
“Exactly. I want to ask how this happened too.”
Kanilisk chuckled, stroking his beard.
He continued, saying that it was his first time seeing so many divine beasts gather in one place.
“Not everyone is here yet. We still have a while to go. Hee-hee-hee.”
Gu-gu-gu-gu-gung—!
A tremor resonated from the north, shaking the entire earth.
Countless familiars and Altifes rushed in like bloodthirsty beasts. Hooded white skeletons clanked as they ran in full gear.
And at the very front was a massive bone dragon.
Though it was enough to capture everyone’s attention, what Liam and Arterion focused on was the man riding the bone dragon.
Seeing such an outrageous spectacle, Liam unconsciously whispered the name.
“Vargan….”
Executor Vargan.
Arriving on the battlefield with approximately 350,000 familiars, 150,000 monsters, 100,000 moderate Altifes, and 100,000 modified Altifes, along with the ten divine beasts that had spread across the world.
