Chapter 427: The Savior of Death (3)

Tesranach continued to press Karnak’s group with indiscriminate bombardment.

Varos clicked his tongue while weaving through the explosions.

—Honestly, I have no idea what we’re supposed to do here.

They had been circling Tesranach while searching for an opening. But even after landing several hits, none had dealt any meaningful damage. With such an overwhelming difference in size, it was less a battle and more like insects buzzing around, trying to bite a human.

Dodging another explosion, Serati called out.

—You fought the dragon emperor before, didn’t you? What did you do back then?

—This is the strategy we used!

—What?

—We fought like this and lost!

The one who had defeated the dragon emperor was Karnak only after he had become Astra Shunaph.

Ah... that’s not helpful at all.

It was, in any case, a dire situation. Facing him head-on offered no chance of victory. Yet retreating wasn’t much better either. If they turned their backs and focused only on fleeing, they wouldn’t be able to dodge the attacks in time.

Staring at the approaching colossal dragon, Karnak frowned. Damn it... what do we do?

Once more, a cluster of magical light gathered above Tesranach's horns. Countless magic circles intertwined with darkness, spewing a chaotic radiance of destruction. “Die, destroyer of spacetime!”

Just as the massive flash was about to engulf Karnak and everything around him, a brilliant golden wave suddenly struck Tesranach's left side.

Varos’s eyes widened in shock. That swordsmanship...!

Ninety-nine golden blades flowed across the sky, striking the dragon’s massive body in succession. The force was tremendous, enough to make the enormous dragon’s body tremble slightly.

Thanks to that, Tesranach's aim faltered just enough for the black beam to strike the ground instead, triggering a massive explosion. Through the towering blast, a man burst forth.

—Is everyone alright?

Though he was far away, his face was still recognizable. Serati and Karnak stared in astonishment.

“Sir Leven?”

“What? When did he become a martial king?”

And that wasn’t all. From the opposite side, another magnificent golden slash flew in and struck Tesranach!

Kretas Swordsmanship, Starflower Beckoning!

This time, Tesranach was prepared and blocked it without much difficulty, but he could not stop its wielder from joining Karnak’s group. Drel, cloaked in golden aura, landed on a rooftop across from them. Behind him, Milia followed in her angelic form.

“Good heavens.”

“Sir Drel too, golden aura?”

“What happened? Both of them?”

Standing on the rooftop, Leven and Drel met each other’s gaze.

Could it be that Sir Drel was in the same situation?

It seems Sir Leven has realized it too.

No long explanation was needed. From each other’s expressions alone, they could tell what had happened. Of course, that understanding was limited to Leven and Drel.

The others had no idea what was going on.

—What on earth happened, Milia?

—I don’t know either, Lord Karnak. He just... suddenly became a martial king!

In any case, it was a stroke of fortune. With two additional martial kings, they might finally stand a chance. On a whim, Karnak glanced toward the far side of the capital.

—What about Malican Thun? Did he not become a martial king?

***

The slash of Malican Thun, Martial King of Caelum, tore through the air.

Tenebrae Art, Scorched Nightmare!

Silver Knight Malican Thun swung his blade in response.

Tenebrae Art, Scorched Nightmare!

The identical techniques collided midair. Unsurprisingly, it was the present-day Malican who was thrown back. Malican was holding on, but that was all he could do. It couldn’t be helped. Unlike Leven or Drel, he lacked the experience to reach the realm of the golden blade.

Leven and Drel had steadily honed their skills through battles against powerful foes. And not only that, Karnak had continuously supplied them with aura, and Varos had trained them through frequent sparring sessions.

Malican Thun, on the other hand, had only joined them a few weeks ago. No amount of last-minute cramming could allow him to catch up to those who had steadily advanced, even with their unorthodox methods.

Ah, I feel like I almost get it... almost—!

***

There was no news, so Leven abandoned his hopes. It seems Sir Malican isn’t quite there yet.

It didn’t seem likely they could expect support from Lapicel or Dios either. Though the distance was great and he couldn’t be certain, he could still faintly sense the aftershocks of their ongoing battle. The same went for Batalok, who was facing Giyen Ren.

The reason was simple. Their opponents were not martial kings, but archmages. It was not that the future archmages were any less heroic than the future martial kings. It was simply a fundamental difference between sword and magic. A sword could be swung unconsciously, but magic could not be cast that way.

—Let’s go, Sir Leven.

—Yes, Sir Drel.

The two moved behind Tesranach and began launching their golden blades. Though he was a five-hundred-meter dragon, that referred to his total length from head to tail. Being a quadruped, his head rose only about a hundred meters high, and his shoulder height was barely fifty.

Of course, those were hardly small measurements, but it was within striking range of martial kings.

Delphiad Swordsmanship, The Sword King’s Strike!

Kretas Swordsmanship, Celestial Thunder!

Varos and Serati seized the opportunity and joined in, attacking from front and rear.

Reversal Blade, Severance of Life and Death!

Twilight Swordsmanship, Sunset!

Milia, too, darted about tirelessly, unleashing volleys of spears of light. Brilliant flashes turned into destructive explosions, erupting all across Tesranach's massive body. Thunderous roars shook both sky and earth.

Unleashing magic circles and necromantic arrays once more to counter with carpet bombardment, Tesranach frowned. “You insect-like wretches...”

He remained planted firmly on all fours, relying solely on magic and necromancy for offense. He did not strike with his claws or fangs, like a typical dragon.

He was simply too large. It wasn’t merely a metaphor when he called them insects. Compared to Tesranach's size, Karnak’s group truly were no more than bugs. Just as insects could hardly bring down a human, a human could not easily catch an insect with bare hands, especially if that insect was faster and more agile than a human.

If his opponents were ordinary humans, a single sweep of his massive tail would be akin to a landslide. But the humans before him were all martial king-level monsters. They were capable of leaping over actual landslides.

If one couldn’t catch an insect by hand, one would resort to poison or a flyswatter. Tesranach's relentless bombardment had been the equivalent of spraying insecticide. The problem was that these were exceptionally resilient insects.

Not only did they dodge well, they struck back just as fiercely!

“O darkness, flow upon the light and become the radiance of annihilation!” Karnak’s chaos magic crossed hundreds of meters and struck Tesranach's long neck. A faint groan escaped him.

Pain spread throughout his enormous body. It wasn’t lethal, but it did hurt. More importantly, if he exposed an opening and lost track of the true target he needed to eliminate, things would become troublesome.

Tesranach considered his options. What should I do...?

If poison failed, then a flyswatter would suffice. But he had no subordinates left to act as that flyswatter. Leven Strauss and Dreltein Thelix had already fallen. Malican Thun and the three archmages were all tied up.

Most of the fallen popes had been lost. Some had even ascended, leaving no souls behind. The few remaining ones, like Rigail, were also occupied.

For a brief moment, Tesranach was taken aback. Looking more closely, there was one fallen pope who was doing nothing at all. Jedex? Why is he the only one just standing idle?

He didn’t understand, but it was an opportunity.

—By your master’s command! Come, Jedex!

***

A massive pillar of light erupted over the ruined capital, and a giant of light, dozens of meters tall, rose to its feet. A deep, resonant roar shook the blood-red sky. Leven’s face turned pale. He had seen this before. This was Jedex’s Incarnation of Divinity, the Black Sun.

Wait, but that thing used to be only around five meters tall...

The giant before them was easily fifty meters in height. Tesranach’s command had reached him across space.

—Dispose of them!

The giant of light split apart, scattering into countless fragments of radiance. Hundreds of fragments turned into hundreds of flashes and flew between Leven and Drel. The streams of light gathered upon the ground, reforming into the shape of a giant.

In an instant, the giant of light surged right before them and opened its maw wide. A beam of immense heat shot forth, aimed at Leven. Startled, Leven hurled himself aside. The flash narrowly missed him and struck the earth.

A massive explosion erupted, sending clouds of smoke billowing upward. Having barely evaded it, Leven broke into a cold sweat. W-what kind of power is that...?

The giant wasn’t merely larger in size. Originally, Jedex’s Black Sun had not been particularly strong compared to a martial king. Even back then, it had not been difficult to defeat once the older Lapicel awakened.

Now, it’s at least twice as strong.

There was no way this was Jedex’s own power. Tesranach was clearly channeling his strength directly through him. Once more, the giant of light fired a beam, this time targeting Drel. Drel calmly dodged and counterattacked. His golden blade carved a long gash across the giant’s thigh.

It struck cleanly. The impact was solid. Light-blood sprayed as the giant staggered for a moment. But it did not fall. Its scattered body of light regenerated instantly. The giant fired another blast.

Leven and Drel had both reached the realm of martial kings. They undoubtedly possessed the power to defeat a giant dozens of meters tall. But they lacked the power to bring it down in a single blow.

No matter how skilled a lumberjack, one could not fell a massive tree in a single strike. It required repeated, precise blows of the axe. However, just how many golden blades would it take to bring down that towering giant?

Watching Leven and Drel locked in battle with the giant of light, Karnak muttered a quiet curse. “Damn it, to think Jedex would become a problem at this point.”

Perhaps that was why people said one should live honestly. When you patched things together with deceit and trickery, it came back to bite you like this. Because of it, the two who had just awakened as martial kings were tied down once more. The slim chance of victory they had glimpsed vanished.

“No matter how you struggle, it is useless.” Tesranach's voice boomed like thunder from above. “You are evil.”

The five-hundred-meter dragon advanced toward Karnak once more. “Evil must pay its price.”