novelraw Chapter 215 : The Changing History of the Continent (2)
Chapter 215 : The Changing History of the Continent (2)
Chapter 215: The Changing History of the Continent (2)
Together with the Divinity of Blessing, the goddess Zigasis was dragged into the rift.
It was because the conditions that allowed her to remain in the Middle Realm had disappeared.
At that moment, Zigasis held onto the very edge of the rift and endured.
[Do not forget! The Middle Realm will walk the Path to Destruction! It is a history made by none other than your own hands!]
At last, her figure vanished into the rift.
The rift gathered its fragments as if restoring itself to its original place and erased all traces.
“Huuk, huuk.”
Raion took deep breaths and felt a slight sense of relief.
Even so, it was not a situation where he could relax.
That was because, a short distance away in the empty air where Zigasis had disappeared, the Demon King Luseo was still there.
“So now… is only death left for me?”
With the Divinity of Blessing gone, Raion had been completely drained of mana, stamina, and even life force.
So he rotated his aura circle and began by recovering his stamina.
Huuuuuu……!
As the wind turned toward Raion, natural mana flowed into him.
At that moment, the Demon King Luseo, who had been floating in the air, landed on the ground with a loud noise.
Koo-woong―!
“You have thrown away, with your own hands, the opportunity humans call hope.”
It was a lofty yet heavy voice.
While kneeling on one knee and recovering his stamina, Raion heard that voice and lifted his head.
“Did you think I would offer myself as a sacrifice?”
“Is that not what humans are? The owner of this body was the same.”
The owner of the body the Demon King had taken—Emperor Lapis Dior.
Among all emperors, he had coveted power more than anyone. As a result, he had ended up like this.
“Did you seize the throne because you were born with divinity?”
“It was a dangerous power to us. But now, it has become mine as well.”
“So that is why you intend to use the Middle Realm as a sacrifice to reach the Heavenly Realm.”
The Imperial Capital was completely transforming into the land of the Demon Realm.
Because of that, even now, from the airships floating in the sky, Dike and Fordman were throwing bombs at the monsters of the Demon Realm.
Kwaaang! Kwa-kwa-kwaang!
“How truly earnest your struggle is.”
“It is to survive.”
“In the end, everything will become dust anyway…….”
What had turned him into what he was now?
Regardless of such things, Raion needed a way to stop the Demon King.
‘My stamina has recovered to some extent, but…’
“You still cannot give up struggling.”
As Luseo moved his hand, something swept over Raion.
“Kuhk!”
It was a pitch-black wind. And the attack did not end there.
The ground surged upward, transformed like the heads of a hydra, and lunged forward.
Kwaaang! Kwa-kwaang! Kwaaang!
Those heads stabbed rapidly toward the place where Raion had fallen.
“For the crime of deceiving me, Demon King Luseo Dicanderon, I shall grant you a painful death. Consider it an honor.”
The immense pressure of the Demon King, who had begun to step forward, closed in right before Raion’s eyes.
‘Is this really how it ends…? If only I had mana…!’
When Zigasis descended into the Middle Realm, she had gnawed away an enormous amount of Raion’s mana.
That was how overwhelming a being a goddess was.
Then it happened. Radiance poured in and swept into Raion’s back.
Shwaaaaaa!
A warm yet powerful energy.
It was holy power that only priests or holy knights could use.
“Who is it?”
Raion immediately turned his head.
And from far behind, he could see the Holy Emperor Francis, holy knights, and priests, all raising both hands and praying.
“When did they get here?”
With their shouted prayers of blessing, Raion’s mana surged at a tremendous speed.
“It feels a bit unsettling, like I’m getting back what was taken from me……, but this isn’t the time to worry about that!”
Raion sprang to his feet, let go of his sword, and drew a spell with both hands.
Along with the rapidly completed spell formation, the incantation followed.
“Concrete Wall!”
The spell was one, and the layered manifestation was completed by busily moving his fingers.
Kwaaang! Kwa-kwaang! Kwaaang!
Not only from the ground, but even from the air, concrete walls burst forth and flew toward the Demon King.
In an instant, the surrounding space where he stood became densely packed, like a forest formed of piles of concrete.
‘Left!’
Sensing a presence, Raion urgently twisted his body.
As if waiting for that moment, the pitch-black energy fired by Luseo grazed past his nose by a hair’s breadth.
Kwaaang!
In response, Raion rotated his aura circle with the mana he had recovered from the Holy Emperor Francis and the people of the Holy Kingdom.
Huuuuuuuu!
It felt as though a vortex was forming inside his chest.
“I won’t let you use this place as a sacrifice!”
“Do you really think so! Do you truly believe you can stop me! That is arrogance! Nothing but futile hope!”
Demon King Luseo Dicanderon was now standing atop a mountain-like pile of concrete.
From there, he swept his surroundings with eyes as cold as ice, then continued speaking.
“Kuh kuh kuh. I will show you true despair. After all, I must use this land as a sacrifice to draw them down.”
“What are you planning to do?”
In an instant, the Demon King’s energy began to expand. The surrounding air trembled violently, to the point of suffocation.
The black land, transformed into that of the Demon Realm, shook as if an earthquake had struck.
Kwa-jik! Kwa-jijijik―! Kwa-jik!
From the cracks in the shattered ground, the same pitch-black energy seen before flowed out.
The destination of that energy was the Demon King.
‘Don’t tell me… he’s absorbing the energy of the Demon Realm?’
The stronger a demon race member was, the more impossible natural recovery became in the Middle Realm.
That was because natural mana was incompatible with the bodies of the demon race.
The demon race members who had fought Raion before had been the same.
However, the land they were standing on now was no different from the Demon Realm, not the Middle Realm.
It was because of the invasion of layers.
“No one will be able to stop me. Not even if the goddess returns!”
‘Ah……, did I send her back for nothing?’
The Demon King’s energy, growing ever more massive, felt as though it were crushing the entire land beneath their feet in an instant.
“Kuhk……, faster!”
The pressure intensified even further.
In response, Raion rotated the filling mana through his aura circle at an even faster rate.
It felt as though vibrations resonated within his chest, and the density of his mana also thickened.
“I will annihilate everything here, from what exists to the very souls.”
Kugugugugu……!
Pitch-black energy spiraled up from the ground and flowed into Luseo.
As it grew ever larger, it continued to expand the air and envelop him.
For a moment, it seemed as if Luseo was being obscured, then the energy spread outward in all directions around him.
Hwaaaaak!
Through the scattering pitch-black smoke, Luseo revealed a new form.
A body that seemed to have grown twice as large, pitch-black hair flowing all the way down to his feet. Between it, three pairs of enormous dark-red wings spread wide.
Even the skin covering his entire body turned bronze, and the corners of Luseo’s mouth curled upward.
“The power of the Demon Realm……, but this alone is not enough.”
Luseo powerfully flapped his wings and soared high into the air.
At that moment, the Demon Realm land, which had briefly hesitated, expanded at an incredible speed, and the Demon Realm’s monsters burst forth even more fiercely.
“Everyone, focus your strength!”
“Protect the Holy Emperor! We must endure no matter what!”
The Holy Kingdom, which had lent its strength to Raion, hastily reformed its battle formation and fought against the Demon Realm’s monsters.
“Fight while helping them!”
“Yes.”
“Leave the rear to us!”
Jade and Calsios, who had arrived before anyone noticed, also began fighting among them.
Then, from far away, arrows and fire magic came flying in.
Shuaaaaak! Pak!
Kwa-kwaang! Kwaaang!
They had been fired by Archer Master Negis and Mage Caldein Flavan.
Waaaaaaaah!
At that moment, troops also surged out from another direction and blocked the Demon Realm’s monsters.
“The Imperial Army?”
They were the Imperial Army that had fought between the Kinazen Territory and the Gorva Territory.
Whether they had been completely persuaded or not, they staked their lives.
Amid the situation where blood sprayed everywhere, Raion clenched his teeth.
“Everyone is going this far…, is there really no way?”
The aura of Demon King Luseo continued to grow stronger.
Meanwhile, Raion also tried to draw up his energy through the aura circle.
But perhaps because he had suffered such a great shock, it did not move easily.
“For now, whether it turns into rice or porridge, I have no choice but to try.”
Raion summoned a Concrete Wall, used it as a foothold, and leapt upward. At the same time, he used the ‘Fly’ spell and the ‘Wind’ spell to increase his speed.
Shuaaaaak―!
“Are you still going to struggle?”
Even though the Demon King’s voice was far away, it sounded as clear as if it were right beside his ear. Just hearing it felt despairing.
“This land is finished. We will use it as a sacrifice to fulfill our wish.”
As his gloomy voice continued, a murky atmosphere spread rapidly in all directions.
In an instant, the sky darkened, as if night had arrived.
Not only the land, but even the sky was turning into that of the Demon Realm.
“I can’t just let myself be taken down. Since I’ve received help anyway, I might as well do this properly.”
“Do you think you can face me with such a trivial blessing?”
The holy power received from the Holy Kingdom was indeed enormous.
Thanks to that, Raion’s mana was replenished to two-thirds of its total amount.
But the opponent now was not an ordinary demon race member, but Demon King Luseo Dicanderon.
It was a situation where only the goddess stepping in might be able to stop him.
“Do you really think I’d do this without any plan?”
“At best, it will just be a cheap trick.”
“……Is that really so?”
The radiance of the aura circle—energy spun madly within his chest.
At the same time, a hot sensation began spreading through his blood vessels and out across his entire body.
“Kuhk!”
“Are you wagering your life? Just that?”
The land continued to shake as earthquakes kept erupting.
If the Demon Realm swallowed the continent like this, it would be offered up as a sacrifice.
With true resolve to die, Raion unleashed the energy of his aura circle to its maximum.
Chwaaaaak!
Perfectly transparent energy enveloped Raion’s entire body.
“Are you at least imitating the goddess’s blessing?”
After saying that, Luseo drew pitch-black energy from his fingertips and formed a greatsword similar to the one once used by Marbas, the Marquis of the Demon Realm.
“So this is how it felt to wield that child’s sword.”
“You devoured him yourself and now you’re indulging in sentimental musings?”
Shuaaaaak!
In an instant, his greatsword swung.
Kwa-kwa-kwaang!
The ground split apart and surged like waves. The shock continued at length, battering Raion’s torso.
“Keugh―!”
Chwaaaaaaaaaa! Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaak!
Even though Raion hurriedly raised his sword to block, he was blown away.
Only after his barely braced feet tore up the ground completely did he manage to stop.
“That was the place we were meant to ascend to. And yet a mere human obstructed it! And one who was the goddess’s loyal hound, at that! Ah, or is that no longer the case?”
He was speaking of Raion.
Letting out a low, suppressed sound, Raion opened his eyes wide.
“Not a goddess—a parasite.”
It might have been blasphemy. However, Raion had nearly been used thoroughly.