Chapter 235 - Dragon Demon General (5)
Kieren looked at the situation below, and he smiled.
‘It went as planned!’
Everything had gone as planned. Reshoo’s appearance had been a surprise, but Azell’s side had taken such variables into consideration.
“Koohk……!”
Reshoo had to retreat. At that moment, the magical energy in Kieren’s hand was so massive that even Reshoo was afraid. It was unknown as to how much destruction such a large amount of magical energy could cause, and he had no plans on finding it out. Reshoo didn’t need to clash against the spell to know that the result would be horrific.
A wave of heat started to overtake those that were running away.
Gwah-gwahng! Kwah-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa……!
This phenomena made them run harder. However, it wasn’t a phenomena created by Kieren.
Niberis detonated a spell that she had prepared beforehand. She had purposefully detonated the Round Table of Cursed Demons to create a massive wave of heat. The power of Reygus’ Soul Hammer added earthquake to the fire. The attack spread outwards.
If this move was pulled off in the middle of a city, the humans within the city would have been wiped out. It was a calamitous attack. The Demon King worshippers were desperately running away, so Reshoo was the only one capable of asking the question.
‘What the hell? What are they aiming for?’
Reshoo hadn’t stopped running away. If the horrifying amount of Kieren’s magical energy was added to this attack, something unimaginable might happen.
However, Reshoo felt that something was off.
Why hadn’t Kieren immediately attacked them?
A massive cloud of dust had risen up thanks to the earthquake, so Reshoo couldn't see the answer to his question.
The blood of the Infinite Beast had risen up into the sky, and it had been swallowed up by the Bleeding Star.
Finally, Kieren activated his magic.
-Extreme Extinction!
The Bleeding Star possessed incredible amount of Mana. The ball of blood started to burn white starting from its center.
As the magical energy combusted, the pressure reached its max. Finally, an extreme destructive event occured as the Infinite Beast was erased from this world.
7
Earlier.
After Yuren sacrificed himself to save his party, Azell’s party learned something new.
Carlos had handed a magic tome to Laura, and it detailed the process in which a magician could recreate the Extreme Extinction.
Carlos hadn’t put any safeguards on the magic tome when it came to Laura. She could read everything within it. However, there were hidden contents within the book, and it was released when Yuren had died. It seemed Carlos had been wary of Yuren’s identity to that extent.
When she found out this truth, Laura thought hard on it, and she came to a decision. She wanted to teach Extreme Extinction to Niberis. Laura had to convince her party.
Her party didn’t react too favorably to her suggestion.
Leticia expressed her discomfort with the idea.
“I was willing to help her, but…. I do not think I can trust her. You are asking too much of us.”
It was the same for Kairen.
“Extreme Extinction is a secret card that Atein must never attain. It is a technique, yet a big sacrifice is needed to use it. That is why we’ll only use it when absolutely necessary. Even if Niberis decided to go against Atein, will she really be able to sacrifice her Dragon Demon weapon in the process?”
He had to come up with the battle plan, so he tried to look at the situation from a cold and logical point of view.
Carlos had used the Extreme Extinction technique through his magic tome. He had developed it further after he used it against Belrun and Iksseru. The prerequisite was much less onerous than before.
However, the fact that one had to sacrifice a Dragon Demon weapon in order to use it hadn’t changed.
Arrieta let out a sigh.
“I can’t separate my emotions from my answer in regards to this problem. I’ll bow out.”
Arrieta didn’t know much about Niberis. That is why she didn’t have much to add to conversation. Moreover, she still held a huge grudge against Niberis.
The only one not to give his opinion was Azell. Azell was deep in thought before he asked a question.
“Laura, what is the reasoning behind your proposal?.”
“I’ve already told you.”
Laura’s reasoning was quite simple.
It wasn’t unreasonable to ask Reygus, Niberis and Kieren to travel together. The Guardian Shadows could be used as a means of communication. They could attack multiple locations to carry out joint operations.
However, the other groups other than Azell’s party could only be used to distract or occupy their foes. It would be better if each group had a member that was capable of dealing the decisive blow. This would allow Azell’s party to maximize their utilization.
Azell asked again.
“Give me the other reason.”
“…….”
At his words, Laura became silent. She looked hesitant as she opened her mouth.
“…I trust Niberis. It is based on my personal feeling.”
“That is enough for me. However, others might need more convincing.”
At his words, Kairen, Leticia and Arrieta looked at him in surprise. It meant Azell had faith in Laura’s opinions, and he supported her.
Laura spoke.
“I’ve watched Niberis for a long time. I’ve always hated her, but there is one truth I do know. Niberis is an idiot.”
Everyone was taken aback by her words. They thought she would make a serious argument, yet she called Niberis an idiot?
“She has an excessive amount of pride and self-respect. You can threaten her with death, yet she won’t compromise. If needed, she would throw away her life for her pride.”
Azell agreed with what was being said. When he delivered Saibein’s message, he was able to get an accurate measure of Niberis.
“Niberis that I know is like that. You’ve seen this side of her.”
“…I did.”
Leticia had rescued Niberis not too long ago by controlling the Guardian Shadows. She had gathered the nearby Guardian Shadows in one location, and she had monitored Niberis for a time. Laura had been accurate in her characterization of Niberis.
Niberis knew she might die. She knew she was making a foolish choice, yet she didn’t go down any road that she found unacceptable. She possessed an unbending pride.
Laura spoke.
“I know the risk is high. I’ll go meet her, and we can make a decision.”
Afterwards, the discussion continued on for a long time. However, they eventually decided to follow Laura’s suggestion.
8
After everything was resolved, Azell decided he needed some air, so he went out to scout the nearby region. Laura came looking for him.
“Thank you.”
“About what?”
Azell asked with a playful smile on his face. Laura felt a little bit embarrassed, so she avoided his gaze.
“…thank you for supporting my opinion.”
“I only agreed, because I thought it was a decent idea. However, I have a remaining question left.”
“What is it?”
“Why did you have that idea in the first place?”
At its surface, Laura’s suggestion seemed to have a rational reasoning behind it. However, Azell could see that there was clearly an emotional component to her decision. It existed beneath the surface. Even if she considered Niberis to be a trustworthy person, she wouldn’t have come up with the idea of letting Niberis learn the Extreme Extinction without an emotional component to it.
When Azell pointed this out, Laura looked off into the distance for a brief moment before she answered him.
“Niberis and I share the same burden.”
“Same burden?”
“It is such a large burden that I can’t live my life without resolving it.”
There was a nostalgic look in her eyes as Laura thought about her past. Both of them had been born and raised in the Plain of Darkness where madness reigned.
The two of them lived their lives as tools, and they were constantly reminded as to why they had to live such lives. Their lives were being dominated by the mythos of the Dragon Demon King Atein.
At an early age, Laura decided to walk her own path.
It was different for Niberis.
When Atein chose to reject the ways of the Plain of Darkness, Niberis could have chose to support Atein.
However, Niberis didn’t choose to go down this path. She broke through the madness that had kept her penned in, and she decided to make her own future.
From this point on, Laura felt a sense of kinship with Niberis.
“We have to see this fight to the end. Only then we can think about how we’ll live our future lives.”
Laura’s life was a series of fight. She had been a tool that was used to fight the world. She was groomed to be a weapon, and she had kept fighting and fighting. She never had the opportunity to think about what she wanted to do with her life.
It was the same after she betrayed the Plain of Darkness to become Azell’s comrade.
She always had enemies that she had to fight.
It was the same where it was before she betrayed the Plain of Darkness or the day when Atein was revived. She was always fighting against the world.
The Plain of Darkness had been her world. Now she had to fight against them.
She had changed side, but the fact that she had to fight hadn’t changed.
However, she realized something when Atein finally revived himself. The long fight was coming to an end.
“However, I still know nothing.”
After the fight comes to an end, she had no idea what kind of life she wanted to lead. She had only been able to find the meaning in life when fighting. What was she supposed to do when her sole reason for living was gone?
“It must be the same for Niberis.”
The only meaning in life was to fight. That was why it was hard for her to imagine a world without enemies.
“Despite everything, we have to see this to the end. Then we will be able to step forward.”
Even if the future was a hellish wasteland, she had to see this to the end. Afterwards, she will able to start her life anew.
Azell had been silent as he listened to her. He opened his mouth.
“…I’m surprised.”
“Why?”
“Your story is surprisingly similar to mine.”
Azell looked sheepish as he laughed.
Laura’s story surprisingly made him think of the days when he held similar sentiments. From Azell’s perspective, this fight was like settling an old debt.
He had been thrown into the future, so Azell’s soul still felt stuck in the past. If he didn’t settle this, he would never be able to move forward.
“Still, I’m better off in one aspect. I have something I have to do after I finish my fight.”
“What is it?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? I’ll establish the County of Karzark. I’ll wipe away it bad name. I’ll make it so that people will want to live there once again.”
After he won the fight for the fate of the world, Azell still had plenty foes to fight. When she heard his words, Laura just looked at him as she spoke.
“…I can help you.”
“What?”
“When the fight ends, I don’t really have much to do… I am indebted to you, so I can help you.”
Her expression hadn’t changed, but she was discretely avoiding his gaze. It seemed she was embarrassed. Azell held back his laughter as he asked her a question.
“Since you are out of work, you are asking me for a job?”
“You told me that a high ranked magician like me can name a price when it comes to finding an employer. Kairen will probably hire me for a lot of money.”
Laura sounded coy. He cackled at Laura’s extremely reasonable reply.
“It is as you’ve said, magician Laura-nim. I have nothing, so I can only give you a pittance until I achieve my goal. If you don’t mind that, please help me.”
“…only if I have nothing to do.”
Laura continued to act coy until end.
9
Present time.
-It was a success.
Kayalia was the first one to realize that Kieren had succeeded in pulling off the Extreme Extinction.
She was restricted from accessing information through the Great Darkness, but it didn't matter. The being that was considered to be the pillar of the Great Darkness had been released from its seal, and it had cease to exist. Kayalia could feel it on an instinctual level.
Azell spoke.
“Kieren Baldazark is excellent. I dismissed him as being a cub….. I’ll have to apologize to him.”
Kieren hadn’t made much of an impression on Azell. He looked similar to Baldazark,and his abilities were decent. That was it.
However, Kieren had chosen to put his life on the line to follow Niberis. He chose to go against Atein. As if that wasn’t enough, he had willingly sacrificed his Dragon Demon weapon in order to strike a grievous wound against Atein’s plan.
Azell expressed his respects towards Kieren.
At that moment, he had accepted Kieren.
‘If we meet again, I’ll express my thanks to you.’
Kieren wasn’t the only one fighting for his live. Azell was also fighting for his life.
“Almarick! How long will you hide inside? You are being timid like a coward! This isn’t like you! Come out!”
Azell’s party had went to the point guarded by Almarick. Azell’s party was going all out as they aimed for the Tree god of the Balran Forest.