Blue Jet (2)
Boom—!
A thunderous crash echoed as the fortress of vines, painstakingly constructed by the witch, began to crumble at one corner.
The power that had been endlessly drawn from the magic circle, building up to a level that could elevate even a transcendent being, was abruptly cut off. It was only natural that the balance of spells and domains would falter.
Crack! Sizzle—
The collapse spread. The tightly woven branches and stems tore apart under their own weight.
An overreliance on external power had become a self-inflicted trap.
Now was the only chance to take down a transcendent being, one that rivaled a high-ranking demon.
Tap—
Running across the vine fortress, he formed a hand sign.
“Crimson Flame Pillar!”
Whoosh—!
Pillars of fire erupted from the ground, consuming the vines and leaves that blocked his path.
“Ice Crystal!”
“Bloom!”
“Clear Wave!”
As he clenched his empty left hand in the air, the falling raindrops froze, swirling into a storm.
Crash!
A whirlwind of sharp ice crystals repelled the advancing vines from all directions.
Forcing open a gap, he accelerated, leaping through the air to confront the witch directly.
Rumble…
The giant tree, carrying the witch, moved. It extended a massive arm toward the enemy threatening its master.
Snap!
Sharp branches grew rapidly, forming a dense web that could cover a building.
Faced with the choice of charging into the thorny net or retreating to gain distance, Dalen chose neither.
He charged into the net, drawing a spear from his back with his left hand.
With a swift throw, he aimed straight ahead.
“Flame Serpent!”
Fwoosh…
The special spear of Reberon transformed into the shape of a fiery serpent.
In an instant, the flame boa extended nearly ten meters, its blazing, streamlined body incinerating the thorny web and wrapping around the tree’s arm.
Groan…
The tree, its limbs tightly bound, let out a low roar. The witch, staggering on its shoulder, shouted.
[You, a mere mortal…!]
“Your lines are always the same. Who wrote this script? Bring the writer here.”
Landing on the tree’s shoulder, Dalen swung his sword.
[Ugh!]
The witch barely dodged by bending backward, but before she could regain her stance, Dalen’s shoulder slammed into her solar plexus.
[Argh!]
Crash—!
Her frail body bent like a letter, and the barrier that had enveloped the area shattered.
Dalen didn’t stop.
He swung his sword and punched with lightning speed, allowing no respite.
Building on his offensive, he left no room for the witch to recover the balance of her spells.
Even a transcendent being needed a moment to regain composure once their spell balance was completely disrupted.
Denying her that moment was the key to victory.
‘Five more minutes!’
With each breath, he swung his sword six times, calculating the time he could maintain the domain’s opening.
This was a battle against time.
One side had to endure, while the other had to bring them down.
In five minutes, the suppression of the thunder would vanish, and the vines covering the ground would recover their roots, drawing immense power from the underground magic circle.
If that happened, there would be no next chance.
Dalen and Everon would die here, and Falcion would become a sea of flames, even reaching the golden district.
Crack!
As the giant flame serpent crushed the tree’s body, Dalen thrust his sword at the staggering witch.
The witch groaned, squeezing out a spell. Dozens of tree roots sprouted from the twisted tree’s shoulder, grabbing the sword blade and twisting its path.
Snap!
The roots tightly gripped the holy sword. Without hesitation, Dalen let go of the sword.
He lunged at the witch, gasping from the strain of her spell, and grabbed her face with a rough hand.
[Ugh!]
He leaped off the tree’s shoulder, flipping his body toward the ground.
“Leap!”
Leading with the witch’s head, he drove her into the ground.
Crash—!
They smashed through the vine fortress, breaking through the greenish floor, ceiling, and pillars, landing on the stone-paved plaza below.
Boom—!
In the deep crater formed by the impact, Dalen roughly tossed the witch aside.
[Ugh!]
Her small body hit the wall and rolled. Her robe was torn to shreds, her mask and perception-distorting spell shattered.
The witch’s face was a bloody mess, but the will of a transcendent being doesn’t falter so easily.
Even as blood poured from her mouth and nose, she stood, preparing another spell. Dalen charged at her without hesitation, fist extended.
“Combined Strike: Seal!”
Thud, thud, thud!
He unleashed a flurry of blows so fast his limbs blurred. His targets were varied.
Hands. Heart. Mouth. Legs.
Every part involved in casting spells or forming hand signs was a target.
With relentless strikes that even a superhuman would struggle to react to, he sealed her ability to continue her spells.
[Ugh…]
Yet she endured.
The bark that sprouted from the air deflected blows that could easily demolish a building wall.
Spores in the air exploded at the tip of his foot, aimed simultaneously at her heart and vocal cords, disrupting his trajectory.
Though her flesh was torn and blood streamed from her eyes, nose, and mouth, the witch paid it no mind.
She even used the blood flowing from her wounds as a sacrifice, converting it into dark magic to avoid fatal injuries.
In a state where her spell balance was shattered, she endured the martial art designed solely to counter spellcasters, showcasing the resilience of a transcendent being.
‘Three minutes…!’
There wasn’t much time left to break that resilience.
[Burn to ashes and disappear! Barbarian!!]
Suddenly, the witch, who had been on the defensive, flashed her eyes.
Gathering her magic, she spread her arms wide, causing the ceiling of the vine fortress to collapse, unleashing a cascade of ashen wind.
Rumble…
With all her might, she squeezed out a spell, binding Dalen’s legs with vines.
The curse of ash that turns everything to dust. If it hit, it was as good as a death sentence, the worst of abilities.
Originally a power only passed down to the Ash Witch, it was likely a trump card she obtained from the cauldron of Enaxagus.
Inside the torrent of ashen wind pouring down like a waterfall.
“Bingo.”
Dalen grinned.
[W-What…?]
Seeing him unfazed, the witch’s eyes widened in shock. Her mouth gaped in disbelief, and this was the moment Dalen had been waiting for.
[Ugh! Huff! I-I can’t breathe! Water…!]
Ignoring the demonic noise from the subspace, madly inhaling the curse, he pierced through the ashen wind, closing in on the witch.
[A mortal wielding the Starwood…! Impossible!]
The witch screamed.
Her mind wavered, her spell faltered.
Having already lost balance once, casting both the curse of ash and binding spells simultaneously was clearly beyond her limits.
Crack!
[Aaah!]
In desperation, she ignored her own safety, tearing her limbs to extend vines and branches to block Dalen.
An extreme resistance that damaged her own body. A desperate struggle that refused to back down.
It was a glimpse into the trials she must have faced to reach her current position.
But there was no room for sympathy.
“Everon. Now.”
“I’ve been waiting!”
From the crumbling remnants of the vine fortress, twenty or so superhumans emerged, charging at the witch.
Zap!
Boom—!
Lightning poured down, shockwaves snapped branches, white flames of a single demon burned the vines, and poisoned daggers aimed for her throat.
[You wretched insects!]
“Argh!”
“Merna! I’m sorry!”
In the witch’s desperate resistance, half a dozen superhumans fell with fatal injuries.
Yet the witch’s final resistance was neutralized, and in this critical moment, that was enough.
‘Arbor.’
The immortal demon.
As he called its true name, an alien power surged from the subspace, as if waiting.
Clink—!
Chains imbued with icy coldness extended from the dozen or so openings in the air.
In the gap created after her counterattack was rendered futile.
Seizing that unguarded moment, the chains wrapped around the witch’s limbs.
[Aaah!]
The chains that once belonged to Calcas. The cold they carried was not merely physical.
The air was so cold it seemed to freeze not just magic, but even the very thoughts of those who dared to stand against it.
Under normal circumstances, the witch would have easily resisted, but in her weakened state, the chains were more than enough to bind her.
Crack!
Her limbs, transformed into vines and branches, were ensnared by chains, securing not just her arms and legs, but her entire body and head.
[Mortal! I will curse you from the depths of hell—mmph!]
Her mouth was sealed, and even her fingers were bent back, silencing her incantations and gestures.
“Stand back.”
Once the constructs of Everlon, those who had survived the witch’s resistance, retreated, Dalen stepped forward, approaching the witch with purpose.
Rumble…
A hole in the ceiling.
He gazed through it, into the sky beyond.
Dark clouds still unleashed lightning upon the earth. He lifted his gaze further.
‘Lightning isn’t confined to the clouds below.’
Between the clouds, in the vast expanse of the sky, there existed even greater bolts of lightning.
To most, it was a place of imagination, a realm few could conceive.
But in Dalen’s memory, there were moments of soaring between clouds, where even the most daring birds dared not venture.
Inside a massive airplane, seats and water bottles shook with turbulence.
How could he forget the moment when a blue streak of light connected the distant storm clouds outside the small window?
Memory transformed into vision, and vision began to reshape reality.
The holy sword, left on the fortress roof, responded to his will, once again acting as a catalyst to alter the world.
In the heart of the storm clouds above, a massive opening pierced through, connecting the earth and the sky beyond.
“Azure Thunder”
A pillar of blue lightning, as if gathering dozens of bolts, descended, reversing the shadows of the city.
Boom━━━
The world went dark, and sound was cut off.
Though brief, the indirect shock was enough to numb all of Dalen’s senses.
As his senses slowly returned, like paint splattering on a black canvas, he focused on the aftermath.
In the restored view, the witch of vines was nowhere to be seen.
”…My God.”
Everlon, who had retreated a considerable distance, let out a dry laugh. Where the witch had stood, a deep crater several meters wide remained.
Only the wisps of smoke rising from the crater and the lingering traces of magic testified to the witch’s existence.
Rumble…
The fortress of vines began to wither, losing its vitality. Even the leaves scattered on the ground dried up and crumbled.
The fate of a vision abandoned by its master was inevitable.
“Though not widely known, the witch from a thousand years ago did not die. In her final moments, she offered her body and soul to Rafilem and escaped to hell.”
The blond youth spoke, gazing at the crumbling fortress of vines.
“If she has been so thoroughly destroyed, she will never return.”
“I see.”
“In the end, her thousand-year quest for revenge has failed. Fortunate for us, I suppose.”
“Revenge, you say?”
Dalen had heard the story in passing, but he didn’t know the details.
Since arriving in this world, he had encountered such gaps in his knowledge countless times.
Despite playing through hundreds of scenarios, he didn’t know all the world’s secrets.
And as he took each step closer to the end, he realized the things he didn’t know were becoming increasingly important.
“Soon, there will be an opportunity to tell you. About our long struggle with the labyrinth and the founding of this city.”
Perhaps sensing his thoughts, the weary-faced youth smiled lightly as he spoke.
Dalen nodded. He wasn’t in a state to listen right now anyway.
His vision was narrowing, and his senses were dulling. Even his strength was less than half of what it usually was.
The exhaustion from the dissipating domain was more intense than any battle he had faced recently.
Perhaps because it wasn’t something he had achieved with his own power.
He had barely touched the edge of the fifth rank, but it was only a temporary ascent, aided by fortune, talent, and the holy sword.
To truly reach that level with his own abilities would require significant time and effort.
’…At least I know the direction I need to go.’
With the end approaching, time was limited.
The questions he had pondered upon returning from the labyrinth were becoming clearer after yet another monumental battle.
Gathering his thoughts, Dalen leaped into the crater.
By the time he pulled the holy sword from the center and climbed out, the last remnants of the vine fortress had collapsed, revealing a wide-open view.
”…”
The storm clouds were slowly parting, revealing the bare, violet sky.
The pitch-black night had passed.
Dawn was breaking.