Atonement (5)
Crackle!
The robe tore apart.
Whoosh―!
A chilling sound sliced through the air, brushing past Felber’s ears.
He glanced down at the torn shoulder of his robe. It wasn’t just any ordinary garment he wore.
It was a defensive artifact, passed down through generations to the tower master of Elgaia’s Magic Tower, as valuable as any ancient relic.
The robe converted residual magical energy from spells into a protective shield, offering defense that could rival a fortress, depending on the user.
“You’re hesitating, wizard.”
The vampire count sneered, baring his sharp fangs.
“Are you afraid of death?”
“Not in the slightest.”
There was no point in exchanging words with a vampire. The resonance from his dragonbone staff shook the ground.
“Elle― Tulia Akulor!”
Rumble…!
A golden barrier enveloped the area, amplifying the magic.
The ground split open, and massive golems emerged.
A colossal rhinoceros snorted as it rose. A muscular warrior stepped forward, wielding a sword and shield.
A two-headed serpent bared its fangs menacingly, while an angelic figure with a spear soared into the sky, its four wings flapping majestically.
Thud, thud, thud…!
The earth trembled under the weight of the gigantic figures, capable of crushing a small village in an instant.
At the end of their relentless charge, the vampire count raised his hand nonchalantly.
His lips moved.
“Temomron. Orb.”
Boom─!
A shockwave swept through the rhino golem.
The golem shattered into pieces, scattering in the air.
Swoosh!
Bone-crafted spears rained down like a storm, halting the warrior with the sword and shield.
A massive skeletal hand appeared behind the count, snatching the diving angel golem like an eagle catching its prey.
“Interesting.”
The vampire count tilted his head, intrigued.
“Magic of the Earth Dragon. The news of that arrogant lizard’s death was quite fascinating.”
Crunch!
Two skeletal hands gripped the angel golem and tore it apart.
“Did you inherit its remains? A blacksmith who can work with dragonbone in this era is indeed surprising.”
Even as he leisurely observed the bisected golem, the count effortlessly conjured dozens of spells with a mere wave of his hand.
Ghostly hands emerged from the ground, clutching the golems’ ankles. Rotten entrails wrapped around their limbs.
Spiders crawled out of the lion-headed golem’s eye sockets, and leech-like creatures on the golems’ backs drained their magical energy instead of blood.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
Amidst the golem army, the count deflected a barrage of stone spears, creating a path of bones to walk on with ease.
A battle where offense and defense were clearly divided. Yet, the one defending held the upper hand.
Despite the count’s relaxed demeanor, Felber’s face was drenched in sweat, revealing the truth.
“Why do you fight alone? If you die opposing me, won’t your comrades outside mourn?”
The count spoke, closing the distance. His words, though not at full strength, seemed to cunningly probe Felber’s mind.
Felber frowned deeply and replied.
“Do you suggest I die with my comrades? That’s not going to happen.”
It was a sly trick.
A ploy to use his comrades as bait to escape the barrier’s power.
“The Hand of the Rewinding Earth”
“Temporal Isolation”
The golden barrier surrounding the area isolated the count from the sphere of vengeful spirits he had summoned.
A grand barrier, twisting his domain that manipulated time lines to its fullest extent.
It subtly distorted the timeline within, conceptually separating the inside from the outside.
‘If I release the barrier, he’ll regain control over the sphere of vengeful spirits. And then it’s over.’
The core of the centuries-old vampire’s psyche was a conglomerate of countless vengeful spirits.
A massive gray sphere, forged from thousands, even tens of thousands of spirits.
It wasn’t hard to imagine how powerful a weapon that sphere would become in the hands of a sixth-tier vampire who had opposed the empire for centuries.
That was why Felber, prepared for death, had trapped both the count and himself within the barrier.
Either way, the odds of victory were nearly zero, but at least this way, he could buy some time.
‘If only the Earth Dragon were here, it would have been easier…!’
Just before the battle with the count, the Earth Dragon, who had helped Siena and the others deal with the vampires, suddenly vanished.
Considering the disappearance of the snowy mountain scenery, it seemed Dalen’s domain had been sealed, and she had returned as well.
If the high-ranking Earth Dragon, one of the top-tier sixth-tier beings, had been present, the battle would have surely tilted in their favor. But now, it was all irrelevant.
“What a pity.”
From across his thoughts, the vampire count sighed softly.
“I intended to end it without pain. But it seems that’s not possible.”
His hands began to move faster.
No longer random gestures, but precise and meaningful hand signs.
As the hand signs continued, ominous blood-red symbols etched themselves in the air, and a massive rift formed behind the count.
Rumble…!
What emerged was a colossal ghost ship.
The ghost ship, which had vanished after being torn apart on the snowy mountain peak, now sailed across the wilderness in its full form.
[Open all cannons. Crush the barrier and the wizard.]
Inside the barrier, the count’s full voice resonated.
Swoosh!
Arrows rained down like a storm from the deck.
Boom! Boom!
The ship’s sides unleashed volleys of deathly spheres.
Relentless firepower battered the barrier, while the taut sails pushed the ghost ship to its limits.
Whoosh─!
The massive skull-shaped ram began to collide directly with the barrier.
Below, Felber sensed his limits approaching.
Swish!
A bone arrow grazed past.
His robe, now little more than rags, tore further, and blood trickled down his outstretched arm.
A glance revealed his skin already turning a sickly blue.
Though his immortality as a dragon’s servant resisted, the necrotic poison concentrated by the sixth-tier necromancer was a deadly toxin that even tainted that.
’…I’m not afraid of dying.’
He was sincere. It was something he had accepted the moment he isolated the count and himself within the barrier.
After all, he was already a man who had died once.
Long ago, he had turned back the timeline of the Azure Scale, and as a result, suffered irreversible physical collapse.
‘But I was given a second chance.’
It was Dalen who saved him as he lay dying.
The one foretold by the Well of Reversal.
A regressor who never gave up despite hundreds of attempts.
Having witnessed the traces of Dalen’s life, Felber accepted becoming a servant.
Since that day, he had crossed countless fierce battlefields, never once regretting his choice.
Today was no different.
Even if he were to die here, he had no regrets.
If he could contribute to fulfilling the mission that had driven him tirelessly for over a thousand years.
In the final cycle, after hundreds of repeated lives, if his sacrifice could help prevent the end.
[…Old…man…!]
Perhaps because he was prepared for death.
A voice, broken and intermittent, pierced his mind.
Felber focused his thoughts. The voice became slightly clearer.
[…Old man?]
‘Dalen?’
[Damn it. Finally, a proper connection.]
‘Dalen, is that you? Are you hurt…’
[Yes, it’s me, old man. I’m fine, so release the domain immediately.]
A low, deep voice. A tone that seemed brusque at first.
‘It really is you.’
Perhaps it was a momentary connection, taking advantage of the weakened barrier as the ghost ship rammed it with its ram.
It was hard to believe it was mere coincidence in that fleeting moment.
More likely, Dalen had sent his voice through the barrier, distorted by the timeline, until it reached him.
Despite his emotionless tone and rough demeanor, Dalen was someone who cared for those around him.
Who would have thought that the mercenary who had tried to take his hand with an axe at the Magic Tower Union branch in the labyrinth city would end up saving his life multiple times?
Fate was a strange thing.
For better or worse.
Felber stifled a laugh and looked up. Dalen’s voice carried a hint of curiosity.
[Old man, have you finally gone senile? Why are you suddenly laughing like a fool…]
‘No, it’s nothing. I’ll release the domain.’
With trembling hands, Felber formed a hand sign. The golden barrier began to fade.
Was it because he had lost too much blood, or had the necrotic poison reached his brain?
In the numbing silence, it felt as though the maniacal laughter of the vampire count echoed in his ears.
“Heh heh! You should have done that sooner! So, you do value your life, wizard! I’ll save you for last!”
Even as his vision quickly faded into darkness, Felber couldn’t help but let out another laugh.
This time, it was a clear, mocking laugh.
‘What a load of nonsense…’
[…What did you say?]
‘Did I hear that right?’
Dalen instinctively touched his ear, unsettled by Felber’s last words that lingered in his mind.
He shook his head. There was no need to dwell on it.
Felber seemed on the verge of losing consciousness, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he had spoken nonsense.
Surely, he didn’t mean it. That was enough for Dalen.
[…Wow.]
Beside him, the azure dragon Akasha was repeatedly expressing awe with a dazed look.
The barren wasteland was littered with the bones of humans and beasts alike.
These were the same bones that had been animated just moments ago, rising again and again no matter how many times they were killed and shattered, relentlessly attacking with teeth and blades.
But now, they were nothing more than fragments. This dramatic change had been triggered by a single, simple command.
[Return.]
Just minutes earlier, Dalen’s voice had carried that command.
As soon as the words left his lips, the undead army that had blanketed the area crumbled into decaying bone fragments.
‘It certainly exceeded my expectations.’
Though he didn’t show it, Dalen was just as impressed.
The power left behind by the necromancer Daelum Jive surpassed anything he had imagined.
Perhaps he should have prepared himself more for this.
Despite having inherited countless skills and powers from the corpses he had claimed, the reward he received this time was unlike anything he had encountered since arriving on this continent.
[You have claimed the corpse of the necromancer who screamed at the end of the world. You inherit their abilities.]
[Inheritance Reward: Perception +9, Intelligence +8, Magic +11, King of the Undead (S)]
Instead of the usual array of unique skills granted by the corpses of transcendents, he received a single skill: “King of the Undead.”
It was his first S-rank skill, surpassing even the “Blood of the Crimson Dragon.”