Episode 1115
Chapter 258: The Predator of All Dimensions (5)
[Understood.]
The Immortal, Keliak, commanded even those beings humans called gods as his pawns. Through the dimensional gate appeared high-ranking deities—starting with Olta, followed by Shinu, Melzayer, Itelmion, Rikta, and others.
Dozens of phoenixes, including Belrot, Manier, and Sankish, were emerging from the portal as well. The usual order—one contract, one phoenix—obviously did not apply to Keliak.
[Gaaah…!]
[Kreeek!]
The fortunate part was that the gods’ powers seemed limited. In contrast, the phoenixes resonated with Keliak’s magic, unleashing flames far more potent than those known in this world.
“Oh, Lord Olta…”
Quikantel was frozen in shock.
“Quikantel, that’s not your Olta!” Murakan shouted. Quikantel knew it too, but instinct held her motionless.
A silver beam shot from Olta’s grasp, hurtling toward Quikantel.
No one could help her. Murakan was busy protecting their entire force, and the Changsung were fending off Keliak and his minions’ attacks.
Quikantel had to dodge on her own, but she remained rooted until the silver beam pierced her heart.
Thud…!
[Gah…!]
Blood poured from Quikantel’s mouth. Fragments of her shattered heart fell from the hole in her chest.
As a silver dragon, she would normally rewind time to delay death. But this was Olta—albeit with restricted power.
I can’t turn back time.
Though unseen, Olta’s beam bound Quikantel’s divine power.
Inevitable death approached. Memories flashed through Quikantel’s mind—mostly regrets. Not joining the Sword Demon War a thousand years ago, losing Murakan, losing Temar…
I can’t end with nothing but regrets.
But there were also memories of meeting Enya, Jin, and her comrades. And the present moment—fighting to protect the world.
A guardian dragon’s prime directive was always the safety of its contractor.
Yet now, Quikantel made a different choice.
Even if I die, someone must wield the power of time for our comrades.
Only one person could take on that role.
Enya—currently aboard the Laprarosa. Strangely, Quikantel’s voice echoed inside her mind.
“…Quikantel?!”
“Enya, the people need you.”
The power of time.
Enya felt the silver dragon’s power that Quikantel once held flooding her from within like water. Like a river, like a path, a shimmering silver stream unfolded before her eyes.
It was a river visible only to Enya, and in her gaze, only that silver current rippled. Everyone else around her stood frozen, as if time itself had stopped. Even the battlefield beyond the bridge was completely still.
Follow the path here. I’m sorry.
Instinctively, Enya realized that crossing the silver river would bring her to the Changsung’s battlefield.
She didn’t understand the mechanics, only that Quikantel’s last desperate surge of time’s power was temporarily separating them both from the flow of time in this world.
I’m coming.
Calling the contractor to the most dangerous battlefield in the world to protect their comrades.
Paradoxically, this was the way to protect Enya herself. If she missed this critical moment despite having the only power capable of aiding her allies, she would never forgive herself.
Enya sprinted down the silver river with all her might.
Time could resume at any moment, and she might lose her chance. She couldn’t let Quikantel’s desperate gift go to waste.
“Hah, huff, huff!”
Breath ragged, she ran with a single-minded determination—even if it killed her.
As soon as she crossed the silver river, the scene before her shifted: the battlefield spun wildly again, enemies swarmed, and far off lay Quikantel’s lifeless body.
“I’ll see you again later, Quikantel.”
Enya didn’t approach the corpse. She had arrived right beside Jin and Valeria.
“Enya? How—”
“Valeria! I’ll take Quikantel’s place.”
Silver magic flowed from Enya’s staff. The power of time, soft as the breeze, blended into Valeria’s blue magic.
Suddenly, Jin’s aged face began to revert. His shriveled muscles filled out, his thinning bones regained strength.
A miracle was unfolding. Everyone was burning bright like flames. Now Jin had to protect both Valeria and Enya, and the two of them had to restore all their allies afflicted by Keliak’s aging curse.
The constantly updating status window, silver and blue magic inscribed on the spear to reverse the manipulation of aging.
“Do you really think you can undo everything so easily?”
Keliak’s dry voice echoed across the battlefield.
Even as the miracle continued, it was impossible for Valeria and Enya alone to block the distortions and manipulations he unleashed.
“Ugh…!”
Shiron Runkandel was suffering the most severe aging. Yet even with his frail body, he fought on, though his limits were clear.
A cycle of aging and rejuvenation repeated every second.
Each time Keliak’s summoned gods and phoenixes saw him age, they relentlessly poured their powers and flames upon him.
Ban, Luna, and Orgal did their best to shield Keliak’s deadly strikes, but the future seemed sealed. The aging magic spread relentlessly across all the Changsung.
[Gaaah!]
Even summoning Tess to counter Keliak’s phoenixes didn’t help—they showed no fear. They dove without hesitation to tear at Tess’s throat.
“Immortal because you don’t die, phoenixes. But I’ve slain countless phoenixes before. Without the Flame Realm, you’re pitiful beings who can’t exist even a second. You’re no different, Tess.”
[You’ve conquered countless worlds but failed to claim me. Your rage is palpable. Try if you must, Keliak. Let’s see if I’m truly no different.]
Screeech!
Tess’s right wing, being bitten by the phoenixes, was sliced clean by Keliak’s beam like a blade. His own phoenixes were cut too, but it was insignificant.
The severed phoenix bodies pressed down on Tess and Jin. Their heat melted the protective shield, and Tess gasped, glaring at Keliak.
Keliak pointed to the sky.
Beyond the horizon, the Flame Realm stood proud—the land where the order of reincarnation flowed. With a wave of his hand, the sky split in two.
The Flame Realm…!
Blazing fire filled the gap, revealing Tess’s domain. Countless phoenixes yet to choose contractors and souls walking the path of reincarnation burned within.
“Your equal, Zito, was destroyed by your contractor, and now this world’s hell fails its purpose. Even your contractor succeeded, so defeating me is child’s play. See how fragile the order you’ve guarded for eons truly is.”
Crackle, crackle!
Keliak clenched his fist, crumpling the entire Flame Realm like a sheet of paper.
The path of reincarnation was severed; souls traveling it burst and scattered. Phoenixes and those still forming couldn’t even scream.
“Even Solderet and the witches believed the Flame Realm was unreachable, so they were confident. Just another common immortal daring to oppose me.”
[Gaaah!]
The collapse of the Flame Realm was like tearing apart Tess’s very essence. Her flames dimmed rapidly, and Jin felt the oppressive power shielding him from Keliak’s phoenixes weaken.
Looking back, Tess had saved Jin countless times in moments of crisis. But now, Jin could not save Tess.
[Jin! Don’t think like that.]
Tess, now shrunk to the size of a hawk, fell onto Jin’s shoulder.
“Tess…”
[Look there—golden flowers bloom even in the shattered Flame Realm. As if blossoming across the entire battlefield… That’s your power. Your influence. Proof you haven’t fallen to him! I’ve existed so long I can’t even remember, but the brief time guarding your side was the most fulfilling.]
Indeed, even in the utterly destroyed Flame Realm, Jin’s regenerative power flickered.
There was so much left unsaid—like with all the comrades who had died before—but Jin simply nodded. Tess was no longer on his shoulder.
One thing was certain: Tess hadn’t simply vanished. Like Quikantel, she poured her last remaining strength into Jin’s radiant heart.
Eternity and immortality, the phoenix and their queen Tess’s symbol.
Though insignificant to Keliak, Tess’s eternal flame would now protect Jin from aging until the war’s end.
“…Valeria, Enya. I won’t age under his manipulation anymore. Focus on the others.”
The two nodded.
Even after losing their god, their guardian, and their comrades, the flame that never truly dies—even if it’s just been snuffed out—must keep burning. The will to resist had to keep blazing on.