Chapter 1117
Episode 258: The Predator of All Dimensions (7)
Screeeech—!
Kelyak’s magic, which had surged over Malugia, split cleanly in two. Through the gap, the sword energies of the Starborn and Malugia’s golden beam shot forth.
His entire body was swept through. Kelyak once again tried to manipulate the fact that he’d been hit, but this time, it wasn’t flawless.
Most of the sword and solar energies vanished upon touching his body, but blood splattered. It was clear now—there were limits to his manipulation.
Still, he remained composed. From the moment he summoned Malugia, who was still recovering, he had expected this much.
“So, is this all going according to your plan again? Malugia, did you call me here? Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem so. Compared to that day, you’re far too weak.”
[Say whatever you want. After the end, you won’t have the chance.]
A single golden spear pierced Kelyak’s shoulder. Malugia, about to press the attack, flinched for a moment and glanced at the sky behind Kelyak.
Between the shattered and destroyed Reincarnation Realm and the nearby domains where he had been hiding, the light of Jin’s regeneration shimmered. It shone more broadly and intensely than ever before.
In a way, Malugia found that light more irritating than Kelyak did. It was a light that seemed to say this world could never truly be erased.
“What are you distracted by, Malugia? Regeneration light? Surely you’re not worried about something so trivial?”
[You covet this power too. Even after conquering countless dimensions, you’ve never faced anything superior to this.]
“Ah, I suppose you could say that. But this light can’t change anything right now. Focus on the fight. Otherwise, you’ll end up torn apart like this.”
A blade of shadow magic, sharp as a knife, sliced through Malugia’s waist.
Caught off guard by his momentary distraction with the regeneration light, he couldn’t prepare. Even if the flesh and broken bones were immediately restored, the solar energy had to dissipate accordingly. Fortunately, Malugia was a transcendent being, so it was only a wound.
“It’s pitiful to see the embodiment of destruction consorting with humans—especially those who wield the light of regeneration. You’re already starting to get hurt. How long do you think you can hold out against me?”
In an hour, the completed Demon God Stone would arrive on the battlefield. In contrast, the alliance needed seventeen times that long—and that didn’t even account for Jin’s activities within the arrangement.
The situation was still hopeless.
Yet Malugia smiled.
[Kelyak. Jin Runkandel gave you a proper warning. You can read the movements of insignificant creatures thousands of steps away, but the future? That you can never know.]
Kelyak’s brow furrowed.
[But I am different… Though my vision has dimmed from being incomplete, I can see to some extent. The thing you’re waiting for won’t arrive at that time.]
No sooner had Malugia finished speaking than a new golden dimensional gate opened behind Kelyak. From within emerged an immortal figure gripping a sword like a warrior.
“…Kraggos?”
Kraggos—the solar god’s persona who had pushed Dante to the brink of death and driven the empire into ruin.
He had neither been sealed nor destroyed on that day’s battlefield. Immediately after the battle ended, he had entered the dimensional passage under Malugia’s orders—to prevent the Demon God Stone from arriving on time today.
[Your pawns are quite rough, Kelyak. They’re used to facing beings like me… I almost found it dangerous.]
Sssht—! Kraggos’s sword grazed Kelyak’s shoulder.
As Kelyak parried Kraggos’s flurry of strikes, he detected a trace of magic he hadn’t felt from him before.
‘Hister’s magic, record magic…!?’
Hister’s magic lingered within Kraggos’s body.
The implication was clear: the rebel survivor, Valeria Hister, had aided Kraggos.
‘But that’s strange. Did Valeria Hister really help Kraggos while evading Silin’s pursuit? Unless Silin hasn’t completely lost track of Valeria…’
Kelyak shook his head, dismissing the thought. The matter was already set in motion, and those who had to pay the price were right before him.
“Kraggos, you incompetent fool. You couldn’t have navigated the dimensional passage alone. The solar god’s personas are laughable—unable to even realize their instincts without mortal help. That’s why you’ve always been stopped by me.”
Tzzzzzt…! Kelyak’s magic connected to the dimensional gates of the Demon God Army, which were open all around the sky.
He was checking how much the path for transporting the completed Demon God Stone had been damaged.
The task made even Kelyak tremble and scream in agony. He was clearly defenseless, as the alliance and the solar god’s personas fiercely charged at him.
But the shockwaves caused by the magic and dimensional gates made it difficult for them to approach. Five seconds later, just as the Starborn who had broken through the shockwaves raised their swords, Kelyak’s eyes snapped open and he regained focus.
“Hmm… You’ve delayed me quite a bit, Malugia. I admit it—I haven’t felt my blood boil like this in a long time. Anger… a forgotten emotion.”
Kelyak’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent. Unlike his previously impassive expression, his magic now surged wildly and fiercely.
He grabbed the sword Kraggos was trying to use to create distance. The blade shattered like glass, and Kraggos swung a fist at Kelyak’s face.
“You—!”
But the punch never landed. It was severed mid-air by a spatial explosion right before Kelyak’s eyes. The explosion intensified, slicing Kraggos’s entire body into dozens of pieces moments later.
“Graaah…!”
Solar energy splattered like blood and flesh. Kraggos tried to regenerate his body, but Kelyak was already clutching what could only be called Kraggos’s core with both hands.
“It beats like a living human heart. You say the solar god’s personas can never truly perish? Did you foolishly approach me believing that?”
Fwaaak—!
As Kelyak squeezed the core, a wet, dull sound echoed. Kraggos’s eyes, attached to his half-remaining head, rolled back and turned white. His scattered flesh ceased regenerating and twitched in midair.
“You’re a failed god’s byproduct, and not even a special one at that. How dare you touch my body? It’s disgusting, truly.”
Kelyak tossed Kraggos’s core to the ground.
Kraggos wasn’t dead, but barely managed to restore his human form, gasping for breath. Without Malugia’s protection, he would have been obliterated.
“Only Malugia and Jin Runkandel will survive here. The rest will die before the Demon God Stone arrives. The legacy of Solderet? You don’t seriously think you can hold out for seventeen hours and claim it, do you?”
The magic of the Life and Shadow Realms radiated outward in all directions. Even the Starborn couldn’t dodge the vast, dense net that spread instantly. Blood burst from Valeria and Enya’s mouths and noses.
“Ugh!”
The distortion was too much for the two to handle.
But retreat was impossible. If they stepped back to avoid the magic, there were allies barely clinging to life behind them.
“Can you really use them as shields? Well, in the end, it’s not a bad choice. It wouldn’t matter anyway. But it’s laughable—though I’ll do whatever it takes to realize my desires, how can you be so complacent?”
True to his words, Kelyak was someone who would stop at nothing to fulfill his desires—killing enemies, even his own allies.
His magic, spreading like waves, battered everything it touched. It swallowed alliance members trying to reach the protection of Laprarosa’s shield, as well as the Starborn and gods attacking them.
“Shut up! What do you know?”
It was Orgal.
To him, Kelyak was an eternal nightmare—a wall of despair he had never overcome, a fatal wound that never healed.
He had lost everything opposing Kelyak. Countless comrades, precious memories shared with them—all gone. What remained was only pain, stretching across hundreds of dimensions and continuing to this day.
“You demon bastard, all you have is desire. Nothing precious, nothing meaningful, nothing to protect. And you want to become the sole god? Destroy even this last place? Even if we fall, the universe will stop you. The world won’t let you be!”
Orgal swung his sword with his gaunt arms, blocking Kelyak’s path.
The point of no return for restoring his lifespan had already passed. He just wanted to die carrying his memories.
From hundreds of dimensions to this 677th dimension, the long struggle and resistance had left something behind.
Undoubtedly, it was the people. The ones fighting here now, who until recently had pointed swords at each other in ignorance of the truth. That was Orgal’s final glory.
“You’re too valuable to just kill. That’s why I left a little lifespan for you, Orgal.”
Kelyak pushed him back with a gust of wind, as if Orgal wasn’t worth his full attention. Orgal threw his whole body into resisting the Life Realm magic alone, but the truth was that Kelyak had kept him alive, not letting him die of old age.
[Yeah, I expected this to some extent. You wouldn’t have used Myungwon’s power any further just to humiliate me. So, do you feel the thrill?]
“No way.”
[That’s why all that awaits you is emptiness. But I’m glad, Kelliac Ziphl. If you fall in battle, you’ll become a soldier of the abyss as always, and people will remember me. Even if I can’t remember them.]
“After today, I’ll be the only one left who remembers you.”
[How many times are you going to spout that nonsense… The future you’ve set holds no value.]
Orgal said, grinning wickedly.
And then, behind the airborne fortress Laprarosa, a golden dimensional gate began to open. It wasn’t a gate Kelliac had summoned.