Chapter 396
“My god, he’s really holding off Jormungandr all by himself.”
Watching the fierce battle from a distance, Arlene muttered in disbelief.
A single person against a Legion Commander.
And not just any Legion Commander, but the Gluttony King Jormungandr, said to be the strongest of them all. The sight of Leo holding him back was overwhelming.
“When did he get so strong?”
Allox, gripping his battle axe, murmured under his breath.
Arlene and Allox.
Both had partied with Kyle before, so they knew his strength firsthand.
Even then, Kyle was on a different level. But now, it was spine-chilling.
At their astonished reactions, the elven mage Perik scoffed.
“You two should know better than anyone that he gets stronger with every battle.”
Magic Power shimmered around Perik.
One by one, spells stacked onto the staff in his hand.
As he memorized his spells, Perik looked toward the front line.
“Besides, from a certain point on, that guy has always fought alone.”
Perik narrowed his eyes.
“The battlefields he’s been through, the bloodbaths he’s survived… it’s different from ours. His strength is only natural.”
“True. That bastard was always at the forefront of Guardslone’s battles.”
A fierce fighting spirit rolled off Allox.
“He’s opening a path for us! We can’t just stand here cowering in shame!”
Allox shouted.
His muscles rippled.
Arlene tightened her grip on her spear and stepped forward.
“Allox and I will wound its body.”
While Leo drew Jormungandr’s attention, they needed a close-combat squad to rip through that thick hide.
For that role, the highly mobile Arlene and Allox—who could push in deep and deal heavy damage—were the perfect fit.
“We just have to exploit the opening!”
“Kwahahaha!”
Allox roared with laughter, swinging his axe as he charged.
Watching him, Rodia murmured in admiration.
“Sir Kyle… he’s just like Sir Arron.”
“Arron?”
The moment she realized she’d spoken aloud, Rodia heard a voice behind her and flinched, clapping a hand over her mouth.
“Who’s Arron?”
At Lysinas’s puzzled expression, Rodia forced an awkward laugh.
“He’s a Beastman I know. He has incredible courage.”
“Really? I’ve never heard that name before.”
“He hasn’t made a name for himself yet, but…”
“But?”
“He’s someone who gives courage to those around him.”
“If he’s that kind of person, I’d love to have him in our expedition.”
“In the not-too-distant future… I’m sure you’ll meet him.”
Rodia smiled.
“I see.”
Lysinas nodded.
“Then I suppose I should get ready, too.”
Goooooooooooh-!
A colossal amount of Mana surged from Lysinas.
Flash-!
Lysinas’s Dragon Eyes appeared.
Seeing them, Rodia flinched despite herself.
‘As expected of Lady Lysinas.’
It was astonishing, no matter how many times she saw it.
Even now, before she was known as The Wise King.
Even without the power and experience of a great hero, her strength was on par with Rodia’s when she had stepped into the final chapter to stop the fragment of Erebos.
‘From here, Sir Kyle… and the other great heroes will overcome countless trials and achieve dazzling feats.’
And she would become the strongest dragon in the world’s history.
‘Sir Kyle told me.’
Rodia stared at Lysinas’s back and clenched her fists.
‘At this time, Lady Lysinas… was mentally no different from her time as The Wise King.’
‘Back then, Lysinas was definitely shouldering the burden and anxiety of having to save the world.’
Before they set out on the expedition, Leo had told Rodia about Lysinas’s state of mind—something she had never known.
‘But she had a spirit that didn’t bend or waver.’
A savior who carried the world alone and led it to salvation.
Kyle was the one who fulfilled that destiny, but its beginning was undeniably Lysinas.
‘This is a world that only Sir Kyle can conquer.’
Rodia watched Lysinas’s back and clenched her fists tighter.
The reason she couldn’t conquer it herself was, in a way, perfectly natural.
It wasn’t about being an All-Class or anything like that.
‘This story… this trial is a story that belongs only to the two who heralded the prelude to salvation. Sir Kyle and Lady Lysinas.’
—
Gwooooooooar-!
Jormungandr roared and unleashed its Breath at Leo.
Gooooooooooh! Flash! Kwagagagagagagang!
A flash of destruction split the air like a towering pillar.
A shockwave swept across the area.
Leo dodged the Breath and stirred his Spirit Power.
Elci, desperately clinging to the fabric of Leo’s left shoulder against the headwind, shouted urgently.
-Mister whose name I don’t know!
“What? Mister?”
Leo looked dumbfounded, but Elci didn’t care and screamed even louder.
-Your body is already at its limit! If you draw out any more Spirit Power, you’ll self-destruct!
Leo smirked.
“I suppose so.”
With that, he tugged on Albus’ reins.
Fwoosh-!
Albus veered at incredible speed.
Flash-!
A torrent of crimson-black flashes rained down around him.
Fwhooooooosh!
Moving exactly as Leo willed, Albus dodged every single one and shouted.
-You’re too rough!
“You said I could be rough. And if I’m not, we can’t dodge them all!”
As Leo replied, his gaze flicked briefly to the ground.
Fwoosh-!
He spotted movement below and yanked the reins.
Albus shot up into the sky.
-Are you running away!
Kugugugung-!
Jormungandr pursued Leo, surging upward after him.
At that moment—!
“Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaap!”
With a battle cry, Allox—his entire body wrapped in Aura—raised his axe and launched himself at Jormungandr like a bullet.
Kwaang-!
A massive boom rang out as Allox collided with Jormungandr.
Kugugugung-!
Despite the impact, Jormungandr didn’t even stagger.
Its eyes flashed as it continued to chase Leo.
“Hmph! You’re ignoring me quite spectacularly, aren’t you!”
Allox clung to Jormungandr’s scales and lifted his axe.
Gooooooooooooooh-!
Aura flickered along the blade.
Kwaaaaaaah-!
The Aura swelled into the shape of a giant axe head.
“Kraaaaaaaaap!”
Thwack-!
Allox leaped and swung.
The Aura bit into Jormungandr’s thick hide.
-You mere insect!
Jormungandr growled and stirred its Dark Mana.
Pzzzzzt-!
“Keuk?”
Crimson-black sparks crackled wildly over Allox’s body.
Even as he trembled as if struck by lightning, Allox’s eyes blazed.
“This isn’t enough to stop me! Haaaaaap!”
He forced more strength into his grip, driving the blade deeper into Jormungandr’s hide.
-Annoying!
Jormungandr roared and plummeted toward the ground at terrifying speed.
Fwhooooooosh! Kwaaaaaang-!
Kugugugugugu!
It slammed the part of its body with Allox’s axe lodged in it straight into the earth.
The entire area shook as if an earthquake had hit.
“Hoo! You saved my life, Arlene!”
Arlene, who had flown in at blistering speed and snatched him away just before the impact, raised her hand.
Pzzt! Pzzzzzzzt!
A spear wreathed in white Divine Lightning trembled violently, as if ready to launch itself.
Arlene hurled it at Jormungandr.
A perfect javelin throw, like something out of a painting.
Flash-! Pzzzzzzzt!
As the spear flew, carving a white trail, Jormungandr scoffed.
-Hmph! A pathetic attack!
Using its sense of smell to foresee the future, Jormungandr dodged.
And just as it was about to ignore Allox and Arlene and resume its pursuit of Leo—
Flash! Pzzzzzzzt!
Arlene’s spear bent its trajectory and struck precisely into the gap Allox had opened.
-How dare you!
Jormungandr’s fury erupted.
“The Infallible Spear.”
Watching, Leo muttered.
An attack born of Arlene’s Mana characteristic.
A spear she threw would never miss.
But the damage was minimal.
Allox and Arlene had only torn Jormungandr’s hide.
But…
“It’s enough.”
The corners of Leo’s mouth curled.
Gooooooooooooooh-!
A colossal surge of Magic Power gathered.
Perik stood with his staff raised.
The other mages had poured all their Magic Power into him.
Perik Ennar.
At the time, the strongest mage in Guardslone.
However, mages were natural enemies to Jormungandr.
Jormungandr’s hide possessed immense magic resistance—enough to nearly ignore magic itself.
Which meant Jormungandr was also a mage’s natural enemy.
But if that hide was ripped open—
“Flesh Bullet.”
Perik completed the spell, and a massive beam of light shot straight into the opening.
A grand magic that concentrated an enormous amount of Magic Power into a single point, meant to pierce through.
The bullet of light, moving at invisible speed, stabbed cleanly into Jormungandr’s neck.
-Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!
As Jormungandr writhed in pain—
Gooooooooooooooh-!
Rodia, cloaked in red Magic Power and Spirit Power, raised her hand.
Kugugugugugugugu-!
The earth’s very axis seemed to tremble.
Leo narrowed his eyes.
‘Summoning magic.’
A fusion of magic and summoning.
But the target wasn’t a Summoned Beast or a Spirit.
The target was a ‘specific object.’
Rodia curled her hand into a fist, palm up, then extended her index finger.
And lifted it.
Fwoooaaaaak!
A massive pillar of lava erupted from the ground.
Perik, who had just dealt a fatal blow to Jormungandr, stared in horror.
“Magic that controls the nature of the surrounding area?”
It was grand magic from the distant future—a concept that didn’t even exist in this era, impossible to comprehend.
Dragon Lord.
The Original Magic of Rodia, the Dragon of Genesis.
“Disaster.”
Rodia spoke the spell’s name.
Jormungandr’s body began to melt in the lava.
-Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
But its formidable life force kept it from dying.
Though writhing in agony, it still wasn’t in mortal danger.
‘Not enough firepower.’
Leo narrowed his eyes.
In the original history, Kyle and the others had also lacked the single decisive blow needed to finish Jormungandr.
But it didn’t matter.
‘We have Lysinas.’
Leo grinned and looked to her.
Gooooooooooh-!
A bright light poured out from Lysinas.
As a Black Dragon, Lysinas’s strongest specialty was, of all things, light magic.
Ziiiing-!
A massive magic circle appeared around her, then compressed, gradually shaping itself into an arrow.
At the same time, Luminous transformed into a bow in Lysinas’s hands.
As she nocked the arrow, the pure white shaft began to burn.
Magic that incinerated the profane and blew it away into the light.
Her Original Magic—one that defeated the wicked and shot hope into the world.
“Punishment.”
Jormungandr had died to that spell.
Thud-!
Mid-pursuit, Jormungandr froze.
-The smell… of death.
Able to sense the future, Jormungandr foresaw its own death.
And the stronger it was, the more it feared that death—thrashing desperately, trying to change the future.
‘It was definitely… supposed to be like that, wasn’t it?’
Leo’s expression hardened.
-Oh, God… O great calamity who will lead the world to ruin!
Jormungandr cried out to the heavens.
-Forgive this foolish one who cannot witness your cherished desire! I, here!
Flash-!
Six eyes snapped toward Leo.
-Shall burn my body and soul to execute this blasphemer who would kill you!
Fwoosh-!
In an instant, black flames erupted from Jormungandr’s body.
At the same time, Lysinas’s magic pierced through it.
Flash-! Kwagagagagagagang-!
A massive explosion erupted. The struck area swelled, then burst.
Chunks of Jormungandr’s massive body scattered in all directions.
A thick, ominous rain of blood fell.
Swaaaaaaaah! Tudududududuk-!
Somewhere in the chaos, the sun had set and darkness had fallen.
“We did it! We did it!”
“We defeated the Gluttony King!”
Cheers erupted across the expedition.
Rodia’s eyes went wide as she lifted her arms, shouting.
But Leo and Lysinas looked grim.
Because both of them had seen it, in that fleeting moment.
The black flame.
The instant they recognized it—
Fwoosh-!
Jormungandr’s corpse burst into black fire.
And—
-Kieeeeeeeeeeeek!
With a scream that sounded like its very soul was burning, Jormungandr reappeared in mid-air.
Fwhooooooooosh! Kuuuung!
Restored to its original form, it unleashed a monstrous sound and twisted violently.
Black flames engulfed its body.
The expedition members turned deathly pale.
Leo was no different.
‘The flame of Erebos!’
He remembered Jormungandr’s final words.
‘That bastard… it used itself as kindling to ignite the Calamity Flame!’
The Calamity Flame was the Immortal Flame.
That was why the brutally killed Jormungandr had revived—cloaked in that fire.
But Jormungandr was not Erebos.
The moment its body and soul burned away completely, it would vanish from the world without a trace.
Until then, it was an ‘immortal’ monster.
-Prepare yourself! Godslayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!
Even while writhing in agony as its soul burned, Jormungandr stared at Leo with obsession and hatred.
Fwoosh-!
‘Fast? This bastard!’
Leo recalled the giant king from Dweno’s world, blessed by Erebos.
‘Its abilities have been enhanced, just like the giant king!’
He tried to evade as Jormungandr closed the distance in an instant, jaws yawning wide.
But he was too late.
The moment he realized it—
Fwoosh-
Leo’s eyes widened.
Reflected in his gray eyes was the friend who had stepped in front of him.
His voice shook.
“Move.”
He remembered the final moment when he had sensed his friend’s death.
‘Sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.’
“Sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”
He knew it was a promise he couldn’t keep.
“Move, Lysinas.”
‘If it comes down to you or me being the last one standing… you know it has to be you, right? You would have made the same choice as me.’
“But the one who has to remain is you, not me.”
He couldn’t do anything alone.
They saved the world because they were together.
“I said move! You damn lizard!”
“Because you… will save the world.”
Flash-!
The Breath swallowed them both.
-Kiooooooooooooooo!
Jormungandr roared, having landed a direct hit on Leo and Lysinas.
Gooooooooooooooh-!
Dark Mana swirled.
Rodia’s eyes flew open as she squeezed her Dragon Heart.
Woooong-!
A massive barrier formed around Jormungandr.
Flash! Kwagagagagagagang-!
A world-shaking explosion erupted.
—
The world was burning.
Darkness had fallen.
The expedition was in desperate straits.
At the worst possible moment.
Rodia had squeezed out all her Mana to barely block the attack, so there were no casualties yet.
But—
With Jormungandr still standing, only one thing filled everyone’s minds.
Despair.
“Sir Kyle… Lady Lysinas…!”
Coughing up blood, Rodia struggled to rise.
Then…
Thud… Thud…
Footsteps echoed from within the ruins.
Rodia lifted her head, eyes widening.
Though Lysinas had shielded him, Leo—who had taken the Breath head-on and been caught in the explosion—was walking toward Jormungandr, his body a complete wreck.
The expedition stared at Kyle as well.
-You are finished! I will bury you along with the insects you brought with you!
Even as it writhed in pain, Jormungandr hurled curses at Leo and the expedition.
-It was a useless struggle! All of you will die a dog’s death here! No one will remember you! Your history! Will end!
“Hah… Hah…”
Leo fought for breath.
Each rasp sounded like metal scraping, as if his lungs were torn.
“Yeah.”
He looked up at Jormungandr.
“Everyone dies eventually. That fact doesn’t change.”
He picked up the staff lying on the ground.
Perik’s staff—his comrade’s.
“…I won’t even leave my name in history. No one will remember me.”
In his other hand, he held Arlene’s spear.
“But… it won’t be a meaningless death.”
Leo’s eyes flashed.
“Because these guys risked their lives… the world could be saved.”
-Fantasies that will never come true…!
“It’s not a fantasy.”
Leo spoke with force.
“This world will be saved. That damn Erebos will be defeated. The world will regain peace.”
His lips curled.
“You’re the one who’s ending, Gluttony King. None of us end here.”
Killing intent and fighting spirit rolled off him.
“I’ll take these guys’ stories… to the future.”
Everyone stared at him in a daze.
“Kyle… you’re… not giving up?”
Allox forced the words out.
Leo answered.
“That damn lizard isn’t dead yet.”
It wasn’t a failure.
This world was continuing.
Leo curled his lips again.
“It’s not over yet.”