Chapter 1002
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KABOOOOOM!
Larian blocked the wave of darkness unleashed by The Fallen One, her eyes narrowing.
‘His power has definitely changed.’
Until now, she could have parried The Fallen One’s magic with just five daggers. But after wings sprouted from the fiend, it was difficult to hold him back even with seven.
‘Still, it’s exactly as I expected.’
She had anticipated The Fallen One’s transformation from the beginning. If the fight continued like this, she was confident she would win unconditionally.
Fweeeee!
Drawing on the Mana at her fingertips, Larian controlled eight daggers at once, sending them for The Fallen One’s vitals.
Wooooong!
Despite their dense Mana, the daggers couldn’t pierce him. A barrier of light stopped them dead.
“Is it because they’re daggers?”
The Fallen One flicked a finger, tapping the blades.
“They’re rather weak, aren’t they?”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
With a twist of Larian’s wrist, the daggers spiraled and bored through the light barrier.
“Huh?”
The Fallen One let out a hollow laugh and tried to unfurl his darkness, but the daggers had already detonated the Mana stored inside their blades.
KABOOOOOOOM!
The spells within the daggers burst in succession, exploding with enough force to erase The Fallen One—and the space around him—from the continent.
Chiiiiik!
The black smoke that had surged into the sky receded, revealing The Fallen One’s body. The upper right side of his torso and the lower left of his body were drenched in crimson blood.
“That certainly has a kick to it.”
The Fallen One glanced at his torn-off right shoulder and left thigh and laughed. The wounds were severe enough to make continuing the fight difficult, yet with a flick of his hand, they vanished as if time had been reversed.
“Of course, it’s not enough to give me heartburn.”
He shrugged, saying it was only enough to make his mouth tingle.
“Then you’ll just have to get hit until you do.”
Larian’s gaze turned icy as she floated nine daggers before her chest. The moment their sword energy touched, linking into an identical blue glow, brilliant radiance erupted from the center and shot toward The Fallen One.
KABOOOOOM!
The Fallen One raised a barrier of light and darkness, blocking Larian’s flash.
Kugugugugu!
The two energies collided without yielding, and deep cracks spread across sky and earth.
‘If I keep pressing…’
Just as Larian was about to shift her remaining daggers to strike The Fallen One’s back—
Fwaaaaaa!
An alien energy surged from beneath her feet.
‘Hmm?’
Larian’s eyes snapped downward.
‘She finally died…’
Merlin’s breathing had stopped, and Raon stood frozen like a statue, stunned by the outcome.
‘Then what was that energy—no, wait!’
Larian’s eyes widened as she examined Raon cradling Merlin.
‘I can’t feel Raon’s soul.’
A void was blooming from Raon’s body. There was no soul in that child’s body right now.
‘He’s not dead, so what on earth is…’
Judging by the life force still lingering in his body, Raon wasn’t dead.
A soul vanishing in an instant while tending to someone—she had never heard of it, never seen it. The absurdity made her heart drop.
‘He can’t find out.’
Larian bit her lip as she watched The Fallen One advance, breaking through the daggers’ magic.
‘That fiend will target Raon even while fighting me.’
The Fallen One was the kind of monster who would do anything to win.
Merlin was dead, Raon’s soul was gone, and his subordinate had no strength left. He wouldn’t be able to block even a single blow.
‘I have to make sure he doesn’t notice.’
Larian violently flicked a bright yellow dagger, forcing The Fallen One’s gaze to stay on her.
“This one’s going to hurt a little.”
As the dagger, wrapped in thick lightning, tore through the air toward the back of The Fallen One’s head, a sinister black mist rose.
Pooooow!
The mist swallowed the strike. The lightning dagger failed to pierce him, scattering violent electricity into empty air.
Tsk.
Larian clicked her tongue and drew the yellow dagger back to her palm.
“Called a subordinate, have you?”
She sneered at the man in a black robe who had appeared behind The Fallen One. That mist wasn’t The Fallen One’s—it was the newcomer’s.
‘A transcendent…’
Not a high-ranking transcendent, but strong enough to block her dagger. A mage who had clearly surpassed transcendence.
Swoooosh.
The man in the black robe slowly turned to face her.
‘A skull?’
Larian’s eyes narrowed.
‘Did he already find a new Specter Fiend?’
She’d thought Raon and Merlin had killed the Specter Fiend down below. Even if it was the lich’s mask, it made no sense for it to return.
‘No…’
That’s not a lich.
Up close, the mask had unnaturally large holes for the eyes and mouth. It looked closer to a ghost than a skull.
‘I see now.’
It’s a Wraith.
Wraiths were undead that drifted through the air, absorbing souls and Mana like pests. The “ghosts” people spoke of were, more often than not, Wraiths.
Swoooooosh!
The man in the Wraith mask opened a dark dimension and drew out a massive, pitch-black scythe. It looked like a grim reaper from hell, come to harvest souls.
‘He’s no ordinary foe.’
His transcendent-level power was one thing, but the energy pouring off that scythe was also unnatural.
‘The bigger problem is…’
He’s not alone.
The Fallen One hadn’t summoned only the Wraith-masked one. The executives of Eden were gathering beneath his feet.
‘This is dangerous…’
She could handle whoever came, but Raon could not. With his soul absent, he was so vulnerable that even a child could kill him.
‘It’s not my style, but I’ll have to pull their attention.’
Larian exhaled softly and lifted her chin.
“When did you call these small fry?”
She raised a dagger, pointing at the Wraith-masked fiend and the other Eden executives.
“I did not call them.”
The Fallen One calmly shook his head.
“Since you people have discovered our location, we must retreat before the damage grows too large, wouldn’t you agree?”
He smiled thinly, saying they had no choice but to come.
“Of course, we are not withdrawing our main force because of you or Lady Chamber.”
He shrugged.
“We are retreating because of Glenn Zieghart.”
‘He didn’t notice.’
Relieved she’d kept his focus, Larian raised ten daggers at once.
“Punishment Fiend, Deathless Fiend, Beheading Fiend. You will…”
The Fallen One lifted a long, slender finger and pointed at Raon and Merlin.
“Kill them.”
He ordered the Master- and Grand Master-level executives to kill Raon.
Kugugugugu!
At the command, the Eden executives erupted with chilling Battle Aura, kicked off the ground, and charged toward Raon.
‘Damn it!’
Larian bit her lip as The Fallen One’s sinister smile sharpened.
‘That bastard knew from the start!’
He had known Raon’s condition all along, deliberately letting her relax before ordering the strike.
“Come at me, as many as you want!”
Mark Gorton stepped in front of Raon and Merlin, gripping his blade with both hands. His hands trembled—he’d exhausted his Aura and stamina—but he didn’t retreat a single step.
Tsk.
Larian clicked her tongue and flung four daggers down.
KABOOOOOM!
They landed in the four cardinal directions, erecting a defensive magic circle around Raon, Merlin, and Mark Gorton.
KABOOOOOOOM!
The Grand Master, Punishment Fiend, brought down a giant hammer, but it didn’t leave even a hairline crack on Larian’s dagger-shield.
Kya-gya-gya-gyang!
The other Eden fiends poured out Battle Aura, curses, and magic, yet Larian’s shield stood like an iron wall, perfectly protecting those inside.
Fwaaaaaang!
As Larian let out a breath of relief, The Fallen One’s light magic detonated before her eyes.
Jjeooooong!
She blocked it with her remaining six daggers, but the strike was so fast that flesh tore from her left shoulder.
“Six, is it? Will that be enough?”
The Fallen One smiled thinly, remarking that she’d slowed. As he brought his fingers together, enormous spheres of light and darkness surged from sky and earth and pressed down to crush her.
“These daggers are just tools, anyway.”
Larian snorted and fit the six daggers between her fingers. Connecting her heart’s Mana to them, she tore apart the spheres.
“Tch…”
Her eyes narrowed at her trembling fingers.
‘This isn’t easy.’
Four daggers were still maintaining the barrier below, draining her Mana and mental focus. It was becoming overwhelming to block The Fallen One’s pressure.
‘But I don’t have a choice.’
I just have to wait for an opening.
She still hadn’t revealed everything. She needed to endure, and the moment The Fallen One slipped, strike him down in a single blow.
Fw-fw-fw-fw-fwack!
Unlike her, The Fallen One seemed determined to end it quickly, unleashing a barrage of light-and-darkness magic. Yet even as he attacked, he showed no openings.
Kugugugugugu!
Larian’s breath grew ragged as she faced the advancing darkness.
‘This is no time to think about counterattacking.’
To block that wave without taking damage, she would need to pour out her full power.
Jjijijijik!
Just as Larian was about to release the Mana imbued in her six daggers—
Kyaaaaaang!
The Mana barrier suddenly shattered, and darkness gouged deep into her left side.
“This is…”
She clutched the wound as black blood seeped out, eyes twisting.
“Not your handiwork.”
Her gaze snapped—not to The Fallen One—but to the man in the Wraith mask behind him.
“Correct.”
The Fallen One nodded calmly.
“The mask he wears holds the power of Pelin, the King of Wraiths. He is now called the Devouring Fiend.”
He patted the Devouring Fiend’s shoulder, as if confirming her guess.
“Devouring Fiend…”
Larian chewed her lip, staring at the Wraith mask.
“Even if he’s the King of Wraiths, he shouldn’t be able to absorb magic.”
Wraiths could absorb Mana and souls, not magic itself. She had been wary, but she hadn’t expected him to break her spell.
“It’s because of that scythe.”
The Fallen One tilted his chin toward the pitch-black scythe.
“That scythe carries the power to break incantations. When a Wraith that absorbs Mana wields a scythe that breaks incantations, it’s only natural for magic to shatter.”
He spoke as if it were self-evident.
“In your current state, he is your natural enemy. No—he is the natural enemy of all mages.”
A thin smile tugged at his lips, as if asking whether it wasn’t amusing.
“You sure talk a lot.”
“There’s no chance of this information leaking.”
He sounded certain she and Raon would die here.
“Hah. Does the leader of Eden really need to fight two-on-one?”
Larian snorted, pressing down on the bleeding at her side.
“Of course. I have never been fond of ‘fair and square.’ Winning is all that matters.”
The Fallen One tilted his head, proud rather than ashamed.
“Right. That’s The Fallen One for you.”
Larian sneered, jaw tightening.
“Come at me, both of you. I can take it.”
She sent the six daggers into the air and drew a deep breath.
Kya-gya-gya-gyang!
The six blades rang against one another, condensing a massive concentration of Mana before her chest.
KABOOOOOOOM!
The radiance she fired pushed back the light and darkness and slammed into The Fallen One’s chest.
Fwaaaaaang!
But the Devouring Fiend swung his black scythe, and her Mana was swept away as if erased.
The Wraith’s ability to absorb Mana combined with the scythe’s power to destroy incantations—calling him a natural enemy of mages was no exaggeration.
Pooooow!
In the same instant, The Fallen One’s magic broke through her defense and pierced her thigh.
‘My concentration is slipping.’
Handling The Fallen One and the Devouring Fiend was difficult enough. Protecting those below made it worse.
The Mana wall around Raon and Mark Gorton still held, but each impact drained her faster, dizziness creeping in.
Pooooow!
Her focus finally snapped. She missed a white flash from The Fallen One, and it pierced straight through her right breast.
“Ugh…”
She bit her lip, touching the bleeding wound.
‘This is bad.’
A wound to the chest could mean immediate death. The situation was turning desperate.
‘So I’m the one getting impatient.’
It couldn’t be helped, but in this fight, she was the one in a hurry—not The Fallen One.
‘Do I have to use it after all?’
Just as Larian was about to draw out her heart’s Mana and reveal her hidden card—
Woooooooong!
From Merlin’s body, which had been lying as if dead, a warm yet magnificent red light erupted.
KWAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Her stopped heart began to thunder like a drum atop a high mountain, and her fading life force surged like volcanic heat.
‘Resurrection?’
No. There was no such thing in this world.
And yet the impossible was unfolding right before her eyes.
Wooooong!
Merlin’s shattered Mana Circles began to reconnect on their own, forming a completely new, single ring that burned around her heart.
The tenth Circle.
The realm of transcendence.
“What in the…”
Even The Fallen One stared at Merlin and Raon, mouth slightly open.
Fwooooosh!
In the mystical light and heat that halted even the battle of transcendents, Raon and Merlin opened their eyes at the same time.
—
Thud-thud.
Merlin sat up and, with her own hands, removed the cracked old woman’s mask.
Fwaaaaaah!
Beneath it was a beauty with violet eyes—so stunning that even the word “peerless” felt inadequate. With a gaze that blended sensuality and purity, she wore a gentle smile.
“How’s your body?”
Raon reached out as Merlin closed her eyes, as if feeling the world.
“The best.”
Merlin felt her heartbeat—ten Circles spinning within—and slowly lifted her eyelids.
“It’s all thanks to you.”
She thanked him simply, took his hand, and stood.
“She’s alive? From within that death?”
The Fallen One’s golden eyes widened. Even he hadn’t expected this.
“It’s been a while.”
Merlin looked up at The Fallen One, her lips curling into a long smile.
“The Fallen One. No, I should call you Sage, shouldn’t I?”
She tilted her chin, mocking.
“…It seems you’ve regained your memories.”
The Fallen One’s eyes narrowed, sensing the change.
“Yes. Thanks to Raon.”
Merlin looked at Raon warmly.
“I found my name, and I was able to see my mother again.”
She nodded, saying it had been a most satisfying time.
“Still, nothing will change. Even if you have reached transcendence, the outcome of this battle will not change.”
The Fallen One began to gather light and darkness.
Pooooooow!
The flow of Mana twisted. The light and darkness in his grasp exploded on their own.
“Keuk!”
The Fallen One stared at his torn palm, eyes wide.
“How can you say nothing will change?”
Merlin’s lips curled as she watched him.
“You got your ass kicked by me 500 years ago.”
She flicked her finger, sneering.
“I’ll make you kneel at my feet again.”
(T/N : Yesssss! Let the Ra-Lin ship sail! )
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