“I cannot kill you by my will, Latilda.”
Knadil spoke in a relatively quiet voice amidst the clamor of part of the tower collapsing.
The place where Latilda was standing had long since collapsed and sunk, but she remained fixed floating in mid-air. Blood flowing from her abdomen was running down her legs and dripping from her toes. Black energy was enveloping her body, and her red eyes were glaring at Knadil.
“You too are not killing me.”
Knadil spoke, looking at the magical power massed in her other hand. The black form like a beast’s claws was only aiming at the dragon’s neck without moving. It was magic that could kill Knadil at any time, but it hadn’t killed him yet.
“Whether I kill you or you kill me, this battle is lost. Don’t make the humans’ battle meaningless. You haven’t yet lost your soul to the demon. You must endure. If there is even one reason you should stand on the side of humans, cling to it.”
Knadil spoke quietly.
“Don’t listen to the demon’s voice, listen to your own voice. You choose.”
Latilda’s tightly closed lips trembled.
Knadil neither forced nor pleaded. He just spoke quietly as if chatting over a cup of tea.
“Everything will be according to your will.”
The rest of the tower collapsed completely. And the black hand gripping Knadil’s neck disappeared.
Latilda was floating in empty air, at eye level with Knadil. Her eyes were still burning red, but tears poured from them. Her red hair fluttered in the wind.
“I will do as you wish.”
She reached out her hand towards Knadil.
“Come to me, Master Knadil. Come and replace the Tower of Wrath.”
Knadil stood where the Tower of Wrath had collapsed. And he grasped Latilda, floating in the air, in one hand. The black energy that had been enveloping her body now swirled around Knadil’s body.
“Burning half of my life, I command in the name of me, Latilda.”
She quietly opened her mouth.
“Ganel, rise and obey my command.”
A pillar of red light shot up into the sky from Knadil’s body. The dragon’s agonized roar shook the sky and vibrated the air.
The pillar of light bent in the sky and flew towards the Tower of Blessing. And it plunged into the place where the tower had stood, collapsed by Guanil’s tail. Red light exploded into the battlefield of humans and Mozes.
Knadil’s voice reached Ganel, fallen beside the tower.
“Rise, Leganel. There is something you must do, burning half of your life that would continue for eternity.”
Then Latilda’s voice rang out.
“Rise, Ganel!”
Ganel, without answering, crawled and stood where the collapsed tower had been. The moment the pouring red light touched Ganel’s body, another pillar of golden light shot up into the sky. The pillar of light, with two colors intertwined, crossed the sky above Rock and fell on Arok’s Tower.
An overwhelmingly strong light that was hard to look at surrounded Arok’s Tower, which had lost its light.
☆ ☆ ☆
A familiar touch approached and patted the shoulder of the fallen Tanya.
Tanya looked up with eyes opened with difficulty.
It was Tailed. He spoke with a gentle smile:
“You must rise, princess.”
Tanya barely opened her mouth and said:
“Go away… Have you come to boast? Fine, you’ve won. So come to Arok’s Tower. There, my, my last strength to you…”
Tanya found it difficult to say the rest.
Tailed clicked his tongue and said:
“I taught you only vain things, it seems.”
He crouched in front of Tanya.
“I told you many times, didn’t I? The choice is yours, and if it’s selfish, then just act selfishly. It’s distasteful when others act that way, but it’s better for a good child like you to do so. Even now. Who are you worrying about to the point of holding back?”
Tanya couldn’t distinguish at all whether his kind words were evil or good.
Tanya wanted to ask who his true identity was. But Tailed, as if he already knew even that question, playfully patted her head.
“It’s time to empty the well. Rise, Tanya.”
Tanya suddenly opened her eyes. The tower was shaking as if about to collapse at any moment. She painfully raised her body and sat up straight. And breathing roughly, she looked at Tailed faintly visible before her. He spoke with a playful smile:
“Do your best until the end. Because Kassel has returned.”
And Tailed’s vision disappeared.
“Master…”
Tanya closed her eyes, shedding tears of what she didn’t know was sadness or joy.
“The magic you gave me, I will use it for you.”
Ganel’s golden light and Knadil’s red light enveloping Arok’s Tower became one with the blue light bursting from Tanya’s body. Within it, Tanya saw Latilda’s face.
Tanya silently nodded towards Latilda.
Latilda also just nodded.
Tanya poured out her last strength she had been gathering inside. The old scar on her face tore and blood burst forth. Her forearms tore, her neck tore, her chest tore, and her legs tore. She ignored it and burst out her power.
Blue light spread out from Arok’s Tower at the center. Rock’s barrier formed again.
☆ ☆ ☆
The blue magical barrier that had disappeared in the sky appeared. The Mozes that had rushed in as soon as Rock Zone disappeared were thrown back, hitting the barrier again. Tailed’s body, which had been approaching Arok’s Tower with large strides after passing through the city gate, was caught by an invisible force and stopped. He was even pushed back a few steps and lifted into the air. He couldn’t move, his limbs stretched taut as if tied by invisible ropes.
Tailed pulled his arms against the invisible force. Just with that motion, the air vibrated and the surrounding city walls cracked. When he moved his legs, the ground rumbled and houses that had been shaking from catapult attacks collapsed. But he couldn’t break free.
The blue light of the barrier grew stronger and stronger. Flustered, he stretched his body once more. A sound like thunderbolts striking and hot heat spread around. But he couldn’t escape that net of light.
Irine immediately understood what had happened. It was the very magic Tailed had used to bind the Lord of the Undying in the ice castle 8 years ago.
‘Tanya used her last strength!’
Irine didn’t hesitate and plunged Vena Esarck into the ground. The moment she chanted the magic spell, Tailed ordered:
“Grandol, cut that woman down.”
Grandol immediately approached Irine.
Lumil ran out. Simultaneously, Dunmel threw a dagger to suppress Grandol’s initiative. Though Dunmel ran out later than Lumil, he engaged Grandol faster. Then Lumil also swung his sword down at Grandol.
The three White Wolves clashed swords so fast they couldn’t be seen. Sparks flew as metal met metal, and small gravel fragments kicked up by their feet scattered.
The fight between the one trying to kill Irine and those trying to protect her continued as desperately as the final battle between humans and Mozes in the north.
“Give up, Irine. Even if you cut me with that sword, it’s only temporary.”
If only he had spoken with a vile face, she could have just sneered at him, but Tailed tried to persuade her with a kind smile.
“I don’t care if it’s temporary. This time I will cut you.”
The red light of Vena Esarck grew larger and larger with Irine’s spell.
Tailed smirked and said:
“Irine. If only the wisdom of Lofin fighting in the north and you here had been combined. Why don’t you know? Why hasn’t Kagua appeared on this battlefield? Ah, you don’t know what Kagua is?”
Tailed laughed loudly. At that rough laughter, a pillar of the city wall that had been barely holding up collapsed, and simultaneously a watchtower fell to the ground. Even the clouds in the sky above Tailed’s head boiled like foam.
“This war was a battle that exactly copied Lutia’s attack. I didn’t care if I lost all hundred thousand Mozes here. Right now, another hundred thousand Mozes are coming up from the south. They’ll arrive around tomorrow morning. No, it’s fine even if those guys are annihilated too.”
Tailed narrowed his eyes. His pupils turned black.
“Even if you cut me with Vena, it doesn’t matter. It will only delay things for a moment. I just need to find another body for my soul to dwell in. What was I trying to gain by sacrificing all that? It’s obvious, Irine. That stupid Captain Wolf brought the Wolf Knight Order here unnecessarily to save this place, right? That’s exactly what I wanted!”
The current scene Tailed was showing also entered Irine’s eyes.
It was the White Gate. Queen Sanadiel was on the watchtower of the White Gate, and Quain was beside her. And in front of the two were four black dragons without wings.
“This can’t be!”
Irine cried out in a single breath.
“I’ve won, Irine. Rock was a trap from the beginning. What I was aiming for wasn’t even one country, nor dragons. It was Sanadiel alone.”
Tailed laughed. His laughter shook Rock’s barrier.
“I used Kassel too. I prayed that he would succeed in bringing the Wolf Knight Order. He did so well, Captain Kassel! I’ll remember him as the great hero who led humans to destruction.”
“Shut up…”
Irine tried not to listen to Tailed’s words, but she couldn’t stop the strength from leaving her hand gripping Vena. Vena had gathered magic strong enough to cut the Lord of the Undying, but she couldn’t draw and swing it. And the path to approach him was blocked by Grandol.
Lumil fell, hit by Grandol’s sword. With his wounds from yesterday reopening, he collapsed on the ground and couldn’t get up.
Dunmel also lost all his swords. Though he could fight even barehanded, Dunmel without a weapon was powerless before Grandol’s sword. Moreover, with his strength still not recovered from the injuries in Lutia, it was a miracle he had held out this long. Dunmel blocked Grandol’s final attack but ended up kneeling. Blood from his severed fingers, torn cheek, and broken molar quickly soaked the ground.
Grandol didn’t deliver the finishing blow to the two and came straight towards Irine. She couldn’t approach Tailed until Grandol fell. Even if she drew Vena now, Irine would have to fight Grandol, not Tailed.
Irine was watching Grandol with one eye and Quain now in front of the White Gate with the other.
“I’m sorry, Quain…”
It was the first time in a thousand years that Vena Silk, the sword of the Queen’s Guardian Knight, had faced such a huge enemy. Nevertheless, Quain cut down the four dragons with a fierce attack without fear. Against the Kaguas with huge bodies as large as the current Guanil, he cut tails, stabbed bellies, jumped up and shattered teeth. Finally, all four collapsed before Quain, and he staggered back, exhausted and injured.
However, that was not the end. The fallen Kaguas were enveloped in black energy and rose again. The same thing happened no matter how many times he killed them. The Kaguas stood before Quain again without a single wound. The Kagua at the very front spewed black flames. He cut the flames with Vena Silk’s power, but couldn’t block the flames from another Kagua beside it.
Quain was engulfed in flames and crashed into the city gate. With all the bones in his body broken and his body in tatters, Quain raised Vena Silk once more. But this time he couldn’t get up.
Soon the four Kaguas were approaching the small woman standing alone on the watchtower.
“I’m sorry, Sanadiel.”
Irine shed tears and dropped her head.
“Raise your head.”
The person who blocked between Irine and Grandol was, surprisingly, Governor Ruenmus.
“If you are the last human strength, the last hope, the last magic…, be proud until the end. Resist until the end.”
Ruenmus was shouting while looking straight at the Lord of Terror whom he couldn’t even look at properly earlier.
“You may take countless lives, but you cannot take away the spirit of Rock! It was Arok that rose again even after falling a thousand years ago, and it was Carnelock that rose again even after falling 10 years ago.”
Ruenmus turned back to Irine and continued:
“This place is the hope of Acrand and the land that must live until the very last moment. Raise your head, Master Irine. Raise your head and fight until the end…!”
Grandol’s sword cut Ruenmus’s right wrist. Looking down at his fallen arm, Ruenmus staggered back but neither fell nor screamed.
He gripped his severed wrist and endured the pain with tightly closed lips, then said:
“Fi, fight, Irine.”
Grandol’s sword cut above the wrist he had cut earlier. Ruenmus finally screamed, and Grandol’s sword struck down on the shoulder blade of the newly cut part. Ruenmus’s blood burst onto Irine’s face. His right arm, now in three pieces, rolled on the ground.
Irine received that blood on her face without even closing her eyes. Her pupils distorted with anger.
“Come to your senses, Master Grandol. A White Wolf must not fight another White Wolf.”
Grandol stepped over the fallen Ruenmus and approached. But Irine couldn’t draw Vena. The magical power she had prepared until now was not for Grandol.
‘Please, Meylumil. Dunmel. Anyone, get up and block Grandol just a little.’
“I will fight, Master Irine.”
It was unclear whether this was an answer to Irine’s inner thoughts, or a response to what she had said to Grandol earlier. Loyal stood right behind her.
“The fight between White Wolf and White Wolf still depends on me.”
☆ ☆ ☆
Blood filled Latilda’s mouth and flowed down the side of her lips. Her red pupils were now observing the entire battlefield without Knadil’s help.
Loyal was standing before Grandol. Without armor, barefoot, with his wound that had pierced his stomach still not healed at all, he drew his sword.
It seemed as if Latilda could even see into Loyal’s heart.
Loyal was fighting. Even from far away, even fighting a completely different opponent, he was fighting with a ‘protective heart’.
‘I will fight too.’
Latilda spread both arms. From the excessive power she was emitting, Knadil ended up kneeling on one knee.
“Latilda… Your power beyond this…”
“Ganel has given up immortality. I am willing to burn my entire life. If I’m just allowed time to meet Loyal and see his face one last time, I will use everything else.”
Latilda gritted her teeth.
“I command in the name of the Lady.”
Knadil roared painfully under the pressure crushing his entire body. The dark power Latilda was emitting forcibly drew out Knadil’s power.
Once again, a pillar of red light shot up into the sky.
“Guanil! Fold your wings!”
☆ ☆ ☆
Guanil’s black flames burst out towards the Wolf knights. However, only unfortunate Mozes were engulfed in those flames, while the Wolves had already avoided them, knowing the direction in advance.
Wherever they rampaged, lines of Moze corpses were left, and the Mozes who had lost their commanders couldn’t respond properly. They just screamed and threw axes or swords at the approaching horses. But these Wolves wouldn’t let themselves be hit by such things.
The Irophis Knight Order crushed the Mozes in the Wolves’ path of advance. Azwin signaled Billy, and he quickly followed beside her.
Azwin drew a circle with her finger and said:
“Harass Guanil’s gaze. We’ll catch him.”
Billy relayed Azwin’s words exactly to the dragon knights, signaling with his sword.
‘That guy, he even knows the dragon knight order’s signal system?’
Guanil kept breathing fire, attacking Mozes and Wolves simultaneously. Guanil’s fire couldn’t knock down the Wolves and only burned Mozes. However, the flame magic used by Ruskin riding on Guanil’s shoulder could accurately target, and already the seventh Wolf had fallen.
‘No. He’s too big. At this rate, we can’t catch his movements…’
Just as Azwin was shouting while circling around Guanil, suddenly a pillar of red light fell from the sky onto Guanil’s back. Guanil, who had been spreading his wings wide, planted his face on the ground. His heavy body scraped the ground.
Guanil tried to rise again, flapping his wings, but couldn’t do so, pressed down by something. Ruskin, who was riding, also lost balance and couldn’t aim his magic staff at the Wolves.
‘It’s light from the Tower of Wrath. Did Knadil do something?’
Azwin shouted as she ran towards Guanil’s side:
“Now, Coen! Catch his movements!”
As if he had been waiting, Coen threw an iron chain that wrapped around Guanil’s neck. Guanil, who couldn’t come to his senses from the sudden shock, hastily grabbed at the thin iron chain wrapping around his neck.
“Argh!”
Not just Coen, but even the horse securing the end of the chain was briefly lifted. Matching Azwin’s signal, Putier also threw a chain to bind the wings. Though the weight on both sides was nothing compared to the dragon’s size, Guanil lost balance from the subtly pulling force. Coen and Coen’s horse, which had been lifted and spinning in the air for a while, finally touched the ground.
Already the third spear thrown by Zainon was stuck in the tip of the dragon’s wing. Guanil couldn’t flap his wings properly because of the stuck spears.
“Climb up.”
Azwin shouted to Sildire riding behind her.
“What should I do?”
Sildire asked.
“Knock down the magician riding on top.”
Sildire jumped from the running horse and clung to the iron chain Coen was holding. She spun around once while hanging on the chain, then quickly ran up the swaying chain.
In the middle, as Guanil jumped up high, Coen and Putier’s horses jerked up once more. But the iron chain made by Lergo with as much care as weapons didn’t break.
Guanil, unable to fly, started running. Coen and Putier also rode their horses in the same direction, chasing the dragon.
Meanwhile, Sildire climbed onto the dragon’s back. The magician Ruskin on top was calmly maintaining his posture despite all the shaking, only his beard fluttering.
“It’s a meaningless act, young Wolf knight. Even if you win this battle, you cannot kill the Lord of the Undying.”
Sildire shouted while balancing herself by placing her hand on the black scales:
“What’s the Lord of the Undying?”
“You don’t know?”
“I didn’t listen… Ah! Who cares? My job is to knock you down!”
Sildire ran on the dragon’s back and swung her sword. Ruskin easily blocked the fast sword swung by the Wolf knight with his staff and sprinkled flame magic.
A huge explosion occurred on Guanil’s back.
“To think of defeating magic with a sword.”
Nothing remained where Ruskin’s flames had disappeared. Ruskin momentarily felt a cool sensation on his nape and touched it.
Sildire had already struck Ruskin’s neck and passed by. Even the Wolf knights had lost in their first encounter with Sildire. Ruskin was no exception.
“The dragon’s death depends on me and my death depends on the dragon… So this is what it meant?”
Ruskin dropped his staff.
“Is this enough, Tailed…?”
The old magician fell from Guanil’s back. And he was trampled under the dragon’s running feet. Sildire braced herself on Guanil’s shoulder and gripped her sword reversed. But she wasn’t confident about piercing the dragon’s scales, which were as tough as armor.
Then Sildire discovered a long sword wound on the dragon’s cheek. While other wounds from the battle between dragons had already healed, strangely, several areas of peeled scales had not healed. Who, how, with what power could have made such a terrible wound? Sildire didn’t know about the existence of Rai who had wounded Guanil. She just thought that if it was that spot, it would be enough with her strength.
Guanil was so focused on the iron chain binding his neck that he wasn’t paying any attention to Sildire. The dragon increased his running speed and finally broke the iron chains of Coen and Putier. Then he flapped his wings strongly and shot up into the air.
“Knadil, you bastard! To use such a trivial magic to try to catch me, I’ll go there right now and punish you.”
Just as Guanil’s feet were lifting off the ground, Sildire plunged her sword with all her might into the wound on Guanil’s cheek. Having lifted his body to fly, Guanil screamed and crashed head-first into the ground. Sildire was thrown off Guanil’s violently shaking body and flew through the air.
Sildire fell to the ground back-first without even being able to scream. Just before crashing, a horse passed by and caught her body precisely.
It was Franz.
“Are you alright?”
Sildire exhaled deeply.
“Killer timing.”
“Is this enough to cancel out the debt for scarring your face?”
“You were still worrying about that?”
Sildire was rather dumbfounded as she clung to Franz’s body and moved to the back of the horse.
“Towards Guanil! We need to protect Azwin.”
“Got it.”
Guanil tried to get up, shaking off his crashed body. But once again, a pillar of red light pressed him down. Guanil shouted, pushing back the light with dark power:
“Let go! I am a being who does not listen to your commands!”
However, the pillar of light speaking in a woman’s voice did not release Guanil.
“No! Everything is according to my will. You too shall be so!”
“Impossible!”
Guanil roared towards the pillar of light from his prone position. The dark light bursting from his mouth offset the light.
As the pillar of light shattered, Latilda’s scream burst forth.
“I am Guanil! No human, no magician, no dragon in the world can stop me.”
The moment Guanil tried to rise, another red light was standing firm before his eyes.
It was Vena Esarck, the only light Guanil feared.
“I’ve come to do what the teacher should have done.”
Azwin jumped off her horse and plunged Vena Esarck right into Guanil’s forehead. Guanil writhed and bounced up, but Azwin didn’t fall off.
“Argh!”
Guanil struck down with his fist at Azwin stuck to his forehead. But Azwin endured to the end and instead punched Guanil’s eyeball with her fist. Guanil writhed greatly with Azwin attached to his head, then hit his chin on the ground again.
Red light starting from Vena Esarck enveloped Guanil’s entire body. Guanil squirmed but couldn’t overcome Esarck’s power and only flapped his wings. Azwin let go of Vena Esarck and drew Gerald’s axe from her back.
“Finally, this is for Gary.”
Azwin swung the axe down on Guanil’s long, squirming neck.
Guanil’s scream greatly shook the battlefield.
☆ ☆ ☆
Lofin, sitting leaning against Jay’s body from afar, could picture the entire situation in his mind just from hearing the dragon’s scream.
“How is it, friends? Can you see my disciple commanding alone, having gathered the continent’s strongest knight order? It’s the leadership I taught. Add to that the courage not to fear dragons, that passionate heart filling the battlefield and unyielding strength. Plus her outstanding looks…”
Lofin let out a soft laugh.
“Look, who has raised a more splendid disciple than me?”
Lofin slowly stretched out his arm.
“The bet…, I won.”
Jaymer held his cold hand and said:
“I will tell your friends, Master Lofin.”
Seeing Azwin continue to command the knight order without stopping even after beheading Guanil, Jay’s tears suddenly poured out.
“It is your victory. This entire battle is your victory.”
☆ ☆ ☆
Loyal and Grandol glared at each other for a long time without backing down.
Tailed, growing urgent, shouted:
“What are you doing, Grandol? Why hesitate against someone you’ve cut once? How long do you intend to keep me trapped here?”
Irine retorted in place of Grandol, who gave no answer:
“Your rotten soul probably can’t see it? Though controlled, Grandol’s soul is pure. So he can see. He can see how much the White Wolf resurrected from death has grown.”
Loyal himself wasn’t hearing the words of the two. From the moment he first set foot behind Irine, he was focusing only on Grandol’s breathing.
Grandol was speaking with his eyes:
‘Don’t think you can defeat me with the same technique.’
Loyal also spoke with his eyes:
‘I was taught by the master that the strongest technique is one that can’t be blocked even if known. Wasn’t it you who taught that?’
Grandol smiled slightly. For the first time, life was returning to his eyes that had been controlled by the Lord of the Undying.
Irine was also surprised to see that.
‘He wasn’t completely captured?’
It had been strange from the beginning. Just as Tailed couldn’t forcibly have his body taken by the Lord of the Undying, someone with strong willpower like Grandol couldn’t be forcibly controlled. With just that one smile, Irine realized a new fact.
‘It wasn’t taken, but given? Both Tailed and Grandol?’
Just then, someone shouted from the rooftop. Everyone was so focused on the duel between the two that they didn’t react to that voice.
“Loyal!”
It was Kassel who had raced across the rooftops of Rock riding Venon.
Kassel threw Aranthia’s sacred sword to Loyal without hesitation. However, Loyal didn’t even look that way, and Grandol also paid no attention. The sword Kassel threw gained more speed and power as it spun, flying straight towards Loyal.
Loyal let go of the sword he was holding and reached out his hand towards the incoming sacred sword. Ztokh Worg was caught in Loyal’s hand as if being sucked in, and at that moment a dazzling white light burst forth.
“Show me the teeth of the White Wolf once more!”
Kassel shouted.
With that as the signal, Loyal and Grandol rushed towards each other. An attack so fast that even Irine’s dynamic vision couldn’t see it collided above her head as she knelt on one knee.
The swordsmanship of the White Wolf, of which there had always been only one in Aranthia, was the ultimate technique that killed the opponent with a single strike. Irine learned by watching Grandol, Irine taught Quain, and Quain soon surpassed Irine. However, Loyal and Grandol were stronger and faster than Quain.
Exactly the same technique collided with the same force, and both were thrown back. But neither stopped, circling around Irine once and clashing again with the same technique. Irine stared not at the fight between the two, but only at Tailed bound before her eyes.
Meylumil, watching from afar, smiled as he saw Loyal’s attack.
‘Your hesitation is gone.’
There couldn’t be a second time for a technique that should end everything in one strike. But the clash between the two continued three times, and on the third, Grandol’s legs couldn’t withstand the intense movement and stopped. But Loyal swung that third sword. He bit down until his teeth broke, didn’t stop even as his muscles tore, and moved his arm even as his bones broke.
Loyal’s sword was plunged into Grandol’s stomach.
Grandol’s sword fell to the ground.
Irine had already risen from her seat before the third clash occurred. The red light of Vena Esarck was condensed on the blade, burning like fire.
“Grandol, protect me.”
Tailed shouted, seeing Irine approach.
“You are my undying puppet. Don’t yield to such a sword, get up and protect me.”
Grandol tried to pull away from Loyal’s sword, but Loyal wouldn’t let go. And Ztokh Worg also wouldn’t let go of Grandol.
“Latilda. Return to me who gave you power. Kill Knadil!”
But Latilda refused.
Rather, she was suppressing Guanil’s power with Knadil’s help.
“Guanil, come back. Come back and protect me!”
But at that moment, Guanil was falling to the ground after being hit on the nape by Sildire.
Irine stood in front of Tailed and held Vena Esarck in front of her face.
Tailed shouted with bloodshot eyes.
“It’s useless. No living being can kill me and…”
“Enough with all that dead beings this and that, now get away from my man!”
Irine’s sword plunged into Tailed’s stomach. A red flash pierced through the Lord of the Undying, past the collapsed city gate, and through to the southern plains of Rock. A terrifying scream that made all living beings tremble in fear tore through the heads of not only Irine but also the soldiers guarding the walls and the people of Rock.
At that very moment, Azwin’s axe struck Guanil’s neck.
Ganel, who had been supporting the Tower of Blessing, could no longer hold on and collapsed in that spot.
Knadil, who had been guarding the Tower of Wrath, also lost his strength and fell.
Latilda’s body also fell to the ground powerlessly and didn’t move.
Tanya also lost consciousness.
Rock’s barrier disappeared.
At the same time, even the magic binding Tailed vanished.
Tailed’s body sank to the ground. He raised his freed hands. Black power condensed between his thin fingers.
“Luck is still on my side.”
Tailed grabbed Irine’s neck with his left hand and raised his right hand made of black claws.
“It was like this 8 years ago too, wasn’t it?”
Irine, having used up all her strength just for that one thrust, couldn’t avoid that hand even as she saw it. As he said, the situation was almost the same as 8 years ago.
‘Oh no, it can’t be. I can’t let the same thing happen again here.’
Even though Irine had succeeded in her attack then too, she had let the Lord of the Ice Castle escape by not being able to block that final attack.
“Die, Irine!”
What was different from then was that now there was an assassin so excellent that even the Lord of the Undying couldn’t notice his presence.
“!”
Dunmel’s sword cut through Tailed’s right hand. As the severed forearm fell to the ground, the dark magic that had been gathered in his hand exploded.
Dunmel was thrown back by that force. At the same time, the red light of Vena Esarck completely enveloped Tailed’s body.
Black smoke escaped from the writhing magician in the gray robe. The black smoke began to take form and swirled above Tailed’s head.
“It is your victory.”
The writhing black smoke spewed out cursed words simultaneously in human language, Lemif language, and ancient language.
“Continue your brief peace. But the White Gate has already fallen. Your fight has only just begun. Tailed, Grand Master of Lutia. Now I will give up this aged body. And I shall depart to a new body I have been eyeing.”
Tailed’s body slowly sank into Irine’s arms. Irine ignored all those sounds and embraced Tailed.
Tailed’s clear eyes turned towards Irine. And he spoke in a comfortable voice.
“You did well, Irine… Sorry I’m late.”
Irine smiled faintly and tightly embraced her lover who had returned after 8 years.
“Welcome back, Tailed. What took you so long?”
Tailed smiled faintly.
“I threw the master to the enemy’s side.”
“Ruskin?”
Irine asked. Tailed nodded.
“So that the Lord of the Undying would release Guanil freely instead of keeping him by his side. I knew that if Ruskin was there, he would do so without worry. And I led Aranthia’s greatest power to be able to kill Guanil.”
Tailed spoke slowly. His whispering voice had changed to the voice speaking to Ruskin a few months ago.
‘You must betray Lutia, Master Ruskin. Accept the fear and turn completely to the evil side. If you stand on their side and fight with all your might, the Lord of the Undying will neglect the dark power he should keep by his side.’
Tailed also went to find Grandol, who was fishing while waiting for an old friend, at a different time and place, and spoke:
‘Please fight on the side of the Lord of the Undying, Grandol. Tomorrow, the magician borrowing my body will take your body. Let him take it. By doing so, you will end up killing your friend, but you will be able to do something greater instead.’
The betrayal of Ruskin and Grandol was not done by the Lord of the Undying who had Tailed’s body.
It was done by the ‘real Tailed’. Irine was dumbfounded, not knowing what was what.
Tailed had left the Lord of the Undying, who was taking countless lives using his body, alone. He even remained silent when ordering Master Karlsten of Blackfoot to assassinate the Queen of Aranthia.
Irine asked:
“Tailed, what have you done? What on earth have you been doing trapped in that monster’s soul for 8 years?”
☆ ☆ ☆
8 years ago, the Lord of the Ice Castle, who had fled after being hit by Irine’s Vena Esarck, was caught by Tailed not far away on the snowy plain.
The Lord of Darkness, now only a black form, spoke to Tailed who was pointing his staff at him:
“It’s useless to try to kill me. No, as long as you are a living being, you cannot kill me. After 10 years or 100 years, I will appear again. Will there be a great magician like you then? Luckily there was Nadiel a thousand years ago, and luckily there is you now, but what about in a hundred years?”
The Lord of Darkness was making an offer that couldn’t be refused.
Tailed slowly lowered his staff.
“Come, accept me. Trap my power inside your body and evaporate it with you. Don’t you have the confidence? No magician but you can do it. If you don’t have the confidence, just kill me. Your lover will die with me.”
“What do you mean?”
Tailed asked in surprise.
“It’s my last magic. One of the humans who will die with me the moment I die, entangled in my curse. All humans who have had contact with me will die with me. The Excel knights of Lontamon, the believers who believe in and follow me as a god, the royal family of Lontamon who followed my orders, the council of Carnelock. Your lover, your two friends. All will die with me.”
Tailed was at a loss for words.
“If I enter your pure soul, that curse will disappear. Your magical eyes will know better that my words are not lies. Isn’t it worth trying?”
Tailed looked at the Ice Castle he had left Irine in and fell into deep thought. Only when his robe was covered in snow and his body had frozen stiff like a statue did he nod.
The dark energy flowed into Tailed’s body, which had shed all magical barriers. And soon Tailed’s self disappeared, and the Lord of Darkness rose to the surface.
“How foolish!”
The Lord of the Undying, now in Tailed’s body, burst into laughter.
“Did you really think that was possible? Did you really think you could trap my power with your mere human strength? It’s over now. The only human power that could stop me in this generation has disappeared. Now if I just remove Sanadiel, it’s over. The final power of death will dwell in Acrand and the Sky Mountains.”
☆ ☆ ☆
To Irine’s question, Tailed smiled faintly and replied weakly:
“No living being can kill him and all dead beings are under his control… I reversed the curse that demon had placed on his body like a blessing. It took 8 years and there were so many sacrifices. But it’s done now, Irine. It’s done…”
Irine found herself unknowingly staring at Loyal, who was stabbing Grandol’s stomach.
The greatest human warrior among all dead beings!
“Let go, Loyal Wolf. Quain taught you very well.”
Grandol slowly stroked Loyal’s head. Loyal was using up all his strength to endure his injuries and keep stabbing with the sword.
Grandol spoke once more:
“Now leave it to me. I must save your friend.”
Grandol removed Loyal’s hand from the sword stabbing his stomach and pulled the sword out himself. The light of Ztokh Worg did not disappear even in his hand.
The black form that had taken shape above Tailed’s head was sluggishly moving towards the fallen Dunmel.
Dunmel was the next vessel the Lord of the Undying had his eye on. He had a stronger body than Tailed, was more familiar with the power of darkness than Tailed, and was also of the same bloodline. The grandson of Count Shraighton, Themar!
Grandol walked straight towards Dunmel. The Lord of the Undying spotted Grandol approaching and shouted:
“Stop! You cannot yet escape from my power!”
But his command could not penetrate the light of the sacred sword Grandol was holding.
“I said stop! I am your master. You are a dead being and all dead beings obey my commands. Stop, Grandol!”
Grandol did not stop.
“A single dead being will kill you…”
Tailed, cradled in Irine’s arms, continued speaking weakly towards the black smoke:
“That is your curse that I reversed while trapped in your soul. No, it is my curse. The curse completed by Grand Master Tailed of Lutia in exchange for his life. Ah, listen, Irine. I’ve been holding these words for 8 years.”
Tailed even seemed to be enjoying himself.
“Die, Lord of the Undying!”
Aranthia’s sacred sword shining in Grandol’s hand pierced through the formless black smoke. The blade shattered inside the smoke and at the same time white light burst out around it.
It changed into a wolf formed of light.
The wolf bit and tore at the fleeing smoke.
The scream of the Lord of the Undying covered the sky of Rock.
The Mozes covering the Tower of Blessing in the north lost their strength and collapsed simultaneously at that scream.
His scream covered the sky of Carnelock. Another hundred thousand Mozes marching towards Rock collapsed.
His scream swept across the continent, tearing away all the curses that were to occur after this battle. In Camort, in Irophis, in Lontamon.
However, even Tailed did not know that the final curse was mixed in that scream.
☆ ☆ ☆
‘The four Kagua will not die even after my death until they kill Sanadiel!’
His curse passed through Aranthia’s Blue Gate, Gray Gate, Red Gate, Gold Gate, and reached the White Gate.
Sanadiel listened to the sound of an immortal being dying, coming from far in the east.
“Yo-Your Majesty. Pl-please escape to Nadium.”
Quain, fallen in front of the gate, tried to stand up even relying on his sword, but couldn’t get up.
The four Kagua were cut by Vena Silk many times but kept reviving and advancing towards the White Gate. Quain fought many times but finally couldn’t get up, his strength exhausted.
The four Kagua marched towards the White Gate.
“No, Quain. This battle will end if only I die.”
Sanadiel shook her head.
“Blinded by revenge, he chose magic to kill me instead of a curse to burn down a kingdom at the last moment. Fortunately.”
Sanadiel smiled faintly looking at the fallen Quain.
“Thank you, Quain. You were the best of all guardian knights so far. Please take care of my children. I think everyone will be too sad if I die.”
The first Kagua approached right in front of the White Gate and raised its black claws.
Sanadiel, who had been smiling comfortably until the last moment, ended up shedding tears.
“I think I’ll be sad too. It’s too sad that I’ll never see you all again. Please be happy. Everyone be happy. I hope my blessing makes everyone happy…”
The Kagua’s claws dropped towards Sanadiel.
Quain couldn’t move a finger even with that tragic moment before his eyes.
But the Kagua’s claws only scratched the empty air a few meters from Sanadiel’s head. It wasn’t a miss, but its arm was pulled back.
No, it wasn’t just the arm being pulled back, but the whole body was dragged back.
Not just one Kagua, but all four were thrown back.
Among them, two were lifted into the air, split in two and torn to shreds.
A red dragon had landed in front of the White Gate with its wings spread. Compared to its huge body, no matter how much they had grown, the four Kagua were like children standing before an adult. The red dragon swung its tail, bared its teeth and struck, breaking the neck of the charging Kagua, and burned the last one by breathing fire.
Even the curse that should have lived forever burned away before the red dragon’s magic.
“Th-this is…”
Quain asked, looking up at the dragon’s face at the end of his gaze.
“Your Majesty, what kind of miracle is this?”
“I suppose everything can’t be explained by Aranthia’s blessing.”
Sanadiel said, shedding tears.
“Greet her, Quain. This is Nadiuren, Sanadil, ruler of all dragons and goddess of the Sky Mountains.”
The red dragon reached out towards Quain. With just a simple healing magic, it could make Quain stand up. He staggered to his feet and then knelt again before the dragon.
Nadil walked towards the White Gate, leaving the Kagua corpses behind.
“Welcome, Nadil. My mother.”
Sanadiel said, also kneeling.
“My daughter, Nadiel. Many things happened in the Sky Mountains too, so I was late.”
“I didn’t know you would appear, Mother.”
“Your successor appeared and asked me. He said all battles are happening in Carnelock, so Aranthia would be empty, and asked me to go.”
“To make such a request to a goddess, he’s as rude as my father. But to bring you here for my wish to see a dragon once more… I have no words for this.”
“I wanted to see you too, so I couldn’t call it a rude request.”
The queens of two races looked at each other and smiled like the day they first met a thousand years ago.
The corpses of the four Kagua burned to ashes.
Nadil said:
“Even the last curse left by the Lord of the Undying as he died couldn’t overcome the small favor Kassel asked of me.”
☆ ☆ ☆
The mass of light in the shape of a wolf devoured even the last speck of the fleeing black smoke and then disappeared itself.
The sacred sword, having finished its task, fell to the ground and shattered, leaving only the handle. The blade fragments, broken like obsidian, disappeared shortly after with white smoke.
Grandol staggered towards Tailed.
“My role ends here, Tailed.”
Grandol said.
Tailed, still in Irine’s arms, also nodded.
“Thank you, Master Grandol.”
“Then I should go apologize to my old friend.”
With a gentle smile, Grandol collapsed helplessly as if it were a lie. As if his breath had stopped long ago…, but he closed his eyes with a peaceful face.
“Now I think my time has come too, Irine.”
Tailed also said, holding Irine’s hand. Blood flowing from his severed arm was soaking Irine’s legs. She tried to smile but couldn’t hide her tears.
“So quickly?”
He raised his arm to wipe away those tears.
“A body that held two souls, once one leaves, it has to be like this. In my calculations, it shouldn’t last even 5 minutes, but somehow the calculation was wrong. Is it because I’m in your arms…? I’m glad.”
Tailed took a low breath and apologized.
“I’m sorry, Irine.”
“You kept your promise to return, didn’t you.”
Tailed’s face slowly began to age. From a young face to a middle-aged face, from middle-aged to an old man’s face. The wrinkles on his face increased and his hair turned white.
“Hold me once more, Irine. For too long…, I was in such a cold place.”
Irine tightly embraced his body as he spoke powerlessly. And she kissed his lips.
“Tell Tanya I’m sorry too.”
“I’ll tell her.”
“Live happily.”
“I will live happily.”
“I love you, Irine. With that alone… I endured in that darkness.”
“I love you too, Tailed.”
Tailed stopped breathing silently.
Victory cheers rang out from afar, but Irine didn’t move, still embracing his body. She just repeated the same words, wanting to keep telling them even to his soul that had left his body.
“I love you, Tailed. I love you…”
–TL Notes–
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