TL/Editor: raei
Status: ongoing
Illustrations: none
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Episode 179, Chapter 46: The Six Claws (5)
It happened in an instant.
The blue light emanating from the spirit after swallowing the last authority fragment filled the entire interior of the Plant.
Zap!
The blue light, pushing away Keria's poison and Zion's Black Star Force, began to freeze every space it touched, turning it pure white.
"What the-"As Keria's eyes widened at the sight of even the air flow freezing as if time had stopped,
Swish-
Someone slowly walked out from the center of the blue light.
A small girl with hair as clear as ice cascading down to her ankles.
The girl's eyes were incredibly clear, yet devoid of any emotion, giving them an eerie quality.
The girl's gaze, after looking around as if she'd been outside for a long time, turned to Zion.
-We can finally talk.
A clear voice resonated in Zion's mind.
It was the will of the now-complete Frost Spirit.
-I have a mountain of things I want to discuss with you, but dealing with that guy should be the priority right now. That's why you called me, after all. Ɍ𝘼NＯβÊṩ
"That's right," Zion replied with a slight smile as the girl pointed at Keria.
Bang!
With a sound like air exploding, Keria's form vanished from that spot.
When the demon reappeared, it wasn't in front of Zion.
He was at the Plant's exit, on the opposite side.
'I need to get out of here right now.'
Keria's eyes were filled with urgency.
The moment he saw the blue girl walking out of the blue light, he realized.
The unimaginable power flowing from that girl, no, that spirit!
The moment that power joined with Zion Agnes, his defeat was all but certain.
The Plant's 'core' was no longer his concern.
His only goal now was to escape this place alive.
But as if to deny Keria's goal,
Zap!
The cold energy shot from the Frost Spirit completely froze the entire exit.
Keria tried to pierce the ice with a needle made from his condensed poison and decay authority.
However, much faster than that,
"Turning your back on me twice?"
Zion's form vanished and reappeared right behind Keria.
Abandoning his attempt to break through the ice, Keria turned and shot the needle he had prepared towards Zion.
At that moment,
Clunk!
The needle stopped right in front of Zion, as if frozen in place.
This wasn't Keria's doing.
The Frost Queen's authority, activated in an instant, had completely frozen the needle and the space around it.
As Keria's eyes wavered at this inconceivable sight,
Screech!
Zion swung Eclaxia diagonally, the sword now absorbing all surrounding energy and converting it into darkness.
Boom!
Though Keria managed to avoid being split in half by layering dozens of bandages, he couldn't completely negate the impact. He was sent flying at an invisible speed, crashing into the Plant's wall.
Zion didn't pursue Keria, instead casually lowering Eclaxia to his side.
-I should warn you, handling my authority won't be easy.
As if reading Zion's thoughts, the Frost Queen's spirit, who had approached his side, muttered these words while placing her hand on Eclaxia's blade.
Swish!
The girl's body scattered into transparent powder, seeping into Eclaxia.
Simultaneously, the pitch-black darkness emanating from the Light-Extinguishing Sword began to change to a clear blue.
The two, awakened by the Black Star Force, were resonating with each other.
"Kugh!!"
Meanwhile, Keria, groaning in pain as he extracted himself, opened his palm wide.
A green sphere formed from it, splitting into thousands of fragments that shot towards Zion, each following a different trajectory.
It was an attack designed to guarantee a hit unless Zion could defend his entire body, as it came from all directions.
However, Zion's response was simply to swing his sword vertically.
At that moment,
Crack!
Some of the approaching fragments froze mid-air, along with the surrounding space.
Zion unhesitatingly thrust his body through the gap between the frozen fragments.
Boom!
The remaining fragments belatedly collided behind Zion, causing a massive explosion.
As if knowing his first attack wouldn't work, Keria immediately shot blades of poison capable of dissolving even supernatural powers towards Zion.
But,
Boom!
Zion's sword split through even those, reaching Keria and inflicting another critical wound on the demon's body.
The completed Frost Queen's authority was powerful enough to have caused the calamity 'Frozen Night', which froze half the capital in an instant.
In that light, this level of power seemed only natural.
Zap!
Zion's relentless attacks and Keria's ever-increasing wounds.
'At this rate...!'
Dismay filled Keria's eyes.
That cold energy.
The unfathomable cold emanating from Zion Agnes's sword, now dyed blue, was freezing all of Keria's poison and decay, rendering them useless.
Moreover, Zion Agnes's original power, that ominous darkness, was going beyond that, negating and erasing the authority itself.
It was a sight incomprehensible to Keria, despite having lived for over a hundred years.
If this continued for just a bit longer, his life would be erased from this world.
He had to do something before that happened.
'In that case...'
As if he had made up his mind, Keria's entire body lit up.
Whoosh!
In an instant, all his bandages unraveled, spreading in all directions.
The condensed wave of decay that burst forth created a momentary distance between him and Zion.
"I'll blow this whole place up along with you," Keria said through gritted teeth, looking at Zion in the gap that had naturally formed.
Crackle!
All the power of his authority began to gather in front of Keria's chest.
As if that wasn't enough, he even poured in more than half of his life-sustaining power.
'If I can melt this entire area, including the Plant, I might find a way to escape.'
Just as he thought this, Keria noticed something strange in his view of Zion.
Zion was standing still, just staring at him.
He wasn't rushing to stop Keria or even attempting to attack from where he stood.
Had he given up?
Or did he have some other plan?
But it didn't matter.
"Whatever you do, it's too late," Keria said.
At that moment, his technique was already complete.
Joy filled the demon's eyes.
Finally,
Whoom!
Just as Keria's last-ditch effort, condensed to the size of a small bead, was about to explode to obliterate part of the Plant and the capital,
Freeze!
Keria's movement stopped.
No, not just his movement, but the condensed mass of his authority and his body.
Everything, including the blood flow within that body, came to a stop.
Along with this,
Crack, crackle!
Pure white frost spread from his wounds, covering his entire surface.
As this incomprehensible situation unfolded, Keria's eyes, the only part of him that could still move, began to waver in shock.
'What... how...!'
Even pouring all his strength into it, he couldn't move a single eyebrow.
'Don't tell me that when he was just standing still...'
As if answering Keria's thoughts,
"It seems I'm not the one who's late, but you," Zion said coldly as he slowly approached him.
During their battle, Zion had inflicted numerous wounds on Keria's body.
But he hadn't just caused wounds.
With each strike, he had injected a bit of the Frost Queen's cold energy. Finally, the accumulated cold had frozen Keria's entire body and authority from the inside out.
'No... This can't be!'
The shock in Keria's eyes turned to despair.
"If you stay still, I'll end this cleanly," Zion said, his eyes curving like crescent moons as he reached Keria.
"Well, not that you can move anyway."
Crunch!
Finally, Keria's vision went completely dark.
Hiss-
Did all demons crossing from the demon realm to the empire receive the same treatment, regardless of their power or status?
Zion briefly watched Keria's corpse turn to dust and disappear, just like the other demonic creatures he had faced so far.
Then,
"One more to go."
Zion's form vanished without a trace.
---
Boom!
With a tremendous noise, Liam's form was sent flying, crashing through the Plant's main facilities before slamming into the ground.
"Kugh!"
Blood burst from Liam's mouth.
Before he could even get up,
"Kihi!"
Hiseller appeared right above him, laughing maniacally as he stomped on Liam's head.
Crunch!
The impact drove Liam's body even deeper into the ground.
Seeing this, Tirian, after stemming the blood from the wound on his chest caused by their clash, hastily cast a spell.
Rattle!
However, his magic bounced off the thin demonic energy barrier surrounding Hiseller's entire body.
Meanwhile, Liam, triggering Muspelheim's flames, managed to escape from under Hiseller's foot and regain his posture.
His eyes were incredibly dark.
The reason was simple.
At some point, the battle had completely tipped in Hiseller's favor.
Once Hiseller realized Liam's low synchronization rate with Muspelheim, he relentlessly exploited the resulting delay, leading to this outcome.
'Even just holding out is tough now.'
Liam thought as he assessed his condition.
If not for the Heat Heaven Armor, he wouldn't even be able to stand.
At that moment,
-Please buy me some time.
Tirian's voice echoed in his mind.
Liam glanced over to see the mage with his eyes closed, chanting a spell as if preparing something.
He looked completely defenseless, but it also showed how much he trusted Liam.
'I can't betray that trust.'
Whoosh!
With that thought, Liam's eyes gleamed as brighter flames than ever before began to engulf his entire body.
"What's this? Trying for one last struggle?" Hiseller said, looking amusedly at Liam and Tirian as he stepped forward, raising one hand.
The space around the demon's hand naturally condensed, forming the shape of something massive.
'I'll face him head-on.'
Liam launched a punch towards Hiseller before the demon could aim at Tirian.
As Liam's fist shot forward, all the burning air from the Flame World was sucked into it.
Boom!
It collided with Hiseller's hand, releasing a terrifying shockwave.
For a moment, the dust kicked up obscured the entire view.
When it cleared, the scene was devastating.
Liam's arm that had clashed with Hiseller was completely broken.
The impact was so tremendous that even Muspelheim couldn't absorb it all.
A normal person would have retreated at this point, but Liam didn't.
Growl!
Instead, he stepped forward even more, throwing his other fist.
As if resonating with Liam's will, the blood-red flames on his fist burned even more violently and fiercely than before.
"Why bother when it won't work anyway?" Hiseller said with a grin, also throwing his other hand.
Screech!
Another clash followed.
Crunch!
The result remained unchanged.
Though his remaining arm was also broken, causing tremendous pain,
"I know," Liam said, the light in his eyes undimmed.
From the start, his aim wasn't to damage Hiseller, but simply to restrain him.
Whoosh!
The divine artifact's flames that had transferred to Hiseller through two direct clashes began to completely bind the demon's body.
And towards the restrained Hiseller,
----------------!
Tirian's completed spell finally struck.
Atlas's Gravity Roar.
It was a new spell Tirian had created based on Zion's theory.
Tirian's magic, momentarily surpassing the limits of his current 8th level to break through the 9th level barrier, caused the gravity inside the entire Plant to surge, distorting space-time.
The Plant began to collapse, obscuring the view with dust.
'It worked.'
Tirian's tired face lit up as he watched this scene.
Thanks to Liam's all-out effort to restrain Hiseller, his spell had hit the demon without the slightest error. Even someone who had overwhelmed them both until now shouldn't be able to withstand this.
"Now we can breathe eas-"
Just as Tirian turned towards Liam, about to utter words of relief,
Crack!
Without any warning, a hand pierced through Tirian's abdomen and out his back.
Slightly later, Hiseller, the owner of that hand, appeared in front of Tirian.
His appearance was no different from before.
"Kugh!"
"I told you it wouldn't work," Hiseller said, looking at Tirian, who was coughing up blood from both his abdomen and mouth, with crazed eyes. He then violently shook his embedded hand.
Boom!
Tirian's form was sent flying, crashing into the Plant's wall.
Hiseller briefly looked at Tirian, who remained motionless against the wall, either unconscious or dead, before turning to walk towards Liam.
"Let's finish this. It's not fun anymore."
Powerful demonic energy undulated across Hiseller's entire body like a living thing.
This energy was of a much higher caliber than before, as if indicating that the previous battle had been mere child's play.
'So this is how it ends...'
Despair filled Liam's eyes as he watched Hiseller approach.
He no longer had the strength to move a finger, nor any hope of holding out.
Muspelheim's flames flickered out, as if reflecting Liam's despair.
"Prince Zion... I'm sorry," the hero said in a dejected voice, unable to carry out his orders any longer.
"Don't worry, your lord will follow you soon," Hiseller said with a grin as he reached Liam, about to deliver the final blow.
Crack!
A tiny frost formed on the demon's shoulder.
It settled like a small dot, as if taking aim.
"Hm?"
As Hiseller's voice filled with confusion at this inexplicable phenomenon,
Boom!
Something massive crashed through the Plant's entire ceiling, pinning down Hiseller's whole body.
Unable to react, Hiseller's body was crushed and endlessly driven into the ground below.
Liam's eyes also filled with confusion as he recognized what had struck Hiseller.
'A... spear?'
It was indeed a spear.
A massive ice spear emanating an overwhelming pressure, as if it belonged in the myths of ancient gods.
At that moment,
"You held out well," a low voice reached Liam's ears.
Whoosh!
The flames of Muspelheim enveloping Liam began to be sucked towards the source of the voice.
---
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