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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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May’s time stopped.
I gently unwrapped her arms from around me and looked at her tear-stained face.
“It’s alright. You just need a little time. I know you’ll be okay.”
May’s time would resume after everything was over. I started to leave, but the falling snow made me hesitate.
She wouldn’t feel the cold while frozen, but…
I placed my coat over her shoulders.
A single tear, previously frozen in time, finally traced a path down her cheek.
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I’d confirmed with Shakarim, and the reports from the other races indicated we were ready.
The magic towers were our main line of defense, manned by Adriana and countless mages, stocked with mana potions.
Rin and I were in the palace basement.
The pure white dagger in my hand throbbed, eager to fulfill its purpose.
Rin, who’d had her eyes closed, perhaps in contemplation or to avoid witnessing this, opened them and asked with a sad smile,
“Are you sad?”
“…Huh?”
“You look sad.”
She gently stroked my cheek. I couldn’t hide anything from her.
She was smiling, but like May, she probably knew.
“Begin.”
Elise’s voice. Kurika stood beside her, his breathing tense.
I approached Rin with the dagger. I pulled aside her dress, revealing the mark left by the Goddess of Death.
“Hey, Daniel…”
“Yeah.”
I placed the dagger against her chest. She placed her hands over mine, smiling.
“I’ll find you, no matter what.”
“…”
“So it’s okay.”
I plunged the dagger into her chest.
I’d done this before, in the first iteration.
The dagger activated.
The remnants of darkness within Rin were drawn into the blade, and a brilliant light and darkness swirled around her.
Then, the dagger, having absorbed all the death within her, turned pitch black and…
Crumble.
…dissolved into dust.
Rin collapsed, and I caught her.
Her breathing was heavy, but she was alive, just like in the first iteration.
“Did it work?” Elise asked.
“Yes, it’s done.”
Kurika sighed in relief and left, followed by Elise.
Maids rushed forward, gently taking Rin and covering her with a blanket. I watched her for a moment, then stepped outside.
WHOOSH!
It was the same.
A fiery meteor, streaking across the night sky, hurtling towards the continent.
I’d seen this countless times in my nightmares, but this time…
“We’re ready.”
ROOOOOAR!
Shakarim, the golden dragon, intercepted the meteor.
And on his back, wielding a staff, stood Eris, the guardian of Yggdrasil.
Eris Anen Serier felt a surge of fear as she looked at the approaching meteor.
It was a terrifying sight. She crouched on the dragon’s back, and Shakarim’s telepathic voice echoed in her mind.
– Are you afraid?
“…Wouldn’t anyone be?”
She was the continent’s vanguard. A testament to her abilities, but also a heavy burden.
“Everyone is watching. Our success or failure rests on our shoulders.”
– Then be grateful.
“Excuse me?”
She didn’t understand, and Shakarim clicked his tongue.
– Be grateful you don’t have to entrust your life to those vermin. Be grateful you can take responsibility for your own life.
“That’s… very dragon-like of you.”
– Hmph.
It was arrogant, but it was also reassuring. He was a powerful ally.
– Stay focused. I hear that damned Daniel prepared you for this until the very end.
“…That’s…”
She was speechless. It had all been so sudden.
Three days ago, she’d started training with Daniel.
She, the guardian of Yggdrasil, had been utterly defeated every time, and she was determined to win today, but…
She’d blinked, and suddenly she was back in her room, the staff complaining about the lost time.
‘Why did Daniel stop my time?’
She didn’t know.
She knew something was different about him, but she hadn’t had time to dwell on it.
“…”
She’d seen May anxiously waiting for Daniel before the battle.
And Rin, waiting patiently.
They seemed to know something.
Eris felt a pang of jealousy.
Their expressions held a depth of emotion she couldn’t match.
‘He’ll probably…’
After this battle, Daniel would choose someone.
And she was certain it wouldn’t be her.
She was such an indecisive elf.
She smiled wryly.
She wanted to be with him. That much was true.
But when she saw the other women around him…
She doubted her feelings could compare.
She instinctively stepped back.
‘Feelings are so complicated.’
The elf, experiencing love for the first time in millennia, felt lost and confused.
She hated her indecisiveness, yet…
“Growing pains,” she murmured.
Shakarim inhaled deeply, drawing in a massive amount of mana.
Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!*l
The staff cheered excitedly. She would have normally been annoyed, but now, it helped ease her tension.
“Yes, let’s go!”
She gathered her mana.
The mages in the towers below channeled their mana towards her and Shakarim.
It was an overwhelming amount, but Shakarim and the Yggdrasil staff withstood it.
“I’ll open a path!”
A path of wind shot out from the staff’s tip.
Compared to the meteor, it was tiny.
But it wasn’t meant to stop the meteor.
It was meant to focus the continent’s combined magical power. A wind of concentration, not destruction.
The wind would guide the way.
ROOOOOAR!
Shakarim unleashed his breath, focused and amplified by Eris’s wind magic, a concentrated beam aimed at a single point.
It struck the meteor’s center.
At first, nothing seemed to happen, but…
Slowly, the breath bored its way through.
Once it pierced the surface, its progress accelerated. Shakarim swayed, on the verge of collapse, but he didn’t stop.
Crack!
His breath pierced through. A hole appeared in the meteor’s center, and cracks spread outwards.
It split in two.
“We… we did it!”
– Hmph, as expected…
Their voices were weak, drained of mana. Eris clung to Shakarim’s back as he descended rapidly.
Dwarven airships flew past them, the crews saluting the falling dragon and elf.
– Damn you dwarves, I’ll eat you if you don’t finish the job.
Shakarim and Eris retreated, and the dwarven airships took their place.
“Fire on the exposed core, not the surface!”
“Use the cracks to break it into smaller pieces!”
The airships flew into the gap between the two halves of the meteor and began firing. And from the ground, the magic towers joined the assault.
Adriana, standing atop the largest tower, wielding the Grand Witch’s staff, took a deep breath and led the mages.
“Begin!”
The mana, previously channeled towards Shakarim and Eris, now flowed towards the towers.
It coalesced into a glowing blue sphere above each tower, then shot outwards in concentrated beams.
Meteor Shower, a bombardment spell developed by the Grand Witch and Adriana. A continent-wide net of fire, designed to destroy the meteor fragments.
Beams of mana shot out from countless towers.
Humans, beast-kin, elves, dragon-kin…
The combined might of the continent’s mages.
The meteor fragments shattered further, losing their density.
The firing ceased.
The deafening roar subsided, leaving only…
Falling snowflakes and meteor dust.
“W-we did it…”
Adriana collapsed, tears streaming down her face. She had been terrified, but…
They had done it.
The continent had triumphed over the gods’ chosen destruction.
“Ha… ha!”
The mages cheered.
The entire continent rejoiced.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“You did amazing, Adriana!”
“We couldn’t have done it without your Meteor Shower!”
Adrina looked out the window at the falling debris, tears in her eyes.
‘My part is done.’
The continent’s part was done.
The rest was up to someone else.
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Ares Helias whispered words of love to his beloved Arni.
The sight of her being dragged away in tears was etched into his heart, his reason for living.
He stood on a barren plain, once a small hill, flattened for this occasion.
“Ah…”
Watching the meteor fragments burn up in the atmosphere, he felt a burning sensation on the back of his hand.
The Sun God’s mark glowed brightly.
“So this is the price of power…”
He had grown stronger since receiving the Sun God’s power, though he still paled in comparison to Daniel McLean.
The heat spread from the mark, up his arm, to his shoulder, and into his head. He felt his consciousness fading, his body glowing brightly.
A powerful, overwhelming ego took hold.
The guards had already fled.
Flames erupted around him, a fiery maw threatening to consume everything.
“I entrust this to you.”
He saw Daniel McLean and Kurika approaching, swords drawn.
The flames swirled around him, a fiery lion roaring defiantly.
It was snowing, but the intense heat melted the snowflakes before they reached the ground.
“He’s preventing me from approaching by stopping time.”
“A wise move, if it works.”
If I could stop time and stab Ares with the dagger, it would be over. Thanks to the meteor defense team, we could focus on this fight.
Kurika, chosen to help me stop the ‘Following Apocalypse,’ stood beside me, wielding his greatsword, his stance unusually disciplined.
“I’ll break through the flames. You finish him.”
“An honor to have the Beast King clear the path.”
“A noble path. Savor it.”
Kurika chuckled.
Ordinary flames wouldn’t even singe his fur, but these flames, imbued with a will of their own, radiated intense heat.
Even from a distance, the heat was oppressive.
Thankfully, the surrounding area had been cleared. If the flames spread to the trees or buildings…
‘So, you’re the apocalypse, huh?’
I knew the power and terror of the ‘Earliest Apocalypse’ firsthand.
Moving through shadows, raising the dead as her army. A one-man army with incredible mobility.
And the ‘Following Apocalypse’ was a consuming fire.
If it spread, it would turn the entire continent to ash.
The weakness of both apocalypses was their initial awakening, before their power fully manifested.
“So, you two are humanity’s answer.”
Ares’s voice was gone, replaced by another.
A resonant, divine voice. His golden hair and eyes burned with a fiery light.
“Impressive. You’ve earned my praise for stopping my sun.”
He looked up at the falling meteor fragments and smiled faintly.
“I must admit, a magnificent resistance. You are… intriguing.”
“Intriguing?”
Kurika, ready to attack, frowned, and the god, his gaze fixed on the night sky, replied,
“Yes. Your former innocence and beauty are gone. The continent is tainted, and we can only look upon you with disgust.”
He smiled brightly and spread his arms.
“Why do you show such beauty only at the very end? The apocalypse meant to destroy you has become your reason to live.”
“In that case…”
“Show me.”
He interrupted Kurika, his smile turning predatory.
“Struggle. Become even more beautiful. Earn our mercy.”
His condescending tone…
Some might see it as a glimmer of hope, but Kurika just gritted his teeth, his muscles bulging, the ground cracking beneath his weight.
“A magnificent provocation!”
Kurika’s response to the god’s arrogance was a powerful slash that cleaved through the flames.
The fiery lion vanished, the flames parting like a curtain.
I charged forward, into the path cleared by his sword.
“You are our pinnacle. Show that god your greatness.”
Kurika grinned, baring his fangs. I nodded and charged into the flames, which were now swirling back towards their master.
I drew the second Dagger of Sealing.
Two daggers.
The god looked at me and asked,
“Are you certain?”
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