BOOM——!

A surge of overwhelming pitch-black demonic aura erupted from within his body, forcefully repelling the lightning’s power.

“Roar……”

Arudok spat out a wisp of black smoke, his blood-red eyes locking onto the figure in the sky once more.

The pitch-black aura shrouding his body began to twist and morph, taking the shape of a colossal demon.

WHOOSH——!

A pair of jet-black wings even sprouted from his back.

FLAP!

With a single beat of those wings, the demon’s figure vanished from sight—so fast that even Hulim’s enhanced dynamic vision nearly lost track of it.

SWISH——!

A set of pitch-black claws lashed out toward Hulim.

From the tips of those claws, Hulim could sense the familiar aura of Arudok’s greatsword.

The Seven Luminaries flashed with light.

A barrier materialized in an instant.

CLANG!

The claws slammed into the barrier, grinding to a halt.

“ROAR!”

The demon let out a thunderous roar, pouring more power into its strike.

CRACK, CRACK……

Cracks spiderwebbed across the barrier’s surface.

SHATTER!

The barrier finally broke apart.

The claws continued their relentless advance toward Hulim.

CLANG!

Yet a new barrier flickered to life the moment the old one shattered.

The attack was blocked once again.

And that was far from the end of it.

Inside the barrier, Hulim waved her Seven Luminaries.

HUM! HUM! HUM……

Layer upon layer of magic circles unfolded around the demon.

“ROAR——!”

The demon tilted its head back and roared up at the magic circles overhead, as if trying to intimidate the caster.

Then—

SWISH!

A Light Spear pierced straight through its body.

“Roar……?”

The demon froze, stunned.

It looked down at the spear protruding from its chest, seemingly unable to comprehend how its defenses had been breached.

RATTLING.

The sound of chains echoed through the air.

The demon looked up again, only to find itself surrounded by countless Light Chains, coiling tightly around its massive form.

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“ROAR!”

It raised its clawed hands, desperate to tear the chains apart.

But in the next instant, the Light Chains tightened abruptly.

Binding the demon completely.

“ROAR!!!”

The demon thrashed about furiously, struggling to break free from its restraints.

HUM——!

To its horror, another familiar Light Spear materialized above its head.

Then a second.

Followed by a third, a fourth……

“……”

Staring up at the forest of Light Spears hovering overhead, the demon fell silent.

Time itself seemed to stand still.

In that frozen moment,

the demon watched helplessly as the only moving figure in sight raised her silver wand, pointing it directly at him—and slowly waved it downward.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH……

RATTLING.

The chains loosened their grip, then dissolved into motes of light that scattered into the air.

With the bindings gone, the demon—now riddled with Light Spears—began to plummet toward the ground.

THUD——!

A cloud of dust billowed upward.

The massive pitch-black form lay motionless on the earth.

WHOOSH~!

A gust of wind blew past.

The Light Spears gradually faded into a shower of glowing particles, and the demon’s pitch-black body dissipated along with them.

Arudok’s true form was revealed once more.

He was utterly weak, beyond all hope of recovery.

Even the incredibly resilient parasitic entity within his body, which had irreversibly transformed him into something inhuman, could not save him now.

BOOM——!

A beam of light descended from the sky, striking him squarely in the chest.

His heart, and the alien parasitic heart nested within him, were shattered into dust.

“Gasp……”

Blood gushed from his mouth, and his body grew cold rapidly.

In his delirium, Arudok’s consciousness returned for a fleeting moment.

He stared up at the crimson sky, murmuring dazedly,

“So this is how it ends……”

“I’m going to die……”

His vision blurred more and more with each passing second. With the last of his dwindling strength, he strained to turn his head, so that his fading eyes could capture the figure of the one who had defeated him.

“Your name……”

Blood bubbled from his lips as he whispered, his voice barely audible,

“Will you tell me……?”

“……”

Hulim looked down at him silently.

RUMBLE, RUMBLE……

A thunderous roar suddenly echoed from the horizon, growing closer and closer.

Hulim lifted her head, glancing in that direction—but made no move to prepare for an attack.

BOOM!

Moments later,

a figure came crashing down to the ground with a deafening impact.

The newcomer’s identity was revealed at last.

“Arudok——!”

Ignoring the young girl standing nearby, his eyes were fixed solely on the motionless figure lying on the ground.

The newcomer rushed to Arudok’s side, dropping to his knees and grasping Arudok’s right hand tightly.

“Why? Why did this have to happen——”

……

……

In the southernmost region of the Indam Federation, there lay a vast forest.

As monsters gradually overran the world’s woodlands, forests like this—already rarely visited by humans—had become entirely devoid of mortal presence.

Yet in the heart of this desolate wilderness stood an ancient ruin.

Centuries of neglect had left it almost completely overgrown by vegetation, and only the occasional adventurer who ventured deep into the forest would use it as a temporary campsite.

But even the adventurers had long forgotten who had built this ruin, or what purpose it had once served……

CRUNCH.

Outside the forest, a dead branch was crushed beneath a foot, the crisp sound echoing through the silent woods.

A petite figure cloaked in a black robe slowly lifted her head, her gaze fixed on the forest ahead.

“I’ve finally made it……”

Feeling the call of her own long-lost power emanating from the depths of the forest, a wave of bitterness washed over her.

Who could have imagined?

The hardships she had endured to reach this place were beyond description.

Once a being of unparalleled nobility, she had been reduced to groveling before lowly humans—and forced to live a life of constant flight and hiding!

“Just you wait, you damned fools! When I reclaim my power, I’ll retrace every step of this miserable journey—and slaughter every last one of you! I’ll kill everyone I come across! Oh right~, that bastard will be the first to die—urk!”

She stumbled, clutching one eye in sudden pain.

She cursed through gritted teeth,

“Damn you! You won’t be able to gloat for much longer! Hmph!”

Then, still holding her eye, she looked toward the forest once more. Lifting her foot, she strode forward without a single backward glance……

Long after she had vanished into the forest,

a young boy arrived at the same spot.

His eyes heavy with weariness, he glanced at the forest before him.

His unsteady form moved forward without the slightest hesitation, stepping into the woods.

More time passed—no one knew how long.

WHOOSH——!

A violent gust of wind suddenly swept through the area.

A giant black cat appeared at the edge of the forest.

It lowered its head, sniffing at the ground.

Then it lifted its head, golden eyes locking onto a certain direction deep within the trees.

WHOOSH——!

Another gust of wind howled.

The giant black cat vanished without a trace.

And the trees in the forest began to sway violently, as if stirred by an invisible force.

……

……

In Ilz,

the brutal battle raged on relentlessly.

The bodies of elves, dwarves, orcs, and monsters alike littered the ground beneath the World Tree.

Not only the sky was dyed crimson—the earth itself seemed to have been soaked in blood.

BOOM!

A wall of rock and earth exploded outward, and a figure stumbled out, covered in dust and grime.

“Phew! I finally got out of there! Thought I was a goner for sure!”

Eugene said, breathing heavily, still shaken by his narrow escape.

“What a shame. If you’d died in there, it would’ve saved me a whole lot of trouble.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep