Chapter 304
Reed immediately grasped the gravity of the situation. This artifact was like a potent venom. It had already burrowed into his skin, traveled through his blood vessels, and was now constricting his heart.
Ping-!
Aillet released the end of the Black Serpents of Interdiction she held in her hand.
The taut tension between them vanished, and the distance of their standoff grew further.
To keep his opponent in check from a distance, Reed immediately summoned his Legion of Flying Swords.
“Time is running out. Go.”
More than twenty black aura blades formed three rings around him, orbiting him. Their rotation speed increased, and their diameter rapidly swelled, occupying the surrounding area.
And they began to mercilessly attack Aillet within that domain.
Aillet, of course, did not stand idly by. [
As the divine revelation descended, splendidly blooming light-swords advanced around her. And they mercilessly altered the attack trajectories of the black flying swords, guiding their destructive power to strike uselessly.
Then Aillet kicked off the ground as if rolling her left foot. [
[
An explosive speed, enough to create a crater in her wake, imbued her legs. Simultaneously, martial prowess reaching its apex enveloped her entire body.
This was not the end. The divinity enveloping her body added powerful blessings.
Behind her, a holy and beautiful halo rose like a full moon. [
[
“This is quite strong.”
Enduring the pressure of the halo, Reed repositioned his aura blades. He didn’t forget to re-grip his demonic sword to meet her rapidly approaching form.
Meanwhile, Aillet…
‘Still not enough.’
After several exchanges, they had already gauged each other’s capabilities. She still lacked enough to reach the critical point for a decisive blow against Reed.
So, she activated a skill that could compensate for that lack, her last card.
“It is King’s Order.”
“That won’t work.”
Reed offered advice from the bottom of his heart. But Aillet ignored him and forced the skill’s activation.
Her voice, imbued with a great will, delivered the command.
“Defeat Reed.”
“…!”
Not to Reed, but to herself. [
King’s Order. That is, the rule created by this absolute incantation skill modified Aillet to enable her to achieve the ‘command’. Her potential was drawn out to the precarious limit her body could withstand.
Based on this absolute buff she cast on herself, she was granted maximum power.
“…”
In a world where the flow of time seemed to have slowed to a distant crawl, she took a step.
She thrust her Librilly towards Reed, her enemy.
Her sole pursuit was victory.
With the momentum befitting the Vanguard of the End Times who came to save the world, she unleashed an overbearing blow upon Reed.
The divine aura, scraped from the very bottom, directly struck, pulverizing Reed’s demonic energy, aura, dignity, and power.
A transcendentally powerful clash of forces.
Instead of blossoming a sun-like sphere of light on the snowy mountain peak, it consumed all sound.
—!
In a world of silence, a holy wave surged through the vast skies of the snowy mountain.
And a long time passed.
In the silence, as if severed from all things, the light of destruction finally faded. Soon, the two individuals appeared at the center.
“…”
“…”
Aillet and Reed, motionless, weapons pointed at each other. It was as silent as if time had stopped.
Only an aurora, formed by the aftermath of the mighty attack, slowly undulated in the blue sky.
Reed slowly raised his gaze. Looking up at the byproduct of the beautiful catastrophe, he opened his lips.
“…It’s a pity, Aillet.”
A beautiful, string-instrument-like voice broke the silent world. And then.
Clang-!
The demonic sword, slipping from his hand, struck the perennial ice and shattered into pieces.
“Why… didn’t you let yourself be persuaded?”
A deadly bloom was blossoming on his left chest.
Thud, it was the moment the loser knelt.
Kugugugung.
The ground beneath their feet crumbled.
As soon as the battle between the two Transcendent beings concluded, the snowy mountain battlefield began to collapse as if its role was finished.
Reed’s body was helplessly sucked into the pure white abyss. Perennial ice and snowflakes accompanied his fall.
Reed’s blurring vision captured Aillet, who was growing smaller and smaller.
As if sensing this farewell, he managed a faint smile, resolving to leave her with this final image.
But Aillet did not accept such a parting.
‘…!’
Instead of moving away, she drew closer to him.
Soon, warmth touched the hand of the man losing sensation. Aillet had seized him.
Even though she could have escaped the falling area, she chose not to and instead remained with Reed.
“Why…”
“…”
Without a word, the tender woman gently embraced him. As if she could not let him fall alone into the abyss.
The buoyancy of Divine Descent enveloped the two of them like the embrace of a god.
Not a distant fall, but a gentle landing awaited them.✠On the Serentra Continent, Mount Eltio was located in the warm southern region.
Thus, unlike its peak filled with perennial ice that never melted, wild flowers could be seen at the foot of the mountain in the lowlands even in the depths of winter.
“…”
“…”
Using the flower-embroidered grass as a soft green carpet, the man and woman were spending a peaceful time together.
The woman sat gracefully on the grass, and the handsome man lay with his upper body leaning against her embrace.
It was a scene of affectionate lovers, almost as if painted.
But who would know? That she was the very person who had caused his life to fade at this moment.
“…What will you, do with me, now?”
His beautiful baritone, once like the sound of a string instrument, had become very rough.
His question, in fact, contained many meanings.
Tesillid Argent’s regression condition was ‘until he saves the world’.
And there were two ways to save the world.
Reed’s method was to save the world by establishing the Evil God. In the Evil God’s world, death, pain, and destruction would be the ‘normal state’, so there would be no need to seek peace.
Aillet’s method, on the other hand, was orthodox. In a world where gods exist, seal the Chaos Evil God. Since the first condition was met, only the second condition remained.
Therefore, now that the Chaos Evil God has not been sealed, the regressor cannot find rest.
This was still a regressed world, and he was in a state where death was not permitted.
“…”
Reed looked up at her, who was gently embracing him.
He struggled to erase his expression and remained silent, but the emotions flowing from his eyes, the windows to his soul, were beyond his control.
Reed looked up at her green eyes and thought.
Those were the eyes of someone deeply regretting and feeling pity.
And perhaps, within them, there might be not just pity, but a hint of affection as well.
Since she loved the 117th iteration of Tesillid Argent, wasn’t it reasonable to expect something from the 99 iterations she shared with the 117th?
Thinking that was a rather decent share, Reed felt like chuckling, a sound rumbling in his throat.
Yes, Aillet Rodelain. You are weak to me.
Even now, your eyes show you’re desperate to save me.
If it’s you, you’ll grant my wish.
‘…You’ll kill me.’
For that to happen, Reed must not die until the final moment of sealing the Chaos Evil God.
The death of this body must be temporarily postponed, and the execution must occur after ‘saving the world’.
Only then can his soul be permanently and irreversibly led to the destination of death.
Aillet Rodelain would surely not be unaware of this fact.
If so, she must leave him now. She must abandon him to die a lonely, slow death in a place no one knows.
But…
“Reed.”
She showed no sign of leaving him. She even said something contrary to his expectations.
“Regress one more time.”
“…”
“Regress and live properly.”
It was the cruelest sentence in the world.
The smile faded from Reed’s face.
“Are you, serious?”
“…”
“Aillet Rodelain.”
“…Yes.”
He forcibly swallowed the blood that threatened to surge forth, along with his emotions, and spoke.
“That’s, too much.”
“…”
“Just let me die.”
He thought he could finally embrace death, but why, why?
How could such a sentence be passed upon a soul that had suffered through terrible weathering?
Anyone else, perhaps, but how could you, Aillet Rodelain? How could even you?
‘How could you, to me.’
His right to life and death was completely in her hands.
Extremely powerless, all he could do was reveal his emotions.
For the first time, resentment and betrayal welled up in his eyes directed at her.
“Please.”
“…”
“Rather, throw me into the bottomless pit.”
Aillet did not avert her gaze from him. Nor did she close her ears to his heartbreaking plea.
She replied, suppressing her emotions.
“You also tried to do things your way, as you pleased.”
“That was…”
“I’m the same.”
“…”
“That’s how it is, Reed.”
Privilege for Possessors