C1003
"No."
Larian raised her arm to block Raon and Evelyn.
"I know you've reached Transcendence, but you can't do this alone."
She shook her head, insisting that Evelyn could never defeat the Fallen on her own.
"No, it's not just difficult, it's impossible. The Fallen is still hiding his true power."
Larian gestured with her hand as if telling them to step back.
"I'll take care of the Fallen myself. You take care of the others."
She declared that she would personally kill the Fallen, taking four daggers in her grip.
"Let them be."
The Fallen smiled wryly as he restored his torn palm to its original state.
"It seems they're eager to die."
He emanated a chilling killing intent, seemingly angered by Evelyn's awakening.
"I told you he's not in his right mind."
Evelyn let out a hollow laugh as she looked at the Fallen.
"He's unleashing killing intent without even thinking about what he's done."
She swiveled her finger up and down, telling him to come to his senses.
"Why is this scoundrel, who thoroughly exploited my soul and infamy, getting angry?"
The cross engraved in Evelyn's eyes glowed even redder, reflecting her true anger.
"Soul and infamy?"
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Evelyn.
"What do you mean by that?"
He couldn't understand what she was saying, as the last scene he had witnessed was the Fallen extracting something from Evelyn's corpse.
-Has that mask-wearing guy committed another atrocity?
Wrath scoffed, commenting that the Fallen was truly a busy guy.
"I saw the memories after that through the Fallen's remaining consciousness in my mask."
Evelyn let out a short sigh as she looked at the old, broken mask.
"He wanted to devour the entire Lothair Kingdom to turn it into his own power base, but thanks to me destroying it, he lost all that base. So..."
She looked at the Fallen with eyes full of disgust.
"He used my infamy and my soul to subjugate other kingdoms. It wasn't difficult, as my uncle and the monsters were still around."
Evelyn bit her lip, explaining that he had relentlessly built Merlin's infamy using Lokta and the monsters, who were short-lived.
"After that, he deliberately pretended to retreat and absorbed the power and wealth of the fallen kingdoms. He has a clever head."
She nodded, saying that's why Merlin's infamy has endured until now.
"Indeed..."
Raon lowered his eyebrows as he looked at the Fallen, who remained silent.
"The Lokta I saw in your memories and the one I met inside the helmet were slightly... no, very different."
The Lokta from Evelyn's memories felt more like a kind uncle than a knight, while the one he found in the helmet exuded a cold, bloodthirsty knightly aura. He had wondered about this difference, and now it seemed it was all due to the Fallen's plan.
"I guess some of my personal feelings leaked into the mask when I created it."
The Fallen clicked his tongue briefly as he looked at the broken mask, as if he hadn't expected so much to be revealed. To act so boldly after committing acts that even the worst of humanity wouldn't do, he truly wasn't a normal person.
"Lady Larian."
Raon looked at Larian, who was standing in front of the Fallen.
"I'm sorry, but I would like you to step aside for this fight."
He bowed his head, asking for this one favor.
"Favor or not, it's impossible, I'm telling you."
Larian gestured with her hand, saying while she understood there was a backstory, Evelyn couldn't win alone.
"I'll fight by her side."
Raon took the Heavenly Sword and the Wooden Ring Sword as he stood beside 'Merlin'.
"Really? I love you!"
Evelyn clapped loudly, saying they would definitely win if they fought together. Seeing her smile brightly and profess her love even in this situation, she did seem to be the real Merlin.
-She's still a crazy one, I see...
Wrath also shook his head, commenting that Merlin hadn't changed at all.
"Don't worry too much."
Evelyn gestured slightly towards Larian with her hand.
"I've already trapped this trash once, you know."
She smiled brightly, saying they could win.
"Haaah..."
Larian let out a low sigh as she looked from Evelyn to Raon.
"I intervene immediately if it gets dangerous."
She nodded, saying she would give them just one chance.
"Thank you."
Raon bowed, expressing his gratitude to Larian.
"Let's go!"
Evelyn, seemingly pleased, patted herself on the shoulder and rose into the air.
"Please rest a bit."
Raon smiled at Mark Goetun, who was blinking in confusion, before rising to join Merlin.
"Huu..."
The Fallen let out an exasperated sigh.
"You're too confident just because you've reached Transcendence. I'm not the Sage you knew back then."
He gripped the young man's mask with his long hand, his eyes gleaming with a chilling light.
"I've changed too. Because I've learned how crazy you are."
Evelyn tilted her chin as if to say 'let's begin'.
"Raon, just focus on cutting off his head."
She extended her hands, forming a faint smile.
"I'll take care of the rest."
Evelyn took a deep breath, saying she would handle both defense and suppression.
"Okay."
Raon nodded calmly.
'Somehow, I defeated the Black Tower Master, so there's no reason why I can't kill the Fallen.'
Although he was quite exhausted from using the Sword Domain, he could still fight enough.
"Very well."
The Fallen stroked his smooth chin with a thin smile.
"I'll kill both of you. No, everyone here."
He raised light and darkness above his hands, saying he would finish it in one breath. Unlike before, the two energies didn't spread nebulously, but began to spin in a circular form.
'That's...'
Raon frowned as he looked at the light and darkness condensed above the Fallen's hands.
'An orb?'
Orbs were one of the methods magicians used to densely condense mana to use more powerful magic more quickly.
"Hmph."
As Raon tensed at the Fallen's immense magical power, Evelyn snorted. With a snap of her fingers, the orbs of light and darkness the Fallen had created simultaneously stopped spinning. The orbs, with their mana flow halted, rippled like boiling water before exploding in an instant.
"Hmm!"
The Fallen frowned as he looked at his hand where the orb had exploded. Although he didn't suffer a torn hand this time, having experienced this once before, he seemed genuinely surprised.
"You don't know how much I've studied you, do you?"
Evelyn tilted her chin at the Fallen's sunken eyes.
"I kept thinking about it even when I had lost my memory. How to break your magic, how to destroy your spells."
She curved her lips, saying she had studied all of the Fallen's magic and spells.
"You wouldn't have had any ill intentions towards me at that time, right?"
The Fallen frowned as he shook off the impurities flowing down his hand.
"At first, it was curiosity..."
Evelyn slowly turned her gaze to look at Raon who was beside her.
"After I became attracted to Raon, it was to show him your weaknesses so I could kill you."
She shrugged, saying she had studied the Fallen for Raon.
"Back then, my abilities were deficient, so I could only be defeated even knowing..."
As Evelyn moved her mana-imbued fingertips, the light the Fallen was preparing behind his back melted uselessly.
"But now, with the ring Raon made for me, I can do anything."
She laughed confidently, saying she had no doubt about winning.
"You must have been brainwashed."
"I broke it. No, it broke."
Evelyn leaned on Raon's shoulder and let out a low sigh.
"True love is powerful, you know."
She scoffed, saying a monster who even manipulates time wouldn't understand.
-Yeah, she's definitely crazy.
Wrath shook his head, confirming that she was the original Merlin.
"Haaah..."
Raon let out a deep sigh, covering his face with the Heavenly Sword and Wooden Ring Sword.
"Well, alright."
The Fallen shook his head calmly.
"I'll kill you again and then scrape your soul to the bottom to use it."
He summoned countless weapons of light and darkness above his hands, with a chilling voice.
"Let's see the end of our long, bitter relationship today."
The Fallen fired the weapons made of light and darkness before Evelyn could even manipulate her magic. Swords, knives, spears, arrows, daggers, axes, and even hammers, unlike simple magic, the weapons displayed different movements as they lunged towards him and Evelyn.
'First, I'll defend.'
As he was about to defend and then counterattack, he felt Evelyn's mana behind him. Evelyn's pure mana spread like a net, completely enveloping and erasing all of the Fallen's incoming weapons.
"I told you. I handle the rearguard."
She extended her finger as if to say 'go ahead'.
"Right."
Trusting Merlin's confidence, Raon advanced towards the Fallen and swung the Heavenly Sword downwards.
"Hmm."
As the Fallen raised a shield of darkness in his right hand to defend himself, Merlin inserted her mana into that wavelength again.
"This is it!"
Raon didn't miss the opportunity when the Fallen's reaction slowed down, extending the Crimson Cut to the limit and slicing the Fallen's arm. However, the Fallen, as befits a Transcendent, reacted at that moment, resulting in only his hand being cut off instead of his arm.
"You better prepare yourself thoroughly."
Evelyn tilted her sharp gaze towards the Fallen, who had frowned.
"Today is the day your soul is thrown into the gutter."
***
"Has she interpreted the Fallen's magic in that instant?"
As Larian let out a breath while watching Evelyn's technique, the Soul Devourer moved. He disappeared into the air like a ghost inheriting the Specter's power, then appeared behind Larian and swung his black scythe downwards. It was a blow of annihilation that could absorb both human souls and mana.
Larian easily blocked the black scythe with just four daggers, without even looking at the Soul Devourer.
"I'll play with you later. Wait."
"Magic Tower Master Larian..."
As the Soul Devourer called Larian by name, a jet-black energy rose from the scythe he was holding.
"You'd better not underestimate me."
As the black energy blazed from the Soul Devourer's scythe, Larian's daggers began to tremble as if they were losing power.
"That scythe."
Larian frowned as she looked at the black scythe that was pushing back her daggers.
"It's not a common object."
A scythe that even absorbed the mana and magic imbued in the daggers, it wasn't something that could be done by normal means.
"You say you know all the magic in the world, but it's pointless. No magic works on me."
The Soul Devourer tilted his chin arrogantly.
"I am the natural enemy of all magicians."
He scoffed, saying no magician could defeat him.
"How many people have you sucked the blood out of so far?"
Larian asked, completely ignoring the Soul Devourer's words.
"What...?"
"That's not how you conduct experiments."
As she snorted, her other daggers rose to block the black scythe's offense. But once again, the Soul Devourer's scythe absorbed Larian's mana and magic, extending an even greater darkness.
"Useless..."
Just as the Soul Devourer was about to mock again, a large hole opened in his shoulder as if he had been hit by an arrow.
"Wh-what..."
As the Soul Devourer brought his hand to his shoulder in shock, this time a hole appeared on his right thigh.
"Keuuk..."
He trembled as he looked at the bleeding wounds.
"You don't know your place."
Larian smiled wryly as she raised a new dagger imbued with lightning and wind.
"Natural enemy? Magicians have no natural enemies. We can break anything through research."
As she moved the fingertips holding the dagger, a long hole opened in the Soul Devourer's abdomen.
"Th-this is..."
The Soul Devourer nodded as if he had finally understood.
"You used wind and lightning for speed!"
"That's right."
Larian nodded, her blue eyes shining.
"That black energy doesn't cover your entire body. I just need to pierce it before you can react."
As she shrugged, saying it was a very simple method, the Soul Devourer's arm was violently torn off.
"Aaaaargh!"
The Soul Devourer slumped over, clutching his severed arm.
"Know your place."
Larian tilted her chin towards the Soul Devourer who was doubled over in pain.
"I am the Magic Tower Master of the Five Kings."
"Huk..."
The Soul Devourer's eyes trembled at that immense pressure. Just as Larian was about to crush the Soul Devourer's head with a dagger imbued with subtle mana, the Fallen extended both his wings of light and darkness with a tremendous roar.
'From now on...'
Larian lowered her thin eyebrows as she watched the mana flowing ominously.
'The real battle begins.'
***
'This is much bigger...'
Raon frowned as he looked at the Fallen, who seemed truly enraged. A vortex of light and darkness rose around the Fallen. It was a force that could swallow not only the mountain beneath them, but the entire region, causing sweat to form on his hand gripping the sword.
'Evelyn can't block this alone.'
The vortex of light and darkness the Fallen had raised contained immense mana and complex techniques. No matter how much Evelyn had studied the Fallen's power and reached Transcendence, it wasn't a force she could handle alone. As Raon prepared the Wall of Fire and the Dance of the Golden Flame, spinning the Heavenly Sword behind him, Evelyn called out to him with a soft voice.
"Advance."
She told him to prepare to attack, not to defend.
"Trust me and advance."
She nodded, asking him to believe in her.
"You really don't know your limits."
The Fallen twisted his lips, seemingly offended by Evelyn's words.
"Let me erase them all."
As he raised his fingertips, the storm of light and darkness inflated even further, engulfing the entire mountain. The trees, bushes, and rocks crumbled into dust, and the mountain itself began to be shaved off. This was beyond human capacity. It was absolute magic worthy of the name of a Transcendent.
-Why don't you try it anyway?
Wrath tilted his chin towards Evelyn.
-Believe in her this time.
'That's unexpected.'
Raon smiled as he looked at Wrath.
-What is it?
'Before, you would have said she's a crazy woman and never to be trusted.'
-Th-that's...
Wrath also seemed to realize his own change, letting out a gasp.
'Anyway, you're a good guy too.'
Raon smiled and looked forward again. He curved his lips as he watched the massive vortex of light and darkness approaching, devouring the mountain.
'Right. I should trust her this time.'
Abandoning defense, he kicked the air that was tearing apart. He charged towards the vortex, no, towards the Fallen who would be behind it, wrapping extreme aura around his two swords. Even as the waves of the vortex stung his skin, he didn't retreat.
'Once I've decided to trust, I'll do it to the end.'
That Evelyn had asked him to trust her. Remembering his life, it must have been difficult for her to say those words, so he decided to die here if necessary, focusing solely on the attack. The vortex of light touched his hair, and the vortex of darkness shredded the sleeves of his uniform.
Just as the light and darkness were about to melt not only his skin, but his bones and muscles, Evelyn's faintly glowing mana descended before his eyes.
The vortex of light and darkness stopped as if frozen. The absolute magic the Fallen had raised began to dissipate like thin smoke before Evelyn's technique. She erased the Fallen's ultimate technique without a trace, just as she had promised to trust her.
The moment the vortex disappeared, Raon stepped on the Supreme Harmony Step with extreme force and advanced towards the Fallen.
"Crazy..."
The Fallen tried to prepare for a defense urgently, but Raon's sword was already within reach. Raon Zieghart's sword style, Silver Sword Dream, and the Flame and Ice Unification of the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation. The red waves of the Flame and Ice Unification pierced the Fallen's heart, and the blurry cut of Silver Sword Dream sliced his neck.
-
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Thanks for the support
Now that was peak cinema
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