Chapter 475

C475. Astarote (6)

[Impressive, Star Eater.]

At the voice of the Spirit Invoker, Alon looked at him in silence.

The Spirit Invoker remained the same as before.

The thin and bony body.

The two spears embedded above his head.

The tunic similar to a monk’s.

Nothing had changed.

And yet, Alon perceived it immediately:

He had clearly changed.

His voice no longer sounded like that of an old man.

Nor did he call him “brother.”

The tone, once reverent like that of a devout saint, was now cold, almost mocking.

[I admit it. No wonder you are someone who attracts the attention of the high-ranking Divine Bloods. But—]

A body regenerated in an instant.

A completely different aura.

The Divine Bloods, who a moment before had been confused by the change, tensed up again.

[—so, what do you plan to do now?]

In contrast, the Spirit Invoker showed absolute calm.

[You guessed right. That the fragments were just a decoy… that what I really desired was you all… and, above all, that I cannot ‘absorb’ anything as long as I haven’t seen your abilities. All correct. But if you perhaps overlooked something—]

Pop!

The head of a Divine Blood, who had been holding his breath from the tension, exploded like ripe fruit.

[—it is that, unfortunately for you, the ‘conditions’ have already been met.]

The Spirit Invoker observed the headless corpse with indifference.

Then he looked back at Alon.

Completely ignoring the existence of the rest of the Divine Bloods, as if they were insects.

[Star Eater, do you know why first-stage Divine Bloods can barely devour a few fragments?]

He posed the question—

[There are dozens of answers. But it comes down to a single one. It is simple. Crystal clear. A first-stage Divine Blood is too weak to accept more than one fragment.]

And he delivered the answer.

Alon understood his intention immediately… and saw it.

[In other words: if you are not weak, then absorbing fragments is possible.]

Above the Spirit Invoker’s palm, a new fragment had appeared…

shaped like a spear.

[Ahh…]

The Spirit Invoker, with an almost ecstatic face, ran his finger along the edge of the blade.

[At first, it was two devoted brothers of Astarote. But it wasn’t enough.]

Slowly he traced the edge… to the guard.

[Then it was Astarote’s brothers. But that wasn’t enough either.]

From the guard to the shaft.

[So I devoured the very brothers who brought me fragments. But even that wasn’t enough. However—]

It was in that instant.

The Divine Bloods reacted by instinct.

Because everyone understood what they had to do.

The being in front of them…

The Spirit Invoker, with the spear completely formed between his hands…

had to be stopped.

Upon understanding this, the Divine Bloods lunged forward.

One spat blades from his mouth.

Another grotesquely inflated his body.

A third deformed his arms to draw a disturbing inverted pentagram that expanded in all directions.

It was the first time they released their abilities without holding back for their own allies.

But—

[Finally… I will be able to complete the Grand Design.]

The Spirit Invoker moved a step ahead of them.

And without hesitation, he thrust the spear towards—

KWAHHHH—!!

—nothing.

Pajijijik!

Golden lightning exploded, illuminating everything.

And amongst it, could be seen…

A golden head of hair that lost no shine even amidst dust and destruction.

And eyes that shone even brighter than that glare.

It was—

“Rangchangrangchang—”

The Lightning God had descended.

And he murmured calmly:

[It is nothing more than a useless swat.]

Although moments before Seolrang had landed a clean hit on him that anyone would have considered mortal, the Spirit Invoker walked out unhurriedly.

Kwajik—!

The battle began.

Pajijik—!

Terrifying lightning exploded at the same time Seolrang‘s body disappeared, marking the official start of the war.

KWAHHHHHH—!!

Bursts of golden light and deafening blows resonated without rest.

Among them, the Divine Bloods could be seen lunging to help Seolrang kill the Spirit Invoker.

But the situation was not favorable.

Even facing Seolrang and the rest at the same time,

the Spirit Invoker was eliminating them one by one.

And yet, Alon saw a tiny opportunity.

‘Then it is still not enough.’

Alon watched the Spirit Invoker massacring Divine Bloods without absorbing the fragment he had in his hands.

That could only mean one thing:

He was not yet ready to absorb it.

He had improvised at the last second, after seeing that Alon discovered his purpose.

He provoked an irresistible threat in the Divine Bloods, forced them to use their abilities…

and then killed them to absorb them.

But—

He still couldn’t do it.

There was still time.

“Fuuu…”

Alon confirmed his preparations, almost complete, while coldly analyzing the situation.

‘When he fights with everything, he cannot summon the Divine Bloods he absorbed.’

If he could summon them just by absorbing them, he would have done so already.

No matter how weak they were, numerical advantage was too valuable.

Therefore, at that moment the Spirit Invoker could not summon them.

‘By his words… his strength increases proportionally to the number he absorbs.’

Alon recalled his statements.

He looked at Seolrang.

Before, he could track her.

Now not even that; she moved so fast it was impossible to see her clearly.

Although she received help from other Divine Bloods, she was fighting against a second-stage enemy reinforced by dozens of absorbed bodies.

…But even so, she was only buying time.

And she was already showing evident signs of exhaustion.

Her body had deep cuts. Her arm was bleeding. Her breathing was tense. And fatigue, visible even to Alon, covered her face.

It was obvious:

she was reaching her limit.

A second-stage enemy, boosted by dozens of Divine Bloods…

It was almost impossible to sustain.

Seolrang turned her gaze to Alon. The expression was the same as always, and at the same time… different.

Alon tilted his head slightly.

She responded the same way.

A chilling sound came from her forearm.

Kwajik—!

“Ugh…!”

Clenching her teeth not to scream, Seolrang looked at the Spirit Invoker.

‘I won’t win.’

It was an absolute certainty.

Shared by generations of heirs who had transmitted the essence of the Lightning God.

But although she couldn’t win, Seolrang did not plan to retreat. Because her goal was never to win.

Her goal was one single thing:

BOOM!

To buy time.

And now…

she no longer had to.

Pajijik—!

Confirmed Alon’s gesture, Seolrang released another explosion of lightning.

But this time—

it was not golden light.

It was red light.

The lightning used by the 13th successor:

a technique that temporarily increased the user’s physical limit.

In that instant—

[Finally…!!?]

Seolrang fell upon the Spirit Invoker like a bolt of lightning, destroying another Divine Blood in the process.

KWAHHHHHHHH—!!

The explosion was deafening. Her body spat blood, but she did not stop. Her mission was over. Her gaze turned to the Spirit Invoker.

Sunken into the ground, surprised.

And at that moment he raised the black fragment to drive it into his own head—

[!]

But he remained motionless.

[What—!]

Rare for him, he showed genuine surprise.

And at the same time—

The black clouds in the sky began to open.

Stars appeared.

One.

Then two.

Then four.

Then eight.

And in a matter of seconds—

Countless stars flooded a sky where the galaxy no longer existed.

All the gazes of the Divine Bloods turned upwards.

[Star… Eater…!!]

Alon was there.

Suspended in the sky.

Formando un sello. (Forming a seal.)

Looking down with absolute serenity.

And above him—

A pillar of pure white light pierced the clouds.

The entire sky lit up.

The Divine Bloods were left speechless.

And then—

Six arms appeared behind Alon.

Hand Seal — Sixth Seal.

They began to form the seal.

The stars turned white.

And then—

Drrrrrrrrrrrr—!!

They began to twist.

The pillar transformed.

Into an arrow of light twisted like a spiral.

And that arrow—

“Immortal Thrust—”

—Reinforced (改)

Before the Spirit Invoker could react,

the arrow fell.

Seolrang tried to move immediately—

“—”

But she couldn’t.

Thud!

Her body fell to the side.

She looked down…

And she saw the black hand of the Spirit Invoker, deformed by energy, holding her leg.

“Ah…”

She understood immediately.

She could not break free.

If it were the original Seolrang, with her full strength, perhaps she could.

But now—

Her wounds were grave. Her energy was almost exhausted. And by using the red lightning, her body had been pushed to the limit.

She did not have the strength to cut off her own leg and escape.

She looked at the sky.

The arrow kept falling.

If it impacted—

She would die together with the Spirit Invoker.

Death.

A strange word,

but familiar.

And fear began to devour her.

Because she knew that—

Alon would not stop the attack.

She knew his kindness. But also his clarity to decide.

Stopping the attack would be absurd.

She would survive…

but the Spirit Invoker would use the fragment.

And then no one could stop him.

Everyone would die.

Including those Alon had to protect.

She looked into the distance:

Basiliora.

Blackie.

Evan.

Penia.

His most precious beings.

Compared to that…

Who was she?

Alon already knew.

He knew that she was not the Seolrang he knew. That he could no longer call her by the same name. That she was no longer the same person.

He knew that she was not the true Seolrang anymore.

And she understood what the correct choice had to be.

She looked at the black hands transforming into spears destined to kill her.

She closed her eyes. And waited for the end.

If she had been the original Seolrang…

perhaps it would have been different.

But no.

She surrendered to the darkness.

But—

She did not hear the explosion she expected. Nor the roar of the world splitting. Nor the bursting of her own body.

Instead—

KWAJIK—!

She heard metal breaking.

Only that.

And when she opened her eyes—

She saw something that should never have been there.

But that she wished to see with all her might.

The edge of Alon’s coat undulating in front of her.

“…Are you okay?”

A voice she thought she would never hear again—

called her.

Seolrang swallowed hard.

And then, with trembling eyes, she looked at him.

She knew what that decision meant.

“—”

And then she was surprised.

Because Alon…

was smiling.

Just a little.

Soft.

Warm.

As if he wanted to reassure her.

“I know what you are fearing.”

Alon placed his hand on her head.

“But it’s okay.”

And—

“There is a method.”

He murmured.

And began to concentrate.

To use…

the Law that had been granted to him.