Chapter 451

Chapter 451

“What in the world is happening back there?”

Lienia called out, her voice laced with anxiety.

The towering barrier of obsidian fire rising directly ahead blocked any view of the unfolding clash.

Reacting swiftly to her distress, Torua hoisted his staff aloft.

Woong—!

A massive, spiraling drill forged of brilliant light manifested from Torua’s incantation.

Kwaaaak—!

Torua hurled the piercing spell directly into the barrier.

Hwaak—!

However, the abyssal blaze simply absorbed Torua’s magical energy whole.

Torua’s brow twitched violently at the sight.

“Allow me,” Lunia announced, commencing her own chant.

Hwarereureuk—!

Blinding white flames suddenly erupted, cloaking her entire form.

Kwaaaaah—!

The ivory inferno wrapping around Lunia intensified to a staggering degree.

“Lunia-yang?!” Eiran cried out in alarm, trying to stop her.

Hwaluk—!

Lunia gritted her teeth as her vibrant scarlet hair bleached into a stark, snowy white, looking as though it were fueling the ignition itself.

The Flame Emperor’s fire—a transcendent power that consumed its wielder to purge all corruption from existence. This ultimate gift, bestowed upon Lunia by Katariu, the final Phoenix King, reigned as the most sacred flame in the world.

Willingly enduring the searing toll on her own body, Lunia brought the spell to completion.

“Flame Emperor!”

Hwaak—!

It was as if a miniature white sun had descended. A gargantuan orb of blinding fire hovered just above Lunia’s outstretched hand as she aimed at the heavens before hurling the stellar mass directly at the wall of obsidian fire.

Pajijijijik!

The dark and light flames clashed fiercely, twisting together. Almost immediately, a violent rejection tore through the point of contact, violently repelling the opposing elements. The fires raged with absolute fury, like two mortal enemies locked in combat.

Hwaak—!

Yet, in short order, the obsidian blaze overwhelmed and swallowed Lunia’s sacred fire.

Kwagagagagagagang—!

A cataclysmic detonation erupted, far dwarfing any blast that had come before.

“Ku-euk?!”

The blinding flash and devastating shockwave forced everyone to shield their eyes and duck down to weather the impact.

Kuooooooong—!

The thunderous boom of the blast reverberated outward, leaving a long, trembling echo in its wake. Yet, when the smoke began to clear, the wall of obsidian fire stood completely unyielding.

“Damn it!”

Lunia, her hair reverting to its familiar red hue, slammed her fist down and cursed under her breath. She squeezed her hand so fiercely that her nails punctured her skin, drawing crimson drops. The agonizing sting of burns radiated across her entire body. Yet, Lunia merely glared at the impenetrable wall of fire, her expression twisted in rage.

‘What do they mean, the next student council president? What do they mean, the true successor to Lady Luna?’

Lunia had allowed herself to feel a surge of pride recently. As a descendant of the Lunda family, who had formed pacts with the Phoenix across countless generations, she had successfully claimed the power of the legendary, long-lost Phoenix King. Furthermore, she had been hailed as the successor to Luna—the very progenitor of the nebula—right behind the Comet Wizard, and her potential had even received the grand endorsement of the Dragon Lord Melina.

Because of those accolades, she truly believed she had closed the distance. But reality was a cruel teacher.

‘I am still so far away.’

The chasm separating her from Leo remained staggering.

‘No, I already knew that from the beginning!’

She had always understood that regardless of how much stronger she became, a massive, unbridgeable gulf existed between them. That realization was precisely why she had pushed herself to the absolute limit to run after Leo’s shadow. The source of Lunia’s current fury wasn’t the distance separating her from Leo.

‘It’s my own utter uselessness!’

She knew exactly what Leo aimed to accomplish: nothing less than the absolute subjugation of Erebus. It was a monumental, terrifying objective that ordinary people couldn’t even fathom. But surrounded by the constant praise of others, she had grown overly confident. She had genuinely believed she would be a valuable asset to Leo in the cataclysm to come.

In truth, Lunia had already survived three encounters with Erebus. The first had transpired within Luna’s world. The second unfolded within Dwen’s world. The third had been fought in Seirun. And across those latter two conflicts, she genuinely believed she had earned the right to stand against Erebus after awakening the purifying flame.

‘It was nothing but a delusion…!’

The entities she had faced previously were nothing more than isolated remnants of Erebus. That harsh truth now cut her to the bone.

Eiran quickly reached out, grasping Lunia’s trembling, bloodied hand. “Lunia-yang, please stop! You’re going to break your own body…!”

“This isn’t the time to be coddling my body…!”

“Listen to what Eiran-yang is saying, Lunia-yang.”

Melina stepped forward, interposing herself before the distraught girl. “If you shatter your own vessel by overextending your strength, you won’t be of any help to anyone. In fact, you’ll simply become a liability.”

Hearing Melina’s blunt words, Lunia dropped her gaze to the floor.

Melina offered her a bittersweet smile. “I’m not demanding some grand miracle from any of you at this moment. Your only task is to provide minor backup to Lord Arion during this engagement. And that directive applies to all of you graduates as well.”

“Are you saying we don’t even possess the right to stand on this field of battle?” Torua questioned, his voice tight.

Melina offered a grim nod in response to his query. “To speak plainly, yes. When I recommended you to Lord Arion, it was solely in the hope that you could provide a modicum of distraction and support.”

The words struck heavily, causing everyone to cast their eyes downward in shame.

Noticing their dejected stances, Melina added gently, “Do not let this break your spirits. If anything, I am the party who owes you an apology.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are all still so remarkably young,” Melina stated, her tone firm and unwavering. “Even if you have completed your schooling, and even if you are heralded as the finest minds of your year, you are inherently still developing. You are not fully realized heroes yet; you are candidates.”

Melina paused to draw a breath. “The fault lies entirely with me for deploying unready youth to a battlefield of this scale, simply to tip the scales of victory a fraction in our favor.”

Melina turned her back to them. “Therefore, do not blame yourselves. You have actually exceeded expectations. From this point forward, leave the burden to me, the adult.”

Melina pressed her palms together. Suddenly, a wave of shimmering silver magical energy began to cascade from her form. The watching hero candidates recoiled slightly, trembling at the sheer pressure of the display. Her hair, a striking blend of silver and black strands, whipped through the air. Slowly, the radiant silver energy shifted, darkening into an abyss-like black.

Melina intoned her incantation.

“Nihil.”

Hwaak—!

In an absolute instant, the impassable wall of obsidian fire dissolved into nothingness.

“Incredible,” Torua muttered, his jaw dropping in sheer awe.

Licinas’s signature magic. In the entirety of creation, a mere two individuals held the capability to wield this specific art. Leo, the legendary Hero of Beginnings, was the originator, and Melina, who had been granted his magical reservoir, was the second.

With the dark flames erased, the gaze of Erebus—which had been locked in a tense standoff with Leo and Arion—shifted directly onto Melina.

—You are clearly something more than a common insect. Did you inherit the essence of that arrogant fool by utilizing the record system?

Kugung—!

The oppressive weight of Erebus’s gaze bore down upon Melina and the young candidates. His attention then drifted toward the other students stationed at the distant fortress, who were currently fighting for their lives against the endless waves of his monstrosities.

—It appears quite a few simpletons bought into that failure’s sweet lies over the span of 5,000 years, clinging to entirely pointless aspirations.

“Lord Licinas was no fool, Erebus,” Melina countered, her voice dropping to a freezing register. It was an icy, unyielding demeanor she had never exhibited before. “Lord Licinas remains the magnificent King of Wisdom who guided this world out of total ruin.”

—Those are nothing more than empty, grandiose titles. The King of Wisdom and the Hero of Beginnings are identical in that regard, Erebus answered, his voice devoid of any human inflection. —They are defined easily enough as a blind simpleton and a mere survivor of a bygone war.

Go-ooooooh—!

Horrific, volatile sparks began to dance across Erebus’s palm. It became immediately clear that every previous strike had been mere child’s play. A condensed sphere of flame, harboring a destructive capacity that defied comprehension, swelled rapidly.

—Valiant one, if those pathetic creatures represent the hope you boast of, I shall demonstrate exactly how fragile that hope truly is.

Kwaaaaaak—!

Erebus violently drove the cataclysmic fireball directly into the earth.

Kugugugugugugugu—

The impact triggered a violent, localized tremor. The entire landscape buckled and heaved.

Jjeojeok— Jjeojeojeojeok—!

Deep, jagged fissures tore through the terrain.

Kwo-hwaaaaaak—!

Kwo-ooooooh—!

An innumerable tide of grotesque demonic beasts erupted from the newly formed chasms. These abhorrent abominations, driven by nothing but an absolute thirst for slaughter, sprinted toward the fortress while emitting horrific shrieks.

Ulta’s face contorted in sheer horror as he witnessed the endless stream of monsters pouring out from the broken earth. “What madness is this?”

“This is nothing short of an army!” Lienia screamed, the color draining from her face.

The current horde of aberrations rivaled the terrifying scale of the monster queen’s army that they had barely survived fighting in Seirun the previous year.

“It appears he has manifested a legion-tier vanguard,” Melina remarked with eerie calm.

The young candidates looked on with utter revulsion at a display that shattered all established logic. The sheer quantity of the beasts arriving on the field mirrored the nightmare of Shilratuna’s legion. Granted, because Shilratuna’s vanguard boasted an abundance of upper-tier archdemons, this horde might not match them in pure quality. However, the ability to instantly conjure a legion-level army out of thin air, complete with a commander’s presence, was a terrifying realization. What was worse, the tide of monsters showed no signs of slowing down.

Melina evaluated the grim theater for a brief moment before casting a glance toward Leo. When Leo caught her gaze and offered a silent nod of agreement, Melina gave her orders.

“Everyone, fall back to the fortress immediately and coordinate the defense against the advancing horde.”

“Understood!”

“But what about Erebus…?!”

“Leave him to the care of Lord Arion and Leo Plob,” Melina answered the frantic question with a small, reassuring smile.

As the candidates nodded and prepared to retreat, Erebus let out a mocking sneer.

—Insignificant pests, you shall pay your dues in blood!

Kwaaaaaak—!

Erebus sliced his arm through the air, tearing the fabric of space itself. From the resulting rifts, an innumerable swarm of shadowy, spectral hands surged outward, snapping at the retreating students.

Anticipating the move, Melina swept her arm out.

Blink—!

A radiant silver magic circle flared to life, unleashing a burst of light that vaporized the shadowy hands Erebus had conjured. Even so, she couldn’t nullify the entirety of the broad assault. The stray hands that slipped past her defense pursued the candidates with singular focus.

Ulta immediately channeled the celestial might of Pegasus to sever the encroaching shadows. Torua blasted them to remnants with precise offensive spells, while Eiran drew the Animus sword to intercept and shatter the attacks closing in on Lunia and Eliza.

Erebus’s gaze narrowed slightly at the display of resistance.

“I suggest you stop looking down on them,” Leo jeered, taunting the ancient entity. “Those are the very youths chosen by the man who personally hacked you into six separate pieces.”

Hwaak—!

Leo put some distance between himself and Erebus, maximizing his positioning.

“Did you honestly think your amateurish parlor tricks would work against them?”

—You possess the audacity to label this sovereign’s might as amateurish?

“Naturally. I’ve managed to gauge quite a bit about your current state over our brief exchange,” Leo remarked, his crimson eyes flashing with cold intellect. “First off, while you have achieved resurrection, you are far from whole. You are entirely severed from the consciousness of the initial fragment that woke up. You share absolutely none of its experiences or recollections.”

This was a massive revelation.

Five thousand years had passed since Erebus was originally bound, and three millennia had ticked away since his first fragment was sealed. Throughout those vast epochs, civilization had continuously evolved and cultivated new methodologies to counter his threat. This advancement wasn’t limited to the refinement of aura, sorcery, or summoning arts; Erebus remained fundamentally blind to the modern capabilities of the world.

“If you retained the memories from three thousand years ago, you wouldn’t be blundering into this fight so blindly,” Leo mocked openly. “Secondly, your specific strength lies almost exclusively in the authority to fabricate demons and spawn monsters.”

He had solidified this theory after watching the entity summon an entire legion moments ago. That specific domain of power seemed to mirror Erebus at the absolute peak of his complete form. But that realization carried a massive corollary.

“Which means your direct, personal combat efficiency is drastically inferior compared to the other shards.”

Naturally, ‘inferior’ was a highly relative term. As a splinter of the source of primordial malice, his baseline lethality remained catastrophically high.

‘If Arion weren’t standing by my side right now, my current individual strength wouldn’t be enough to contain this.’

For that very reason, this specific shard had to be utterly destroyed right here, regardless of the price. The moment this entity managed to secure total dominion over Tartarus, he would gain the leverage to manufacture catastrophic legion commanders.

“Thirdly, your current reservoir of power is completely unstable.”

A fire naturally burns brighter and hotter the more fuel it consumes. The Erebus standing before them was a spark that had only just caught wind. Consequently, its immediate output was suppressed. To an entity like Erebus, this mortal realm was nothing but kindling. The more of the world he reduced to ash, the more unstoppable his personal might would become.

‘The fragment that awoke three millennia ago had the luxury of burning for a protracted era.’

And that fire was still raging somewhere. Leo narrowed his eyes, sharpening his focus.

Erebus merely laughed at Leo’s analysis, a sound devoid of warmth. —Do not fret, the power I hold is more than sufficient to erase you all from existence.

“Is that what you believe?”

—Indeed. Had the ally you summoned via the record system been any other soul, you might have found a way to bind me once more. But so long as your companion is the Brave, your paths end in death.

“What absolute garbage,” Leo shot back, his voice dropping to a freezing chill.

—You place far too much blind faith in the Brave. Is that not true, Brave one?

“Don’t make me laugh! Kyle is not going to fall here. You… I am going to tear you down once and for all!”

—Splendid. Struggle and writhe to your heart’s content!

Go-ooooooh—!

Vast plumes of obsidian fire erupted outward from Erebus’s form. Arion ground his teeth together, pushing his supersenses to their absolute limits as he watched the dark flames surge to engulf him.

Right at that split second.

Kwagagagagang—!

Erebus’s dark inferno completely swallowed Arion. Caught within the suffocating, pitch-black flames, Arion’s expression turned utterly pale.

‘…My supersenses are being suffocated…!’