Chapter 512

Book 1 Chapter 512

512.

Flash—

An exquisite and radiant arcane formation spread across the heavens.

Yet contrasting its gorgeous visual, the sorcery taking shape was utterly terrifying.

The dazzling radiance resembling a morning star drew everyone’s gaze.

Kwagagagagagagagang—!

A tempest of magical energy erupted violently.

The spellcasters who identified the nature of this incantation widened their eyes in disbelief.

“Could it be Doomsday?”

“Activating such a spell instantly without any prior indication…!”

“Who could possibly be casting this!”

Astral Sorcery: Doomsday.

It was not merely unmatched in the present age.

This technique had securely retained its reputation as the ultimate pinnacle of power since the dark era of five millennia past.

It stood celebrated as the absolute zenith of Astral Sorcery, serving as the definitive emblem of Luna.

Its notoriety for demanding unparalleled mastery matched its overwhelming destructive capabilities.

Ever since Seirun reconstructed the principles of Astral Sorcery for prospective students,

those capable of executing Doomsday had been revered as the supreme sorcerers of their eras.

Historically, initiating the formula for Doomsday caused a massive resonance in the surrounding air, making the environment feel as though it were reaching a boiling point.

Yet at this moment, no such warning signs appeared.

The gathered spellcasters were left utterly stunned by an invocation so rapid it seemed as though a specialized triggerscript had been deployed.

Lunia’s gaze widened in sheer awe.

She merely compressed the invocation time.

The caster had woven the complex matrix and finalized the words in a fraction of a second.

Accelerated incantation was a rudimentary skill every practitioner drilled routinely.

It was the most fundamental of basics, but unleashing something as cataclysmic as Doomsday through such a method was mind-boggling.

Gritting her teeth, Lunia fixed her eyes intently on Luna.

Goooooooh—!

Simultaneously, a crimson, malevolent aura began oozing from the impact zone of the spell.

The onlookers swallowed nervously, feeling a suffocating dread that completely eclipsed the malice of Eljenie.

“That presence… belongs to the Lich King.”

One champion choked back their terror, whispering under the oppressive weight of mortality that now gripped the entire gathering.

The supreme monarch of Tartaros and commander of the Undead Legion, he represented the absolute worst catastrophe known to reality.

Dread saturated the air.

Thud—

The moment the Lich King shifted forward, the defenders involuntarily retreated.

Corruption spread with his every footprint.

He did not actively project his might or engulf the area, yet his fundamental existence caused reality itself to wither and decay.

Thud—

As he advanced another pace, the arrayed warriors gave more ground.

Amidst this, a solitary elf remained still, folding her arms while cocking her head in curiosity.

“Who could that female elf be?”

“How is she remaining completely unaffected?”

While confusion rippled through the crowd,

“Big sister, you called that beautiful person ‘Lady Luna’ earlier. Is that truly her?”

Lu inquired innocently from behind Lunia’s protective frame.

In that tense environment, the youth’s naive query echoed clearly, sparking widespread whispers.

“Lady Luna?”

“Could it possibly be…?”

Every eye focused intently on Luna’s silhouette from behind.

Given the bizarre phenomena occurring lately, people wondered if the legendary founder of their order had truly descended once more to rescue civilization, just like before.

Nevertheless, they couldn’t simply accept a child’s speculation blindly.

The audience remained rigidly focused on her figure.

“Reuniting after five millennia brings back quite a few memories.”

The Lich King himself shattered the quietude, addressing her directly:

“Luna Rubenance.”

“Gasp!”

“What did he just say…!”

Exclamations of utter shock rippled through the ranks of the champions.

“Ah! It is indeed Lady Luna!”

“Praise the glorious creator of the cosmic expanse!”

“You have descended once more to deliver us from ruin!”

“To think she would manifest a second time…!”

“The most supreme of all legends!”

Elven warriors dropped to their knees, directing intense devotion toward her rear profile.

Even the most fanatical pure-blood purists joined in, crying out,

“You have truly returned to life in this mortal realm!”

Hearing the ecstatic ramblings of a nearby elf—whom she was actively attempting to disregard—Luna’s pointed ears twitched.

She flicked them slightly before lowering her gaze with a weary sigh.

“Haaah.”

Exhaling deeply, she extended an open hand directly toward the dark monarch.

Wham—!

Instantly, a monstrous squall blasted toward the Lich King and the blazing figure of Eljenie next to him.

Kwagagagagagang—!

Caught in the wake of Luna’s devastating spell, both enemy commanders were hurled backward, crashing violently into the fortifications of Lumeria City.

Kugugugung—!

The trajectory of the blast leveled everything in its path, clearing structures clean through to the city defense walls.

Fortunately, because the civilian population had already fled, no lives were lost.

“Wow!”

Collective gasps of awe echoed. The display of sorcery was nothing short of miraculous.

“Those dread commanders couldn’t even muster a defense!”

“As expected of the legendary Lady Luna!”

“Glory to the cosmic architect!”

A few of the elves continued their fanatic glorification as though bowing before a living deity.

Swish—

With a sharp pivot, Luna rotated around to face them.

Every gaze locked onto her striking features, which had once drawn praise from even Dweno.

Now that the illusion masking her identity had vanished, her breathtaking aura stood fully unveiled.

Beholding a countenance far too sublime for any canvas to replicate, the onlookers completely forgot the peril around them and stared open-mouthed.

A subtle smirk formed on her lips.

“Ah!”

“Oh, divine ancestor!”

Their praises reached a fever pitch.

Thump—

Luna moved a step closer to the group.

Her advance only intensified their ecstatic shouting.

Thump— thump— thump thump thump thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump—!

Her measured strides suddenly quickened until she was in a full, aggressive sprint.

Wham—!

Launching herself into the air, she delivered a brutal flying kick straight into the face of the leading elf who had been chanting about her “return to life.”

“Gah!”

“Argh! Return to life? A resurrection?! I’m already stressed out of my mind, and you’re here mocking me?! You arrogant, long-eared mutts!”

The expressions of the onlookers froze as they witnessed their revered ancestor hurling profanities and unleashing a storm of physical and verbal violence upon her own kind.

They struggled to comprehend whether they were awake or trapped in a surreal nightmare.

The legendary figure, historically documented as a paragon of grace and mercy for millennia, was currently stomping on a loyal devotee while screaming insults.

“And as for you! Yeah, you, get over here!”

“What? Eek?!”

Reaching out, Luna seized a fistful of hair from a stunned elven woman nearby and yanked her forward.

“Listen up, I didn’t drop by to rescue you lot! I just happened to show up! Fix your own messes! I left you the inheritance of Astral Sorcery! My adorable successor, Seirun, went through the trouble of systematizing it, and that youngster Ren from Lumeren transformed it into an accessible curriculum! Take ownership of your own generation! Why on earth are you celebrating my intervention?! Argh!”

Her expression twisted in absolute rage, Luna continued to shout, stomp, and berate the elitist elves.

The crowd stood completely dumbfounded by this unhinged reality that shattered every expectation they held.

“L-Lady Luna! Please control yourself! Take it easy!”

“Waaah!”

Lunia screamed as she desperately tried to restrain the rampaging legend, while little Lu began weeping at the frightening display.

Kugugugugu! Hwarurururuk—!

Right then, a column of dark fire erupted violently from the damaged sections of the Lumeria fortification.

Halting her tirade, Luna shot an annoyed glare toward the source, scoffed, and adjusted her disheveled attire.

“Fine. Let’s go deal with that overgrown skeleton and the piece of firewood.”

Moving past the bruised elitist elves, she stepped forward.

Seeing her advance, the other champions hurriedly rushed to her side.

“Lady Luna! Permit us to assist you!”

“We will secure the frontline!”

Surveying the group, Luna shook her head dismissively.

“Forget it, leave those bosses to me. You people just focus on containing the armies of those two idiots.”

“B-but… that’s… expecting a single sorcerer to duel two commander-level threats by herself is…”

“Save your breath.”

Crackle—

Luna cracked her knuckles with a fierce grin.

Gooooooh—!

“Besides, I’m currently in no position to fine-tune the output of my spells.”

She added with a smirk.

“It’s going to end poorly for anyone standing too close to the blast radius.”

The warriors swallowed hard, feeling the rising tide of magical force radiating from her form.

“Lu.”

“Yes?”

Sniffling, the young child wiped her nose and responded, now safe beside her parent.

Bending down, Luna lightly tapped the girl’s nose with her index finger.

“Make sure you don’t grow up to be like those dimwitted elves, alright?”

“Dimwitted elves?”

“Exactly. Being born an elf doesn’t automatically make you special.”

Luna offered a genuine, warm smile.

“Value comes from accomplishing meaningful deeds, exactly like what your mother does.”

“Oh… Lady Luna…”

The mother’s face filled with profound gratitude.

Offering a quick wink, Luna turned and stroked ahead.

Free from any lingering hesitation, her momentum was absolute.

“Lunia, pay attention. I am going to show you how a real battle is fought.”

“Understood!”

Lunia replied, bracing herself.

“Lesson number one from yours truly.”

Luna crossed her arms.

“Develop a signature, high-yield spell.”

“A… signature spell?”

“Correct. For me, that would be Doomsday.”

Her motivation for engineering that specific spell had been straightforward: she simply required a trump card capable of absolute devastation.

“Lesson number two. When you encounter someone you genuinely intend to eliminate, stop worrying about the surroundings. Infuse every single spell with pure, unadulterated lethality.”

Lunia blinked in astonishment.

With a small smile, Luna simply swept her hand through the air.

Flash— Crackle-crackle-crackle-crackle-crackle!

Amidst the humming resonance of energy, five distinct magical matrices manifested simultaneously in the sky.

The instantaneous casting left the observers completely wide-eyed.

“Are those structures… Doomsday?”

“Casting five separate Doomsday matrices simultaneously and instantaneously…!”

Shock gripped the crowd as five catastrophic spells, each possessing the power to reshape the battlefield, hovered overhead.

Rising into the air, Luna drifted upward.

“Shall we get this started?”

With a sharp grin, she released the built-up energy.

A colossal detonation of destructive force erupted directly toward the position where the Lich King and Eljenie had been hurled.

Kwagagagagagang—!

Unburdened by concerns of collateral damage, Luna went completely all-out.

This collision between the ultimate champion and the enemy commanders threatened to reduce the entirety of Lumeria City to rubble.

Naturally, the primary source of this widespread devastation was Luna herself.

Who cares? I’m the one who secured peace for this world in the first place, so surely no one will complain about a ruined city.

Dismissing any internal guilt, she forged ahead.

Ironically, much like how Kyle and Risinas were mockingly labeled ‘the surviving warrior and the idiot,’ and Arion was dubbed ‘the craven,’ Luna possessed her own infamous moniker.

It was…

“Excessively flashy. Entirely expected of the Monarch of Devastation.”

Near the shattered fortifications, the Lich King composedly rose to his feet.

Although Luna’s initial strike looked immensely powerful when pushing them into the masonry, it hadn’t inflicted any real injury upon the Lich King or the Blood Queen.

It was a spectacle lacking genuine lethality.

Luna Rubenance is undoubtedly aware of this. So why execute such a hollow maneuver?

It couldn’t be a stalling tactic either.

Knowing her erratic nature, she should have unleashed her most lethal magic the moment they crossed paths.

Pausing briefly, the dark lord abandoned any attempt to rationalize her actions.

He had spent centuries contending with her.

While he could generally decipher the motivations of Risinas, Kyle, Arion, or Dweno, Luna remained an entirely unpredictable enigma.

Drawing on past experience, the dark lord chose not to deplete his focus trying to analyze her.

It never crossed his mind that she had thrown him aside purely to clear a space to physically assault her own descendants.

Suddenly, the barrage of Doomsday descended.

Observing the oncoming cataclysm, the Lich King let out a quiet hum.

“Lich King! That detestable sorcery is heading right for us!”

“So it seems.”

“Hurry, we must evade—”

Grab—!

“Gah?”

Reaching out a skeletal hand, the dark monarch clamped his fingers around Eljenie’s throat and dragged her roughly into his path.

Kwagagagagagang—!

“Screeech!”

Utilizing the Blood Queen as a makeshift barrier, the Lich King maintained a perfectly placid expression as he analyzed the situation.

The intervention of Luna Rubenance was completely unpredicted.

The objective had been compromised.

Is she persisting as a spectral entity? Her current nature diverges noticeably from her prior manifestation and from Arion.

He evaluated her condition instantly.

In that case… her boundaries are bound to be strictly defined.

Gooooooh—!

A sinister smile touched the edges of his mouth as he lifted his arm.

Crack-crack-crack—!

“L-Lich King…?”

“Your service is appreciated, Blood Queen.”

Crunch—!

A spectral skeletal manifestation burst from his palm, entirely consuming and crushing Eljenie.

Crimson fluids splattered everywhere.

Hwarururuk—!

Dark red embers ignited across his hand before morphing into a deep, abyssal black fire.

“Watching a legendary savior meet a pathetic demise should prove quite entertaining.”

The Lich King understood all too well that legendary icons served as foundations for peace, and he recognized the immense power inherent in such symbols.

For five millennia, mortals had revered and emulated individuals who had long departed the physical world, sparking the rise of successive generations of protectors.

“And today, I shall extinguish one of those very icons.”