Chapter 673

Book 1 Chapter 673

Goooooo—!

A colossal tempest of arcane energy began to swirl violently around Artian.

Having finished his internal incantations, Artian snapped his eyelids open.

“Flame Wave.”

Hwarururuk—!

An immense, surging wall of fire erupted directly from the fortress trenches.

The approaching Gigantes, who had been advancing to breach the battlements, let out collective shrieks of terror at the sight.

Yet, the spellcasting was far from finished.

“—!”

A magnificent melody began to resonate over the chaotic battlefield.

The wind itself stirred in response to the vocalizations, which were structured entirely in ancient runic dialect.

Wheeooooo—

Spirals of pure mana began to shimmer around Chelsea as she gripped her staff.

The immediate space surrounding Chelsea felt so tranquil that it seemed entirely detached from the warfare raging around them.

The melody was captivating enough to entrance anyone under different circumstances.

However, the phenomenon birthed by that beautiful song was cataclysmic.

Gooooo-oooo-ooooo—!

The infernal wall of fire that was devouring the vanguard of the Giant King’s forces surged with amplified ferocity.

It mimicked the behavior of turbulent ocean waves whipped by a gale.

Instead of rolling forward in a single direction, the blaze erupted outward along every path.

Artian’s gaze brightened with approval.

“When did that youth develop into such an extraordinary spellcaster?”

Though his academic expertise lay in Summoning and Heroics rather than standard sorcery, Artian possessed an advanced comprehension of the arcane arts due to his contract with the heroic soul of a master mage.

With a subtle smirk, Artian channeled an even greater reservoir of mana.

In response, successive waves of the Flame Wave cascaded relentlessly from the trenches.

Under the synchronized manipulation of Chelsea and Artian, the perimeter of the stronghold was effectively converted into an ocean of blazing destruction.

“Haaaah!”

Wading through the center of that incandescent sea, Dweno aggressively swung his massive battle axe.

“This is an ideal setting for a brawl!”

The combined magical assault of Chelsea and Artian possessed enough destructive force to reduce allies to cinders.

Yet, it failed to inflict significant harm upon Dweno.

Dweno had previously served as the vanguard shield for Arhi’s companions against the Flames of Calamity, an ordeal involving the most cataclysmic fire imaginable.

For a warrior capable of enduring Luna’s supreme fire incantations, heat of this magnitude was trivial.

Puk—!

“Kkueeeeooh!”

“Where do you think you are looking!”

After lopping off the skull of a burning, agonizing demon foot soldier serving the Giant King, Dweno shifted his gaze upward.

“Perish, Dwarf!”

A colossal fiend, wielding an immense war hammer with both hands, brought the weapon down toward the dwarf.

The momentum of its descent through the surrounding inferno was terrifying.

Kwaaang—! Jjeojeojeojeok—!

Dweno’s battle axe, braced to intercept the war hammer radiating corrupt dark magic, began to fracture.

Observing the damage, the massive demon grinned maliciously.

“This armament was granted to me by the magnificent Giant King himself! A pathetic tool forged by a mere dwarf could never hope to withstand—”

Kwak—!

Abruptly, the dwarf embedded his free fingers directly into the iron head of the fracturing battle axe.

“Deliver a message to the Giant King.”

Dweno let out a chilling sneer.

“Tell him he lacks the basic skill to even drive a nail straight with such a poorly crafted mallet.”

Ppajijijijijijik! Kwadeuk—!

Spreading rapidly from the points of Dweno’s fingers, the massive war hammer shattered into a flurry of fragments.

“Impossible!”

The towering fiend roared in utter disbelief.

Dweno cast aside his ruined battle axe, manifested a rift in sub-space, and propelled himself upward.

A massive greatsword materialized in his grasp.

Leaping directly to the eye level of the towering fiend, Dweno remarked, “Let us discover if your flesh is sturdier than your weapon.”

Buak—!

The sweeping trajectory of the greatsword cleanly severed the massive demon’s neck.

“Hmph, your skeletal structure lacks density. Did you skip your meals growing up?”

Dweno offered a faint smirk toward the detached head spinning through the air before dropping back to the terrain.

“Eliminate the Iron-Blooded Gatekeeper!”

“Disregard him! Focus all attacks on the parapets!”

The ranks of the Giant King’s forces fell into utter disarray.

Luke, observing the engagement from the summit of the fortress wall, trembled.

“Dweno-nim… his prowess is astonishing.”

“It appears he intends to hold the entire line by himself.”

Aina’s eyes widened in matching disbelief.

Witnessing the display, Enniha bit her lip in frustration.

“No. Regardless of his individual might, he cannot withstand an entire army indefinitely.”

“True, overwhelming numbers cannot be ignored forever.”

Driana wore a somber expression.

“But we are present to fight alongside him now!”

Arh straightened his posture proudly.

“Indeed… you all are here.”

The battlements held numerous heroic figures whose current capabilities surpassed Arh’s own.

Yet, throughout past sieges, Dweno had never ventured out alone into the vanguard like this.

‘It was due to our limitations.’

To shield them from harm, Dweno had consistently engaged in highly disadvantageous positioning.

‘Because we served as nothing but liabilities.’

Enniha cast her gaze toward the heavens.

Leo was positioned above.

That presence alone allowed Dweno to commit fully to the vanguard with an unburdened mind.

‘If we had possessed even a single dependable ally of that caliber back then… If I had been capable of offering real support, Dweno could have pressed forward without constant anxiety.’

Enniha tightened her grip on her weapon, overwhelmed by frustration.

“They are advancing, prepare yourselves!”

Breaching the perimeter of the magical inferno, the vanguard of the Giant King’s army rushed toward the base of the fortress walls.

Kwak—!

‘It is nearly time to fall back.’

Dweno, executing another Gigantes directly in front of him, monitored the broader movements of the battlefield.

The momentum of the enemy assault seemed limitless.

‘…However… why has he not shown himself?’

Despite the scale of the deployment, the Giant King—who directed the entire horde—was nowhere to be seen.

‘This is not their true primary assault.’

Dweno deciphered the strategy instantly.

‘What deception are you plotting, you treacherous wretch?’

Leo accelerated through the skies, charging directly toward the swarms of Fafnirs obscuring the heavens.

Gooooo—!

Concentrated spiritual power began to emanate from the edge of Leo’s blade.

Posteritas, the sword clenched in his grip, vibrated in resonance with his internal energy.

Pajik— Pajijijijik—

Brilliant white electrical currents, discharging from Leo’s form, converged entirely at the tip of the sword.

“Are you prepared?”

The instant Arty conveyed her assent, a brilliant white luminescence ignited within Leo’s eyes.

Flash!

The spiritual energy swirling across Posteritas instantaneously converted into a massive bolt of white lightning, rocketing toward the upper atmosphere.

Koo-roorung—

The electrical surge tore through the cloud layer, rapidly condensing into a dense storm.

Kwarung—! Pajijijijijik—!

A sharp cry of intense pain erupted from Arty.

The elemental force Leo utilized represented the absolute core of lightning magic.

It was the specific authority belonging to Albus, the sovereign Pegasus King who ruled five millennia ago.

This power had been secured as a triumph reward after conquering the realm of Lisinas during their previous trial.

The Flame Emperor of the Phoenix.

The Pure White King of the Pegasus.

The Fairy King of the Fairies.

Even among ancient phantoms, these specific authorities were unique.

Only individuals meeting strict qualifications could deploy them without consequence.

It was an elemental force that triggered agonizing pain the moment any entity besides a true phantom king or their chosen successor attempted to channel it.

‘Albus passed away without establishing a successor.’

Consequently, in the current era, there should logically exist no Pegasus capable of enduring the true essence of lightning.

‘Yes. Under normal circumstances, it should be impossible.’

Arty’s agonizing cries abruptly transformed into an ecstatic, manic laugh.

Maintaining her wild laughter, Arty unfurled her wings to their fullest extent, ascending through the upper atmosphere at extreme velocity.

Kuuwaaaaaaa—

The surrounding Fafnirs dissolved like ash, shattering into microscopic debris along the path of Arty’s ascent.

‘Securing dominance over the airspace is the priority.’

Yielding control of the sky would force the ground troops into a disastrously unfeasible defensive battle.

Naturally, securing tactical airspace was only a secondary objective for his ascent.

The primary objective was directly ahead.

‘He undeniably took part in the conflict at Ivaldi, didn’t he?’

An ancient, unresolved score persisted in this place.

A bitter historical grievance that he had historically been unable to conclude personally.

Fafnirs were indisputably classified as superior magical beasts.

They represented the specific phantom creatures that provoked the greatest terror among populations during the catastrophic Age of Calamity.

However, they possessed a glaring structural flaw.

‘These creatures were not categorized as high-grade entities due to individual combat power.’

To be fair, an isolated Fafnir remained a highly dangerous entity to encounter.

Each individual posed a significant threat to standard combatants.

Yet, when measured against alternative high-grade monsters, their isolated output was relatively lacking.

The disparity was even more pronounced when recognizing that standard high-grade magical beasts wielded power on par with apex phantom creatures.

There was precisely one attribute that elevated the Fafnir species to a high-grade classification.

‘Their hive-mind coordination.’

The most catastrophic attribute of a Fafnir was not its raw physical strength.

It lay within their exponential reproductive capabilities and rapid maturation cycles.

Coupled with an absolute, instinctive compliance with the dictates of their pack alpha.

An experienced tamer could subjugate an entire swarm simply by bringing a single alpha Fafnir under control.

On the historic day Dweno allied with them and completed Arhi’s fellowship, Lisinas’s initial initiative had been a systematic, scorched-earth campaign targeting the Fafnir population.

Because of that campaign, the Fafnirs faced total eradication and vanished entirely during the Age of Calamity.

‘Lisinas maintained that restoring the world was a mathematical impossibility so long as the Fafnirs endured.’

Multiplying at such an unnatural rate, they posed a greater systemic threat than any standalone beast.

Yet, these creatures had not always belonged to the superior tier.

Historically, they were ranked merely as intermediate magical beasts.

‘Their transition into high-grade status occurred precisely at the onset of the Age of Calamity.’

The unnatural acceleration of their breeding cycles and growth rates was not an inherent trait of their original biology.

“Eliza!”

“Why are you shouting for me!”

“Can you suppress this area independently for a short duration!”

“What is your objective?”

Leo shifted his gaze higher into the firmament.

“There is an entity waiting above.”

Following his gaze, Eliza peer upward into the dark sky.

A sharp, confident smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

“I can manage.”

“Are you certain?”

“‘Surpass your own boundaries,’ isn’t that the foundational tenet of our institution? Furthermore…”

Eliza’s expression tightened slightly.

“I have no desire to sit back and watch that man monopolize all the glory.”

Driven by a flash of competitive pride, Eliza released a torrent of her own spiritual energy.

Influenced by that sudden surge of power, Pegasus Ru emitted a series of even more blinding electrical discharges.

“Quite dependable, aren’t you?”

“Hmph.”

Dismissing Leo’s praise with a quiet scoff, Eliza initiated a massive summoning sequence.

A vast multitude of winged phantom beasts materialized across the sky, flying in tight formation behind a vanguard of Wind Wyverns.

“Listen up.”

Eliza smiled coldly at her summons.

“Let us clear out these grotesque winged lizards.”

Pajijijik—!

Every single phantom creature summoned under Eliza’s command received the specialized elemental empowerment of the Pegasus.

Watching the orchestration, Leo felt a deep sense of internal admiration.

‘She only recently mastered the summoning of a Pegasus, yet her tactical adaptability is already at this level.’

Shifting his focus from Eliza’s performance, Leo gripped Arty’s reins tightly.

“Arty. Ascend past the current layer.”

With a fierce gleam in her eyes, Arty accelerated straight through the upper atmosphere.

Kieeeeeeeee!

An overwhelming wall of Fafnirs coalesced like dense storm clouds directly across Leo’s path, attempting to halt his upward trajectory.

Leo extended an open hand toward the horde.

Pabababababat—!

The condensed core of lightning magic began coalescing rapidly within his palm.

Kwak—! Kwajijijijijik—!

As his fingers closed into a tight fist, a spear constructed of pure, incandescent white energy materialized.

Hwaak—!

Upon hurling the pure white javelin, the opposing Fafnirs were instantly reduced to vapor.

It appeared as though a massive, empty void had been violently punched through the cloud layer.

A clear path opened directly through the dense, dark cluster of the Fafnir swarm.

The acrid odor of charred organic tissue filled the surrounding airspace, but Leo ignored the stench entirely and surged forward through the opening.

Hoo-uk—

Breaching the upper cloud deck, Arty caught sight of an anomaly.

“It is a dragon,” Leo clarified in a measured tone.

A silver-haired individual loomed above the clouds, carrying an aura that appeared refined and aristocratic at first glance.

An absolute, heavy silence seemed to emanate from his immediate surroundings.

He possessed a striking, elegant countenance that seemed entirely disconnected from mundane affairs.

Leo guided Arty closer to the solitary figure, who remained motionless with closed eyes.

“Greetings.”

“An inferior human not only breaches my personal domain, but possesses the audacity to address me directly?”

The figure opened his eyes, his expression perfectly composed.

“It appears you harbor a desire for execution.”

Hearing the remark, Leo let out a dark chuckle.

“I climbed up here specifically to locate you, Gimeon.”

“Oh? A human still breathes who recalls the name of Lord Gimeon? Yet your etiquette leaves much to be desired.”

For a fraction of a second, a dark blade of spiritual energy glinted within Leo’s eyes.

Detecting the flash, Gimeon’s expression twitched with recognition.

“That distinct energy signature… Lisinas?”

“It has caused me immense irritation that I was historically prevented from dismantling your form with my own hands.”

Leo’s eyes narrowed into a deceptively pleasant expression.

However, an icy, unmistakable aura of absolute malice radiated from his gaze.

“Today, that lingering annoyance will be permanently rectified.”

“Haha, you are an amusing specimen for a human. A member of a lesser race presumes to slay me, a dragon? A truly delightful piece of comedy.”

Gimeon erupted into a dismissive laugh, genuinely amused by the statement.

“I am uncertain how you managed to appropriate Lisinas’s remnant power. But you appear to be under the delusion that merely borrowing a dragon’s authority elevates you to my level.”

Gimeon sneered down at him.

“Just as your human societies maintain rigid hierarchies, so do the dragons. There is absolutely no scenario where the authority of Lisinas—who was destined to serve my lineage from the shadows—could ever overcome me, the true Dragon King.”

Gimeon summarized his position with a thoroughly patronizing stare.

“A Dragon King represents, by definition, the absolute pinnacle of dragon kind.”

“The pinnacle of nothing, you treacherous, overgrown lizard.”

“What did you say?”

Gimeon’s composed visage warped with sudden rage.

“Furthermore, regarding that title… I would appreciate it if you desisted from throwing the term Dragon Lord around so casually.”

Leo’s tone dropped to a freezing register.

“The sole entity worthy of the title Dragon Lord in this era is Lisinas.”