Chapter 464: The Battle of Pharel (8)

Chapter 464: The Battle of Pharel (8)

“Prepare for battle,” Karyl said in a low voice.

“You... Are you seriously going to fight Yula? Even with a million soldiers, going up against a god is utter madness.”

The woman with serpentine lips cast him an incredulous look.

“Then why don’t you just join her? Though I doubt it’ll end any better for you than it did for this guy,” Karyl said, pointing to the mangled man on the ground.

“...So you do have a plan, right?”

“Back in the so-called Mythical Era, the Bladers, chosen by the gods as the highest race of all, once rose up in rebellion. But they lost. All of them were either sealed away or wiped out.”

“Where are you going with this?” the woman snapped. Like all the other gods, she too resembled a human when about to face her own end. “We’ve lived through countless ages... and now we’ve ended up doing something this stupid. Was this really all just to use us?”

“If you don’t want to die, then you’ll have to fight too.” Karyl maintained his calm, unlike the serpent-lipped woman.

“YULAAAA...!!!”

A roaring giant of flames burst from behind Karyl. Along with the scorching firestorm, the Spirit Kings emerged with murderous intent.

“We shall finally have our revenge!!”

“Since the Mythical Era... I’ve been waiting for this moment!”

Led by Ramine, the Two Powers surged toward Yula.

VOOOSH...!!

The Blazing King’s inferno roared straight at Yula. Wings of light flared behind him as he swung the blade of darkness at the back of her neck. It was an all-out strike—yet Yula raised her hand slowly, almost languidly, and parried without effort.

Shhhh...!

With a sweep of her arm, the divine flames dissipated into nothing. The brilliant wings shattered, and the blade of darkness crumbled.

“Guh—!”

“Ghraaah...!!”

Torn apart by her strike, the Spirit Kings scattered.

Annihilation Strike

Karyl rushed in through the lingering smoke, swinging Polsetia’s sword at Yula’s throat.

Shhwaang...!!

But with a snap of her fingers, the scattered remnants of the Spirit Kings twisted into a vortex, condensing and transforming into sharp spearheads that shot toward his back.

“...?!”

Karyl twisted his body as much as he could, gritting his teeth.

Clang—

He deflected the three massive spears, shattering them on impact. However, the fragments rained down on him as though alive.

Hundreds of blades surged toward him, seeking to cut him down.

CLANG!

Just then, Suan Hazer rushed in front of Karyl. As he bashed his gauntlets together, a hazy shield formed in front of them.

“Now!”

Even though he was clad in Automata, the Absolute Defense, Suan’s body was horrifying to look at. With all the sharp fragments lodged in him, he looked like a hedgehog.

“Ghah...!”

Suan Hazer coughed up blood, but at least he had managed to buy some time—if only just a few seconds.

BZZZZZ...!! CRACK!!!

Aidan shot forward like a bullet, unleashing thunderbolts down on Yula’s head.

“Hraaaaah...!!”

“You’re far too easy to read.”

Even as Kungen’s lightning crashed down upon her, Yula blocked Aidan’s blade with just two fingers. She even managed to speak amidst the carnage.

“You threw yourself in just to open a path for him.”

With that, she drove her palm—poised like a knife—straight into Aidan’s chest.

Squelch!

Aidan had tried to dodge, but not even his legendary speed was enough to escape her grasp.

“Guh...”

Her arm burst out through his back, firmly clutching his still-beating heart.

“Agh...”Aidan stared up at her in disbelief.

Was this it?

“You want to live? Then beg. If you curse your master the way he mocked the gods, I might grant you another chance.”

“Ptuh!”

Instead of answering, Aidan spat in the god’s face—a final act of defiance as he met his end.

With a horrifying scowl, Yula ruthlessly crushed Aidan’s face.

Crack!

With a sickening sound—like a watermelon being crushed—blood spurted on her feet.

“RAAAAGGGHHH...!!”

Toska soared above them, wings flaring wide as he let out a deafening roar.

Shhhhhh..!

Hundreds of beams of light erupted from his maw, tracing arcs across the sky as they rained down on Yula like a storm. But the Golden Dragon’s breath dissipated just before reaching her, swallowed by a darkness that devoured all light.

“You’re still the same. Even with your memories restored, you continue to defy me. Fine. Even when all the other dragons knelt, your damn pride was the one thing I couldn’t break.”

Her aura shifted. The radiant halo that had been shining around Yula just moments ago darkened until it seemed capable of swallowing darkness itself.

A true representation of her duality.

“You never managed to atone to me while you were alive. Then pay the price for that blasphemy now, in death.”

Even her voice carried another layer, as if two entities were speaking at once.

Shwaaah...!!

She threw Aidan’s lifeless heart to the ground and raised her hand. In an instant, the beams of light she had absorbed from Toska’s attack erupted from the shadows around her.

Unlike their earlier dazzling brilliance, these beams were pitch black. They shot out like thorny vines, coiling tightly around Toska’s limbs.

“Graaaagh...!!”

Thick, black smoke instantly rose from the Golden Dragon, as though his flesh was being scorched by the tendrils of darkness. Though technically dead—as a Bone Dragon—Toska still writhed in agony. And the more he struggled, the tighter Yula’s darkness constricted around his bones and flesh.

“YUUULAAAAA...!!!”

Toska’s roar brimmed with rage, but all he received from her was a cold sneer.

“Struggle all you want. It’ll only make you realize how futile your desperate little plans really were.”

“...”

The wrath of the god struck fear into everyone’s hearts, and that fear was amplified by the grotesque sound of the Golden Dragon’s bones breaking.

Crack...! Krkkk—!!

Toska kept struggling to break free, but it was all in vain. There was no escaping a god’s grasp.

“Fire!”

“Attack!”

“Form tactical lines!”

The Free Army took advantage of the fact that Yula’s attention was focused on Toska and launched a full-scale assault.

Clop-clop-clop...!!

Hoofbeats thundered all over the battlefield.

“Haaah...!”

Wingel Hart yanked the Aegis out of the tower’s wall and led the golem battalion into a charge. Behind him rode the Fanpinel Knights, followed by northern warriors and southern soldiers, all wielding their weapons forged with Clear Distilled Water.

“Don’t slow down! Show them the power of the Formless Formation!” Kayla Spear shouted from behind. “Burn them down!”

A thick magical shield formed in front of the charging Free Army. With the magic battalion supporting them, massive circular formations spun forward like wheels, closing in around Yula as if to trap her in a vortex.

“Fire!”

Kinu Mukari drew his bow back with all his strength. Behind him, the archers of the Flying Bow tribe loosed their arrows, and a Cargon of the Digon tribe galloped full speed ahead.

“Huaaaaa...!!”

The roar of the entire army thundered across the battlefield. But despite their renewed vigor and courage, Yula’s expression didn’t change.

“Begone.”

Following that whisper, she casually waved her hand as though swatting away a swarm of summer gnats.

CRACK—!

The ground beneath the golem unit split open. With their charge forcefully halted, the golems tumbled into one another. The impact toppled the knights and Free Army soldiers following behind, crushed under the giants.

“Ghah...!

“Shit! Heeeelp...!!”

Yula’s next wave of her hand was even more terrifying.

“Hmph.”

As casually as she had split the earth, she now caused Toska’s massive, shadow-bound body to explode into pieces. Giant shards of bone rained down like shrapnel over the wyvern riders.

CRASH...!

Amidst the horrifying carnage, the screech of clashing steel rang out.

Clang!

Karyl desperately tried to land a hit on Yula, but she blocked his blade effortlessly.

“Tell me, is this the future you envisioned? Look around yourself. Do you see how many have died just for this one attack?”

The sword’s blade bent violently under Yula’s overwhelming aura, emitting a metallic sound despite being forged from mana.

“Finally, the moment I’ve been waiting for!”

Mael leapt out from within the sword, coiling up Yula’s arm and tightening around it before sinking his fangs deep into her neck.

“Gyaaah...!”

For the first time in this battle, Yula screamed in shock. The serpent had accomplished what no one else had—inflicting pain on a god.

“Oh, stop overreacting. This is nowhere near enough to kill you. If it were, none of this would’ve been necessary in the first place,” Mael hissed.

Fwoooosh...!

The aura of darkness surrounding Yula began to fade as Mael’s fangs sank deeper—like a flame being snuffed out.

“...?!”

Karyl didn’t miss the change.

“You pitiful bastards...!” Yula snarled, grabbing Mael.

“And listen to yourself, calling yourself a god. You don’t want to die, yet you act as though our slaying a god to survive is a sin against the heavens. Even if it’s born of desperation, it’s perfectly reasonable.”

Mael held his ground, not yielding against the god. He bit even harder.

“That desire to live is what defines us.”

“Y-You...! You dare...!”

Although she trembled from the pain, Yula managed to claw at the snake and finally tore him off her. f.

Hsss...!

Mael hit the ground, tongue flicking in rage as he glared at her. The puncture wounds on her neck bled profusely, still throbbing terribly.

Yula, with a horrible scowl, snatched Mael by the jaws and ripped them apart.

“You think being a Master Key makes you special? What, you thought you were some kind of key to the throne? You’re no different from the Bladers who once served us! You were all meant to be tools, nothing more!”

THUD!

Yula slammed Mael into the ground and crushed him underfoot, one hand clutching the stinging wound on her neck.

At that moment, Karyl kicked off the ground and drove an upward knee into Yula’s chin.

Crack—

Her head snapped back, and she staggered. The blow was brutal—something no ordinary human could have landed on a deity.

I knew it...

Gently landing back on the ground, Karyl promptly stepped back.

Yula’s face twisted in disbelief. The idea that a god like her had been struck by a human was unthinkable.

“Beast...?”

In that instant, she noticed the faint blue light surrounding Karyl’s legs, wrapping around them like armor.

“So that’s your trump card. A human with two Master Keys... I must admit, I’ve never seen one like you before,” she sneered as the Lycanthrope’s Will manifested.

“I’ll give it to you, Karyl MacGovern. You’ve reached the maximum potential of a human. You pushed me into a corner, forcing me to use Divine Power. Not even the Bladers of the Mythical Era managed that.”

She slowly stepped toward him.

“But this is the end. Look around. What do you have left?”

Corpses piled high. The land had long since been drenched in blood, and the humans who had dared to attack the god were now gone, erased by her wrath.

“...”

Karyl looked around himself, and for a moment, it felt like he was reliving

that day

all over again.

“You’re the only one left. No matter how strong an ant becomes, it’s still just an ant. The only thing you’ve accomplished is leading everyone who followed you to their deaths.”

Karyl wasn’t listening anymore. He slowly closed his eyes as the acrid stench of burning flesh and blood filled his nose.

“You should’ve accepted my offer, stopped the Calamities, and ascended Pharel.” She gave a cold, mocking smile. “But now it’s too late. This is your defeat.”

She slowly raised her hand. The same hand that had wiped out millions in an instant was now pointed at Karyl.

“It’s true... Killing a god with human power is nearly impossible. Your strength really is overwhelming,” he remarked, opening his eyes.

But even with defeat hanging clearly in the air, Karyl’s face looked strangely calm—perhaps because he had found the answer he had been looking for.

“Yes. This time, I’ve lost.”

“...What?” Yula frowned. Something felt off about how willingly he accepted defeat. “This time?”

To her question, Karyl gave a faint smile. “You’ve done well. I made you go through something terrible, but thanks to that, I finally found what I needed.”

“What are you...?”

“Yes, death is a horrible thing. For the first time in my life, I guess I owe a god some gratitude. If it weren’t for that precious law of yours, you would’ve killed me outright instead of sealing me away.”

“...?!”

Yula couldn’t believe it.

Mael’s head, crushed and mangled, was speaking. Every time his tattered lips moved, bits of flesh dropped from its mouth, making for a grotesque sight.

“You’re not the only ones who were fooled.”

Karyl turned to the remaining gods, their faces frozen in shock, and gestured toward them.

Vooosh...!

The space around Karyl and Yula began to tear apart like fabric being unraveled. The landscape peeled away, one layer at a time, as if reality itself were shedding its disguise.

“H-How...?”

Yula scanned her surroundings in disbelief. Through the cracks, a different world was revealed. There, standing exactly where she had struck them down, were the humans—unscathed, their eyes locked on her with caution and defiance.

“You were also fooled.”

His words, a mere whisper, rang in her ears, making her head throb.

A blinding white light spilled into Yula’s vision, and the world seemed to flip upside down.

Karyl reached into his coat and pulled out a book. “I’m sure you’re confused. How could a god be tricked by a human? The truth is, any one of you fuckers would’ve easily fallen for this illusion I’ve created.”

The book had an old, worn cover, its title faded beyond recognition.

“What is that...?”

Even Yula didn’t seem to recognize the aged book, and she tilted her head, confused.

“This holds the truth you don’t yet know.”

Karyl had kept it hidden up until this very final battle.

“But even I could hardly believe it. That’s why I needed to see it for myself.”

He had kept Kaye Aesir’s will as his final weapon.

“And now that I’ve confirmed it...”

His eyes ignited with a fierce resolve.

“This time, it’s

your

defeat.”