Episode 304. Praying (7)

Chapter 304

Argo was confident that he would not lose to anyone. He was not conceited in the least. After all, his Inheritance was to take the aura of those who had been cut down by him.

Several decades had passed since the Saint had saved his life. Afterwards, he pledged his loyalty to her and followed her into numerous battles. In the meantime, the number of knights he had killed had reached into the thousands. It was no exaggeration to say that his record of kills, let alone the amount of aura he accumulated, was unrivaled.

But the moment Argo faced Desir, he realized that he had never faced a stronger opponent before.

[Glacial Precipice]

*Crack*

The atmosphere froze and the gruesome noise of ice breaking rang out. The vast cold air seemed to be concentrated in the air, and it formed the shape of a giant ice dragon.

*Growl*

The moment it spread its wings with a roar, an icy storm of knife-like blades swept the area before it.

Argo felt the coldness squeezing his whole body to the point where the aura around him was overshadowed. Had it not been for the enormous amount of aura accumulated in his body, he certainly would have snapped frozen.

It was a scene reminiscent of something from myth. The magician in front of him must have achieved the pinnacle of magic. The ice dragon he created made Argo nervous, as it proceeded to approach him at a tremendous speed.

‘Is this feeling called fear… ?’

The first time he had felt such a thing in his life. Argo realized that he had no chance of winning. It was stupid to try to confront such divine magic with a human body. It was right to retreat at any moment.

But he did not back down and picked up his sword. He had no choice but to; he was protecting something more precious than his mere life behind him.

The ice dragon howled. The distance between them had closed further and further. The surrounding space had already been completely covered with white fog.

‘Even if I waste a little bit of my aura, I must destroy this.’

Made entirely out of magic, the ice dragon moved as if it possessed a mind of its own. In other words, the situation was now a two versus one.

While he was struggling with the ice dragon, if Desir was allowed to invoke other spells, the battle was as good as lost. In order to avoid such a result, it was necessary to deal with the ice dragon in front of him first, and quickly at that.

Argo, who made a quick judgment, raised his sword. Aura then burst out like an active volcano and began to cover his sword. A vast amount of it concentrated within the Blankšum blade, causing the powerful metal to give out a painful groan. Though Blankšum was practically perfect for conducting and maintaining aura, it could not handle the sheer amount Argo had gathered over the years. The atmosphere around the blade began to shake, and the weapon itself seemed to be pulsing.

Soon after, as the ice dragon opened its mouth to swallow him, Argo kicked against the ground and leapt straight into its mouth.

*Stab*

Argo jammed his sword straight into the beast’s neck, causing the surrounding ice to illicit cracks. His blade adequately inserted, Argo condensed his aura and shot it deep into the dragon’s body. Rainbow aura danced around its interior, the beautiful display perfectly visible due to the dragon’s translucence.

*Crack*

The infused aura exploded in unison, instantly crushing hundreds of meters of ice. Argo shook off the tip of his sword and re-positioned himself. There was no time for a break. There were countless flashes of light from far away approaching him, like the night sky’s stars were hurtling with intent to kill.

[Stream of Stardust]

The immeasurable spread of magic embroidered the sky. Each and every one of them was carrying a transcendent force, but Argo faced them without a single change in expression.

“Attack me with your all might.”

Argo got into position. As if he had taken a new bucket of water from a well, his aura spewed out again and again.

“I’ll defend against everything you have.”

*Boom*

There was a violent noise. Hundreds of magic bullets and aura collided, creating countless flashes of light. Desir’s magic poured out incessantly, and Argo’s sword did not stop either.

Every time sword and magic collided, a huge backlash swept the town of Dresden. As evidenced by the aftermath of the fierce battle, the surrounding area was now reminiscent of a meteor crater.

But there was one exception. The area behind Argo was the one piece of land that remained untouched. No magic harmed the place behind him, where Priscilla slowly traversed.

*Booom*

“Cough… !”

A line of blood flowed out from Argo’s mouth. Even with the absurd defensive power he had, it was impossible to fully block spells with such immense power. In order to protect Priscilla behind him, he had to even stop attacks that he would normally avoid, which put him in even more of a corner.

Argo felt his aura, which seemed almost endless, beginning to run out.

‘But he is in the same situation.’

Each and every one of Desir’s spells had the power akin to the Seventh-Circle.

There was obviously no magician or individual as powerful as Desir currently was. In the face of his extreme strength, Argo felt a sort of kinship, having finally met someone who could match his accumulated power. Had they not fought today, perhaps one day Desir would fall into the same isolation that his strength had brought him.

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*Whoong*

The area where Priscilla had been was replaced by a deep staircase that stretched far into the ground below. Bizarre lights adorned the alien entrance, but what caught the eye was a massive pillar of light shooting out from within it. Shortly after, a sound echoed from within it.

[-A.R.T.E.M.I.S system access point restored. Beginning assimilation progress… ]

A faint, familiar voice struck Argo’s ear. Priscilla’s plan had progressed successfully. The moment of their triumph was on the horizon.

‘I can hold on.’

Soon, with just a little bit more, and then his prayer would be fulfilled. Argo remained on alert and raised his aura again to defend himself.

“… … ?”

However, Desir’s shelling, which had been pouring out without a break so far, suddenly slowed down. Argo expressed his wonder, feeling nervous at this inexplicable turn of events.

And he was soon able to grasp the situation.

Desir’s strategy had changed. Until now, he had not given Argo a single chance to strike back with countless rounds of artillery, but Argo admirably managed to hold on. It was an achievement that could only be realized after his plentiful experience in striking down hundreds of spells.

Desir, who could not afford to delay any longer, was forced to change his strategy. He decided to take a little more strain and end the situation in the one go.

Numerous forms of spell arrays overlapped in unison, drawing a geometric landscape that the average magician could never hope to understand.

“It’s over.”

Their eyes crossed as he looked in the direction of the voice. This time, Desir’s face was pale, as if he had used his power too much. With his aura-enhanced sight, Argo could see Desir’s hands visibly shake in exertion.

However, his eyes were fiercely still.

As soon as Argo met his glance, he felt his blood freeze. However, he soon regained himself and regarded the moment as an opportunity. A magician’s biggest weakness was their mana dependency, but they were also completely exposed while invoking spells. Until now, Desir had been using spells that were relatively weak (for him) which meant Argo did not have any breathing room. Now that he was preparing a final attack, Argo had the chance to strike back.

‘Before the spell is complete, I have to cut his neck!’

This was a big enough opportunity, and Argo had already confirmed that his sword could cut through Desir’s spatial distortion.

When he hit the ground, the gap between Desir and himself narrowed in an instant. When he was about to slash with his sword and use the full force of his aura…

*Crack*

A tremendous force pulled him from behind.

‘What the hell is this?’

Argo stuck his sword into the ground, planting himself, and looked back. His mouth opened. A small sphere floating in the air was spinning endlessly. It was in the process of grinding down and inhaling everything around it haphazardly.

The little sphere possessed a greater power than the sum of all of the magic that Desir had invoked in the fight until now.

[Apocalypse Star]

It was a phenomenon created by the concentration of astronomical masses. The powerful gravity emitted from the star distorted the surrounding space and restricted the area, but its effects extended far beyond just this area and attracted all nearby material, growing in size and power.

While Argo was in shock, barely supporting himself by strengthening his whole body with aura, Desir gestured toward the air. Then the white star began to converge rapidly toward a point.

Gravity was collapsing. The amount of heat and light expelled increased tenfold. At this moment, a dying star had been created above Dresden, and it was about to burst.

If the vast amount of energy generated in the process were gathered in one place, the power would be beyond imagination. It was neither a power that man should be able to produce nor a category of power that he could prevent.

“Haha, ha… ”

Argo laughed in vain.

He realized how idiotic his attempts had been. The minutes of combat they had was not because Desir could not defeat him, but because he did not want to do unnecessary damage to the surrounding area. Once Desir determined that Argo would be able to hold out for too long, he begrudgingly upped the amount of damage he inflicted. He knew Argo would not be able to stop this spell, and willingly forced him into a desperate situation.

Argo felt hopeless again in the face of overwhelming force, but he held his sword tight.

He knew from the beginning that he had no chance of winning.

‘If I can buy just a little more time… ’

Argo pulled his aura up to his limit. His flesh was torn apart, unable to overcome the pressure of his own aura, and his muscles, which were harder than steel, were burnt to ash.

‘If I could take a little more… !’

It was a very short window until the spell completed.

In the meantime, Argo did his all to protect the woman who would save the human race from itself. Confirming she was still alive, he let out one last grin.

Desir’s spell completed.

Everything died.

—-

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