"Charge!"
With eyes wide open, black magic flowed from them, and his long beard fluttered in the raging wind. Tower Lord Dearmudin shouted.
"It’s time to bring divine punishment upon him!"
As Dearmudin's robe, the Dragon Slayer [Old Phoenix] made from the Wingian's magic core, spread its wings wide, black magic wings sprouted on the backs of all the descending allied heroes.
By embracing the darkness of the equipment, they had enhanced their abilities to the point where they could temporarily bestow the power of flight on everyone, surpassing mere group flight.
Screeeeeech-!
Among the heroes scattered and descending, Torkel activated the awakening ability of his helmet, the Nightmare Slayer [Original Sin].
"Each to your optimal positions...!"
Then, the entire battlefield's view was shared in the minds of all the heroes in the special task force, and they also sensed the best points for their attacks.
Torkel had been in charge of field command from the beginning.Commander Lucas had anticipated going berserk, while Torkel's Nightmare Slayer [Original Sin] emitted darkness but made the wearer more calm and composed.
'Is it reflecting the nature of the Goblin God-King?'
He couldn't know, and there was no time to know. He had to focus on the battle about to unfold.
And, calmness and composure were only up to the point before blood was shed.
As the black dragon approached and the smell of the burning battlefield was detected, Torkel's mind heated up like never before.
Kill, plunder, burn.
Those monsters that harmed old comrades, the Saintess, and Ash... all of them!
"Commence combat-!"
Torkel shouted as he thrust his shield forward.
Night Bringer's body, fused with the night, rose like a blade to intercept the heroes, but Torkel intercepted all those attacks with his shield, body, hands, and teeth.
In that gap, the heroes spread their wings and plummeted towards their respective attack points.
Sssshhh!
Lucas, at the forefront, slashed the neck of Night Bringer with his dual swords, followed by Verdandi, who landed softly beside him, raising the dagger in her hand.
Dragon Slayer, [Isagum].
The tip of this dagger spewed green magic power mixed with black like flames.
"You've taken too much from me."
Following her beloved sister, now even the only friend she could fully trust...
Under Verdandi's wide-open eyes, blood tears flowed. Verdandi slashed the glowing green dagger downward.
Flash-!
Simultaneously, the green magic light mixed with black flared up like flames.
A vortex of magic power, protruding like a breath attack, pierced into Night Bringer's body.
Then Kellibey roared.
"My son! And the young prince who was like a son to me...!"
From the air, Kellibey hurled the [Steadfast Superstition] he was holding downward.
The huge Siren statue that fell struck the back of the black dragon like a massive nail. And Kellibey, gripping a massive war hammer, descended onto it—
He swung the hammer at the statue.
"Give it back, you monstrous bastard-!"
Crunch!
Like a chisel hit by a hammer, the giant statue embedded itself into Night Bringer's body, causing a spray of blood everywhere.
"..."
A beat later, Kuilan descended quietly with his eyes closed.
The days spent on this frontline with Ash flashed by.
The brother he buried with his own hands.
And Yun, who faintly smiled and lost consciousness again...
"..."
Kuilan's deep eyes opened.
He made up his mind.
"...Take it, ancestors."
To give his body to the nightmare.
If he had given it sooner, he might have protected Ash. But it was too late now.
So... he decided to protect the lives of the precious ones still remaining.
Even if it meant thrusting his soul and body into the mire of corruption...
"In exchange for taking my body, protect this world, and Yun..."
The rest of the words did not come out properly.
His eyes turned red and black, and an evil voice fully transformed seeped out through his wide-open mouth.
"Don't worry, leave everything to me."
Ancestor of the Leaf Tribe, the grandmaster of Maple Leaf Fist.
Lycanthrope. The Beast of Gévaudan. Wolf King—
Lunared.
The remaining nightmare thoughts inside the Nightmare Slayer [Full Moonlight Killer] finally took over the descendant's body completely.
"Kya-hahaha! This sensation! This air! The smell of death filling the whole world...!"
The Full Moonlight Killer, having obtained a perfect body and reappearing in the mortal world, laughed wildly.
"I will kill you all! I will devour you all! All, all, all! I will crush you all under my feet!"
With red eyes glinting, Lunared glared at the approaching Night Bringer.
"To do that, it starts with you! Black Dragon... this world is mine! Get lost-!"
After infusing magic power into all his muscles, making them swell, he twisted his fists in the air, wrapping his entire body in silver-red and black magic.
"Heart-Severing Wind Wolf!"
The Wolf King unleashed his self-created secret art.
Thooom!
The middle of the Black Dragon's back, where the werewolf's fist struck, began to collapse as if a giant crater was forming.
Following this, the other heroes each unleashed their darkness.
"Blacken."
The black mage Chain bit down on the dragon bone spike given to him.
This spike was also a powerful Dragon Slayer, imbued with grudges and curses, and thus functioned as a sacrificial vessel for black magic.
Ssshhh!
The chains wrapped around Chain's body vanished as if evaporating, and Chain stabbed the spike into his freed limbs.
"Even blacker...!"
Then, from Chain's limb wounds, instead of blood, darkness flowed out and soon transformed into giant limbs made of black magic power.
Ultimate skill, [Darker Than Black].
Wielding the massive black giant limbs freely, Chain struck downward with his fist.
Rumble-!
Unable to withstand it, Night Bringer's hind legs buckled to the ground.
"Until now, I couldn't use this sword technique because there was no sword or body to endure it, and no understanding of sword principles..."
Beside him, the blind swordsman Nobody slowly drew his black sword.
This Dragon Slayer, made from Ipian's bones, had its blade thoroughly soaked in Ipian's black blood.
The inside of the scabbard, also made from Ipian's bones, was filled with this blood.
"Finally, I get to use it."
Nobody grasped the scabbard with his left hand and, with his right hand holding the sword in reverse grip, slowly drew the blade to its full length,
Clang-!
In the blink of an eye, he sheathed the sword back in its scabbard.
The blood that had sloshed inside the scabbard splattered everywhere, and in the next moment.
Thud-!
The massive tail of Night Bringer, charging straight at Nobody, was cut clean off.
"Khehehe...!"
As he passed through the severed tail, Nobody laughed.
Ultimate skill, [One Kill].
The nameless slash he usually used was just an imitation of this.
It was a self-destructive technique that guaranteed to cut the opponent but broke the sword and took the user's life, which Nobody could not use with his original ability, thus it was sealed away.
But with the curse contained in this black sword and his body fully accepting the darkness... he used it recklessly, drawing out its incredible power.
Crack-!
As the forbidden technique exacted its price, a sound of something breaking echoed from deep within Nobody's soul.
But Nobody didn't care and drew his sword once more.
"Burn..."
Still circling in the air with wings spread, Dearmudin summoned a massive pillar of fire, engulfing Night Bringer's entire body.
"Instead of the young, let an old man like me burn and die with you, ancient dragon-!"
Dearmudin's flames, heavily mixed with darkness, were already indistinguishable from black flames. The fire licked at the entire body of the evil dragon.
And while the heroes of the special task force were cutting and crushing Night Bringer's body all over—
Thud!
Lucas was charging.
Like a beast, using both arms and legs, he ran up the Black Dragon's body, climbed towards its neck, and aimed for the massive head.
"Haaa-!"
Roaring, Lucas wildly swung the swords clinging to both his hands.
Wherever he passed, sword marks were etched, and Night Bringer's body split apart, spraying blood everywhere.
Lucas, with fiercely blue eyes flashing, sliced the monster's body as if he could not bear the overwhelming hatred.
The armor [Black Scales] Lucas was equipped with had already proliferated and covered his entire body like scales.
Lucas could no longer tell.
Whether he was human, beast, or monster. If he could even be called anything at all.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
Because it didn't matter what he was.
Whether he was a sword, a beast, or vengeance, it didn’t matter at all.
Because there was nothing he desired but to kill the enemy before him and end it all together.
‘Nothing else...’
As he ran forward, screaming, just forward, Lucas thought this.
Yes, he...
- is a dream.
Because there was no longer any other dream.
So—
- I might not become an emperor, but my dream is to be the coolest man in the world.
...Suddenly.
A memory flashed through his mind.
A boy with beautiful black hair from a very young age.
At their first meeting... smiling brightly, he had said this.
- So, you, who will be my guard, must become the coolest knight in the world.
Abruptly.
A single drop of blue flame trickled down Lucas’s cheek, drenched in the blood of the evil dragon.
"...Ugh."
His tightly shut mouth,
"Ahhhhhhh-!"
Roared again.
It sounded like both a sob and a scream. Lucas, running like a beast, climbed all the way up Night Bringer's neck—
And reached the giant head of Night Bringer.
"Impressive."
Night Bringer turned his long neck to face Lucas directly and offered praise.
Without a moment's hesitation, Lucas charged.
His dual swords, imbued with light and darkness, crossed in an X shape, tracing a long arc in the air.
Slice-!
The giant neck of the monster was cleanly cut.
The severed head spun in the air, spraying blood everywhere, then fell straight down.
Thud, crash-!
Splash...!
Standing before the tall, severed neck of the black dragon, drenched in the spurting monster's blood, Lucas watched the head roll down and muttered quietly.
"...Paid back."
His hands, gripping the swords too tightly, trembled. Lucas barely managed to hold onto the sword handle as his strength gave way.
"My lord's revenge..."
Lucas exhaled deeply, trying to clear his foggy consciousness, and looked straight ahead.
While the special task force executed their surprise attack, Night Bringer had continued attacking Crossroad’s main castle without pause.
It wasn’t a long time. During that period, the special task force had succeeded in their mission...
But Night Bringer had also managed to attack successfully.
The southern wall of Crossroad, swept by night and bombardment, was collapsing, torn to shreds.
Watching the horrifying sight, Lucas swallowed hard.
‘Still, we did it...’
The wall was horribly destroyed, but they had succeeded in killing the black dragon.
They had prevented the apocalypse. Above all, they avenged Ash.
So...
"Is this all?"
It was at that moment.
Hearing the calm voice, Lucas felt as if all the blood drained from his body.
Rumble...
Slowly, it was rising again.
The severed head of Night Bringer.
Just like the auxiliary heads it had previously wielded, despite being severed, it calmly floated in the air, looked Lucas in the eye, and spoke nonchalantly.
"You have taken the wrong path."
"W-What..."
"Going ‘that way,’ you can never defeat me."
Before the retreating Lucas, Night Bringer leisurely reattached the severed head to his neck.
Slurp, slurp...
The night that gathered from all sides covered the wound, and the next moment, as if the wound had never existed, Night Bringer was whole again.
"Embracing darkness to kill the darkness... it wouldn't have been a bad choice in ordinary circumstances."
Night Bringer’s entire body, which had been crushed, cut, and severed by the special task force’s deadly attack, merged with the surrounding night and was completely restored.
"But you chose the wrong opponent. I am already the night itself of this world."
"..."
"No matter how much you forge the blade of revenge with hatred and resentment, if its source is darkness... how is it any different from spilling ink into a black lake?"
Night Bringer smirked.
"Your darkness can never reach the depths of my night."
--TL Notes--
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at /MattReading