"Lian? Who is he?" Caelus asked with some curiosity.
Seris did not continue the conversation, she knew normal attacks were not enough.
King’s Breaker.
Moonless Severance.
Thousand Petal Swordstorm.
Even Stargrave Draw.
All of them had wounded him, but none of them had been able to bring him down and there was one Skill left, the strongest attack she had.
And using it would take almost all of her remaining Mana, but did she have any other choice? If she did not use all of her remaining power, all of them would die here.
She held the sword with both hands and planted her injured leg firmly on the ground, then closed her eyes.
The remaining Mana rose from her entire body and all of it entered the sword.
[Heavenfall Execution.]
The air changed.
Caelus raised his head, there were no real clouds in the sky.
But the light of the Dead Zone became darker, Mana gathered high above, not in the form of a giant sword but something much simpler and more frightening.
A line ... from the sky to the target.
As if Seris had turned the space between him and the sky into a place of Execution.
Anything inside that line had to be cut, Caelus did not wait this time and lowered both of his hands.
[First Root Dominion: Crowned Sanctuary.]
The ground exploded all around him, dozens of huge roots rose.
White.
Black.
Golden.
They wrapped around Caelus in several layers, forming a huge dome.
"Die!" Seris opened her eyes, the sword came down.
Heavenfall Execution descended!
At first there was silence.
Then destructive pressure spread across the entire dead field beneath them.
The first layer of Crowned Sanctuary shattered instantly.
The second cracked, the third exploded and the roots scattered through the air like pieces of wood.
The ground split, a wave of gray dust spread outward from the center.
Aren lowered his body against the ground.
Even while injured, One was pushed back several centimeters by the pressure.
The sound of the explosion continued for several seconds and then dust rose into the air.
Seris was almost leaning on her sword, she could barely breathe, her Mana was almost completely gone and she even received a system notification that her remaining Mana was below 5 percent.
But her eyes were still fixed on the center of the battlefield, hoping to see the result of that bastard’s destruction ...
The dust slowly cleared, Crowned Sanctuary had been destroyed and Caelus was standing in the middle of a broken crater.
No.
For a moment, he had one knee on the ground, a large part of his white robe was gone, and the skin on his shoulder and chest had been torn open.
Blood ran down his face, one of his arms had a deep wound but he was alive.
"Damn it..." Seris whispered.
"For a Human... you’re too troublesome." The Cindari leader said with some pain and annoyance.
[Rootless Step.]
Seris barely reacted, her sword rose, but she was in no condition to do anything anymore.
Caelus appeared in front of her, the first strike came and metal collided with a hard root.
The young Pendragon barely defended herself.
The second strike and her sword moved several centimeters backward.
The third strike and Seris’s hands shook, she was reaching her limit!
Caelus increased his speed.
The girl followed him with her eyes but she practically had no Mana left, and her injured leg also limited her speed.
A thin blade made of root formed in Caelus’s hand and the attack came directly toward her face.
Seris pulled her head back but it was too late!
The blade passed over her left eye and pain exploded inside her skull ... for a moment she could not see anything.
Blood immediately covered half of her face and her injured eye did not open again, she lost her balance.
During that attack, one of her eyes had been completely pierced and destroyed.
Caelus did not stop and placed his palm against her chest, releasing pressure.
Seris was lifted from the ground, her body flew directly into one of the huge roots of the Forgotten Tree.
The sound of bone and wood colliding rang out, the sword left her hand and fell several meters away on the ground.
She fell down ... for several seconds she did not move.
Blood from her destroyed eye, nose and the corner of her mouth dripped onto the ground.
Her entire body hurt.
One was unable to move, Aren was almost unconscious and had lost both hands and now Seris no longer had the strength to stand either.
For several seconds, the Dead Zone became silent again.
Then—
THUMP.
Everyone who was still conscious turned their heads toward the Cocoon.
The roots around the Cocoon suddenly contracted and a panel appeared in front of Seris’s only remaining eye.
[Calamity Gestation Progress: 83.4%]
Her healthy eye opened wider and the number changed again.
[86.7%]
Then
[89.1%]
"No..." Seris tried to pull herself up with her elbow.
And the final number appeared.
[92.0%]
And stopped.
Now almost half of the Cocoon was covered with black veins, the golden light could barely be seen in some parts.
Selina’s body moved more inside the Cocoon, her fingers curled, her head tilted for a moment, her lips opened, but no sound came out.
Caelus stared at the Cocoon, and then something broke inside his expression.
Calmness ... control ... that cold and royal face ... all of it disappeared and he raised his head toward the gray sky.
He opened his hands, a sick smile appeared on his face.
"Oh... Heavenly Father..."
"Oh Father of all darkness..."
His eyes were full of madness, not the madness of a moment, but the madness of someone who had waited for this day for years.
"Oh Father..." A broken laugh came from his throat.
"Soon, one of your children will be free again."
Even in his condition, Aren’s expression changed for a moment.
One of your children.
Not "Black Silence".
One of the children.
That meant perhaps The Black Silence was only one of something much greater.
Caelus continued looking at the sky, his hands open and a smile on his face, as if he were standing in a holy temple instead of in the middle of a Dead Zone.
And because of this, he did not see something, the quiet sound of a body being dragged across the ground.
Seris was still moving, she could not stand, she could not even stay on both knees.
She had placed one hand on the ground and used it to pull herself forward, her injured leg dragged behind her.
Blood from her left eye ran down her cheek and chin and fell drop by drop onto the gray ground.
She was not far from the Cocoon, five meters ... four.
Caelus finally heard the movement, lowered his head and looked at the girl who was dragging herself forward for a moment.
An almost amused expression returned to his face.
"You’re still alive?"
Seris did not answer, she moved another meter forward and her hand touched something metallic ... the sword hilt and her fingers closed around it.
"What are you trying to do, Human?" The Cindari leader looked more carefully this time.
The young Pendragon pulled the sword toward herself and painfully raised her body onto one knee.
The Cocoon was directly in front of her, three meters ... maybe less.
[92.0%]
"I won’t let you kill her." Lian’s sentence returned to her mind.
Seris knew why Lian had said this, at least part of the reason.
Selina was their friend, perhaps she could be saved, she understood that, no one wanted to watch their friend die.
But Lian was no longer here, it was not clear when he would return, while a crazy and mentally unstable Cindari was here instead.
And if the Cocoon reached one hundred percent, not only Selina, but their entire world would no longer remain.
All the other Awakened who were in the Special Area would also be killed ...
Seris could not bet everything on the unclear possibility that Lian would eventually find a way.
Not when the number was 92, not when the man who called this Calamity a "Child of Father" was standing several meters away.
If she destroyed this Calamity, the Main Quest would be completed and all the Awakened could return to their own world and sacrificing one person was worth it.
Her mouth was full of blood and she spat it onto the ground, her healthy eye closed for a moment.
"I’m sorry, Lian." She said quietly.
She held the sword with both hands, her body was shaking, almost no Mana remained, less than 5 percent of her Mana was left, which was a terrible amount.
But she put every small amount that remained into the blade.
Caelus did not understand for several seconds, then his eyes moved from Seris to the Cocoon.
His expression changed instantly, the madness and satisfaction disappeared and were replaced by fear.
"No—"
Seris put all of her body weight behind the attack, the sword rose and then came down with all her strength.
Directly toward the heart of the Cocoon.
The blade moved toward the semi-transparent surface of the Cocoon at high speed.
One meter.
Half a meter.
A few centimeters.
And right before impact--