The mine collapsed as the ground split apart.
A microcosm was created from Lucifer’s hand, and it expanded rapidly before exploding.
Even though it was a small universe that could fit in one hand, the energy released at the moment of its explosion was enough to engulf everything in the area.
He’s trying to kill us all.
Arcane stepped in front of Shane.
For the past two years, Arcane had studied under Anastasia and conducted her own research. She gathered the Origin of “Immobility” in both hands and shaped it into a defensive barrier.
But it wasn’t enough for her to hold it off alone.
To support her, Shane expelled the magical power flowing into him in real-time, mixing it with the white flames without passing through Arcane.
I’ll eliminate it like this.
The power of the White Flame, the Origin of “Justice”, had the ability to “exclude”.
It was the power to exclude anything that didn’t align with the wielder’s will.
Though the White Flame could suppress the magic of anyone other than its caster, it wasn’t enough to stop Lucifer’s magic at that moment.
Just as every power has its limits, the level of the White Flame Shane could wield wasn’t enough to completely negate such immense energy.
So Shane changed his approach.
Instead of trying to exclude Lucife’s magic, he would exclude himself and Arcane from its effects.
It might have seemed like wordplay, but Shane didn’t believe it was impossible.
‘I’ve already memorized the pattern of his magic.
The Origin of Greed gradually absorbed Lucife’s massive energy as it dissolved into it.
Shane filled the gap with the magical power he had absorbed from Lucifer, and as he infused the White Flame into it, the flame merged with Lucifer’s magic and began excluding Shane from its reach, just as he intended.
However, there was one problem. The explosion spread faster than the exclusion could take effect.
In the end, the beam of destruction swallowed Arcane and Shane and annihilated the entire area.
***
At the front line, Anastasia used the power of Immobility to block the explosion, and behind her, the Lampert Adventurers wrapped their shields in aura to support her.
Even so, the force of the explosion pushed them back. This caused Marcellus and his members to drive their swords into the ground.
“Hrrrgh!!”
Their aura spread out like white branches from the swords embedded in the ground, reaching Anastasia and the Lampert adventurers at the front.
As the aura of the White Tree Adventurers layered over theirs, it reinforced the barrier against the explosion.
No!
But despite their efforts, it still wasn’t enough to hold back that overwhelming power.
Klein infused his sword with as much magical power as it could withstand and prepared for the impending explosion.
A golden dragon flew along Klein’s sword, charging toward the beam of destruction that threatened to devour everything.
Booooooom─!!
The moment the Golden Dragon collided with the beam of destruction, everything around them was blown away, and darkness descended for an instant.
“Ugh…”
Saaaaa─
Unable to endure the power beyond its limit, Klein’s sword crumbled into dust and disappeared into the wind.
“Wh-What on earth just happened…?”
Meanwhile, the terrified non-humans that were shielded by the group slowly lifted their heads, only to be met with a drastically changed landscape.
The once perpetually dark underground was gone. It was replaced by a clear night sky bathed in soft moonlight, not a cloud in sight.
Everything beyond the area the group had protected was utterly destroyed, as if a rain of bombs had fallen.
A shadow loomed over them.
A figure wrapped in dragon scales.
Lucifer gazed down at the group from above the crater he had created.
“Kuhuhu… you insects, you’ve managed to survive to the very end.”
At the sound of his arrogant voice, the rest of the group turned their eyes toward him.
Judging from the clear killing intent gleaming in his obsidian eyes, he was clearly the one who had caused this situation.
Klein raised his head and glared at Lucifer.
Looking around, the rest of the party wasn’t faring any better.
The White Tree Adventurers were exhausted, and the Lampert Adventurers had also collapsed, drained of their strength.
Only Eleksa, the leader of the Lampert Adventurer Party, was still standing after they barely managed to protect Anastasia with everything they had. But even she soon faltered and crumbled to the ground.
“But this should be enough for you to handle on your own, right?”
As Lucifer’s arrogant gaze shifted behind him—
“Urgh, gah!”
A sword made of white flames burst through his chest.
***
“Urgh, gah!”
With disbelief in his eyes, Lucifer turned to see who had driven a sword into his back.
A half-shattered, plain mask came into view.
Yet the face beyond the broken mask remained hidden.
Shane who was wielding dark energy around his entire body had created a sword of white flame and pierced Lucifer’s heart.
“You… how are you still…!”
Although the magic hadn’t been cast under normal conditions and its destructive power might have weakened, he judged that there was no way anyone could survive such a direct hit at such close range.
Yet again, this man had deflected his magic and survived.
Lucifer fiercely denied the emotions swelling within him.
The feeling he was experiencing at that moment was despair.
He tried to deny that emotion. He tried to gather the last remnants of his magical power in a desperate struggle, but even that was impossible.
The white flame piercing through Lucifer’s body rejected his efforts.
“Me…Like this …?!”
In the end, Lucifer’s gaze shifted toward Anastasia and her group.
His eyes landed on the child with the rainbow-colored pupils who was still cradled in Anastasia’s arms and still recovering from the aftermath of the blast.
At last, Lucifer acknowledged his demise.
However, he had no intention of dying quietly.
With a twisted grin, Lucifer reached out a finger toward the child.
“I’ll… kill you all… khahak!”
But Shane didn’t wait any longer and swiftly severed Lucifer’s head.
Thus ended the futile death of Lucifer, the commander of the pride Legion, who had even led a rebellion in Shane’s previous life.
“……”
Meanwhile, Daniel who had witnessed everything watched the two of them with a grave expression.
That bastard really died without ever knowing his place.
Daniel’s condition was far from good either.
By getting behind Lucifer, Daniel was able to avoid a direct hit, but just blocking the aftermath required all his strength.
Damn it.
The cost was losing one of his arms.
On top of that, with the injury to his abdomen from Arcane, his condition was rapidly deteriorating.
Could he continue to face off against Shane like this?
Daniel’s mind raced.
No, wait. Given the situation, I need to adjust the plan.
At least there was one thing he could be thankful for.
Even in such a desperate situation, Daniel found a glimmer of hope.
“You made a mistake. You should never have used white flame to kill him.”
From the perspective of those below, Shane and Daniel were still out of sight.
Tatadak—
Daniel charged toward Shane.
As Shane evaded the attack and soared into the air, Daniel flashed a grin.
“Do you really think you can escape like this?!”
Daniel’s voice echoed through the ruins of the mine, drawing the attention of those below.
What they saw was Daniel who was clad in white flames, and Shane who was clad in darkness facing off against each other.
“Commander Daniel…?”
“Why is he here?”
Everyone, except for Anastasia, mistakenly believed that it was Daniel who had just beheaded Lucifer.
It was an understandable mistake.
After all, the white flame was a power only the Judgment Knights could wield on the continent.
“Your comrade just died by my hand! Surrender quietly, and I’ll end it without pain!”
Because of this, it appeared to their group as though Commander Daniel had fought a fierce battle, slain Lucifer, and was now facing off against the mysterious dark figure.
Unlike Daniel, who was enveloped in a radiant white aura, Shane was wrapped in a foreboding darkness and he looked like someone who could only be a practitioner of black magic to anyone watching.
Daniel smirked and started imagining how Shane might respond.
No matter what excuses Shane gave, the power of the white flame remained a symbol of the empire.
The lie that Daniel had killed Lucifer would soon become the truth.
“…I am.”
When Shane who was shrouded in darkness opened his mouth, everyone’s eyes focused on him.
“I am Rotan, commander of the First Legion of Envy.”
“……!”
At those words, Daniel’s eyes widened.
He hadn’t expected such a response.
Daniel had only been preparing a reply, assuming Shane would claim to have killed Lucifer himself, so he was caught off guard and rendered speechless.
“Foolish humans, you have finally interfered with our masterpiece.”
“You… could it be…?!”
“It’s unfortunate, but this is only the beginning. Deliver this message to the lion’s child. This failure was caused by his misjudgment, so do not blame us, the Nameless.”
“Bastaard!!”
The lion’s child.
The lion symbolized the imperial family, and its child referred to none other than the crown prince.
At that moment, Daniel finally realized what Shane’s real plan was and lunged toward him.
“Ahaha, ahahahaha!”
Just then, a space opened between Daniel and Shane, and a young girl appeared.
The girl, whose hair was sharply divided into black and white as if cut horizontally, and dressed in a sharp suit, clutched her stomach and laughed gleefully.
“Really, you’re so, so funny!”
“Clown. I see you’ve been watching closely.”
“Yes, of course! Ah~ I never expected things to turn out like this… it’s so chaotic, isn’t it?”
The girl Alice beamed as she approached Shane.
Shane’s actions had just thrown the Nameless plans into disarray.
The Nameless, who had not yet intended to reveal themselves, were forced into the open, and at the same time, by directly mentioning the crown prince, he had further brought confusion among the humans.
Especially when Alice saw Daniel who had been about to charge toward them, she burst into laughter once again.
“Hahaha! Hello there, you fox caught in your own trap?”
“……!”
“And more importantly…”
Alice’s gaze shifted past Daniel to the child with rainbow-colored eyes nestled in Anastasia’s arms.
“Even the really important bomb has shown up, huh? I’m so curious to see how that woman’s going to react.”
She turned her attention back to Shane.
“It’s not quite satisfying yet, but still, there’s enough to look forward to. It was worth the wait.”
“…Who the hell are you?!”
At Daniel’s shout, Alice grinned.
“Ladies and gentlemen! Today’s show ends here. If you’re curious about the next act, don’t forget to come back for what’s to come!”
With that, Alice swiped the air with the staff in her hand and created a portal to another space.
“Well then, farewell!”
“Where do you think you’re going!”
With those words, the girl and Shane disappeared into the portal, and Daniel’s sword swung through the now-empty space where the portal had been moments before.
In the distance, the sight of the coalition’s forces approaching with torches in hand marked the conclusion of the current crisis.
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