Chapter 687
Lucas couldn't move.
In fact, he hadn't come here expecting to win from the start.
He never thought he could defeat this mighty foe.
He just wanted to pierce this monster's heart with his sword and inflict as much pain as possible.
Just as his master had bled, he wanted this monster to experience the same agony.
But now he knew.
His sword, forged from darkness, couldn't harm this dragon, who was darkness itself.
'Not only can I not win... I can't even put up a fight.'
Realizing the hopeless gap between them, Lucas stood frozen like a statue.
And as if losing interest in Lucas, Night Bringer slowly turned his head back towards Crossroad.
"Keep bombarding me with those attacks that won't even reach, you futile avengers."
The rest of the special task force heroes kept attacking Night Bringer's body, but he didn't care at all.
"In the meantime, I'll destroy your world."
Night Bringer sneered quietly and prepared his next attack.
The dragon's eyes glowed, and the surrounding atmosphere ominously fluctuated. Darkness, magic, bombardment, and roars loaded one after another.
"...No."
Lucas reached out belatedly towards the black dragon.
"Stop-!"
But Night Bringer, completely unconcerned by Lucas's desperate shouts and swings of his sword, began unleashing all his attack methods towards Crossroad.
***
Boom-boom-boom-boom-!
All the bombardments Night Bringer unleashed hit Crossroad's walls directly.
The barrier went down, and all artifacts sparked with electricity and shut down.
The wizards' magical barriers melted away, the priests' holy protection shattered, and the spirits summoned by the spirit masters disappeared.
The reinforced walls crumbled, collapsed, and fell. Knights and soldiers holding shields fell one after another from above.
The fall of Crossroad was only a matter of time.
The end of the human world was also just a matter of time.
"Grrr...!"
The central part of the southern wall.
Here, Scalian was desperately enduring the [Forged Night] his father was unleashing.
The surrounding wall had already been swept away by the raging night, leaving no trace, and only the area where Scalian was physically receiving the attacks barely maintained its form.
Crack! Crunch! Boom-!
But even that was reaching its limit.
Scalian, with his own defensive abilities and the artifact [Shining Dark] made from Ipian's core, was holding back the [Forged Night], but he was visibly being pushed back compared to before.
Night Bringer had already finished assimilating with all the world's night, and its output was beyond comprehension. It was a miracle he had held out this long.
"My father... is really furious, isn't he...!"
Repeating the cycle of receiving attacks and regenerating above his scales, Scalian muttered wearily.
Beneath the body of the oriental-style dragon, the scales that had been peeled off and broken formed a mound.
"Aaah! Lord Dragon!"
Not far away, Violet screamed.
Violet was hiding behind Parekian, who, despite having significant defensive power, was also getting damaged and reddened under the continuous bombardment of Night Bringer.
But without retreating an inch, Parekian firmly protected Violet. Of course, Violet was already in a state of near-death regardless.
"Shouldn't we use 'that method' we prepared...!"
"No!"
Scalian rejected firmly.
"That method is not for escaping a crisis, it's a means to achieve victory... It only has meaning if used at the final, decisive moment!"
"But!"
As a black magic spell passed by, turning one side of the wall to ashes, Violet muttered tearfully.
"If this continues, we're all going to die...!"
"...Grr!"
Ripppp!
The [Forged Night] came crashing down like waves, scraping away all the scales on Scalian's upper body.
Despite the excruciating pain, Scalian endured. But unfortunately, the artifact beside him couldn't.
Crackle, crackle...
Boom!
Unable to withstand Night Bringer's darkness lashing like a whip, the artifact [Shining Dark] shattered into pieces.
And the moment the support of [Shining Dark] vanished, Scalian couldn't hold on any longer.
"Argh...!"
Scalian, who had been slashed by the sharp night, collapsed, spewing blood from his entire body.
Defeating the guardian who had protected the wall until now, the [Forged Night] surged to scorch the entire southern wall.
At that moment, Scalian sensed the fall of Crossroad.
The fortress would collapse, and all the humans fighting on the walls would vanish. The world would be engulfed in complete darkness...
But it wasn't.
"Euraiyaa-!"
The shield knight representing Crossroad.
Evangeline Cross leaped forward with her shield, intercepting the onslaught of the [Forged Night].
Blades of night rained down on Evangeline's shield.
The ice on the Cross family's shield shattered, and the white armor [Snow White] she wore was torn apart from the outer edges.
"Groooaah!"
But Evangeline endured, roaring.
She knew well.
The moment she allowed this attack, the southern wall, Crossroad, and the human world... would all end.
So,
"I will... protect it...!"
Even while coughing up blood, Evangeline extended her shield and lance forward.
With the [Damage Save] of the raised shield, she absorbed the darkness, and with the [Damage Payback] of the lance in her other hand, she spewed it back out, countering the surging darkness.
The [Forged Night] was a decisive skill of the black dragon that could not be blocked without special blessings or devices.
Evangeline, using her unique magical operation mechanism, blocked it for a very brief moment, but indeed, single-handedly.
But the miracle was short-lived.
When the moment of [Forged Night] ended, Evangeline collapsed in place, bleeding from her entire body.
"Ah..."
The shattered shield fell to pieces on the ground, and the beautiful armor cracked wide open.
The night that hadn't been fully blocked veered off, slicing through the wall like tofu.
Boom, boom, boom...!
The cleanly sliced wall crumbled and fell in a cloud of dust.
...
Evangeline turned her blood-soaked, trembling face around to survey the surroundings.
The central part of the southern wall, which had taken the direct hit of the 'Forged Night', was scorched beyond recognition.
Flutter...
Only one flag remained.
Behind Evangeline, a single black flag, symbolizing the World Guardian Front, fluttered pitifully in the winter wind, torn to shreds.
Looking up at the black flag fluttering behind her, tears filled Evangeline's green eyes.
'All those days...'
From the distant southern field, Night Bringer opened his large mouth. The atmosphere trembled as he gathered his breath.
He seemed to be aiming to finish this fortress city with that dreadful breath.
'All our battles...'
Evangeline's gaze, which had been staring blankly at the black dragon, slowly fell.
'Are ending so vainly.'
Evangeline quietly closed her eyes.
There was no anger. There was no sorrow.
She was just tired and exhausted from fighting for so long.
So now...
At least for the last moment, she wanted to lay everything down and rest comfortably...
- Life is short. Don’t regret and waste it to the fullest?
Then,
Someone's words echoed in her mind.
"..."
Evangeline slowly opened her eyes again.
And she gripped her shield tightly, which had lost all its outer parts, leaving only the handle.
Clenching her teeth, her emerald eyes shining, she put strength into her kneeling legs.
Not yet.
To let go, claiming she had done everything she could, was not acceptable yet... This life wasn't over.
'To avoid regrets...!'
Even if only a few seconds remained.
'To live as I want, I will waste it gladly...!'
Resolving to fight until the very last moment, Evangeline raised her head.
Suddenly, a voice came from the sky.
"Announcing."
Tired, haggard, and hoarse.
"This is the..."
The voice of a man that everyone on this frontline had longed for.
"...World's frontline."
With a flash-!
Following the man's magical incantation, a wall of magic blossomed in the air like a bud.
The geometric gray magic wall filled the sky in front of Crossroad, layer upon layer.
Right above it.
Aaaaaah-!
Night Bringer's breath poured down.
The pitch-black breath of fire surged, poised to engulf the entire world.
But the magical barrier, though melting, continued to merge and endure.
When the breath, which felt like an eternity, finally ended, the magic barrier still stood intact before Crossroad, having withstood the attack.
Thud...
Next, a man descended from the sky with a smooth motion, landing on the wall.
"..."
Evangeline blinked blankly, unable to comprehend the situation.
The man standing before her, with his back to her, looked just like the man who had come alone to rescue her from her father's villa long ago.
"Senior?"
Evangeline mumbled involuntarily.
Then,
"...Sorry."
The man turned around.
"I’m very late."
"...!"
Evangeline's shoulders trembled.
It was undoubtedly the man she knew.
The man who had caused everyone in this castle to weep in sorrow for days, unable to sleep with hatred and resentment for the monsters that had taken him.
But the man before her was no longer the same. Evangeline could sense it instinctively.
Wearing a black chain coat, his entire body wrapped in ancient, tattered bandages beneath it. His disheveled black hair framing startlingly vivid golden eyes...
No longer human, exuding a divine aura.
With a pale face and a sad smile, somehow looking both older and younger...
Evangeline cautiously asked,
"Are you... really my senior?"
"..."
The man did not answer.
He simply looked at Evangeline and the others on the wall with a fond gaze.
"...Haha."
Evangeline laughed hollowly.
It didn't matter. Whether this man was really her senior or a vision reflected in the lamp of her life. Either way.
"Senior. Do you remember?"
She spoke honestly.
The words she had wanted to say ever since he disappeared. Disjointed and sudden, but.
If she didn’t say them now, she felt she would never get another chance.
"You always praised me as the world's greatest shield knight. But now I know. My shield... is too small."
"..."
"Before that giant monster, before this vast world, there's so little I can protect with this small shield. What I can do is really insignificant."
Comrades.
The wall.
The city.
The world.
Nothing could be properly protected with this small shield. After losing the man she wanted to protect, Evangeline realized painfully.
How small and insignificant she was.
"Look."
Evangeline turned around. On the crumbled wall, all she had protected was a torn, fluttering black flag.
"In the end, all I could protect... is just this one tattered flag..."
"...That’s enough."
The man knelt before Evangeline, meeting her gaze, and smiled faintly.
"Thank you. You’ve protected it wonderfully."
"..."
Evangeline blinked blankly.
What?
What exactly had she protected?
Without further explanation, the man walked to the torn black flag flapping pitifully.
He took the flag, carefully tying it to the empty flagpole he held.
Now, becoming the flag bearer, waving the black flag, the man stood at the edge of the wall and looked back.
"..."
On the wall, below the wall.
Everyone still breathing looked at him with faces of disbelief.
"Thank you for guarding this place for so long, everyone."
The man smiled.
"Now it’s time for a counterattack."
***
Crossroad’s southern end. The edge of the field.
Under Night Bringer’s feet.
"Huff... Huff..."
Lucas, who had tumbled down to the ground from Night Bringer's height, was covered in blood.
Despite struggling desperately to stop Night Bringer, it was all in vain.
The creature had relentlessly unleashed the night upon Crossroad, and finally prepared that hateful breath again.
Lucas had thrown his whole body to block the breath, but after being shredded by the knife-like night, he had rolled off the black dragon’s body.
Ultimately, Lucas, who had fallen to the ground at the monster's feet, trembled in pain as the sound of the breath attack reached his ears.
Boom!
"..."
Staring at the dirt, Lucas squeezed his eyes shut.
Crossroad must have been destroyed.
In the end, he achieved nothing.
He failed to protect the world, to avenge his lord. He failed at everything.
'Ah.'
Everything was over...
Just as Lucas, forehead pressed to the dirt, shook slightly, he heard a voice from the front.
"You said you’d become the greatest knight in the world..."
Unexpectedly.
"Why are you staggering around here looking like a mad dog, Guard?"
"...?"
Lucas slowly raised his head.
Through his blood- and dirt-covered hair, he first saw the intact Crossroad...
And from that direction, a man flew lightly and landed in front of him.
"Ah...?"
A foolish sound escaped Lucas's gaping mouth.
How could he forget, even in his dreams?
The appearance of the master he had served his whole life.
"Ah, uh... Ah..."
But, wasn't this man supposed to be dead?
Was he seeing things?
To regain his senses, Lucas slapped his own cheeks and shook his head vigorously.
When he confirmed that the man before him was real.
Tears of blue flame flowed down Lucas's cheeks from his beast-like blue eyes.
"Agh, ngh...!"
Swallowing his sobs, Lucas desperately pieced together human words.
His mind was tangled like knotted thread due to excessive use of beastification and the mental contamination of the cursed sword.
But he mustered all his strength to form words, one letter at a time, finally managing to make a sentence.
And he asked,
"Who... are you?"
"..."
"Are you the prince? Or... are you my lord?"
The man before him remembered the promises of their childhood and used those strangely sharp words, which belonged to the prince.
But that gentle expression, those kind eyes, and the soft voice were undoubtedly those of his lord.
So Lucas couldn't be certain.
Was the man before him the 'prince'? Or was he the 'lord'?
"Hmm..."
The man smiled faintly, tilted his head slightly to the side, and whispered playfully.
"Which do you think?"
--TL Notes--
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