Chapter 144 - Second Coming of a Legend (7)

Koo-goo-gooo-gooo……!

The great destruction lasted only for a brief moment. However, it felt like eternity for everyone on the battlefield.

The shockwave that spread from site of the explosion reached a radius of several hundred meters.

The Sun Lightsaber’s after effect was very small compared to its destructive power. Azell had focused the destructive capability into a small region, so the after effect was minimized.

“Ooh-ook. If someone had told me I’m having a bad dream right, I probably would have enthusiastically agreed with that person….”

Kairen tried to regain his breath as he sat down within the waves of dusts swirling around him. If Azell hadn’t given him a heads up on what was going to happen, he would have been in big trouble.

No, he had prepared for it yet he had thought he was going to die. He was able to block the shockwave, but his consciousness had almost succumbed to the mental wave even though he had resisted against it with his full power.

Kairen laughed at the absurdity.

“Ha ha ha ha ha. Those ridiculous records were real? They didn’t exaggerate the accounts. They actually might have understated it…...”

In the past, he had visited the palace’s library for Azell Karzark….. Basically, he went to read historical records about Azell, and he had stated that the absurd accounts actually did a disservice to Azell. When he thought back on what he had said, he wanted to hide in a mousehole from the embarrassment he felt.

“…hmmm. You are still alive?”

Suddenly, he heard Leticia’s voice next to him. Kairen answered her.

“Somewhat. It looks as if you had an easier time under the protection of the magician.”

“I couldn’t afford to protect both of you.”

Yuren smirked as he spoke. Before Azell had precipitated the final confrontation, Yuren had quickly surrounded a barrier around Leticia and himself.

Kairen snorted.

“Is that right? Anyways, even the Dragon Demon general Reygus can’t survive against such an attack…...”

Kairen’s face hardened at that point in his words. Leticia and Yuren had an expression of disbelief a beat later. They looked at the scene beyond the dust cloud..

“…it survived after taking that hit?”

On the other side of the large cloud of dust, Reygus was holding up Azell by his throat.

The most powerful technique called the Sun Lightsaber could be actualized only using the Sky Splitter.

In the final battle in the Dragon Demon war, Azell had used this move to corner Atein.

In the battle, an endless amount of magic spells were sent towards Azell, and he had been in dire straits. However, Azell had been spying for a chance to attack Atein, and when the opportunity presented itself, Azell put his life on the line to use the Sun Lightsaber technique. It blew away all of Atein’s defensive magic, and Atein had been gravely wounded.

There was his Dragon weapon, the quality of his Dragon Demon magic and the vessel that held his magical energy…. Everything wasn’t up to par with his past self right now except for his technical skills.

However, he had fulfilled enough of the three requirements to use the secret technique.

The first requirement was time. Reygus had dared him to use it, so he had enough time to gather the requisite energy.

The second requirement was the Vitan’s Chalice. Since his vessel holding the magical energy was small and weak, the amount of magical energy he could gather and hold was smaller than his previous self. However, a vast amount of magical energy could be gathered and concentrated using the Vitan Chalice’s Dimensional Distortion.

Thirdly, it was daytime right now. In the past, he had to gather light from the moonlight, starlight and the light that erupted from various parts of the battlefield to complete the technique. If he hadn’t had the massive amount of light provided by daylight, it would have been impossible to use it in his current state.

The Sun Lightsaber appeared once again in this era after 220 long years, because all three conditions were met.

However….

Reygus hadn’t cease to exist.

It wasn’t as if it hadn't taken damage. Reygus was a mess.

There was no trace of its left arm, and almost half its upper body was blown away. There was no region on the white armor that was unharmed. It was broken and bent. Darkness leaked out like blood from the cracks that had been created.

However, it had endured against the absolute calamity of destruction. It survived against the tsunami of light swords. Now it was raising Azell by the neck.

“A hidden card…. You had one too, you sneaky bastard.”

Azell was panting, and he was a bloody mess. He still possessed all his body parts, but his armor had been turned into junk. There was a deep cut on his stomach, and it was deep enough to see some of his innards through the cut. His left arm was broken, and it was dangling by his side. His right arm wasn’t broken, but he couldn’t put any strength into it. It was a miracle that he was still conscious.

Reygus laughed.

“Ha ha ha. I’m at a loss for words.…….”

How was Reygus able to endure the Sun Lightsaber?

It was a combination of two answers.

<I’ll be truthful. I never thought I would be able to evolve my Dragon Weapon at my advanced age. The last time my Dragon weapon evolved was 400 years before my death…..>

The Sky Splitter wasn’t the only Dragon weapon to go through a transformation. The Soul Hammer had evolved beyond the one Azell had known about. In the past, the Soul Hammer had a powerful curse that could destroy minds and souls of its opponents. It also could resonate with the earth to bring out a great destructive ability. However, this new form of hammer allowed Reygus to freely control the power from earth. Moreover, it allowed Reygus to disperse damage through the ground.

Basically, it and its armor had become a castle wall while its feet was connected to the ground.

Moreover….

“That kind of compliment… Do you think… I’ll be happy to hear it?”

The Sun Lightsaber wasn’t complete.

In the first place, there were three restrictive prerequisite he would have to fulfill to be able to use it at this point in time. He had been successful in forming and using the technique. However, he had failed at controlling it.

In his prime, Azell would have linked his other Dragon weapons to contain the energy within a specific area. It would have amplified the destructive capability to the extreme. All the after effect that had swept through the radius of several hundred meters would have been directed inwards. The shock wave and the mental wave would have been in his control as it would have destroyed his enemies within this limited region. The pressure created allowed it to exceed a certain level, and even Atein had been shocked by it. An extreme destructive phenomena was created.

However, he had lost control, and a considerable amount of energy had leaked out. It killed the effectiveness of the attack.

It sounded ridiculous, but the recent Sun Lightsaber couldn’t even muster half of its original power.

Zzuh-juhk…….

Suddenly, the sound of a fissure was heard. Then the wrist of the arm holding Azell broke.

Tul-suhk.

Azell rolled across the ground.

He couldn’t move. His body and energy pulse couldn’t function normally.

Still, he got up. He used the beat of his heart to resonate the Rings of Life to create magical energy within his body. He used his psychokinesis to keep his body upright, and the fallen Dragon sword returned to his hand.

Reygus laughed.

The winner and loser of the battle was already determined. Azell was showing admirable fighting spirit, but he wasn’t in a state where he could fight. Reygus could use his psychokinesis to hit him with the Soul Hammer. No, since its two arms were useless, a single kick could kill Azell.

It was too late for his comrades to help him. They were too far away. By the time they started to move, Reygus would have already ended Azell.

At that moment, its vision darkened.

<Mmm?>

Reygus realized it had entered a Dimensional Distortion field.

<Vitan’s Chalice? No, I’m sure I saw it get unsummoned….>

It was taken aback, but it soon realized who was the culprit precipitating this situation.

<Kayalia, what are you doing?>

Kayalia had copied the effects of the Vitan’s Chalice. She had used the Dimensional Distortion field. When it raged, Kayalia’s white ghostlike form appeared in front of it to speak.

-What do you mean what am I doing? Can’t you tell just by looking at it?

-It isn’t like that.

<Mmm?>

-I’m just being fair. Didn’t I save oppa earlier?

<…….>

Reygus groaned at the shameless answer.

It was regretful that it no longer had hands to grip its own head. Reygus spoke.

-Wasn’t this supposed to be a one on one battle between men?

<Oohk.>

-You were arrogant. You took your time in attacking, and you almost died because of it. You would have met your end if I hadn’t saved you.

Reygus was at a loss for words. Kayalia had been the one to block Azell earlier. If it wasn’t for her intrusion, it would have died before it could truly showcase its true strength. It had allowed Reygus to see Azell’s secret card, so it didn’t have any grounds to complain to her.

<Ughh.>

-Moreover, I’m still….

Kayalia had a melancholy expression on her face as she turned away.

A quiet descended on the battlefield.

Reygus’ presence was gone as if it had been snuffed out. Everyone was taken aback at the unexpected turn of events.

Azell mumbled to himself in disbelief.

“Vitan’s Chalice……?”

It couldn’t be. He had unsummoned the Vitan’s Chalice.

‘Laura?’

He had seen Laura use Dimensional Distortion to defeat Dikal. Of course, this was the only possibility that sounded plausible to him. However, he was wrong. He could see a desperate expression on Laura’s face.

‘So who…….’

-You remain unchanged.

Suddenly, a white cloth fluttered in front of his eyes. Then a faint insubstantial figure could be seen in his vision.

‘Who is she?’

Azell thought he had heard that voice from somewhere before. He was about to raise his head when a warm touch could be felt on his forehead.

-It has been a long time since we’ve met. I’m sorry I can’t give you a proper greeting. When I see you next, my heart will have come to a decision. I’ll have decided either way by then.

At the end of her words, Azell lost consciousness. Kairen caught Azell’s falling body. Kairen faced forward as he asked a question.

“Who are you?”

Kayalia chose to reveal herself, so Kairen could see her.

If one used human standards, she looked to be a 14 or 15 year old girl. She was a Dragon Majin girl with blonde hair flowing through the air. There was a gray horn protruding from between her hair, and her ears were long. She possessed a slate-grey Dragon Magic stone on the back of her hand which was the same color as her eyes.

The weirdest part about her was the fact that she didn’t possess a body. It wasn’t an illusion sent by a magician. It looked like a ghost.

The problem was the fact that she was emitting Dragon Demon magic.

Kayalia let out a melancholy smile as she spoke.

-I was once the enemy of humans.

“Are you part of the Dragon Demon King’s army?”

Kairen’s wariness increased. He didn’t know what she was, but his instinct was giving him a warning. It was telling him that she was a very dangerous being.

However, Kayalia shook her head from side to side.

-At one time, I considered him to be my savior. That should be enough.

“What do you mean?”

-I’m not going to tell you. I’m leaving now. Please don’t waste the opportunity I have provided.

“…mmm.”

Kairen’s expression hardened, and Kayalia disappeared in mid-air as if she had melted away. Laura asked with a worried expression on her face.

“What about Azell?”

“Fortunately, it isn’t life-threatening.”

“…even in such a state?”

Leticia was taken aback. Azell had taken grievous wounds. It wouldn’t have shocked her if he died at any moment. However, there was a strangely peaceful expression on the face of the unconscious Azell.

“I also have a hard time believing it, but it is true. First, let’s get out of here then we can heal him. I don’t know the identity of that ghost woman, but as unbelievable as it may sound, she saved Azell. The reinforcement from the Plain of Darkness will be here soon.”

Everyone knew what Kairen was talking about.

The real adversity would begin right now. They had won the battle, but the party was in rough shape. Moreover, they didn’t know how, but the Demon King worshippers had a way of tracking them.

The party left behind numerous questions as they exited the battlefield. They started running towards east.

Reygus was released from Kayalia’s Dimensional Distortion field after 30 minutes. During that time, its Dragon Demon magic had dissipated, and its armor had returned to its black color. Reygus grumbled as it observed its half-recovered armor.

“Doesn’t all your work turn out that way?”

As if he had been waiting for this moment, a man walked towards Reygus as he spoke. Reygus replied when it saw him.

<Hmm. You are here? It seems she let me go, because she saw you.>

“She probably did. The fact that she rarely shows herself in front of me might mean that she doesn’t really want to see me.”

“Mmm?”

“…whether it's the past or now, she is someone that is hard to understand.”

“I’m not like you. I’m just an old man that everyone has forgotten about. Since I’ve hidden myself for such a long time, numerous annoying problems have cropped up when I decided to move.”

<Shouldn’t you have taken care of all of that beforehand?>

“Diligence and a busy life is the domain of the young ones. I’m too old to live a diligent and busy life.”

“If we are going by appearance, there is no one that looks as boorish as you. So how can you say such words to me?”

The man cackled. The conversation didn’t have much substance behind it, but it revived the old feelings they had felt long ago.

Suddenly, the man turned away from Reygus to walk towards a certain direction. There were only two survivors from the earlier battle. One of the Dragon Majin was breathing raggedly as he received treatment.

Reygus followed behind the man as it spoke.

“…they are underlings under your command. You shouldn’t speak like that.”

<That’s true, but I was imprisoned by Kayalia. Aside from Azell’s party, the Guardian Shadows are surprisingly good at avoiding detection.>

“He probably had a hand in this.”

<Ah, you are probably right. However, this isn’t like him. He wouldn’t kill all the dying enemies. It isn’t in his nature.>

The man sighed at Reygus’ words. Then he spoke to the Dragon Majin who had barely regained his consciousness.

“Are you well enough to give your report?”

The Dragon Majin was puzzled by the man’s words. This was the first time he had seen this man. However, his confusion suddenly turned into shock. This being was known to everyone who resided in the Plain of Darkness.

“You are……!”