NOVPUB
Chapter 377: Final Battle (8)
Woosh!
Before Kay even finished speaking, Zarka Hochi fiercely swung his dagger at Neil Blanc’s neck.
Ssshh...
But the blade of his weapon crumbled to ash before it could touch Neil Blanc’s throat—just like Zigra’s had against Darryl Harian.
“...!”
Kay Rothschild’s eyes widened briefly, but Zarka didn’t falter; he flexed his hand, flicking his wrist.
Swish—!
Then, sharp claws—like the talons of a bird of prey—shot out from his hand, ash-gray and seemingly laced with venom.
Crackle...! Crackle...!
When the claws touched Neil Blanc’s protective barrier, sparks of lightning flew everywhere, but this time, Zarka’s weapon didn’t disintegrate instantly.
“Not bad,” Neil Blanc observed, seemingly amused by Zarka’s persistence.
“The puppetry of the Rothschild family is still based on necromancy, after all. So the one you retrieved from the Ghost Castle was more than just a dead elf.”
A ghostly wail echoed through the sharp clash of battle, haunting and mournful. Each time it rang out, Zarka’s blade and claws trembled ever so slightly.
“Of course, I couldn’t come alone. Do you even know how many spirits yearn to see your throat slit?”
For Zarka Hochi, these spirits were a burden he had willingly accepted—a shackle of his own making. Every time the tortured souls of fallen elves stirred within him, he bore their agony, reminding himself of his vow for revenge against the Platinum Dragon, who had destroyed Aerial Woods, the capital of what had once been Elvenheim.
Ssssss...
Sensing his pain, the spirits of the elves from the Ghost Castle surged forth, eager to tear through Narh Di Maug’s barrier.
“In the name of Fürrel, I will have vengeance!”
With a shout filled with long-suppressed grief, Zarka Hochi called out the name of the elven queen from the royal family of Tinuviel.
Boom—!
In that instant, it was as if a balloon had burst; the air itself popped, barely grazing Zarka Hochi’s face. The raging spirits vanished into thin air like smoke, leaving Zarka with a stunned expression.
“That’s why you’re failures, the lot of you elves. You pitifully cling to a long-dead royal lineage. Well... I had thought to use that loyalty to my advantage, which is why I targeted you first,” Narh Di Maug said nonchalantly, as though this was some trivial matter.
Zarka Hochi’s blade, forged over centuries of seething fury for the sole purpose of revenge, crumbled to nothing before Narh Di Maug.
“You... You...!!”
Zarka Hochi could no longer hear the anguished cries of the dead elves. There was just silence. With a single snap of Narh Di Maug’s fingers, their souls had been obliterated.
“At least you provided me with the insight to seek potential in humans,” he said, as if the elves had merely been a stepping stone to his ambitions.
"...What?” Zarka’s voice trembled, his very soul quivering with shock.
From the Zarka Hochi to the half-elf Alteman, and finally to the Assembly of Seven Elders, Narh Di Maug’s experiments had progressed systematically, searching for potential across species.
“I thought I’d wiped you all out... but it seems I was too soft. One of you hid in the north, another returned as an undead, and yet another clings to his spirit alone to come looking for me.”
Narh Di Maug’s gaze shifted to them, full of scorn, as if finding them all beneath him.
“Truly... revolting. All of you are mere garbage, discarded waste.”
Boom—!
“You wretched scum...!!”
A fierce black mist surged toward Narh Di Maug, engulfing him as torrents of blue flames burst outward in all directions.
“How dare you...! You, of all people...!”
The voice within the mist trembled with rage, cursing. It was as if long-suppressed sorrow and a deep-seated bloodlust had erupted all at once.
Allen always assessed situations calmly and struck at openings, but now, for the first time, he was baring his raw emotions without restraint.
“Graaaaah!!” Zarka Hochi roared as the blue flames surged forth, slamming both hands into the ground to channel his power.
Sssss...! Crrrrk...!!
His energy flowed into the ground, causing the lingering spirits to wail.
“The imperial capital is filled with more death and sorrow than any other place on this continent. Don’t assume this is over already. There are countless vengeful spirits here,” Kay Rothschild murmured, her voice tinged with bitterness.
Rumble...!!
A dark liquid, similar to blood, seeped into the ground, causing it to quake as if struck by an earthquake.
Clatter... Ghraaa...
The dead rose from the cracks in the ground—some were just skeletal remains, while others looked as if they had died just recently, their faces still intact.
One of the corpses was that of an exceptionally beautiful woman, draped in a fine dress, unlike the others.
“Mother...” Olivurn called out in a pained voice, looking upon the dead woman.
One of her cheeks had decayed, exposing her teeth. Her hands and legs bore large holes, left by the nails that had pinned her to the pillar. Flies swarmed around her as she lurched toward him.
Splash—
As the empress’s foot touched the pool of black blood that Zarka had summoned, her lifeless, decayed face suddenly seemed to fill with color, and she let out a cry filled with fury, charging at Olivurn in a frenzy.
“My curse upon you, Olivurn! The empire was mine! I shall never forfeit it to you...!!”
“Die!!”
“I was wronged...! I...!!”
And she wasn’t the only one. As other corpses came into contact with Zarka’s energy, they too regained a semblance of life.
“Interesting. Something like this should be impossible with ordinary necromancy. This must be a forbidden art of the Rothschild family,” Narh Di Maug remarked, observing the scene with marked intrigue.
“Even the most insignificant humans, given enough centuries, occasionally manage to transcend their limits. My belief that humans are the species with the most potential seems, indeed, accurate.”
However, seeing the reanimated corpses, Karyl was reminded of the wraiths from the Spirit Forest.
“This couldn’t have been achieved alone. It was only possible by combining our powers. You’d never understand that. You only see potential in elves and humans through their blood.”
“How amusing, hearing the cold-hearted heir of the Rothschild family speak of such camaraderie. Your ancestors would turn in their graves to see you talk like this—especially given that they made sure to select only the finest corpses for their dolls.”
“What...?”
“That doll, after all... is an elf, isn’t it?”
Kay’s face hardened at his words.
“Master, do not be swayed. Whatever your ancestors did to elves, that was the past. It was not you,” Zarka Hochi growled, his tone fierce against Narh Di Maug’s words. “Remember, you are the Queen of the Dead that I have acknowledged. You bear no guilt for those who had perished before you were even born.”
Ghroaaa...!!
The corpses began to stir, some of them even lashing out.
“At least grant those who died before your time a chance to voice their grievances,” a voice echoed. “That is the task our queen must fulfill.”
These had all been unfair deaths. These people had been mere commoners, not nobles.
“Hold the line! Do not let them reach our lord!”
“By the gods...”
The reinforcements couldn’t believe their eyes. They had rushed to the Sun Hall to defend their emperor, but they hadn’t imagined they would have to protect him from a swarm of undead.
“How vile! Though the empress was guilty, to use filthy necromancy to reanimate the dead... This is an insult to those who have passed!”
Olivurn rose to his feet and shouted, “Fight! Uphold the dignity of humanity and protect the honor of the empire!”
“Roaaahhh...!!”
His voice, imbued with the power of Spirit Language, reverberated through the Sun Hall, lifting the knights’ spirits in a very different way from a priest’s blessing. Their morale surged considerably.
Slash!
“Ugh... Ghh—!”
Zarka Hochi struck down a knight, pinning him under his sharp claw, and cast a glare at Olivurn.
“Desecration of the dead? You don’t even know what death means, you wretched boy,” he sneered.
Then, moving to Kay Rothschild’s side, he lifted her up and placed her on his shoulder.
“Let’s fight, Kay. We may not be able to stop the Platinum Dragon, but we can at least keep those rats from running wild. Our blades will tear through their hearts.”
At that, Kay let out a faint chuckle.
Swoosh!
She lightly flicked her arms, as if conducting a dark orchestra, and Zarka Hochi leaped forward like a bullet, his claws aimed at the knights.
“Olivurn,” Karyl calmly called out amidst the fierce battle.
“Did you know he was experimenting on humans?”
“Are you really asking that? Who would know the empire’s business better than the emperor himself?”
“Then you must also know about how he uses humans as test subjects and keeps the Church underfoot to prepare for what couldn’t be found in our world. You know about the Blood Cave, don’t you?” Karyl’s gaze grew colder.
“It’s only natural you’d know, as you’ve been there yourself,” he went on. “Hell, you made sure I saw you enter the cave.”
“...Why?” Karyl’s voice lowered to a murmur.
Olivurn’s gaze faltered, but he remained silent.
“Was it just a provocation? Or...”
For a moment, Olivurn’s face hardened as he locked eyes with Karyl.
“Or were you so afraid of what the Platinum Dragon was doing that you sought help? Perhaps you were asking me to stop him.”
With his back turned to Olivurn, Karyl couldn’t have noticed the fleeting change in his expression.
“Whatever you’re thinking, you and I are still enemies. The outcome remains the same. You and that creature will both die by my hand.”
“That’s rubbish.”
It wasn’t Olivurn who responded. The crude sneer came from the Platinum Dragon, sounding nothing like the noble tone befitting a dragon of his stature.
“Narh Di Maug.”
Karyl turned his gaze, looking behind him.
Standing between the dragon and the emperor, Karyl felt a storm of conflicting emotions rise within him. In his past life, one had been a trusted friend—the emperor he had been forced to slay with his own hands; the other was the dragon who had given him the power to return and change his fate.
Looking into Olivurn’s eyes, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss.
What if Olivurn hadn’t betrayed him of his own will? What if, instead, it was the Platinum Dragon who had commanded Olivurn to turn his blade against his friend? Indeed, the dragon had acted as a servant of the gods—at least on the surface—but there was no way he could have entered Pharel on his own.
If his plan to claim Divine Power had failed, perhaps Narh Di Maug had bet everything on a single, desperate gamble.
Olivurn could not—and would not—dare take such risks, but Karyl himself? He could, and that was his power.
Narh Di Maug had no interest in human power, wealth, or lineage. What he truly coveted was Karyl’s potential.
After reaching the peak of swordsmanship, Karyl had come to regret his lack of magic in his previous life.
But now, with a dragon’s heart and the acquisition of mana, he could master both the sword and magic. And the Platinum Dragon had waited and watched, anticipating his success every step of the way.
“So you used me to test that possibility?”
At that, Narh Di Maug cocked his head as if in mock curiosity. Whether he understood or not didn’t matter; Karyl only cared that he heard his next words.
“If that’s true, you made a mistake.”
Crack!
In that instant, the barrier protecting Olivurn shattered, failing to stop Karyl’s blade from piercing his heart.
“Your Majesty...!”
“No...!”
It had happened in the blink of an eye. No one could have stopped him, not even Narh Di Maug.
“H-How...?”
Narh Di Maug couldn’t believe his eyes. He had never expected Karyl to break through that powerful, absolute barrier.
“Khh...! Ack...!”
Olivurn’s eyes widened as he stared at the frosty blade embedded in his chest.
Woooom...
At that moment, Karyl slowly withdrew something from within his robe—a worn, ancient tome that began to glow.
“Polsetia...? How could a human have... that?” Narh Di Maug stared at the book in utter disbelief.
“Olivurn...”
For the first time in this life, Karyl spoke his name without any bitterness or resentment. His expression was rueful, his voice filled with a warmth that hadn’t been there before—something close to tenderness.
“Kh... Gahr...” Olivurn struggled to speak, but the blood in his throat stifled his words.
Karyl covered his eyes with his hand. Perhaps it was one final act of mercy toward his former friend, or perhaps he simply couldn’t bear to look him in the eye in these final moments.
At last, he uttered the words he had been holding back, the words he wanted Olivurn to hear before their story finally came to its conclusion.
“You mustn’t be a puppet.”
Shhk!
And with that, he drove the Freezing Talon deeper into Olivurn’s chest.
