Chapter 241

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“The Throne of Astevan.”

Ulan gripped his axe tightly while gazing at the final destination forty-nine steps ahead, ready to leap into action at any moment.

He quietly muttered, “Guess it’s my turn to make a move.”

The moment Astevan’s throne came into the domain, Ulan instinctively felt it was time to fight.

However, he didn’t rush out recklessly.

For this battle, he had promised to follow Noa’s instructions. But the response he received was unexpected.

“I’m sorry, but not yet.”

Noa shook her head, as if to say Ulan was wrong. His face crumpled at the firm rejection.

“…How much longer do I have to wait?”

“Until a gap is created.”

“A gap? Do you have a plan?”

“Of course.”

She had already asked Sven and Delia to help with that. Now was the perfect time to execute the plan since the distance had been minimized.

After finishing the conversation, she immediately exchanged glances with Sven. They didn’t need to say a word; their intentions seemed to communicate just fine.

A little while later, the Hunter’s sniping began.

The arrow released from the bow aimed straight at Astevan, rushing like it meant business, but unfortunately, it didn’t hit its mark.

“Useless.”

With just a flick of Astevan’s hand, the arrows flew away into the air. In contrast, Sven showed no signs of being shaken.

Arrows soaring into the air quickly rained back down on Astevan, as if they had a life of their own.

“What a peculiar performance.”

Astevan looked amused as the arrows lodged into his body. Five arrows stuck into him, hitting his neck and shoulders, yet he remained unfazed.

The reason was simple.

Those silver-tipped arrows couldn’t inflict any harm on him. So, rather than swatting them away, he just let them hit him.

“I told you it was useless.”

Mockery shimmered in Astevan’s eyes.

But that was a mistake.

The five arrows embedded in his body were wrapped with talismans received from Noa. Upon seeing this, Noa’s eyes sparkled.

“It’s definitely a pointless endeavor.”

The only things that could injure Astevan were pure divine power and spirit abilities. Sven’s arrows or Noa’s spells could not inflict critical damage.

“However…”

Applying status effects and debuffs was possible.

Like dulling his body or temporarily reducing resistance to magic.

This time it was the latter.

“Hmm? What’s this—?”

Just then, Astevan’s gaze landed on the arrows.

It seemed he finally noticed the talismans wrapped around them. But it was too late.

Before he could recognize their existence, Noa activated the prepared spell.

“Suppression Talisman!”

Fwoosh!

A blue light erupted from the five arrows, enveloping Astevan. As the spell took effect, Noa shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Delia!”

Just her name was called.

However, Delia understood what she needed to do and activated the magic she had prepared.

It was the 7-star Stellar Magic that Noa had requested.

It was none other than Extreme New Star.

────!

It began with a soundless explosion, blossoming pure white starlight. Soon, an explosion engulfing everything swallowed Astevan’s throne whole.

“Now, Ulan!”

The brief gap created by Noa.

Ulan wasted no time. He sprang into action, stomping the ground to expand his domain and darted right to Astevan’s face in the blink of an eye.

But Astevan wasn’t just going to sit back and take it.

“What a foolish move!”

Realizing that Ulan and his party were focused on the ‘gap’, Astevan swung his staff.

Then, undead spirits surged forth, crashing down onto Ulan. Though they had no real effect.

“O Holy Being!”

“Bestow your blessing upon your servant!”

The two Masters, Kadel and Ian, who had just arrived, purified Astevan’s undead. In that moment, Ulan reached his destination and swung his furious axe.

Wham! Smash!

An attack aimed straight at Astevan’s head.

But his head remained intact. Just before the axe could crush it, Astevan raised his staff to block the strike.

“Know your place, mortal!”

The staff, made of unidentified bones, pushed the axe back. It was incredible power that was hard to believe coming from such a tiny frame.

At that moment.

Two swords wrapped in divine light shot towards Astevan. Kadel and Ian’s strikes, having just severed an undead.

“……!?”

But the two swords cleaved through the air.

Astevan twisted his body sideways, dodging the strikes quicker than the two paladins could touch him.

Having exited the battlefield, Astevan began gathering magic to prepare his counterattack.

No, he was about to prepare.

But Ulan was quicker.

Astevan had only a step of distance to flee.

Ulan had a way to close that distance.

Transcendent Domain.

As he slipped through the momentary gap and expanded yet another domain, the axe was already upon Astevan’s head.

【───!】

This time, he couldn’t evade.

Splat! Smash!

In an instant, Astevan’s head was shattered.

But Ulan didn’t stop there.

Following up with successive swings of his furious axe, he tore Astevan’s body apart until it was no longer recognizable.

When the riotous chaos (乱擊) came to an end.

What was once called Astevan had shattered into fragments, scattering through the air. Ian watched in shock and muttered.

“Did… did we defeat him…?”

“No, it’s not over yet.”

While Ian’s tension eased, Kadel’s expression hardened. Ulan wore a similar look to Kadel’s.

‘…There’s no source.’

The Lord of the Abyss always had a ‘source.’

The Frost Dragon, Swamp Ruler, and Phantom Knights, all had sources.

Yet, while smashing Astevan’s head and tearing apart his body, Ulan felt no sign of a source.

‘Which means…’

What he faced wasn’t the true body.

It was merely a clone.

Then where could the true body be? Ulan kept his guard up and scanned the surroundings.

Just then.

“Ulan! Over there!”

Noa pointed beyond the throne.

What appeared was Astevan, the very same that Ulan had reduced to dust.

Seeing him appear unscathed, Ulan suddenly recalled one of Astevan’s abilities that Noa mentioned.

‘Immortal ability.’

Literally, the ability to not die.

So, was borrowing Laurea’s power to attack the optimal move, as Noa said?

No, that wouldn’t suffice.

Even with borrowed power, it wouldn’t solve the issue if he was facing a mere clone.

‘Then the remaining method is…’

Finding Astevan’s source and delivering the final blow with Laurea’s strength. That was the only way to defeat him.

While contemplating a solution.

“I see. So that’s what it is.”

A resurrected Astevan suddenly broke into a dry laugh, resembling the sand of a desert, then cast a piercing gaze toward Ulan.

“Yes, I finally understand.”

To be precise, he was locking his gaze on Ulan.

Then Astevan roared.

“It’s you! The heir of Rudrik!”

His shout reverberated through the hall.

With a voice laced with anger and hatred, a distinct intent to kill flickered in his blue eyes.

As if wanting to eliminate Ulan on the spot.

“This is a truly disgusting fate.”

With another roar, Astevan swung his staff. From the void, pale, shadowy forms emerged.

Monsters he had seen earlier.

They were the undead.

“Let’s sever this fate here, Kazan Rudrik!”

Next, corpses hanging from the ceiling came pouring down. Over a hundred corpses piled up, radiating an energy vastly different from any undead he had faced thus far.

“Master, these creatures are….”

“Right, they’re likely at the Expert level.”

Kadel’s gaze sank.

Each one was a creature at the level of an Expert. And there were over a hundred of them.

Realizing this fact, Ulan stepped back to regroup with his party. He needed to protect Noa and Laurea along with the others.

“Go! Annihilate my enemies!”

“Graaah!”

At Astevan’s command, the corpses and undead rushed toward Ulan’s group in unison. Of course, Astevan was peppering them with curses and necromancy as pressure mounted on Ulan’s team.

Thus began the battle.

In the midst of the fierce exchanges, Noa anxiously bit her lip. She had a crucial task that needed to be done aside from the battle.

‘I need to find the source!’

Specifically, she needed to find Astevan’s source.

Only by locating it could they take him down.

But she couldn’t get a handle on it at all.

Just in case, she had sought help from Sven and Fertisha, but there were no results.

‘Ugh, what do I do?’

As she anxiously paced, something suddenly sprang up from Ulan’s shadow. It was a familiar entity, the White Wolf of Mimu that had guided them here.

[Grrr! Grrr!]

The White Wolf came bounding toward Noa as if it had something to convey.

Noa turned to Fertisha.

“What’s it saying?”

“It’s saying to chase after them since they are going to scatter.”

“…Huh?”

What in the world did that mean?

She asked in confusion, but no further explanation came. Instead, the wolf jumped back before turning into a thick fog.

Shortly after.

[Awooo!]

[Awooo!]

From the fog, hundreds of wolves materialized. It was one of the White Wolf’s abilities—division.

Once transformed from one into an army, the wolves scattered in the blink of an eye. It looked like they were searching for something, not waging a battle.

“—Rudrik’s hounds!”

After a little while.

Astevan seemed to notice the actions of the wolves with a scowl on his face.

Nervous azure eyes trembled.

But it was too late. The White Wolves had already dispersed throughout the Abyssal Magic Palace.

As soon as Astevan recognized this.

He suddenly stopped imposing pressure on Ulan’s party and swiftly retreated.

Then, he waved his staff, tearing through the empty air.

Crack! Whooooosh!

Sounds echoed as a rift in the air opened up.

A crevice appeared, revealing a passage that led somewhere. Astevan stepped through it.

“It’s trying to flee!”

Just then, Sven, who had been fixated on him, shouted in a hurry. Suddenly, every member’s gaze turned toward Astevan.

‘Fleeing? Why suddenly?’

At the moment, the situation was highly favorable for him.

Ulan’s party still hadn’t figured out where Astevan’s source resided.

So why was he trying to run?

As she rubbed her temples in confusion, a sudden thought struck Noa.

‘Wait a minute, could it be…!’

With wide eyes, Noa gazed at the wolves.

The White Wolf of Mimu. This mystical creature seemed to know the paths within the Abyssal Magic Palace, guiding Ulan’s group here.

If that were the case, might it also know the location of the source? And did Astevan realize this and decide to flee?

In a fleeting moment, Noa’s suspicions came closer to the truth, and she quickly glanced back at Astevan.

‘Then we absolutely cannot let him get away!’

There was a high chance the source was where he was heading.

Watching Astevan completely vanish beyond the rift, Noa opened her mouth to alert the others.

But it turned out there was no need to shout.

Ulan’s thoughts mirrored hers.

“Hang on tight!”

Grabbing Noa and Laurea, Ulan immediately stomped the ground and surged forward, intent on racing after Astevan before the rift closed.

“Graaah!”

Just then, undead swarmed to block Ulan’s path.

But there was no need to worry.

A brilliant sword of light that had risen not far away cleaved through the underlings in an instant. The familiar voice rang out loudly.

“Leave this to me! Go chase after him!”

It was none other than Kadel’s voice.

He instinctively sensed.

This was the time for Noa’s split teams to shine. So, he mobilized all his strength to create a pathway for the first unit.

“I’ll handle the Saintess!”

“Just run straight ahead!”

Ian and Sven also added their support.

Other team members did the same.

With everyone’s aid, Ulan surged ahead without hindrance. Then he hurled himself through the rift just before it closed.

Thud! Bang!

The moment Ulan disappeared, the rift distorted grotesquely before vanishing as well.

“Phew, that was close.”

“We managed to send him off somehow.”

Fertisha sighed in relief, followed by Delia, who seemed to have let out a burdensome breath.

In contrast, Ivella stared at the spot where Ulan had disappeared with a worried expression.

“…Will the three of them be okay?”

It was natural for her to worry.

In her eyes, Astevan had been the strongest opponent they had faced thus far.

With anxious feelings festooned in her turquoise eyes, Ian spoke reassuringly.

“It’ll be fine. The Saintess is with them.”

“And if anything goes wrong, we can use this.”

Sven muttered nonchalantly.

He pointed to the Communication Talisman given to Noa. A talisman that allowed for conversation even from different spaces.

As Ivella realized the existence of the talisman and sighed in relief, Kadel blocked the path like a sentry.

“So let us leave Astevan to them and focus on our duty.”

Even those left behind had their tasks to perform.

Now staring at the encircling undead, the party gripped their weapons, ready for battle.

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