Chapter 243

Chapter 55. Battleground (4)

7.

The endless fight continued.

The axe, moving like a flash of light, swiftly cleaved through the countless undead troops, pushing further towards the King of the Immortals.

KWA-HA-HA-HA! KWAANG!

A loud rumble stirred up a sandstorm.

Ulan was not satisfied and pressed on Astevan even harder. He realized that giving the enemy even a moment’s respite could lead to trouble.

‘Undying Minion.’

Monsters wearing the masks of beasts.

They must have been defeated, yet they were revived in the form of undead by Astevan.

They pushed through the slight opening that Ulan had allowed.

‘At least I’m lucky that…’

They’re not as strong as before.

While the original Undying Minions moved with thought and judgment, the revived minions were like puppets without will.

But that didn’t mean they weren’t a threat. Their targets were not Ulan but rather his colleagues behind him.

[GAAAH!]

Suddenly, the minions launched another attack.

Ulan immediately unfolded the Transcendent Domain and sliced through them, but the undead that were out of range quickly broke through the defensive line.

[GAAAH! GAAAH!]

Their goal was where Noa and Laurea were. But there was no need to worry.

SWISH! CRUNCH!

Before they reached their destination, the Holy Sword of Light stood in their way.

“I won’t let you through, Saintess.”

Paladin Master, Kadel.

The sacred weapon he wielded effortlessly cleaved through the undead.

That wasn’t all.

Delia and Ivella also countered, keeping the undead that tried to sneak up on them in check.

Ulan, who had just barely rejoined his teammates, took a breather. He was preparing to once again push Astevan hard. Just then, an unpleasant voice broke through.

【Utterly pointless struggle.】

The Lord of the Immortals, Astevan.

In the blink of an eye, he resurrected new Undying Minions and sneered.

【No matter how many pests you gather, it doesn’t change a thing. Time has always been on my side, and defeat belongs to mortals.】

Astevan declared with confidence.

A clear declaration of defeat.

In response, Ulan scoffed. As if he found it ridiculous. Then he shot back casually.

“That’s a lie.”

【—What?】

“If victory and defeat were truly decided, you wouldn’t need to say such things.”

You’d just wait calmly for the outcome. But instead, Astevan insisted on repeating nonsense about giving up and how pointless it was to fight.

‘Which means…’

The outcome hasn’t been decided yet.

Since he didn’t know how the battle would turn out, he was only trying to unsettle Ulan.

Ignoring Astevan, who was about to speak again, Ulan pressed on fiercely.

The mission Noa had entrusted to him.

To rampage as fiercely as possible, ensuring every detail of that order was perfectly fulfilled.

8.

Meanwhile, at that moment.

As Ulan and Astevan battled fiercely.

Three heroes had left their group.

Sven, Ian, and Fertisha.

These three, who barely knew each other, had set out from the group to locate Astevan’s origin.

“Okay. Everything’s good.”

Ian understood the importance of this mission.

They needed to find Astevan’s source to finally put an end to the ongoing battle.

However, there were a couple of problems.

“But what exactly are we supposed to do here?”

The desert was just far too wide.

Plus, no one knew what Astevan’s source actually looked like. Under such conditions, how on earth were they going to find it?

Ian let out a heavy sigh.

But they couldn’t just let time drift away. Even at this moment, Ulan was fighting Astevan’s clone to buy them time.

So they trudged on when suddenly—

“Ah!”

Fertisha’s eyes widened.

It seemed she had spotted something. Ian, noticing her reaction, asked with a surprised face.

“H-Have you found something?”

“Yes, over there.”

She pointed towards the middle of the desert.

The shifting sand. It definitely looked like something was buried beneath it.

To think they would find something this early.

Ian brightened up and moved closer, just before hearing Fertisha’s next words.

“It’s undead.”

What the heck.

Ian, who had been approaching carelessly, panicked and spread his domain. He then swiftly sliced through the undead that charged at him.

“Um… in the future, could you please let me know what you’ve found before just pointing it out?”

“Hehe, I’ll make a note of it.”

Fertisha chuckled awkwardly.

After a brief, chaotic battle, the trio resumed their journey. But this time, a powerful sandstorm swept over them.

“Ugh! What kind of wind is this…?”

Even with a shield raised, the force of the wind pushed them back. Ian turned to look at the now-mysterious Fertisha, who had been using her mystical powers.

“Can’t you do something with your spirit powers?”

“They don’t work here.”

She shook her head.

Not just the wind.

“Sunlight, winds, even grains of sand can’t be interfered with. This is a special space where spirit powers can’t reach.”

It really was a special place.

When they first arrived here following the White Wolf, Ian thought it was all an illusion.

It was a reasonable assumption.

After all, just a short while ago, they had been fighting amidst the army of undead in the Abyssal Magic Palace.

‘But…’

This was not an illusion.

The heat-laden wind and the sand swirling along with it were all too real.

And suddenly, a wild speculation crossed his mind.

Could it be they had crossed over into the desert in the southern continent?

‘But is that even necessary?’

It seemed much more advantageous to fight in the Abyssal Magic Palace for Astevan. As he contemplated this unresolved question, the fierce wind finally ceased.

How long had it been?

After quite a distance, the group reached the base of a tall hill. And then, Sven, who had remained silent until now, spoke for the first time.

“Stop.”

His pointed ears perked up.

With a keen gaze, he seemed to have found something. Remembering their previous encounter, Ian cautiously asked.

“Is it more undead?”

“Not sure. I’ll go check it out first.”

Finishing his reply, Sven crouched and headed for the hill’s peak. He stopped prominently atop the highest point.

But it felt odd.

Sven stayed still at the top without moving.

“Sven?”

No reply came.

Ian sensed something was off and climbed the hill alongside Fertisha. He then called out to Sven.

“What’s going on? Why are you so quiet…?”

But in that moment.

Ian was left speechless.

Sven’s gaze was fixed beyond the hill, his eyes wide with shock at the sight revealed.

“…!?”

A pitch-black space of nothingness.

A place so dark it could swallow even the sunlight reflecting off the sandy beach.

Just looking at it evoked an involuntary shiver inside Ian as he gulped down a dry throat.

“I don’t know what that is, but…”

“It looks dangerous to approach further.”

“Yeah, even the spirits say not to go there.”

Sven and Fertisha voiced similar concerns. In the meantime, Sven’s pointed ears twitched, sensing something suspicious.

“Fall back!”

Sven shoved Ian and Fertisha away.

They tumbled down the hill, with Sven following closely behind.

“Ugh, I’m dizzy!”

“What was that for?!”

The sudden attack. Ian, who rolled down the dune, spat out sand from his mouth in protest.

Sven replied, calm as ever.

“Just relax and look over there.”

“What’s over there…!”

“The darkness is closing in.”

The hill where they had just been standing.

It was now completely buried beneath waves of encroaching invisibility.

If Sven hadn’t pushed them out in time, they would’ve been entirely swallowed. With a chilling feeling washing over him, Ian muttered blankly.

“The desert is….”

“It feels like it’s getting smaller.”

Just as Sven had said.

The desert surrounding them was indeed gradually closing in. Ian was left speechless at the sight of the world’s boundaries retreating.

What on earth was happening here?

What was going on?

Endless questions swirled around, but no answers were forthcoming.

All that remained was a firm conviction.

‘…Astevan’s source.’

The shrinking space must be somehow connected to the source of Astevan.

That instinct grew stronger.

‘I need to let everyone know.’

Especially if Noa could potentially find Astevan’s source with this clue.

Ian made up his mind.

“Ugh, it’s coming this way!”

“We should head back for now.”

At that moment, the darkness engulfing the desert had reached right up to them. With space to stand on shrinking away, they decided together.

They would return to where everyone else was.

9.

Just as Ian and his party made the choice to return.

The battle between Ulan and Astevan intensified even further.

KWA-HA-HA-HA! KROOM!

The earth-shaking roar rumbled through the battlefield.

A tense standoff, just like where Noa was located.

“Hah, hah!”

Ivella, slashing through the undead with her blessed sword, stumbled.

A breath caught in her throat.

Her face bore unmistakable signs of fatigue.

Which was understandable. Before arriving here, the group had already gone through a fierce fight in Astevan’s throne room.

“I don’t have much magic power left.”

Delia struggled as well.

Checking her remaining magical energy, she wore a dark expression. Finally realizing it, she acknowledged that stalling for time was only putting them at a disadvantage.

Just then.

In the lead, Ulan was suddenly pushed back. It seemed like he had been struck by Astevan’s attack, bleeding on the ground.

“U-Ulan!?”

Laurea gasped in shock.

Of course, Ulan, unfazed, readied himself again and resumed fighting against Astevan, but still, the blood flowed continuously.

It seemed he had taken a significant blow in their last skirmish. Judging so, Laurea hastily attempted to remove his Magic Armor.

“This is no good. I need to heal him…”

“No, that’s not allowed.”

“Noa!”

“You agreed to follow my orders.”

Noa firmly interjected.

Laurea countered, looking anxious.

“B-But what about Ulan…!”

“It’s fine. He can endure it.”

Ulan demonstrated incredible regenerative power.

Even if he were to get hurt, Ulan would be fine. He was the Berserker. The more wounded he became, the stronger he would fight back.

“So you need to conserve your strength for now. You know what happens if we activate the Divine Power of the Star God without enough Divine Power, right?”

『Divine Power of the Star God』

As the name suggests, this involves borrowing the power of the Cosmic Deity.

Being a feat that a regular human could never achieve, only those recognized by the Divine Being as a representative can attempt it.

However, there is one caveat.

‘Divinity requires a cost.’

Most of the time, this is compensated with Divine Power.

If one gathers all the Divine Power of a Saint or Holy King, it is said that one could manifest the Divine Power of the Star God at least once.

But what happens if there is a shortage of Divine Power?

At that point, life force is consumed instead. In the worst case, one could even lose their life.

‘So that’s absolutely not an option.’

Laurea had to survive.

For reasons far beyond facing the Abyss, she didn’t want anyone dying here. She wanted to save everyone present.

Thus, Noa gazed toward the west.

The direction where the three warriors had set off to find Astevan’s origin.

‘Please let them not be too late…’

While everyone still had some leeway to hold on, she wished fervently they’d hurry back with the source. Noa hoped and hoped.

Could it be the fulfillment of such wishes?

Suddenly, a familiar voice resounded.

“Noa!”

The three who had set out to find the source returned.

Ian, Sven, and Fertisha.

With the long-awaited return of these figures, Noa’s face brightened as she asked.

“Did you find the source?”

Hope sparked in her gaze.

But the reply that came back was negative.

“No, we couldn’t find it.”

“But we did witness something unusual.”

“Huh? What kind of…?”

Confounded, Noa listened as Ian described the phenomenon he had observed.

A space of nothingness existing at the edge of the desert.

He added details of how that space was shrinking as well. Upon hearing this, Noa felt an eerily strange sensation wash over her.

It was some sort of intuition. She felt she couldn’t just ignore the phenomenon she had just heard about.

Quickly, Noa began to think.

‘Every change has a valid reason.’

If so, there must be a valid reason why the space is shrinking. Why suddenly was this phenomenon occurring? As her thoughts continued to unravel, she heard Delia’s voice.

“…It just keeps crawling out, endlessly.”

“Huh, so how is it still coming out even without infinite magic?”

Infinite magic power.

With a phrase uttered by Ivella, Noa instantly looked back at Astevan.

‘Wait, if it has infinite magic…’

If that were true, then why hadn’t he resurrected his minions from the get-go?

If she were Astevan, upon the moment Ulan’s party entered the Abyss, she would have resurrected all the Undying Minions to prepare for battle.

‘Maybe there are certain conditions needed?’

Conditions for resurrecting the Undying Minions.

This answer didn’t take long to conjure. All one needed to do was think about the difference between the Abyss and the desert.

‘…The Source.’

The desert was the space where Astevan’s source resided.

Therefore, unlike the throne that only had clones left, he could finally utilize his innate power properly.

‘And…’

Every source must inherently decrease in size when its power is used. The Frost Dragon, the Swamp Ruler, and others were no exceptions.

Similarly, every lord Noa had encountered in the original story had operated under the same principle. That’s why they sought to absorb human souls to gain the magic power of the Abyss.

Power usage diminishes the source.

A space increasingly shrinking with time.

At that intersection of strange commonality, Noa’s eyes suddenly widened.

‘…!’

Her eyes sparkled brightly.

Like she had just gained profound enlightenment.

Moments later, a faint smile appeared at the corners of Noa’s lips. She looked refreshingly clear, lacking the burdens she had earlier experienced.

“Everyone, gather around.”

“Huh? Where to?”

“To Laurea’s side. And please prepare to protect her with all your might.”

Noa issued the command for a strong defense.

Then she quickly explained her reasoning.

“It’s time to use the Divine Power of the Star God.”

“W-What are you saying?”

“That means…!”

Kadel’s shocked expression mirrored that of Laurea’s, whose eyes widened as if in disbelief.

Noa nodded firmly.

“Yes, I figured it out.”

What Astevan’s source was.

Her cerulean eyes glittered like stars.

It was a look filled with certainty.