Chapter 452

Hershela, as if she didn’t care about what would happen next, quietly fell asleep.

I suppressed my bewildered feelings and, gripping Durandal embedded in the ground, looked at Rübitz.

Since I had already used up all the Power of Feats, the only thing I could do now was swing my sword like an ordinary hero relying on feats.

I guess I went from being the Red Empress to just an Empress.

In the end, unless I ran away now, there was no change in the fact that the whirlwind would engulf me!

“Ugh… Huh…! This monster…!”

Rübitz, sweating profusely, grabbed his left shoulder and screamed.

His face twisted as if he was about to unleash the whirlwind at any moment.

The amount of Divine Light and Mana he was pouring out was so immense that his shattered left arm was already slowly regenerating.

What a troll-like bastard.

“Impossible, impossible…! What on earth was that power just now…!”

Well, what could it have been?

A self-destructive wide-area skill I can’t use?

“…Why would I answer that? Use that good brain of yours to figure it out.”

“Your tone…! Your tone has returned. The fierce killing intent, even the dense Life Force Technique has completely vanished. So, this is a power you can’t use twice…! I can’t grasp the principle, but it must be a technique that consumes all your Life Force Technique…!”

…He really figured it out again.

This is why I hate smart enemies.

I glanced behind me, looking for a chance to escape.

At the very least, I had to avoid that whirlwind first.

That crazy magic wouldn’t completely destroy the mortal world, right?

Wait, now that I think about it, since Hershela, who would have been complaining, is asleep, it’s probably best to leave this place and join my comrades to fight.

There’s no reason I have to stay here, so there’s no need to hold out.

The problem is… I came all the way to the middle of the prayer room to catch the enemy, so the distance to the entrance is a bit far…

“Do you think you have a chance to escape!”

Damn, did he notice?

Rübitz, who had been shouting fiercely, swung his right arm downward.

Towards the high priests lying on the railing, groaning and trying to recover from their wounds.

I leaped backward, but no matter how fast I was, I couldn’t be faster than someone just moving their arm.

“There’s no escape. Know that your failure to kill me with that technique just now is your downfall…!”

The moment he clenched his fist.

“Guh…!”

Mana and Divine Light were literally sucked out of the priests’ bodies.

The convulsing priests foamed at the mouth and collapsed.

If it were Hershela, she would have called it something like the Absorption Grand Technique.

It was clearly not an ordinary spell but something closer to Cursed Sorcery.

The next moment, Rübitz transformed the extracted power into a shockwave and unleashed it.

Not towards me, who was running for my life, but towards the entrance ahead.

– Kugugugung!!

With a deafening roar like a landslide, a fierce wind rushed in.

The basement floor shook as if an earthquake had struck.

Shattered rocks rained down like a storm, blocking the entrance.

His magic was digging into the basement’s entrance and the corridor beyond, uprooting the bedrock itself and causing it to collapse!

“Damn it…!”

Too late.

I had no choice but to stop my running steps.

Even for me, it was difficult to move through the collapsed ground.

Well, running away isn’t in my fate.

I gritted my teeth, gripped my sword, and turned towards Rübitz, pointing Durandal at him.

In this situation, the only way left is to break through head-on.

There’s no more time to find another solution.

I might as well die.

“I thought it was a perfect trap, but I never expected to suffer this much damage. Truly, your potential is endless! But, this is the end! Be torn to pieces like the priests you killed. Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur!”

“…Didn’t you kill the high priests? A few of them were still alive just now.”

“…….”

Ignoring my retort, Rübitz spread his arms—no, his one and a half arms—and looked up at the sky.

The second manifestation of heavenly authority.

A whirlwind of the atmosphere, filled with Mana, began to descend like a giant lowering its head.

And then.

– Kwaoooo!

The dragon’s descent landed.

—-

If the first disaster, the thunderstorm, was a hammer that smashed everything, this disaster was literally a giant blender.

An enormous noise pounded my eardrums.

The whirlwind, mixed with the priests’ blood, swept through everything, tearing it apart.

Columns and railings that had maintained their shape were swept up by the wind pressure, shattered, and lifted into the air. Rock fragments scattered on the ground spiraled in the vortex.

– Kwaddeuk!

The bodies of the high priests, sucked into the dragon’s descent, were struck by fragments, torn to shreds, and scattered their entrails.

Although the instantaneous destructive power didn’t match the thunderstorm, this was still a force close to an unstoppable disaster.

Even I, bracing myself with all my strength, was slowly being pulled towards the growing whirlwind!

“Ugh… Ugh…!”

The ground where I had planted my feet shook.

As if the very foundation would be ripped out and fly away.

“Resistance is futile. The essence of your power is death? Then follow that essence!”

Rübitz pointed his right hand at me.

As if unaffected by the power he had unleashed, he floated in the center of the vortex, completely unfazed.

Light began to gather at his fingertips.

“Damn it, if only Lacey were here…!”

Ah, no.

If Lacey were here, she would have been caught in the mortal world and suffered fatal injuries.

That technique doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe.

“Do you think I didn’t anticipate that? You seem to be holding onto futile hope, so let me tell you. They won’t come. They’re engaged in a fierce battle against the priests and paladins I sent! It seems the messenger you sent didn’t even make it!”

As if his confidence was returning along with his regenerating left arm, Rübitz, quickly recovering from his shock and fear, declared firmly.

His eyes glowed with Divine Light.

…It seems he has some power related to ‘sight.’

Is that how he noticed my infiltration?

Anyway, it’s not good news.

It means I have to fight and win alone, without any support.

“Ha, fine. Whether you die or I die, let’s see this through to the end!”

– Kwang!

As a brilliant beam shot from Rübitz’s fingertips, I kicked off the ground and leaped into the air.

Towards the center of the whirlwind, which was growing larger and closer.

—-

– Hwoooooo!

My body, swallowed by the storm, was caught in the whirlwind’s rotation.

No matter how strong one is, weight doesn’t change.

Even for me, there was no way to withstand this wind speed while floating in the air.

Stone pillars, many times heavier than me, were flying around. What chance did I have?

Just resisting the wind pressure trying to rip my limbs apart was draining a significant amount of my strength.

The immense pressure. It felt like all the blood in my body was being pulled to one side.

The only sound I could hear was the deafening roar of the world collapsing. No other sound reached my ears.

My vision raced sideways.

In the red and gray clouds, torn and shattered bodies and rock fragments flashed by in an instant.

The whirlwind’s speed must be around 300 km/h. This feels even faster.

If I got hit by those fragments, my body would be torn apart like nothing.

Damn. This kind of thing is more suited for Damien, not me…!

“Kya… Aaaah!”

I let out a furious shout, forcing my shaking limbs to move and straighten my posture.

Even if I couldn’t stop the spinning, I had to at least be able to move my body.

If I couldn’t even do that, I would die.

Fortunately, my limbs, strengthened by the Power of Feats, managed to withstand the wind pressure and move as I intended.

Except for my dangling left arm.

…Now that I think about it, I had fixed my broken arm with the physical force of the Life Force Technique.

No wonder it’s been hurting like hell since earlier.

Since the Life Force Technique that supported my arm like a splint was completely depleted, it’s no wonder my left arm isn’t moving properly.

Whatever. At least it’s not my right arm.

I can still swing my sword, so that’s a relief.

I stood upright in the storm, facing the oncoming wind head-on.

“Ugh…!”

The immense wind speed hit my entire body, but at least it slowed my speed a bit.

I covered my face with my right hand and endured the fierce wind pressure.

– Kwaddeuk!

Small fragments mixed with the wind pelted my body like hail.

Most were blocked by the Black Iron Scales and Ryu-rik’s leather, but without this armor, I would have been seriously injured.

In a way, Ryu-rik saved my life.

After all, beastmen become kinder the more they die.

– Hoooooong!

Briefly distracted, a large column fragment spinning in the whirlwind suddenly came close.

If I collided with it, even with my armor, I would be crushed like an egg thrown against a rock.

…Good. So far, it’s going according to plan.

Though it’s a hastily made plan and closer to insanity.

“Haaa…!”

I took a deep breath of the damp, dusty, blood-filled air, gritted my teeth, and poured all my strength into my legs.

Bracing for the impending impact.

And then, the tip of my foot touched the rock.

– Kwaaaaang!

“Ugh…!”

The impact felt like my kneecap would fly out of my body.

A groan escaped through my clenched teeth.

With my nerves sharpened to the limit, in time slowed to a fifth of its normal speed… I saw my leg digging into the rock, crushing it.

Now.

“Uuuuaaaah!”

I let out a roar like a scream and kicked off the rock, leaping towards the center of the whirlwind where Rübitz’s Mana was most palpable.

As the column fragment shattered into pieces, my body soared through the storm, upwards.

Of course, one leap wasn’t enough.

– Hoooooong!

Halfway through, my body lost momentum and was caught in the whirlwind again.

No matter.

There were plenty of rocks around to step on and leap from.

I swam through the whirlwind, smashing small rocks and stepping on larger ones to leap again.

Enduring the accumulating pain with each collision.

After repeating this five times, finally-

“This is insane…! Breaking through a storm that even destroys castles with just your body?!”

I broke through the whirlwind and reached Rübitz, who was exclaiming in shock.

“Nice to meet you, you damn bastard-!”

My body, battered and bruised, covered in blood from torn and cut wounds.

I swung my sword at him, scattering blood from my wounds.

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