〈 Chapter 227 〉 Final Battle (2)

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“Sky Cleaving!”

First, Sara’s Overload Strike split the front.

As always, it was a tremendous blow, but it was stopped by a single Apostle wielding a large shield.

It seemed that there were limits to the power of a 2-star Relic.

Of course, there was no need to pull out a 3-star Relic just yet.

Glimmer.

Light burst forth from the Royal Sword held by Elsie.

She swung it and swept the area in front of her.

The Apostle holding the shield was already in a disrupted stance, so he couldn’t withstand it.

A massive beam of light swept across the battlefield.

However, its destructive power was insufficient to inflict real harm on the Apostles.

Instead, it successfully broke their formation.

“Charge forward!”

If the formation was broken, the real battle was just beginning.

The Demon Kings also began revealing their Demon King Forms one by one.

“Charge!”

Though they were pierced by the Apostles’ attacks, they quickly regenerated.

Then, with sharp claws, they tore the Apostles apart.

Indeed, it was a display of overwhelming combat power outside the Barrier.

‘But we can’t leave it all to them.’

Basically, the combat power of a single Demon King is higher than that of an Apostle.

But it was already a significant numerical disadvantage to count solely on them for victory.

Moreover, to prepare for the High Priest’s Barrier, it was essential to conserve the power of the Demon Kings as much as possible.

“Luel.”

Thus, I asked Luel.

“Is Miss Weiss ready yet?”

“Just a moment. It won’t be long now…”

At that moment.

Swoosh.

A gigantic ice wing unfurled.

It was the wing that sprouted from Weiss’s back.

Then, she began shooting icicles in all directions.

It was a simple spell, but thanks to the power of the ‘wings,’ its impact was tremendous.

Six months.

Although the time spent in the Trial turned out longer than expected, it seemed to have provided sufficient time for Weiss to learn magic.

And because of that…

Weiss had effectively become a top-tier combat force.

Originally, her combat power had already been proven as the Demon King Weiss, and she was actually quite impressive.

Crack!

In the white snowy field of Ice Valley.

The ‘wings’ began to flail about, asserting her return.

But then, something happened.

‘That…’

I saw something flying towards Miss Weiss.

‘Thorns…!’

I drew Albert.

And… cut through the air.

No, I cut the thorn.

The thorn flying from a distance shattered as if it hadn’t anticipated my strike.

‘Wilhelm!’

I turned my head towards where he stood.

He was still there.

As if he was waiting for me to make my move.

Yes, it was time.

I had to mark him.

‘Wait there.’

I conveyed to him with my gaze.

Then I informed Luel.

“Luel, I’ll be back shortly.”

Her Magic Shield wouldn’t affect the thorns of that guy.

So it would be better for me to handle it alone.

“Understood.”

As soon as I confirmed her answer, I dashed towards the ground.

‘Wind’s Power.’

Surrounded by the Wind’s Power at my feet, I began to charge toward Wilhelm as if flying.

But another Apostle stood in my way.

Naturally, since he was an Archer, it was expected that there would be a guard protecting him.

‘By the way, this guy is…’

I recognized him too.

Spearman Duke.

The Hero who was a companion of Schurz and Stella.

Yet now he had completely lost his former will and was entirely a puppet of the High Priest.

‘Troublesome.’

I’m not saying it’s difficult because he’s an enemy.

After all, he was already dead.

Rather, for him, who was being forced to fight, dying might be a form of salvation.

However…

‘He’s a tough opponent.’

He was a figure who had reached the pinnacle of spear mastery.

No matter how much he lost his will, I could never underestimate him.

Proving that point, he lunged at me with his spear with agile movements.

Clang!

I somehow blocked his spear with my sword.

But he immediately retracted his spear and followed up with another attack.

“Ugh…!”

The second troublesome point.

One of my weapons is my understanding of swords.

Thus, if my opponent uses a weapon other than a sword, the advantage isn’t in my favor.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t gain the upper hand in the battle against him.

I was somehow holding him off using Libero’s swordsmanship, but his spearmanship was just as unpredictable.

‘At this rate…’

I had no way to block Wilhelm’s thorns.

If he were to launch his thorns now, I would likely die instantly.

But…

‘What’s going on?’

Wilhelm wasn’t firing his thorns.

He was just standing there, watching me.

‘What are you thinking?’

I had no idea what his intentions were.

But I couldn’t help but feel grateful in my current situation.

While I was on the defensive, I finally spotted an opening.

‘This is it!’

There was no time to hesitate.

A clear opening.

If not now, I might never get another chance.

‘Blood Magic!’

I enhanced my right arm using Blood Magic.

Then I thrust my sword forward.

My strike powered by Blood Magic was quite powerful.

It was more than enough to disrupt his half-hearted defense.

Twist!

Finally, his stance faltered.

Confirming that, I immediately positioned my sword for the finishing blow.

But in that moment.

‘Huh?’

Even while losing his balance, he was still raising his spear.

There was no way his feet were on the ground for him to exert any force, yet he was taking such a stance…

‘Could it be?’

Only one thing came to mind.

A thrust.

His signature move, known as the spear’s end.

He was trying to hit me with it from a distance.

‘Damn it.’

Even if I managed to evade it somehow, it would still be a deadly wound.

Of course…

“You’re inexperienced.”

I had allies.

Bam!

Just in time, Demon King Tel rushed in and deflected Duke’s thrust.

“Leave this to me.”

With his dazzling spear techniques, he blocked Duke’s subsequent onslaught as he spoke.

“Understood.”

I immediately turned my gaze back to Wilhelm.

Sure enough, he had swiftly nocked a thorn to his bow.

‘So you want to fight just the two of us?’

Then, I would oblige.

I didn’t want anyone else to be harmed by him either.

‘Wind’s Power.’

I started to charge back toward him again.

At the same time, the thorn flew towards me.

Swish!

I tried to cut it from a distance again, but he seemed to have anticipated it, twisting away from my strike.

But that was fine.

If I couldn’t intercept it in one go, I could just swing my sword as many times as needed.

Clang!

I held my sword and began to flail it in the air.

However, the thorns avoided my strikes and began to close in on me.

Just as the thorns were about to reach me.

‘Gwen.’

I activated that sword technique.

It was the same sword technique I had used against Karkel.

Crack!

The sword streaks I left in the air shone brightly.

And they encircled the thorns, smashing them to pieces.

Finally, I saw a flicker of agitation from Wilhelm.

Of course, it was only brief.

He quickly regained his composure and smiled as he nocked another thorn to his bow.

‘This is confirmed.’

He was truly enjoying this duel with me.

“You’ve finally gone mad.”

The glint in his eyes flared up.

That gaze was solely fixed on me.

“WILHELM!”

His thorns began to fly rapidly toward me without respite.

As I approached him, I swung my sword like a madman to intercept his thorns.

Each time, I felt his firing speed increase.

‘Just a little bit more…’

I was so close.

If I could get a bit closer, I could take him down using Libero’s swordsmanship.

But then, at that moment.

Thud!

Something pierced through from my blind spot.

It was a thorn.

“Ugh…!”

It lodged itself firmly in my right arm.

But rather, it was a relief.

At least it was my arm that could still use Blood Magic.

‘But…’

I couldn’t endure as long as Luel.

The thorn acted as poison under Wilhelm’s will.

I had to take Wilhelm down before that happened.

‘Wind’s Power.’

I accelerated my speed even further.

And then held my sword in my left hand.

It would be tough to fend off all the thorns flying my way from now on.

But if I could just buy myself a little time, that would be enough.

It was really close now.

Thud.

Thud, thud, thud.

Thorns began to stick into me one by one.

But it was already too late.

Swish!

I struck down Wilhelm after that.

“ARRRGH!”

Wilhelm collapsed, blood gushing from the wound in his chest.

As I prepared to deliver a fatal blow to him… I lowered my sword.

‘Wilhelm?’

The thorns that were supposed to activate didn’t.

But Wilhelm wasn’t dead either.

‘Why?’

Approaching him, who seemed to have given up on any final struggles, I asked.

“Are you begging for your life?”

But he shook his head.

“No, kill me. My life never mattered anyway.”

“Then why did you hold back the effect of the thorns?”

He answered with a bitter expression.

“Because I lost.”

There was no will left in him.

Only the sorrowful figure of a man who had given up on everything remained.

That’s why I was curious.

“What exactly is it about beating me that has brought you to this point?”

The Wilhelm I knew was not like this.

He was just someone who quietly shot arrows.

At least not someone who would be emotionally barren and obsessively fixated on victory.

“I…”

In response to my question, Wilhelm slowly spoke as he died.

“I was jealous of you.”

“Jealous? Of what?”

He had defeated me in the Graduation Tournament.

Though he had some limitations to his growth, even considering that, he was stronger than me.

So what could he possibly be jealous of?

“…Perhaps it was the expectations. The expectations that were poured onto you. I never had those.”

His words were rather surprising.

But at the same time, it made sense.

‘He’s someone who has never received any expectations in his entire life.’

No matter how successful he was as an archer, he would never escape his family’s burdens.

The bar was set high.

By those around him, by his father, and by the Divine Seat.

But…

“I thought you were a smarter fellow.”

I was a bit disappointed.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It wasn’t because you were strong that you didn’t receive any expectations.”

“What?”

Of course.

“If you wanted to receive expectations, you should’ve shot arrows. At least pretend to be shooting them.”

Then Wilhelm gathered his last strength and raised his body.

With veins standing out from his neck, he shouted.

“What kind of nonsense is this all of a sudden?! Didn’t you see me shooting hundreds, thousands of arrows?!”

“So, was there any meaning behind those arrows?”

“Meaning?”

Suddenly, his expression turned pale.

“There was no meaning…”

There couldn’t have been.

It was just to improve his archery skills.

There had been no purpose behind it.

Of course…

“I believe there was meaning.”

The first meaning was that the strongest archer named Wilhelm was born.

But aside from that, what was important now was…

“Meaning can be created at any time.”

“It can be created any time?”

“Wilhelm, we have to stop the High Priest. If we don’t, the world will be destroyed.”

“What do you mean by that…”

He seemed momentarily flustered, but upon seeing my determined expression, he regained his composure.

“I understand. I’ll trust you for now.”

“Then, do you know what I expect from you?”

“You want me to kill the High Priest with the thorns, right?”

“Yes, you got it right.”

That was why I had taken the time to try to converse with him.

Because the thorns he had were a means to effectively kill the High Priest.

But he shook his head.

“…I’m sorry. I think that’s going to be difficult.”

“Wilhelm?”

“I used up all the thorns. Even the host that was left in my body. I was planning to stake everything on this fight anyway.”

Unfortunately, if that was the case, there was nothing I could do.

I hadn’t intended to rely solely on him either.

“I see.”

I left him and looked back to the front.

I needed to get back to the battlefield as soon as possible.

Rustle.

Then I heard a sound behind me.

Turning back, I saw Wilhelm pulling a bow from his Inventory.

“That’s…”

It was a bow that had been passed down through his family.

As he nocked an ordinary arrow, he said:

“Let the High Priest be killed by you. I’ll pave the way.”

His expression was more serious than ever.

He looked pale as if he might die at any moment, drawing the bowstring with all his strength.

And then…

The arrow was launched.

Though it was an ordinary arrow, to those watching, it felt like a shooting star.

An arrow crossing the enemy lines, creating a path.

That single shot was beyond anything I had ever imagined from Wilhelm.

“Wilhelm.”

I spoke to him, who collapsed after firing that arrow.

“That was more than I expected.”

He wouldn’t hear it, having lost consciousness as he fell.

I turned back, starting to run toward the path he had created.

We were now close to the High Priest.

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