"Stellar Empire…"
Seeing the man appear, Zoe, teeth clenched, whispered as she stood up and assumed a combat stance, gripping her Katana tightly. As the other youths in the hallway solemnly took up their weapons, the man with stars in his eyes looked up at the ceiling and let out a heavy sigh before speaking in a melancholic voice.
"You truly are impressive… Whether by luck or ability, you managed to uncover secrets of this place that we could not… You know, the little trap you set on the sacrificial altar almost cost the Demon General his life… If he weren't a user with a unique Light affinity, he would have died there… You caught him completely off guard… But even though he survived that, he couldn't survive facing you… You really do things that would be impossible for me, one after another…"
Speaking in a way that seemed more like he was verbalizing an internal monologue than communicating, the man with starry eyes lowered his head to look at the wolves protecting Erik. The wolves were carefully trying to drag Erik further back with Elara's help. With a calm smile, the man commented while staring intently at Erik's hair.
"Don't bother, there's no escape now… This is the end. We win."
"Elara, fall back!! Vanguard, with me!!"
Tomás quickly shouted at the top of his lungs as his mana vibrated at full power, then launched himself toward the man with starry eyes at a terrifying speed, disappearing from everyone's sight. Behind Tomás, at least a dozen youths, holding various types of weapons, followed him with solemn expressions. Simultaneously, the mages raised their staffs and conjured barriers while all kinds of projectiles shot toward the enemy.
With an incredibly calm expression, the man snapped his fingers. At that moment, eight small magic circles formed in eight directions around him, while a ninth, large one formed in front of him. From the small circles, electrical discharges appeared, striking Tomás and all the knights trying to attack him in close combat, leaving them paralyzed.
At the same time, from the large magic circle in front, a huge burst of fire formed, soon transforming into a wall of flames that easily stopped the combined attacks of the hundred genius youths assaulting him. In his paralyzed state, Tomás looked at the man with starry eyes with disbelief, then murmured in a barely audible voice.
"Sage-level..."
"Really, there's no point. Once I found you, the game was over."
The man with starry eyes commented in a relaxed, casual voice, then snapped his fingers again. This caused chains of electricity to materialize around Tomás and the vanguard team, while dozens of threatening, huge magic circles appeared above the rest of the group.
"I can give you a quick and painless death, or I can cast a bodily prison curse on you, so you feel the entire sacrificial process. The choice is yours. Though if you hand over the statue you stole and that starry-haired boy, I might consider letting you live."
The young man commented calmly while scanning the expressions of terror and helplessness on the faces of the present youths. Upon hearing his words, many of those present couldn't help but turn to look at the half-dead youth protected by the wolves while gripping their weapons tightly. Filled with rage, Zoe stepped forward with Hiyori, and as her mana surged wildly, to the point her hair moved as if in a tornado, she said in a serious voice.
"Each and every person here was saved by Erik, so you'll have to go over my dead body first to lay a single finger on him."
"Impressive, truly impressive. Worthy of the Arcane Order's pride." The man with starry eyes commented calmly while looking at Zoe, but at that moment, a slightly mocking smile formed on his face, and he added in an eerie voice.
"But in the face of absolute power, all that pride and bravery are meaningless. Against strength, no matter how much the weak struggle, they cannot change anything."
When he finished speaking, the young man snapped his fingers once more, activating one of the magic circles in the air, creating a terrifying spear of fire aimed directly at Zoe. But at that instant, a strange tremor passed through everyone present, leaving them slightly dazed, as if space itself were shaking.
This strange tremor caused the magic circles to shatter, along with the lightning chains imprisoning Tomás and the rest of the vanguard. Meanwhile, the man with starry eyes couldn't help but look around with eyes wide in surprise as small cracks formed in space itself.
Along with those cracks, everyone present began to move clumsily, clearly dizzy. In that instant, a kind of strange dark droplets began to form from the cracks. Though more than dark, the droplets seemed like 'holes' in reality itself. Simultaneously, tears began to fall from the eyes of the dizzy youths, while expressions of profound sadness and pain formed on their faces.
Feeling an overwhelming existential sadness consuming him, the man with starry eyes brought his hands to his face, and upon noticing he was crying without realizing it, he couldn't help but whisper in disbelief.
"The Void's Lament…"
As terrifying memories returned to his mind, the man with starry eyes couldn't help but look at Erik and murmur in a voice filled with terror, anger, and deep sadness.
"It really is you… The Calamity of the Myst was your fault… And even in this 'Myst Prison,' the calamity descended to protect you…"
As he whispered, the man with starry eyes began to lose focus, as if his mind were fading. But at that instant, the young man bit his tongue hard, the pain and blood forcefully bringing him back to his senses. A determined expression formed on his face.
While spitting out a large mouthful of blood, the young man pulled several large leather scrolls from his storage bag and scattered them throughout the hallway. As they moved through the air, the leather scrolls unrolled by themselves, and large quantities of mana crystals inside began to turn to dust while the leather started to shine intensely.
"History will not repeat itself!! This time we prepared thoroughly, damn sacrifice!!!"
With an expression bordering on madness, the young man shouted with all his might while taking a dagger from his waist and making deep cuts on his wrists. Moving his arms erratically, he managed to get his blood to reach the now-glowing leather scrolls, which fell to the floor fully extended and shining brightly.
With the touch of the blood, the leather on the floor began to change, revealing incredibly complex magic circles tattooed all over its surface, which started to release a blinding, iridescent light. Soon, amidst the flash of iridescent light, sounds of bodies hitting the floor began to resonate until the brilliance finally faded.
Without the glow, it was possible to see all the youths from the different factions and the wolves on the floor, unconscious. Meanwhile, the man with starry eyes was still standing, his cut wrists releasing large quantities of blood onto the floor, as he looked around solemnly. Soon, the young man could see he was surrounded by several pillars of iridescent light mixed with dark hues, which were forcefully closing the cracks.
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Seeing that it had worked, the young man couldn't help but laugh madly, releasing a flood of complex feelings that had been swirling in his chest for a long time. After laughing for several minutes, the young man finally calmed down, then scanned all the unconscious youths with his gaze before focusing on Erik.
Unconcerned with the wounds on his wrists, the young man walked with firm steps toward Erik, leaving a trail of blood in his wake, soon arriving before him. With a complex expression, the man looked Erik up and down. Although his face was almost charred and unrecognizable, the man with starry eyes couldn't help but comment in a heavy voice.
"You really look like her… You have her hair, her nose, her lips, her eyes… You really didn't take anything from that old bastard…" As he spoke, melancholy seemed to consume the young man. After a few seconds, he began to speak, somewhat lost in his memories as the cracks in the void closed completely.
"You know, Erik… Under different circumstances, you would have been my son… From the first time I saw your mother, it was love at first sight… Her beauty completely captivated me, so much so that on more than one occasion I wanted to run away with her and leave everything behind… But I couldn't… I could only stand by and watch helplessly as that damned old man took her and got her pregnant… I couldn't do anything… Nothing…"
As he spoke, perhaps affected by everything that had happened or feeling relaxed after finally winning, the man's voice cracked slightly, and tears began to fall from his eyes again. But even so, he kept speaking, or rather, expressing a monologue that had been swirling in his head for who knows how long.
"Everything was my fault… If I hadn't found that damned mausoleum… If I had burned that damned book… None of this would have happened… I would have inherited the throne, and although I never could have reached Sage-level before 600 years, I would have been the emperor, your mother would have been my empress, and you the crown prince… We would have been happy… So many people wouldn't have had to die… I'm sorry…"
Tears filled with infinite feelings fell from the face of the man apologizing to no audience, who soon fell silent, sobbing. After a few minutes, the man with starry eyes began to wipe away his tears with his hands, as his wrists had almost completely healed. After wiping away the tears, the man let out a long sigh, then commented in a dry voice.
"But there's no turning back now. She died, and also you have to die. Now that I'm Sage-level, it won't be too hard to finish off that old bastard and take control of the empire. But don't worry, I'll make sure to create ceremonial tombs for you and your mother in the imperial mausoleum. Your sacrifices were essential for the future prosperity of the Stellar Empire and will be remembered for all eternity as her—"
"Ha… Ha… Ha…"
While the man with starry eyes was speaking, he was suddenly interrupted by an eerie, slow, and dark voice that somehow made all his hair stand on end. Feeling a terror born from the deepest part of his being, the man with starry eyes looked at Erik's face and found him with his eyes open, staring with his lightless green eyes.
"So it was you all… Now I understand everything… That's why my master put it that way…"
In a hoarse voice, almost unintelligible due to his destroyed throat, Erik commented, looking the man with starry eyes up and down. Then, looking directly into those eyes full of stars, Erik commented as a smile full of mockery and contempt formed on his face.
"But to think you could be my father? Ha… Ha… Ha… That was impossible from the start. A cowardly piece of trash like you could never be my father… Besides, it's not your turn to kill me either…"
"…"
Upon hearing Erik's words, the man with starry eyes fell silent as his gaze turned deadly cold. He extended his right index finger toward Erik. A small magic circle formed in front of the finger, releasing electric sparks, and soon a sphere of pure electricity formed. But as if unaware death had arrived, Erik looked up at the ceiling and asked with a twisted smile on his charred face.
"Isn't that right, Ebonique?"
At that instant, the man's eyes opened with absolute disbelief as colossal fangs pierced the walls like butter and closed over him. Before the man could even react, the fangs reached him, trapping him from the waist up, while Erik, with his nearly blinded eyes, watched the colossal black-scaled dragon maw closing over the man.
A few moments later, the colossal maw rose into the air, leaving behind the lower half of the man, which released a geyser of blood into the air as sunlight streamed into the hallway. With the sky above him, Erik couldn't help but smile softly upon seeing how that seemingly immovable mountain had been destroyed with a single bite by the colossal black dragon standing proudly.
But at the same time, his multiple wounds finally extinguished the last shred of consciousness in Erik, who slowly closed his eyes with a peaceful expression as if falling into a sweet slumber.
Soon, the imposing black dragon began to fade, at which point a simple, unadorned spear materialized from the void, with a black wooden shaft and a crimson metal tip. From its tip erupted a sea of fire that surrounded all those present.
***
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