Chapter 217
"Dodge!"
Yuri twisted her body abruptly.
It seemed almost impossible for such a massive body to avoid the attack, but she barely managed it. The enormous axe narrowly grazed past.
As Yuri stabilized herself to counterattack, the enemy teleported and reappeared before us. The gigantic Axe of Light was falling toward Yuri's body.
There was no way to evade this attack.
There wasn't even time to shout anything!
The moment the Axe of Light was about to fall!
Our entire party suddenly plummeted straight down as if the ground gave way. Realizing there was no way to avoid it, Yuri reverted to her girl form mid-fall.
Thanks to it, the Axe of Light that would have struck Yuri's back swept by harmlessly through the air. The enemy teleported again, appearing below me as we fell.
This time, he swung the Axe of Light up at me. I summoned the Sword of Rage as I plummeted, and struck away the incoming axe from below.
Kwaang—
A shockwave erupted, sending both of us flying. The enemy was the same; as we whirled through the air and came to a stop, I saw surprise flash in his eyes. He didn't know who I was.
He vanished again.
It was obvious he'd reappear behind me. I too read the flow of magic power and quickly teleported about thirty meters away.
At that instant, the enemy struck with the Axe of Light at the empty air where I just was. His eyes widened further. My strength hadn't been overpowered, and I had teleported as well!
"Who are you?!"
His shout resounded thunderously.
As everyone continued to fall, Yuri changed back into her dragon form and began catching our members one by one.
The moment his gaze locked onto Yuri!
This time, I approached the enemy.
Thunk—
I appeared beside him and swung my greatsword, but he blocked it. This Tak Apostle was stronger than the Gadisil Apostle—his strength was overwhelming.
Even when attacking, I found myself bounced away, and he teleported again, sticking close to me as I soared through the air. Then he vanished, and reappeared right before me.
With no time to react, the Axe of Light came down over my head. Again, I deflected it with the Sword of Rage.
Thunk—
This time, I ricocheted horizontally. In that exact moment! I caught a faint glimpse of his new figure beginning to materialize.
Thunk—
My greatsword pierced his side. I swung before he could even fully appear, and it landed successfully.
"Guh! Who are you?!"
Whether tumbling through midair,
or ambushed by teleportation,
it was just as hard to avoid!
Clutching the greatsword embedded in his side, he raised his hand. The axe he threw at Yuri earlier rapidly spun back toward him.
Crack—Crack!
Feigning ignorance, I pummeled his face wildly. Then, just as he reached for the axe!
I twisted away, blasting magic power from my left fist as I punched. His body turned too, causing the axe to gouge into his own shoulder.
Thunk—
"Guaaah!"
With that, I drew my Holy Sword and thrust it into his heart. Thump—a sound erupted as Eilin's holy arrow pierced into his back.
I shoved the Holy Sword deeper into his heart. This one, too, possessed Primordial Power, and was even more attuned to darkness. He was vulnerable to the pure holy power of light.
Thunk—
Next, a holy arrow lodged itself in his head. Suddenly, something detonated between us and flung us apart.
A violent gust then whirled me up into the air. A powerful whirlwind had exploded from his hand. His authority was the wind, just like the hero Tak.
Gadisil presided over ice. Tak over wind.
The last, Dran Apostle, would be gravity.
Swept upward by the vortex, a raging wind battered my body and slammed me down into the forest below. Even as I fell, I saw his actions.
He yanked out the greatsword from his side and threw it down, pulled the axe from his shoulder, but could not remove the Holy Sword from his heart. Then he vanished.
He reappeared above Eilin, who was firing holy arrows from atop the forest. There was no time to shout a warning. He swung his axe down at Eilin.
Kwang—
Eilin blocked the attack with a shield formed with her left hand, but was then hurled down toward the forest floor. He immediately leapt down, following her.
I too crashed into the forest. Amid the confusion, I grabbed a branch and halted my descent. Looking below, I saw my companions being swept away in the storm.
I intended to teleport to him right away, but teleporting inside the forest was extremely dangerous. There was a high chance of crashing straight into a tree.
Perhaps it was the holy power's influence.
He targeted only Eilin.
Our members rushed to intercept him.
But Eilin dodged with astonishing agility. It was hard to believe she was the same as she had been years ago.
I sprinted quickly as well.
Kwakwang—Crunch!
The enemy swung his axe relentlessly, felling thick trees in a single blow.
"If you die, garil dies as well!"
He shouted as he threw his axe. It was a close call each time, but Eilin dodged with ease. Unlike us, she didn't rely on brute force, but simply changed direction.
Garil, he called her.
It seemed to be the name of Elin's Apostle.
That's why he focused only on Eilin.
Although Eilin was fast, she inevitably could not outpace this so-called god. She once again blocked his descending axe with a shield of light.
Bang—
Eilin was blown fiercely backward.
He tried to pursue her but suddenly turned. Without a hint of presence, I'd flown at him.
Thunk—
He blocked the Sword of Light with his axe handle. But his magic power felt weaker than before. I hadn't been knocked away.
At the same time, I struck him with an intangible sword from my left hand! With my right hand, I drove the Holy Sword deeper into the heart lodged in him. It all happened at once.
"Guh!"
He faltered for a second. Then his axe was struck by two arrows of light and bounced away, while a holy arrow hit his head. The others threw themselves at him.
Thunk, thunk, thunk—
Just like before, holy swords drove into the Tak Apostle's body one after another. Eilin raced over, pulling out her holy sword, but I couldn't see the youngest of us.
"Nabak—where's Nabak?!"
"He went to destroy the altar!"
"Where is it?"
"Under the giant tree!"
Eilin, dashing, dove ahead. Then, gripping her holy sword with both hands, she swung with all her might.
Everyone ducked their heads.
Thunk-chunk—
Tak Apostle tried desperately to block Eilin's holy sword with his hand, but his wrist was severed and the blade sunk into his neck.
"Aargh!"
His scream filled the air.
Suddenly, the spirits swarmed in. They began to cling to the Tak Apostle's body, which had been impaled by the Holy Sword.
"Kyaaaah!"
The light of the spirits was infused with powerful holy energy. The holiness in the sword seeped into his neck and body like poison taking hold.
Pop-pop—
Finally, Tak Apostle detonated his magic power, but all that happened was everyone was blown backwards; nobody let go of their swords. His magic had greatly weakened after being struck in the heart by holy power.
Moreover, the spirits infused with holy power bound his body. If they could attack like this, why hadn't they done so until now? Maybe something had unsealed the spirits too.
With her eyes tightly shut, Eilin began to saw through his neck with the Holy Sword. What else could we do, when even a blade in his heart and an arrow through his head hadn't killed him?
While the spirits and we held him fast, Eilin used all her strength to cut through his neck. Even more spirits swarmed in, as if every spirit in this forest had descended.
Not long after, tens of millions of spirits clung to him and gathered around us. Their holy power amplified, further empowering Eilin's sword with even greater holiness.
The enemy, unable to even scream, endured it. He tried to blast us away with storm-force wind, but the spirits merely scattered and then re-converged. We held firm.
"Young master!"
From afar, Nabak came running toward us.
He must have destroyed the altar beneath the great tree. That must have allowed the spirits to gather holy power!
"The Guardian of the Tree is coming!"
"What's that?!"
"I don't know! After I destroyed the altar, some enormous being appeared—"
"Dodge!"
The shout had barely rung out when a massive, pitch-black object fell from the sky. It was a tremendously large foot of light. Everyone scattered to avoid it except for the Tak Apostle, who stood stunned.
KU-KWAANG—
The giant foot of black light stomped down on the Tak Apostle. It passed right through the tree, but stomped only his body, crushing it violently.
The huge black foot lifted and crashed down again fiercely. The Tak Apostle's body was now half-embedded under the enormous footprint.
KU-KWA-KWANG—
The colossal foot stomped him once more, then withdrew upward. Above the forest loomed a towering giant of light.
As if the giant was leaving the rest to us, we raced toward the enemy again. Even after being stomped by a foot larger than a building, the Tak Apostle's body was not destroyed—only his magic power vanished.
As he writhed, trying to rise, we threw ourselves at him and pinned him again. Eilin gripped the sword embedded in his neck and poured in even more holy power as she sawed through him once more.
This time, there was little resistance.
The sword struck bone with a chrrrk—then, with a thunk, his head was severed in an instant.
The thrashing enemy slumped limp at last.
The spirits that had poured in scattered at once in all directions. We all collapsed backward.
"Huff..."
Everyone sat, letting out deep breaths.
He was much tougher than the Gadisil Apostle. Without the spirits, we might have had to saw at his neck all day just to kill him.
His body, too, began to dissolve into dusts of light and seep into us. This was an even greater primordial holiness than the Gadisil Apostle's. I also felt the Authority of Wind infusing me.
"Could the heroes be descendants of the apostles?"
"Seems that way."
Like Aktun, Allen, and me. Rather than being born with unique abilities, the seven heroes inherited the bloodlines' power as descendants of the apostles.
The Tak Apostle's body fully dissipated into light and was entirely absorbed by us. The primordial power did not go to the spirits—perhaps because they had no bodies.
Unbearable torrents of magic power built in my body.
It was the same for the others. The unleashed magic was so much, it was nearly impossible to contain, even split among twelve of us.
It was utterly unlike the primordial power we'd accumulated as light and darkness. It felt as if we'd absorbed the essence of pure strength by drawing in the magic of Nature itself. Was this the true ancient power?
"Once we catch the Dran Apostle, things will change."
"We have to deal with him this time."
"We must. We also have to prevent the Demon King's descent."
The desert lands I saw in the temple. That's where the Dran Apostle must be. If we caught that one, only the human apostle-turned-Demon King would remain. There would still be plenty of high-ranking devils, of course.
We all got up and headed toward the altar.
After walking for a while, we came upon the colossal base of a giant tree. At its foot was a shattered altar.
It was just like the magic array in Rac's temple. Dark power rose from the array as if a barrier had once been set. Its destruction seemed to have released the holy power.
As we stared up at the tree—
A light descended from high among the boughs.
That light enveloped Eilin.
In that moment, Eilin began to rise gently into the air. She briefly lost consciousness, then slowly straightened herself as she revived. Hovering, she gazed down at us.
― Thank you.
Something had entered Eilin.
Could it be Elin's Apostle?
"Who are you?"
Eilin smiled as she spoke.
― My name is Garil.
"Are you the Apostle of Elin?"
― Yes, I am.
"What sort of being is a god's Apostle?"
― We are those who convey the will of the deity to all races. Roger, for you, think of us as angels; it may make it clearer.
So apostle meant angel.
The other apostles had become fallen angels.
Just like Lucifer.
"Have you awakened?"
― Yes. Because of a curse of darkness, I was a being neither dead nor alive, sealed in this tree.
"What is your connection to Eilin?"
― Our souls are bound to this tree of Osu. It is the same for you.
"What do you mean?"
Eilin smiled again.
To be precise, it was Elin's Apostle.
― You were Rod. He reincarnated as you. My remaining in this tree was to link your souls.
I was at a loss for words.
I was Rod?
Elin's Apostle continued.
― Eilin is the reincarnation of Ailin, who was Rod's wife and the hero of Elin. You and Eilin endured countless reincarnations and hardships for over a thousand years, finally meeting once again in Rac.
Eilin's tears were streaming.
A great warmth welled in my chest.
She reached her hand out to me.
Through that hand, it was being conveyed—
Countless lives flashed before my eyes.
And the clearest memory remained.
Yes.
Even in a previous life, Eilin was by my side.
As Ailin.
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