### Chapter: 397
A small woman with fiery red hair tumbled through a space engulfed in white flame.
Abella was experiencing searing pain for the very first time in her life.
It was hot.
Too hot, in fact.
Kraush’s white flame penetrated her defenses and burrowed itself deep into her body.
The heat etched itself into her very soul, an inescapable sensation.
“Ugh, ughh.”
Even inhaling and exhaling felt overwhelming in the scorching heat, threatening to cloud her mind.
But it seemed like her consciousness wouldn’t be allowed to fade away.
As she met the white eyes glaring at her through the light, Abella felt unable to lose her sanity.
If you want to live, struggle!
It felt like that was the message he was conveying.
Kraush was closing in.
He raised his sword to end her life.
“No, no!”
She didn’t want to die.
This was a life she wasn’t meant to end like this.
And, for the first time, she began to struggle for her life.
Images of numerous spells raced through her mind, ready to counter him.
An endless array of incantations and magical circles filled her brain.
Even her genius-level intellect felt overwhelmed; she was bleeding from her nose and tears of blood streamed down.
But whatever flowed from her, thanks to the heat, simply evaporated into nothingness.
Abella accelerated her thinking.
She rifled through the vast library of magical knowledge within her mind until time itself seemed to freeze.
I must survive.
I have to do whatever it takes to live.
As her struggle intensified, ironically, her genius began to manifest as well.
In both emotion and life.
Abella, the ancient sorceress who had discarded everything and merely lived on curiosity and the desire for magic, felt alive for the first time.
In her youth, the driving force behind a child’s rapid growth stemmed from their sense of achievement and curiosity towards life.
Having lived far too long, Abella had interpreted magic as merely a milestone for her academic pursuits.
But at this moment, she was using magic solely for her survival after thousands of years.
This realization, combined with Abella’s inherent talent for magic, was pushing her into a new realm.
The transcendental stone touched Abella’s red eyes.
Her staff had already burned away by early evening, and all that remained in her hand was the transcendental stone.
Even in such heat, the transcendental stone proved its worth, maintaining its shape without burning away.
The transcendental stone bore certain similarities to the Holy Sword.
Like the awakening of the Holy Sword, the stone acted as a sort of catalyst for power.
This meant that if she utilized the transcendental stone...
It wasn’t impossible for her to access a domain similar to Kraush’s.
The mindset of doing anything to survive had already cast aside any notions of safety.
She needed to live in order to survive.
At this point, Abella’s humanity was completely stripped away.
Even if it meant sacrificing herself.
Abella’s body erupted with vast amounts of magical power.
Endless magic etched deep into her very soul through countless reincarnations.
All of this magic was now being sucked into the transcendental stone in this moment.
The light of the galaxy inscribed within the stone began to erupt violently.
The transcendental stone, which had consumed Abella’s sacrifices, unleashed power more overwhelming than ever before.
Abella reached this point in less than 0.1 seconds after being hit by Kraush’s white flames.
It was an absurd result born from her accelerated thoughts driven by survival instinct.
By the time Kraush registered this fact, he briefly felt the world halt.
As if the entire world was stunned by the birth of a vast being, time stood still.
In the eerie stillness of the surroundings, only Kraush moved.
Abella was standing where she once was.
The transcendental stone in her hand now radiated star-like brilliance, equal to Kraush’s white flames.
Kraush’s eyebrows twitched.
He sensed that she was making her last desperate attempt.
Countless lights filled the air above her.
As Abella’s hair grew longer, her star-studded red locks danced freely in the wind.
Within Abella’s eyes, a galaxy similar to the transcendental stone shimmered.
So in this one moment, Kraush felt no regret whatsoever.
“Stop it!”
Abella’s holy magic activated.
As the magic that could wipe out the world descended upon Kraush in that instant...
At the deepest part of Kraush’s mind, a final droplet of water fell.
And then, following the ensuing ripple...
Every life he had built up throughout his life screamed in unison.
Kraush stared directly at Abella, who was screaming in horror.
And he said to her:
Annihilation Erosion.
Essence of Extinction.
I will annihilate the witch of destruction.
———!
The white flames, which swallowed even sound, consumed the light of holy magic and erased everything.
Even Abella’s screams were devoured by the endlessly climbing white flames, reaching skyward towards all creation.
Crack, clang!
The holy magic circles that had filled existence shattered into fragments and faded away.
Slowly descending, a crystal-clear and bright blue sky appeared.
As if to declare that the world posed no more danger.
The hovering sky shone with clarity.
Beneath that sky, a man sat down.
Finally dropping the shattered sword, he gasped for breath.
As Kraush slowly raised his head, the bright blue sky seemed to welcome him with its light.
The last power he had unleashed merged with the world, dissolving into the air.
That spectacle was utterly beautiful.
A sense of unspeakable satisfaction filled his mouth.
Ah, I see now.
He realized that this was the feeling of accomplishment that one can achieve when attaining their only goal.
He protected it.
This damn world.
Kraush truly managed to protect it.
Upon this realization, he let out a self-deprecating laugh.
Yet, this sense of accomplishment was tinged with bitterness, still unresolved.
He couldn’t close his eyes before settling that score.
Kraush began to crawl towards his destination.
He had no strength left in his body.
His mind grew hazier by the second.
A deep sense of fatigue enveloped him; it felt almost profound enough to be considered the “deepest” in his life.
Yet, Kraush had to keep moving.
Finally, Kraush’s hand clutched a crystal orb.
The orb was none other than the transcendental stone Abella had crafted.
The transcendental stone into which she had poured her entire strength for holy magic.
It still contained an enormous amount of magical power.
With the crystal orb in hand, Kraush barely managed to catch his breath.
He then squeezed the last remnants of strength within him and poured it into the stone.
As a result, the transcendental stone began to glow anew.
Seeing this, Kraush inhaled deeply.
“You awful creature.”
Instead, he aimed to resurrect the one he had longed for.
“Let’s try to live a little better this time.”
Kraush activated the transcendental stone.
The light pouring from the stone enveloped the surroundings.
Soon after, Kraush watched as something began to form beyond the stone.
Starting from the organs, followed by muscles, bones, skin, and hair.
The moment it all connected, the being slowly opened its eyelids.
With golden eyes blinking, she scanned the area and finally locked eyes with Kraush.
“Kraush?”
The instant the voice escaped her lips, Kraush lost consciousness and collapsed.
“Kraush!”
Hearing her voice—the voice of the one he needed to save—Kraush finally fell into a peaceful slumber for the first time in ages.