Chapter 679

Chapter 679

Crossroads. Atop the rampart.

"Haah, haah..."

Dusk Bringar exhaled heavily.

She had barely managed to block Night Bringer's fifth breath attack just moments ago.

While Night Bringer's breath was overpoweringly strong, Dusk Bringar could withstand it with the aid of all the remaining magic support and recovery support artifacts at the Crossroads.

Crackle, crackle...

However, the artifacts were all destroyed.

"..."

Dusk Bringar, looking exhausted, staggered down from the rampart.

As she descended, smoke trailing from her small frame, the soldiers saluted her in unison.

Dusk Bringar smiled bitterly, returned their salute, and staggered on.

"You've worked hard, Duchess."

Below the rampart, Evangelin spoke with a worried tone.

After the negotiations with the kings, Lucas had become the captain of the special task force, and Evangelin had taken over as the acting commander.

Evangelin was now in charge of the overall command of the frontline troops.

It was also Evangelin who had ordered the replacement of the original defensive artifacts with those focusing on magical and physical recovery.

Her decision proved to be correct, as Dusk Bringar had somehow managed to hold on.

Whether she could continue to do so was uncertain...

Dusk Bringar simply nodded without speaking, and Evangelin hesitated to say more, opting instead for a silent salute.

Dusk Bringar walked away. Evangelin, watching her go, turned her head to the side.

"And to all in the reconnaissance unit, thank you for giving your best in the tasks assigned to you."

The soldiers of the reconnaissance unit, who had reported the breath of the Black Dragon, stood there.

Had the reconnaissance unit not reported with perfect timing, the defense could have been much harder.

That’s why Evangelin was truly grateful to them.

Under the acting commander’s commendation, the soldiers of the reconnaissance unit bowed their heads. Evangelin continued,

"However, the reconnaissance unit will no longer be operated. From now on, the long-range observation unit will take over scouting the Black Dragon, so you all should rest and stand by."

"What? But, Miss Evangelin... no, acting commander."

The leader of the reconnaissance unit cautiously offered his view.

"The darkness is too thick for the long-range observation unit to see properly; that's why we were deployed as a close-range scouting unit, taking the risk. Even if you deploy the long-range observation unit again, how will they..."

"Don't worry about that. Damian, the sniper unit leader, has agreed to join the observation unit."

Hearing this, everyone opened their mouths slightly in surprise.

Far-sight holder. Damian.

If the best sniper on the frontline, with humanity’s finest eyes, observes through that darkness, he will undoubtedly see through it.

"The closest observation tower will have the sniper unit leader scouting the movements of the Black Dragon. So don't worry about the scouting mission, and since you've been exposed to the malevolent energy of the wicked dragon for so long... take a rest."

Having said that, Evangelin awkwardly smiled.

"I’m relieved you all came back safe. It was a very dangerous mission, and I was really worried."

"The truth is, we almost got wiped out..."

The scouts of the reconnaissance unit glanced at each other.

"Someone... saved us."

"What? Someone did?"

"Yes. Due to the evil aura of the Black Dragon, we couldn’t open our eyes, so we couldn’t clearly see who it was..."

The scouts nodded.

"It was a very familiar voice... but as if hearing it for the first time, it was a strange experience."

"Did he say who he was?"

"Well, that's..."

The last veteran scout to retreat relayed the man’s words.

"He said he was a very old, colleague of ours..."

"A very old colleague...?"

Evangelin tilted her head in confusion.

"Where is he now?"

"He seemed to have stayed there. It looked like he was walking toward the Black Dragon alone..."

"Going to the Black Dragon alone...?"

Evangelin murmured uncertainly.

"Who would, why...?"

That's when it happened.

Thump-!

Listening from down the hallway, Dusk Bringar suddenly sprinted, pushing off the ground urgently.

"Duchess?!"

With a sense of foreboding, Evangelin hastily followed. Cheêck out latest novels at novelhall.com

Despite her injuries, Dusk Bringar sprinted agilely and reached the teleportation gate, flinging open the magical door.

Whoooosh-!

From beyond the completed magical portal, a surging black malice poured in.

With dragon wings made of magical power unfurled behind him, Ash soared into the sky.

From the high sky, paused in mid-air, Ash taunted,

"Kekekeke, hahaha-! Good. Struggle more, flail about more-!"

Night Bringer unleashed a torrent of laughter as it deployed every means of attack.

Feathers shot out wildly along with magic, sound waves, magical energy, and manifested darkness tangled complexly like a spider web filling the sky.

Without hesitation, Ash plunged into that web-like barrage.

Whoosh-!

Falling from a dizzying height, Ash emitted black flames from every possible part of his body—fingertips, toes, elbows, shoulders—like the flames from a spaceship’s thrusters.

Using the recoil of those flames to minutely twist and adjust his trajectory, he swam through the air, smoothly descending. Ash narrowly avoided every attack unleashed by Night Bringer.

As he performed acrobatics, Ash dropped right above Night Bringer’s head.

Seeing Night Bringer genuinely admiring him, Ash cheekily winked.

"I was known as a great dancer in the social circles of the Imperial Court."

Then Ash took the posture of drawing a bow, aimed at Night Bringer's face.

Magical energy condensed in mid-air, transforming into the shape of a bow, string, and arrow. The arrowhead was loaded with the blood droplet and conceptual poison he had extracted earlier.

He aimed at— the eye.

It was much less defended than other parts and closer to the brain.

In a previous iteration where he had used poison, he had killed it by administering the poison through the eye.

The aim was perfect, and the poison was potent. Ash was confident.

This is it—caught!

"...?!"

But in the next moment.

His vision went blindingly white, and dizziness assaulted him.

Suddenly dizzy, Ash couldn't breathe properly. The aim of the arrowhead faltered.

‘What?’

Only then did Ash realize.

Blood was trickling down his nose.

‘What's going on all of a sudden—’

A moment of confusion passed, and Ash, regaining his senses, once again directed the arrowhead at Night Bringer's eye, but.

"That's not going to work."

The Black Dragon was an opponent who must not be given even a moment's lapse.

"You took your eyes off me."

Flash-!

Ancient magics, reloaded in the meantime, were fired like cannonballs from either side of the Black Dragon’s head.

As he had done before, Ash tried to dispel these magics with his eyes, but,

"...Huh?"

His mind felt foggy.

He needed to construct a counter-spell formula in response to the incoming magic, but nothing came to mind properly.

In the end.

Blam! Blam!

He was bombarded with the ancient magic, unable to dispel it.

"Ugh...?!"

The bow and arrow, loaded with poison, broke, and Ash, bloodied, crashed to the ground.

Thud...!

"Haah, haah, cough!"

Ash dropped right in front of Night Bringer and desperately tried to get up. But his sense of balance was off.

The world spun around. Nausea surged, and memories flickered and mixed before his eyes.

Touching his forehead, oozing with blood, Ash momentarily thought.

What was I doing here?

With trembling arms, he supported himself on the ground, and a defeated smile appeared on Ash’s lips as he spat blood violently from his charred body.

"Damn... so that's how it is..."

Ash realized he had misjudged the situation.

He had thought he had at least one day's time. It was the minimum estimate based on his long experience.

12 hours had passed since he woke up, so he guessed there would be at least another 12 hours of reprieve.

But that wasn't the case.

Just 12 hours—

The worn-out soul that had once been shattered and then patched back together could only endure for so long, and it had already exceeded that limit.

Struggling to grasp his fading self, slipping through his fingers like sand... Ash gritted his teeth and glared straight ahead.

"Why do you do this, player?"

Night Bringer, lowering its long neck, whispered in a seemingly affectionate tone.

"If this is the end of the encore, it's a bit disappointing."

--TL Notes--

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at /MattReading