Chapter 122 – End of the Battle

Chapter 122 – End of the Battle

— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —

Ensuring my mana had remained stable after launching my attack, I then leaped forward, closing the distance between the two of us as I attacked once again.

Unfortunately, this time, Laplace was ready for it, and was able to perfectly parry my strike to the side, causing my mana to waver as I did so.

Control... keep it steady, Leon.

Taking a short breath to steady myself, I noticed that Laplace had become absolutely incensed, his eyes glaring daggers into me as he readied his arms.

Well... with the North God seemingly still out of commission for the moment, I suppose I should give his school a moment to shine.

“You look angry, Laplace... why are you so mad?” I asked, my lips quirking up in a smirk. “I even waited for you to regrow your arms before attacking again. Shouldn’t you be thanking me for being so kind?”

My taunt seemed to work perfectly, as his teeth gnashed together while his admittedly handsome face twisted into an ugly frown.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, human!” he shouted, the aura around him crackling as his mana output increased. “Your breakthrough means nothing in front of me!”

And with that, he pressed forward, his arm thrusting towards me as I barely managed to deflect it to the side.

First Orsted, and now Laplace... did all the dragonfolk love to use their hands as weapons?

But more importantly... I felt it just now.

Despite being able to replicate his technique, Laplace was still stronger than me.

Of course, the difference in mastery and experience probably had something to do with it, but more importantly, Laplace had more mana... and at its foundation, his mana was stronger than mine.

But I could match up to him.

After all, while I didn’t have his ridiculous mana, I did have something else... touki.

And so, as I swiped my sword to the side, I concentrated on my touki, forcing all of it outward as I melded it with my mana, keeping hold of its structure as I once again willed my mana to clash together in an explosion, this time adding in some touki as well.

And with a bang, an explosion erupted from my blade, creating a flash of light as the force sent Laplace careening backwards once more.

The power was so much that it even made me fly backwards, forcing me to correct the course of my fall with wind magic to remain upright, landing next to Rudy and Orsted were, behind where the main fight was taking place.

This fight had already stretched pretty far away from the original seal... I could see how that ravine a week’s distance away was created in the same battle.

“Leon... you are certainly a ridiculous man,” Orsted said, looking at me with admiration. “Something like that isn’t meant to be used by a human... I had thought it was impossible.”

Was it really something so amazing?

I mean... I was practically doing the same thing as always, just now I was using more of my mana.

But still, the compliment was nice.

“Leon Greyrat... I am glad to have fought with you,” Perugius said in a praising tone. “Unfortunately, Arumanfi and Fury have already perished, so for now, the three of you are on your own. I will also stay back and provide as I have been.”

Really?

I hadn’t even noticed that Arumanfi had gotten killed.

Turning back to where Laplace had been sent flying, I watched as the North God and Ruijerd continued distracting Laplace, being a bit more careful to not get hit like before.

But still... they couldn’t do that for long.

Even if Laplace now had another line of blood across his chest from my last strike, he was still too overwhelmingly strong.

“Leon... that attack you just performed... do it once more,” Perugius said, causing me to look back at him. “At a critical moment, I will drain his mana. It won’t be enough to harm him, nor would I be able to deplete his reserves due to his control, but it will be enough to give you an opening. Use that moment to end this fight once and for all.”

So he could do something like that... well, I could only hope so, since it seemed that Rudy’s attempts with disturb magic hadn’t been working.

“Got it,” I replied.

“Good,” he nodded. “Then, go forward.”

And I did just that.

My vision blurring, I appeared before Laplace in an instant, his arm poised to strike Ruijerd with a blow that would do more than just rough him up like he had been thus far.

I... wasn’t quite confident in using this new technique of mana far away from my body yet, especially since I didn’t know if Laplace could still overwhelm it with control, so instead, I simply stretched my arm out to block, sending a shockwave that rippled across the ground as Laplace’s hand stopped against my palm.

“You...” Laplace muttered as he glared at me.

Yes, me.

Taking the moment of opportunity, Ruijerd’s spear launched forward to strike Laplace’s side, but as expected, it wasn’t able to do any damage.

But just like with the original battle that sealed Laplace... his attack was enough for a distraction, allowing the North God to pounce on Laplace from behind.

Aleksander’s sword ripped through the air towards Laplace’s neck as the gravity magic held the Demon God in place, allowing me to momentarily back off as Laplace was forced to block the strike.

Okay... let’s do this.

Perugius chose that moment to act, as an instant later, a portal similar to the dragon gate spell appeared behind Laplace, his eyes widening as the air shook.

And I saw it.

The overwhelmingly powerful veil of mana that coated his body, saving him from any fatal strike that could reach him... it wavered.

And just like I had said I would, I did not let the moment pass.

Leaping forward through the air, I thrust my sword forward, infusing as much touki and mana as I could into the blade as I prepared my final strike.

But oddly enough... I didn’t even have to use it.

I expected Laplace to blow the North God away and hastily defend against me, where I would then parry him and morph my strike into my Elemental God style technique that I used to defeat the Water God.

But instead...

Shlick!

Instead... my sword ran right through his chest.

Huh?

That... seemed much too easy.

And Laplace... his mana had completely disappeared, even the mana surrounding him.

Was... was Perugius’ spell stronger than he expected?

No... I had a feeling it wasn’t that.

My thoughts were interrupted as Laplace placed his hand on my shoulder, causing me to look up at the man.

His face was set in an incredibly angry frown as he held something in his hand.

A... necklace?

And why was it so full of mana?

It was as if Laplace had moved all of his mana to that for some reason...

“You...” he spat with fury, his words making me freeze in place. “Die with me, in the land of my people... human.”

— Sylphiette Greyrat —

“Mama Sylphy!” Aria said as she ran over to me, pulling Anna along behind her.

Putting down my knitting needles, a hobby I had decided to start after Lilia gifted me a set, I looked down to answer the rambunctious child.

“What is it, sweetie? And don’t run inside,” I lightly chided her.

With a relaxed atmosphere falling onto the room, I couldn’t help but smile as I began to think about... everything.

How well everyone got along, especially the four of us women.

How happy and healthy the children were growing up to be.

The few friends I had begun to gain around the neighbourhood and at Ariel’s side, such as Isolte.

It was all like a dream.

A beautiful, unimaginably incredible dream.

I then looked outside, watching as Anna swung her wooden sword with as much concentration as she could, trying to strike the floating balls of water that Aria had conjured.

Was... was that considered training, or playing?

Well, either way, I was glad they were having fun.

We were all having fun, being happy... and that didn’t seem like it would be changing in the future.

It was the perfect family.

One that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

But as nice as this was... there was just one thing missing.

Leon.

The night’s had been lonely as well, even though Ariel had decided to vent out some of her frustrations on me last night... and even though it had only been a short while, I missed his touch quite a bit.

My cheeks began to heat up in embarrassment.

Jeez, what was I even thinking?

Despite being a grown woman with a child, and having done the deed so many times by now, I still acted like an innocent maiden when it came to my husband.

Although... it was Leon’s fault for always making me excited even now.

Truly...

“I can’t wait until you’re back home,” I whispered, looking into the sky to the east.

— Rudeus Greyrat —

The moment Leon ran his sword through Laplace’s chest, both Orsted and Perugius, who were beside me, froze in shock.

I guess it would be a surprise to anyone to see the once seemingly impenetrable Demon God be taken down by my brother’s sword, but I had somewhat expected it.

Leon was just that incredible, after all.

I was about to make a comment of praise for my dear brother, but before I could, a large flash erupted across the land, with Leon and Laplace at its source.

There was no force or wind pressure, just... light.

And more importantly, after the flash died down, where there used to be the two combatants locked in an intense battle, there was now... nothing.

No Laplace, and more worrying, no Leon.

What?

I quickly activated my demon eye of foresight, pushing it to look a second into the future as I filled it with more mana.

Nothing.

I pushed it to five seconds.

Nothing.

Ten.

Nothing.

Twenty-

“Blurgh-!”

I cut off the flow of mana into my eye as I vomited onto the ground, the numerous blurs and overwhelming amount of information having given me an immense feeling of nausea.

I guess even outside of combat, pushing it that far was asking too much.

But still... what the hell happened?

Where were they?

Did Perugius or someone teleport them?

No... he said that this land was too unstable for teleportation magic.

But then... where were they?

Where was Leon?

I was beginning to get a bit anxious now.

“I... cannot believe it,” Orsted said in disbelief, his words causing me to turn and look at him.

Taking off his helmet, I was met with a face of absolute shock, an emotion I had seen the Dragon God exhibit a few times by now, but never to this extent.

“W-What happened, Orsted?” I asked.

“He... Laplace... he activated the sacred treasure,” Orsted said, still stunned.

What?

The sacred treasure?

Like... the sacred treasure this whole battle was essentially for?

The one that would help them reach the Man-God?

I felt a pit form in my stomach, not helped by the frustration and disappointment that was beginning to creep onto Orsted’s face.

“What... what does that mean?” I asked.

Orsted clenched his teeth as he looked downward.

“The treasure... the one Laplace held... it is now all but lost,” he said, shaking his head. “I would have never thought Laplace would do such a thing, even when pitted against such odds...”

The pit in my stomach was growing heavier by the second, gnawing at me as another wave of nausea began to creep up my throat, this time caused by worry.

“I don’t care about that, or the treasure!” I shouted, ignoring Ruijerd and the North God as they headed towards us. “What happened to my brother!”

Orsted let out a frustrated sigh as he looked at me, his face shrouded in a disappointed frown.

And also... one of pity.

One of loss.

Hey... no, don’t tell me-

“Your brother, Leon Greyrat...” he said, his tone hollow yet no less severe. “He... is dead.”

...

And thus, the battle that finally rid the world of the Demon God Laplace had concluded... and with it, marked the day that Leon Anemoi Greyrat, the King of Asura and the Elemental God... left this world.

— End of Arc 7 - Laplace —