Chapter 570: Pieces (8)

Mio couldn’t even take a moment to breathe under Valencia’s incessant assault, so the appearance of the Freedom Blade was like salvation for Mio.

‘Freedom Blade... Jun-Ho?’

Mio smiled sweetly upon seeing the flying swords.

The Freedom Blade granted Mio a moment of freedom.

‘These flying swords are here, so Jun-Ho must be nearby.’

Mio grew lively with anticipation. She was exhausted from the successive battles, and she was running out of magic. However, Seo Jun-Ho’s impending arrival vanquished the despair in her heart and filled it with hope.

‘I can hold out just a bit longer....’

Mio held her swords tightly and bravely cut down the thorns along with the flying swords. However, her expression darkened thirty minutes later.

‘How come...?’

Seo Jun-Ho still hadn’t arrived. The flame of resistance she had ignited was waning in front of Valencia’s fierce and endless attacks.

Slice! Slice! Slice!

Meanwhile, Seo Jun-Ho’s flying swords wordlessly protected Mio and Mr. Shoot.

Mio stared deeply at the flying swords, and her eyes abruptly widened. “Ah!”

‘Why am I such a fool? I can’t believe that I did not notice it right away... I wasted half an hour.’

Mio finally realized that the flying swords had only been defending them.

‘This is... the best that he can do...’ Mio bit her lips. ‘I’m an idiot.’

She thought she knew better than anyone else that Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t an omnipotent god who could take care of everyone.

‘I’m ashamed.’

Mio was ashamed that she thought of leaning on Seo Jun-Ho rather than handling the situation by herself, just like those people she disliked. Mio blushed from the shame.

‘Jun-Ho is strong enough to freeze the entire castle and shatter it at once.’’

Mio presumed that the reason he hadn’t done that was that Mr. Shoot and her would also die if he were to kill Valencia that way.

‘Then, why? Why on earth did he send these flying swords to me?’

At first, Mio thought that the flying swords were Seo Jun-Ho’s message to her, saying that she should wait because he was coming.

However, she had already realized that she was mistaken.

‘To say that he sent these swords just to support me...’

The flying swords were too passive to be considered support. Mio observed the way the swords were moving and finally saw through Seo Jun-Ho’s intentions.

‘He’s buying me time while protecting us. Jun-Ho wants me to do something.’

The swords were waiting for Mio.

They had been anxiously waiting for something.

‘But... what are they waiting for?’ Mio was exhausted and was running low on magic.

‘Do these swords want me to kill Valencia by myself?’

Mio would have done that long ago if she could do it herself. Unfortunately, there was an endless amount of thorny bushes, and their regeneration rate was absurd as well.

‘It’s impossible.’ There was no way Mio could break through the thorns, considering her current physical condition. “Yes, it’s impossible by myself.”

Mio examined herself and soon reached a conclusion.

‘I might be able to come up with one more attack if I pour out everything I have with all my might.’ Unfortunately, she no longer had enough magic to use Sword Kinesis. ‘I have to do it myself.’

In other words, Mio would die if she failed, but she wasn’t afraid.

‘And it’s all because I’m actually not alone, even though I’m alone.’

Seo Jun-Ho was supporting her.

“It is said that there is no heaven for a coward.”

In other words, one had to be brave to reach heaven.

Mio lifted her swords.

“Heup!” Mio inhaled sharply, and her figure blurred as she squeezed out every single magic particle floating about in her magic circuit.

Mio’s voice was filled with determination as she said, “Tenmei Mio, you got this!”

***

“Yes, that’s it.”

“Um... this?” Christin was drinking water using a water canteen. ”Are you thirsty?”

He held out the water canteen to Specter.

“Sigh.” Specter shook his head with a light sigh and closed his eyes.

‘Finally, Mio has shown me her determination.’

It was a difficult decision to make because she was basically gambling with her life.

However, Mio had made that decision because she had complete trust in him.

‘I guess I have to respond to her faith.’

Specter urged his magic circuits, and a tempest of magic emerged from him.

Christin was horrified at the sight. ‘W-what is that...?’

The amount of magic that Specter had squeezed out of his magic circuits seemed like it was enough for Specter to dominate the world.

Seo Jun-Sik learned many different techniques under Sung-Jun’s tutelage, but Seo Jun-Sik prioritized learning the intricacies of Overclocking more than anything else.

‘Overclock is effective in amplifying my power itself, but...’

However, Sung-Jun’s Overclocking focused on the bigger picture than just amplifying his power.

He had been using it in tandem with the Black Moon Heart Method.

Specter took a deep breath. The Black Moon Heart Method allowed Specter access to an infinite amount of magic, but the human vessel could only contain so much magic.

In other words, there was a limit to how much magic Specter could accommodate.

‘However, Overclocking briefly breaks that limit.’ The magic in the air gleefully responded to Specter’s call. ‘I usually don’t accommodate this much magic, but I have to do it today.’

Overclocking had strengthened his magic circuit, so he could accommodate a larger amount of magic than usual. ‘It’s okay, even if it’s just for a moment. Even a second is fine. It will be fine, so let me embrace the world for a moment.’

Specter’s eyelids opened, revealing a pair of golden eyes underneath.

“Dignity of an Emperor.”

Dignity of an Emperor (S) raised his Stage and allowed him to embrace the world.

‘I see it.’

Specter’s naked eyes took in the whirlwind of magic that had surrounded him.

Christin went beyond pallid at the terrifying sight. He reckoned that Specter could even destroy the world if he were to make so much magic explode.

“...” Specter’s golden eyes wordlessly looked down, and his eyes captured the figure of a petite woman.

‘Mio.’

Mio had shown that she had complete faith in Specter, and it was Specter’s turn to return the gesture in kind.

Boom!

The air itself exploded as Specter clenched his fist.

“Freeze. Absolute Zero.”

Crackle!

The surrounding thorny bushes abruptly froze, but Specter wasn’t moved.

His goal was more than just freezing the surrounding thorny bushes.

***

‘Finally!’

Valencia’s eyes flashed.

Mio was about to make her tragic and heroic last stand.

‘And Specter is supporting her?’

Crackle!

The temperature abruptly fell as the entire castle was abruptly frozen.

However, Valencia wasn’t afraid. ‘What a relief.’

She smiled in relief after realizing that her opponents could only do this much.

‘Freezing the castle is useless.’

Rumble!

The thorny bushes regenerated and shattered the ice from the inside.

‘The weather is on my side.’

She was unstoppable while it was raining. She reckoned that even the Heavenly Demon would struggle against her while it was raining.

“How boring, let’s end this,” said Valencia.

She raised her hand and stared deeply at Mio.

She couldn’t help but admit that Mio had fought well against her.

‘And that is why I’ll let you rest in peace...’

Fwoosh!

A tsunami of thorny bushes emerged from behind Valencia and fell toward Mio.

‘Her pale skin will soon be stained with blood, and her sparkling eyes will soon lose their light.’ Valencia smiled just imagining it, but her figure quivered in shock.

“What?” Valencia’s stupefied gaze landed on the ceiling.

***

“Huff, puff!” Mio staggered. Optimization (S) allowed her senses to be at the optimal condition at all times along with erasing the need to acclimatize to every stat increase, but the issue here was exhaustion.

‘Just a bit longer. I have to hold out just a bit longer.’

She was roughly a hundred meters away from Valencia.

All she had to do was run and swing her sword once.

‘Come on. Please hang in there just a little longer.’

Mio begged herself and hurriedly narrowed the distance between her and Valencia.

“Huff, puff!”

Unfortunately, the closer she got to Valencia, the more thorny bushes got in her way.

Thud!

A thick thorn tripped Mio, and she collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.

‘I have to move...’

A terrible wave of pain would fill her head whenever she took a step forward.

However, Mio didn’t stop even for a moment.

At this point, she was trying her best not to fall while taking advantage of inertia to move rather than actually using her energy to run at Valencia.

‘Jun-Ho is going to give me an opportunity.’

And she had to make full use of it, or it would be her last opportunity...

Soon, Mio finally saw Valencia’s bored expression.

“Stay away,” Valencia spat indifferently.

Dozens of thorny bushes rushed at Mio.

Thwik!

“Ah!”

Mio’s shoulder, torso, and thigh were pierced, but she didn’t slice them apart. She had to preserve her strength for that fateful attack. She had to reach Valencia with minimal movements.

‘I can’t waste my strength on these thorns.’

Her next swing had to chop Valencia’s head off rather than these thorns.

“You’re annoying,” said Valencia with a sigh. “I’m getting tired; let’s end this.”

Valencia swung her hand down, and a myriad of thorny bushes rushed at Mio.

‘I have to run...’ Mio momentarily hesitated at the terrifying sight.

“No.” However, she took a step forward rather than backward. ‘I’m not running away.’

The blind faith she had in Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t something that was built in just one day.

‘Jun-Ho will seem reckless at first glance, but he’ll always have a plan.’

The issue was that Seo Jun-Ho’s plans had always been borderline impossible, but his plans had always succeeded somehow.

In that case, Mio simply had to follow in Seo Jun-Ho’s footsteps and succeed somehow.

‘Five steps.’

Valencia Citrin was just five steps ahead.

Mio started imbuing her sword with as much magic as she could squeeze from her magic circuit.

‘Four steps...’

The thorny bushes flying toward Mio froze over, but Valencia remained calm.

‘Three steps...’

The frozen thorny bushes remained frozen for some reason, causing confusion to appear on Valencia’s face.

‘Two steps.’

The fiend’s bewildered and frustrated face was just around the corner.

And that was when Mio finally figured out what was going on.

‘A step...’

Valencia was invincible while it was raining, but...

‘It stopped raining.’ Mio’s eyes flashed coldly.

Seo Jun-Ho had to have been waiting for this moment.

‘Seriously... you’re amazing me.’

There was only one way to stop the rain.

“No way... h-he’s a monster...” Valencia muttered blankly. She finally understood why the fiends that Specter had killed all said that he was a monster.

‘A monster...’ Valencia couldn’t find a better word to describe Specter.

Specter froze a vast expanse of clouds to stop even a drop of rain from falling on Valencia’s castle.

“Haaa.” Mio’s breathing style condensed her breath into a white mist.

Mio arrived in front of Valencia and swung her sword without any hesitation.

“W-wait...!” The surrounding thorny bushes couldn’t emerge from the ice after losing the support of the rain.

Slice!

Valencia’s head flew into the air

“I did not swing that sword by myself.”

Mio had swung her sword with the pieces of the many evils that the fiends had scattered throughout the world, and it was a sword move to vanquish each and every piece of the fiends’ evils.

Thud!

Valencia’s frantic look was frozen in time as her head fell to the ground with a dull thud before rolling down the mountain of frozen thorny bushes.

It was the end of the Queen of Thorns.