Chapter 44: Remembrance in the Dawn
Andes drew his white blade, “Dawn,” piercing the bodies of the enemies before him. The burst of light instantly destroyed the hideous, terrifying, and bizarre creatures that resembled black mud.
The blue-haired youth withdrew his sword. The black color remaining on the blade struggled and writhed in the surging sword light, emitting piercing shrieks, and suddenly said:
“These fluctuating substances are exactly the same as the Seed of Destruction summoned by Albert. Could this be the legendary—”
“Fragment of the Star God.”
Vicina, with her flowing blue hair, landed beside him. Her magnificent mage robe fluttered, with golden patterns shimmering with light.
The staff she wielded condensed an incredibly strong magical aura, releasing powerful magical fluctuations that destroyed the murky blackness falling from the cracks in the sky.
“It’s Archmage Vicena!”
Around them, the terrified crowds spotted the young mage and exclaimed in surprise.
Vicina’s face showed a slight smile, as if to comfort the surrounding rescued people.
She drew her staff again, stirring up magnificent magical flowing light, her blue hair fluttering. However, the indigo color in the young mage’s eyes rippled uneasily.
As the chief Court Archmage of the kingdom and a close friend of the King, Vicena naturally understood what this meant.
Not long ago, Vicena and the others were at the afternoon tea shop “Moonglow Veil of the Azure Sky” near the Royal Palace. Everything happened in just over ten minutes.
By the time they reached the vicinity of the Royal Palace, the guards, nobles, and commoners nearby were all engulfed in a black ocean covered by the Star God’s aura, with black traces spreading and disseminating into the real world.
“The cracks in the sky are expanding, and those black auras… Could it be that the Star God, who was rumored to be suppressed by His Majesty the King, is trying to break free?”
Siya tilted her small face up, her beautiful crimson eyes widening slightly. The scarlet crystal pendant hanging on her chest seemed to faintly glimmer with the light of flames.
“Did someone summon Him deliberately?”
At this moment, besides them, elite knights were charging at the demonic monsters transformed from the Star God’s aura. There were even Church knights with sacred light, and even the legendary Knights of the Round Table, also wielding weapons that shimmered with light, fighting their way forward before the Royal Palace avenue.
“Perhaps so.”
Vicina said with a stern expression, a strand of her blue hair fluttering. Within her expanded Saint Rank domain, her jade hand gripped the staff, which was shimmering with flowing light, condensing terrifying Saint Rank magic.
Undoubtedly, the leak of the Star God’s aura was inseparable from the previous turmoil in the Royal Palace. However, with His Majesty the King and the Sacred Sword present, who would have the qualification to cause such a disturbance, let alone unseal the Star God?
Could it be related to Ig, who had just entered the Royal Palace…
“Sister Veer!”
Siya’s startled voice suddenly rang out.
Almost simultaneously, Vicena clearly felt that any substance in the surrounding air, even the completely opposite frost element, was at this moment infused with a gorgeous fiery hue, as if illuminated by intense flames!
The stunningly beautiful girl, who had been biting her lips anxiously from the beginning, suddenly took a step forward. She waved her slender hand, and flames that even made Vicena’s heart palpitate condensed at her delicate fingertips.
The surging fiery colors merely demonstrated her noble will.
“Miss Vera!”
Vicina’s anxious voice called out:
“Do you intend to use your authority to completely evaporate the fragments of the Star God? Such magical power will completely destroy this entire block, and even if Ig is in the Royal Palace, he will likely be affected!”
Verafia, however, seemed not to hear. The jade fingertips she extended allowed the power of raging fire to flow into the divine spark of Atllos within her, transforming into pure golden Flame Divine Power.
Vicina’s pupils widened slightly. The increasingly brilliant flame light illuminated the girl’s stunningly beautiful face. Beneath her lightly raised, slender eyelashes were a pair of brilliant golden eyes like burning stars!
“Ig… He has my protection, so of course, he won’t be hurt in the flames.”
A soft voice flowed amidst the swirling flame radiance.
Verafia slightly raised her golden eyes, gazing up at the firmament. The blackness that covered the entire Royal Palace and was referred to as “Star God fragments” by Vicena.
She had no particular doubts. This was the same as the bizarre substance that had attacked her in the Setting Sun Forest, devouring and tearing at her body after her black Royal Guard armor was shattered.
Without a doubt, Lancaster was using the power of this so-called “Star God” to cultivate that group of corrupted swordsmen!
Therefore, how could she believe that the endless darkness shrouding the Royal Palace was not Lancaster’s conspiracy—and that young man was currently in the King’s court.
The flames surged according to her will, appearing as the only dazzling color in the entire world. The scorching heat melted the earth and steel, and even caused all the people in the entire space to avert their gaze in shock and disbelief.
Vicina’s anxious look almost overflowed. She suddenly bit her silver teeth hard, and the Staff of Freedom on her suddenly flashed with azure light as she tried to stop the girl’s actions.
“Rumble!”
At the same moment, within the blackness covering the sky, it was as if something colossal from outside the world had fallen. Countless cracks appeared on the shattered glass, and an extremely dense, pitch-black substance spread, as if born from the stars, a Star God breaking free!
The fiery red crystal pendant on Siya’s chest erupted with dazzling light.
The red-haired girl covered the floating pendant on her chest with her fair little hand, and crimson flames leaked from between her fingers. She exclaimed: “Stone of Ariog! Brother Andes—”
Verafia’s body seemed to solidify with substantial golden flame light. She lightly turned her head, the reflection of the entire Star God’s spread cast upon her scorching golden eyes.
“Is this… the true form of Disaks’s revival?”
Seeing that Verafia had paused her magic supply, Vicena walked closer to her side, the magical light swirling on the Staff of Freedom illuminating her profile.
“No, it’s still far from what descended twenty years ago. Could it be a reflection of Disaks cast in this world?”
The terrifying colors of the dark Star God covered the entire sky. Between the two worlds, the resonance generated fluctuations, forming terrifying storms and black thunderstorms.
Ships docked on the river, carriages, and even sturdy houses were sucked up by the terror, torn apart and decomposed in the rolling blackness. More people turned into nourishment for the darkness amidst screams!
Black shadows covered the sunlight, shrouding the entire sky. The all-pervasive darkness roared like the giant waves of a deep, silent sea, like a dark fiend dragon, opening its bloody maw and devouring the entire city!
A scene of world destruction. The elderly residents of Lichen couldn’t help but recall twenty years ago, when the same world-devouring, boundless terrifying cold darkness reappeared, and a great existence once again drew his sword to cleave the sky, bringing light back to the world.
And more people, in the face of world-ending fear, prostrated themselves on the ground, praying for hope, praying for the descent of a savior:
“God, please defeat such an evil existence…”
“Supreme Lord, save your people! Do not let sinful darkness devour the light you have bestowed!”
“Hero Lord…”
…
Thousands of people, their prayers and desperate voices echoed like waves in the sky above the city.
The great vision seemed to stir the supreme deity in the heavenly divine kingdom. Suddenly, a brightly lit sword mark ignited in the black ocean, and endless brilliant light dissolved the darkness!
Passing through the fluctuations of fire, pure white light touched the girl’s delicate and tender face. Verafia was not unfamiliar with such a warm and pure touch. She slowly turned her gaze.
She gently extended her fair fingertips: “This is…”
“This is the Sacred Sword of Lance!”
Vicina’s expression moved. However, the young mage’s expression quickly shifted slightly, and she exclaimed: “No, the person holding the Sacred Sword is—”
A surge of light divided the darkness. Under the brilliant light of the Sacred Sword, the Star God that had engulfed the entire city dissolved in unwillingness. The melting black flesh evaporated into large swathes of mist and ash.
“It’s you again—it’s you again! Damnable Sacred Sword! Damnable Hero!”
The voice roared unwillingly in the world of breaking dawn.
In Lichen, whether it was the clergy, nobles, commoners, or even the pulsing knights, all widened their eyes, gazing at the black-haired youth standing in front of the opposite of darkness, at the origin of all light.
One of his hands held a beautiful maiden of pure silver silk, and the immaculate Sacred Sword grasped in his right hand glowed as if it were the Dawn of the Sun!
Even though the youth’s figure was not imposing, and his face still carried a trace of youthfulness, against the backdrop of world-destroying darkness, his figure in the endless light appeared incomparably tall and majestic.
At this moment, he could almost be compared to the hero who once saved the world!
“His Majesty’s Sacred Sword is in his hands… Could this young man be the one who drew the Sacred Sword earlier?”
“May the Sacred Sword protect us! Hero Lord, we implore you to save this world!”
“The girl embraced by the Hero Lord, could she be the legendary Princess of the White Iris, His Majesty’s most beloved Little Princess? Princess, yet she leans in the arms of the Hero Lord. Does this mean…”
The voices reached Verafia’s mental sea, which was expanding with flames. For some reason, it made her feel incredibly restless.
Beneath her raised long eyelashes, the girl’s large golden eyes gazed at the youth standing in the endless light. Suddenly, the immaculate Sacred Sword was drawn with his movement, and the light wave traced through the sky, illuminating the dark heavens!
With every draw of the sword, with every spread of light, cheers erupted from the hundreds of thousands of people in Lichen, a vibrant and endless human tide.
Until the light broke through the dawn, and all darkness dissolved, everyone standing in the light once again. They fervently shouted his name, and the entire Lichen had become an ocean of faith and joy!
“To pick up the Sacred Sword and defeat Disaks… it’s actually Ig?”
Her exquisite face was once again bathed in pure light. Vicena looked at the youth who, amidst the remnants of darkness, held the Sacred Sword high, as if receiving everyone’s cheers, still appearing somewhat disbelieving.
“Yes… it’s him.”
A faint voice, like a sigh, with thin light adorning the girl’s art-like face, illuminating her exquisite smile.
She suddenly waved her fair fingertips, extinguishing the golden lights that had ignited in the air, and turned to leave.
“Mmm… Sister Veer!”
Siya called out and hurriedly chased after the girl.
However, would the boy holding the immaculate Sacred Sword, shining brightly, embrace the princess of the White Iris in his arms, and notice her standing in the flames amidst the remnants of the Star God’s shadow?
—
Originally, the heroines were also supposed to be outside the Royal Palace facing the Star God’s shadow, but it felt unnecessary. The previous description was too excessive… so Siya and Andes were just supporting roles.
