Chapter Seventy-Eight: Countdown of Erosion
“Light-chan, do you want to know how much time you have left?”
In this lifetime, Nagi is merely an ordinary person without any abilities.
She has not yet awakened, and the magic within her comes from the fantasy monsters of the soul contract.
So every time she uses magic, it must go through the soul’s contract.
This accelerates the erosion of the end curse.
“If Light-chan continues to live as an ordinary person—”
【10 years left until complete erosion】
……
……
Kawano City.
Dense dark clouds obscured the starlight, plunging the entire city into darkness.
The light source has vanished.
The shadows that the End Celestial Feather could manipulate have been reduced to the shadow blades entwined around her arms, greatly weakened in power.
Yet, even so, Nagi still cannot stand against the current End Celestial Feather.
To slow the erosion of the curse, Nagi must avoid using magic as much as possible.
Therefore, her initial plan was to stand before the End Celestial Feather and let it directly use “Resonance” on her.
But there’s good news—
Nagi’s gaze fixed on the fallen blade that Old Sang had dropped on the ground.
Though she was unsure how that hunter obtained the fantasy spirit gear she once used.
At this moment, there’s no doubt that this is the weapon most suited for her.
This fantasy spirit gear, designed specifically for monster users, can be activated with magic infusion.
On the surface, it sounds no different from ordinary fantasy spirit gear.
However—
If one understands the abilities and usages of this fantasy spirit gear—
“Connect.”
She carefully guided the magic from the soul contract and slowly infused it into the blade.
Activating the power of “Connect.”
And she established a “connection” between the blade and herself—
The magic of the “blade” formed a connection with “herself” that should not exist.
The “magic” on the blade transformed into “herself’s” magic.
Then she infused “herself’s” magic back into the blade to maintain the effect of the ability.
Magic flowed within her body and between the blade, creating a cycle.
The “BUG” successfully emerged.
As long as the blade does not shatter due to magic overload, Nagi possesses limitless magic.
This was a trick that worked for Nagi in her previous life.
For her, battling magic capacity was never an issue; she had never lost using this technique in her last life.
For ordinary people, using this fantasy spirit gear posed a problem—
The magic fluctuations must be adjusted to match the fantasy spirit gear to use its abilities.
Thus, other abilities cannot be used, meaning endless magic has nowhere to exert itself.
But Nagi is different.
This fantasy spirit gear is one of the specialized weapons she had others create for her in her previous life.
This imitation of the “Storm Sovereign” has the same magic frequency as Garuda—
【Garuda】
Gale winds surged, accompanied by overflowing magic, instantly suppressing the End Celestial Feather.
The storm’s power pinned her slender body tightly to the ground.
But the shadows of her hands flailed about in the air as if they had a life of their own.
If the strength contained in the gusts were a little more, perhaps it could suppress those shadows.
But for Nagi at this moment, that is difficult to achieve.
Because the maximum value of this “limitless” magic equals the amount of magic Nagi initially infused into the blade.
And to suppress the erosion of the curse, Nagi has only infused the bare minimum amount of magic.
This meant she could not use other techniques that require a large amount of magic.
Watching as the End Celestial Feather gradually adapted to the gale she controlled, slowly rising from the ground.
To provoke it into using “Resonance” on her, Nagi hurriedly turned and headed toward the opening in the courtyard.
Raindrops carried through the wind, conveying information from below the opening.
The altar of the Star Ceremony was just below.
As long as the altar is destroyed, the ritual can be stopped—
But Nagi would not do that.
If she destroyed the altar now, the fragments of the end would be forever trapped within the Celestial Feather.
She must make the End Celestial Feather use the power of the Star Eye on her, allowing the end within her to devour the fragments.
Upon seeing Nagi approach the altar, the End Celestial Feather retracted the teasing look in its eyes, a crimson glow flashing in its pupils.
Its shadow blades transformed into a pitch-black giant python, rapidly lunging towards Nagi.
Nagi had long prepared for this.
But the End Celestial Feather’s powerful magic caused the speed and force of the attack to exceed her expectations.
Even as she swiftly turned, erecting a barrier with the gale, she still could not completely block the attack— the pitch-black shadow pierced through her waist.
Blood gushed forth, staining the ground, but the next moment was washed away by the pouring rain.
“Tsk…” Nagi gritted her teeth, hastily covering the wound with her hand and pulling away from the End Celestial Feather.
This strike would undoubtedly be a fatal wound for an ordinary person.
Nagi had no choice but to temporarily deactivate the fantasy spirit gear and use her contract beast “Phoenix’s” “Regeneration Flame” to heal her wound.
The golden flames ignored the torrential rain cascading over her skin.
The pain of being burned by the flames and the sensation of healing struck her simultaneously, and the bloody wound rapidly healed in the flames, returning to fair skin.
Witnessing this, the End Celestial Feather’s eyes flickered with interest, but its wariness grew stronger:
“You have some very practical abilities…”
The ability of infinite regeneration. From the opposite perspective, it may seem so.
But for Nagi, the situation is not optimistic.
Back when she was on Nanase Island.
To hastily return to Kawano City and stop the ritual, she had already risked the acceleration of erosion to summon Garuda.
Even when she ensured the safety of the entire city and others and quickly released Garuda’s summoning, there was still a considerable cost of magic.
But if she were to get injured in battle again, she would have to keep using Phoenix’s power—
It’s a vicious cycle.
She could even feel the innocent smile of the shadow of her soul deep within, as if waiting for a new toy.
In that case—
—It would be better to unleash a heavy blow to the opponent, forcing it to resonate with her.
Nagi calculated the speed of erosion and the time left for herself.
In the very moment she made up her mind.
The End Celestial Feather’s movements suddenly froze for an instant.
Its eyes’ purple-black star pupil glow dimmed slightly—
…..
…..
Above Nanase Island.
Dense dark clouds covered the entire island.
Cold rain poured down, creating a silver curtain that enveloped the entire Nanase Island, as if cutting it off from the outside world—
The shadows that should have shrouded the island were torn apart by the storm.
Through each raindrop, Garuda gazed down upon the island, taking everything into its “eyes.”
It sensed the already “awakened” Manaka Haruna, along with the fantasy monster radiating an ominous aura.
The storm coalesced.
Just as Garuda prepared to intervene and eliminate that fantasy monster—
The colossal figure of Garuda, concealed within the clouds, suddenly stiffened, as raindrops brought back new information.
It detected a familiar aura.
Garuda immediately transformed into a disguise.
To avoid appearing abrupt, this time it morphed into a snow-white seagull, hiding within the wind and rain.
The gathered tornado was also dispelled.
“Yusa? How could she be on this island?”
Garuda retracted its power.
If the earlier storm could still be explained as a resonance of its leftover powers from the statue through the sacrifice ceremony, then taking further action now would fully expose itself.
The situation has grown complicated.
The Sea God Festival’s ritual granted Garuda considerable power; it had originally planned to swiftly deal with the shadow monsters on the island and return to Kawano City to assist Nagi, but the current situation—
…..
“Is it Him!?” The shadow of the end looked up at the clouds enveloping the island, feeling a terrifying and oppressive wave of magic, filling its heart with fear in an instant.
The cold rain pouring down on its massive body stirred a deep chill within it.
“Why is He here!?” The shadow of the end revealed a look of horror.
Haruna, of course, did not miss this point.
“Who are you talking about?” Haruna’s slender body was also soaked by the sudden downpour.
At the same time, she felt a surge of a new ability within her grasp.
The shadow of the end’s gaze returned to Haruna, its expression complex:
“…Could it be that He sensed your aura? The guardian of the highest masterpiece? No wonder such a noble entity appears in Kawano City…”
“?” Haruna tilted her head in confusion, clearly not understanding what the other party was saying.
But she silently committed the other party’s words to memory. There is some extraordinary existence in Kawano City.
Meanwhile.
Yusa finally came to her senses.
With the help of this storm.
The shadows that should have shrouded the Habuhira Shrine were washed away without a trace.
She saw the altar set up in the square of the Habuhira Shrine.
On the ground, a huge and complex pattern was drawn, lines interwoven and outlining a star pattern.
In the dim rain, the huge star flickered with a faint red glow.
Without time to think further.
Yusa raised the fantasy spirit gear in her hand, and a deep green arrow shot towards the altar like a meteor.
However, the arrow was blocked by an invisible barrier just before it reached the altar, instantly turning to nothingness, dissipating in the air.
Yusa had anticipated this, frowning slightly as she gathered her magic again.
This time, she decided to go all out.
Three deep green arrows materialized from her fingertips, shining with magical light.
As expected, Yusa directly formed three deep green arrows using magic this time.
Yusa, being only C-rank, had both abilities and magic at a lower-middle level among ability users.
Originally, her attack would have been unable to break through the altar before her.
So she recalled the method the previous man had taught her—
Yusa took a deep breath and focused on the same spot on the altar.
She arranged the three arrows neatly, one after another, gradually stacking and advancing.
The first arrow shot out like a gust of wind, nearly instantaneously colliding with the barrier.
The second arrow closely followed the first, almost touching its tail, pursuing it with perfect curvature.
The last arrow followed like a heavy hammer, and the three arrows formed a chain of increasing pressure in the air, with their powers continually accumulating and overlapping, aiming directly at the weak point of the barrier.
At the moment the first arrow contacted the barrier, the collision of magic erupted into brilliant sparks.
Not enough.
Just a little more.
If there could be a bit more magic—
Suddenly, a familiar breeze brushed against Yusa’s cheek.
“Could it be—”
Accompanied by the caress of the wind, the overlapping power of the three arrows tore through the barrier in an instant like a sharp blade.
Magic surged in the air, and the sound of the barrier shattering was as crisp as glass.
The deep green arrows passed through without obstruction, embedding deeply into the pattern on the ground.
That arrow disrupted the integrity of the altar.
At this moment, the ritual on Nanase Island crumbled.
The light hanging high in the sky dimmed.
