“The opponent is a hydra! A hydra!”
The hydra wasn’t just a monster, it was believed to be created by Evil G.o.d Yatan and had a level of regeneration that made it impossible to kill and poison that even a G.o.d feared. There were all types of legends and myths about it and it was beyond transcendent.
“Will you fight against a monster that has become a mythical being through the acc.u.mulation of lore? You...! You!! Stop it and go back now!”
The hydra’s venom deals death to mortals but it brings eternal suffering to immortals. A long-forgotten G.o.d was poisoned by the hydra and it was so painful that he begged for death. He barely managed to die after thousands of years of hard work to be forgotten by humanity.
This was why Goldhit was having seizures. The hydra was even more sinister for immortals.
Braham whispered, “Do you know why the hydra doesn’t die?”
“...?”
“It was because it hasn’t met me.”
“...!”
Did he think he could get rid of a mythical being? It was an absurd delusion. Goldhit was looking at Braham with disbelief when she became shocked. A whirlwind of magic was rising around Braham. All the mana in here that had acc.u.mulated for eternity was responding to Braham’s Mana Drain.
“I’m the only one who can blow up all nine heads at the same time.”
He didn’t like it but Braham had to admit it—it was a fact that he had a high probability of losing if he confronted Sword Saint Muller. Braham’s honest a.n.a.lysis was that it was hard to resist the Sword Saint’s spirit with his image world, his infinite number of mana s.h.i.+elds would be shredded by the Sword Saint’s sword energy, and it would be difficult to fight back properly when there was a gap between spells.
It was called compatible natures. Their nature was very important. This was why Braham was convinced that he had a thorough advantage when confronting the hydra.
“Look at this large-scale magic that shows not a single gap.”
The darkness behind Braham started to crack. The transcendent magic was breaking even something that couldn’t be destroyed.
‘I-Is this real?’ Goldhit’s eyes widened. Putting aside her wickedness, she was excited by the fact that she could actually see great magic. If she was honest, she had been more thrilled than angry when Braham’s Meteor destroyed the Tower of Eternity.
‘Legendary great magic that can destroy even a hydra!’
Ahh, she wanted to explore the pinnacle. Yes, this was a good thing. Since she became a lich and enjoyed eternal life, she should take this as an opportunity to pursue the pinnacle...
It was the moment when Goldhit abandoned despair and felt aspiration. The scales s.h.i.+ning like a noctilucence stone filled their vision and a tearing sound resonated in their ears.
“Destruction.”
The legendary great magic was activated. The darkness was destroyed. Through the dark shards of gla.s.s, a monster with nine heads could be seen glowing red. A monster that led even a G.o.d to death... The nine heads were ripped off simultaneously and collapsed with a roar.
“...!”
The destructive power was more than the legend described. Goldhit was thrilled by the power of the great magic that was beyond her imagination while Braham laughed.
“Kukuk! Kuhahahahat!”
Hahahahahaha!
Hahahahahat!
His laughter echoed in the turbulent Abyss. At this moment, Braham was filled with excitement beyond what Goldhit felt. It was natural. He had eliminated the mythical presence with his own hands. It wasn’t something that the d.a.m.n Pagma, Sword Saint Muller, the Undefeated King, and even Braham himself in his prime, was capable of.
There was only one reason it was possible. It was because he borrowed the vast mana in the Abyss, which had acc.u.mulated over eternity. Braham was able to exert powers that were beyond his prime. It was even superior to when he drained the mana from the Red Sea. It was the greatest strike in his life and something he was never capable of again.
“A-Amazing...! It is amazing! Truly amazing!” Goldhit let out sincere exclamations of admiration. She even reused the honorifics that she had omitted ever since she was unexpectedly killed by Braham.
Braham stopped laughing and closed his eyes as his laughter echoed in his ears. He could clearly feel it. It was his own growth. No, it was evolution.
“...”
How much time had pa.s.sed? By the time Braham had fully checked his physical condition and opened his eyes again, the echoes had come to an end.
“It is a bit disappointing,” he muttered as he searched around him with mana. The mana that had filled this place for eternity had vanished. It was the aftermath of Braham absorbing the darkness and using it as a magic resource. If he visited the Abyss again in the distant future, he wouldn’t be able to use such powerful magic again.
In honor of the ultimate strike that could never be accomplished again, Braham flew close to the hydra’s corpse. Poison was being emitted from the nine headless necks, causing more damage to the shattered ground.
“Hrmm.”
Braham experimentally deployed mana s.h.i.+elds over the scattered rocks and confirmed that the virulent poison had penetrated the s.h.i.+eld to melt the rocks. Goldhit was interested in the poison that didn’t lose potency even after the hydra died but Braham had no interest. “It is the same piece of meat when dead.”
Sure enough, it was best not to die. Braham reached an unusual conclusion and threw Goldhit’s head high into the air.
“...!?”
Goldhit had been full of aspiration only to once again be filled with despair. She shuddered as she started to fall into a pool of deadly poison and Braham asked her, “Do you know why I left your mana core in my image world?”
“P-Please...!”
“It doesn’t matter how full of aspirations you are, it doesn’t matter how much you die.”
“Please!”
“Even if the world perishes, you won’t be destroyed.”
“s.h.i.+t!”
Goldhit’s head fell into a puddle of poison. It was the world’s most atrocious pain and indescribable in words. It spilled into Goldhit’s skin, her nerves, blood, bones, and brain in no time. Even so, she didn’t die. She couldn’t even scream.
Braham spoke bluntly as she stared at him with eyes full of resentment and begging, “This is revenge for my disciple.”
“...?”
“Didn’t you eat Lilis?”
“...!”
“I noticed with one glance that Lilis’ mana core, which had been captured alive, was attached to your mana core.”
“...!!”
“You are worse than a parasite. You haven’t accomplished anything with your magic power or body. You have only relied on taking things away from others.”
Braham reached into the air and pulled something out. It was Goldhit’s mana core. Goldhit’s entire life, which had been locked in Braham’s inner world, was revealed in front of Goldhit. This was Goldhit’s last hope and Braham shattered that hope. Lilis’ mana core attached to Goldhit’s was separated and destroyed. Lilis’ soul would’ve found freedom.
‘Stupid person.’
Braham threw Goldhit’s mana core back into his image world and recalled the centuries old past. There was a child who became his fourth disciple due to his useless compa.s.sion. He clearly knew this child wasn’t talented enough to use enhanced magic but he still taught the child. Braham felt the hatred and sorrow in the child’s eyes resembled himself.
‘You pretended to be strong but you didn’t change after all. You suffered in your later years.’
It was a truly pathetic person.
‘It isn’t enough to treat a person like me as a teacher. You even took this son of a b.i.t.c.h as a disciple.’
Once you are reborn, be my disciple again. Your life will be different. I will surely find you and give you a better life.
Braham murmured as he escaped the venom and collected the hydra’s by-products. Finally, he didn’t even glance at Goldhit as he approached the two doors. They were doors that had been covered by the hydra’s giant body. He felt a terrible demonic power from the left door and hundreds of millions of thoughts from the right door. They were the thoughts of all those living on the East Continent.
“...Kuek.”
As he approached the right door, the ma.s.s of thoughts finally exceeded the capacity of Braham’s brain and emotions. It was greater than the pain of the hydra’s venom but Braham endured it and opened the door. Grid was beyond this.
***
Grid didn’t make the habit of leaning on luck. Due to his good luck stat, his luck had improved but he would fall down at every important moment and break his nose. Thus, he was wondering if it would happen again this time. At the time when the crisis called Garam was approaching, Grid was worried that he would fail to enhance the Red Phoenix Breath. The result was...
[The Red Phoenix Breath has been strengthened!]
Fortunately, it was a success.
“Hah...” The tension that had been maintained throughout his work was released at once and he lost the strength in his legs. Grid stumbled and was about to fall down when he recovered his spirit. He had no time to rest. He had to quickly resurrect the red phoenix and recreate the Ideal Longsword that he lost after being killed by Garam. The Quick Movements buff attached to it was a necessity. Furthermore, he had guests to meet.
“May I come in?” The Cho king’s voice was heard outside the smithy. Signs of human existence had been felt for a while. The Cho king and his ministers had already been gathered in front of the smithy for an hour, waiting for Grid. It was just that they couldn’t approach due to the sound of hammering and the heat.
“Come in.”
The moment Grid’s answer was heard, the Cho king and his ministers poured in. Their appearance was miserable. Their faces were filled with anxiety and fear and they were covered with blood. Even the Cho king was in a disorderly state. It seemed the resistance of the Hwan Kingdom followers was very strong. “Is the revival of the red phoenix ready now?”
“Yes, it is all over.”
“...”
Finally, everything was ready but the king’s expression wasn’t bright. It might be for their future and time was running out, but his heart ached because he hurt his people with his own hands. Still, he couldn’t afford to feel guilty now.
The Cho king made a steadfast expression and followed Grid out of the smithy. A red carpet led to an altar in the garden with nothing around it. It was an altar that the Cho king had set up while Grid was working. Grid didn’t delay. He took out the Red Phoenix Bow where the Spirit of a Sacred Creature Resides and infused the Red Phoenix’s breath into it.
Duguen!
The heart of the forgotten G.o.d stirred. The Red Phoenix Bow started to pulsate as divine flames rose around it.
“O-Ohh...!”
“Ahh!”
The ministers and officials, who had been dubious despite standing by the Cho king’s side, were tearful. They were born and raised in the Cho Kingdom and instinctively knew—this warm aura was exactly like the aura that could be felt anywhere in the Cho Kingdom.
The guardian G.o.d who protected them and their ancestors was the red phoenix. The Red Phoenix Bow beating on the altar roared and released a column of fire. It was a huge column of fire that could be seen throughout the Cho Kingdom. The sky glowed and vitality started to circulate through the ground. All of the people of the Cho Kingdom were engulfed in unknown emotions as they were on the verge of a reunion with the forgotten G.o.d.
On the other hand, Grid’s expression was rotten.
[Most of the sealed power of the Red Phoenix Bow where the Spirit of a Sacred Creature Resides has been restored. However, the red phoenix is so deeply asleep that it can’t easily open its eyes.]
[There is 1 hour and 29 minutes remaining before the red phoenix opens its eyes.]
[Protect the Red Phoenix Bow so that the red phoenix can safely wake up.]
“Dammit!”
No one liked defense-style quests. This was because most defense quests pushed partic.i.p.ants to the limit.
“...!?”
Suddenly, there was an explosion and the surprised Grid flew into the sky. He was concerned as he watched the explosion but he couldn’t figure out what was going on because the distance was too far away. However, Grid wasn’t alone.
“Noe!”
“Nyang!”
Noe appeared with spread out legs and became Grid’s eyes.
“I-It is Garam! Garam is killing the soldiers!”
The Cho king’s desperate voice was heard from the ground.
“It is said that Garam is breaking in through the outer door! I will personally lead an army to face him so hurry with the resurrection of G.o.d Red Phoenix!”
The divine flames were becoming so grandiose that the Cho king and his ministers could feel it. They knew that time was needed for the red phoenix to be fully resurrected and was prepared to fight to the death for their kingdom. However, they weren’t Garam’s opponents. Garam would thoroughly annihilate them.
“...s.h.i.+t.”
Now it was 1 hour and 28 minutes remaining. Was it possible to hold on? It was naturally impossible. Even when he used Request to Stand With Me at the rabbit community, he had lasted less than 20 minutes. Nevertheless, he was the only one who could tie up Garam’s feet.
Grid worried for a moment before taking off the skin mask. He was prepared to die. If he hid or fled, there would be no way to escape the quest failure and destruction of the Cho Kingdom. Thus, he would sacrifice his life for even a small hope.
“I will lure Garam to another place. Protect the Red Phoenix Bow in case of another attack.”
“W-Wait! Why are you going so far?”
Grid didn’t turn his head when he heard the perplexed Cho king and lamenting officials. He just turned in Garam’s direction and answered, “I promised to help you.”
“...!”
Grid disappeared with a flash of lightning.
The Cho king, his ministers, and all the warriors and soldiers, had red eyes as they bit their lips. The Cho king was the first one to restrain the warriors who wanted to chase after Grid. He was deeply angry at his incompetence and ordered with tears in his eyes, “Bring all the daoists and scholars of Kars here while the king from the west buys some time. We will do our best to help G.o.d Red Phoenix wake up faster.”
“...Attention!”