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“Ugh…!”

Orcus winced as Elena’s magic struck his body. He rolled around to dodge, but even the aftershock of her attack was formidable. Unable to create any distance, he rushed back toward Elena.

He tried to counter her incoming attacks or evade them, but completely avoiding her strikes was simply impossible.

Elena’s manipulation of magical power was nothing short of remarkable, her light spears—each as powerful as the fire spear Orcus had created—spread out into dozens and soared toward him from behind.

Even light rain could soak your clothes, so how much more would he be soaked by this storm of spears?

He attempted to counter as much as possible, but quickly reached his limit. Just like one cannot avoid the falling rain, evading the densely flying spears heading his way was nearly an impossible task.

The power was extraordinary as well; even though he protected himself with Divine Power and magic, the relentless barrage was a burden on him. It felt as if he might lose consciousness and be knocked back at any moment, but he fought to keep his composure and maintain distance.

In the past, Orcus might have given up by now, but he was holding his ground this time.

Perhaps it was due to the training with Noel that he had grown accustomed to taking hits, or maybe he was unwilling to fall just yet. It could be that both reasons were at play. However, what mattered most to him at that moment was the simple fact that he had changed from the way he used to be.

‘I knew it would come to this…’

Orcus swallowed hard and pressed forward.

In the first place, it had been Elena who showed him that martial arts could be used in battles against mages. And it wasn’t some trivial skill; it was a level of martial arts that could impress even knights.

There was no way someone as inexperienced as him—who had only trained for a few days—could outmatch her in hand-to-hand combat. He had hoped against hope for even a slight chance, but such forecasts based on concrete information rarely miss the mark.

He had taken the chance to engage in close combat because it seemed like a possibility, yet it was just as daunting as facing Elena with magic.

Look at his situation now. He had initially rushed to force a melee duel but was soon countered and pushed back by her magic to create distance once again. Even with Divine Power, he gained recovery and resilience that others could not, yet it could all crumble in an instant.

As the situation played out according to his expectations, Orcus felt a sense of hopelessness.

The phrase “things are going according to plan” had always been music to his ears. After all, that meant everything was unfolding as he had anticipated, allowing him to respond with the strategies he had laid out.

But now he desperately wished things wouldn’t go according to plan.

If things were unfolding as he expected, it meant defeat was assured.

‘Still, I don’t want to fall like this.’

He had expected from the beginning that it would feel like throwing eggs at a rock, so he didn’t feel a profound sense of loss, yet he still didn’t want to give up like before.

Even though he couldn’t see a clear path forward, he no longer thought of himself as foolish for charging ahead. He was genuinely proud to endure amidst the barrage of magic that felt like it could break his focus at any moment.

It might appear to be self-love, but for Orcus, it was legitimate growth.

Orcus was now afraid of losing.

Pretending to be calm and stepping back to console himself with the notion that it was unavoidable was becoming tiresome. His opponent was stronger than him. Standing against that was merely a futile act. He wanted to throw it all away. He had yet to fall, nor had he given up.

He had never been angry at himself until now, but he was angry. Why had he lived a life so accustomed to giving up? That was the source of his frustration.

Strangely enough, as he grew angry at himself, it wasn’t his head that became hot—it was his heart. It wasn’t a frustrated anger; it felt like it lent him strength. At that moment, he felt a peculiar confidence that he could do things he had not been capable of before.

“Blink!”

In an instant, he broke away from his position and soared into the air, but the light spears seemed to track him, swiftly adjusting their trajectory toward him. Though he had resolved not to create distance, he inadvertently widened it, but that didn’t matter. It would shrink again soon.

Orcus focused on the central point of the spears flying toward him. There, Elena was manipulating the spears with a mere flick of her wrist, toying with him. Confirming that he was in a straight line with her, Orcus drew upon his magical power to enact a spell.

And then, two suns appeared in the sky.

Precisely, a wall of fire shaped like a sphere centered on Orcus ignited. The shimmering heat and distorted sight created an illusion of two suns in the sky. In reality, the venue, which was a cool temperature, felt like the peak of summer heat; there was no exaggeration in calling it a sun.

Transformed into a sun, Orcus descended toward the ground where Elena stood.

The light spears targeting Orcus were consumed by the sun, losing their brilliance, allowing the sun to reach Elena in its full form.

It looked as if the sun could burn everything on the ground; however, it was all an illusion crafted by magic.

As Elena reached out toward the descending sun, it vanished like an illusion that had never existed from the start.

To an outsider, it might appear as though a decisive strike had been effortlessly canceled, but for Orcus, it was merely the fulfillment of his expectations. From the outset, his goal had been to get closer to Elena, and he had accomplished just that.

Within the disappearing sun, Orcus found himself holding a golden staff emanating Divine Power, something he had never seen before. It wasn’t a hidden secret weapon; it had somehow ended up in his hand without him realizing it. He was simply bewildered.

Though he didn’t understand how this staff had appeared in his hands, Orcus instinctively felt he knew how to use it.

As he recognized the heat igniting in his chest as his Divine Power, the staff used that energy to project outward. Resonating with Orcus’s Divine Power, the staff multiplied that power and released it into the world. The strength of a sun wrought not by magic but by divinity materialized in his hands.

Suddenly overwhelmed by the surging power, he felt an immense sense of omnipotence, but he quickly collected his thoughts upon realizing that it was merely his feeling. Whatever happened, he knew this attack would be his last.

He swung the staff toward Elena with all his might and shouted at himself.

“Let’s see this through to the end!!”

*

Elena couldn’t contain her admiration at the sight of the staff Orcus wielded against her. It wasn’t something that should have been in his hands at this moment.

The manifestation of a Sacred Relic.

No matter how noble Orcus was, as a direct descendant of the Imperial Family, that regalia—an item belonging to the gods—could not be handled carelessly. It was a thing that only those worthy could wield, and the very fact that it had appeared in Orcus’s hands meant he must have met at least the minimum requirements.

Though it was an item he would eventually wield in the future, its appearance now was unexpectedly early for Elena.

‘It certainly signifies that Orcus has grown…’

One could say he had matured early. The past version of Orcus had only been able to wield a Sacred Relic after ascending the throne, so this current Orcus, who charged at her, must have achieved a significant level of mental growth.

Orcus had always berated himself for being slow to grow compared to others, but perhaps what he truly lacked was that fighting spirit of not wanting to lose. Elena welcomed Orcus’s growth with joy. Despite the circumstances, it was certainly something to celebrate that her friend had taken a step forward.

Damian and others were also showing explosive growth during this Sacred Festival, unlike before.

As she witnessed their progress, she wondered if they were tonight’s stars, but she knew that was impossible.

Elena grasped the staff swirling toward her with starlight in her hands.

Certainly, the power contained in that staff and the attack that would result were formidable, but there was still a gap between Orcus and herself that could not be bridged, even with the emergence of a Sacred Relic.

“Well done.”

In the frozen time where only she could move, Elena whispered her admiration that no one could hear, and with that, she plunged the staff into Orcus’s body.

 

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