Chapter 479. Finis Belli 3
Chapter 479. Finis Belli 3
It was then.
There was no sound. There was no movement.
It happened suddenly without any warning.
“!”
Agnes saw a blade coming at her face.
Fighting back was simply out of the question at this point. The best she could do was dodge before she could even start making sense of what was happening.
Agnes quickly pulled herself back and glanced around.
Again, she was surprised, but this time for a completely different reason.
It wasn’t just her.
Everyone else had either dodged like she did or had their arms up shielding themselves.
‘What just happened…?’
As Agnes muttered in confusion, Twisted Kindness, who seemed just about ready to fling herself again at Agnes, suddenly scattered into thin air.
And almost immediately….
“Aaaak!”
A scream broke out somewhere in the crowd.
Agnes turned to the direction of the sound and saw blood spurting into the air.
“Uaaargh!”
Before the blood even reached the ground, another scream burst out, this time from the opposite direction.
A look of confusion crossed Agnes’ face as she looked left, then right.
But she couldn’t just stand there.
Agnes quickly focused her attention on the enemy’s energy and shot out strands of silk toward the enemy’s predicted course.
Her prediction proved accurate.
Snap!
The only problem was that the strands immediately snapped in half instead of disrupting the enemy’s movements.
There was yet another horrific scream.
Every time Twisted Kindness briefly appeared, another person dropped to the ground, blood pouring from their mouth.
It was like watching Sung Shihyun use Ethereal Shift nonstop.
‘I have to interrupt her flow.’
If there was one thing she learned from watching Roselle fight Vulgar Chastity, it was that she had to first create an opening and then bombard the enemy with multiple powerful attacks all at once.
And to create an opening, she had to persistently exploit Twisted Kindness’ weakness. Disrupting the flow of her movements was just the first step.
Thinking so, Agnes was about to set out….
“Don’t go alone!”
But Chohong’s voice stopped her.
“At least four High Rankers!”
Agnes’ face dimmed.
The sentence was vastly incomplete, but she immediately understood what it meant.
Chohong was trying to say that a team of at least four High Rankers must move in unison at the risk of their lives to affect Twisted Kindness in any way, however small.
It was then that Agnes finally remembered that Twisted Kindness was nothing like the other Army Commanders. She was the epitome of perfection. There was no way she had a weakness.
“Aaak!”
“Kyaaak!”
How many has it been so far?
Moving at the speed of light, Twisted Kindness slashed deep into Teresa’s back, who had just arrived at the battlefield leading her army.
“Haaaak!”
Even as the Army Commander was about to finish Teresa off as the princess fell from her saddle, something rushed toward her.
The Valkyries, each with a spear, had somehow predicted Twisted Kindness’ movements and were closing in around her.
But Twisted Kindness’ expression remained apathetic.
She pointed the sword in her left hand forward and swung the sword in her right hand lightly in a circle.
It was such a simple act, but its effect wasn’t so simple. Countless blades swept past the Valkyries like gusts of wind.
Chwaaak!
A dozen or so Valkyries blew up at the same time.
Watching the Valkyries get dismembered in midair, Cinzia felt a chill run down her spine.
The back of her neck felt cold.
‘No way.’
When she looked down, Twisted Kindness’ left sword was already coming at her neck from behind.
Cinzia basically gave Twisted Kindness the permission to attack her when she let the enemy thrust the sword in her left hand.
Clang!
Had it not been for the green spear that came in like a flash, yanking the blade away, her head would have been flying in the air by now.
Twisted Kindness snorted as she watched Baek Haeju charge at her, emitting Reinforced Sword Qi.
“Come.”
Zwooong!
A crimson magic circle appeared where Twisted Kindness pointed.
“Six Domains of the Desire Realm!”
Blood-colored lightning bolts struck down from the spinning circle.
Baek Haeju’s face contorted as she jolted backward, barely escaping the lightning.
This was exactly what Chohong had feared.
In return for a single interruption in Twisted Kindness’ flow, Teresa and a dozen others were either killed or seriously injured, and one of the Apostles of the Seven Sins and a Level 9 nearly lost their lives.
Valhalla had so far experienced many difficult situations like this one, all of which resulted in their comrades’ sacrifices.
And even now, Twisted Kindness hadn’t let her guard down for a single moment.
She was only trying to change her attack pattern because she could see her opponents were getting used to the old one.
It didn’t matter to her that they stopped her flow. She just had to start a new one. It was that simple.
Twisted Kindness spread her wings wide and prepared to fly.
It was then.
Suddenly, a fire dragon soared behind Twisted Kindness and charged at her.
Although the dragon’s mana was so powerful that it exceeded the capacity allowed for humans….
“Hmm.”
Twisted Kindness spun once in the air, and the fire dragon disappeared in a whirl of mist.
“I forgot you were here.”
The moment she said so, she was already standing behind Ifrit.
“You guys are a bit botherso—”
KWANG!
Suddenly, Twisted Kindness crashed into the earth.
A slender leg pressed down on her body.
The phoenix, who had been waiting patiently for a chance to attack, predicted that the enemy would approach Ifrit and glided down at her at precisely the right moment.
KWAAAAA!
The fire spouting from the phoenix’s beak burned Twisted Kindness, who was stuck in the ground.
But the Army Commander pressed her hands against the ground and pulled herself up, seemingly unaffected by the flames surrounding her.
[Uk…!]
Even though the phoenix pushed down with all his might, his leg slowly moved up.
“DIEEEE!”
“Everyone, get her!”
Everyone rushed at the enemy, thinking this was their chance.
Earthlings poured their mana, others thrust their weapons, and the evil spirit army clung onto the enemy.
In the end, they became one big lump that surrounded Twisted Kindness.
But that was all. Suddenly, the lump began to shake and crack.
It shook about twice more, and then….
KWANG!
Just by the simple act of standing and stretching, Twisted Kindness blew away everyone and everything that had engulfed her, including the phoenix, in the blink of an eye.
It was truly a fearsome show of strength.
“S-Surround her again…!”
The soldiers trembled with fear at the sight but quickly gathered again.
“No, stop! You guys should just…!”
Chohong shouted, but she was too late.
KWANG! Twisted Kindness emitted her divinity.
A massive vibration spread throughout the battlefield.
The fragile bodies and souls it touched burst into pieces.
Even the High Rankers, who remained alert and on guard, stumbled heavily as they backed away.
“How long do you plan to hide like rats and wait for me to make a mistake?”
Twisted Kindness’ voice resounded in the air as pieces of flesh rained down on the battlefield.
“You have no more need for the teleport magic. So why don’t you come out?”
She was talking to Baek Haeju and the phoenix.
“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. I can always drag you out by force.”
A dozen or so magic circles rose into the air, each emitting magic of varying colors.
At the same time, Twisted Kindness’ body split into two, four, eight, then twelve, as if she was cloning herself.
Twelve Twisted Kindnesses opened their mouths wide, and twelve distinct beams of light were fired from their throats.
Then the dragons began to spin round and round in the air with their arms wide open.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Light exploded twelve times, followed by ruthless bombardment.
True hell descended. Screams of pain and terror rose into the air. It was as if watching a well-armed fortress annihilate a group of defenseless zombies.
It was a strange sight.
In a fight between the majority and the minority, the latter is always at a disadvantage.
But right now, the allied force was barely holding out against a single enemy.
They couldn’t even dream of striking back. Their best efforts only delayed Twisted Kindness’ movements by a millisecond.
‘No way…!’
This shocked Agnes as well as Cinzia, who rarely showed any emotion. Their arrival had done nothing to change the situation.
They had somewhat expected this to happen, but merely expecting something and actually experiencing it were two completely different things.
Twisted Kindness wasn’t bluffing when she said she’d take half of the allied force with her.
The addition of a few more people did not affect her at all.
The auxiliary forces were quickly arriving at the scene, but the opponent wasn’t someone who could be overpowered with numbers.
‘If this is going to be the case, we should…!’
Even if they had a bucket full of water, if they sprinkled it in small amounts, it wouldn’t help to kill a fire. They would have a better chance if they took a glass of water and emptied it all at once.
In other words—if they let things continue this way, they would just be wasting resources.
They had been more efficient when there were fewer people.
The problem was that they couldn’t see how it would help them now if the rest were ordered to retreat.
The clock was ticking. They had to defeat Twisted Kindness as quickly as possible and help Seol Jihu.
‘How can we….’
Even though the situation was favorable to them, the allied force fell into despair for the first time.
—Well… I don’t see how they’re going to make it.
Even Roselle, who had been watching the battle from inside Seol Jihu, clicked her tongue and shook her head.
Close combat and magic. Twisted Kindness excelled in both fields.
Roselle’s presence would have done little to change the situation because the enemy was so ‘complete’.
As the allied force struggled to hold their ground….
Twisted Kindness, too, was feeling restless.
She just wasn’t showing it on the outside.
‘Hurry…!’
Twisted Kindness unwittingly glanced in the direction of the enemy.
She understood why the Parasite Queen couldn’t come to help her. She had to meet her queen’s expectations no matter what.
By now, nearly 100 magic circles were spinning behind Twisted Kindness.
Suddenly, a new magic circle began to form in the center of them all.
It was the teleport magic circle.
This had been her goal from the beginning. Twisted Kindness deliberately created chaos so that she could transport herself.
She had expected her enemies to interrupt her right about now… but they seemed too preoccupied with what was in front of them to control themselves.
As the magic circle neared completion, Twisted Kindness smiled inwardly.
‘Good.’
It was then.
“Kkeuuk!”
A yelp escaped Twisted Kindness’ throat.
The Army Commander’s vision shook violently from left to right.
Then her spinning body came to an abrupt halt.
When Twisted Kindness came to her senses, her body had been reduced to just one.
The teleport circle had also disappeared.
There had been no forewarning of any kind. Nothing appeared on her radar.
But the enormous divinity that appeared out of nowhere was trying to interfere with her mind and body and take control of the flow of her energy.
Its effect was still ongoing.
“What the…!”
Twisted Kindness’ entire body vibrated.
Pressed by the unknown energy, she barely moved her head, shaking.
Twisted Kindness’ eyes widened with astonishment when she finally saw what was below.
The color of the earth had changed.
What should be gray was now a fascinating brown.
Even the land burned by her previous attacks was slowly regaining its original color.
But the color wasn’t the only different thing.
Flowers had blossomed across the corrupted soil.
Seeds sprouted, flowers burgeoned, and grass and trees began to grow.
Gray turned brown, and brown turned green, spreading far and wide beyond Twisted Kindness and beyond the Capital.
Eventually, the whole battlefield was colored with fresh green.
At last, the corrupted soil was completely purified and restored to its original form.
Not long after, fireflies began to rise from the green field.
Twisted Kindness’ gaze followed the fireflies and then suddenly stopped.
‘Wait a minute.’
Her eyes widened as soon as she looked forward.
It reflected the World Tree, which had grown tall enough to touch the sky.
‘Already…!’
The World Tree’s migration was finally complete.
No, it was much more than just migration. The World Tree brought the dead land back to life.
It was at this moment that the allied force escaped the effects of the corrupted soil for good, and Twisted Kindness was forced to abandon her original plan.