For a moment, it looked as if it was a stalemate.
Yet, the Solar Armageddon weighed down heavily on the silently bellowing Balmung, gradually burning away the crumbling dragon bit by bit. Sigmund's knees buckled and he struggled to maintain his footing on a disintegrating ground swept by molten lava that slowly ate at his melting boots, even as he infused his treasure sword with more of his rapidly dwindling mana.
"Is this it?" He muttered to himself, frustrated. "Even though I've put every ounce of my remaining mana into my final attack, it still isn't enough?"
Sigmund fell to his knees, the lava still lapping at his legs and burning parts off his black and silver armor – the silver portions now glowing red and half molten. Despite the fiery pain, he endured stoically as he ever did, fighting to the very last.
Unfortunately, he knew that he had no command seals to spend, or no stupid technique that allowed him to burn away his lifespan for more power. like...what the fuck was that? Both manga and manhua loved to use that weird trope where they claimed you could burn away your lifeforce for more strength, but…that made no sense. It wasn't as if lifespan or lifeforce was some measurable quantity that you could somehow get access to.
Nope. Sigmund was on his own here. No cards left to play, nothing up his sleeve except sheer grit and the tenacity that he was renowned for.
And even that wasn't going to save him, especially as he watched helplessly while the gargantuan fireball – so much like the sun – approached inexorably, crushing the last, defiant vestiges of his blue dragon and bearing down on him.
That was when an arrow seared through the heavens, leaving a trail of frost as it skimmed over the barren wasteland that was once a verdant forest. A large, slender arrow that resembled more a sword than an actual ranged projectile – a blade made of pure ice and freezing spiritual qi.
Azure Frost.
The freezing arrow struck Solar Armageddon and detonated, enveloping the miniature sun in a freezing nova. Ice crept across the colossal sphere, only to vaporize into steam from the sheer heat. Even so, Sigmund was amazed to see that there was still some effect. Normally, it didn't matter what kind of ice spell it was – all would be doomed to oblivion instantly because of the extreme heat.
But this wasn't an ordinary freezing spell.
"Absolute Zero?" Sigmund whispered. He frowned in bewilderment. "I recognize that sword-arrow. It belongs to Song Jun Wen. But when did he attain the Absolute Zero spell? Also, this mana…it feels like he has broken through to Earth rank. In the middle of battle? I recall that he was still only at peak Mystic rank when we last parted ways."
It didn't matter. Even though the Absolute Zero level Azure Frost wasn't enough to completely negate the Solar Armageddon, it was enough to drain away a significant amount of strength. Sigmund felt a great deal of weight lifted off his shoulders, and with a determined yell, he forced himself back to his feet and devoted the last of his mana into his Balmung.
"What's this?"
It wasn't just Sigmund. Even Ricowen realized that something was amiss. He had spotted the arrow that had struck his ultimate technique and was slowly freezing the colossal fireball that was Solar Armageddon. Normally, it was something he would ignore – the arrow by itself was too feeble that it would be swallowed up by the burgeoning inferno eventually. Even if it had the aura of Absolute Zero, the wielder who had fired it was still freshly into Earth rank and nowhere able to compete against the likes of a peak Earth rank spearman like Ricowen.
However, Ricowen wasn't just facing the archer. He was also fighting Sigmund, one of the most powerful opponents he ever had the honor of facing.
As insignificant as a single Azure Frost might seem, it was still enough to tip the scales in the favor of the black swordsman. Balmung roared silently, resurgent and emboldened by the assistance, and carved through the semi frozen miniature sun, its intangible fangs giving the impression that it was tearing out chunks of flame and devouring it but by bit.
The Solar Armageddon was so powerful that it couldn't be destroyed by Balmung, though. But it was enough to split the gargantuan orb into two, much like an asteroid that had just been broken apart by a nuke.
The gap between the crudely divided Solar Armageddon was all the opening Sigmund needed.
Planting his feet against the ground, he launched himself through the crevice between the rapidly splitting halves of the colossal Solar Armageddon, braving the intense heat and suffering even more grievous burns on his battered body. Sigmund felt excruciating pain, his muscles and nerves burned away by the embers and flares still curling out of the falling twins of Solar Armageddon, but he persisted. He clamped down on the agony and continued hurtling through.
Then he was clear, his sword pointed straight at an astonished Ricowen. The spearman, to his credit, responded quickly, slamming his palm down and conjuring a storm of fiery spears that arced toward the approaching swordsman.
Spinning about in midair, Sigmund blasted the spears apart with another draconic blast. With his mana reserves exhausted, the blue dragon was much tinier than before, but its jaws were more than enough to swallow the crimson, fiery spears before imploding into nothingness.
However, Sigmund wasn't the only one who had depleted his mana. Ricowen too had expended much of his energies on that final strike, but he was still brimming with a fiery aura. He held his ground and summoned a new fiery lance, with which he met Sigmund squarely in the center of the crater. Blade slammed against shaft and both combatants skidded across the crumbling ground, which had already been softened by the heat.
Twirling his spear, Ricowen slashed Sigmund's chest and left a fiery scar that blazed across his torso, causing the black swordsman to stagger. For a moment, the spearman was bewildered, vaguely noticing that this was a rare lapse in his opponent's normally impregnable defense Too late, Ricowen realized that Sigmund hadn't parried his spear on purpose.
With a single thrust, Sigmund stabbed Ricowen from below, his blade punching through his chest and exiting through his back in a violent spray of blood, obliterating his heart in the process.
Ricowen jerked and slumped on the sword, still somehow clutching his spear while reaching out to clutch the blade in his chest with his other hand. He coughed, blood spilling from his mouth, and looked up at Sigmund, who continued to push the sword deeper into the spearman's chest. Closing his eyes, he smiled briefly.
"This is…your victory."
Sigmund pulled his sword out and Ricowen staggered, but somehow remained standing. He leaned on his spear and bowed his head slightly out of respect.
"I must apologize for all the trouble I put you through. Even though I know this is wrong, I am honor bound to help the dark elves and demonic mages here. I have sworn an oath to them, after all."
"I am the one who should apologize," Sigmund replied, hanging his head in shame. "I've dishonored the battle by accepting help from a third party."
"No," Ricowen said with a slow shake of his head, still clutching his ruptured chest. How the bastard was still standing and talking despite having his heart destroyed, I had no idea. "The strength of a warrior isn't limited to skill and techniques alone, but also extends to the company he keeps. You have made use of your charisma to befriend reliable and trustworthy allies. I cannot say the same for myself, having thrown my lot in the company of sadists and torturers. Cowards who scheme in the dark and leave me to fend for myself when they realize they are outmatched. I only have myself to blame. Hold your head up high. You have won this battle – and likely, the war – fair and square."
"I only wish the circumstances under which we met are different."
Ricowen laughed at that. "I do not. I am…satisfied to have such a great duel with you, and I do not think I would have any other opportunity to have such a fulfilling fight. It was always my wish to die honorably on the battlefield."
"You have certainly achieved that." Sigmund clasped a hand to his chest in a salute. "You have my utmost respect."
"Thank you." Ricowen closed his eyes. "You should go. Yggdrasil is still being corrupted, even as we speak, and the sooner you destroy the monolith, the earlier you'll free the World Tree from its corruptive influence and foil the dark elves and demonic mages' plans."
"I will. I am grateful."
Sigmund hesitated, watching Ricowen one last time before he turned and rushed off. Even as he left, Ricowen remained standing to the last, expelling his final breath and finally expiring. The spearman had departed the world of the living, even as his now empty body remained standing in honorable defiance and pride.
Sigmund limped toward the clearing where the monolith was, reaching the accursed artifact the same time we did. He nodded at me when I waved at him.
"I appreciate your intervention," he said. "If it weren't for you, I would have been the one who died in the battle."
"I'm sorry if that was dishonorable. I know you would have preferred to win in a one-on-one battle, but…" I trailed off. Sigmund smiled gently and shook his head.
"No, I understand. If I were in your position, I would have done the same. My life is not my own, and I am not selfish enough to demand that I be left to die for some notion of honor. If you have allowed Ricowen to defeat me, then…quite frankly, it is possible that the world will be destroyed. The enemies would be free to corrupt Yggdrasil fully, and the consequences of that would be catastrophic. Perhaps you might be able to prevail over Ricowen, as injured and exhausted as he was, but I believe you have your own wounds and fatigue from your own battles. I do not think it is wise to risk the fate of the world over an abstract concept such as honor."
"You are...a lot more practical than I give you credit for," Myria remarked, surprised.
"Maybe, but sometimes we have to sacrifice our ideals in order to save everybody. Reality isn't so kind as to let everything go our way smoothly. We have to pay the price for success…and safety."
"Speaking of success, we haven't actually accomplished our objective until that damned thing is destroyed." Morten pointed at the monolith, which was still emitting an eerie green glow from cursed runes.
"Yeah." Sigmund raised his sword, only to stagger. Both Morten and I caught him before he fell flat on his face. He grimaced. "Sorry…it seems that I've expended all of my mana in the earlier battle against Ricowen. I don't think I have enough strength left to destroy the corruptive device."
"Normally, I would summon Hei Ba – uh, my Abyssal Hydra, and get him to use his golden beams to destroy the monolith, but he's out of commission and still slowly regenerating his body after being almost blasted apart by Ardena." I scratched my head, then clapped my hands. "Oh, but I still have a couple more friends for the job!"
A second later, my Titan Golem lumbered forward and swung his intertwined fists down to pulverize the device. Flames erupted from his boulder-like skin, magma coursing through his veins to drown the monolith in molten lava. Even as it melted under the intense heat, my Titan Golem continued to hammer it until nothing remained by broken, liquid shards.
"That was anticlimactic," Morten remarked. "I was half-expecting dark elves to be guarding here and they would turn into monsters or something and attack us."
"This isn't Dungeons and Artifacts," Myria reprimanded him.
"You read that manhwa too?"
I ignored the banter between Morten and Myria and closely inspected the broken device. Like in Noctwood, I could sense a dark, gloomy cloud being lifted, the pall that once hung over Yggdrasil dispelling swiftly and becoming purer. The taint was slowly fading away, the source of corruption shattered and sent to oblivion.
As if to emphasize the expulsion of darkness, the sun was finally rising over the horizon, its rays dawning upon the canopy of a rejuvenated World Tree.
"It's finally over," I said in tremendous relief, pushing my glasses up my nose and breathing in the suddenly much fresher air.
"Not yet," Sigmund said grimly and pointed toward the skies where the ragged remains of the dark elf fleet remained soaring. "At least not until every single one of them has been eliminated."
"Oh, don't worry," I assured him with a smile, even as Long Wang and Xiao Huo Long – leading a convoy of Round Owlets, Arrow Owls and a single Grim Owl – smashed a hefty section of the horrifying armada into pieces and sent debris of once sadistic looking ships plummeting below. "I've left those guys to very good friends of mine."