Chapter 199: And When The World Needed Him Most, He Returned
—
A dark stellar aura filled the air to the brim, clashing with the dark yang aura already present. The Hero of Legends stood straight, jaws tight, facing the Avatar of the Dark Phoenix. The tip of his sword pointed toward the phoenix, the cold metal shimmering with a brilliant dark light.
The entire mood on the battlefield had shifted.
"W-who is that?!"
"Ah- AHAHAHAHA."
Hero Jasmine's laughter cut through the air, while her granddaughter asked aloud in confusion and hope. Layla's brother, Prince Amir, stared at the man with a similarly stupefied expression.
The demonic angels in the sky looked stunned and scared seeing their leader crying out loud while clutching his severed wrist. The friendly spectators hidden in the forest, including Vaelwyn the Dryad, watched the scene with expressions of stunned hope.
Many occupants of this forest had long lives, and they had seen the Grand Chariot in effect a lot of times. Vaelwyn teared up before she joined Jasmine's laughter, the battlefield was filled with life again.
Pangeal's Last Hope was here.
"Who would have thought," the Pheonixman stopped screaming and growled, "that this low-grade planet was hiding such a dark star." The bird spoke while he clutched the stump of his wrist with his remaining hand. "You stinky, lowly filth. How dare you use a sneak attack?!"
With a burst of black flames from his stump, the separated hand on the ground flung back to the stump and merged back into place. His fingers cracked, and he clenched his fist a few times. His hand was back to normal.
"....!" the spectators gulped in shock. Had the attack been useless? To be fair, this guy was more powerful than the Demon King Shadowveil who the Hero defeated. But the Hero didn't win on his own, he had a party who supported him.
"Puny lowlives. I can heal from such an injury with ease," the Pheonixman growled, and the spectators took a step back in fear.
"You… can't… ehaha," Archmage Sieran stood back up with the help of a stick. The Erebian Prince ran up to her to support her, while Sieran glared at the Avatar with her eye-less face. "If it was that easy, you would have just regenerated your hand instead of sticking it back with the old piece. You're injured."
"You long-eared bitch, you talk too much," the Pheonixman turned to her, growling in his throat. "I'll end you after I finish this bastard."
"It won't be that easy," Sieran said, raising a hand and snapping her fingers. The sky lit up with thirty-two magic circles, each bigger than the other, like a funnel, and the spell activated to shine down at Sieran's body. Her blinded eyes lit up, a new pair of eyes growing, and the stump of her arm shone like the surface of the sun before a new pair began to grow back. "I won't be as easy to take out as last time."
"...." the Pheonixman scowled, "You were preparing that spell from the start," Since his damage was quite impressive, she couldn't heal from them in seconds, it needed her a few minutes to prepare a healing spell that was powerful enough. He looked at the Hero wielding a sword. "No wonder he didn't make a move. He's been waiting."
A short silence passed, and the Pheonixman laughed, spreading his arms. "Kekahah-! You two want to team up against me?! How pathetic! At least you know your worth."
"...Sieran," the Hero spoke for the first time. "Please evacuate everyone else now that you're healed. I'll finish him off."
"...Understood, I'll join you soon, after healing the others," Sieran said, snapping her finger to cast a complex barrier magic over everyone here, separately. With another snap of her fingers, she and the other people cocooned by their defense bubbles flew backward from the battlefield. They circled the area to form an area of kilometers in diameter, filled with the Hero, the Phoenix Avatar, and the dozens of demonic angels in the sky.
"That won't be needed," Aqua drew his sword backward. How dare this stupid little chicken bastard think it would take two to take him out? "I'll finish this bitch in a minute."
"Hah-!" the Pheonixman cracked up. "How arrogant of you, human brat. All of this arrogance just because you injured me with a surprise attack?" He chuckled softly and black wings spread behind him, each 12 feet tall. The aura of black flames around him grew even more intense. "Give it your all, let's destroy this forest with our clash if that's what you want."
Aqua smirked, dropped the smirk, and then clenched his jaws. "...3rd Seal Unlock, 4th Seal Unlock." He had already unlocked the 2nd Seal to fly here fast, and now, his Qi exploded with the authority of an Overlord. His grip tightened around his sword's hilt, and the air thrummed with an intense song. "Grand Chariot: 7th Star, Dubhe."
Dust rose from under his feet.
Aqua's figure vanished, and an explosion of dust chained behind him.
He blitzed forward at the speed of lightning, the world growing bright due to the line of light that his blurred figure left behind. It was as if a slice of the eclipsed sun had fallen from the skies, rushing right toward the dark phoenix.
Aqua appeared in front of the Phoenix Bastard, whose black wings swept forward to block Aqua's sword, while his fists drew back, charging up an attack of pure dark destruction. It was certainly a lethal technique, capable of shaving off a series of mountains from the face of the planet, and he intended to explode that into Aqua's face.
"Dark Phoenix, Amalgamation of Origin Creation and Final Destruction!" The Phoenix shouted at the top of his lungs, which put divine authority in the technique.
Aqua's sword raised overhead, he leaped into the air, and he too roared with the force of a giant bell. In a second, he gathered up his soul fire, his substitute of divinity. "Vagabond Style, Form Three, Sword that Behades the Sun!"
It was two techniques in one sword, two cries in one blade.
The Phoenix's wings clashed with Aqua's sword, and his fists rushed to his face.
The black wings parried Aqua's first attack yet were easily thrown backward, while the sword kept rushing ahead. The Dark Phoenix's Avatar had somewhat anticipated that, although he was surprised, he had already countered with a beam of fire as thick as Aqua's body, rushing out of his hands. The punching motion earlier was a hoax, this was the real deal. A beam of condensed black flames so hot that the trees were burning kilometers away from them, even though the beam just charged.
Aqua was just twelve feet far from the phoenix, just till his wings had reached, and his sword technique was still running. It met the beam, and it cut down in the middle. The Phoenix's eyes shook in shock, and in a swift motion, he threw his wings forward again, this time with the force of the Titanic.
This… this is dangerous. I should have activated True From…! He decided to do it after matching this attack.
Since Aqua was so close, the Phoenix threw his fists at his face too. A pair of long, strong wings rushed to his neck, and a pair of fists rushed to his face. Yet how could such mere attacks ever reach the Hero? Since his sword had finally found the actual target after moving 12 feet ahead, Aqua's sword technique was unleashed fully.
All sounds deafened, and the world went bright, as the sword technique exploded with the power of a thousand volcanos. The weight of a dying star crushed down on the Phoenix, his wings crunched and crumbled, while his fists sliced into twenty-one thousand pieces.
The destructive power of a nuke exploded in the phoenix avatar's very face.
— …..!....!...!..!.!!!!!!!!!!!
The world overlapped with multiple colors as if reality itself glitched, the scene was multiplied by the same image as if from parallel universes. The elven forest let out a roar, and the sound of an explosion engulfed the entirety of it.
Earthquakes spread through the entire planet of Pangeal.
The dust cleared a minute later, and a country-sized crater greeted the world.
Aqua alone floated in the sky, hair flapping in the air, as he stood under the moon that was now as bright as the sun.
…The Avatar of the Demonic Phoenix God of Destructive Flames was nowhere to be seen. Even his ashes were erased by the impact of a nuclear star. His minions in the sky were erased just by being near it. It was a sheer victory.
****
"YESSSS! THAT'S IT!" The King of Barbarians cheered like a madman in front of the large screen in the air.
That annoying Phoenix Avatar was finally taken care of! Oh, how he had wished to crush that filthy bird's head with his own two hands! But Alas, he had reached the peak of this world, and couldn't remain in the mortal realm as he pleased.
That weakling Jasmine lost to the Clown Avatar, but when Seriphoth appeared, he defeated the Phoenix Avatar in a single blow. Barolt was filled with joy!
Just like him, everyone in heaven was the same. It was a day of celebration.
Galaxara smiled at the sight, standing near the window of her castle. "The atmosphere in heaven has improved greatly, I'm glad. Auriel."
She called the name of one of her only remaining Archangels, and the blonde fiery angel flew to a stop in front of her window. She closed her eyes, putting a hand on her chest, "Yes, Mother?"
"Me and the guests will leave soon. I can feel that the child, Ruby, is about to open the gate under the root of the World Tree, inside the Lake of Life." Goddess Galaxara spoke gently.
According to her divine senses near the Gate of Heaven, Ruby had succeeded in reaching it. She had fought through the hordes of beasts and other traps, to reach the gate at the very bottom of the lake, and was on the verge of clearing the puzzle that'd open the gate.
"I see."
"So I'll go and greet my guests. In the meantime, will you go to Barolt with my message?"
"Of course, Divine Mother," Auriel lowered her head. "I shall join you right afterward."
…..
Heaven was cheering, Valhalla was shouting with testosterone and the desire to fight, and Hell was screeching as usual. Every soul was delighted. A heavy weight of fear was moved from their hearts after witnessing the battle between the Hero and the Dark Phoenix's Avatar.
The Hero of Legends had grown more powerful than in his prime days. It was incredible news!
Barolt was one of them too, naturally. He was one of the louder ones, as he laughed at the screen.
"Barolt," among the millions of cheering voices around him, one in particular called for him. Barolt looked up to find an Archangel smiling at him.
"Auriel," Barolt said. Any other man would stand up and bow to the divine entity, but Barolt simply crossed his arms and remained seated on the floor. "Is it time?"
"Yes," she said, her voice soft yet filled with vigor. "I apologize, I know you want to go down as well, but Heaven needs a vanguard. You're the only one we can trust with this."
Unlike what many citizens of Pangeal believed, Barolt, the Barbarian, never died. He ascended up to the heavens himself after reaching Level 100. If not for his God status, the Goddess would have reincarnated him as the Hero instead of Jasmine; however, as a DemiGod, he's the most powerful in Heaven, so it's wiser to keep him here as a last line of defense against any invader.
"...I know," Barolt turned his head back at the screen. He clearly wasn't satisfied with it, he wanted to go down there and tear apart those Outer Gods more than anyone else, but it was important to protect the billions of souls in Heaven, Hell, and Valhalla. "So get off my sight, I'm getting annoyed."
"As you wish," Auriel bowed, a hand in her chest, and turned around to leave.
"Oh, and," Barolt turned to her with a grin, "tell that Seriphoth bastard to give those Outer Gods a punch in my stead."
Auriel smiled at him and flew away.
…..
Auriel reunited with her Goddess and the foreign guests in front of the Gate of Heavens, where another angel, with pairs of wings jet black, awaited for the gate to open.
The Great Goddess Galaxara turned to her with a smile, "You're back. What did he say?"
"He accepted the request as expected, despite his desire to join us," Auriel said, turning her head to the two pillars in front of her. They were built intricately, with masterfully carved stone wings above them that connected to form a circle. She was curious about when the gates would open, but she didn't have the guts to ask. She just waited.
"Goddess Galaxara," fellow divinity Quetzalcoatl asked what was in everyone's heart. "When is the gate opening? It's been a while since we have been standing here."
"It should be any time now, my friend," Galaxara said, blinking. "Ah, there you go." Just as she said that the space between the pillars lit up. Blue light swirled in its place, and mana filled it.
Everyone faced the vortex of energy, standing for the Goddess' words. She nodded, "Let us go in. I must meet my Hero and thank him for his victory."
She took the first step, submerging into the portal, and the others easily followed suit. Auriel was the last one to enter, her eyes turning back to take a look at heaven before she entered the portal.
****
[First Person Point of View]
When we returned to the elven enclave with everyone, my Jade Perception bloomed toward the Lake of Life. I sensed an imminent and condensed divine mana there, from within divine presences stepped out. Ruby's presence was safe and sound too.
They're here. Since the gate was underwater, it would take them a while to come out and fly to the elven enclave.
"Hero! Ohh, Hero! Y-you're finally back!" In the meantime, I had to endure the cries of elves and other inhabitants of the forest, who had crowded the village. They waited outside the Chief's abode, calling for me, but I remained in my room.
"The Goddess has finally smiled back at us! She hasn't abandoned us, oh yes!" They shouted, praying toward the sky for this miracle. There was not one soul in the entire Elven Forest who wasn't praying in gratitude and hope right now, all of their hearts and voices directed toward me and the Goddess.
Yet, I didn't want to go down and meet any of them.
I… wasn't the same hero they knew. Seriphoth Babylon, nine lives ago, would have walked out and waved at them, he would have spent half an hour cheering with them, but I didn't find it in myself to do the same. Even my Goddess would fall to her knees in shock if she saw the faces hidden within my current one.
It was rage that was bubbling in my heart. I waited alone in my room, intricate plans swirling in my head. The plans mostly consisted of me flying into the poles right now and tearing apart the Phoenix God. Well, he will soon figure out that his Avatar has been murdered, I'm curious what he'll choose to do after that.
My fingers thrummed against the window railing in a trance as I stared at the distant sky; the sun was finally rising. A soft sound pulled me back to reality.
– Knock Knock.
I turned my head to the door, which was never closed, and found Sieran standing at the door frame. She smiled at me softly, "What got you so immersed?"
"Thoughts of murder," I raised a hand, and the wind aura carried her to me. Someone at her level could easily resist it, but she had no reason to. She fell into my arms and moved her hands to hold my face. "All of it is gone now though, after my eyes fell on your delicate smile. How are your injuries?"
"None. My Hero saved me, how can I bear any injuries?" She smiled at me so gently that my heart fluttered with an old, long-forgotten feeling. She rarely smiled, I just got a flashback of the first time I saw her smiling. She was quite the kuudere, and I still remember the day we laughed together.
Haah.
I guess it's not impossible to… regain love for people who I've long since stopped loving, toward people whom I simply felt a sense of nostalgia for instead.
Anyway, I'm happy she's not injured. Although she was no Saintess, she was still the guardian of the World Tree; she even lived inside it. It gave her some healing powers. On top of that, as the greatest Archmage ever, death was the only injury that her spells couldn't heal from. That's why the Phoenix Avatar was trying to kill her as soon as possible; if he decided to play with his prey instead, she would have healed herself and possibly won. It was a really big 'what if' but it could have happened.
I need to get her to Level 100 soon, she'll be a lot more powerful. I noted in my head, while she gently pulled my face into a peck.
"Jasmine is healed," she informed me, "and she wishes to meet you. Will you meet her now, or later?"
"Now is good," my people will soon be here, so this place will be crowded. I should meet with my predecessor, my mentor, when the atmosphere is still calm.
Sieran led me to the room where Master Jasmine and her descendants were staying.
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Important Announcement: I'll be taking a break due to some personal reasons. Mainly schedule, health, and exams. I know its sudden, and I too would have loved to have this break after the Pangeal arc, but it can't be helped, the timing isn't on my side. 🙏I'll be back next month, August, in its first week. I wish you a blissful time till then.
As always, if you wish to read the next chapter, up till Chapter 217, you can find them in my Patreon. Happy reading.