The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 276

Side Story 5.

The Forgotten War, The Spider Lord Subjugation Battle (5)

“I don’t understand. Everything went according to plan. Wasn’t the battle supposed to start as soon as Rain arrived in the secret chamber?”

Rem said, wiping away cold sweat.

Just then, Valensidice opened a dimension by wielding Kashasur, which had absorbed the power of the Key Spider.

“We need to go back quickly.”

“What? What about Rain? What about Miria?”

“We have to tell everyone what just happened. Otherwise, humanity will be destroyed before this season ends.”

Then, Kasena, who had barely escaped her panic, stammered with a bewildered expression.

“Are you saying we should leave Rain behind?”

“His presence has completely disappeared. Rain is dead.”

“He’s not dead! We have to go help him now!”

“He’s not dead, he’s not dead, he’s not dead.”

“Get a grip! We need to assume the worst-case scenario to deal with rapidly changing situations. It would be a plus if Rain is alive. But not now!”

Then, Pipi flew onto Valensidice’s shoulder and started pecking at his cheek.

“He’s not dead, he’s not dead, he’s not dead.”

“Don’t speak your wishes, face reality. Get into the dimensional rift now! The King is coming!”

“Valensidice is right. This is the reality now. Rain didn’t finish anything. The King has awakened. And the gods are gone.”

“I can’t believe it. Both Miria and Rain are dead? That crazy grandpa and grandma?”

“Rem, I don’t think Rain is dead either. But something went wrong, and it’s clear that we can’t do anything right now.”

“What should we do?”

“First, we need to tell the Emperor, the Water Dragon Yeriserika, and the Five Pillars of the Theocracy. The sealed ancient nobles will also be released one by one. There’s no time.”

Rem rubbed his face with his gloved hands as if tearing at it, then sighed and threw himself into the dimensional rift.

Bart followed him, but Kasena was still staring at Cheonsugung, now visible in the distance.

The moment Valensidice forcibly grabbed the back of her neck to drag her away.

A wave (波動) [A surge of energy or force].

A sinister wave started from Cheonsugung and spread throughout the Mountains of Madness.

The dimensional rift twisted as if screaming, and mad moans swept across the entire Arctic region.

And snow (雪)…….

A blizzard that obscured even the immediate surroundings began to swirl and sweep across the mountains.

The mountains were worshiping the return of the King.

“We have to get out of here. Hurry!”

However, the dimensional rift had already been tangled and destroyed by a more powerful being.

Damn it…….

Only after dragging Kasena into the rift did Valensidice realize this, and he had to frantically rotate his head for a moment.

Coordinate calculation.

Coordinate calculation.

Coordinate calculation.

If he was even a little late, if he made even a small mistake, they would fall into bizarre coordinates.

They could move between walls and have their bodies severed, or they could move to the bottom of the abyss.

A moment of extreme tension, where his mind went blank and cold sweat poured down his body, felt like an eternity.

“Kugh……!”

“Ah……!”

Valensidice and Kasena tumbled roughly several times in the snowfield before finally stopping.

The only one unharmed among the three was Pipi, who had flown away at the moment of the transfer.

Kasena could hear the gunshots and screams ringing in her head.

‘Gunshots? Frisvia shouldn’t have deciphered the ‘s [Referring to a technologically advanced alien race] artillery technology yet.’

Startled, she got up, and a familiar landscape jumped into her eyes.

This was the Battleship Base.

Originally a wrecked battleship of the , but it had been converted into an advanced base.

“Pipi knows, Pipi knows, Pipi knows here.”

The cannons of the Battleship Base moved back and forth, butchering the endlessly swarming spiders.

“Hmph, I wondered who had entered here avoiding the fire net, but it was a baby pig bringing a man. And an animal to boot.”

It was then that Frisvia suddenly came into view.

Steam hissed from every joint of the steam-powered armor she had developed while deciphering the technology of the .

The optical technology helmet, which emitted a faint stream of light from its eyeholes, modulated her voice into a mechanical tone.

Pipi protested by pecking at the helmet with her beak.

“Not animal. Not animal. Pipi is Pipi.”

“Master, what’s going on?”

“Hmph, can’t you see? A full-scale attack has begun. Hmph, seeing your unsightly face, it seems that little brat failed.”

Kasena felt a piercing pain in her chest at those words.

“No! He didn’t fail! Failure is…….”

But there was no way to deny it in front of Frisvia, who was staring intently at her. Only reason and facts worked for her.

“To bring the legendary Aein Fire Chariot Brigade all the way to this Arctic land, truly befitting of a princess of Kindellan.”

Valensidice said.

In addition to the members wearing the same armor as Frisvia, special weapons developed by Chief Tinker Nils Blantz, Fire Chariots (火車) [A type of mobile artillery], were firing arrows wildly.

The arrows, three or four times larger and thicker than ordinary arrows, pierced the spiders’ flesh, causing them to scream in agony.

The number of artillerymen operating the Fire Chariots was roughly over 5,000.

“What I asked wasn’t about the situation. Why didn’t you avoid it? You shouldn’t be here!”

For some reason, Frisvia didn’t seem to want to answer that question very much.

“Hmph, we couldn’t avoid it.”

“Why?”

“Isla’s condition isn’t stable. If we take her out now, she’ll die soon after.”

Isla was a half-dragon created by combining the Red Dragon Alakish with the physical genes of Frisvia and Kasena.

Although she was still asleep in the test tube, hugging her knees, it was clear that Frisvia felt some kind of maternal affection for the child.

Since succeeding in cultivating Isla, her attitude towards others had noticeably softened.

“I see…….”

“So, I had expectations for you and that arrogant brat, but hmph, you failed spectacularly.”

“By the way, if a large-scale offensive has begun, there’s no way they can stop it with that broken battleship and 5,000 troops.”

There was no way Frisvia wouldn’t have had such realistic doubts.

“Hmph, there are three possibilities. Either they don’t have the manpower to deploy to this humble place, or they’ve postponed the priority, or…….”

Frisvia pointed to the tomb faintly visible among the collapsing spiders northeast of the Battleship Base.

“Or there’s something powerful enough that they don’t need to send a large number of troops.”

It was a tomb.

A sanctuary of sacrifice (安置所) [A place where a sacrifice was made].

A seed of tears where a dragon, who had protected the world for a thousand years, sacrificed his life to seal the ancient nobles.

The flower that grew from that seed was made of bones and spread out greatly, but now those bones were moving with a clatter.

Clatter, clatter, clatter…….

On the bridge of the Battleship Base, an emergency message [Emergency: Appearance of a Threatening Abyssal Entity] was being frantically displayed.

But even without seeing that message, Kasena could understand what was about to happen before her eyes.

She had come to understand it.

No.

No. No.

The reason she came to this Arctic land as an adult was partly to receive training from Frisvia.

But the most important reason was that she wanted to take care of the land that Alakish had protected with his life, even if it was insufficient.

Without even giving her time to recall the miserable but equally dazzling memories she had with Alakish.

Boom!

The next moment, the bone tomb exploded, scattering bone fragments in all directions.

The explosive force was so great that the surrounding spiders were blown away, and the orbs of madness and arrows that were rushing in had their trajectories bent in mid-air.

「Ah…….」

Madness, the keel is fragmented into pieces, fluttering like ash.

Outburst, suddenly a chill increases sharply and snow begins to cover the field of vision.

Insanity, in the midst of the chaos where the Aein engineers scream for no reason and the spiders kneel low as if surrendering.

The ancient count, elegantly fluttering his dark blue hair and clothes, was raising his jade body.

Kasena blankly recited the name of the object of hatred that had been engraved deep in her soul since childhood, that terror.

“Duke Baekdo, Sharr’kas…….”

* * *

“Where the hell is this…….”

When I came to my senses, I was standing in a dark space where a freezing blizzard of the universe was raging.

In a space where spiderweb-shaped ice sheets spread out in countless strands to an invisible horizon.

“Be careful, Rain. It’s so narrow that you can barely get one foot on it.”

And under that spiderweb.

“Ugh…….”

“Ugh…….”

“Ughaa…….”

A nauseatingly bubbling swamp, with the dead submerged in it, moaning and reaching out their hands and feet.

My spine shivers with fear.

If I slip, will I become one with them?

And spiders, moving with eerie skill on those spiderwebs, were relentlessly targeting us in the darkness.

“Open a dimension quickly! It’s too disadvantageous to fight! The foothold is too narrow!”

“I’m trying to! I keep trying!”

Even when trying to create a surface with magic, something interfered each time.

Something, I could sense that this space was governed by a sinister providence I had never known before.

Similarly, even when trying to open a dimension, the dimension would not open.

And the air…… It’s hard to breathe unless you create the atmosphere itself with magic.

In the gradually overwhelming breath, I muttered blankly.

“Could it be that we’ve been dragged into a completely different dimension?”

As if to deny that ominous speculation, Miria scattered dazzling radiance and wielded Shirpeng.

Space-Time Severance (時空殲) [A technique that cuts through space and time].

An ultimate technique that transcends space-time and tears dimensions, but no anomalies occurred in the space that should have thrilled me if it were normal.

“What, no way, this can’t be happening.”

Miria swung her sword repeatedly as if she couldn’t believe it, but it was a meaningless struggle.

Rather, she had only exposed a weakness.

A monster beyond the realm of light and darkness, which I was seeing for the first time in my life.

A pure white ancient spider that was formed in a storm of cold and scattered back into cold when it died.

“Miria!”

What I learned later was that the name of this land was the Thousand-Year Snow Prison (千年雪獄) [A dimension of ice and snow].

No, not the land, but the name of the dimension. An outer universe fiefdom bestowed upon the Spider Lord Ashron by the Lord of the Abyss.

Because the Abyss was a space that extremely blocked the power of creation, neither Miria nor I could exert much power.

My dimensional knowledge had not yet reached the universe, so there was no way to escape from there on my own.

And soon, something from the outer universe sensed our existence trapped and wandering there.

* * *

The defense battle was overwhelmingly in favor of humanity.

The beings of the Abyss were burned in the sacred fire as soon as their bodies touched the barrier.

And the magical renaissance revived and led by Yonghyun Rain Ludwig, the magicians born in that era were stationed at each key point.

“Alright, shall we stretch our bodies for the first time in a while?”

Krista Aigen.

Every time she waved her hand as if conducting a performance, hundreds of sand soldiers slaughtered spiders below the barrier.

“Come forth, Flame Serpent (炎蟒) [A magical fire construct].”

Lilian Karain of the Karain clan of Rivendell, who commands the Special Task Force, burned the spiders with her fire snake.

“Wind Book Fine Dust (風書纖塵) [A wind-based magic technique].”

Hubert, the top disciple of the Rohinum School and the vice-professor of .

“Water Calamity Creates Axe (水禍生鉞) [A water-based magic technique].”

And Nora Redon, the young elder of Melev, slaughtered and swept away the spiders with wind and water.

Among the golden generation who spent their school days with Yonghyun, the only one who couldn’t play an active role was Logan!

Kayden, who uses sonic magic, is excluded because he is not a combat personnel!

“Kugh, damn it! Lily is trying so hard, but I have to wait here doing muscle training!”

Logan, who was diligently exercising his muscles with magical dumbbells, then Lilian glanced at him.

“Why don’t you throw rocks instead of just talking? With that ignorant strength of yours.”

“Ah!”

Apart from the members of the golden generation, important figures from the magical world, such as the Mado family and the Seven Great Schools, were all gathered in one place.

The Ludwig family, represented by Scalzi Ludwig, Madelia Page, former chief professor Marhena, and Doran Slade, etc…….

The war situation was so overwhelming that the sword sects, led by Ilseong Chilgeom [A group of skilled swordsmen], had to watch with their fingers in their mouths.

In an instant, a blizzard thicker than fog covered the field of vision, and everything was reversed.

Starting with Nora Redon, who was in charge of the Central Garrison (中經部) [The main defensive force].

In an instant, the field of vision went dark, and then bubbles painfully swelled up from inside the body, and the flesh exploded altogether.

“Uh……?”

Was it just Nora?

The flesh of the 10,000 troops in charge of the Central Garrison, located between the backbone, which was the center of the , and the Changdong Gate in the east, exploded simultaneously.

In that explosion, parasitic spiderwebs wriggled and danced.

Another 3,000 people exploded and died.

Madness, frenzy, disease.

A mortal body cannot dare to oppose the King.

And that flesh and soul cannot withstand the King’s wrath.

Following that, 4,500 people.

Before that sound could end, another 3,000 people.

The Spider Lord, only nightmares and screams filled every place where Ashron briefly appeared.

Then another 6,000 people.

Then another 8,700 people.

Those who dared to swallow the fog emitted by the King paid the price of that wrath.

In the blink of an eye, while moving to the backbone where the Emperor and the commander were located.

In front of the King’s majesty, which transcends space and time, approximately 35,000 imperial and feudal troops were torn into bloody masses without even screaming.

Continuing with 2,200 people.

The King’s flesh.

That disgusting and nauseating form that cannot be understood or should not be understood by human perception.

Those who dared to see that jade body and survived went mad and became lunatics.

The moment he instinctively sensed this overwhelming threat, Logan grabbed Lilian and jumped down below the barrier.

The next moment, everyone who remained in that place died.

Once again, 1,400 people.

When that great flesh swept through, the dared to resist, but eventually collapsed.

Spiders poured in through the collapsing gaps.

Among those spiders, grown spiders knelt before the King in a palanquin carried by men, a woman with a tall stature of seven feet and a face colder than frost.

「Your subject, Jayoon, is truly boundless in grace to see the true King, Your Majesty, again.」

The former King received that greeting with just a nod, and the male attendant Alcuta, who was assisting the King, paid his respects to his superior with an elegant salute.

「Lord Husingyeong, lead the army as it is and recover the northern land south of the barrier. This is the will of His Majesty.」

The former King’s slaughter stopped only when he reached the backbone.

Not everyone died, but they just, as they should, instinctively knelt down and bowed with their foreheads on the ground.

「There is nothing to fear. I am Lord Ashron, the true and legitimate ruler of this land.」

Raida Aigen too.

Seigan and Kiran Blado, siblings too.

Sword Saint Brinden Belchester too.

「I will personally recite the language of the devils with the utmost mercy and advise you, let the one wearing the crown come forward now.」

Emperor Raida Aigen, as if possessed by something, trudged forward and knelt before the former King.

「You have dared to usurp the King and commit the sin of filling this land with a false generation, so you must die. However, by the grace of the true King, I will give you a choice.」

“Forgive…… Forgive me…….”

「Select 2,000 men and women. I will raise them as elites to serve this Ashron as a new humanity. But the rest will all be submerged in the Abyss for the sin of worshiping a false god.」

In that nightmarish horror that made his whole body obey involuntarily, it was Krista Aigen who staggered and stood up alone.

“You, you…… You’re not even funny…… Shut up with that bullshit……!”

Ashron squinted as if amused by the behavior, but his loyalist Alcuta could not let that irreverence pass.

The spiderweb that stretched out from Alcuta’s hand wrapped around Krista’s body.

The pressure of the spiderweb intensified in an instant, trying to cause her to die in agony as her internal organs and eyes popped out of her flesh.

「Oufari (Water).

Asrai (Warmly).

Bertas (Cover).」

At that moment, at that very moment.

The blizzard that had been covering the like a fog was swept away by a warm stream of water.

A sacred stream of water that washed away the Abyss that was eating away at the flesh, and even more so the soul. Everyone regained their sanity.

The beautiful brow of the male attendant Alcuta furrowed.

「This is……!」

With the sound of magnificent flapping wings, thirty-three white dragons appeared in the sky.

And in that distant sky, a luminous body that seemed to represent the sun obscured by darkness scattered light across the heavens and the earth.

The rainbow of life that the being emitted from its entire body, everything that had been submerged in darkness returned to light.

「Asura……?!」

The only woman among the Three Divine Dragons.

A part of the miracle that the Black Sun Karenden raised like his own child. And the only miracle left on this land now that the gods have left.

That name, Water Dragon Yeriserika.