Chapter 504.2: No One Can Take Her Away (2)

…

I won.

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Amidst the glacial silvery fog, Roel confirmed that fact with the final sliver of his strength.

The final attack unleashed by the desperate Flooding Death had surpassed his expectations, but it still wasn’t enough to defeat the Grandar in his complete form.

By burning up every last bit of his mana together with a huge chunk of his life force, Roel was able to witness the true strength of the Giant Sovereign for the very first time. In that final clash, Grandar had hurled out a punch that looked utterly incomprehensible to Roel.

It was an attack that somehow didn’t feel like one. If he had to describe it, it felt more like a concept.

If Flooding Death’s final attack was built around the concept of death, Grandar’s punch was centered around the concept of destruction. It symbolized the prowess wielded by a being who had attained absolute strength.

That answered one of the doubts that had been on Roel’s mind for the longest of time.

He had always wondered why Grandar didn’t use any weapons. Just like how humans could draw out greater power by brandishing weapons, giants were able to do the same as well. As a matter of fact, most of the giants depicted in the legends did fight with weapons.

He used to think that Grandar’s weapon had simply worn out over time, but after witnessing the true strength of the Giant Sovereign, he finally understood that weapons were nothing more than a burden to him.

Right before his eyes, he saw Grandar’s unstoppable punch connecting with Flooding Death, immediately bursting the sentient calamity that had plagued the world since the ancient era into countless bits. Frost aura gushed through right after, freezing up the dissipated curses.

An unbearably high-pitch cry ensued, but it was quickly overshadowed by the explosions that followed. This was the first time in centuries that one of the Six Calamities had let out such a frightful scream before dissipating into thin air.

The moment the final wisp of Flooding Death dissipated, Roel’s tensed nerves finally loosened.

The demise of Flooding Death had cleared a major threat for humankind and resolved the generations-old grudge of the Sorofyas and Ascarts. But most important of all, this event would bring hope to the whole of humankind.

From this day onward, the Six Calamities would lose its halo of invincibility. Humans could be assured that there was a way to deal with the Six Calamities should they make a resurgence. The pessimism surrounding the loss of Tark Stronghold would be swept away, replaced with optimism from Roel’s inspiring victory.

Charlotte Sorofya’s fate would also be changed. Her survival from the curse would bring stability to the Sorofya House and the Rosa Merchant Confederacy. This was an important cornerstone to ensuring swift and reliable logistics flow to the united army fighting on the eastern border.

Other than these obvious changes, there were bound to be many more butterfly effects that would arise as a result of this battle. In any case, there was no denying that Roel had changed the trajectory of humankind’s fate today.

Thinking about the calamitous monster he had just overcome, Roel felt relief and a sense of accomplishment gushing into his heart, only for his body to suddenly stiffen up.

Warning bells rang crazily in his head like never before.

A goosebump-inducing gaze from the sky had fallen upon him.

From the moment it appeared, Roel’s body suddenly went completely still as indescribable terror gripped his heart. He felt a lurching feeling that occurred only in times of absolute danger, when he was in an absolutely disadvantageous position.

There was no doubt that the gaze carried hostile intentions behind it—his instincts were able to tell him as much. However, that wasn’t the true reason behind his fear. He was afraid because he recognized the gaze, or rather, the entity behind it.

The Mother Goddess.

He had encountered this gaze several times now, to the point where he was starting to get numb to its overwhelming pressure, but he was acutely aware of the subtle difference between the encounters.

It was in his dreams that the Mother Goddess had gazed upon him on previous occasions… but he wasn’t sleeping right now.

In the deathly silence, Roel clenched his fists tightly and innumerable thoughts flashed across his mind.

There’s only one plausible reason why the Mother Goddess is gazing upon me now—the death of one of the Six Calamities. Would the Mother Goddess exploit this situation and kill me while I’m in a weakened state?

Roel tried his best to remain vigilant, but it was futile. He was barely keeping himself awake after Grandar’s punch. There wasn’t a single drip of mana left inside his body. All he could do was to stand still and wait.

Time slowly ticked by.

It seemed like an eternity had passed before the panic-inducing gaze finally vanished. A long-awaited notification from the System arrived right after.

【Ding!】

【You have successfully conquered Flooding Death.】

【The System has detected a mutated Crown’s Stone. Conducting a preliminary assessment of its tier.】

【System Evaluation: Assimilable】

【Warning!】

【Warning!】

【Warning!】

【The user may face potential danger absorbing the mutated Crown’s Stone. Activating Assimilation Support System.】

【Estimated cost of the Assimilation Support System: 100,000 Gold Coins】

【Would you like to proceed with the assimilation of the mutated Crown’s Stone?】

【Yes/No】

Roel was briefly stunned by the notifications before heaving a deep sigh of relief.

The fact that the System was prompting him to absorb the Crown’s Stone meant that his immediate environment had stabilized. It was likely that the Mother Goddess had left the area.

His tensed nerves finally relaxed, and his body started to topple over. He could hear the notifications flooding in, but he couldn’t summon the slightest ounce of strength to respond at all. He was completely drained from fighting a daunting battle in an extremely weakened state and coming under the Mother Goddess’ gaze right after.

Falling headfirst onto the ground, he could see crimson blood flowing out of his body and dyeing the crystallized earth like beautiful flower petals. With every passing second, his breathing grew fainter and fainter.

He had already resigned himself to death, knowing that help wouldn’t be coming.

A quick look at his surroundings revealed nothing but bleak darkness. Flooding Death was dead, but its cursed mana continued to furiously whirl around the area, crushing any hopes he might harbor.

It was written in the historical records that places touched by Flooding Death would turn into lands of death. That was the intrinsic nature of Flooding Death—its cursed mana turned anything that came into contact with it into transmitters of its death plague.

And the land Roel was on right now was the place where that deadly calamity had met its end.

Just like how humans left corpses behind when they die, Flooding Death left the world with the remnants of its curses. These curses didn’t possess sentience, but their sheer concentration wasn’t something even a high transcendent could hope to survive in.

Reluctant to die just like that, Roel bit down hard on his lips to try and stay awake. He tried to focus his attention on the vortex of curses revolving around him to keep himself from passing out. Yet, there was nothing in the world that could keep his consciousness from drifting away anymore.

Just as he was about to reach his limit, golden light suddenly pierced through the thick vortex of black curses and shone down on him.

“Darling!”

The golden light felt so comforting in this bleak, cold darkness. He felt a pair of arms embracing him tightly before everything went dark.