Volume 6, Chapter 83 – The Sound of the End

Due to Yisi’s sudden appearance, Julius had no choice but to interrupt his flight, coming to a dead stop less than five meters away from her. However, even at this distance, which the long spear could not reach, Julius still felt an undeniable danger from Yisi. His two hundred years of experience were warning him that if he did not retreat quickly, he would be instantly killed by Gungnir.

“Hmph,” with a heavy snort, Julius stared intently at Yisi, retreating step by step. “Intruder.”

“If you had agreed to my conditions from the beginning, I would have already left the Ymir Territory and naturally would not be here. It’s a pity you made the wrong choice.”

Not at all shaken by Yisi’s words, Julius’s gaze drifted to Evelyn, who had come back to her senses behind her.

“You planned this from the beginning, to lure me here… You really have guts.”

But Evelyn’s face was filled with only surprise.

“Yisi? Why are you here?”

“I suddenly heard you calling me before I went to sleep, so I rushed over immediately.”

“I never called your name.” Lightly punching Yisi’s back, Evelyn’s tense expression gradually relaxed. Her gaze turned to Julius, her eyes filled with a triumphant color. “But I still have to thank you. You’ve been a great help. Help me crush this monster. After this, I’ll agree to anything you want—including the matter of the Fallen.”

“I was just waiting for you to say that, Evelyn. Stand back a little, and don’t get too far away from me. This place is full of ambushes set up by Julius—”

Halfway through her words, Yisi thrust her long spear behind her, tearing apart an angel that was preparing to launch a sneak attack. Then she flicked Gungnir at Julius, and black and cyan blood immediately splattered on him.

The provocation was palpable.

Of course, it wasn’t that Yisi didn’t know how to respect her opponent, but that Julius was not worthy of her respect. To deliberately induce Evelyn to slaughter the innocent… if it were anyone else, they would surely have had a mental breakdown by now due to the huge blow. The crimes Julius had committed had already exceeded the limits of what a human could bear. Any judge who saw such a crime would have passed a death sentence on him.

“Tsk, Julius has already lost the qualifications of a believer.” Glancing at the angel pierced by the long spear, Evelyn clicked her tongue heavily, slowly retreating to a position more than ten meters behind Yisi, and raised the Staff of Divine Retribution with her back to her. “I’ll hold off the sneak-attacking angels. You focus on dealing with Julius.”

The only ones left confronting each other were Yisi and Julius.

Tightly gripping his divine staff, Julius, who had retreated to a safe distance, asked coldly.

“Why are you here? The fifth level has already been sealed by me.”

“Haven’t you discovered it yet? Or are you deceiving yourself? Unwilling to believe the facts?” Yisi raised her chin slightly and pointed behind Julius. “If you’re not old and useless, you should have discovered that the angels here have already been swept away.”

“You’ve been ambushing here from the beginning.”

“Of course. In order to make you say what happened with your own mouth, I specially arranged such a show. To explain it,” as if she had remembered something, Yisi propped her index finger on her lips, her gaze looking at the ceiling. “Right, to explain it in your church’s language, I have the eye of God. I’ve known from the beginning that you and Evelyn are successfully evolved angels, and also that you are a Fallen. Even Evelyn’s qualifications as the Heart of Ymir are clear at a glance.”

Julius snorted in contempt.

“Nonsense.”

“Well, it’s within my expectations that you don’t believe me. I have no intention of making you believe me either.”

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According to Yisi’s original plan, she was to let Evelyn have the capital to contend with Julius within half a month. And how to let Evelyn gain enough prestige in a short period of time, she could only rely on external forces. Since she could not create a desperate struggle of a thousand beasts besieging a city, then she had no choice but to set her sights on Julius. She secretly released the news of the existence of the angels underground, or simply liberated them, causing a crisis sufficient to threaten everyone, and then had Evelyn come forward to clean up.

In this way, Evelyn’s prestige would be unprecedentedly strong. She only needed to secretly push for voices of support for Evelyn, using the call of the believers, to make her willing to take the initiative to interfere with the papal authority. Thus, Julius would notice her extra actions and find a chance to get rid of her.

When Julius had pushed Evelyn to a dead end, to the point where he wanted to make her disappear from this world, he would naturally tell her the truth of everything—at that time, she could just step in and interfere as she was doing now.

However, the plan she had formulated had been disrupted by Julius in the middle of it.

After Evelyn had annihilated the angel with her divine-era magic, Julius had immediately announced that she would become the Pope. If she hadn’t known about the secret dealings Julius had made and their respective identities, she would have thought, like Evelyn, that it was because Evelyn had used divine-era magic, and Julius was full of faith in the Goddess. But she had known from the beginning what Julius was doing, so she could not find a reason for him to announce Evelyn as the Pope.

However, there was one thing Yisi could be sure of. No matter what, it was impossible for Julius to really let Evelyn take his place. Julius had a lifespan of over a thousand years, and he had not yet fulfilled his wish of unifying humanity. He would not kindly hand over the papal authority. So before, she had pretended to leave the central temple, but had actually followed Evelyn secretly with teleportation and concealment magic, and had delivered the teleportation crystal to her.

Evelyn wanted the teleportation crystal for no more than two purposes. The first was to escape the Ymir Territory. Now that she had become the Pope, she would naturally not give up her power voluntarily, so the only answer left was the second—that is, Evelyn wanted to go deep into the fifth level, where she was not allowed to enter.

Considering that no matter whether Julius caught Evelyn on the spot or not, it would allow her to understand the truth of the matter sooner, so Yisi had let her act. It wasn’t until Julius had taken the initiative to arrive just now, accelerating the development of the matter, that Yisi was given a surprise.

Although she had been outwitted by Julius once—the troublesome ability of the church’s upper echelon, which had allowed him to see through her identity—but it had in turn allowed her to achieve her goal faster. Julius had shot himself in the foot.

A rustling sound, like the legs of a crawling insect on the floor.

Evelyn’s face darkened.

“There are footsteps over there. I’ll go and deal with them. I’ll leave Julius to you!”

“Mm, I’ll be over as soon as I can.” Nodding at Evelyn, Yisi straightened her body and looked at Julius again. “Well then, we should have a good talk. Let me say this first. No matter what method you use, you can’t defeat me. From the time I detonated the Tower of Ymir, you should have known the difference in our strength. Of course, I don’t expect you to surrender just like that, so I’ll give you a chance.”

Yisi held up two fingers.

“Two times. I will stand here and let you attack me. If you don’t do me any harm, then you will voluntarily give up your resistance. Otherwise, I will admit defeat. How about it?”

“Absurd. Do you think I didn’t notice that the reason you were able to blow up the Tower of Ymir was not because of your own strength, but because you disrupted its elemental arrangement? With a strength only slightly stronger than the Dragon Princess, you dare to act so presumptuously in front of me, who has the protection of the Tower of Ymir. Under the light of the Tower of Ymir, even Azazel, who is said to be the strongest angel, cannot defeat me!”

An expected result. If Julius had surrendered, he wouldn’t be called Julius.

Yisi tilted her head.

“Although I’m interested in the Dragon Princess and Azazel you mentioned, let’s deal with the matter at hand first—[Spear Throwing Technique · Star Scatter].”

A light, dragging a red tail flame like a meteor, flashed before Julius in the blink of an eye. But the imagined scene of blood gushing out did not appear. After Gungnir had pierced Julius’s shoulder, as if it hadn’t hit anything, it came out from his back and slammed heavily on the two walls. The ground began to shake, and cracks also appeared on the ceiling. Countless stone blocks and dust obscured the view.

“An illusion… no, is it teleportation?”

Glancing at the Omniscient Map, Yisi pouted. What Gungnir had just passed through was an afterimage. Julius had already used the Tower of Ymir to teleport to the ground.

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“Well, I didn’t want to cause an earthquake just like that. Choosing the ground as the battlefield is much more convenient. As for Evelyn…” Stunned for a moment, the light dot on the Omniscient Map made Yisi not know whether to laugh or cry. “That one, she said she would hold off the angels for me, but her body ran to the ground? She just left me here.”

But this was much more convenient.

Pulling Gungnir out of the wall, Yisi let out a soft breath.

[Blink].

She appeared on the sky bridge on the fourth floor of the central temple.

Julius was waiting for Evelyn here.

Without even waiting for her eyes to adjust to the surroundings, Yisi swung her long spear horizontally.

Bang.

The feeling of metal hitting flesh.

Like a cannonball out of a cannon, Julius, who had no time to react, was instantly sent flying. Because the three meter wide sky bridge had no railings, he flew uncontrollably towards the ground.

And then, he disappeared again.

“Hey, hey… are you Sandra? Or Samael?”

This time, he was at the top of the Tower of Ymir, a thousand meters above the ground.

His ribs had been broken by Yisi. Julius could only hold his chest and use healing magic while being vigilant for the possible appearance of Yisi. However, Yisi chose to appear five meters in front of him.

Just like the Tower of Hermion, a crystal was suspended on the platform of the Tower of Ymir. There was no glass or wall around the tower, giving the impression that one would be blown off if a strong wind were to blow.

“How about it? Do you recognize the difference in our strength?”

Although she hadn’t used magic, just from one exchange, Julius should have recognized the difference in their strength.

But Julius did not give up. He had one hand behind his back, and the other trembled as he pointed at Yisi.

“You… who the hell are you? Why can you use the same spatial transfer as me! Why do you know where I am!”

“If you want to use magic, there’s no need to act hysterical. Just go ahead and use it. I told you, I’d allow you to attack twice.”

Like suddenly hitting a wrong key while playing the piano, Julius’s heart skipped a beat.

‘I’ve already been so well hidden. Why can she still find me? And spatial transfer is a long-lost magic. If it weren’t for the fact that the Tower of Ymir itself was inscribed with such a formula, I would have no way of using it. Not to mention that there was no strange movement in the space when Yisi appeared, just like another space magic, [Blink]. But isn’t [Blink] only able to flash at most three meters?’

Julius’s heart wavered uncontrollably.

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And she can enter the tower without my permission. In the records, this is something only a demon lord can do… No, that’s not right. These are all her trump cards, and there must be a limit to their use. Otherwise, she should have attacked, not stood there wasting words.

Comforting himself, Julius narrowed his eyes.

His judgment of Yisi’s strength was not wrong. The current Dragon Princess should have just reached the realm beyond a hero, and Yisi was at most at a strength of about level 62. With the enhancement of the Tower of Ymir, he, at level 58, should be in a position of complete victory in a head-on battle.

Chanting a spell in his heart, the feigning-injury Julius suddenly erupted.

“You will pay the price for your carelessness! □□□—[Thunderbolt]!”

A fifth-tier, single-target attack spell. Originally, one of the important thresholds for judging whether a spell was a fifth-tier spell was whether it could destroy a small half of an army. But [Thunderbolt] had entered the ranks of fifth-tier spells just by its huge single-target power. Even the silver dragons and bone dragons, which were known for their magic resistance, had to dodge when facing it.

However.

Yisi took the blow head-on.

As if nothing had happened, even her silver pigtails, which were streaked with blue, were not messy. She lowered her head and moved her fingers.

“Mm… the numbing feeling is a little weaker than the ‘weak electric’ iron sword. Is this all? Or does this spell have other effects? If I remember correctly, [Thunderbolt] should be a second-tier novice village spell. I don’t understand why it’s being used here…”

This was still using the magic classification of this other world to measure. If it were in the terms of [Ragnarøk], [Thunderbolt] would not even be considered a first-tier. A first-tier in [Ragnarøk] was equivalent to a tenth-tier in this world.

Glancing at Julius’s dumbfounded, jaw-dropping expression, Yisi yawned.

“If you have any other spells, use them all. You still have one more chance—forget it, I’ll give you three minutes. If you can’t defeat me, then it’s my turn.”

“You, you used an illusion!? How can there be anyone who can stand and talk after being hit by [Thunderbolt]! Even the Midgard Serpent, which devours the land, can’t possibly not lose a single scale!”

“The Midgard Serpent that devours the land? Interesting.” Although it was slightly different from the myth she knew, it made her even more curious. Yisi held up three fingers. “The countdown has already begun.”

“You bastard…” While being stubborn, Julius did not forget to resist. He began to use his strongest spells one after another. “[Radiant Prayer]! [Time of Divine Punishment]! [Loki’s Eye]!”

If anyone were to look up at the Tower of Ymir at this moment, they would surely have found the various colored magic lights constantly flashing at the top of the tower. Even a real battlefield would not have such a splendid scene. But of course, Yisi was not injured in the slightest. Even when Julius directly used the Tower of Ymir to attack, it did not change the outcome. Ironically, Julius was made a mess of by the explosion he himself had caused.

Time passed in a flash.

“Is there anything else? There’s only… let me think, about thirty seconds left.”

She was toying with him.

Realizing this, a hysterical anger roared in Julius’s chest. He propped himself up with his divine staff. Because his internal organs had been injured by the shockwave, saliva mixed with blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. His eyeballs were bloodshot, and his voice was unusually hoarse.

“The future of humanity must not be destroyed in your hands! Monster! Let’s go to hell together!!!”

With Julius’s ferocious smile, an unstable yellow electric light shot up from the bottom of the Tower of Ymir to its tip. Like a dam about to break, the magic power in the air gradually became violent. The smell of burnt and ozone drilled into the nostrils, and a numbing sensation appeared on the skin. Even Yisi was slightly moved.

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“Is this the ‘reckoning’… It’s a good thing Evelyn mentioned it before. Otherwise, if you had let all the magic power stored in the Tower of Ymir detonate, the entire Mitters Bayer would have been blown away. I’ve already prepared for this situation, you know? 『 Seraph’s Lament 』.”

Yisi waved her hand lightly. As easily as blowing out a match, the surging magic power of the Tower of Ymir was instantly pacified. The yellow electric light was annihilated into nothingness. The surroundings became quiet, as if nothing had happened.

“What did you do?!”

“I just returned the magic power to its original place. This is one of the highest-tier spells I can use. Even I need a short preparation time. I think you’ve already used all your trump cards. Now it’s my turn.”

Yisi had just taken a step forward when Julius immediately retreated. It wasn’t until he was at a position where he could fall off the Tower of Ymir at any moment that he stopped, trembling.

“If you kill me, the balance of power in the human world will be lost, and the entire continent will be at war!”

“Don’t you have a successor? Evelyn will do a better job than you.”

Once again, Yisi took a step forward.

Julius’s face was filled with terror.

“D-Don’t come over here! Or I’ll release the angels underground! They will one day grow strong enough to kill you!”

“No, no… even they have a growth limit. For the sake of you telling Evelyn the truth before toying with her, I’ll also give you a surprise. My level is 427. No matter how strong an ant is, it can’t overturn a wheel.”

“4… 427? Impossible! Only a god, only a god could… Aaaaaah!!!”

As if he had gone mad, or as if he had encountered something extremely painful, Julius held his head in his hands and fell from the tower, which was several thousand meters high.

And then, just as Julius had said, the earth stirred. The angels underground were awakened by him with the power of the Tower of Ymir. Julius himself used spatial transfer to escape to the wilderness outside the city of Mitters Bayer.

Did he want to use the angels to hold me back?

“Stubborn.” Frowning, Yisi switched to her third form. “But it is indeed a bit tricky. Using an area-of-effect annihilation spell will affect ordinary people. Eliminating them one by one is too slow… In that case, although I haven’t used it in a long time, with just this level, it should be fine even if I’m not familiar with it.”

Storing Gungnir in her inventory, in its place was an unusually magnificent white harp, entwined with flowers and vines, something that only appeared in myths.

Just by its appearance, the strong magic fluctuation made the air vibrate.

“…A bard. It’s really embarrassing in reality. Well, as long as no one is listening.”

After adjusting her breathing for a short while, Yisi sat on the edge of the Tower of Ymir, her porcelain-white calves dangling. Letting the strong wind blow through her silver hair and skirt, in a dangerous posture as if she could fall at any moment, she held the harp with both hands and gently plucked the strings.

The sound of the end had already rung out.

Julius would end in failure.