Chapter 179

It was similar to what had happened during Lunar Eclipse.

A sacrifice had been offered, accelerating an apostle's descent.

Beep beep beep-!

[The Blue Knight's activation has begun.]

[The apocalypse begins.]

Still, I hadn't expected it to be possible for the Blue Knight as well.

Even among the apostles, the Blue Knight required a particularly monstrous amount of energy.

If lives were to be offered as sacrifices, it would take millions.

Even the Allied Forces weren't insane enough to sacrifice that many people.

'Damn it.'

Then an unexpected factor came into play.

An item suddenly appeared.

[Fragment of Calamity]

-Category: ???

-Rank: S

-Status: Incomplete (1/6)

-Description: This is part of an unknown calamity. If you find and combine the other fragments, something terrible may happen.

A Fragment of Calamity.

In the original story, players could obtain one whenever they stopped a calamity.

It was the foundation of the final chapter, as well as a raw gemstone containing immense demonic energy.

In the original, it should have been embedded in the Blue Knight from the beginning, shortening the time it took to absorb the sky island's mana...

'The story has changed.'

The butterfly effect.

In the end, we failed to stop the Blue Knight's activation.

The sky island began to shake as though an earthquake had struck.

Rumble rumble rumble-!!!

[Name: Blue Knight (The Blue Knight)]

-Race: ■■■, ■■

-Description: ■■ ■ ■■■ ■ ■■ ■■■.

Hell stood above us.

The knight stood in the skies over Lusilion, framed by a blue barrier.

Its armor, frozen like a statue until now, trembled as though it had come alive.

Before long, the calamity slowly began to move.

Its grotesque presence filled the sky island.

Boom-!

Crushing bloodlust pressed down on every living thing.

Breathing itself became difficult, forcing people to gulp down air.

Beep beep beep-!

[The Blue Knight's influence has become clearer.]

[Lusilion's mana is beginning to be absorbed even faster.]

The status windows had turned bright red, warning us of the danger.

Noisy alerts kept ringing in my ears.

[Absorption Rate: 35%]

[Absorption Rate: 37%]

[Absorption Rate: 41%]

Beep beep beep-!

[The absorption rate has exceeded 40%.]

[The sky island, ‘Lusilion,’ is beginning to sink.]

[※Warning※]

[If the absorption rate exceeds 50%, the sky island, ‘Lusilion,’ will completely fall.]

The absorption rate rose at an uncontrollable pace.

The numbers gave us no reprieve.

The ground shook, and the sky tore apart.

The Blue Knight stood between them, sword in hand.

'At this rate, Lusilion will fall within fifteen minutes...!'

On top of that, the Blue Knight was looking for prey.

Once it began moving, every swing of its sword would cause hundreds of casualties.

There was no way we could face something like that.

Even in the original story, the Blue Knight reaching a 100% absorption rate guaranteed a bad ending.

At least below 70%, awakened Ranne and all kinds of powerhouses in the setting could join forces to subdue it.

'We don't stand a chance.'

There were no prepared troops here, nor countless powerful fighters.

The Blue Knight was beyond our current strength.

So I had no choice but to pull out the joker I'd been saving all this time.

To break through this horrific situation, I had to make a somewhat crude and brutal move.

-Selection List-

[Choose one of the options below!]

1. Obtain Merit Points (10000p)

2. Damaged Item Repair Ticket ×1 [Sold Out]

3. Broken Item Restoration Ticket ×1

4. Item Rank Downgrade Ticket ×1

5. Space Leap Ticket ×1

6. Item Cooldown Reset Ticket ×1

7. ■ ■■ (???)

.

.

.

28. ■■■■■■ (???)

29. ■■■ ■■ (???)

30. ■■ (???)

The list stretched on and on.

Without hesitation, I clicked option three.

Ding-!

[Would you like to select reward No. 3, ‘Broken Item Restoration Ticket ×1’?]

[Yes/No]

Time was of the essence.

Without even reading the description, I pressed the [Yes] button.

A clear mechanical chime rang out, and a thin ticket landed in my palm.

Ding-!

[Broken Item Restoration Ticket ×1]

-Category: ???

-Rank: ???

-Attribute: ???

-Description: You may restore a broken item. This ticket is not restricted by rank or attribute and can be applied to any item that is not intact. Tearing the ticket will activate its effect.

A Broken Item Restoration Ticket.

I'd planned its use long ago.

Next, when I rummaged inside my robe, a massive object popped out.

Ding-!

[Godslaying Crossbow and Stake]

-Category: Weapon, Sacred Relic

-Rank: SSS

-Status: Excellent

[Number of Stakes Held: 0]

The Godslaying Crossbow.

I'd kept it buried in my inventory because I had no way to replenish its ammunition.

'And the Stake fragment.'

I pulled out the gleaming white fragment.

It was the thing I'd often wielded as a dagger during the early days after my possession.

'I thought it had been completely destroyed, so I wouldn't be able to use it again...'

Riiip-!

I tore the restoration ticket.

At the same time, a blue screen appeared.

Along with a status window notification, intense light poured out between the torn halves of the ticket.

Ding-!

[Ticket ‘Broken Item Restoration Ticket ×1’ has been used!]

[Restoring designated sacred relic ‘Stake (SSS)’!]

[The item's status will change from ‘Broken’ to ‘Intact’!]

Fwoooosh-!

A pure white flash swallowed the blood-red plaza.

The ticket's effect obscured my vision.

The fragment in my hand trembled.

Filled with regenerative power, the Stake gradually regained its original form.

Ding-!

[Restoration complete!]

The light faded, and the ticket scattered into dust.

The Stake gleamed magnificently in its restored form.

Without delay, I loaded the Godslaying Crossbow.

Still, I couldn't fire it directly at the Blue Knight like this.

'Even the Godslaying Crossbow won't kill the awakened Blue Knight in one shot.'

I had only one arrow.

I needed to be more careful and choose a way to make certain I finished it off.

“Princess!”

“V-Viktor...”

I called out to Carmilla, who stood there in a daze.

Then I handed her the Godslaying Crossbow.

She looked shaken.

“Shoot that at me!”

“This is the Godslaying Crossbow...? You're telling me to shoot this monstrous thing at V-Viktor? Not the B-Blue Knight...?”

“I have a plan! There isn't time, hurry...!”

“A-All right!”

Carmilla looked as though she might waver, but soon pulled herself together.

The princess aimed the crossbow at me.

“I'll fire!”

“Yes!”

Click-.

Her finger pulled the trigger.

A deafening roar erupted, and a flash swept across the plaza.

A single ray of light.

It cut straight through the dark red backdrop.

As it flashed, I murmured toward the black scythe.

“Activate. Shield.”

Boom-!

A brutal shockwave surged out.

Then a status window notification rang.

Ding-!

[The second skill of the exclusive weapon ‘Black Mist’ has activated.]

[Skill Name: Devour]

-Stores all damage applied to the user.

-Even if an attack is successfully defended against, the applied damage can be stored.

Self-Double Counting.

A bug I'd casually thrown into the mix.

The Stake's power was stored at four times its strength.

Perhaps because of that recoil, the mask's final charge was depleted.

Ding-!

[Item ‘Mask of the Evil God’ has activated.]

-Remaining Uses: 0/3

-Time Until Uses Recharge: 47 hours 39 minutes 58 seconds

My arm tingled and shook.

I exhaled and looked up at the blue sky.

'It's coming.'

Perhaps because of the Godslaying Crossbow's presence, the Blue Knight had turned its head toward me.

I'd drawn its aggro.

It was flying toward me at high speed.

Watching the falling calamity, I lightly raised a finger.

'I can't clash with it here. If the Godslaying Crossbow has four times its power, this whole area will be blown away.'

Innocent people would be caught up in it.

So I intended to isolate it within my territory.

Ding-!

[Omen of the Apocalypse]

-Category: Activation Skill

-Rank: A

-Attribute: Isolation, Territory

-Description: A skill known to be used by the Four Knights of the Apocalypse, especially the Red Knight and the Black Knight. Upon activation, a barrier spanning up to 1 km unfolds around the caster. Targets struck by the skill are trapped inside the barrier with the caster. The greater the caster's magical power, the stronger, more durable, and wider the barrier becomes.

“Open.”

I ground out the short activation command.

A black territory immediately emerged and swallowed the Blue Knight.

Shwaaaak-!

It was a skill I'd obtained after defeating the other Knights of the Apocalypse.

I'd imitated it well enough, but it still couldn't surpass the original.

<----!!!>

The Blue Knight unleashed savage bloodlust.

That alone made cracks spread through my territory as though it were about to shatter.

Two minutes, at most.

That was how long I could maintain the territory against it.

Still, if I could hold it for that brief moment, it would be enough.

I charged at the Blue Knight.

“Hup...!”

I barely avoided its rushing attacks.

Since it was my territory, I could control the distance and speed however I wanted.

Tak-!

Eventually, the Blue Knight came within arm's reach.

Its deep blue armor was easily thirty meters tall.

I dismissed the shield and unfolded the scythe into a more savage shape than usual.

“Activate. Scythe.”

<---!!!>

We were close.

The title I'd set beforehand glimmered in the status window.

Ding-!

[Executioner]

-Category: Title

-Rank: A

-Description: You slaughtered the queens of nightmares without restraint. Courage toward the unknown dwells within you. While this title is equipped, damage dealt to ghost-type enemies is treated as 500%, and critical hit chance is treated as 500%.

I swung the scythe without hesitation.

The black blade raced forward and lightly touched the Blue Knight's helmet.

The perfect angle.

The corners of my lips twisted up on their own.

Deep relief mixed with a little fear.

“Let's go, you bastard.”

Would this hurt a lot?

“Release.”

I had neither the crown nor any charges left in the mask.

The Stake's power had been inflated twentyfold.

Even if it wasn't wicked, it would still get caught up in it.

Knowing that, I still didn't hesitate to speak.

'It's okay.'

I wasn't going to die.

I wasn't the kind of man who died.

Just.

This was just...

...Just going to hurt a little.

“Release.”

-----!!!

A pure white flash burst from the scythe.

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