Chapter 1043

For one instant, everyone on the battlefield stared at the sky, their eyes vacant.

Not a single person was an exception.

Not even the Wind-and-Cloud Sword Lord, who had brought down two Black Ghosts thanks to what could only be called a stroke of heaven-sent luck.

Not even his two pathetic Senior Brothers, who had somehow gone somber and were now rushing to support their Junior Brother as he staggered, utterly spent.

Not even the Disciples of the Zhongnan Sect and the Gansu Murim Alliance, still fighting their separate battles on the blood-soaked snow.

Not even a father standing like a stone monument where his son had disappeared, or the Fire Dragon Pavilion members pouring every last bit of strength into chasing after their friend and leader, who had already raced far ahead.

Not even the Dark Heaven cultists, whose eyes were empty as they continued their mindless fighting.

Every living being looked at it.

A vast sphere of fire, unlike anything they had ever seen or heard of.

Grrrrrrr-BOOM.

Would this be the sound of an ancient giant roaring?

If the brimstone fires of hell recorded in old scriptures really existed, would they look like this?

A deafening roar poured down over everyone’s heads, leaving their ears ringing.

As the sphere fell from a dizzying height like a meteor, its terrible heat scorched the sky.

“A-aah…”

Groans rose from here and there.

Everyone froze where they stood. It was all they could do.

They were seeing it with their own eyes, and still they couldn’t believe it. Something beyond comprehension.

No—a calamity.

That was why no one knew its exact name.

No one except the person who had desperately tried to stop it, but failed in the end.

Hell Fire…!

In a world that seemed frozen in time, Jin Taekyung bit back the scream rising between his lips.

Hellfire, just as its name suggested.

One of the most powerful wide-area spells a human could wield—a calamity in its own right, capable of taking thousands of lives with a single cast.

No.

He knew its power better than anyone. That was why he’d tried to stop it.

He hadn’t cared if he lost his life in the process.

If he could bring someone down in exchange—if he could stop the calamity—he could have told himself it was a decent end.

But in the end, he hadn’t stopped it.

Right now, all Jin Taekyung could do was feel the weakness constricting his entire body and stare blankly as the calamity unfolded.

Even now… I have to do something. Somehow.

His vision wavered, no matter how desperately he wished otherwise.

And that wasn’t all.

Every bone and muscle in his body screamed in pain, as if squeezed in a giant’s fist. His dantian was already empty; he couldn’t find even a trace of internal energy.

The One Annihilation he’d launched before it was complete.

That had been both misfortune and good luck.

Because it was incomplete, it hadn’t shattered every defensive barrier. Because of that, Jin Taekyung had survived.

But for someone who had been prepared to give up everything, this was misfortune.

Shit.

The horrible aftereffects tore deeper and deeper through his body. Jin Taekyung shuddered without meaning to.

But he couldn’t give up. He didn’t want to give up on everything here.

Crack.

He clenched his teeth and moved his twitching arms and legs.

Gripping the spear shaft before it could slip from his hand, he used it as a cane and hauled his unsteady body upright.

“—Get out of the way! All of you!”

“Aaah! Aaaaaah!”

He heard the screams of those who had finally realized that the calamity falling from the sky, painting it red, was real.

He heard, too, the terrible confusion and fear covering the battlefield below the hill—and, somehow out of place amid it all, a calm voice.

“Why don’t you just lie down? If you push yourself any harder, you really will be in trouble.”

At the Grand Mage’s composed voice, blood trickled from between Jin Taekyung’s clenched lips.

“Shut your damn mouth, you bitch.”

“That’s a little harsh. When you think about it, I’m the one who saved your life.”

Pop.

He appeared beside him as if he’d teleported—or, rather, he had used Blink, which was teleportation itself—and stopped less than a jang¹ away.

More precisely, he stopped before the invisible magic barrier still standing between them.

“Honestly, you really surprised me just now. It gave me goose bumps.”

His fingers, so thin and translucent that every vein showed through, gently traced the barrier.

The powerful barrier he’d personally layered dozens of times was down to a single layer, barely holding its shape. But he showed no sign of tension.

He knew Jin Taekyung could barely get to his feet under his own power, let alone attack.

“I’m only saying this out of concern, but don’t waste your effort. You know, don’t you? Killing me now won’t undo what’s already happened.”

“Yeah. I know.”

Jin Taekyung answered between ragged breaths.

But unlike his voice, his eyes weren’t on the Grand Mage.

He watched the hellfire cross the blackened sky, moving slowly for all its enormous size, and continued.

“I also know you—and the rest of your lot—can never kill me.”

He knew that better than anyone. Without hesitation, Jin Taekyung turned and gripped White Flame in a reverse hold.

He hadn’t risked his life just to kill the Grand Mage.

He’d fought to protect one ally rather than bring down one formidable enemy—to protect tens of thousands of lives.

Please. Just once. One last time.

With a desperate prayer, Jin Taekyung wrung every last thread of energy from his body.

He made his body, ready to break at any moment, into a bow and set White Flame against its string.

Crrrk.

Excruciating pain filled his vision.

His already-weakened body screamed.

The acupoints damaged by his earlier, excessive release of power burned even under the tiny amount of Scorching Yang Qi he could muster.

Grind.

But Jin Taekyung clenched his teeth and endured pain no ordinary person could even imagine.

He swallowed the blood pooled in his mouth along with the pieces of a molar that had cracked and finally broken apart.

Even now, the blazing sphere was drawing closer to the ground. He aimed his spearhead at it.

Only a faint shimmer of energy clung to the spearhead, like a heat haze. It could no longer be called Force.

“You really are a fool.”

The Grand Mage’s voice came with a sigh, but Jin Taekyung didn’t hear it.

He focused every sense and every ounce of strength on seizing his last chance.

Can I do this?

The question surfaced in his mind.

But Jin Taekyung already knew the answer.

No—or rather, anyone who saw this situation would give the same answer.

He couldn’t.

It was nothing but a foolish dream.

Nothing more than the desperate struggle and wish of a man who wanted to do everything he could right up to the end.

But…

If I couldn’t even dream a foolish dream like this, I never would’ve made it this far.

For one young man, life had been a long dream.

He’d been enraged by cruel reality, resigned himself to it, and even despaired for a time. But the young man had kept dreaming.

Then, one day, the dream became reality.

In that dream, he discovered an unexpected new goal and longing, great power—and an even heavier responsibility.

That was the one reason.

The reason he could never give up, even if he was a moth flying toward a blazing flame, even if he was a firefly destined to vanish in the heat of the burning sun.

Step. Scrape.

His trembling legs finally steadied and planted themselves in the ground like iron pillars.

His shoulder drew all the way back. Then, with a powerful step forward, he sent the spearhead aimed at the distant sky flying.

Go.

Whoom!

Every bit of strength one man possessed condensed, then burst forth.

Compressed air exploded with it.

Shwoooosh!

White Flame’s spearhead tore through the wind. It split open space.

A streak of light crossed the sky, dyed in ominous darkness, and shot toward a sphere whose size and power dwarfed it.

It covered more than a hundred jang¹ of distance, shrinking until it became a single point. Jin Taekyung watched it with eyes growing dim.

The spearhead hadn’t reached its target yet.

But some things could be known without seeing them.

Like this.

It’s no use.

An empty murmur echoed in Jin Taekyung’s heart.

Failure.

He had nowhere near enough strength, speed, or internal energy to stop the Hell Fire the Grand Mage had prepared.

That was all. That was all there was to it.

Now that he’d poured out everything, Jin Taekyung had nothing left.

If anything remained, it was exhaustion weighing even more heavily on his body, and a helplessness greater than that.

And the enemy’s sneer—the one who’d brought all of this upon him.

“Oh, don’t be too disappointed. From where I was standing, it was a very impressive attempt.”

The Grand Mage spoke with a mix of sympathy and amusement as he watched the spearhead, carrying the faintest trace of energy, finally touch the Magic he’d cast.

And at the same time, he heard it clearly.

The deafening boom that rang out all around them, as if the sky had split apart.

KWA-BOOOOM!

“…!”

“…!”

Jin Taekyung and the Grand Mage both stared wide-eyed.

Grrrrrrr-BOOM!

Hell Fire.

The horrifying hellfire, the enormous sphere of flame, was shaking.

“What is this…!”

The Grand Mage was astonished.

The outcome had seemed as certain as a life-and-death duel between a child and a Supreme Peak master.

Jin Taekyung was exhausted, and the force behind White Flame’s spearhead had been pitifully weak.

That was why he’d simply watched without even trying to stop him.

He’d known from the start that he couldn’t do it.

To the Grand Mage, it was nothing more than a foolish dream.

And yet that single spear had changed the course of a sphere of fire hundreds of times its size.

It had bent part of the blazing flames and opened a rift in them.

“How…? How could this possibly happen?”

In the midst of a reality he couldn’t begin to understand, the Grand Mage suddenly turned his head.

At last, he saw Jin Taekyung struggling to hold his unsteady body upright as he watched the unbelievable sight.

He saw the faint smile on Jin Taekyung’s face, and his lips, caked with dried blood, moving.

“Yeah. Nobody wants to give up.”

Jin Taekyung’s voice came out with difficulty, but it rang clearly in the Grand Mage’s ears.

“Me, too. And them.”

“…!”

Just a few words.

But the Grand Mage felt something and whipped his head around. At the same time, he found the answer to the question he’d asked himself moments earlier.

Shwoooosh—KWA-BOOM!

Dazzling streaks of light shot up from the ground and rained down on the sphere of fire covering everyone’s heads.

There were others who shared that young man’s dream.