Chapter 674: The Darkest Moments

Keh-heh-heh-hah-hah…!

Screeeeeeeeech…!

The two monsters collided with an ear-piercing shriek, shaking the world as if it would break apart.

The sea that had spread across the sky crashed down to the ground, while shards of the shattered earth soared up into the heavens.

Their overwhelming physical power not only destroyed the surrounding landscape but even twisted gravity itself.

Amid this grand and terrifying scene, three people were running.

They were the Wizard Kevin from the Tower of Magic, Yareli, the student of the Tower of Magic, and Templar Joanna.

These three had willingly entered this hellish place with a singular purpose.

That purpose was none other than to find Oliver’s Quarterstaff.

More precisely, to find the Quarterstaff that could calm Oliver down.

Honestly, it was a very reckless endeavor.

Who’s to say finding the Quarterstaff would guarantee Oliver regaining his sanity?

Nonetheless, Kevin ventured here on that assumption, and Joanna and Yareli followed him.

Their actions verged on fanaticism beyond reason, but it was their best option.

Rumblerrrr…!

The two monsters roared again, and soon after, the ground shook as a massive wave of mud surged towards them from afar.

Surprisingly, no malice could be felt from this wave.

It was merely a phenomenon born from the clash of the two monsters.

However, Yareli had to gather a massive amount of magical power within her to create a colossal iceberg to block it.

Crack-crack-crraaaack!

As the enormous iceberg rose from the ground, the tidal wave split, pulling Kevin, Yareli, and Joanna in behind it.

The iceberg screeched horribly as it was ground down, but fortunately, the wave of mud subsided before the iceberg was entirely consumed.

When the wave of mud subsided, something emerged from within.

“Ugh… Arghhh!!”

“Hissss!”

“Rest… Die!!!”

These were the wrecked, shattered dead charging towards them.

But no one was flustered.

They had already faced this situation many times.

True to form, Templar Joanna calmly focused her Holy Power into her mace and swung it at the undead to drive them away.

Meanwhile, Kevin concentrated on his Warlock’s Eye and quickly scanned the surroundings.

As darkness covered the world, a bright, intense light flashed madly in the sky.

It came from Merlin and Oliver, who battled atop the jade-colored creature and the crimson beast.

That light was blinding, yet Kevin pressed on with his search. Finally, he spotted a faint glimmer.

That faint glimmer was the trace of attachment within Oliver’s Quarterstaff.

“It’s there.”

With the location confirmed, Kevin bolted towards it using the body enhanced with magic and Dark Magic.

Yareli and Joanna immediately chased him.

Templar Joanna asked, while running close behind Kevin.

“Is it the Quarterstaff? Or is it Rosburn?”

“The Quarterstaff.”

“Rosburn is not visible at all?”

“Indeed.”

Kevin answered firmly to Joanna, who was burdened by guilt for not safeguarding Rosburn.

Templar Joanna tried using her Holy Power to search for Rosburn, but Kevin focused solely on the Quarterstaff.

After all, Kevin too shouldered some responsibility for failing to protect Rosburn.

But there was no other choice.

For one, it wasn’t even certain that Rosburn was here, and even if he was, it was unlikely he was still alive.

No, it would be stranger if he were still alive.

This place was the epicenter of a chaotic field where the terrain was being constantly destroyed and reformed on the fly. It would be a miracle for a child to survive such chaos.

That’s why Kevin wasn’t looking for Rosburn.

In the world, prioritization was key. Especially in situations like this, priorities mattered more.

Kraaaaaahhhh…!

As if to punctuate his thoughts, a terrifying whirlpool as large as a building descended from the sky.

Kevin immediately summoned the Ice Spirit to fend it off.

The spirit, which appeared as a blue mermaid, responded to Kevin’s call and stretched its hand towards the descending whirlpool. The whirlpool then shattered into sparkling ice particles raining down in all directions.

‘Damn it,’ Kevin cursed internally.

The summoned spirit had vanished almost instantly.

There was no mistake, summoning spirits was getting increasingly difficult.

It wasn’t due to a lack of magical power but because the spirits themselves were reluctant to appear.

The reason for this was probably…

Riiiiiip!

The sky split open with a sharp sound, followed by the monsters’ screams echoing across the land.

Kevin sensed instinctively that this chaos was being caused by Oliver.

As Oliver’s power grew, the spirits became increasingly fearful.

Soon, if things continued like this, the spirits would cease to respond entirely.

They had to secure the Quarterstaff before that happened.

“Templar Joanna!”

Kevin called out while running ahead, surveying the area.

“We need to secure the Quarterstaff first. Focus only on that!”

Joanna seemed to want to retort but clenched her eyes shut and nodded in acknowledgment.

Despite her emotions, she understood the situation.

Kevin then warned Yareli and turned his attention forward, gauging the distance between himself and the Quarterstaff.

‘120 meters.’

Various lights shone as monster bodies intertwined between sea and land, causing shockwaves to burst forth.

‘100 meters.’

The monsters writhed in agony under the impact, ripping apart the land and creating new mountains that blocked their path.

‘70 meters.’

Yareli filled the gap with ice, while Kevin used earth magic to carve a tunnel through the mountain.

‘40 meters.’

As they exited the tunnel, they encountered a mass of shattered undead, now intertwined and blocking their way. Joanna cleared them out with a swing of her shield.

‘10 meters.’

At last, Kevin and the rest caught sight of the Quarterstaff, which had remained intact despite the surrounding chaos.

Then it happened.

━━━━━━━━!!!!

An ominous force arose in the sky, bringing with it tremendous pressure, as the jade-colored beast and the crimson dragon plummeted.

Just before the two monsters crashed into the ground, Joanna exploded with Holy Power and lunged forward, grabbing the Quarterstaff, while Kevin summoned the Earth Mother Spirit.

Shrooosh!

The Earth Mother’s gigantic hand, made of soil, gently rose from the ground and shielded Kevin, Joanna, and Yareli.

Through the gaps in the hand, they could see the earth being torn apart and massive waves of dirt rolling over the land, followed by a colossal impact that crashed down with an ear-splitting roar.

Even under the spirit’s protection, they felt the shock and the deafening noise.

As the others remained silent as though they had agreed to it, Kevin and the group waited.

Soon, the tremors subsided, and the sound of a downpour reached their ears.

Swooooshhhh….!

The rain sound made it hard to see outside, but it seemed like the immediate danger had passed.

As the sound of the downpour faded, Kevin requested the spirit to release its grip, and soon the view cleared.

They saw the ground stained in red and two massive monsters collapsed on it.

Standing against the backdrop of those beasts was the white-haired Oliver and Merlin, bleeding from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

From the pressure in that scene, Kevin and his group couldn’t bring themselves to intervene, but soon they yelled out.

“Oliver!”

Oliver turned towards them with slightly widened eyes.

He seemed surprised to see Kevin, Yareli, and Joanna.

It was a bit unexpected; they had thought he would have noticed them sooner.

‘Has his field of vision… narrowed?’

Kevin made an educated guess from Oliver’s subtle actions.

It was entirely possible.

Those who gained too much strength sometimes had their field of vision shrink.

There was a reason why battle mages would frequently fall victim to stray bullets.

When individuals gain too much power, their arrogance and complacency often cloud their vision.

That’s just the way of the world.

It sounds foolish, but it’s a mistake anyone can make.

It was a mistake that the Oliver Kevin knew would never make, but this was not the same Oliver.

Then suddenly, Oliver pointed directly at them.

At that moment, Kevin, Yareli, and Joanna all felt a shiver run down their spines.

A danger signal from their bodies.

“Arghhh!”

Merlin glowed with an even stronger, pure white light and grabbed Oliver’s hand, lifting it towards the sky to block him.

Oliver was caught off guard by the unexpected resistance and tried to push Merlin away, but Merlin clung on with all his might.

He had pushed the power of the first Archive beyond its limit.

Kevin’s group instinctively charged at Oliver.

They sensed that hesitation now would render all their efforts to find the Quarterstaff useless and lead to catastrophe.

Oliver tried to shake off Merlin to stop Kevin’s group, but Merlin wouldn’t let go.

Even though his body was cracking like glass under the strain of containing the white light, Merlin resisted.

“Everyone, stop them.”

Oliver commanded with his own voice.

Merlin, Kevin, Yareli, and Joanna faltered momentarily. At the same time, the undead, whose bodies were already shattered, rose against their will and charged at Kevin’s group.

They were struggling to find peace. Kevin and Yareli combined their ice spells, turning the approaching undead into ice statues.

Kevin’s group used the opening to close the distance swiftly.

Oliver tried to warp space to escape, but—

“-You won’t escape!”

Merlin clung desperately, preventing it.

Merlin interfered with Oliver, a significant disruption considering Oliver had mostly adapted to his shattered state.

Oliver felt frustration at this and spoke again.

“Let go.”

With those words, Merlin and the others staggered, bleeding from their orifices. The undead trapped in ice warped and grew larger, once again obstructing Kevin’s group.

Before Oliver could speak again, Merlin reached out and clamped his hand over Oliver’s mouth.

Meanwhile, Kevin, Yareli, and Joanna fought through the growing, twisting undead to move forward.

Despite their desire for peace, the undead fiercely impeded their progress.

“Urrghhhh!!!”

“Argh…! Aaahhhh!!!”

One of the undead, who had lost their human hands and gained knife-like blades instead, slashed through the ice on the ground and swung at Joanna.

Joanna evaded it with agile movements, but more undead formed a barrier, blocking her path.

Arrrggghhh!

Arrrggghhh!

Arrrggghhh!!

Their encirclement was too tight to avoid.

A collision was inevitable.

Crrrrack…!!

At that moment, their bodies froze once more, shattering into pieces.

Yareli had exhausted all her magic to freeze and destroy the surrounding undead, not thinking about the future.

She shouted,

“I’ll hold them off, go ahead!”

Joanna and Kevin obeyed Yareli’s command, while Yareli drained all the magic left within her to bind the feet of the undead.

The distance between Oliver and Kevin’s group had decreased by nearly half.

To shake off the obstructing Merlin, Oliver used even more brutal force.

Oliver swatted away Merlin’s hand that was covering his mouth, and then grabbed Merlin’s shriveled neck, throwing a punch.

He grabbed Merlin by the head and slammed it into the ground before dragging it and grinding it into the seabed.

A red line was drawn across the jade-colored scales, but still, Merlin didn’t let go.

In response, Oliver shoved his left thumb into Merlin’s right eye, weakening Merlin’s resistance.

Seizing the opportunity, Oliver shook off the weakened Merlin and turned his gaze towards the approaching Joanna, unleashing an unknown power upon her.

Joanna tried to block it with her Holy Power-infused shield, but the shield shattered and she collapsed to the ground.

The Quarterstaff she had been carrying spun through the air before crashing to the ground.

Joanna didn’t get up, as if she had lost consciousness.

Seeing this, Kevin took up the Quarterstaff and blasted all of his remaining magic power, charging forward.

This was a literal charge for survival, and the distance between Kevin and Oliver quickly shrank.

At this close range, Kevin could clearly see Oliver’s face.

He saw the face of a child, still clinging to his youth. He saw a face showing an expression he had never seen before.

Oliver swung his hand in Kevin’s direction, and Merlin inserted himself between them.

An unknown force shattered the very space itself, scraping past Kevin.

The impact caused part of Kevin’s skin to crack like glass, sending him tumbling to the ground.

A pain that cut to the bone.

Kevin tried to stand but the pain was too excruciating.

‘The Quarterstaff…’

His consciousness was fading. Kevin looked for the Quarterstaff he had dropped and saw that it was lying just out of arm’s reach.

He needed to get up and grab it, but his body betrayed him, rendering his efforts useless.

All he could manage was to turn his head slightly and assess the situation around him.

Kevin could see Yareli, who had been overwhelmed and caught by the undead, and Joanna, who still hadn’t stood up.

He saw Merlin, who had taken a severe blow while protecting him. Oliver was now poised to finish Merlin off.

Oliver was about to strike the final blow. End the one who had been both Kevin’s teacher and his nemesis.

Kevin was powerless to stop it.

Just when Kevin thought it was all over, he heard a child’s voice.

“Teacher!”

A desperate shout filled with life. For a brief moment, the world seemed to stop as everyone turned their heads. They all saw it.

Trembling all over and crying, but with unwavering spirit, was Rosburn. He held the Quarterstaff high as he yelled.

“I’ll do it!”

With those words, Rosburn truly ran toward Oliver.

As if the world went silent, filling with an overwhelming calm.

Among it all, three people moved.

Rosburn, shining with light, dashed toward Oliver.

Oliver pointed his finger toward Rosburn.

Merlin struggled to hold Oliver back.

The gap between Rosburn and Oliver closed rapidly, and as Oliver tried to throw Merlin aside, Merlin’s body began to disintegrate.

In that short yet eternal moment, the distance between Rosburn and Oliver dwindled to just a few steps, and then Oliver hurled Merlin to the side.

Merlin hit the ground, raising a cloud of dust, yet Rosburn didn’t stop, and Oliver raised his index finger.

Merlin sprung back up and continued running, and Rosburn didn’t falter.

In the midst of it, Oliver spoke.

[Denial.]