Chapter 671: The Darkest Moment (5)
As Oliver stood up and the Piper collapsed, people began to move.
The strong and the weak alike knelt down.
The rich and the poor alike bowed their heads.
The wise and the foolish alike worshipped.
The living and the dead alike fell silent.
Was that why?
Sound faded as if swallowed, and the world was plunged into a maddening quiet.
It was a natural result.
Not only the people but a single leaf, a grain of sand, and even a wisp of wind held their silence.
Because Oliver did not allow it otherwise.
But then, with a flash of light, an old man appeared, breaking that absolute stillness.
"...So, it has come to this."
That old man was none other than Merlin, covered in dust.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but when he appeared, the frozen world seemed to move again, and one by one, the lost sounds returned.
The sound of wind sweeping through the forest, leaves brushing against each other, branches creaking as they touched, grains of sand rubbing together.
People, realizing this, gasped for breath like those who had emerged from drowning, moaning as if to confirm they were alive.
Merlin spoke.
"Thank you, Miss Holy Knight... Thanks to your courage, the clock was halted for a moment."
At that cryptic remark, Joanna couldn’t respond. And neither could most of the others. Only Roderick, the Archpriest, and Kevin seemed to understand.
Amidst them, the one who reacted the most strangely was none other than Oliver.
His hair had turned completely white, revealing the face of a child beneath his leather mask. Oliver simply tilted his head in silence.
He looked like a child fascinated by an odd ant.
A small spark of interest, allowing a brief moment’s pause.
Unfortunately, the time ran out, and Oliver, who had been tilting his head, reached out his hand once more toward Joanna’s brother.
Grab.
And Merlin, with his bare hand, caught Oliver’s wrist.
“….”
At that sight, the people reacted with the same silent astonishment as when Oliver had risen.
It was as if they had witnessed the impossible… like a miracle.
Even Oliver seemed surprised, as his abyss-dark eyes turned to Merlin.
Oliver’s interest shifted to Merlin.
Merlin looked back at Oliver with a sorrowful smile.
"Suddenly, I remember that day."
Oliver tilted his head even further, gazing at Merlin.
Whatever he was thinking, one thing was clear—his gaze was not that of someone looking at another person.
“That time when I helped you in Martel.”
Taking advantage of the moment when Oliver’s attention was fixed on Merlin, Kevin dragged the petrified Joanna and her brother to safety alongside Yareli and the other children who hadn’t yet been evacuated.
Merlin continued speaking to Oliver.
“Do you remember? Back then, I said I would test your worth.”
Oliver didn’t respond.
Instead, he lightly shook off Merlin’s hand gripping his wrist and swung back to strike Merlin.
Merlin shattered like glass.
As his fragments scattered in the air like dust, they began to reassemble, moving backward as if time itself was rewinding.
And at that moment, a dazzling light of pure white flared in front of Oliver, striking him.
Unbelievably, the light forced Oliver to stagger backward.
“…?!!”
…
Those watching were aghast, while Oliver stood in silence.
He looked up at Merlin.
The radiant white light still enveloped Merlin, and a worn book floated beside him, open in mid-air.
On the page was a single line of faded text.
[Chapter 0: Archive]
Oliver gazed intently at the words.
Merlin smiled at Oliver.
“You did your best back then… This time, I’ll do my best.”
At those words, Oliver showed a smile both innocent and chilling, like a child.
Smiling, Oliver lunged at Merlin, who made no move to evade.
The two collided.
…
When Oliver and Merlin clashed, a powerful flash erupted, consuming everything around them.
A tree, a single blade of grass, a grain of sand, even the air and each person nearby.
In that fleeting instant, those who faced the light instinctively sensed it.
In the moment they were swallowed by the light, they would cease to exist. And yet, there was nothing they could do.
As they braced for their inevitable end, in that infinitesimal fraction of time, Merlin’s magic spread out, enveloping everyone nearby and transporting them far away.
To a distant forest, far from the spot where Oliver and Merlin had collided.
As proof, in a secluded forest, a surge of magical light flickered, and thousands of people appeared.
This was an act of miraculous power, far beyond the scope of any known magic.
But no one had time to marvel at or praise the miracle.
Because they had just faced something greater.
“Aaaaah… Aaaaaah…!”
One of the kings who had been teleported, still trembling with terror, let out an endless wail as he collapsed.
It was a sound of raw despair.
As if to emphasize that it wasn’t mere theatrics, the king’s hair turned white, his flesh withered instantly, and deep wrinkles carved into his skin.
The terror had manifested in his body, and he looked in immediate need of help.
Yet no one reached out to aid him.
Because everyone else was also too busy trembling with fear.
“Hah… Hah…”
“Uuuh…”
Even though they recognized that they were now safe, people continued to pant, drooling and shaking, with sweat pouring off them like waterfalls.
Although it looked strange, it was only natural when you thought about it.
While Oliver was present, they hadn’t even been able to express their terror.
Ironically, now that Merlin had saved them, they could finally release their suppressed fear.
“Professor Kevin.”
Not everyone reacted that way, though.
The Archpriest Roderick, who had refused to kneel before Oliver, approached Kevin, who was sitting on the ground, catching his breath.
Normally, a Holy Knight would stand by Roderick’s side, but now, no one was there.
All the Holy Knights seemed half-crazed, unable to move at all.
It was understandable—they had broken their vow to kneel before none but the Father in Heaven.
Kevin, seeing the state of the knights, took a deep breath and forced himself to stand, though his legs quivered subtly from the strain.
His voice was steady.
“Speak, Your Grace.”
“Tell me everything you know.”
Roderick skipped the preliminaries and went straight to the point, though he wasn’t forceful.
The Archpriest was making a request, not a demand.
“Please… As an Archpriest of the Pater Church, it is my duty to understand the situation.”
The people who had been screaming, trembling, and drenched in cold sweat began to look at Roderick and Kevin, as if realizing that their conversation held the most significance in the world.
It could determine not just the fate of one person, one organization, or one country, but humanity itself.
Kevin glanced over at their gazes and replied.
“I don’t know.”
Given the situation, it might have seemed an irresponsible answer. Yet, Roderick neither got angry nor upset.
He continued the conversation.
“You are a disciple of the Archive, are you not?”
“Just because I’m a disciple doesn’t mean I know everything, Your Grace. Hasn’t the Pater Church also maintained a long relationship with the Archive?”
“For many years, yes, but it has never been close… The Archive never shares its most crucial information. However, you seem to have some inkling?”
An assertion posed as a question. But Kevin maintained his stance.
“I know nothing for sure. I’m only guessing.”
“Right now, we need even guesses-”
━━━━BOOOOOOM!!!!!
As Roderick spoke, an ominous roar echoed in the distance, as if the sky itself was collapsing.
Everyone turned to look and soon realized it wasn’t a metaphor—it was real.
At the site where Oliver and Merlin had collided, the sky shook with some unknown power, then split open, and an ocean’s blue water poured out, filling the sky as if defying gravity.
An ocean had formed above the land.
Incredibly, the ocean remained suspended in the sky, holding its place as if governed by its own gravity, not a single drop falling as it filled the vast heavens.
An act of power that transcended even magic.
And in that sky-bound sea, a whirlpool swirled, and from its depths emerged a colossal creature rivaling a small continent.
Grooooooooooooar!!!
Merely moving, the giant emerald-green leviathan shattered the air, broke the sea, and cracked the earth as it bared its massive jaws toward the ground.
It looked like a mythical monster descending from the heavens to devour the world.
At that moment, the earth quaked again, and another monster erupted from below.
Its eyes blazed red as if aflame, its mouth gaping wide to swallow everything in sight, its skin armored in deep crimson scales, with wings vast enough to blanket the heavens, and a body larger than a mountain but as agile as the wind.
It was Oliver’s dragon.
The dragon, whose neck had been severed in the battle against the Piper, had somehow risen again, fully restored.
Now, it was even larger, fiercer, and more powerful.
The dragon lifted its head toward the ocean-filled sky, jaws ablaze, and charged.
And so, between the heavenly sea and the land, the emerald leviathan and the crimson dragon collided.
When the two monsters clashed, their sheer power distorted the air, creating a shockwave that rippled outward.
The sea above fractured, unleashing a massive tidal wave, while the earth split and twisted, creating new valleys and mountains.
Trees within a radius of several kilometers were felled or uprooted, with the forest itself vanishing as the terrain was remade.
But the monsters didn’t stop, their colossal jaws biting into each other as their bodies twisted, causing quakes with every move that reshaped the land around them. Each time they clashed, the ground shook, and the surrounding landscape was rebuilt.
People, witnessing the sheer scale of the monstrous scene, sank to their knees, their minds breaking from the incomprehensible sight.
Only sounds of despair, like the gasping of breath or the faint whimpers from those who had fallen, filled the air.
Yet, even those sounds were drowned out by the roars of the two colossal beasts.
Kuuh-huuh-huuh-huuh-huuh...!
Screeeeeeeeech!!
The two monsters grappled ferociously, showing no signs of yielding. Meanwhile, above them, tiny figures resembling wooden dolls—a mix of golems and undead—fought against each other, their struggles barely visible next to the monsters. Among them, however, two figures stood out, exuding a presence far greater than any of the creatures—they were Merlin and Oliver, locked in combat.
Every time they collided, the very air around them distorted and shattered, making it nearly impossible to perceive their fight with the naked eye.
As the crowd began to lose themselves in the scene, Kevin suddenly spoke up.
“Your Grace!”
He called out to the Archpriest.
Roderick turned to him in response.
“…Speak.”
“Take these people and move as far away as you can. If we stay here, we’ll be caught up in the battle… Even if we aren’t, witnessing this madness for too long will destroy everyone’s sanity.”
Roderick nodded in silent agreement.
Just being in this place felt like waiting to be crushed underfoot, as if a person walking might inadvertently step on an ant and kill it.
The trembling earth beneath them confirmed this risk.
And to continue watching that kind of battle was a mental danger of another kind entirely.
Roderick felt he might soon understand just how small and insignificant he was if he continued observing the clash.
But he still had questions to ask.
“…Where do you plan to go?”
“I’m going back there.”
Kevin pointed a finger toward the battlefield, now twisted by spatial distortion.
In that space, the massive creatures were tearing into each other, forming a giant circular shape—an ouroboros.
As the heavenly sea and the earth intertwined and clashed, they began to merge into one.
It was debatable whether it could still even be called a battle, but one thing was certain.
The instant anyone entered that zone, they would be risking their lives.
Yet Kevin didn’t waver.
“I must go. There’s something I need to retrieve.”
“The quarterstaff?”
It was Joanna, who had been calming her younger siblings, who spoke up quietly.
Kevin, Roderick, Yareli, and others turned to look at her.
“That’s correct.”
“What is it about this quarterstaff that makes it so important to retrieve?”
“It’s the most precious thing to Zenon,” Kevin replied, recalling a story Merlin had once told him.
Shortly after Merlin had saved Oliver at Martel, he had asked Oliver for something precious as payment.
To Kevin’s surprise, Oliver had acknowledged the value of the quarterstaff but had refused to give it up.
The usually selfless Oliver had been unwilling to part with it for one reason alone—it was a gift from his first friend.
Kevin closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again.
“…While I can’t say for certain, I believe that quarterstaff is absolutely essential right now.”
Roderick, the Archpriest, looked into Kevin’s eyes and found himself unable to say anything more.
He trusted Kevin’s judgment. In any case, he had little choice but to trust him.
“So, I must leave. Your Grace, please lead these people far from here and minimize the damage… For the sake of the future.”
For the sake of the future—it was a phrase that carried layers of meaning.
“Professor, I’ll go with you.”
Yareli, one of the core members of the Skadi School, spoke up as Kevin was about to move toward the hellish battleground.
Without hesitation, Kevin accepted her offer.
The severity of the situation and the likelihood that he might not be able to retrieve the quarterstaff on his own had influenced his decision.
Of course, he did not forget to give her a warning.
“There’s no guarantee of survival.”
“I understand.”
“Wait.”
Joanna interrupted, speaking up as well.
“I’ll go with you too.”
“Sister…?”
Joanna’s younger siblings from the Arkh Orphanage clung to her in surprise, pleading for her to stay. But Joanna gently patted their heads to calm them, resolute in her decision.
“I’ll be of help. Please, let me join you.”
“No, Knight Joanna.”
“What?! Why—”
“—Someone must stay behind to protect the children. Especially Rosburn. Please…watch over Rosburn…”
Kevin’s words trailed off as he looked around, realizing something was wrong.
Rosburn was nowhere to be seen.