Chapter 672: The Darkest Moment (6)
The Archive.
True to its name, the Archive collected, wrote, and preserved countless records over each era.
For more than a thousand years, it had continued this mission.
As a result, the number of books and records the Archive held had become nearly infinite, impossible to measure in scale.
But even the endless has a beginning.
Merlin opened the very first book stored in the Archive—the oldest one of all.
[Chapter 0: The Archive]
It was a book personally written by the First Archive, the one who first created the Archive itself.
Within its pages lay the true mission of the Archive and the power to fulfill that mission.
Merlin unsealed the book that had been bound for a millennium and absorbed the power that the First Archive had infused within it.
It was a power far greater than that of any other Archive, yet a power none of them had ever wished to wield.
Using that strength, Merlin restored his own body, shattered alongside the space around him, and transported those nearby to a safe location, beyond the reach of mortal perception.
This ensured their safety.
Once Merlin confirmed this, he pushed Oliver, who had just emerged and hadn’t yet adapted to his new level of power.
Still unsteady like a newborn creature, Oliver stumbled backward.
Taking advantage of that brief moment, Merlin invoked the Authority of the Archive. He split the sky itself and summoned seawater through the crack.
A vast, blue ocean covered the sky, becoming a celestial sea.
Merlin took out his own book in midair and tore a page from it.
This page recorded the sea monster Leviathan, captured in the past.
He threw it into the celestial sea, calling forth Leviathan once more into the world.
The monstrous creature emerged from the page, split into head, torso, and tail.
Though it was little more than a corpse...
Merlin used the First Archive’s Authority to not only restore Leviathan’s body but also grant it new life.
In the sky-sea, a massive whirlpool began to churn. From its depths, the aquamarine Leviathan burst forth, opening its colossal maw toward the earth.
Its mouth was so vast that it defied human comprehension.
Its sheer size alone was terrifying, yet Oliver, with hair now gone white, simply stood in place, staring blankly.
Just as Leviathan, jaws wide, was about to devour Oliver, a shadow cast across the ground, and something emerged.
It was a dragon.
With burning red eyes, massive jaws, tightly packed dark scales, and a body and wings as large as mountains.
It was the Flesh Chef.
Appearing larger and more powerful than Merlin remembered, the dragon opened its massive mouth toward Leviathan.
The transformed Flesh Chef and Leviathan clashed between their respective domains—the Celestial Sea above and the Earth below.
A shockwave rippled through the space between them, distorting both land and sea.
Kuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu...
Keeeeeeeaaaaargh!
Amid the distortion, the sea monster and earthbound beast lunged at each other, baring their fangs.
With each attempt to bite, earth and sea split apart, raising mountains and waves.
It was a scene of simultaneous creation and destruction—a mythic landscape of chaos.
In the midst of this chaos, Leviathan and the transformed Flesh Chef coiled around each other, forming a massive ring.
When Leviathan opened its mouth, the Flesh Chef raised its claws and swiped.
Its enormous, black claws tore through Leviathan’s aquamarine scales.
In retaliation, Leviathan summoned a massive wave, knocking the Flesh Chef off balance, then generated multiple water spouts that bound its neck and body.
The Flesh Chef, caught within the sea’s grip, screamed in defiance. Then, from its enormous jaws, it unleashed a scorching wave of flame, burning the water spouts to ashes.
Chiiiiiik!
A sharp, ear-piercing sound arose as hot steam enveloped Leviathan and the Flesh Chef.
The heat was unbearable, capable of roasting flesh and scorching lungs just by being nearby...
In the midst of the steam, numerous human-shaped figures appeared.
These figures were the undead servants of the Piper.
Braving the cataclysmic battle, they climbed up the dragon-transformed Flesh Chef’s body.
Even considering their undead nature, it was an act of madness.
“Ah… rest… give us… peace…”
“Please, deliver us… salvation…”
Yet they pursued this madness to find peace.
They sought redemption from Oliver, who had denied the Piper’s call.
So, enduring the agony of a battlefield that shattered their bodies, they pressed forward, climbing toward Merlin atop Leviathan’s head, where he was fighting Oliver, still struggling to adapt to his new level of power.
“Aaaargh!”
The undead screamed.
The scorching steam seared their bodies...
Each collision between Leviathan and the Flesh Chef shattered their forms...
A single misstep sent them plummeting to the earth, shattering them into countless pieces...
Yet they could not die.
To escape this suffering, they kept climbing, broken bodies crawling over the Flesh Chef’s scales, inching ever closer to Merlin.
As this endless procession of the undead continued, more than a hundred figures were detected atop Leviathan’s aquamarine scales.
These figures were the wooden puppets—golems—that Merlin controlled from his mansion.
The moment they appeared in midair, they charged at the advancing undead.
Simultaneously, bursts of magical light flared atop the scales of both Leviathan and the Flesh Chef, exploding in a cascade of fire, lightning, and waves.
With each burst, the undead were burned, torn apart, and thrown to the ground, shattered beyond recognition.
“A…aah… peace…”
Yet peace eluded them...
Kwaaaaang!
Amid the miniature war between golems and undead atop the two monsters' scales, a thunderous sound echoed, and the two creatures roared in unison.
The dragon-transformed Flesh Chef gathered its rage in its wings, creating a hurricane laced with slashing winds.
The massive, dark gales tore across Leviathan’s body.
Kuhuhuhuuuurgh!
Leviathan cried out in pain as a part of its vast body was ripped open, exposing tender flesh and spilling red blood.
Aquamarine scales and blood scattered through the air like rain.
In that moment of vulnerability, the Flesh Chef, seizing the opportunity, extended its massive claws, piercing Leviathan’s jaw like a hooked spear.
With Leviathan in its grasp, the Flesh Chef began thrashing it up and down between the Celestial Sea and Earth, without mercy.
The sea above churned, creating tidal waves, and the earth below collapsed, forming giant craters.
Leviathan, having lost control, was battered relentlessly...
The golems and undead fighting atop the monsters’ bodies couldn’t withstand the impact and were mostly shattered or flung far away.
Only Merlin and Oliver remained unaffected, as if they existed beyond the laws of this world. They moved freely across the thrashing bodies of Leviathan and the Flesh Chef, continuing their own battle.
...
Oliver, wearing a peculiar smile that was both innocent and awkward, swung his arm silently.
Merlin, cloaked in pure white light, evaded the strike and, with a precise motion, tore a page from his book, slicing into Oliver in a single fluid move.
Swish—slash!
The strike was executed with the finesse of a swordsman who had dedicated a lifetime to the art of the blade.
Every slash hit its mark, striking Oliver’s neck, chest, abdomen, and both legs.
The five slashes cut through, even slicing into the transformed Flesh Chef behind Oliver.
The creature's thick, armor-like scales split apart, and as its flesh was exposed, it let out an unearthly scream and released its grip on Leviathan.
In that brief moment of freedom, Leviathan wriggled out from the Flesh Chef's claws and struck back with a powerful kick.
Once more, the heavens and earth trembled.
Mountains rose and fell, tidal waves surged and split, and shattered waves collided with the ground midair.
Some of the debris flew toward Merlin, but it seemed to be deflected by an invisible force, never reaching him.
Perhaps for this reason, Merlin remained undisturbed, his gaze fixed only on Oliver.
Despite having sustained a blow that would have crippled a dragon, Oliver stood there, unharmed.
Was the attack ineffective?
No. Oliver’s body still bore the wounds, though they didn’t bleed. And almost immediately, they began to heal...
No, it wasn’t healing in the usual sense—it was more like time itself reversed, restoring his body to its original state.
While Merlin was aware of this ability, what concerned him was the speed at which it was happening. Each time, the intervals shortened.
Not only was it growing harder to delay Oliver, but it was clear that Oliver was gradually adapting to his new level of power.
At that moment...
Oliver, whose movements had been awkward and hesitant, clenched his fist.
Between his fingers, something began to manifest...
It was a sheet of paper.
The paper didn’t just appear—it was created out of nothing.
Instead of shaping magical energy to resemble paper, Oliver had summoned actual paper from the void itself.
Grasping the paper, Oliver took his stance, mirroring Merlin’s.
Then...
Swish—slash!
Oliver swung the paper, perfectly replicating the swordsmanship Merlin had just used, in fact, copying the exact technique of the First Archive.
Five slashes shot forth as proof.
The instant Oliver swung, Merlin leapt through space, narrowly dodging the attack.
But Leviathan, unable to avoid due to its sheer size, was cut in the same way as the Flesh Chef.
With a sickening sound, fragments of aquamarine scales and blood showered the sky like rain.
Leviathan screamed in agony, and as the Flesh Chef countered, it lunged with its jaws, clamping down on Leviathan’s neck.
The two monsters coiled around each other, biting each other like two massive serpents, forming an enormous ring.
Meanwhile, Oliver and Merlin continued to exchange blows as they moved along the perimeter of the ring.
Merlin launched relentless attacks, channeling the full knowledge and power accumulated by all previous Archives over a thousand years.
He split the air with paper...
Exploited every flaw in Oliver’s defenses with the skill of a master swordsman...
And unleashed every inherited spell, black magic, and sorcery in his arsenal.
The resulting force was immense, enough to bring Leviathan and the transformed Flesh Chef to their knees upon the earth.
But Oliver, even under such assault, remained unscathed. In fact, with every blow he took, his movements grew smoother.
It was as though he was learning to understand his new level of power through the First Archive’s strength.
Time passed...
Shh-shhh...
Merlin’s attacks, once devastating, now barely managed to leave a scratch on Oliver.
Despite this, Merlin continued to press, searching for an opening in Oliver’s defenses.
If he just had a little more time—
[What do you see me as?]
Oliver’s sudden voice interrupted, resonating telepathically as he faced Merlin head-on.