Chapter 496

Chapter 496

“What… how is this possible?!”

Tamulana looked around in disbelief.

The barrier created by Bark’s relic had vanished as cleanly as if someone had wiped it away with an eraser.

In its place spread a pure white light—just looking at it was enough to put one’s heart at ease.

That brilliant white radiance was pouring out from Ciela’s necklace.

Even though Brielle had worn Ciela’s necklace every day, the reason it had never unleashed such power was simple.

Only the leader of the high elves—someone recognized by Ciela—could activate it.

Latricia was the only leader ever acknowledged by Ciela.

That was why the necklace manifested its power without any special conditions.

Kneeling as she offered her prayer to Ciela, Latricia looked almost sacred.

Tamulana screamed at her.

“What do you think you’re doing?! Stop that energy right now!”

Her furious shriek reached Latricia—but Latricia never stopped her prayer to Ciela.

‘O Ciela, goddess of the elves! Please watch over us. Grant us freedom within Your will, and help us spread Your light. As You did in Kurayan, let Your warmth reach Earth as well, so that many may be touched by Your grace.’

The longer Latricia prayed, the stronger the light radiating from the necklace became.

Tamulana couldn’t regain her senses.

The energy flowing from Ciela’s necklace was throwing her mind into chaos.

She had lived her entire life as the high elves’ High Priestess.

There was no way she wouldn’t recognize Ciela’s aura.

But the Bark necklace hanging around her neck was disrupting her perception.

The aura of the evil god Bark clashed violently with Ciela’s, scrambling her mind.

Her already bloodshot eyes burned an even deeper red.

“I… I…!”

The two opposing energies colliding inside her head made it impossible to think straight.

Then—

Shrrrip!

Black tendrils suddenly burst out of Bark’s necklace and wrapped around Tamulana.

The tendrils spread into a black shroud and swallowed her whole.

Bark’s necklace and Tamulana had completely fused into one.

She had transformed into something resembling the black soldiers—and there wasn’t a trace of reason left in her eyes.

Her form, leaking red light and dripping with black energy, was horrifying—something one would fear even in a nightmare.

—How dare you interfere with my work.

A grim voice seeped out of Tamulana.

Her mouth hadn’t moved—the voice dug directly into the minds of those nearby.

“Ghh—!”

“Argh!”

The high elves who heard it screamed and collapsed.

Latricia shouted urgently:

“That’s the voice of an evil god! Cover your ears and gather around me! Ciela’s blessing will shield you from the curse!”

Anyone unchosen who heard a god’s voice directly would either go mad—or have their mind destroyed entirely.

And Tamulana was now fully fused with Bark’s relic.

Her voice was Bark’s voice.

It was only a fraction of Bark’s original power, but even that much was enough to inflict severe harm on the high elves.

The fallen high elves endured the pain and crawled toward Latricia.

“Haa…!”

“This warmth… is this Ciela’s blessing?”

The aura of Bark that had clouded their minds vanished, replaced by a gentle warmth like spring sunlight.

Only then did they realize the aura Latricia emitted felt familiar.

It was Ciela’s presence—a presence they thought they would never feel again after coming to Earth.

Latricia spoke to the high elves.

“My daughter Brielle has recovered Ciela’s necklace.”

“Brielle…”

“She found a spirit—and now even a relic of Ciela. There is no doubt Ciela’s blessing rests upon her.”

The high elves looked at Brielle with teary eyes.

Brielle answered steadily:

“It was thanks to Zeon. He found Ciela’s necklace for me. And Ciela’s brazier as well…”

“You possess Ciela’s brazier too? Truly, Ciela’s will is with you. We… we pushed you away without knowing.”

“We’re sorry, Brielle! Please forgive us!”

The high elves knelt before her, begging for forgiveness.

Brielle tried to stop them.

“You can apologize to me after Zeon defeats Bark. Right now, we need to pray for him.”

“You’re right. We’ll pray to Lady Ciela for him.”

“Yes, let us pray.”

All the high elves who had been begging for forgiveness turned toward the necklace in Latricia’s hands and began praying as one.

And the light pouring from Ciela’s necklace grew even stronger.

At that moment, Zeon’s voice rang out.

“Sand Tornado.”

Fwoooosh!

Orange sand twisted into a tornado and wrapped around Tamulana, who had fused with Bark’s necklace.

The Sand Tornado raged around her, its pressure and razor-sharp winds all focused on her.

A Sand Tornado carried enough force to rip even a powerful beast to shreds.

But not a single wound appeared on Tamulana’s body.

Zeon wasn’t discouraged.

He had expected this much.

It was, after all, a relic infused with divine power.

There was no way someone fused with such an artifact would be wounded so easily.

The Sand Tornado was merely a stepping stone for his next attack.

Snap!

“Sand Gehenna.”

As Zeon snapped his fingers, the ground sand melted like lava, bubbling and steaming.

A furnace of scorching hellfire spread beneath Tamulana’s feet.

The intense heat turned the black shroud around her blazing red.

But Tamulana shouted as if she felt no pain.

—This level of heat cannot harm me.

“You are no god. You’re just a foolish high elf corrupted by the remnants of an evil god.”

—You dare?!

At that moment, the black soldiers fighting the Sand Soldiers converged around Tamulana.

They fused into her body.

Like kneading dough, her entire frame swelled monstrously.

Tamulana grew huge by absorbing the black soldiers.

Her body expanded to over ten meters tall—matching the size of a large-class beast.

And the transformation didn’t stop there.

Fwoosh!

A pair of black wings sprouted from her back.

They resembled the wings of a raven—and as they spread wide, they blocked the sun pouring over the high elf village.

Darkness fell, as though night had arrived.

With a flap, Tamulana ascended into the air.

Zeon’s Sand Gehenna instantly became useless.

Sand Gehenna couldn’t affect an airborne target.

Effortlessly escaping the attack, Tamulana glared down at Zeon with terrifying eyes.

—A human cannot stand against me.

Tatatatatat!

Her wing feathers fired like machine-gun bullets toward Zeon.

“Tch!”

Zeon grit his teeth and formed a sand barrier.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Feathers struck the barrier and exploded.

The barrier shook as if it would break any moment.

Zeon instinctively knew it wouldn’t last long.

Tamulana’s “feathers” weren’t feathers at all.

They were darkness mana shaped like feathers, fired as projectiles.

As long as the relic continued feeding her darkness mana, the attacks would never stop.

Zeon countered with Sand Blasters, shooting down the falling feathers.

Boom-boom-boom!

Feathers collided with Sand Blasters midair and detonated in chains.

A fierce exchange of firepower continued—but as time passed, Zeon was the one at a disadvantage.

Tamulana flew freely, attacking from every angle.

Her flight speed was as frightening as a Blade Warship.

No matter how well Zeon rode the sand winds, he couldn’t match her speed.

With inferior mobility, landing a proper skill was too difficult.

Meanwhile, Tamulana, capable of full three-dimensional movement, attacked him without restraint.

He had to overcome the mobility gap first.

Zeon shouted:

“Gaia!”

—Piiiii!

The moment his call ended, Gaia dove down from high in the sky.

Zeon leapt onto Gaia’s back immediately.

“I’m counting on you, Gaia!”

—Pii!

Even without being specific, Gaia understood him.

Their souls were connected.

Screeee!

Gaia cut through the sky, chasing Tamulana at terrifying speed.

Tamulana stared in surprise.

—What? A beast with the scent of a spirit?

—Piiiii!

Gaia protested that she wasn’t a beast, but Tamulana didn’t understand—and instead smiled.

—Good. You will make a far better sacrifice than that little spirit. With your blood and soul, I shall resurrect fully upon this land. Hahaha!

As she laughed, the air trembled.

Her presence was overwhelming.

But Zeon’s expression, as he approached her, didn’t waver for even a moment.

“You’re just the remnant of a god—and yet your greed knows no bounds.”

Screee!

Dozens of Sand Vipers shot toward her.

Tamulana fired feathers and shredded his attack easily.

Boom—!

The Sand Vipers burst back into sand.

A shower of sand rained down from the sky.

Tamulana pierced through the falling sand and attacked Zeon.

Thousands—tens of thousands—of feathers rained down on him.

If even one struck him, not even his Leviathan-hide robe would save him.

He would be sliced into hundreds, thousands of pieces.

But Zeon didn’t use a single defensive skill.

Because he had Gaia.

Boom! Boom!

Every feather that reached Zeon struck Gaia’s force field and vanished.

Having absorbed both the Reaper’s Scythe—weapon of the Grim Reaper—and the Blood Crystal, Kroadnos’s core, Gaia’s force field was like an impenetrable fortress.

Thanks to that, Zeon remained unharmed.

Defense was no longer something he needed to worry about.

And with Gaia’s mobility matching Tamulana’s—

There was no reason Zeon should lose.

Fwooooosh!

A sandstorm roared to life.

Zeon had summoned Sand Storm.

A massive storm—too immense to believe it had been created by a human—swallowed Tamulana whole.

A colossal flood of sand scraped at her outer shell.

But Tamulana remained confident.

—This cannot harm me.

Wrapped in darkness mana, she could not be wounded by an attack like this.

She spread her wings wide and swept them through the air—causing the sandstorm surrounding her to tremble violently, on the verge of collapsing.

Her power was overwhelming.

At that moment, Zeon shouted into the sky:

“Sand Soldier!”

From within the raging storm, soldiers erupted forth.

Not ordinary Sand Soldiers—but reinforced ones made of stone.

The reinforced Sand Soldiers leaped onto Tamulana’s gigantic body.

Dozens of them climbed her frame and began pummeling her.

At first, she dismissed their attacks.

Sssk! Crack!

But when the wings of darkness mana tore apart—her expression changed.

Wings made of darkness mana should have regenerated instantly.

Yet for some reason, the shredded wings did not return.

Because Zeon was interfering with their regeneration using the Overheat Gauntlet.

Blazing flames roared behind her, preventing the wings from restoring.

With her wings gone, only one fate remained.

—N-no!

Crash!

Her massive body plummeted straight into the ground.