Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully-Chapter 143: Endgame (10)

"I have to end it now."

The Grand Luminar’s twisted magic was insidious, but it was his own. The blessing from Riku was a finite resource. She had to stake it all on a final, overwhelming attack.

"For the true Light!" she screamed, channeling the last, potent dregs of Riku’s blessing and all of her own remaining life force into her blade.

Divine Judgement!

Her sword blazed with the intensity of a glowing beacon of hope.

"Oh? So we are going all out now?" Albus grinned. "Then, I cannot stay behind now, can I?"

Sun’s retribution!

His sword shone with the intensity of a collapsing star, threatening to burn everything in its path.

"Let’s see whose belief is the strongest."

BOOM!

The two forces met in a cataclysmic explosion that sent tremors across the entire field.

When the light faded, Seraphina was on one knee, her sword plunged into the stone floor for support. She was gasping for breath, the brilliant golden aura of Riku’s blessing now reduced to a faint, flickering shimmer, almost completely gone.

Across from her, Albus still stood, though his robes were tattered and smoking. For a moment, it seemed as though he had won.

Albus coughed, and a trickle of black blood spilled from his lips. He looked down at the smoldering wound on his chest, then back at Seraphina, a strange, almost respectful light in his eyes.

"To think... your Light was not weak after all, Seraphina," he wheezed.

"Of course. I will never lose to the likes of you." Seraphina said as she took a deep breath, stabilizing herself.

"I see. Perhaps... perhaps there was another way... cough cough"

The Grand Luminar let out a final, self-deprecating smile and shuddering breath. "A pity I will not be there... to see the new era dawn..."

With those last words, he swayed, then collapsed. His body didn’t just fall; it erupted in a brilliant, final flash of pure golden light that briefly outshone the moon, before vanishing completely, leaving nothing but dust and light particles.

"Sire..." Seraphina lamented. Tears formed in her eyes as she recalled all the kind interactions she had had with him when she was a child. How he had trained her, taught her, made her take her vows, and made her everything she was.

How she wished things could go back to how they were before.

But reality was cruel.

The duel was over. Albus, the traitorous Grand Luminar, had been vanquished, his body dissolving into a final, brilliant flash of light.

Seraphina remained on one knee in the center of the quarry, her sword plunged into the stone floor for support. She was gasping for breath, the brilliant golden aura of Riku’s blessing now reduced to a faint, flickering shimmer that was almost completely gone. She had won the duel, but she had expended nearly all of the divine gift that had given her the strength to do it.

She pushed herself to her feet, her own legs trembling with exhaustion, and looked upon the battlefield.

But her heart sank at the sight she saw.

While she had been locked in her personal duel, her army had lost its anchor. Without her constant, empowered commands and overwhelming presence, the defensive line had faltered. The Creep Giant, no longer focused on her, had been rampaging freely through her battered troops.

Worse, the foul, red aura it emitted had spread like a plague through the exhausted soldiers. Riku’s blessing on them had gradually faded, leaving them powerless.

She watched in horror as a decorated knight, a man she had personally met and mentored, screamed as he clutched his head. Crimson veins erupted on his neck, and his eyes glazed over with a familiar red light. He turned and drove his sword into the back of his own squire.

The scene was repeating itself all across the open field. The defensive line had crumbled into a confused, desperate melee of friend against foe. Her army was broken.

"Fall back! Form a perimeter!" she roared, but her voice was her own now, no longer amplified by the blessing. It was lost in the cacophony of battle and screams.

Just as she took in the full scope of the devastation, a royal carriage, flanked by the King’s personal guard, thundered to a halt at the edge of the quarry. King Harius III and Marquis Gregor Hummer stepped out, their faces masks of horror at the carnage before them.

"Seraphina!" the King bellowed. "What is the meaning of this madness?! Why are our soldiers attacking our own?"

Seraphina looked at her faltering army, at the rampaging, unstoppable giant, and at the spreading corruption consuming her soldiers. Her divine power was spent. Her forces were broken.

Seraphina tried to summon a holy strike, but only a small flicker of light sparked in her hand before dying out. It was useless - she was just too spent.

Then, the giant threw its head back and let out a triumphant roar, its cavernous mouth wide open, revealing a dark, foul gullet.

Everything was on the brink of collapse.

"Not yet."

An idea formed in Seraphina’s mind. An insane, desperate, suicidal idea as she observed the giant’s huge mouth.

We cannot win from the outside, she thought, her mind latching onto the terrible logic. Its hide regenerates. The creep’s aura absorbs our magic. But the inside... what if I am able to harm him from the inside?

It might have seemed like a bad idea, but it was the only idea she could form. A path of absolute sacrifice.

She raised her sword one last time, channeling the last, faint wisps of Riku’s blessing and all of her own remaining life force into it. The blade glowed with a soft, final, white light.

"This is it, I guess."

A single, silent tear trickled down her cheek as she recalled all the other experiences she had had.

A deep, aching sorrow followed for the Church she loved, an institution she now had to lead.

A fleeting image of Lysaria’s bright, earnest face flashed through her mind—the little sister she had sworn to protect, now left alone in a world of wolves. At least she was safe now. Who knew how she would react when she learnt about what had happened today?

Then, a final, strange thought surfaced—a memory of an infuriating, impossible boy with a wry smile, the one who had turned her entire world upside down in the past few days. The one who always hit on a Vestal of the church, and even gave her the power to stand in the face of evil for so long.

Maybe leaving Lysaria to him was not a bad thing after all.

I guess... I will leave the rest to you, then, Riku. My job here is done.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m