Chapter 238: Go!
“Aaaagh—!!!”
Suddenly, Shiloya—who had been pierced clean through the chest by the flowing-flame longsword—let out a shriek far more piercing, agonized, and ominous than any she had made before.
It no longer sounded human. It was more like the final scream of some elemental creature, filled with nothing but the desire for destruction as it died.
The sword through her body had brought not only physical agony, but also one last—and most fatal—shock and disruption to the violent, surging, already unstable Witch power within her.
In her crimson eyes, the last trace of reason and madness that still belonged to Shiloya was extinguished entirely, leaving behind only the most primal instinct and savagery.
“Hhk... hhk...”
A rasping sound like a broken bellows came from her throat. The flames around her, which had already been fluctuating violently because of her mortal injury, not only failed to go out—they instead exploded outward as though drenched in the fiercest accelerant.
Their color shifted rapidly from incandescent white to an even more unstable dark red.
The dying Witch had released her final attack—and also the most chaotic and uncontrollable one.
Shiloya suddenly spread both arms wide and threw her head back with a shriek so piercing it seemed capable of tearing the soul apart. Centered on her body, a visible spherical shockwave of terrifying Mana—dark-red flames interwoven with black fluid—erupted outward.
Ryan reacted the instant Eleanor pulled back and retreated, shouting in a low voice, “Back!”
At the same time, he drove Frostbite Dragon’s Kiss hard into the ground before him. His left hand moved rapidly through the air, and in an instant a composite shield opened up, combining the heaviness of the earth element with the purifying force of the light element, covering Vera, Ilyss, Rex, Lillian, and Eleanor, who had just withdrawn, all at once.
BOOM—!!!
The torrent of destruction woven from dark red and black slammed into the shield.
The shield shook violently. Cracks spread across its surface in an instant, and its light dimmed at terrifying speed.
Ryan let out a muffled grunt, and a thread of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. The Mana he had only just recovered in such abundance was violently consumed once more, and the Seals of Enlightenment on both shoulders flared with a scorching pain like overload. But his gaze remained steady, crimson-gold light flowing in the depths of his eyes, and he forcibly held firm against the first and fiercest wave of impact.
The torrent of destruction continued for several breaths before finally beginning to subside.
The instant it faded, the shield shattered completely as well.
Ryan braced himself against the sword and drew in a slight breath, his crimson-gold eyes fixed on the center of the explosion.
Shiloya was gone.
All that remained at the original spot was a horrifying pit several meters wide, in which dark-red magma and black tainted currents rolled and churned without cease.
The rock around the pit had melted and begun to run like candle wax. The air was filled with a nauseating stench of sulfur, ozone, and scorched flesh, and the heat was so intense that even vision itself warped and blurred.
And yet this still was not the end.
At the center of the pit, deep within the churning magma and black currents, a dark-red core pulsed and expanded wildly, radiating a heartbeat-like wave of dread—as though it were a molten heart on the verge of exploding.
Worse still, with that pit as the center, the entire cave floor began to quake violently. More cracks spread outward in every direction, and from within them came a dark-red glow and waves of burning heat.
Massive stalactites, half-melted by the heat, kept breaking from the ceiling above and crashing down, shattering on the burning ground and splashing molten rock everywhere.
The entire underground cavern seemed ready to be buried together with that molten heart when it erupted.
“Her... her Mana core hasn’t been completely annihilated! It’s going to trigger a geological meltdown!” Vera’s face had turned as white as paper. Shock filled her gray-green eyes. “We can’t stay here! This place is about to turn into a lake of magma!”
As though confirming her words, the cold prompt box of the 【Eye of Probability】 appeared once more within Ryan’s field of vision. The bright red figures were horrifying.
【High concentrations of chaotic fire element continue to gather, causing a local earth-vein melt-through. Probability of being caught in the magma eruption and the subsequent cave-in: 98.7%.】
98.7%!
It was practically a certain death sentence.
Ryan’s heart sank sharply. His gaze swept over the surroundings at lightning speed.
The stone passage they had come through?
No. It was too close to the center of the explosion, and the structure had likely already become unstable.
Any other direction?
Nothing but rock walls and widening cracks.
Above?
During the earlier battle, Shiloya’s final pillar of fire and the explosion that followed seemed to have torn open a weak point somewhere in the cavern roof, leaving a deep black opening that led to parts unknown. From within it, he could faintly feel a slight current of air flowing in.
That was the only way out.
But how were they supposed to get up there?
In his current state, carrying this many people, there was no way he could sustain flight long enough or cast large-scale levitation magic.
And just then—
“Chirp... chirp-chirp...”
The little blue bird that had been curled quietly in Ryan’s breast pocket suddenly stirred and gave a faint cry.
At the same time, a weak thought reached directly into the depths of Ryan’s mind.
It could transform, like Syl had before, and carry them out.
Ryan’s pupils contracted slightly as he lowered his gaze to his pocket.
There was no time left to hesitate.
The trembling beneath their feet was growing worse by the second. The magma welling up from the cracks had already joined into spreading sheets, and the sulfur-laden heat in the air was so thick it was suffocating.
“Syl says he can carry us out!” Ryan shouted decisively to the others. “We go through that opening above! Get ready!”
“What? That little bird?” Lillian froze for a moment, but because she trusted Ryan absolutely, she immediately moved to carefully support the badly injured and weakened Eleanor. Rex hurried to support Vera, who was swaying on her feet, while Ilyss also forced herself upright.
Ryan drew in a deep breath. He no longer suppressed the operation of the Gospel arrays inside him. Instead, through the connection of the soul contract, he actively poured the vast, pure Mana he had just recovered without reservation into the little blue sparrow at his chest.
Receiving that immense surge of Mana, the little blue bird let out a long, clear cry.
It was not loud, and yet it seemed to pierce through the boundaries of space itself.
Hummm—!
A dazzling blue-green light burst forth from Ryan’s chest.
Within that radiance, the little bird’s body swelled and changed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Its soft blue feathers became sleek, streamlined plumage. Its tail feathers lengthened. Its wings unfurled. Sharp talons grew, cold light gleaming from them...
In the span of a heartbeat, a magnificent giant bird with a wingspan of over ten meters appeared before them, its entire body flowing with a deep blue-green luster.
Pure and powerful wind aura circled around it, even driving the scorching air nearby slightly away.
This was the true form of the sacred beast Azure Tempest.
Though it still looked miniature compared to the legendary complete form said to blot out the sky, its divine bearing had already taken shape, and its majesty had already begun to show.
“Th-this is...”
Lillian covered her mouth, her ice-blue eyes wide as round moons. Vera and Ilyss also stared in shock at the suddenly appearing blue giant bird—especially Ilyss, in whose violet eyes an indescribably complex light flickered.
“There’s no time to explain! Everyone, get on!”
Ryan leapt onto the bird’s back first, then reached out and pulled up Lillian and Vera, who were closest to him. The blue bird in Syl’s form lowered his body slightly, allowing the others to climb on and settle themselves.
Ryan ran a hand over the smooth, cool feathers at the side of the bird’s neck, continuously pouring the surging Mana in his body into him.
“Go!”
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