DKIE CH86: The Final Arrival

Even the Holy Court’s army had to admit a cruel fact: the person standing before them was, if not the richest man on the continent, at least in the top three.

Luka tossed out scrolls as if they were free, expertly transforming them.

“As expected.”

Turning into a pebble and rolling over was nothing compared to the thrill of using a space scroll.

On the other side, the Legendary Grand Magus currently dueling with Quill felt a sudden pang in his heart. The Holy Court had hired him for a sum equivalent to about three or four hundred million gold coins, which was probably less than the value of the space scrolls being used right now.

He felt inexplicably insulted.

Another giant boulder appeared overhead, and Quill swiftly retreated.

The Legendary Grand Magus was a half-beat slower. As he prepared to act, he saw Quill backing away and subconsciously retracted his hand, thinking it was another space scroll transformation.

Before he could discern the truth, the giant boulder crashed down on his head.

…It was a pure rock.

He had been tricked!

“You should say, ‘Thank you to the richest man for the gift of a rock.'”

As Luka spoke, he spread his wings and flew high, taking aim at the Grand Magus from close range and nocking multiple arrows on his bow.

For the final arrow, the arrowhead was a space scroll, and the shaft was made of the power of faith.

The Legendary Grand Magus, having just taken a heavy blow from the stone hammer, had no choice but to counterattack.

Most of the arrows shot into the sky were indeed powerful, causing a series of small explosions. However, the one aimed at the magus only seemed strong; with a wave of his sleeve, he discovered it was extremely weak, and the fake arrow broke easily.

The dazzling arrow of deception!

Afraid the Grand Magus wouldn’t leave quickly enough, Luka kindly chanted an incantation for him just before the space scroll completely shattered.

“No—”

A high-quality space scroll, activated at point-blank range by his own hand—even the most powerful magus would fall for it.

In the instant he was forcefully teleported, the Legendary Grand Magus heard a conversation from outside.

“–Look, he fled.”

“–Record it. Let the Holy Court know that you get what you pay for.”

Compared to the cost of the space scrolls, the Grand Magus’s hiring fee was indeed cheap.

“…”

In the moment before he vanished, the Legendary Grand Magus was so enraged that he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Outside the teleportation circle, Luka looked at the small splatter of blood in the air and wondered, “Was that from the magus?”

Quill nodded. “It should be.”

“Polluting the air,” Luka pursed his lips, once again confirming that you get what you pay for.

With their top combatant gone, large numbers of Holy Court soldiers were still being passively teleported away as streams of light.

“Too slow,” Quill said, lacking Luka’s mercy, and switched directly to violent slaughter.

Falling rocks were replaced by a rain of blood.

The brutal killing had an extraordinary deterrent effect. The faces of the Holy Court soldiers changed drastically; this clearly exceeded the level of strength the Holy Court had anticipated.

“Retreat!”

“Quickly, retreat!”

The remaining few thousand Holy Court soldiers were scattered. Once the first one turned to run, the others followed without hesitation.

Luka and Quill exchanged a glance and shook their heads. “Don’t pursue a desperate enemy.”

Especially since these enemies were, in the most literal sense, poor.

The sea was on the other side of the mountain. It was impossible for the Holy Court to station troops across the entire vast mountain range, but they would surely have hidden formations. Using spatial transfer within the mountains would likely trigger unknown consequences.

Luka transformed back into a small pebble and jumped into the river.

Why roll when you can be washed away?

From the river, he performed a ten-thousand-meter dive off the edge of a waterfall. The turbulent current greatly shortened the journey.

According to their original route, they needed to cross the sea from Port Yaman.

“Continue?” Quill asked.

“Yes,” Luka replied.

Using the port as a jumping-off point, the combination of a pebble and a bone began to dive deep into the sea.

Turning into a drop of water would be the best way to hide in the vast ocean, but it was too dangerous. The terrifying aspect of transformation spells was that in an environment rich with water elements, one could easily be assimilated.

If that happened, they would dissipate completely.

“Be careful of those fish,” Quill reminded him via telepathy.

These were not normal fish; they were all mechanically made, clearly detectors.

The warships on the sea were continuously deploying higher-precision detectors, which hummed incessantly as they operated.

The density was too high, making it difficult to avoid them completely.

The hand bone hid behind a coral reef. Quill, moving at the speed of light, snatched a detector and, before it could sound an alarm, disassembled and reassembled it.

Luka asked, “What are you doing?”

Quill’s movements were fluid as he performed his handiwork on the seabed. “Changing the vibration frequency. If controlled within a certain range, it can induce the sirens’ desire to sing.”

After modifying a small batch of detectors, the red lights flickered, and the different humming sounds linked together, forming a frequency similar to a whale’s call.

The warships on the surface grew alert. Before they could conduct a deeper search, the sirens in the distance began to warm up their voices.

A drowsy sound echoed through the sea, and almost instantly, the detectors temporarily malfunctioned.

Now was the time!

The pebble had too little resistance, so Luka and Quill reverted to their human forms, rushing past the school of detector-like fish ahead.

There were fewer patrol boats in the inner sea. As they neared their destination and confirmed there were no formations, they directly used spatial transfer.

Finally on shore, the two didn’t even have time to catch their breath before heading straight for the First Magic Academy.

The number of Holy Court soldiers along the way only increased, and as Luka sent a message to Dylan, he felt a sense of gratification.

“The Holy Court never disappoints.”

As expected, to intercept him, they had dispatched a large number of soldiers, carefully setting up blockades on all possible routes, considering every possibility.

This way, the real battlefield would be a contest of top-tier combatants, not a war of attrition.

He gave them a thumbs-up.
…

After traveling for the better part of a day, the sun was beginning to set with a weary air.

A faint light shone on the distant First Magic Academy. The ground occasionally showed undried bloodstains. There were no sounds of fighting, but the weapons scattered about proved that a fierce battle had recently taken place here.

At the west gate, a figure was pacing. It was the student council president who had led Luka out of the academy on visitation day.

Dylan, as usual, was hidden within his robe. He suddenly looked up and said, “They’re here.”

The moment he saw Luka, the student council president was both surprised and overjoyed. “You actually broke through the encirclement!”

Luka glanced around but didn’t sense many people.

“The academy’s discipline department has been taken over. Three vice deans are in a standoff with several others. The good news is the dean just returned! Although the dean is remaining neutral, he has forbidden fighting on campus and forcibly gathered all the students near the auditorium. We have to hurry…”

Before he could finish, the student council president was suddenly pushed aside by Dylan.

Where he had been standing, a terrifying, deep pit appeared, covered in ice spikes.

The student council president looked up in horror. A mirror-like surface had appeared in the sky, reflecting the school building and the surrounding figures on its shattered ice fragments.

Where the daylight and the mirror’s gleam met, a pure white figure floated on a cloud.

When it came to important matters, the Saintess was a woman of few words.

She attacked the moment she arrived. With a flick of her finger, an ice shard cracked, and the reflection within it shattered into pieces.

At the same time, the sources of the reflections below—all of them—felt a terrifying pulling sensation, as if being torn apart by a colossal force.

“It hurts so much,” the student council president’s skin split open, revealing the bone beneath. If not for the protection of Dylan’s cloak, he would have likely been torn to pieces.

Luka stood firm and looked up, glancing at his arm.

Countless points of light appeared on his skin. He shook his arm, shattering them with the power of faith. A second later, and his arm would have been useless.

“Is Mother trying to forcefully separate flesh and bone?”

The Saintess merely smiled faintly and tapped the ice shards with her fingertip. All the shards cracked like dominoes.

Luka frowned. What kind of technique was this? So strange.

“Displacement magic,” Quill said. “To a magus, even a shadow is a vessel for one’s essence and spirit. This is usually a technique of curse masters; I didn’t expect her to know it.”

To hold the position of Saintess for decades, she was indeed exceptionally skilled.

With a wave of her hand, the Saintess created a new mirror in the sky.

To break it, one would need to engage in close combat, but the distance between them was too great. Luka saw through her true intention: she wanted to fight a war of attrition and exhaust his magical power.

Dylan said, “You go first, I’ll hold her off.”

Suddenly, the campus broadcast system blared: “All teachers and students, please proceed to the auditorium immediately. All teachers and students, please proceed to the auditorium immediately. Anyone remaining outside after three minutes will be considered in violation of school rules and will be expelled.”

Ignoring the broadcast, Dylan mobilized his magic to form a domain, radiating it upwards towards the sky.

A faint, holy voice came from high above as the Saintess finally spoke.

“My dear son, must you always let others fight your battles?”

Luka held his head high and chest out, replying with his catchphrase, “So what?”

His overly righteous tone even made the Saintess pause for a moment.

Just as she sneered, about to strike for a third time, the world suddenly darkened. With the light source gone, the reflections on the ice shards grew blurry.

The offensive magic she was about to release instantly transformed into a protective spell, covering the area above.

Higher up, a giant beast seemed to be hidden among the stars, treading through the void as it approached.

The old monster from the City of Giant Rocks who had been summoned appeared, saying something similar to Dylan: “Go. The Saint sent me to assist you.”

Compared to the coldness in his eyes when looking at the Saintess, his gaze towards Luka held a degree of appreciation.

It was rare indeed for someone to be willing to risk a journey of millions of miles just to disperse the bulk of the enemy’s forces.

Luka never hesitated when it was time to run. He turned and fled.

Countless ice crystals, light yet carrying a piercing killing intent, stabbed towards him, more aggressive than a flying shuttle. As the Saintess raised her palm, the beast’s claws descended as well. “Your opponent is me.”

“Is that so?” A strange smile suddenly appeared on the Saintess’s lips.

The temperature of the world plummeted, as if returning to winter.

The giant beast had a bad feeling. To draw on so many elements at once, it seemed this woman didn’t care at all that the drain on her magic would put her at a disadvantage in the ensuing fight.

Without dodging the claws, the Saintess forcefully mobilized most of the power within her body.

“Time Stop.”

In an instant, snow began to fall from the sky. As the ethereal flakes scattered in mid-air, the trees below, which had been swaying in the wind, froze solid, and dust hung motionless.

Also following a control-based path, Quill regained consciousness a half-beat faster.

Luka’s consciousness returned, but his body couldn’t move yet. In those few hundredths of a second, he shot Quill a look that said, You know what to do.

In the moment of the time stop, the Saintess’s sword transformed into a white serpent, baring its venomous fangs at the youth’s back.

Quill understood Luka’s gaze. Ignoring him, he dodged to the side.

When disaster strikes, everyone fends for themselves.

The Saintess saw this. As the sword was about to pierce through the thin back and inflict an irreversible, grievous wound, a genuine curve appeared on her lips.

The next second, an extreme white light exploded. The imagined serious injury did not occur.

The light outside faded, but the inside was still glowing.

The Saintess’s expression changed slightly.

The outer robe had exploded, but the clothes underneath were completely unscathed. This was clearly not normal.

“You…” A trace of astonishment appeared in her eyes.

Even the old monster from the City of Giant Rocks was somewhat surprised.

On the spot, Luka stood wearing the hundred-patch robe gifted to him by the dragons on his birthday, its scales shimmering with myriad colors.

Nearly half a year later, he remained as steady as an iron tower in the face of an explosion.

Seeming to sense a contemptuous gaze from above, Luka didn’t even glance at the Saintess in the distant sky. Regaining mobility, he continued to run. “Remember to tell the Demon King that I didn’t bring the dragons to the battlefield.”

He might not have his mother’s love, but he had the dragons’ love.

He was merely “wearing” the dragons.

Clad in a dragon shell, how could he not be considered a healthy little dragon whelp?

The time stop only lasted for two seconds before the battle in the sky resumed.

The Saintess and the old monster from the City of Giant Rocks were locked in a deadly fight. Dylan supported the student council president. “North.”

They walked along the path to the edge of the forest, where she let out a strange sound from her throat.

A large number of magical beasts appeared around the woods.

Dylan had been raised by magical beasts. She stepped forward and affectionately nuzzled a beast’s massive head, seemingly communicating something.

A moment later, she nodded at Luka .

The magical beast bowed its head. Luka understood and jumped on.

Dylan finally spoke. “If any misfortune occurs, I will ensure your autographed photo remains forever in the Hall of Honor.”

Luka replied, “…Okay.”

The magical beast looked at Dylan with a questioning gaze.

“I’m not going with you all,” Dylan said, pointing at Luka. “I’m going to team up and fight his mom first.”

After saying this, she put down the student council president and shot straight into the sky.

Luka shouted, “Go for it!”

The magical beast: “?”

The Magical Beast Forest was usually devoid of people. Although it provided a direct path to the Fortress of Light, the distance was thousands of miles.

About halfway there, Luka closed his eyes and swept his divine sense over the area, then gently patted the beast’s mane. “Please slow down a bit.”

The outer defense line of the Fortress of Light had not been completely broken yet. He needed to conserve his magic and didn’t plan to join the battle ahead.

After about twenty minutes, the magical beast began to speed up again.

The last hundred miles, then fifty…

They were getting closer and closer to the Fortress of Light.

The towering white building that reached into the clouds was, in reality, the sturdiest of steel monsters. Every stronghold on the surrounding defensive walls was being defended by the Holy Court’s army.

The drawbridge had been severed. The human army and the elves had arrived outside the fortress first and were simultaneously launching an assault on the protective shield.

Magical light arrows were fired, and Holy Court soldiers fell from the high walls.

“Increase the distance!” Carol ordered, then fired a spell directly at the heart of the fortress’s defense.

Amidst the soaring flames, the boiling sounds of slaughter and charging continuously echoed.

Quill squinted. “The final line of defense is broken.”

Now, all they needed to do was push straight through the Fortress of Light and find a way to get close to the Tree of Life.

With the drawbridge gone, the magical beast flew directly over the chasm below, successfully avoiding the falling stone walls from above.

The once solemn and massive gate was now riddled with holes from cannon fire. Luka leaped down and said to the magical beast, “Thank you for the ride. You should go back.”

The magical beast looked at him without speaking.

Luka said honestly, “To Professor Dylan, you are family. You can’t afford to die.”

If the magical beast were to perish in the ensuing battle, he couldn’t bear the responsibility.

The magical beast used magic to write in the air: Your mom can afford to die, why can’t I?

“…”

Quill shook his head slightly at Luka, signaling him not to try and understand the beast’s logic.

Luka  actually understood to some extent. Dylan had clearly sided with the Saint. If the Holy Court won, Dylan would surely die.

The magical beast would naturally side with him.

A group of Holy Court soldiers charged forward and were immediately disemboweled by the beast’s claw.

Luka got back on the magical beast and galloped onward.

The sturdy pillars inside the Holy Palace were on the verge of collapse, the walls had lost their cleanliness, but the specially crafted Bell of Guidance was still relatively intact.

The pendulum swung back and forth, it was unclear for which side it was tolling a death knell.

Near the Prayer Hall and the Hall of Atonement, the inner and outer courts were slaughtering each other.

At the end of the long carpet in the main hall was the orderly throne of the palace. Now, the throne was surrounded by grim white bones.

The Sage’s Sword in Luka’s hand trembled slightly. Once upon a time, the Ancestor of Humanity had personally established the Holy Court here, having the High Priest and the Saintess supervise each other to eternally guard the Tree of Life.

Times had changed, and both had betrayed their duty.

Fighting was everywhere. Relying on the magical beast’s charge, Luka  passed through the blood-stained administrative office with relative ease.

The temperature ahead dropped sharply. A hole had been blasted in the dome of the circular hall.

The fluctuations outside were exceptionally fierce, demonic energy raged, and among it, the unique laughter of a witch could be faintly heard.

“Stop,” Luka said. “My dad is playing the role of a roadblock up ahead.”

The magical beast’s four hooves stiffened. What a wicked family dynamic.

Charging straight through was definitely not an option; the moment he appeared, he would become a primary target. Luka’s eye and hair color quietly changed, and he used his immature light element to patch up his clothes, covering the hundred-patch robe.

He tightened his grip on the Sage’s Sword.

The main battlefield was here.

It was time for the final, decisive battle.

Quill sensed a trace of his nervousness and reached out. His cool fingertips brought a sense of warmth. “Don’t worry. Victory will belong to the side of light.”

Luka looked at the mutilated corpses all around and whispered, “Is that so?”

Quill nodded. “If you don’t believe it, look at me.”

The example of a past, spectacular failure was right before his eyes.

Seeing is believing. Faced with history’s most successful failure, Luka suddenly found it very convincing.

He was confident again.

The magical beast didn’t understand what kind of gallows humor they were sharing.

A violent commotion suddenly came from ahead. A large amount of magical elements flickered in mid-air, and some of the light even drifted over to their side.

Outside the Holy Palace, the main battlefield, sheltered by the Tree of Life, seemed boundless in a sea of white frost.

All who gathered here were top-tier combatants.

Not far away, the High Priest was fighting the Elven King who had broken through the outer defenses. Below, the priests were engaged in a chaotic battle with the grand magi.

However, no matter how they fought, they couldn’t get close to the Tree of Life itself.

The area around the tree was too vast, wider than a ten-thousand-mile snowy plain.

Over ten thousand of the strongest Holy Court soldiers were lined up in neat formation, surrounding the Tree of Life, forming a solid line of defense. Closer in, over a thousand female attendants and priests also guarded the Tree of Life without moving an inch.

While everyone else was fighting fiercely, the Demon King and the Saint were high in the sky, having stood motionless for an hour.

The Saint was standing there for so long he wanted to sigh.

Their combat power was nearly equal; their only purpose was to hold each other back.

He didn’t know how Luka was doing. A journey of millions of miles must have been exhausting.

Such a pitiful, sensible, and endearing child.

Across from him, the Demon King’s scarlet hair was loose. When he looked up, his crescent-moon-like pupils first revealed a cruel smile.

“To be distracted at a time like this, I’m very curious what you’re thinking about.”

Waiting for an opportunity to strike? Or considering the outcome of failure, the future of the human race?

The Saint answered honestly, “I’m thinking about your son.”

“…”

Excerpt from Quill’s Diary:

Luka, a special case loved by the whole world, except his parents.

Luka flew by, leaving a feather in agreement.

The protagonist works so hard, and finally gets to greet his parents, probably for two chapters, and then is quickly sent away. [sunglasses emoji]

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