Chapter 272: Hesitation is Defeat

The world was shaking as he opened his eyes. He was surrounded by white walls. As his eyes focused, he found that it was the white scarf. He turned his head to the side and saw Rae"s back as used the white scarf as a barrier. 

"..." Arthur looked at her back silently as the world shook. "Why are you protecting me?" He was confused, truly. They weren"t that close but she kept saving him. 

"Huh?" Rae turned to look at him. The side of her face was frowning. "You"re awake? Have you turned nuts?" 

She was still as menacing with her words as ever. Arthur turned his head away from her as he tried to stand up, but his body didn"t move. The whirling wind stuck his bare skin. His armor was gone. 

"Are you not surprised by my appearance?" 

"Just by how ugly you look like." Rae"s voice was unfazed. "You are Arthur Silvera, right?" 

"Your highness knows me?" Arthur smiled weakly as the ground shook. "I don"t think this is the best time for h.e.l.los." 

"I"m no princess." Rae"s voice was amused. "Of course, I know you, I signed your a.s.sa.s.sination order." She turned toward him with a grin. Arthur met her eyes and knew she wasn"t lying. 

"Yet here you are, protecting me." 

"Your fake death changed my opinion about you. You"re not a threat." She turned back. "The real threat right now is that." 

Arthur looked beyond her body as the scarf turned transparent. They were hiding in the middle of a ruined building while the city was being flattened. The serpent had grown two more heads to fight against a single figure. It was the president of the Union, the same white-haired man that fought against the fortress. 

"Is he related to you?" Arthur asked as he saw the similarities in them. "I"ve met too many abnormally strong people with a similar appearance." 

"It"s the secret of my Shon Theocracy," Rae answered with pride. "He"s simply a traitor." 

"I never knew you were from there," Arthur said blankly. "I guess you made sure no one knew." He started standing up. 

His body has been recovering for a while. He clenched his fist and pain shot through his body. He stood up behind Rae as he looked around the battlefield. 

The two powerful ent.i.ties were exchanging attacks even now. The Astra-ranker"s eagle was taking care of two of the heads while the president was battling the third. 

"Where is... she?" Arthur looked upward and saw a giant black circle in the sky. He looked at his body and his wings were gone now. Lilo was unconscious.

"Do you need me, My Lord?" Ruki asked and Arthur summoned her. He commanded her to aid Rae before walking out of the barrier she constructed. 

"Where do you think you"re going?" Rae asked with a frown. "Your body is barely functioning at the moment." 

"You"re too caring, Rae." Arthur smiled as he stretching his arm and a demonic mask appeared in his hand. "If you keep this up, I might mistake you for a friend." 

"Heh," She sneered. "You wish, peasant." Even at this moment, she refused to admit it. Arthur didn"t mind it, as it made things easier for him. Their countless bets against each other needed enmity, not friendship. 

He donned the demonic mask as his body began levitating. He reached out toward the barrier Jizo had constructed and demanded power again. 

[You might not survive this time.] 

A message appeared in front of him and Arthur smiled. He reached beyond the legacy"s warnings. 

[You don"t need to do this.] 

This was unusual, as the legacy always pushed him toward fighting the Enders saying they were the bringers of doom. 

"Yes, I do." Arthur was unfazed as the ground beneath him began unpeeling itself under his authority. 

[Never a fool again, remember?] 

Jizo"s emotions flooded into him. Cynicism and doubts emerged in his mind but Arthur shoved them away. 

"Try to mess with my head again, you"ll see how fast your legacy ends." The building"s framework began bending in his way as the wind danced around him. 

[You need this legacy. You need this power.] 

"No, this power is mine, to begin with." Arthur reached out toward the black circle in the sky with Ellen standing in the middle of it. His body disappeared from where it was and he reappeared above the magic circle. 

Ellen looked at him with sharp eyes that he has never seen before. It was resolution. She hasn"t fallen into a mindless puppet, but she was working toward her goals as well. 

"I"m sorry, Ellen." Arthur"s voice reached out to her and made her body tremble. She looked at him with widened eyes, black tears pooling in them. Arthur knew what she was thinking about. "I"m sorry for leaving you. You had no one, you were alone." 

Her tears began falling, as black as the darkest nights. She grabbed her head and let out a m.u.f.fled scream that made the black matter frenzy. Arthur looked at the countless streams of destructive energy that were heading his way. 

"But this madness needs to end." He grasped with his hand and flung it to the side. He coughed blood as the chains of existence in the world. Arthur raised his hands as the celestial chains made all lifeforms stop moving in fear. 

The giant serpent stopped its fight with the amplifier and the two looked at Arthur with fear. The undead, the golems, the monsters, and the temple guards looked toward the sky.

The chains were golden in color and surrounded Arthur"s body as if protecting it. Their might demanded absolute obedience from the world of mortals. The monsters were retreating away as humans stood rooted in awe and fear. 

Arthur"s eyes were shining so brightly that they appeared like golden flames dancing in the darkened sky. His body refused to move as the power flooded in, destroying it rapidly. He could feel his soul weakening. 

He gritted his teeth and brought his hand down. The chains attacked the Enders darkness and Ellen started screaming in pain as the black circle started getting destroyed. 

"Don"t..." Ellen"s voice was weak as she whispered, but it was enough to make Arthur"s resolution flatter. "...stand in my way!" She shouted as the black rose blossomed again and the two powers ate away at each other. 

As soon the two powers clashed, Arthur"s chains began turning the nothingness into the power of creation, just like what it did to everything. The black rose started disappearing under Arthur"s powers. 

s.p.a.ce grew destabilized again, as Arthur would have expected. It was now a race between the fissure"s arrival and Arthur"s success in stopping Ellen"s plan. 

His hands and legs started trembling as blood stopped reaching the muscles. His vessels were being ruptured and his skin was turning a dark shade of red beneath his clothes. 

Arthur reached out again despite the excruciating pain and clenched his fist. s.p.a.ce bent at his will and he appeared in front of Ellen despite how unstable s.p.a.ce was. 

"It"s time that you stop, Ellen." Arthur"s hand was covered in creation mana. "Please, stop." 

However, Ellen didn"t stop. Even with her arm torn apart and the weakening of her powers, she kept closing the gap between the two worlds. Arthur gritted his teeth. 

"I"ll kill you if you don"t stop now!" He shouted, almost pleading, but she didn"t listen. Arthur closed his eyes in agony. He knew he was doing the right thing, but why did it tear him apart so much? 

"I should take responsibility." Arthur opened his eyes and met Ellen"s black eyes. "Not toward her, but to the world. To everyone she killed and would kill if her plan works." 

Arthur took a step forward. Cracks appeared beneath his feet as he rushed toward Ellen. With her morphed hand, Ellen slashed again and the giant slash traveled toward Arthur, aiming to end his life. 

Arthur swung his arm and slashed the attack apart as he kept moving forward. His heart was aching as he remembered the times the two of them spent together. 

Arthur turned his hand into a giant blade of golden mana as he soared through the sky. Ellen kept attacking but Arthur tore the attacks down like paper. 

"This is the end, Ellen." Arthur"s mana turned into a sh.e.l.l that surrounded his hand. It looked similar to Ellen"s arm, only golden in color. He thrust toward Ellen"s chest as soon as he was standing in front of her. "I"m sorry, I"m so sorry."

Ellen tried to block with her remaining arm but Arthur"s attack tore through it. She gave a pitiful scream as Arthur"s hand-dug through her chest. 

Arthur needed to destroy her core through his mana. As he was about to unleash it, black tears fell on his arm. He flinched. 

"I"m sorry, mother." Ellen closed her eyes weakly as tears streamed down her face. Arthur"s mind shook and he lost control over his mana. 

Hesitation is defeat. 

Arthur coughed blood as his mana backlashed. Ellen opened her eyes and pulled his hand out from her chest as she screamed. Her hand started disintegrating as soon as it came in contact with Arthur"s creation mana. 

"I"m sorry, Arthur. This is the only way to save my mother." Ellen smiled weakly. "I missed you." 

Her remaining arm blew up. Arthur blinked as Ellen screamed. She had sent all of her remaining energy toward her arm, causing it to turn into creational mana. The destabilization caused by Ellen"s sacrifice was the last nail in the coffin. 

Arthur"s body started to be pushed away from Ellen as soon as the fissure began. Arthur tried to close it down with his remaining mana, but this one was different. 

He looked at Ellen who was staring back at him with a tired face. She held a thin smile of victory as she got further and further away from him. 

"We"ll meet again, Arthur. The only question is when." 

Arthur didn"t understand what she meant but he was helpless to do anything now. Arthur looked at the scenery and he was in the tunnel again. However, he saw two scenes at the same time. 

As if a video was being played in reverse, Arthur saw the destruction of Kera being undone. As for the other scene, Kera was merging with a giant forest. It was a moment, but also eternity.