The Villain has Perished



I stared at Qantal floating in the sky and opened my mouth.

"Are you aware of your identity?"

The answer came from below.

"Ahaha, is that why you killed me with a surprise attack?"

As Sindar spoke, I tore my gaze off Qantal and looked down at his dying visage. When he was alive, Sindar was almost Quasi-Emperor rank. It was why he was able to maintain his ego as a dream creature. But that won't last for long.

Eventually, he would succumb to the dream tree and attack us as a mindless doll. It was a rule that wasn't told however I was aware of it from the novel.

This was the best time to kill Sindar before he turned against us.

Sindar laughed.

"Is there anything I can do to help my daughter?"

He stared at Lumine while the light in his eyes dimmed.

At his words, I thought of something and spoke.

"You can't. Not right now."

"Not right now? I can… aid her later?"

His body was becoming transparent. I had to kill him before he lost his mind.

A cold voice left my throat and I raised my sword.

"Do you want to?"

"Of course!"

"Then you can."

Schwing!

⟪You have slain Dream Creature, 5 star King⟫

⟪1,000,000 Coins Awarded⟫

⟪ +1 Kill Point ⟫

|| +1,000,000 Life Points ||

Ding!

|| Conditions have been met ||

|| Contract formed ||

Qantal raised her brows and watched with a sense of anticipation. 

At the same time, Lumine stared at me blankly motionlessly. Faena was tending to the unconscious elves and others. She knew her Sindar was dead and the one I killed was a dream creature.

"You…" A threatening voice left Lumine's lips. "What did you do!?"

An overwhelming amount of pressure burst into the surroundings. Cracks appeared in the air and the space twisted. The dream world shook due to the power of Armament leaking from Lumine.

"You monster, I'll kill you!"

She lunged at me. But I suddenly closed the distance and removed her mask.

Strange thoughts swirled inside my head.

'Her beauty wasn't exaggerated. No, it was undermined?'

Lumine's eyes widened and she instinctively retreated, hastily covering her face. Behind her Faena also shouted. 

However, I could no longer hear anything.

⟪ Your ego is disappearing ⟫

The way I came up with to defeat Qantal was a gamble. 

⟪ Your ego is disappearing ⟫

But I only knew this method.

⟪ Your ego is disappearing ⟫

I wasn't the protagonist. 

⟪ Your ego is disappearing ⟫

I couldn't dive headfirst into problems without thinking of the consequences.

However, I could also win…

As long as I was ready to pay the price.

⟪ Your ego has disappeared ⟫

At that moment, 'I' ceased to exist.

…

Qantal looked down with furrowed brows. She was a bit excited when someone broke through their dream world and entered Lumine's world.

It seemed she would be able to have an enjoyable battle. She felt like that at least until Sol slaved himself to Lumine. 

The human has perished.

His mind had been overwhelmed by Lumine's charm magic. 

Presently he was standing still, perhaps trying to fight against the Charm, but it was only a matter of time before he fell.

"Let's end this here."

The Illusive Dragon King licked her lips. 

Sol's entrance uplifted her anticipation. However, watching his pathetic end dampened her mood. She didn't feel like fighting any longer and wanted to finish quickly.

Qantal snapped her fingers.

Lumine, Faena, and others floated while the purple fog gushed towards them.

The sun started descending and the earth split, magma seeping through the land. Since Qantal wanted to leave swiftly, she went all out.

The land sizzled as the sun neared, bringing along intense heat and destruction.

Faena tried to use magic for shielding others, but in the face of natural disasters, her magic was powerless.

She fell to her knees. For what did she follow Sol?

He was standing motionless, under the control of Charm, while her daughter stared blankly into empty air, shedding tears at her powerlessness.

No matter what, Faena didn't stop. Nevertheless, her struggle seemed futile. In front of the Illusive Dragon King, her body was shaking with fear.

Slash!

Suddenly, a familiar noise echoed.

[ Star Desecrator (A) ]

The sun split, the purple fog exploded and the land was cleaved. A strange ambiance spread into the surroundings and held them from falling to the ground.

Faena's eyes widened. She recognized the sword technique and her gaze wandered toward Sol.

But what she saw shook her.

A white-haired man. 

He held a pitch-black in his hand while holding Lumine with his other arm.

The presence of the sword and clothes confirmed the man's identity as Sol. However, his appearance was completely different.

Scars adorned his face, his ashen gray hair reminiscent of a broken time, and his indifferent eyes seemed tired of the world. 

The man left Lumine and swung his sword. Silver aura grew out of the blade, forming a sphere around Lumine.

[ Dimensional Barrier (A) ]

⟪ A small amount of Causality is moving ⟫

⟪ The existence of Tower grows further ⟫

A crazed grin appeared on Qantal's visage.

"This was why you let yourself be charmed?" 

Her maniacal bellow echoed as she stared at 'Sol' if he was a crazy person.

"Her Charms enslaves others, rendering them capable of a single thought 'I want her'. You changed, no, alerted that thought to 'I want to protect her.'"

It was the same process by which Sindar was able to stop his corruption while protecting Lumine hundreds of years ago. Sol had done the same to use Dream Tree to his advantage. 

"Did you reshape your ego to take a form that is capable of protecting that elf? Even so, it's essentially killing your—"

Her sentence was cut off when 'Sol' suddenly appeared in front of her.

In a split second, he grabbed her face and flew off. Rings of wind blasted in the air with 'Sol' flying faster than sound. His speed only increased further.

Bang—!

The boundary of the dream world broke when 'Sol' smashed Qantal into it. His muscles bulged, a silver aura condensed on his arms, and he threw her.

Bang—!

Bang—!

Bang—!

Qantal's figure smashed through dozens of dream worlds without stopping.

'Sol' raised his sword. A silver aura grew and seeped into his blade while time and space bent around it.

[ Star Desecrator (A) + Purgatory Flames (A) = Domain: Hell Descension (A+) ]

Silverish-gray flames covered the horizon as 'Sol' floated above the fruits, the dream worlds, and slashed.

[ Existence Expungement (A++) ]

The domain supported 'Sol' and he executed the strongest move in his arsenal. 

Silver stars materialized and exploded, creating supernovas. Thousands of dream worlds burst and the destruction only spread.

⟪ You have slain… ⟫

⟪ You have slain… ⟫

⟪ You have slain… ⟫

⟪ You have slain… ⟫

⟪ You have slain… ⟫

The people trapped inside the dream world, as well as dream creatures, ceased to exist, turning into dust. The flames from hell burned Qantal and caged her in eternal purgatory.

Only Lumine's world and 'Sol' remained unscathed. 

Clap–! Clap–! Clap–! 

"It was good. You can wake up now."

A sudden jolt passed through 'Sol's' head and he awoke.

Awoke?

He hurriedly scanned his surroundings.

The Dragon King was smiling at him while 'Sol' was trapped inside the purple fog. Lumine, Faena and others were on the ground.

Qantal smiled. "The moment you tried to attack me, you were trapped in my illusion."

'Sol's' eyes widened. Qantal's words meant the past few seconds were illusions. He hadn't moved since the beginning.

He used Stellar Mana along with Purgatory flames to escape, however, the purple fog rendered him powerless.

The Illusive Dragon King licked her lips. It was worth fighting 'Sol'. Each of his attacks in the illusion were capable of destroying the world. 

She didn't know why 'Sol' was aware of these techniques, even if using Dream Tree. But she didn't care.

[ Golden Staff (A++) ]

A staff bigger than the world tree manifested and smashed 'Sol' to the ground. Knowing it was going to be a good fight, Qantal decided to let go of 'Sol' so that he could use his full strength.

The earth ruptured when 'Sol' crashed. A mushroom cloud arose along with several cracks covering the entire dream world.

Faena bit her lips. 

The current 'Sol' was strong. It was undeniable. Nevertheless, he was still weaker than Qantal.

'I am the God in this World.'

Qantal's words couldn't be truer. 'Sol' was capable of destroying hundreds of dream worlds with one attack but he couldn't put a single scratch on Qantal.

The situation continued to worsen. Even though Sol sacrificed his own ego, it wasn't enough to triumph over Qantal.

"Return… return everything back to what it was…"

Tears continued to slide down Lumine's cheek. She remained motionless like a doll, blaming her own powerlessness when suddenly, a voice echoed.

"Stop crying. It's unsightly."

Strong gales blew the dust away and a black-haired man stepped out of the crater.

Lumine's eyes widened. Sol had reverted to his previous appearance and the heart-shaped mark over his face had disappeared.

"A..are you…"

She couldn't complete her sentence. Has her Word Magic restored Sol?

Just as she was hoping for a miracle, Faena yanked her and distanced themselves from Sol.

"It's not him!" shouted Faena.

Only then did Lumine notice the sinister pressure Sol was exuding and she realized…

The man in front of her looked like Sol but he was not Sol.