NOVEL WEB Chapter 154: The Calamity of Flame Descends!
By now, emotions long unfamiliar to her swirled in Meluzina's heart: hatred, rage, regret, sorrow, pain... Such deeply human feelings felt distant and alien, though not wholly unheard of—they lay buried in her past. As a dragonkind, the Horizon Dragon, even this fragmentary remnant of the Last Dragon possessed innate strength. With such power, she believed she could vanquish any foe and protect all she cherished.
But that godlike figure destroyed everything: her strength, her beauty, her pride, and all she held dear. It shouldn't have been so. As the strongest, nothing should defeat her; even when she had lost someone before, it wasn't for lack of power but because another failed to protect him... Right. Yet she recalled those bitter, distant emotions had once filled her—on the day he died.
"He cannot die! I will not allow it—never allow it! In my dream, in my realm, I won't let him perish... I will bring him back, I promise!" Back then, that despicable usurper had pleaded desperately, vowing that one day he would return. She believed him. A woman had claimed to perform a forbidden ritual: in 2,400 years, some taboo power would restore him. She aided that woman's plan to seize the kingdom so that when he returned, the realm would be hers to protect him.
Yet after waiting 2,400 years, that woman vanished, abandoning this wreck. What was this? They had promised to build a realm where he could live, yet she disappeared! Although baffled, Meluzina resolved: even so, as dragonkind and foremost fairy knight, she would protect the realm, even if it meant opposing her own brother. But then the demon appeared.
She had misjudged him, thinking he was a noble warrior destined to defend the realm, so she acquiesced to his rise... until he joined with that woman's adopted daughter. Their union brought endless slaughter and strife; he became the world's greatest nightmare, leaving carnage wherever he went, reveling in it. Meluzina concluded: to protect the realm, they must be destroyed.
Yet she failed. Not by careless misstep this time, but defeated head-on—in the power she most prized—overwhelmed as though crushed like an insect. Predictably, after crushing all opposition, that being would turn toward the realm, unleashing further destruction and death, perhaps even slaying the one she cherished, just as he had slain her brother. Ah—her brother...
Recalling her brother's death ignited boundless fury and hatred. She could not allow it. "I will kill you..." In crumbling ruins, the dying maiden rasped hoarsely: "I will kill you—no matter what I must abandon!" Flames spread outward, igniting the ground. The Calamity of Flame had descended.
Wind wailed. Claws and blades sliced air at near-sonic speed; their impacts hurled shockwaves that toppled buildings and flung hiding soldiers, twisting their necks as debris collapsed upon them. The earth trembled. Figures crashing like bombs shattered walls and leveled structures like tofu, then blasted onward with each successive impact. This was no battlefield for mortals—or even for famed queen's knights—who, if caught here, would be pulverized like the buildings.
Each step could quake the earth; each leap could breach barriers. By now, this had ceased to be a battlefield in the mortal sense: it was the final clash between two monstrous entities—two world-threatening foes. Though this duel was an extra epilogue, it neared its end.
A towering orcish figure smashed through the Treasury City walls, bricks and rubble splintering and embedding into the fortress. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Belial wailed, realizing how dire his situation had become. "How are you so strong? Even burdened with a curse meant for hundreds—no, thousands—you should be dead! A curse of that magnitude would overwhelm even Woodworth; how can you still possess such power—?"
His words were cut off as another figure struck him, a fierce blow that shattered air itself. He tried to slash with claws, but the adversary made no attempt to dodge; Belial's claws pierced the chest, then a crushing punch drove his head deep into the wall, smashing his teeth to fragments. Though their disparity matched those legendary knights vs. common soldiers, even the shockwaves alone could obliterate a queen's knight. But here, Belial's final struggles only prolonged his torment: transforming into Woodworth had granted great regeneration, yet Guinevere's onslaught repeatedly destroyed limbs and organs, each regeneration renewed only to be smashed again—his screams echoed long over Norwick.
Beyond physical agony, the mental torture was immense: knowing death was certain yet powerless to prevent it, enduring endless pain inching ever closer—a torment surpassing any torture. When his head struck cold stone and waves of pain surged, Belial's mind blurred; everything felt distant and incomprehensible. Why, after so many battles and accruing wounds, did this one still stand unbroken? He studied Woodworth's defeat by this man—he should have been immune, especially after inflicting hundreds of Mors curses. That many curses would cripple Woodworth and weaken Guinevere sufficiently to be bested, so Belial had attacked confidently... only to be utterly crushed.
"Wondering why I'm so strong? Belial." Amid Belial's hopeless thrashing, Guinevere spoke calmly: "Though you stole Woodworth's form and bloodline, you fall far short." He quoted Woodworth's saying: "Battle is for the solitary strong; piled dust remains mere dust. Belial, you are worthless dust." With that, Guinevere tore off Belial's newly regrown arm and drank his blood to fuel his own regeneration, pushing the Mors curse back somewhat. Belial shrieked, exposing Guinevere's true vampiric means: "Your healing was never from malice alone but from drinking blood! You deceived everyone!" Yet Guinevere gripped Belial's throat: "You know too much; now you will die." He raised his sword to end him: "May this world be quieter once you're gone."
But suddenly, an overwhelming presence approached. To prevent delay, Guinevere slashed Belial's head, but at that instant a crimson meteor struck them both, hurling them into the air. The blast cleared ruinous mist where Belial tried to hide. Guinevere, sword raised, recognized that intervention. Belial's final hope was lost. Guinevere impaled Belial's cursed flesh with his blade: "Had you not given me the Mors poison, this would have been harder." He ended Belial's life, ensuring the realm's safety.
Thus concluded the Calamity of Flame's descent: the world-shaking duel ended with Guinevere standing amid smoldering ruins. Though burdened by a curse meant for many, now partially subsided, he remained undefeated. The realm lay devastated by their clash, yet in that fiery crucible, the greatest threat—Belial—was extinguished. Though cost and remorse weighed on him, Guinevere's might had prevailed, and the path to protect what remained would begin at dawn.