Chapter 266: Final Apology

[: 3rd POV :]

The battlefield had completely descended into chaos.

There was no longer any formation.

No strategy.

No commanders directing their armies.

Everything had become nothing more than a desperate struggle for survival.

The streets of the Kingdom of Yemia were painted crimson.

Smoke rose endlessly into the heavens.

Buildings that had stood for centuries collapsed one after another beneath the overwhelming assault of the Ututh.

The deafening cries of battle echoed throughout the kingdom.

“Hold the eastern street!”

“Protect the civilians!”

“The children are still evacuating!”

“Medic! We need a healer!”

“Another wave is coming!”

The voices of soldiers blended together with screams of terror.

King Reja swung his sword with all his remaining strength.

A brilliant silver arc split dozens of charging Ututh apart.

Their grotesque bodies exploded into black blood that stained the broken streets.

Yet before the corpses even touched the ground…

More appeared.

The endless tide continued advancing.

It was as though the monsters could never be exhausted.

King Reja breathed heavily.

His once pristine silver armor had become cracked and covered in blood.

Some of it belonged to the monsters.

Most of it belonged to him.

A deep wound stretched across his shoulder.

Another pierced through his side.

Even holding his sword had become painful.

Still…

He continued fighting.

“For Yemia!”

He roared as he charged forward once more.

Nearby, Dragon Queen Seraphina had reverted to her true form.

Her enormous crimson body dominated the battlefield as dragon fire rained from the sky.

Entire groups of Ututh disappeared beneath her flames.

Yet…

Their numbers never seemed to decrease.

A monstrous creature nearly the size of a castle suddenly leaped into the air.

Its claws pierced through one of Seraphina’s wings.

A deafening roar escaped the Dragon Queen.

Her massive body crashed into the city below, destroying dozens of buildings upon impact.

“Your Majesty!”

Several dragon knights rushed toward her.

Before they could arrive…

Hundreds of Ututh engulfed them.

Their screams lasted only moments before disappearing forever.

Seraphina watched helplessly.

“…No…”

Meanwhile…

Queen Elyria stood atop the shattered remains of a defensive tower.

Her emerald bow released countless arrows of light.

Every arrow struck perfectly.

Every shot claimed another monster.

Yet tears streamed endlessly down her face.

Below her…

The last remaining Elven Rangers made their final stand.

One after another…

They fell.

An elderly elf smiled toward his queen before allowing himself to be surrounded.

“My Queen…”

“Thank you…”

He raised his sword one last time.

“For the forest…”

Moments later…

He disappeared beneath countless monsters.

Queen Elyria’s hand trembled violently.

“…Forgive me…”

King Borin laughed loudly despite the blood flowing from his mouth.

“Hahaha!”

“So this is how dwarves die!”

His gigantic hammer crushed another colossal Ututh into the ground.

But another immediately replaced it.

Then another.

Then another.

His royal guards surrounded him.

“My King!”

“We’ll clear a path!”

Without hesitation…

Every one of them charged.

They never returned.

King Borin silently watched the place where they disappeared.

“…Idiots.”

His voice broke.

“You were all supposed to survive.”

Spirit Queen Sylphia floated above the battlefield.

Her remaining spirits desperately healed the wounded.

But there were too many.

Far too many.

A little girl reached toward her.

“P…Please…”

“My mommy…”

Sylphia turned.

A woman lay nearby.

Her breathing had already stopped.

The Spirit Queen froze.

“…I…”

She wanted to heal her.

She truly did.

But her mana had completely run dry.

The little girl continued crying.

“Please wake Mommy…”

Sylphia slowly lowered her head.

“…I’m sorry…”

Nearby…

Beast King Ragnar fought like a wild beast.

His claws tore apart every Ututh that approached him.

His roar shook the battlefield.

Yet…

Even he eventually stumbled.

One of his generals caught him before he fell.

“My King!”

Ragnar looked at the young warrior.

“You should leave.”

The general smiled.

“If I leave…”

“Who protects my King?”

Moments later…

A massive claw pierced straight through the young Beastkin’s chest.

Blood splashed across Ragnar’s face.

“No!”

His furious roar echoed throughout the battlefield.

One after another…

The rulers watched those closest to them die.

The people they had trusted.

The people they had laughed with.

The people they had sworn to protect.

Everyone…

Was disappearing.

The battlefield no longer resembled a kingdom.

It resembled a graveyard.

Even the civilians had begun joining the fight.

Blacksmiths wielded their hammers.

Farmers carried old hunting spears.

Merchants picked up broken swords.

Mothers stood before their children with kitchen knives despite knowing they could never win.

Nobody wanted to surrender.

Nobody wanted to run.

Because there was nowhere left to run.

This…

Was the final home of Ozamon.

Then…

King Reja’s sword suddenly stopped.

He slowly turned toward the horizon.

His pupils shrank.

Far beyond the battlefield…

Beyond the burning forests…

Beyond the shattered mountains…

A black tide stretched endlessly across the land.

Billions.

There were billions.

An endless ocean of Ututh continued rushing toward the kingdom.

The earth trembled beneath their footsteps.

The sky itself darkened from the sheer number of flying monsters.

The horizon had completely disappeared.

There was only darkness.

Only monsters.

Only death.

King Reja quietly stared at the impossible sight.

His sword slowly lowered.

His shoulders became heavy.

“…So…”

His voice was barely audible.

“…there were still this many…”

Around him…

The remaining rulers also looked toward the approaching army.

Every single one of them fell silent.

No one spoke.

No one cried.

There was simply…

Nothing left to say.

Even if they somehow defeated the monsters already inside the city…

Another army waited.

An army so vast that even hope itself seemed insignificant.

King Reja slowly looked around him.

The capital burned.

His soldiers continued falling.

Children cried behind collapsing buildings.

The banners of Yemia had been torn apart.

The last kingdom…

Was ending.

His grip around his sword loosened.

It slipped from his hand.

Clang.

The sound echoed softly despite the chaos surrounding him.

King Reja slowly fell onto one knee.

His eyes became empty.

“…Father…”

“…Mother…”

“…My ancestors…”

“I couldn’t protect it.”

His lips trembled.

“I wasn’t strong enough.”

He looked toward the countless civilians still risking their lives because they believed in him.

Because they believed…

Their king would somehow save them.

Tears slowly rolled down his face.

“…I’m sorry…”

He whispered softly.

Then his voice became louder.

“…I’m sorry…”

Finally…

He looked toward the endless sea of monsters covering the horizon.

Every ounce of strength left his body.

“…I’m sorry…”

His shoulders trembled.

“…I have failed all of you…”

He slowly closed his eyes.

He no longer raised his sword.

He no longer gathered mana.

He simply stood there.

Waiting.

Waiting for the inevitable end.

Waiting for death to claim both him…

And the kingdom he had loved with all his heart.

The Ututh continued advancing relentlessly.

Their grotesque roars drowned out every other sound.

The earth trembled beneath the footsteps of billions of monsters charging toward the final kingdom.

Death had arrived.

There was no miracle.

No legendary hero.

No ancient prophecy.

Only the inevitable end.

Just as the first Ututh was about to take the King’s life.

A voice echoed throughout the entire kingdom.

No.

It echoed throughout the entire planet.

It was neither loud nor soft.

It simply existed.

Every living being heard it.

Every race.

Every soldier.

Every child.

Every wounded survivor.

Even the monsters heard it.

The voice carried no anger.

No hatred.

No excitement.

It was calm.

Absolute.

As though reality itself had chosen to speak.

[: Principles of Absolute: Absolute Existence Arbitration :]

The entire world suddenly became silent.

The wind stopped blowing.

The flames ceased dancing.

Even time itself seemed to hesitate.

Every pair of eyes instinctively looked toward the heavens.

No one knew where the voice had originated.

No one could locate its owner.

Yet everyone understood one thing.

Something incomprehensible had arrived.

Then…

One single word descended upon the world.

“Begone.”

The word was spoken gently.

Almost casually.

Yet the moment it left the speaker’s lips…

Reality obeyed.

There was no explosion, shockwave or a blinding light.

There was nothing spectacular or dramatic

However, the first Ututh standing before King Reja simply…vanished.

It simply ceased.

As though it had never existed.

Then…

The second disappeared.

Then the third.

Then thousands.

Then millions.

The Ututh throughout the streets vanished one after another.

The monsters climbing the walls disappeared.

The ones flying through the skies disappeared.

The colossal creatures towering above the city disappeared.

Every battlefield across the kingdom witnessed the exact same phenomenon.

Soldiers who had been desperately defending themselves suddenly found nothing before their blades.

Knights stared blankly as the enemies surrounding them vanished without leaving behind a single drop of blood.

Dragon Queen Seraphina watched in stunned silence as the countless monsters attacking her simply blinked out of existence.

“…What…”

Her voice trembled.

Queen Elyria lowered her bow.

The battlefield before her became completely empty.

King Borin slowly looked around.

“…Where…”

“…did they go?”

Spirit Queen Sylphia instinctively reached out with her spiritual senses.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

It was not teleportation.

It was not spatial movement.

She could not detect a single trace.

The monsters had not gone somewhere else.

They had…stopped existing.

Then…

The people standing atop the city walls looked toward the horizon.

Their eyes widened.

The endless black tide that had stretched beyond the limits of sight…was disappearing.

Millions of Ututh vanished every second.

Then tens of millions.

Then hundreds of millions.

The earth that had been shaking moments ago gradually became still.

The deafening roars faded.

The dark clouds above the battlefield slowly dispersed.

The black ocean of monsters receded at a speed beyond imagination.

No.

It was not retreating.

It was being rewritten.

Their existence itself was being denied.

The land they had occupied became empty plains once more.

The corrupted forests returned to silence.

The mountains no longer echoed with monstrous cries.

Within moments…

The billions of Ututh charging toward the Kingdom of Yemia…

Were gone.

Not a single one remained.

No corpses.

No blood.

No mana.

No souls.

No remnants.

Nothing.

It was as though the Ututh had never existed upon Ozamon from the very beginning.

The battlefield fell into complete silence.

The silence was so profound that everyone could hear their own breathing.

King Reja slowly opened his eyes.

He stared ahead blankly.

The monster that had been only a few steps away from killing him…

Was gone.

His trembling gaze slowly swept across the battlefield.

The ruined streets.

The broken walls.

The exhausted soldiers.

Everything remained.

Everything except…

The enemy.

“…Impossible…”

One knight dropped his sword.

“W…Where did they go?”

Another soldier looked around frantically.

“Did we…”

“…win?”

Dragon Queen Seraphina landed heavily upon the ground.

She looked toward the empty horizon where billions of monsters had stood only moments ago.

Her crimson eyes were filled with disbelief.

“…No…”

“This isn’t victory.”

“This is…”

She found herself unable to finish the sentence.

Because there were no words capable of describing what had just happened.

Queen Elyria quietly whispered.

“…A miracle…”

King Borin shook his head repeatedly.

“No miracle does this.”

“No spell…”

“No divine authority…”

“No ancient artifact…”

“…can erase billions of monsters with a single word.”

Spirit Queen Sylphia slowly knelt upon the ground.

Her hands trembled.

“It’s a miracle…”