CHAPTER 196: INTO THE ABYSS

There were no dynamites, no reserve energy packs. But someone had to do something—before it was too late.

"Understood. Shiao Yi, we’ll do this together. Don’t you dare let me go!"

"Yes, Dominic. I won’t hesitate anymore. We’ll go together!"

They exchanged a firm nod, full of resolve. Even if this was a leap into certain death, Shiao Yi had decided—he would never again let go of Dominic’ hand.

"Aaron, you did well. Release the barrier!"

Dominic gave the order to Aaron, who was slumped, barely clinging on.

Too weak to even reply, Aaron let his arms fall to the ground, his body collapsing with them.

Aaron’s barrier vanished.

GUOOOOON!!

An overwhelming surge of magical power erupted as if pouring straight out from the demon realm itself, roaring so loudly it shook the air and crushed everything around it.

The last remains of the mansion shattered into dust and were blown away in all directions.

Supported by Dominic, who braced himself against the violent pressure, Shiao Yi used telekinesis to hurl the fifty newly-created magic stones directly into a single section of the barrier standing around the magic circle.

The roar from the circle was so deafening he couldn’t hear the sound of the stones breaking through, but he felt it—the barrier had definitely been destroyed.

The remaining stones shot straight toward the center.

Clutching onto Dominic like he was his lifeline, Shiao Yi teleported into the heart of the massive magic circle.

They appeared above the central core, but the surging pressure from the erupting magic threw them upward, blasting them into the air.

Shiao Yi strained with telekinesis to hold both himself and Dominic steady, but the two of them were tossed about like feathers in a storm.

This was far larger and more terrifying than the ancient circle in the Dalmasca.

The scale of energy was like a megaton-class nuclear blast.

If the magical force truly grew in proportion to the number and size of the circles, then yes... its destruction would be catastrophic.

Only about twenty stones remained.

Shiao Yi spread them out around the active center, forming a ring.

At the same time he flung them down with violent force, Dominic unleashed his magic discharge.

Through the swirling fog of tremendous energy and the burning, towering script of the magic circle, Shiao Yi saw it—Dominic’ magic discharge slicing forward like a spear.

Normally, such a thing was invisible, but here the concentration of magic was so dense that its path burned clearly through the air.

The magic stones shattered, releasing the power hidden inside them.

Dominic’ magic discharge exploded over it, covering everything like a storm.

A blinding flash burst out, striking the fissure that had been on the verge of opening.

Dominic’ magic was as fierce as ever—monstrous in scale.

Shiao Yi even felt that its power had grown stronger, heavier, more destructive.

The pressure from the demon realm that had been forcing them upward vanished and both Shiao Yi and Dominic began to fall.

Like the lid of a boiling furnace, Dominic’ magic burned and surged without end.

Shiao Yi pushed on it with all his telekinesis, pressing it down with every ounce of his will.

Together with Dominic’ ongoing magic discharge, he forced it downward, deeper and deeper into the underground depths where the demon realm surely connected.

They used even the acceleration of their fall to drive it further down, far beneath the surface.

Shiao Yi and Dominic themselves fell into the fissure after it, but Shiao Yi never stopped pushing with his power.

Around them, the ancient magic circles that had been drawn, the plates they had been inscribed upon, and even the earth beneath the floor all tore free, rising up and then being dragged into the same abyss, following after Shiao Yi and Dominic into the dark.

They were plunging the massive mass of the demon realm’s energy into an endless abyss, but unless they pushed it all the way back to the demon realm itself, it would erupt again to the surface.

"Dominic, let’s go together."

"Yes. As long as it’s with you, I don’t care how far. Always, together."

Dominic kept firing his magic discharge with one hand and held Shiao Yi tightly with the other.

With Dominic, even the demon realm, even hell, even death itself no longer frightened Shiao Yi.

They would always be together.

He would never let him go.

He clung hard to Dominic’ body and increased the pressure of his telekinesis, pushing harder and harder into the far-off darkness below.

And then the two of them fell, deeper and deeper, endlessly into the dark.

...

The first prototype of the magic stone was finally finished and Gabrant was being dragged out of the royal palace by Quintus who had insisted he come see it.

"This is the achievement of Dominic and Shiao Yi. You must see it with your own eyes. Truly, this is a groundbreaking accomplishment," Quintus declared with pride.

"It’s just a bit of tinkering with magic, isn’t it? You exaggerate. Still, if you insist so much, I suppose I will honor your request and humor you," Gabrant replied with a dismissive snort.

"You’re as stubborn as ever. Crooked and difficult. That’s why even your son runs away from you," Quintus teased.

"That has nothing to do with this. Quintus, you’re enjoying this, aren’t you?" Gabrant growled.

"Of course I am. It’s rare to see that sulking face of yours."

Quintus’s sharp tongue hadn’t changed a bit.

Yet this was the same man who was called the Mad Lion and was entrusted as Supreme Commander.

Gabrant often wondered if the future of Rosaria was truly secure under someone like him.

He snorted again and was just about to pass through the west gate of the palace, where the military headquarters were located, when suddenly, an enormous surge of magic swelled up.

A heartbeat later, the ground itself began to shake violently.

The magical power grew stronger and stronger and so did the trembling of the earth, until it felt as though the land itself was shuddering while releasing a force stored deep inside toward the sky.