CHAPTER 302: FINAL STRIKE

"You are telling me... you want me to kill you, Shiao Yi? Is that what you want me to do?"

Dominic lifted his face and looked at him.

His one and only Shiao Yi did not lose his calm expression.

There was no hesitation, no fear.

His black eyes were clear and quiet.

How cruel could he be?

"I will not die. I promised I would live together with you, Dominic, didn’t I? That is why I will never die. I will get hurt. I will probably be beaten and broken. But I will survive no matter what. I will come back to you, Dominic. No matter what condition I’m in, I believe that you will help me."

Shiao Yi smiled softly.

That pure and unconditional trust made Dominic’s chest burn. He could feel that his tears were about to fall.

"The one who has the greatest power in this world is you, Dominic. Your magic power is like a gigaton-class nuclear missile. You could easily blow away a whole royal capital like this one. Use that power and blow the Aeon fragment away."

"Shiao Yi..."

"My strong and cool Dominic, the one I love. You are the strongest man in the world to me. Show me that strength. If we let the Aeon fragment run free, then someday you, and everyone, will be eaten by it. Don’t leave me alone in this world."

"Shiao Yi..."

"So that you and I can keep living together from now on, I’m begging you, Dominic. Believe in me. I am doing this so I can live my life with you."

"Shiao Yi..."

Shiao Yi’s resolve poured into Dominic so strongly to the point it hurt. Compared to him, how weak and hesitant Dominic felt.

"Lord Dominic! W-we can’t hold it any longer!"

Aaron cried out with a cracked voice.

When Dominic looked up, he saw the magicians who had all been working together with everything they had to maintain the barrier collapsing one after another.

To maintain a barrier against the overwhelming magical force of the Aeon fragment required enormous magic power.

They had been doing that since morning.

Even Mr. Vundo had been helping with the barrier, but now he was down on one knee, taking painful breaths.

He was a great wizard with huge magic power, but he was old, after all.

Beyond him, yet another magician collapsed onto the ground.

Aaron was down on both knees and both hands, barely holding himself up.

His face had turned terribly pale.

"Let’s go, Dominic. Trust me."

Shiao Yi said only that to him, then called out to Aaron.

"You did well! Cut the barrier!"

It was unclear what came first: Aaron collapsing to the ground, or Shiao Yi disappearing from in front of Dominic’s eyes.

On the other side of the cliff, inside the cove where the Aeon surged and towered, Shiao Yi appeared.

With the barrier get released, the Aeon immediately spread out wide and tried to move.

It became active at once.

But soon, its movements began to slow in a way that could be clearly seen.

In the end, the Aeon stopped moving.

The long parts that had stretched out pulled back inside and it slowly became a large flattened sphere.

Its long radius must have been around eight hundred meters.

And centered around Shiao Yi, it had turned into a huge, tall ellipsoid.

But the change did not stop there.

The Aeon shrank rapidly.

As it did, the thin, transparent outer layer disappeared, and its color grew darker and deeper.

"Prepare the magic cannons! Don’t stand there staring! Hurry up and move!"

Johan shouted at the knights who were frozen in amazement at the Aeon’s change.

"Those who are releasing the magic cannons, focus your power! Be ready to fire at any moment!"

Even while they shouted their orders, the large ellipsoid continued to shrink fast.

By now, it had already condensed into a sphere with a radius of two hundred meters.

Shiao Yi c’s bottomless telekinesis power shocked them all again.

There’s no magician, no matter how skilled they are could ever achieve something like this.

The Aeon had turned completely black, it was so dark that it looked as though the very color of darkness itself was sinking into it.

For the first time, they understood that there were depths of black even deeper than black.

Shiao Yi’s figure, which should have been at the center, could no longer be seen.

A moment ago, they had still been able to faintly see his outline.

Now the sphere looked almost like stone or ore, something with a real solid form.

It looked like it would make a hard sound if struck.

Shiao Yi’s telekinesis had compressed it so tightly that its density had become extreme, and it was beginning to solidify.

When the radius shrank from fifty meters down to eight meters, the surface of the sphere gave a sharp gleam.

Under the afternoon summer sunlight, the pitch-black surface shone with a glossy brilliance.

It had hardened.

"Be ready! This is the last chance!! Do NOT fail!!"

General Gabrant roared.

"Dominic! Now. Fire!"

Shiao Yi’s shout echoed inside Dominic’s mind.

"Attack!!"

He called out to Quintus.

"Fire!! Give it everything you have!!"

Quintus immediately took the order and bellowed out the command.

Three hundred magic cannons fired their magic stones all at once.

The knights and magicians released their magic power with every bit of strength they had.

Nearly three thousand magic stones and all the energy from the magic cannons, were launched straight at Shiao Yi and the Aeon.

For tomorrow!

For the future where he and Shiao Yi would still be together!!

He forced his frightened heart to move while trying to gave him courage to his own soul.

Shiao Yi believed in him. If so, how could he not believe in Shiao Yi?

He stretched out both of his hands and released his magic with all the magic power he had, sending it out together with his prayer.