Chapter 376

Whoooosh!

Gaia shot up into the air at terrifying speed.

Her target: Kalinan, gazing down from high above.

There was not a trace of hesitation on Gaia’s face as she flew toward him.

Zeon had called him an enemy—so Gaia saw him as one too.

Fwoooosh!

A swirling storm of sand exploded behind them, doubling Gaia’s speed.

Riding on her back, Zeon snapped his fingers. From the sand vortex, dozens of serpentine shapes burst out and flew toward Kalinan.

Sand Vipers.

The sand snakes overtook Gaia and flew ahead, jaws wide open like real serpents. But Kalinan was unfazed by their appearance.

“Hmph. They look impressive, but they’re just compressed sand molded with mana.”

Wuuuum…

A powerful vibration resonated around Kalinan’s body.

It was one of his skills—Sonic Vibration.

BANG! CRACK!

The Sand Vipers collided with the vibrating wall of sonic force and shattered instantly.

Just as Zeon had vibrated sand particles to generate counterwaves, Kalinan had vibrated the air to produce soundwaves.

Zeon’s carefully crafted Sand Vipers were neutralized in an instant, yet he showed no disappointment.

He had now confirmed Kalinan’s abilities.

“He manipulates sound.”

Just as Zeon specialized in sand, Kalinan specialized in sound.

All the sounds in the world became weapons in Kalinan’s hands.

As if to prove Zeon’s deduction, Kalinan shouted:

“Dead March, Chapter One.”

Wuuuum…

The air surrounding Kalinan groaned.

The moaning atmosphere sounded like a dirge mourning the dead.

The moment that sound spread, every living creature in range would fall into an eternal slumber. That’s why it was called the Dead March, and this was its first chapter.

The soundwaves evoked a vision of death.

Closing one’s eyes or covering one’s ears was useless—it pierced right through.

Had Zeon been an ordinary Awakened, he would have experienced a vivid illusion of himself being torn to pieces. But Zeon was far from ordinary.

He had a resilient mind that wouldn’t waver to mere illusions, and more importantly, the dragon’s eye embedded in his Inferno Gauntlet nullified most magical attacks.

So, this indirect sonic assault had no effect on him.

Peep!

Likewise, Gaia was unaffected by the dirge.

Having absorbed the Scythe of Death, she was immune to curses and attacks of this nature.

“What?!”

Kalinan frowned as Zeon and Gaia flew toward him, completely ignoring his attack.

He hadn’t expected his trump card to be ineffective.

In haste, Kalinan cast a defensive spell.

“Ice Barrier.”

Wuuum!

The sonic vibration dropped the temperature of the surrounding air rapidly.

Crystalline shards formed instantly before him, assembling into a massive wall of ice.

Having raised his barrier, Kalinan soared even higher into the sky.

CRASH!

The moment after, the Ice Barrier was shattered to pieces.

Zeon and Gaia had rammed through it head-on. But Kalinan wasn’t flustered.

He hadn’t expected the Ice Barrier to stop them—it was merely a delay to prepare his next move.

“Dead March, Chapter Two.”

KRAAAASH!

Suddenly, the weather changed.

The sky had been perfectly clear, but now dark clouds gathered and a torrential downpour began.

He had used soundwaves to manipulate the atmosphere.

Even an S-rank Awakened couldn’t control the weather itself. But Kalinan had done so instantly.

The downpour swept away the sand that Zeon was using to propel himself.

For someone who fought with sand, the rain was a bad match.

Yet Zeon neither panicked nor faltered.

He didn’t need sand.

He had his Inferno Gauntlet.

A wall of flame appeared in front of Zeon and Gaia.

SSSSHH!

The falling rain evaporated the instant it touched the fire.

Zeon and Gaia pierced through the steam, closing in on Kalinan.

At that moment, Kalinan muttered:

“Dead March, Chapter Three.”

Unlike Chapters One and Two, the third and fourth movements had nicknames.

Chapter Three: Single-Point Spallation.

Unlike the wide-area version, this soundwave concentrated its force into a single point.

“…”

For a brief instant, Zeon’s consciousness faded.

The soundwave vibrated and scrambled the molecular structure of his brain.

The destructive power that could raze an entire forest was now focused into a pinpoint.

That condensed force could kill even an S-class monster instantly.

Not even Zeon could emerge unscathed from a soundwave that destroyed his eardrums and scrambled his brain.

THUD!

The mucous membranes of his eyes, nose, and ears burst, and dark blood flowed out.

In an instant, Zeon became blood-soaked.

His body wavered atop Gaia’s back as if he might fall off at any moment.

Seeing that, Kalinan smiled.

The Single-Point Spallation had immense power, but landing it was incredibly difficult.

Not casting it—but hitting a fast-moving target like Zeon precisely in the ear was the real challenge.

It required extreme computation, prediction, and reflexes.

Even for a dark elf accustomed to magic, it was no easy feat.

He had lured Zeon into letting his guard down by casting Chapters One and Two first—both of which consumed vast amounts of mana.

Kalinan’s own mana reserves were nearly depleted.

But he had no regrets.

It had allowed him to hunt this monstrous target.

Kalinan began preparing his finishing move:

“Dead March, Chapter Four – Bell of Twilight.”

DONG!

A bell toll echoed across the sky.

A death knell meant to lead Zeon to the afterlife.

Kalinan had no doubt this would end it.

But then—his eyes widened in disbelief.

Zeon, who had been staggering and swaying, suddenly straightened his back.

He stood tall and lifted his head to meet Kalinan’s gaze.

The blood that had been pouring from all seven orifices had stopped.

His burst eyes had healed completely.

Kalinan’s own reflection flickered in Zeon’s coldly glowing retinas.

“What…?”

A frantic exclamation escaped Kalinan’s lips.

A human couldn’t possibly heal that fast.

Unless he had an ultra-regeneration skill found only in certain S-rank monsters.

“Don’t tell me he actually has ultra-regeneration—?!”

BOOM!

Instead of an answer, a massive fireball struck Kalinan’s body.

Zeon had launched it.

But it wasn’t just any fireball.

White Phosphorus Flame.

The inextinguishable hellfire burned across Kalinan’s entire body.

“Grrrk!”

Kalinan hastily used magic to create a vacuum around himself.

Without air, the fire had no fuel.

As expected, the white phosphorus flame extinguished the moment the air vanished.

But by then, Zeon had already closed the distance.

He saw Zeon’s blood-streaked face directly before him.

Despite the obvious trauma, there was not the slightest sign of retreat.

Only sheer determination and murderous intent filled Zeon’s eyes.

Never before had Kalinan been stared at so unflinchingly by an enemy.

The overwhelming bloodlust Zeon exuded made Kalinan bite his lip.

“Damn you!”

In that desperate moment, he chose to flee higher into the sky.

BANG!

With a sonic boom, Kalinan shot upward and vanished into the open sky.

Only then, in the highest reaches with not a single cloud in sight, could Kalinan finally catch his breath.

Below, Zeon looked up at him.

By now, Kalinan was over a kilometer away.

A smirk played on Kalinan’s lips.

“Ha… No matter how strong you are, you can’t catch me.”

Fwap!

Just then, Zeon vanished from Gaia’s back.

Kalinan blinked.

He couldn’t understand what had just happened.

Then a terrifying thought entered his mind.

“Spatial jump?”

Wuuuum…

As if confirming his fear, Zeon suddenly reappeared—right above Kalinan.

“How…?”

Kalinan’s pupils trembled.

Spatial movement was not a skill allowed to human Awakened.

It required a vast amount of mana, extreme focus, and computational power.

Executing it in the briefest life-or-death moment? Impossible.

“Could it be… an item?”

Kalinan spotted something on Zeon’s belt.

Mushura’s Mirror.

An item once owned by Hatsim, captain of the Hellbrin Mercenaries.

It randomly teleported the user within a one-kilometer radius.

Because of its unpredictability, Zeon had never used it until now.

But realizing he might lose Kalinan, he took the gamble.

And it had placed him right above Kalinan’s head.

Kalinan’s panicked face was visible below.

The cold glint in Zeon’s eyes met the panic in Kalinan’s.

Kalinan’s confidence shattered under the unexpected maneuver.

Then Zeon unleashed another surprise attack.

“Sand Soldier!”

The scattered dust in the air compressed into a humanoid form.

The Sand Soldier immediately dropped with terrifying speed.

Kalinan was directly in its path.

“What the—?!”

WHAM!

The Sand Soldier grabbed Kalinan.

Locked in its grasp, the two plummeted toward the earth.

“Let me go!”

Kalinan struggled, trying to escape the Sand Soldier’s hold. But the harder he fought, the tighter it clung to him.

They continued falling at meteoric speed.

CRACK!

Kalinan finally broke the Sand Soldier with a sonic attack—but he had no time to rest.

“Sand Soldier!”

Zeon summoned another.

The scattered sand reformed and seized Kalinan again.

“Ugh!”

Panic overtook Kalinan’s face.

At this speed, the impact would be catastrophic.

The acceleration was monstrous—like a meteor falling from the heavens.

Even a being like Kalinan, who had transcended the limits of his species, would not survive.

“You bastard…!”

CRACK!

He broke free again with a sonic wave.

But Zeon had been waiting.

Once more, he summoned a Sand Soldier.

Again, it grabbed Kalinan.

The ground was getting closer.

More floating sand particles gathered.

Zeon kept summoning Sand Soldiers one after another.

Soon, ten Sand Soldiers surrounded and restrained Kalinan.

There was no escape.

The ground rushed toward them.

“DAMN YOU!”

BOOOOM!

With a deafening explosion, Kalinan slammed into the earth.