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Chapter 544.2: The Moment of Sacrifice (2)

Roel had once stumbled upon ancient records detailing the Wingman Clan.

Back then, he didn’t think that there was anything too dangerous about them. The wingmen lacked the strong bodies of the dragons and the giants, and their mana affinity was lower than that of the angels and the high elves. In fact, their physical attributes weren’t too much higher than those of the current humans.

It was hard to fathom that they were a powerful clan in the ancient era.

Most historical records about the ancient era were disjointed, with much missing information in between, so there tended to be gaps that required inferences to be made. When Roel tried to organize information about the wingmen, he was surprised when he stumbled upon quotes like ‘Those targeted by the Wingman Sovereign are doomed to suffer an inevitable death.’

Failing to understand the context behind those words, he simply attributed it to some kind of powerful spell. It was only now that he was facing the subject of those quotes in person that he finally understood what they meant.

On the night plains, Roel and the Wingman Sovereign stared at each other from afar with awful looks on their faces.

To the Fallens, the servants of the Savior, the Giant Sovereign protecting Roel was a blasphemous existence who ought to be condemned to eternal suffering for the atrocious sin he had committed.

On the other hand, Roel felt terror from the bottom of his heart. It had only taken an instant for the Wingman Sovereign to close the distance between them; it was so fast that he couldn’t even process it. Not even Layton Seze had moved that quickly during their clash.

But if that had been all, Roel wouldn’t have been this shaken. After all, the wingmen were known for their speed. What terrified him was the speed at which the Wingman Sovereign could control the surrounding mana. It took only several seconds to empty out the surrounding mana and create yet another mana vacuum.

This was an incomprehensible feat to Roel. He finally understood why the Wingman Clan were the rulers of the sky.

When Grandar held his own against the Wingman Sovereign’s attack earlier and even launched a counterattack, Roel got overconfident for a moment and underestimated his enemy, but now, he understood that it was just part of the other party’s strategy.

The secret to the Wingman Sovereign’s strength was none other than attrition.

It usually wouldn’t have been a big deal to have the surrounding mana sucked dry; all one had to do was to change the battlefield. Yet, no matter Roel ran off to, the Wingman Sovereign could always arrive faster and deplete the surrounding mana in advance with its bloodline ability.

The stronger a transcendent was, the more reliant they were on mana.

At this rate, Roel would only grow weaker with time till he fell prey to the Wingman Sovereign.

“Is this why those who have been targeted by the Wingman Sovereign are doomed to suffer an inevitable death? It’s no wonder the Collector dares to take this risk.” Roel’s face was livid.

As a spellcaster who drew on the power of the ancient gods, his mana requirement was much higher than that of his counterparts, which made him more vulnerable to such resource restrictions. The gap in their Origin Levels only made things worse.

There was no good way for Roel to deal with the Wingman Sovereign’s attrition strategy.

What can I do?

Roel racked his brain for a countermeasure.

The Wingman Sovereign’s earlier words suggested that he still retained his sense of self despite having fallen into depravity. Anyone with the slightest wits wouldn’t easily give up on a sure-win strategy like this.

Indeed, the Wingman Sovereign backed off to the sky once more.

This was the kind of opponent Roel hated dealing with.

His two ancient gods, who had realized the enemy’s ploy, hurriedly minimized the exertion of their powers. Grandar’s massive body became so blurred that it was almost incorporeal, and Peytra’s dark yellow mana dimmed to the point of being extinguished. They were trying their best to help Roel conserve as much mana as possible.

When the Wingman Sovereign noticed Roel’s intention, it immediately began its next wave of assault. It was determined to deprive the latter of any opportunity to rest. A furious tempest brewed once more as lightning crackled with great fervor.

As the Wingman Sovereign raised its hand, the surrounding darkness converged into its grasp to form the outline of a bow. Wind and lightning were compressed into an arrow that rippled with cataclysmic mana. It slowly ascended higher into the sky till it reached the peak.

This is bad!

Roel knew right away that the Wingman Sovereign was out to deplete all of his mana in a single strike, but he was powerless to do anything about it. Evasion was impossible, for even though there was only a single arrow, it harnessed the power to flip over the entire ground.

The threat in the sky compelled the brawling ancient treant and gargantuan monster not too far away to raise their heads. When they saw the catastrophe brewing in the sky, they hurriedly unleashed their mana to protect themselves.

Even the fortress barrier in the distant Ascart City reacted to the immense threat too. The barrier weakened for a brief moment before emanating a blinding light like never before. It produced a loud buzz that made it clear that it had gone into overdrive.

On the city wall, Alicia gazed beyond the surrounding rain of blood to peer at the distance.

“Lord Brother!”

She was horrified to see Roel standing beneath where the immense energy was building up, but she was too far away to do anything.

Meanwhile, the black-haired man standing at the heart of the calamity narrowed his golden eyes as his brain furiously churned in search of a solution. Having been through many life-and-death battles, he knew that this attack would determine the outcome of the battle.

Even if he did survive this devastating attack, he would have already expended all of his mana, thus becoming powerless to resist further attacks from the Wingman Sovereign.

He could almost feel the cold hands of death touching his nape, and it made him shudder. He felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. Yet, his fighting will wasn’t diminished in the least. On the contrary, he became calmer than ever.

Countless plans surfaced and dissipated in his mind, and his focus slowly fixated on one.

In the sky, the cataclysmic arrow was released with a deafening whiz. It ripped to the ground like divine retribution passed down by the gods, rendering those beneath feeling utterly helpless.

On the ground, Roel’s body emanated a holy glow as golden wings unfurled from his back. He pushed against the ground and shot into the sky.

A rising gold speck facing off against a falling meteor storm—the difference between the two was clear as day. Yet there was no fear to be seen on Roel. Crimson mana blazed around him and manifested into a humongous skeleton giant. Lightning crackled in the skeleton giant’s fist as it prepared to vent its wrath at the sky.

Roel had decided to charge ahead and force a frontal collision so as to settle this battle in a single strike, but this was within the Wingman Sovereign’s calculations too.

A malevolent smile formed on the Wingman Sovereign’s face.

It raised its hand, and everything quietened down. Be it the wind blades, lightning bolts, or the arrow infused with unimaginable mana, they abruptly halted in mid-air before retreating upward.

The ancient treant cried in shock. Alicia’s ruby eyes widened in horror. Roel clenched his fists tightly, knowing that this was a trap laid by the cunning enemy.

However, they realized it too late.

The Wingman Sovereign concentrated the entirety of that cataclysmic energy into a single deathbringing beam of light and shot it toward the charging Roel. It was a hyperfocused attack that posed a far greater threat to Roel’s life than before, threatening to obliterate his existence.

Roel had no other choice. He unleashed all of his available means—his frost aura, dusk-yellow wind, death rain, the Primordial Earth Goddess’ blessing, and Grandar’s fist—and clashed with the Wingman Sovereign.

Boom!

The collision produced a blinding explosion that culminated in a mana storm. The abilities of his Crown’s Stones were unraveled one after another by the sheer destructive force of the light beam, till only the ancient gods were left.

Peytra’s silhouette manifested behind Roel as she furiously layered her protection on him. Grandar hurled his fist forward, obstinately going head-on against the light beam, refusing to yield.

But not even the Giant Sovereign’s supreme strength could compensate for Roel’s lacking mana. Being the weaker transcendent here, he was naturally the first one to reach his limit in this clash. Even so, he clenched his teeth and forced himself to hold on. With his eyes fixed on the Wingman Sovereign, he willed himself to advance.

500 meters. I’m not close enough yet.

Clenching his jaw, Roel gathered another spurt of strength to charge ahead once more. With the aid of his two ancient gods, he was able to push a little closer to the Wingman Sovereign.

450 meters. 400 meters. 350 meters…

He exerted all of his strength, knowing that this was his only chance to approach the enemy that was beyond his reach. Through his sheer willpower, he closed the distance between them to 300 meters.

“!”

Roel channeled his remaining mana into Ascendwing, causing it to glow brilliantly. His body suddenly vanished into thin air as he instantaneously performed three leaps, appearing right in front of the Wingman Sovereign a split moment later.

Using Ascendwing’s ability, Roel was able to close the gap between him and his enemy for the first time in the battle. The Wingman Sovereign was taken aback, but it didn’t pay it much heed, knowing that Roel had hardly any mana left.

Roel’s three blinks to cover the final 300 meters between them had fully depleted his mana. Grandar’s silhouette had become so dim that it looked as if he would disappear at any moment. The Wingman Sovereign was justified in thinking that Roel didn’t pose a threat to it anymore.

And indeed, Roel had run out of mana.

Without any way to replenish his mana in this vacuum, he was no different from fish on a chopping board. There was nothing he could do even after closing the distance.

.

The Wingman Sovereign revealed a mocking smile, only to freeze up when he saw that Roel was smiling too.

Its eyes further widened in astonishment as it witnessed Roel plunging Ascendwing into his own chest, causing blood to spurt all over it. What was even more incomprehensible to it was how Roel’s mana began surging as he received a severe wound.

“I… have finally caught you.” It was a calm voice carrying a hint of triumph.

Before the Wingman Sovereign’s horrified expression, a humongous skeleton giant manifested in the wake of Roel’s blood. Gathering unstoppable might in his hand, he smashed his fist into the Wingman Sovereign to claim victory in this battle.