harleyscars Chapter 274: Combined Effort
Chapter 274: Combined Effort
Ron stood silently with his black spear in hand, his white sightless eyes facing Ul despite still being blind and deaf.
But unlike before—
There was no panic in him anymore.
Only focus.
Only confidence.
Across from him, Ul slowly straightened his burned body. His usual emotionless poker face had finally cracked after the attack Zane performed through Ron’s body.
"So you came back..." Ul muttered while staring at him with one remaining intact eye. "Whatever that thing was..."
"You failed to kill me."
A faint monstrous smile appeared on his face.
"You lost, runt."
Ron didn’t answer immediately.
His Iron Pulse was fully active now. Through his thermal perception, the world around him appeared like living fire. Every movement, every fluctuation of heat, every flow of mana around Ul became visible to him in burning outlines.
Then Ron slowly breathed out.
The blazing blue flames surrounding his body began shrinking.
Compressing.
The thick flame aura slowly condensed into a thin layer around his skin and spear.
Unlike when Zane controlled his body, Ron still couldn’t perfectly refine it. Small blue flames still flickered outward occasionally.
This was his limit.
But even then—
The heat around him became much more dangerous.
Ul immediately noticed.
"That technique again..."
His expression sharpened.
"I can’t let you use it."
Boom.
Ul instantly flashed forward.
Clang!
Ron barely managed to block the incoming claws with his spear, and the sheer force behind the impact made him grit his teeth hard.
Heavy.
Far heavier than before.
At that moment, Ron realized something terrifying.
He wasn’t even serious before...
The battle exploded again.
Ul’s claws continuously clashed against Ron’s spear and body while Ron countered using his newly condensed flames. Every time Ul touched him, his claws began melting slightly and his skin burned.
Though compared to when Zane controlled Ron’s body—
The effect was much weaker.
And unlike Ul—
Ron couldn’t regenerate instantly.
Soon cuts and injuries began accumulating across his body.
At one point, Ul’s claws tore through Ron’s leg, forcing him backward while blood splattered onto the shattered floor.
Meanwhile, Ul himself had started breathing slightly heavier.
Huff.
Huff.
As both separated briefly, Ron steadied his breathing.
I have to use his weakness...
The next instant—
Boom.
Ron flashed forward again with his spear.
Ul narrowed his eyes.
A thrust again?
He immediately prepared to dodge.
But the moment Ron came close—
He suddenly pointed the spear tip directly in front of Ul’s face.
Ul’s eyes widened instantly.
He thought Ron was about to use the same terrifying attack Zane had used earlier.
Instinctively, Ul moved his head sideways—
Then Ron smirked.
"Got you."
The spear suddenly erupted with blinding light.
Inferno Spear: Light Flare.
A massive burst of condensed white-blue light exploded directly into Ul’s eyes.
"AARGHHH!!"
Ul instantly staggered backward while clutching his face.
Because he had stolen Ron’s enhanced vision and merged it with his own senses, his eyes had become incredibly sensitive.
The intense light completely blinded him temporarily.
Ron didn’t waste even a second.
He let go of the spear entirely and grabbed Ul’s arm with both hands.
Sizzle—
Ul’s claws immediately began melting under the condensed heat coating Ron’s body. His pale blue skin burned black while the smell of charred flesh spread everywhere.
Ul punched Ron blindly.
Boom.
"What are you doing, runt?!"
Ron took the hit directly while gritting his teeth hard enough to draw blood from his gums.
But instead of backing away—
He did something unexpected.
He forcefully shoved Ul’s own burning, melting claw directly against Ul’s nose and mouth.
Ul screamed instantly.
"ARGHHHHH!! MY NOSE!!"
The pungent smell of melting flesh exploded directly into his hyper-sensitive sense of smell.
Ron immediately jumped backward.
Just as I thought...
He stole Maera’s smell aside from her sense of balance .
Ron remembered noticing earlier how Ul always reacted strangely whenever his claws burned by professor zane in his body.
Like he was trying to suppress discomfort.
Now it made sense.
Meanwhile Ul staggered while clutching his face in pain, unable to focus properly.
Ron created some distance and took his spear.
Ron inhaled deeply.
Then all remaining flames around his body and spear began condensing again.
The flames disappeared.
The spearhead slowly turned red-orange...
Then white.
Ul suddenly sensed it again.
That terrifying heat.
The same heat from before.
His remaining eye widened.
If that attack lands...
I die.
Immediately, Ul made a decision.
I have to return those senses to the beast-girl.
At the same moment, Maera suddenly blinked.
Then her eyes widened.
She could smell again.
The burning flesh.
The blood.
The dust.
Her senses had returned.
Instantly she stood up.
Then activated her technique.
Iron Pulse: Wild Resonance.
Boom.
Her heartbeat synchronized violently with her mana. Wild instinct surged through her body while her mind remained focused.
A feral grin appeared on her face.
Sharp windy mana rapidly gathered around her arm, forming a gigantic claw made of compressed slicing wind.
Ul looked toward her and immediately understood the danger.
"She should still be disoriented..."
"I only just returned her senses..."
"But this body can’t steal them back instantly..."
His expression darkened.
"I need to kill the runt first."
He moved toward Ron—
But suddenly chains made of orange runes burst from the ground and wrapped around his legs.
Ul’s eye widened.
"What is this?!"
He looked toward Si’s direction instinctively.
He had assumed everyone on that side was too exhausted to interfere anymore.
But there stood Selene, breathing heavily while gripping her staff.
Sweat covered her face.
Yet she still smiled weakly.
Ul roared and forcefully shattered the chains.
But the brief delay was enough.
Ron finished condensing everything.
Only the very tip of the spearhead still glowed blue-white.
Then—
Boom.
Ron vanished.
Ul instantly moved backward—
But from another direction, Maera appeared roaring wildly with the gigantic wind claw aimed directly at him.
At nearly the same moment—
A pink slash filled with trailing butterflies came flying toward him.
Lia.
She was breathing heavily while standing in the distance.
And from the shadows—
Drevin’s dark arrow locked Ul’s movement for a brief instant.
The butterfly slash didn’t injure Ul much—
But it stumbled him.
And that single moment—
Was fatal.
Ron appeared directly before him.
Inferno Spear: Meteor Thrust.
The spear pierced forward.
A tiny blue-white beam erupted from the tip—
Then expanded violently into devastating flames that engulfed Ul’s entire left side.
At the same time—
Maera’s giant claw struck from behind.
"WIND BEAST: WILD CLAW!!"
Boom.
Both attacks crossed through Ul from front and back simultaneously.
Silence followed.
Dust slowly settled across the destroyed hall.
Ul still stood there.
Barely.
Half his left side had burned into charcoal. A massive hole near his heart sizzled violently while his right side looked completely torn apart by Maera’s claw.
Out of his four eyes—
Only one remained intact.
Ul slowly looked downward at himself.
Then spoke weakly.
"...How?"
"By a human...?"
"By a beastman...?"
Then—
He collapsed.
At the same time, Ron and Maera both fell onto the ground from exhaustion.
Ron slowly realized something.
His hearing had returned.
But his sight...
Still hadn’t.
Slowly, Ron pushed himself upright.
Though "upright" was generous.
He was still sitting on the shattered floor, breathing heavily while his entire body screamed in pain. His arms trembled from overuse, burns covered parts of his skin, and his muscles felt as if they would tear apart at any moment.
Still—
Ul had fallen.
Around the ruined castle hall, silence slowly spread.
The remaining Vassel members stared in complete shock.
Some had fallen onto their knees.
Others looked terrified.
The beings they worshipped...
The so-called superior existences they believed could never lose...
Had just been defeated.
And the moment Ul and Si collapsed—
The suffocating pressure of dark mana covering the entire castle disappeared completely.
Everyone present felt it instantly.
The oppressive weight crushing their mana vanished.
For the first time since the battle began, the air felt normal again.
Ron remained sitting quietly, too exhausted to even speak.
Then suddenly—
Ul’s weak voice echoed through the ruined hall once more.
"Runt..."
Everyone immediately looked toward him.
Ul’s remaining eye slowly moved across the hall.
"You may have defeated me and Si..."
"But in the end..."
A faint twisted smile appeared on his ruined face.
"All of you..."
"Humans. Beastmen. Elves. Every race in this world..."
"...will be conquered by us within three years."
The hall froze.
Everyone’s expressions changed.
Even the surviving guests and guards felt cold fear crawl down their spines.
Three years.
Meanwhile, Valeriana — who had already defeated Hans and restrained the remaining Vassel members — immediately cursed internally after hearing that information.
Shit...
This information is going to spread through the entire world now...
Abyssals and their conquest that is about to come in three years.
Panic would erupt everywhere.
Then—
Ul stopped speaking.
At the same time, Si slowly smirked while looking toward Lia.
"Human....no...Lia....."
Her voice had weakened considerably now.
"Next time..."
"I’ll tear you apart."
Then—
Silence.
The dark-blue skin covering their bodies slowly began fading away.
The glowing purple veins disappeared.
Their long horns crumbled into particles before vanishing.
White hair gradually returned to its original color.
And little by little—
Dex and Maya’s original appearances returned.
Ron let out a tired sigh and remained seated on the floor.
Nearby, Lia also sighed in exhaustion while staring at Maya’s dead body.
The battle was finally over.
Or at least—
That’s what everyone thought.
Then suddenly—
Ron heard a weak familiar voice from Ul’s direction.
"...Ron..."
Ron’s body froze.
Meanwhile, Lia suddenly heard a soft feminine voice coming from Maya’s side.
"...Lia..."
Lia’s eyes widened instantly.
Then the weak voice continued.
"Take me... to him..."