Awakening the Great Chapter 102

Chapter 102 — The Fla That Burns the World

When his heart pounded beyond its limits, the core responded, and an overwhelming explosion of power erupted.

Fwooooosh!

Mana surged, rising along the surface of the blade. At first, it was closer to a chaotic outburst. Like a crater torn open from the earth and shooting upward, sparks exploded and scattered in every direction. The force was so fierce that even the sword's grip was barely visible.

Then, atop Lunos's back, the young man clad in silver armor exhaled a deep breath. The dust beneath his feet slowly parted, making the earth tremble.

Once more, he breathed in.

Tsss-tsss-tsss-tsss.

The particles of mana scattered around him pressed inward, as though answering a call they could not refuse. In turn, the wound on his abdon quickly closed.

The awakening of the mind had connected to the flesh.

At that very mont, a single streak of pain pierced Calix's chest. As though reprimanding him — telling him that a re release of power was not enough.

It was a fair point.

'It's not about exploding it. It's about refining it. It was never about the quantity — I had to leave behind sothing aningful.'

He filtered his heart and his mana, one by one. First, he discarded the na Ashapel. But the na he had never spoken aloud, and the past he had tried to hide — those he kept. Atop those, he inscribed the nas of the Mountain Rabbits, and only then did he clearly look upon the path he wished to walk.

Worry, fear, and doubt — he cast them away. In their place, he filled himself with faith, trust, and the will toward tomorrow.

Ssss-ssss-ssss-ssss—

In an instant, the flas subsided, and from within that stillness, a vivid branch extended outward. A radiant white sword light. A pressure that made one's vision swim grew straight and firm along the blade.

Though the flas no longer flickered, the surrounding air pressed down heavily.

Every person around them simply held their breath and stared blankly. Not a single one dared to approach.

"That is……. That is……."

It was no re fla. The entire space was contracting around Calix. Moss and grass blades were pressed flat against the ground, and the horses shook their heads from primal fear. This was not a simple outburst of mana — it was a difference in rank born from the hierarchy of existence itself.

And there was soone who understood that fact better than anyone.

"Geomhwa?! How can you——!"

The Knight Commander of Richterkreutz, Helmut Barben, spat out his voice in raw fury. Within his eyes, rage and disbelief and desperate urgency were all tangled together.

"Impossible! No matter that he is an Ashapel……. Geomhwa is not a power that can be obtained that way!"

But it had already reached.

[Core activation detected, 2nd expansion in progress]

[Neural network awakening state reached]

[Additional output rising, '3.2'…… '3.3'x fixed]

Calix's eyes settled more calmly than ever before. As the neural accelerator's output rose, a load fell upon every part of his body — but he paid it no mind. The power of Divinity was pouring into the wound on his right abdon. It could not fill back the flesh, but the bleeding stopped quickly.

'I can fight enough.'

[Entry into unconscious state detected: minimizing interference]

He knew the outco had not yet been decided——

"You——!"

And soon, the two blades clashed once more.

Only this ti, neither side was pushed back unilaterally.

***

Fwoom-bang!

The sound of the blades eting was short and thick, but the shockwave it sent outward was large and wide.

Calix did not retreat. He gripped Helmut Barben's strike firmly and received it head-on. The white sword-tip did not waver, and the two held a taut standoff centered on the point of impact.

It was a first. Lunos had not stepped back, and the mana had not scattered. Only the wave of force spread outward, and the watching soldiers inhaled sharply.

Sothing had clearly changed.

And then, in the next mont.

Clang!

Helmut surged forward again and swung his sword. The wind scread and split. His sword strikes traced a consistent arc.

Each sword line was orthodox. The traditional straightforward approach that Richterkreutz was proud of. A Niborian-style heavy swordsmanship, wholly offensive in nature. Less flashy for it, but once it seized the flow, it was the kind that would pierce through with overwhelming force.

Calix continued defending without overextending. The backs of his hands stung, and every clash of blades drove a powerful recoil deep into his bones. But his eyes sank lower in response. He had arrived sowhere between cold clarity and utter calm.

'The upper-left, dodge. Only block the lower-right.'

Swoosh—

He tilted his left shoulder back to deflect the opponent's downward slash, and with the follow-up attack, he swung his sword outward to glance it aside. It still looked as though he was being pushed back due to the difference in experience, but it was manageable. Instead of one-sided evasion, he could now choose what to avoid and what to block.

The aning of that was unmistakably clear.

'I can see the flow.'

The savage blade of soone he had once thought impossible to endure — at so point, it had begun to appear as a 'tool' with consistent rules.

In succession: upper-left, lower-right, then middle-left again. Three attacks repeated at exact intervals. Calix's eyes quietly read that rhythm.

He would not claim certainty, but Helmut Barben was clearly weak against variation. From the starting point to the axis of rotation, the arc, and the center of gravity — it was arranged as though lifted directly from a swordsmanship manual, and because of that, the next movent was easy to read.

In that very instant, Helmut ca in faster and deeper. Pressing in as though driving his warhorse to its limit, he closed to a razor-thin range and thrust his sword forward.

But Calix dodged with ease. Rather than blocking head-on, he twisted the angle slightly to deflect the sword line. As the decisive strike went wide, a brief opening appeared. The two warhorses moved in opposite directions, and the distance between them widened.

"……A heart that seeks to protect is itself a weakness!"

Suddenly, Helmut spoke in his own voice. He furrowed his brow deeply and drove out a heavy, resolute tone. Within it lay the compulsion of a man who could not comprehend his opponent.

"Only the weak share their hearts. They let one another deceive themselves into thinking it's truly possible. Is that not the most futile and pointless of things!"

Calix did not answer. He simply received Helmut's next attack in silence.

Crackle!

Considered carefully, it was not entirely wrong. He himself had once been weak, and so he could not deny it. The weak are inherently inclined to gather together. The refugees had been like that, and the Mountain Rabbits were the sa, and even the human race itself was no different. Right now, they had ford an alliance army to stand against the forces of darkness.

But there was one thing — just one — that Calix could not agree with.

"I believe."

"……?"

"That true strength begins from the act of ceaselessly reflecting on oneself. And that is why only those who have acknowledged their weakness can move forward."

Indeed, they had been weak, and so they had stood together. They had gathered under the nas of the Mountain Rabbits and cared for one another. And because of that, they had grasped a great possibility in their hands.

"Yes, we gathered because we were weak. We embraced one another, and at tis we reprimanded each other. But in the end, it is precisely because of that futile and pointless process that we stand here."

Today was no different.

It was simply one more step in the journey toward tomorrow.

"What aningless drivel!"

Clang!

The two cavalry crossed in the middle of the battlefield. The enemy's attack did not deviate from expectation. Calix felt sothing quite familiar about it. It was more refined, but the approach was the sa as what Gregor had once taught him. It carried the deep scent of a veteran warrior.

[Bloodline ability change detected]

[Ashapel's Instinct/Avatar of the Battlefield '5%' increase, currently '60%']

[3rd Awakening has begun]

At that mont, his neural accelerator notified him of the rise in his bloodline ability. A strange power stirred beneath his skin, but he paid it no mind now.

What mattered was the conviction that had grown within his heart.

"The certainty that strength is superior — that fatal weakness is the very reason you must fall."

"You——!"

The ti for conversation was over. The two n clashed their swords without a mont's rest. Fragnts of mana scattered in every direction, and the density of the air felt as though it had risen with them.

But that was no re illusion.

As Calix's sword lines stabilized, they paradoxically traced an ever more dynamic flow. He cut off the opponent's attacks before they reached their peak, or alternatively lunged briefly to probe for openings. Helmut could no longer hold the initiative.

Evenly matched.

Crack-crack-crack!

Then, three sword strikes crossed and blood flew upward. Calix's chest armor was lightly grazed, while Helmut's left forearm was deeply pierced. One side had taken considerably more damage. The Knight Commander let out an involuntary groan.

'This man……. Is predicting my movents.'

Helmut Barben realized at so point that his movents were being read. That realization led to a small crack. The fingertips holding his sword trembled almost imperceptibly. The man who had reigned as the strong his entire life questioned his own thods for the very first ti.

His order, his frawork, was shaking.

'End it quickly!'

He gritted his teeth and drew up the mana from his entire body. He forcibly stimulated his mana circuits, which had grown unsteady through the prolonged battle, and ignored the exhaustion pressing down upon him. All he had to do was crush them with power. He had always done so, and this ti would be no different.

"RAAAAH!"

He turned his horse's head and charged at full force. At the tip of his blade, extre mana condensed and golden Geomhwa burst outward. This was the sword of a true strong man.

In a mont where not even a short breath was permitted, his sword ca down in the shape of a lightning bolt.

And—

Crash-crash-crash-CRASH!

Calix received that single strike.

He thrust out his white sword light and t it, firm and unyielding. In the mutual full-power collision, the surface of the earth was gouged hollow. The watching soldiers swallowed hard and took in the clash of Geomhwa with their eyes — but the man himself defined it differently.

It was not technique that had answered the blow. His sword carried weight. That weight had been built from countless failures and reflections, conflicts and faiths, and an endless succession of choices.

And so this was a clash of convictions.

In that very mont, Helmut's sword slowly began to be pushed back.

"What is this……!"

The Knight Commander of Richterkreutz felt sothing snap. It ca from sowhere deep inside his chest. The strength drained from the hand gripping the sword. The weight diminished. No — it must be that he was being pushed back by the opponent's weight. He had believed he still had reserves remaining, but his body responded sluggishly. Above all, his conviction toward the Emperor — could no longer be carried upon the blade.

At that mont, Calix stepped forward. In his master's stead, Lunos moved its hooves toward the enemy's warhorse. With blades still locked against each other, the faces of the two n closed to a hair's breadth.

"You……. Said that the strong are those who do not waver."

One more step.

Shhhhhhhhk.

Lunos boldly closed the distance and pushed the opponent's warhorse bodily aside. With his forelegs set wide, he revealed the difference in strength by pressing shoulder to shoulder. It was the instinct of a born predator.

"But I know. That only when you doubt, deny, and rise again — do you beco worthy."

Again, one more step.

Without a follow-up attack, only the position where the blades t was naturally changed. The one who had struck was now below, and the one who had blocked was pressing forward.

"Wavering, and yet moving on — that is true strength."

And he stopped.

Calix did not force out his power. His mana did not move loudly. The white current extending from the heart of his sword emitted a noble light. Rather than breathing fire, he simply declared it plainly, carrying only his will within.

From the boundary where their power t — this space was wholly under his dominion.

Crack.

In that mont, a faint fracture appeared at the point where the blades t. With it, disbelief filled the eyes of Helmut Barben. The golden Geomhwa of which he was so proud — was scattering like ashes.

Crackle-crackle-CRACK!

And then, the will of the young man in silver armor cleaved through the air. Everything he carried — the nas and convictions, the past and the future. He pressed it all forward. Not a single word was spoken, yet one movent contained every aning.

The fla that burned the world collapsed, and thus it was done.

'I am Calix.'

Helmut's sword disintegrated. The longsword bestowed by the Emperor shattered into hundreds of pieces, his armor split apart, and a long stream of blood surged from his chest. Then, sothing that had been flung from the horse's back rose into the air before crashing down.

Thud-crash-crash!

"……."

"……."

In that mont, everything seed to stop. Not a breath, not the wind, not even the hushed cries of the soldiers — all of it was buried.

Helmut Barben had been unhorsed.

Only that single truth remained.

***

As Helmut Barben tumbled down onto the earth, a strange stillness settled over the battlefield. Thousands of soldiers held their breath and watched the scene.

The sword that had seed unbreakable was shattered, and the man who had seed unbendable had fallen.

But soon, the silence broke.

"Our victory! Calix won!"

Waaaaaaaaaah——!

Hadiya cried out at the top of her lungs, and as though taking it as a signal, the soldiers of Kalahim and Viale raised a shout of triumph. Joy spread across faces that had been rigid with tension, and the suppressed emotions burst out together with tears.

That was when it happened.

A sound that should not have been heard rang out.

Boom.

On the opposite side of the allied forces, a heavy drumming of hooves echoed outward. It was Richterkreutz. The thousand-strong knights charged toward the center of the battlefield without any order, without any cry.

"What?!"

"Vile cowards! Strike them down!"

"Save Calix!"

The Kalahim warriors erupted in fury at this, and that wave spread in a chain. The Mountain Rabbits surged forward before all others, and Viale followed behind.

But what ca next could not be called battle.

The Imperial knights raised their swords, yet hesitation was clear in their eyes. They too knew that the match had been decided. Even so, they had co forward to save soone. Half were directed toward Calix, and the rest plunged into the alliance forces.

Casting aside their honor, knowing they would die, they charged ahead. They intended to save their commander by any ans necessary.

Helmut Barben knew that too.

"Stop! Enough! Turn back right now——. Cough!"

He had tried to raise his body from the mud, but a surge of deep crimson blood burst from his lips. He had suffered grave injuries, yet sohow he tried to stand.

"This is, an order! I command it as Knight Commander! Retreat, retreat……."

In the trembling hands, the breaking voice, the cry that was nearly a scream — a terrible scene was contained.

Shhhk—!

A line was drawn across the battlefield, and beasts and n fell, spilling blood. A single swing of Calix's sword took the lives of three or four knights. A swordsman of the highest grade was inherently that kind of existence.

They had grasped swords but could not even graze him; they had raised shields but had the iron cut away wholesale. Even swords that had blood Geomhwa were smashed apart one-sidedly. Though he had just waged a desperate battle with Helmut only monts before, he was now, on the strength of his overwhelming mana reserves, destroying Richterkreutz utterly.

But in exchange for those countless lives offered up, soone was given the chance to survive.

"Commander, you must flee!"

"It's not over yet! I, I……!"

"There is no ti — carry him!"

No one listened to Helmut's commands. Two or three knights approached and forcibly supported him. The Knight Commander cried out, but that voice was quickly buried beneath the sound of clashing weapons.

The allied cavalry had co crashing in.

"Kill them! Kill every last one!"

"Is this what you call your honor?!"

One side fought to rescue soone, the other raised swords for retribution. The outco was as good as decided.

Crunch!

"Urk!"

One of the Empire's eight great knight orders — the knights of Richterkreutz — fell to the ground one by one. Inside burned a pure white Geomhwa, and outside they were encircled.

Victory and defeat were decided with brutal speed.

Richterkreutz.

The pride of the Empire, the Emperor's shield, the order that had enjoyed countless glories. That na now rolled through the mud of the battlefield.

The fight was over.

The blood-soaked plains accepted the quiet truth.

Thwoom.

And then, the allied forces' banner was driven powerfully into the crimson-black mud. The emblems were varied, but among them, the one that stood tallest was that of the Mountain Rabbits.

Calix exhaled and tightened his grip on the reins. The mont he quietly raised his head, the sky opened and light poured down.

Beyond the plains, three riders could be seen fleeing, having barely preserved their lives. Helmut Barben had survived, but was allowed to depart carrying only his sha. He had lost everything — his banners, his emblems, and his subordinates.

Calix, anwhile, declared it to the battlefield by the re sight of himself, mounted atop his horse.

With that, the small quarrel among n was finished. The Emperor's greed was broken, and which side was walking the righteous path had beco unmistakably clear.

The young man wore no crown upon his head, and bore no noble title. He carried no rank of commander, nor did he wish for anyone to call him by one. And yet — elves and dwarves, those who had co from the desert and those who had grown up in every corner of the continent. All of them were looking at the sa place.

And from that day forward, the na of one young man rose above the plains.

He was Calix.

He was a Mountain Rabbit.