Chapter 52 – The Last Battle of Mainaixi

“You! All! Must! Die!”

Amidst Mainaixi’s distorted roar, the entire earth trembled and fractured under emerald energy radiance. The vine-formed giant raised its colossal hand high enough to seemingly grasp the sun, carrying a howl that faintly shattered space itself, descending with thunderous momentum to crush those laughable ants.

At the moment the giant hand contacted the ground, the entire world seemed to fall into silence. When sound reaches an extreme volume, it paradoxically becomes inaudible—truly, the greatest sound is heard without noise!

Those enemies who believed victory was assured couldn’t even halt their Charge in time. Facing the vine giant’s hand bursting with blinding green light, they were like squirrels caught in a landslide—nowhere to hide, nowhere to evade, nowhere to escape! Their proud Apprentice-Level strength and smug “classified” methods proved utterly worthless jokes before such unstoppable “catastrophe.” In the end, they could only face this mountain-crushing strike with meaningless terrified expressions, like newborn infants.

Instant annihilation! Unreasonable instant annihilation! Unimaginable mass instant annihilation!

The dust erupted from the impacted ground formed a massive mushroom cloud. The mere Wind Pressure from the swing forced Punk to anchor himself firmly using Mage Hand to avoid being blown away. Two loyal warriors desperately clung to Her Highness the Princess who was already dancing in midair, their deeply embedded long swords groaning under the strain.

Magnificent emerald energy swept across the land in all directions, carrying aged mud like spreading tidal waves. The poor search team didn’t even qualify to touch the palm—their fragile bodies had been crushed into pulp by the powerful Wind Pressure before the giant hand even descended!

This! Was the full strike of a Formal-Level powerhouse! A “catastrophic” existence beyond the imagination of those below Formal-Level! The massive twenty-meter-deep crater left on the ground served as warning to ignorant mortal beings: This is what “ignoring all defenses below Formal-Level” means! This is what “leapfrogging realm suppression” means! This terrifying brutal force declared to those overestimating enemies that even a disabled, dying Formal-Level expert’s absolute dignity couldn’t be challenged by mere squirming maggots!

Punk carefully sensed the now-subsided yet still oppressive energy tides. Since the air within hundreds of meters around the attack center had been dispersed by pressure, the area temporarily became an absolute vacuum zone. Even now as air refilled the space, Punk still felt somewhat breathless!

“This is the power of Formal-Level—unimaginably crushing might!”Punk’s fingers trembled slightly, not from shock at facing a “catastrophe”-level power, nor from fear of being nearly swept away by its “insignificant” aftermath, but… from excitement toward power and curiosity for knowledge! After all, Punk had already reached the ninth level, with the path to the Formal-Level right before him. Having witnessed such majestic and grand power, even his perpetually calm heart couldn’t help but stir with anticipation and excitement!

But now… Punk’s pupils swirled with magical radiance, glowing like two azure full moons as he sneered coldly in Mainaixi’s direction.

“Honored Mage Mainaixi, I’m afraid that was… your final roar!”

After unleashing the last attack of his life, the emerald-jade-like vine giant withered visibly within seconds. In under a minute, the once heaven-defying giant decayed as rapidly as ice cream in an oven. Vast patches of gray, desiccated bark peeled from every vine, vanishing into the dusky sunset with the faintest breeze…

The thoroughly desiccated Mainaixi tumbled from the giant’s disintegrating head, crashing onto the now mud-free ground like a ragged cloth doll—silent, yet profoundly soul-shaking!

“Uncle Mainaixi! What’s wrong with you?”

Princess Nasya paid no mind to her filth-stained armored dress, rushing toward the decrepit Mainaixi.

Punk and the two remaining warriors hurried to Mainaixi’s side.

The Formal Mage now bore no resemblance to the charismatic orator from Konola City’s plaza. His parched, cracked body resembled aged rotten wood, the once vibrant green sprouts around his torn wounds gone entirely. Even without their protection, not a single drop of blood seeped from his torn injuries.

Punk gazed impassively at Mainaixi’s continuing deterioration, his emotions unavoidably complex. This Formal-Level powerhouse, once exalted by countless professionals and Nobles, was dying here—in this forgotten “Old Nike” Woodland, no different from cornered aging beasts…

Ahem…

Mainaixi strained to produce a faint cough from his withered throat, now incapable of speech. Yet with tremendous effort, he retrieved an ancient Parchment from his tattered Mage Robe…

The yellowed Parchment was handed to Punk with a trembling hand.

“Take… this. The Ring on my hand… is yours now…”

Punk paused briefly before accepting the Parchment. He could sense the powerful restrictions placed on the seemingly ordinary Ring on Mainaixi’s left hand—formidable barriers established at the mage’s peak. Without Mainaixi’s unlocking command, none could access its power short of an Archmage intervening directly!After giving Punk that tattered parchment, Mainaixi didn’t speak further to the stunned Punk. With tremendous effort, he twisted his head at an angle, the cracking of his parched spine clearly audible!

“Nasya…………”

Mainaixi attempted to extend his withered arm just a little further, to caress Princess Nasia’s face one more time, to offer this helpless little girl one last bit of warmth.

“You have… exactly the same… eyes as your mother… truly… so beautiful… Ever since she became Queen of Kamosi… I’ve never seen her vibrant eyes again…”

A turbid tear unexpectedly trickled from Mainaixi’s parched eye corner, his hoarse voice choked with emotion.

“That day… was the first time she came to me… after becoming Queen… She begged me to help you survive… How could I possibly refuse?!”

Mainaixi’s voice took on a childlike sob: “We grew up together since childhood… I’d promised… I’d give her anything she wanted… But that was the first time she ever begged me!”

“Enough… Uncle Mainaixi, please stop talking… please stop…”

Princess Nasia’s tears fell in large drops onto Mainaixi’s ashen face. Though she kept wiping them away with her hands, the unceasing flow thoroughly drenched her collar.

“No… I must speak… I’ve loved Vilia my entire life… Even though she… married the King of Kamosi for her family’s survival… I would… silently bless her, never making unreasonable demands that might trouble her… Her daughter—you… are to me… my! own! daughter! Therefore… Nasia, you must… live with hope, live joyfully, carrying with you… the love of both Vilia and me!”

After uttering these final words, Mainaixi’s pupils dilated as if trying to see Nasia’s face clearly one last time, then… his tear-blurred eyes finally closed with lingering attachment. His body lost all strength, the last glimmer of magical light in his eyes faded away, and the upper half of his body held tightly in Princess Nasia’s embrace gradually crumbled into a handful of dust, vanishing with the wind…

“…It was truly wonderful to have loved Vilia.”

Across the desolate, fractured woodland, the last vestiges of light swept over the plains, yet the dusky sunlight now illuminated only four figures! The silent dark night descended as always, but this time, the night was filled with Princess Nasia’s helpless, sorrowful cries—like those of an infant—lingering unceasingly…

(End of Chapter)