Chapter 196: | 196 | Final Battle Part 9
"You really thought that'd work on me, didn't you?" Laplace raised her eyebrows, though a smirk remained on her face. The strategy of these Apostles were too simple for her liking. The third Apostle should have kept hiding and never revealed herself if they wanted to utilize such tactic.
The moment that they emerged as three Apostles. That fact never disappeared in the dragoness's mind, even if she was fighting to the death against the two of them. It was for this reason that she noticed the third Apostle after the two kept nagging at her about betrayal.
"But I must admit. At the very least, you didn't think that brute forcing against me would bode well for you. That, is something I can praise you with." She continued, her soft yet cold words resounded throughout the vast plains devastated by their previous clash.
"You're too arrogant, Dragon. There are many individuals that can defeat you in the continent of Europa. You are but a speck of insect before them." The Magma Apostle uttered, not wanting to let the dragoness from deterring them even further.
"You may say so, but what are you if I'm nothing more but an insect? I guess you're a dust in their eyes. Something that isn't worth paying attention at." Laplace countered with ease. Her mind had been trained by teledramas that always aired in the television.
Fighting through words was something she was accustomed at. Especially with her training against the stone-faced Charlotte. Her mouth can spout words as potent as a serpent's venom.
The Magma Apostle clenched their fists and furrowed their eyebrows. The spiteful words of the dragoness echoed inside his mind, resounding as though reminding him of how he was lesser than a bug in the eyes of the world's powerhouse.
He understood that no matter how much he had worked. It would never reached the eyes of the Sovereigns. He knew it better than the most that Apostles were nothing but glorified subordinates. Their training weren't even facilitated by Terra Firma.
In his eyes, they were but dogs who should be used and pointed at where to go.
It was for this reason that the dragoness's words resonated deeply with him. It made him angry at how weak he was. Even though his loyalty towards his master was first to none, it was difficult to halt doubts from piercing into his subconscious.
Though, before he could continue attending his surging thoughts. The voice of his colleague got him out of his angry trance. "Calm yourself. Just like we intended to rile up the dragoness, she wishes to do the same to us. We mustn't let her words affect our psyche."
"Otherwise, we die in her hands."
It came from the third Apostle, whose magic Laplace was ignorant about. Both the Magma and the Meteor Apostle regained their calm, realizing that they almost fell into the trap of the dragoness. The two glanced at the third Apostle, giving her a nod.
"Thank you for the reminder. To think I gave her words a thought." The Meteor Apostle squinted his eyes, glaring at the dragon in front of him. What they had done was heresy to the highest order. To doubt the Sovereigns of their wisdom and power was akin to spitting on their very figure.
"I am disappointed at myself." The Magma Apostle shook his head as he couldn't believe he had even dared to doubt his master. He gazed at the dragoness with cautiousness, afraid of whatever tricks she may utilize against them.
"At any rate, we must kill her if we desire to take back the colonies of Terra. Otherwise, the whole thing would be for nothing. Master will be disappointed at us." The third Apostle remarked, her words resounded for the two Apostles to hear.
They gravely nodded, agreeing at her words. They didn't want to disappoint their master. More so, they were afraid of the punishment she would bestow at them.
"The dragoness has a physique that rivals our master, but her mastery in magic is crude compared to us Magus. We can only fight her in our strongest capability, so we must throw everything we got. There is no holding back if we desire to defeat her and kill her."
The third Apostle continued as her grimoire opened with remarkable radiance. She closed her eyelids, conjuring a spell. In mere moments, roots escaped her grimoire and dug deep into the ground. They grew even further and further, encompassing the entirety of the vast plains.
On the outside, things appeared to look normal. But deep underground were surging roots that would destroy everything in its way. Her magicraft was simple. It was the magic of Nature. Its ability to bring life, and to decay it.
Laplace readied herself, understanding that the second bout was about to begin. The Magma and Meteor Apostle didn't hesitate as they quickly conjured their spell domain, which had the same properties as the one casted by the Nature Apostle.
The Magma Apostle's spell summoned a volcanic eruption in the middle of the grassland. A crack formed from the ground and a volcano emerged from it. It was as though a mountain had awakened from its slumber.
Crimson hue then shrouded the air as magma streams consumed the vast plains that surrounded them. The grassland burned from the temperature rising beyond what was considered normal. It was as though a forest fire had occurred in the tall and slick grasses that covered the plains.
And it didn't even end there.
The Meteor Apostle also casted his own spell. Using his most powerful attack, he called upon a giant meteor which was slowly descending from the skies. The meteor was 2 kilometers wide, practically shadowing the surroundings of the dragoness.
The heavens was ablaze from the air combusting and the winds shredding under the weight of the falling meteorite. It was as though the judgement of the heavens have descended, bringing about the execution of the dragoness.
"It's time!" The Nature Apostle quickly used her scattered roots to begin an assault of the dragoness in multiple directions. Several gigantic roots far stronger than steel emerged and propelled themselves towards the dragoness.
Laplace squinted her eyes and quickly dodged the incoming roots. But out of nowhere, several roots immediately captured her body and lodged her into the ground. These roots were compressed versions of the large and durable roots, further enhancing it.
'I see... These roots don't have a tinge of mana, which gave them the ability to pierce through my surveillance.' When fighting against Magus, she would always utilize her mana detection to analyze their spells and where they would conjure it.
It also gave her the ability to dodge them with relative ease, but it seems that she had been relying on it too much. 'But, not only does it have no mana, it is also practically invisible from my senses.' Laplace knew that magicraft was weird, but this was too strange even for her.
The dragoness then noticed the roots that had covered the entirety of her body to be seeping away her strength and mana. But compared to her reserves, they were negligible.
The Magma Apostle, realizing the opportunity, also didn't hesitate. Using the summoned volcano, he conjured torrents of magma from the streams that escaped it and directed it towards the dragoness. Not only that, these magma torrents were compressed even further, becoming nothing more but a needle.
With the dragoness trapped within the roots of their colleague, they were practically given the chance to chop of her head. This was an opportunity of a lifetime. They would never be able to have the dragoness so free for them to attack ever again.
The torrent of magma pierced through the air, striking the arms of the dragoness. Though, she remained calm and aloof, as though uncaring about the injuries she had recently gained. Instead, her attention was directed at the incoming meteorite headed her way.
It was somewhat beautiful for the dragoness as it become a fiery gargantuan fireball that consumed the skies before her.
As the massive meteorite summoned by the Meteor Apostle descended further from the heavens and deeper into the earth, the Apostles realized that if they didn't dodge the incoming giant fireball. They would be part of the execution they had begun.
The three glanced at one another and didn't hesitate to teleport away from the area of effect.
On the other hand, Captain Himmel observed the entire situation with furrowed eyebrows. The dragoness was pinned down on the ground, meeting the meteorite that would shake the entirety of the island. However, there was nothing he could do about it as he was but a human.
"Prepare for an extreme turbulence." Himmel warned his officers, who quickly nodded and prepared for what was to come. He turned his attention back at the screen and saw something peculiar. Despite meeting what he could only consider as certain death, the dragoness seemed to be smiling.
But before he could think about it, the gargantuan meteorite already made its impact onto the position of the dragoness. A radiant light shone outward, piercing both the skies above and the land below. It gleamed with unparalleled brilliance, quite a beautiful sight for what one could consider as utter devastation.
A shockwave escaped outward, pushing scattered clouds away from the impact sight. The ground surrounded the area cracked and lifted up, thrown beyond their former position. With the shockwave was also the expected sound of the explosion. It was a thunderous roar that was heard by everyone and everything within and beyond the island of Terra.
*BOOM!!!*