"How dazzling… such radiant holy light~"
Yvessa's eyes locked tightly onto the sacred brilliance wrapped within the dragon-scale armor. The corners of her lips slowly curled upward, revealing a thrill and delight that was almost impossible to conceal.
Even through layers of tightly sealed armor, the resplendent glow could not be hidden. It gleamed like a brilliant star blazing through the darkness.
Ah~ how exquisite.
What a pity… she probably wouldn't be able to contain such brilliant holy light. She would… break, wouldn't she?
At the same time, Kurose Akira was doing his best to adapt to his newly enlarged body.
His current size had already surpassed Vivian in her Valkyrie form. The dragon tail extending behind him stretched nearly one hundred meters, and the sudden change in scale required a bit of time to get used to.
A dozen seconds later, Akira finally managed to roughly adjust to this colossal hundred-meter body. He exhaled slowly and shifted his gaze toward Vivian, who was steadily ascending into the sky.
"What is she doing?"
Akira frowned in confusion at Vivian's climb toward the heavens.
Of course, he knew that it wasn't Vivian's own will controlling her body anymore. The Witch of the Night was clearly influencing her actions.
Even though he couldn't determine her exact objective, one thing was certain—
Vivian must not be allowed to continue rising.
"Haah—"
Akira drew in a deep breath.
Then the enormous dragon wings behind him burst open like massive sails.
Each wing stretched well beyond one hundred meters in length. The mere act of spreading them generated wind powerful enough to rival high-tier wind elemental magic.
When those colossal wings beat downward—
The air exploded into motion.
A violent gale erupted like a forming tornado, tearing outward in all directions.
The wind was so intense that everyone below instinctively raised magical barriers to shield themselves from the sudden storm.
"Holy shit! What the hell is going on?! Why did the wind suddenly get this strong?!"
"It's already pitch black and we can't see anything—now there's a category-eight gale?! What kind of nonsense is this?!"
"Good thing I grabbed a tree stump in time!"
"You idiot! That's not a tree stump—you're hugging my leg!"
"…!"
Chaos broke out among the crowd.
Yet under the influence of the Night's domain, their vision remained completely swallowed by darkness.
All they knew was that a hurricane-like gust had swept past them.
Everything else… was a mystery.
Meanwhile—
Akira had already climbed to an altitude of ten thousand meters, chasing closely behind Princess Vivian in her Valkyrie form.
His speed had already surpassed the speed of sound.
In the blink of an eye, he caught up to her.
Sensing the sudden interception, "Vivian" spun around immediately and launched a counterattack.
The wings behind her—woven entirely from black mist—flared open.
In an instant, countless black arrows shot forth like a torrential downpour, streaking toward Akira.
Akira responded instantly.
He raised both arms.
The hardened dragon scales covering them easily blocked the incoming arrows.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The arrows struck the scales with sharp metallic sounds, yet failed to inflict even the slightest damage.
At the same moment—
Akira accelerated again.
Like a bolt of lightning, he closed the remaining distance and appeared directly in front of Vivian.
After merging with Mare Rhein, the once-towering Valkyrie no longer seemed quite so imposing.
Now she was actually half a head shorter than him.
The contrast resembled a towering warrior standing before a tall yet slender young woman.
Akira didn't hesitate.
He raised his fist—
And unleashed a punch.
A single strike infused with destructive power, tearing through the air and crashing straight into Valkyrie Vivian.
But the moment the punch landed—
Akira's expression changed.
Instead of striking solid resistance, it felt as though he had punched into a cloud.
There was no impact.
No feedback.
His fist passed straight through her mist-formed body.
"…Intangible?"
Akira immediately retreated.
He had known her body was composed of black mist—but he never expected even destruction-type power to be ineffective.
If that was the case—
Then elemental magic would likely suffer the same reduction in effectiveness.
Only light-attribute magic would have a decisive impact.
"Haah…"
Akira inhaled deeply.
At that moment, the dragon-scale armor covering his entire body seemed to come alive.
The scales trembled violently, expanding and contracting like a living organism breathing.
From the narrow seams between the scales, golden vapor slowly began to seep out.
Then—
His entire body erupted in radiant golden light.
The holy brilliance blazed forth like a star illuminating the darkest night.
"Such holy light…?"
Inside Akira's soul space, Yvessa and the others watched everything unfold through his perspective.
Naturally, Akira himself had no awareness of this.
The reactions among the observers varied greatly.
Lucia lifted a delicate hand.
The instant the holy light appeared, she cast sacred magic to shield the eyes of the elf sisters.
"Ah! It's too bright!"
"Sister—I can't see!"
Beiyafli and Beiyafro barely had time to glimpse the glow before their vision was swallowed by golden brilliance. They instinctively clung to each other like frightened little rabbits.
Yvessa, meanwhile, clasped her hands together and stared fixedly at the dazzling light, her eyes overflowing with longing and admiration.
As for Mare Rhein, she crossed her arms proudly over her chest and let out a smug laugh.
"To think my power could be pushed to such extremes! As expected of the human I conquered!"
"...?"
Lucia felt a headache coming on as she looked at Yvessa and Mare Rhein.
As expected—
Not a single member of the "Puff Fantasyland" Guild was remotely normal.
Still…
When her gaze returned to that brilliant holy radiance, she had to admit that Akira's decision was correct.
The power of the sun was naturally the perfect counter to the power of night.
Using it against a Valkyrie born from darkness should work.
Although…
Was it really supposed to look this spectacular?
Cough…
At that moment, "Vivian," illuminated by the holy light, raised a hand to cover her eyes in pain.
She tried desperately to escape the blazing radiance.
But once she realized the holy light could not be blocked—
She immediately spread her wings and attempted to flee.
"Trying to run?"
"Dream on."
Akira would never allow it.
His dragon wings beat once.
In an instant, he caught up to her again.
Then he spread his arms—
And wrapped them firmly around her.
Although the Valkyrie body formed from black mist could normally ignore physical collisions—
Akira's entire body was currently engulfed in the power of the sun.
The moment he made contact, the overwhelming force of light caused the Valkyrie body to tremble violently.
Resistance became impossible.
"L-Let… let me go…"
Vivian's voice trembled as she struggled in Akira's embrace.
But her efforts were utterly futile.
The blazing sacred light slowly seeped into the black mist, continuously crashing against her darkness-shrouded soul.
"It's working."
Akira watched as the black mist body gradually dissolved beneath the holy light.
A hint of satisfaction appeared on his face.
However—
The purification process was slow.
At this rate, it might take until tomorrow to completely cleanse the hundred-meter Valkyrie body.
And the resistance was still intense.
The black mist twisted violently, transforming into countless venomous serpents that wrapped around the holy light, attempting to smother the rising radiance with absolute darkness.
"Not happening."
Akira growled.
He released every ounce of power he could muster.
The final drop of blood from the Vampire Progenitor ignited inside his body.
In an instant—
An overwhelming force surged through every vein.
His body expanded further, his temperature skyrocketing, and the holy light erupted with even greater intensity.
Thirty meters.
Forty meters.
Fifty meters.
…
Within moments, the sacred beam surged to nearly seventy meters in scale.
Even though black mist still enveloped the Valkyrie, it was obvious—
The dazzling light had penetrated deeply into her dark shell.
From soul to body, everything was undergoing a purification unlike anything before.
"Ah—!"
"Vivian" released a pained cry.
Her mist body trembled violently beneath the holy light, writhing like thunderclouds flashing with lightning.
"Still not enough?"
Akira stared intently.
Though the black mist had clearly weakened, the Truth of Night within her still resisted stubbornly.
Each surge of holy light forced it back temporarily—but never destroyed it completely.
It was as if something continued to supply her with endless magic.
"…The power of the stars?"
Akira raised his head.
Through the dense black mist, he gazed toward the pitch-black sky.
Though invisible to the naked eye, he could sense it—
Stellar power was continuously flowing into Vivian.
A single blessing from the stars could elevate its inheritor to near-demigod heights.
But Vivian had received two.
At this moment, her magic reserves had reached the level of a demigod.
However—
She couldn't fully control it.
It was like a gigantic bubble containing enough power to destroy the world.
Yet the shell of that bubble was incredibly fragile.
All it needed was one puncture.
And that was exactly what Akira intended to do.
But right now…
He still lacked just a little more heat.
The power of Mare Rhein and the Vampire Progenitor alone wasn't enough.
He needed one more catalyst.
Then Akira made his decision.
He would use the final blessing of the Elf Queen.
Although the blessing only increased elemental magic damage by 500%, and couldn't directly amplify holy light—
It could still strengthen Mare Rhein's flames of destruction.
Which would indirectly boost the power of the holy light.
"Haah…"
Akira exhaled slowly, his scorching breath washing over the Valkyrie in his arms.
Then—
He activated the Elf Queen's final blessing.
In that instant—
The previously golden holy light began to shimmer with seven dazzling colors.
"This… this power…"
"Ah—!"
Under the amplification of the Elf Queen's blessing, Valkyrie Vivian suddenly displayed overwhelming fear.
Her struggle vanished.
Her entire body went limp in Akira's arms.
As time passed beneath the sacred brilliance, the Valkyrie body formed of black mist began to dissolve.
Her body slowly transformed.
The black magical particles composing her form gradually shifted into golden particles.
From black—
To radiant gold.
Like night giving way to dawn.
And at that exact moment—
The darkness covering the world quietly retreated.
Two brilliant stars appeared in the sky.
"Hm?"
Akira looked up.
The two stars suddenly burst with dazzling brilliance—
Then plummeted toward them.
In an instant, overwhelming stellar power surged like a tidal wave, completely engulfing both Akira and "Vivian."
"Hiss—!"
The baptism of stellar power made Akira grit his teeth in pain.
But confusion followed.
Hadn't the two stellar blessings already descended?
Why was there a third?
Just as he wondered—
Idis's voice sounded in his mind.
"You're quite lucky."
"To think you'd manage to steal a blessing from the stars from Princess Vivian."
"Steal… a stellar blessing?"
Akira blinked in surprise.
He never expected to obtain the star power originally meant for Vivian.
Could it be related to the strand of stellar power he had obtained earlier from that opportunity quest?
Before he could think further—
System notifications flooded his vision.
[You have received the Blessing of the Cancer Star God!]
[Constitution +30!]
[You have received the Blessing of the Pluto Star God!]
[You obtained one drop of Dark Nether Water!]
[You have received the Blessing of…]
Endless notifications appeared one after another.
Akira froze for a moment.
Only two stars had been shining moments ago.
So why were there suddenly so many blessings?
Confused, he slowly raised his head—
And saw the answer.
The entire night sky was now glittering with stars.
Though he didn't understand the cause, the blessings of the stars caused his attributes to surge instantly.
[Kurose Akira]
Level: C-Rank EvaluationRace: Human
Strength: 505 + 1400Agility: 520 + 1360Magic: 645 + 1450Constitution: 589 + 1590
Growth: Unknown
Skills: (Expand)
Traits:[Dragon Knight][Bright and Cheerful][Mother-in-Law Slayer][Succubus Physique][Super Fan][Soul Hook][Bloodthirsty][Honey-Gathering Bee][Queen's Beloved]
As the starlight gradually faded—
A dazzling crystal suddenly fell from the sky like a meteor, descending straight toward Akira.
His gaze locked onto it.
Information immediately appeared before his eyes.
[Radiant Crystal (Mythical): A rare material required to advance to the rank of Demigod!]
"Radiant Crystal…"
A flash of excitement passed through Akira's eyes.
He was naturally familiar with this item.
It had been clearly listed in the Elf Queen's upgrade panel.
It was an essential material for advancing to demigod level.
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
He never expected this adventure to yield such incredible rewards.
As the chaos finally subsided—
Vivian's Valkyrie form dissolved.
The colossal body faded like a mirage.
In the end, it condensed into a small figure, gently landing in the palm of Akira's hand.
Akira withdrew the holy light as well—it consumed enormous amounts of magic power.
Then he beat his wings and descended toward the Royal Palace of the Star Kingdom.
With Vivian's power gone, the darkness covering the sky gradually dissipated.
At last—
Everyone below regained their vision.
"What just happened?!"
"I don't know! Everything went completely black!"
"Where's Princess Vivian?! Why did she disappear?!"
"Look! There's a dragon falling from the sky!"
"Wait—that's not a dragon! That's a hundred-meter half-dragon humanoid!"
"A half-dragon can reach a hundred meters?!"
"Did he defeat Princess Vivian's Valkyrie form?!"
"That's insane!"
"…!"
As the crowd watched Akira plummet from the heavens, their faces filled with disbelief.
They couldn't even imagine what kind of battle they had missed while the world was shrouded in darkness.
However—
Compared to their shock, Winnieshan reacted very differently.
Because aside from Akira—who could resist the Night through his Anti-Magic Eye—
she could as well.
Winnieshan possessed the Innate Pure Light Body.
She had once been the destined future Pope of the Holy Church—until Lucia intercepted that destiny.
A body of pure light capable of dispelling all darkness naturally allowed her to clearly witness what had occurred ten thousand meters above the ground.
The exhilarating clash between two hundred-meter titans made her cheeks flush and her heart race.
"That… could it be…"
Winnieshan stared at the rapidly descending Akira in astonishment and murmured softly—
"The Holy Light of the Sun…?"