The Last Step-Chapter 84: Ascend- Swarm Tyrant IV (Ending)

Beyond Rinascita —Deep within the cult of Nemesis.

Beneath miles of cursed soil, beneath forgotten tombs and black-stone caverns, the cult’s sanctuary churned with silence—until it didn’t.

The Silent Executioner, draped in shadows and stitched flesh, moved up the black stairs of the ancient throne chamber, a trail of twitching eyes slithering behind him. His voice was jagged, crawling with anticipation.

"The Swarm Tyrant has reached its peak, my lord."

Upon the throne of bones, sitting with one leg lazily crossed over the other, was Azrion—master of foresight and architect of ruin. His eyes never looked up. His fingers rested against the pages of his Foresight Diary, where ink wrote itself in jagged, divine scripture. The words swirled as if struggling against fate.

He spoke as they formed.

"Lucas Reinhardt..." His voice carried both amusement and weight.

"...has gone beyond my expectations. He cast Heaven’s Singularity."

Behind him, a dozen eyes turned in perfect unison. The spell had a name feared even by the gods. It required inhuman mental clarity, immeasurable mana, and absolute will.

The Silent Executioner’s many mouths chuckled.

"But he did not win."

Azrion finally raised his eyes. They were a pale silver—empty and infinite.

"He couldn’t," Azrion said.

"The Swarm Tyrant cannot be defeated. End of the story. No matter how powerful the opposition is, it will always reconstruct. It is eternal."

He gently closed the Foresight Diary. The room darkened.

"Lucas... you can never win alone."

Rinascita – Battlefield

The smoke began to clear.

The skies were ruptured, scorched white with celestial aftermath. The earth had been carved open. Bodies—grotesques twisted in agony—lay in ash and light. At the center of it all, burned in golden flame, stood Lucas.

Or rather, what was left of him.

His body landed hard—limbs trembling, armor cracked, coat shredded, eyes glazed. There was no strength left in his legs. The mana had been drained beyond possibility.

System Notification:「WARNING. Limit surpassed. Mana status: -5,483. You have exceeded all acceptable bounds. Immediate restoration is impossible.」

Lucas couldn’t even respond. Not with words.

Because that’s when he saw it.

His breath caught in his throat.

From the crater not far away...A cocoon formed. Thick, pulsating with grotesque energy. Limbs cracking. Bones stretching. Inside it, the Swarm Tyrant, regenerating again—its new body bulging, transforming.

Evolving.

System Alert:「WARNING: Swarm Tyrant is mutating beyond celestial affinity. All divine-tier spells are predicted to fail.」

Lucas’ throat tightened. "No... no, no no no—"

He tried to move. Nothing responded.

Cult of Nemesis — Throne Room

Azrion leaned forward, shadows embracing him.

"As long as grotesques remain alive... the Swarm Tyrant cannot die."

The Silent Executioner nodded.The swarm’s will was not singular. Its core was fragmented—split across every grotesque in Rinascita.

"There are 1,372 grotesques still alive," he whispered."Too many... and too fast for him to kill alone."

Azrion’s voice was quiet, but final.

"Lucas was blinded by mercy."

His fingers tapped the diary once.

"He centered Heaven’s Singularity on himself. A noble instinct... but a fatal one. Had he aimed it across the entire town, all grotesques—and the Swarm Tyrant—would have perished."

"But instead..." His smile turned cruel.

"He spared the innocent people. And in doing so, doomed them."

Rinascita – Present Moment

From the cocoon came the sound of steel tearing open.

Then it rose.

The Swarm Tyrant, reborn once more—this time clad in obsidian armor, heavy, unbreakable, and immune to all known magical frequencies. Its eyes glowed with unnatural sentience.

Lucas lay helpless, face against blood-soaked dirt, trembling, lips cracked.

"System..." he whispered."Heal me."

Silence.

「Unable to comply. Mana levels insufficient.」

Lucas’ fingers curled into a fist.

"Bullshit..."

The Swarm Tyrant leapt into the air, wings bursting open.

It dove straight for him, claws raised, eyes wild with vengeance.

Lucas didn’t move. Couldn’t move.

The last thing he saw—Was death.

But not for him.

Celia’s Perspective:(A few minutes before Lucas cast Heaven’s Singularity)

My chains curled around me... not like weapons anymore. No.They wrapped me like arms would, like they were trying to hold me together because I couldn’t.

I didn’t tell them to.I didn’t even want them to.But they did.

Forming a shell around me.

I don’t know if they were protecting me from the monster outside—Or the one inside.

I sat inside the hollow silence. Alone.Tears dripped down my cheeks, soft and slow, like they were being pulled out of me against my will. Like even my sadness had to beg for an escape.

And I just kept whispering it again and again—

"Kaiser... you liar..." My voice cracked.It didn’t even sound like mine anymore.

"You said you wouldn’t leave me..."I clutched the letter tighter."...but you did."

My fingers trembled. I was hurting the paper. Smudging the blood-written name on it with my tears.But I didn’t care.It hurt.

This pain...This deep, cold thing inside me... it wasn’t heartbreak.It was abandonment.It was the feeling of being forgotten.Again.

"Stop crying, Celia..." I told myself. My voice barely escaped my lips.

"You don’t have a reason to cry. So why are you crying?"But I already knew the answer.I just didn’t want to say it.

Because saying it meant it was real.

My heart knew something my mind refused to believe.

He’s gone.The one who touched my head when I was breaking down.The one who looked at me, not like I was dangerous, or fragile, or cursed.But like I was just... Celia.And that was enough.

"He didn’t mean to leave you..." I tried again, my voice barely a whisper."He just had to... right?"

Then I laughed. Soft. Sad. Bitter.What was I saying?

My chains rattled gently, as if they were unsure whether to hug me tighter or let go.

My legs curled to my chest, and I bent forward, pressing my forehead against my knees.I could feel the tears soaking through my stockings.

The paper in my hands crinkled as I held it too tight. Like I was trying to pull him out of it.

I just...wanted to see you again.

That was all.

Not to fight. Not to win.Just to see you.To hear your voice, that low serious tone that made everything else shut up.

Because you were the only one who ever...treated me like I was a person.

And now...Even that was taken from me.

My breathing was uneven.Chest heaving in tiny spasms, like my lungs were breaking down along with my heart.

Tears kept falling.My hands trembled harder now.

I wanted to tear my skin off.To grab my heart and squeeze it until it stopped making me feel.

"I just..."I choked on the words."I just wanted to be loved... without begging for it."

Is that so selfish?Was that too much to ask?

Why... why do people always leave me?Why is the only thing I can keep close... pain?

"Why, Kaiser..."My voice was breaking in pieces."Please..."

I didn’t care about anything anymore.Not the grotesques.Not the war.Not myself.

"Stay with me..."

The letter felt heavier now.

With shaking, bruised fingers, I unfolded it. I didn’t want to see what was written.

Because if I did... That would mean he really wrote it expecting to never come back.

And I couldn’t handle that.

My lip quivered as my eyes lowered to the bloodied parchment.

It was his handwriting. Even shaky, rushed... it was undeniably his.

I pressed the paper to my chest.

I wanted to die.

Because if he was gone—Then what was left of me? What’s the point of living...?

(Unfolding Kaiser’s letter—his last words to her)

The parchment trembled in my hands.No. My hands were trembling.

Everything... everything about this felt wrong.Like this letter shouldn’t exist. Like if I didn’t open it, he wouldn’t be dead.

But my fingers kept moving.

The paper was stained. His blood...His handwriting... it was messy.Like he wrote it while dying.

Like he was already in pain.

And the first line...

"I’m... sorry Celia."

My lips parted.

"N-No..."

"I couldn’t keep my promise to you..."

"Stop..."My throat ached."Please stop..."

"I wanted to be by your side... but I won’t be able to fulfill it."

My breath hitched, and I pressed the paper to my lips, as if kissing it would make him come back.

"I don’t have much time left."

"N-No... You had time—! You promised me—!"The words came out strangled, choked by sobs that clawed their way out of my chest.

"I don’t know what you thought of me... annoying? irresponsible? weak?"

"No... you were my everything."I shook my head rapidly."No, no, no—Kaiser—"

"I didn’t know I was making memories with you."

And that broke me.

"No—Those weren’t memories...""Those moments... they were like a dream to me."

I could barely see the letter anymore through the blur of tears.

Then came the next line—

"Please don’t cry okay? You’ll be happier again and find someone better."

A drop—my tear—fell.Right on the word better.And it bled.

The ink smudged, then the paper tore."NO!"

"I don’t want someone better! I never did—!"I clutched the parchment tighter to my chest, fingers shaking violently.

"I only wanted you... I only ever wanted you, Kaiser..."

Then I kept reading.My eyes stung.

"I’ve always had a difficult time genuinely smiling... before meeting you I did smile but it was fake... lies to look normal."

A sob erupted from my throat.

"But with you Celia, I was happy."

He was happy?

Then why—why did it hurt so much?

"In my story, you were my favorite Chapter..."

My whole body trembled.

"No... you were the story itself."

"...I-I can’t..."I fell forward, the chains clattering around me.

"Kaiser... please... please don’t say that..."

Because that made it real.

That made it feel like goodbye.

And then—The letter thinned. The words near the end looked frantic, desperate. Like he ran out of time.

"I know I will soon be killed... There is no escape... I don’t even know if this will reach you but I hope so, Celia. Because I have one thing to say..."

My eyes widened.

"W-What... what thing?"

"You’re my heart forever... and..."

And...?

"A-And...?"

The paper ended.

"NO."

I flipped it over.Checked the back.Checked the folds.

There was nothing.

"No no no no no—don’t stop there—!"

I scrambled on the ground. My palms dug into the dust, the blood, anything, searching.Searching for him.

And then—I saw it.

Tiny handwriting. Rushed. Nearly invisible.

"I wrote another one, Celia... my last words to you."

My breath caught.

"The tyrant has it. Please read it... if you ever loved me."

The words blurred again from my tears.

"It is going to kill me soon. So please... kill it for me. And read my final words."

At the bottom—"(Written with blood)"

My hands clenched the letter.

My arms went still.Everything... still.Except my blood.

It boiled.

It boiled.

I slowly stood up.

The chains uncurled themselves from my body.Like they felt it too. Like they wanted this.

My heartbeat wasn’t normal anymore.It wasn’t sadness.

It was rage.

"Your last words to me..."I whispered.

"...you gave it... to that thing?"

The grief didn’t fade.

It twisted.

It blackened.

"You... made me cry, Kaiser..."I whispered.

I clenched my fists until my nails broke skin."So now I’ll make it bleed for every tear I shed."

My voice cracked.

"I will kill it."My head slowly turned toward the battlefield after large ray of light engulfed the area moments ago.

The swarm tyrant’s disgusting form. The cocoon. The grotesques. All of it.

"For you."

My chains slithered to life.

"For your last words."

"I. Will. Kill. It."

Back to the present.

It was about to rip Lucas in half. That pestering, arrogant, reckless idiot—But I got there first.

My thorns snapped to life, splitting from the ground and coiling around its claws like vipers. The sound they made when cracking through its hardened carapace? Delicious.

I rose slowly into the air, my chains dragging behind me like serpents slithering in anticipation of a feast.

Then—snap.My chains shot forward, curved, cracked the air—only for that evolved bastard to bat them away mid-flight with its disgusting arms.

Tch.

It hurled a barrage of poisonous claws at Lucas—one scratch and he’d be rotting in a minute. Idiot still couldn’t move.

But my chains moved faster.

They shifted and formed a wide arc barrier in front of him, deflecting the claws into the rubble. The shockwave hissed in the air.

I glanced back, voice cold.

"Find a better corner to hide, loser."

His bloodied face twitched.

"Get lost, witch. I will kill it." he croaked.

Good. He still had a little bite left in him.

Like I cared.He could die or live for all I cared right now.All I wanted...

Was to kill it.

My sclera were turning black—pitch black—and my irises burned crimson like the curse in my veins remembered what heartbreak felt like.

That voice...Obsession.Whispering again."Kill it. Now."

Yes.

The Swarm Tyrant sneered.

"Why won’t you die already, you heartless human?"

My mouth curved into something grotesque. Not a smile.A promise.

"I might be heartless." I stepped forward.

"But you’re already dead."

It screamed and flew into the air—claws elongating, armor plates sliding over its joints like obsidian shields.

And then it dove.

A sonic boom cracked through the air as it charged.

I raised my hand.

Boom.A storm of black thorns erupted from the ground—dozens—aiming to impale it mid-flight.It twisted. Dodged. One thorn grazed its wing and it snarled, spiraling toward me.

We collided mid-air.

Its claw scraped my side—I twisted, kicked off its neck, flipped behind it and threw three cursed daggers made of ice.

It blocked two.

The third lodged into its rib.Not deep.But deep enough to make it feel pain.

It howled, spinning toward me, its jaw splitting open like a flower made of knives.I fell back—hands forming a glyph in the air—

"Ash Petals."

Thousands of ash-like glowing petals exploded around me—every one of them a cursed projectile laced with my own magic signature. They shot at it from all directions, turning mid-air as it flew.

But the bastard evolved again.

Its body hardened—reflective scales across its arms. The petals shattered on contact. My Withering Touch wasn’t strong enough anymore.

"Tch..."

It slashed, I ducked.I kicked its leg—it didn’t move.I sent thorns from under its feet to wrap around its spine—it flew up.

Every move I made, it evolved faster.

And still—I fought harder.

I moved on instinct.

Every spell, every dodge, every chain whip, every elemental burst—I layered wind magic over my thorns to speed them up, coated them with ice to freeze joints, used earth to destabilize footing and shoot spikes. Fire detonations under its wings.

I made it bleed.But it never stopped.

We tore through buildings mid-flight. Our attacks collided so hard, it sent shockwaves that shattered the nearby grounds.

I parried its claws with a barrier of cursed vines, then threw my chain up to swing above it. My heel landed on its head.

Crack.

It grunted—then twisted in a full flip and sent me flying into a collapsed tower. Rubble fell all around me.

Blood in my mouth.

I stood again.

My eyes locked with its.

We were even.

No—I was losing.

I grit my teeth, wiped the blood.

"I can’t kill you alone... can I?" I whispered.

It grinned.

And then it screamed—deep, guttural, monstrous.An alpha call.

The earth trembled.

Grotesques came—hundreds of them. Clawing through walls, skittering through cracks, flying, crawling, mutating.

A tidal wave of corrupted flesh and shrieking agony.

They were answering their king.

My body was shaking from exhaustion. My magic was thinning.My heart was burning.

But I stood.

Blood dripping from my hands.

Tears long dried.

I raised my chain again.

"Then come." My voice cracked.

"All of you."

I can’t defeat them all.

Not like this.

My chains trembled behind me—not from fear, but fatigue. My magic was thinning. My legs were shaking. And in front of me?

A sea of grotesques. The Swarm Tyrant looming above them all like a king of decay.

If I run in now, I’ll end up like Lucas... Bleeding... breathless... useless.

Think, Celia.Think.

What can I do? What action can I take?

Then it hit me.

His voice—Kaiser’s voice—cut through the panic like glass through skin.

"Kill it for me."

And my breath stopped.

No...

It’s not just my actions that need to change.

It’s me.

This version of me can’t win.

I looked at my hands. Pale, trembling, blood-drenched. The same hands that reached for him and failed. The same hands that begged for love... that clung to someone already leaving me behind.

Pathetic.

The one who needs to die... is me.

I let the words slice through my heart.

I closed my eyes, and in my mind—

I watched my own blood pour out of my chest, my throat, my eyes.Falling to the floor.

Lifeless.

But that blood wasn’t just death.

It was a curse.A sacrifice.

My body began to merge with every cursed thread of magic I had ever touched—every grudge, every scream, every dying breath I stole from grotesques. It wrapped around me, whispering in tongues too old for the gods to understand.

If killing myself means victory, I’ll die a thousand times.

I’ll tear myself apart again and again if it means one moment... one final moment... to keep my promise.

To keep his last words from becoming meaningless.

I will be reborn.

And I will crush this insect.

I am—

Celia.

The curse in my blood erupted.

My knees bent slightly as the ground cracked under me.

The Queen of Curses.

The grotesques twitched. The Swarm Tyrant tilted its head.

"You’re all alone, human," it said, voice clicking with hatred.

"It’s over."

I raised my head slowly. My voice colder than the grave I just buried myself in.

"You pride yourself on numbers, huh?"

Its eye twitched. A single muscle beneath its cheek spasmed.Annoyance. Fear.

"I’ll make it equal then."

My hand rose.

My entire body glowed—not with light, not with hope—But with pure, devastating, raw curse energy. The kind that doesn’t bend to logic or mercy. A chaos born from obsession, heartbreak, and love twisted into vengeance.

My mouth opened, and I whispered the words that no mortal should say:

"T’mari ith valekh. En’cor da’ron. Rith senn marol... Kai’reth."

Each syllable made the world shiver.

For a moment—Nothing happened.

They all watched. Confused. Waiting.

The grotesques cocked their heads like curious animals.The Swarm Tyrant took a step forward, claws twitching.

And then I whispered the final word

"Ascend."

The earth... began to tremble.

The cracks beneath Rinascita widened—not from destruction, but from resurrection.

And then—They began to crawl up.

From the dirt. From the blood-soaked soil. From every cursed spot my chains had once pierced through—

Hands.

Twisted. Blackened. Stained with old sins.

Grotesque hands.

But not the kind that stood beside the Swarm Tyrant.

These... were mine.

Demonic Grotesques.

Each one I had personally slaughtered.Each one I had fed my hatred, my grief, and my madness to.

My army.

My beautiful, cursed army of monsters reborn through my will.

The Swarm Tyrant’s face... twitched.Its beady eyes widened in horror.

The grotesques beside it staggered back, confused, their insect-like shrieks rising in terror as hundreds—no, thousands of cursed grotesques formed from the abyss and climbed upward. Clawed, hunched, still dripping in ethereal rot and wrapped in cursed sigils.

Their eyes—All of them stared at me.

I stood still... watching.

Silent. Drenched in sadness. Yet towering in power.

The Tyrant muttered one word, a hoarse rasp from its throat as if choking on the truth:

"I...Impossible."

And then—A human hand.

Not grotesque.

Familiar.

It rose from the cracks near my feet, pushing itself up.Long fingers. Battle-worn knuckles. The scent of burnt cinders.

And then—Ronan.

My first soul.

The first one I ever truly killed.

He knelt before me, one hand across his chest, the other dragging a trail of chains behind him—chains forged not from steel, but from submission.

His blackened eyes glowed with devotion.

"What shall we do, my Queen?" His voice was deep, twisted by damnation—yet there was pride in it.Obedience.

I smiled softly. Something between cruelty and comfort.

"We will slaughter the grotesques," I whispered."I’m leaving that up to you, Ronan."

He bowed his head."As you wish, my Queen."

His body twisted, flames erupting from his spine as his cursed form awakened. The hellish glow of incineration coiled around his arms, and horns emerged from his skull.

Not the man he once was.

But the King of Flames. My personal devil.

He turned to the grotesques in the distance, his voice cracking like firewood.

"I’ll burn them alive."

"Good," I replied, my chains rattling behind me like laughter.

And then—The war began.

A scream shattered the horizon.

The Grotesque Race...VersusMy Cursed Army.

Flames ignited the sky. Cursed thorns erupted from the ground like blooming roses. My grotesques leapt onto theirs, tearing them apart with the same madness they once died with.

And I—I simply walked forward.

Every step I took, the battlefield shifted around me.

I am the Queen of Curses.

And this is my reign of supremacy.

The battlefield crackled with hate and flame.

Across the shattered plaza, grotesques clashed—my demonic army ripping through the evolved monsters with merciless efficiency. Their twisted bodies, once mine, now hunted under my command. Their shrieks echoed like praise.

At the center, the Swarm Tyrant stood tall—its obsidian armor shimmering, claws dripping with venom, wings stretching wide to block attacks and spread fear.

Beside me, Ronan, King of Flames, roared—a torrent of hellfire engulfing grotesques as he roared. His flames carved paths through the enemy horde.

We attacked in sync.

I flicked my hand—"Dreadvine Coffin!"Black vines erupted from below a group of grotesques, ensnaring them in living thorns. The victims writhed as the vines constricted and pulsed, sapping life and leaving scorched husks.

The vine reached the Swarm Tyrant’s leg, tearing armor plating."Eat that!" I hissed. It spat poison at me—my eyes narrowed as dark energy flared.

I used the venom to fuel my next strike: "Curseheart Echo!"

A pulse of sickly green magic burst around me. The surrounding grotesques shrieked as their wounds festered and healed in reverse, bleeding out on the spot.

Nearby, Ronan roared.

"Burn!"A flaming fist struck the Tyrant’s side."Come on, My Queen—let’s break it!"

He lunged, flames ripping the air. I responded with "Void Thorn Spiral", sending dark chains spinning into the battle, cutting into its armor just as Ronan bashed the weakened plates open.

The Swarm Tyrant snarled and struck back—its claws cutting through flame, its wings buffeting us with hurricane force.

It grabbed Ronan’s arm and winged him downward.

"Your demon is dead, little queen. Your slave is ash!"

Ronan fell into the rubble. I screamed.

"RONAN!"I launched forward, lighting the dark with a torrent of cursed energy.

"Blightflare Oblivion!"

A wave of dark fire streaked across the square, scorching the Tyrant’s armor and igniting the ground beneath it. Flaming vines lashed around its legs, scorching its flesh.

I closed in with deadly intent.

"Soulrend Shatter!"My chains exploded into shards of cursed blood magic. They punched through its armor and crushed the plating on its shoulder.

But Ronan lay still—his flame dark, his form broken.

The Tyrant laughed.

"Look! The demon has died—without it, you’re nothing."

I stared down. Darkness filled me.

"Oh, he’s not dead." I whispered.

I stepped over Ronan’s broken form."Bind of Rebirth."

My body pulsed with cursed power. Chains of obsidian light wrapped him, piercing his heart and wing bone, spiraling energy—alive with death.

His form shattered... then reformed.Broken flame rekindled. His eyes opened—redeemed by my curse.

Ronan rose, breathing ash, his armor reforged in hellfire.

He stood.

The Swarm Tyrant’s eyes widened in pure terror.

"Impossible—again?!"

Ronan stepped forward, flames brighter than ever.

"As long as my Queen is breathing. I will return by death."

"It’s over." I whispered.

Now, the two of them locked on the Tyrant, teamwork unstoppable.

I summoned a vortex of dark energy—hellish, living, hungry.

Ronan ignited it with his flames.Together, we pulled the Tyrant into the spiral.

"Let the curse feed on your core."

Darkness and fire warped reality. The Swarm Tyrant screamed. Horrified.

My army surged. Grotesques attacked in waves—now slaughtering with renewed bloodlust.

As the cursed hurricane and flame erupted into a final blow—

"For her."

They smashed into the Swarm Tyrant together, the explosion so bright even the grotesques staggered.

It died—not just destroyed—but unmade by our combined might.

But then—Its body twitched.

I froze.

The Swarm Tyrant’s shredded torso, the one I had torn into pieces with Ronan’s hellfire, started regenerating. Slowly. Fleshy tendrils slithered back into place, reforming bones, rethreading its lungs.

No. No, no, no—I snapped my hand forward and hurled a devastating cursed spike—charged with rot, hatred, and every ounce of my soul.

It stopped. Mid-air.The curse burned away like paper before reaching its skin.

"What...?"

Behind me, Ronan landed. His voice grim.

"My Queen. That regeneration—it’s cursed. No dark magic can undo it now. Only celestial magic can stop that kind of healing."

My fingers clenched."I... I can’t use celestial magic..." I whispered.

The air grew heavier as the Tyrant’s body reformed further, its wings crackling, tail regrowing, eyes flaring with hellish glow.

I stared—feeling like a child again.

Lost. Weak.

No. I won’t lose again. I won’t let it end like this.

Then something clicked.

I looked around the battlefield. My grotesques—my cursed grotesques—were overwhelming his evolved ones. Dismembering them. Consuming them. Replacing them.

And I noticed it.

The Swarm Tyrant’s regeneration... it was slowing.

The more grotesques I killed... the slower it healed.

My eyes widened.

Its regeneration was linked by souls of other grotesques. Thus that’s why it managed to live by life threating attacks and be reborn. It is not strong on its own but rather because of other grotesques.

I understand it now.

"Ronan," I said sharply, my voice cutting like a blade through chaos.

"Go. Kill every grotesque left in Rinascita. All of them."

He didn’t ask why.

"As you wish, my Queen."

Ronan vanished in a blink, a trail of embers left in his wake. His murderous intent flared like a nova across the ruined sky.

Elsewhere in Rinascita...

The screams of children echoed in the broken alleyways.

A knight—his armor dented and chest bleeding—held his shield over a terrified child.Four grotesques surrounded him, their claws gleaming.

He would die here.

But before they lunged, the world turned blue.

A wave of cold hellfire washed over them—disintegrating two instantly. The others shrieked, only to be pounced on by eight cursed grotesques. They tore into the survivors like starving dogs.

The knight gasped.

Behind the fire, Ronan stood, eyes hollow and jaw clenched. Black chains coiled around his wrists, flames running up his back like a cloak.

The knight looked up—still shielding the boy.

"W-What was that?" he muttered.

Another knight approached. One with a white crest and golden trim—Adonis.

He saw it too.The cursed monsters. The unnatural flames.

He muttered under his breath, voice hoarse."Those are cursed grotesques... bound by her magic. The Queen of Curses has awakened."

Across Rinascita, the tide turned.

My grotesques flooded the streets like a black sea—moving with eerie unity. They climbed walls, burst through floors, and attacked with venomous rage. Wherever Ronan’s flames scorched, the survivors were torn apart by my monsters.

Each grotesque that died... rose again.

Ascended.

Twisted, reborn in my image. Their bodies darker, eyes glowing crimson, mouths whispering curses as they sprinted into battle again.

Near the guild border, the flames reached.

Sylvia stood near the wall with her guild—her heartbeat rapid. She saw them.The cursed horde.

But... they weren’t attacking them.

The monsters passed right next to her, ignoring her entirely as they charged grotesques in the outskirts.

"They’re... they’re fighting for us," she whispered.

The other guild members hesitated.

The cursed grotesques burned the enemies alive with black fire. Those who endured were dragged down and consumed. Behind it all—flames, chains, and shadowed eyes guided them.

This wasn’t just a battle anymore.

It was a hunt.

And I...

I was their queen.

"You’re all alone now," the Tyrant hissed. Its voice slithered past me like acid.

Alone?

I raised my head slowly, shadows swimming under my feet like serpents."I am enough."

A heartbeat passed. The wind fell silent.

"You took away the only thing..." I stepped forward, thorns rising from my steps, wrapping my limbs like armor.

"...that ever made me happy."

Chains uncoiled from my back like wings, thorns slithering down their edges. My fingertips bled, not from wounds—but from fury.

"Now I’ll take you..." I whispered coldly, my voice nearly inhuman,"...below hell."

The world collapsed in motion.

It charged first, wings snapping open with enough force to shake the sky. I leapt, twisting midair as my chains flared outward—blocking its first claw swipe.

It was fast. Strong. Desperate.

But I was hatred.

I struck its leg with a cursed spear, infused with all the sorrow Kaiser left me with—yet it deflected it with its hardened tail, then swept at me with its claws laced in venom.

Too slow.

I ducked beneath it, twisting like a ribbon, and slammed my palm into its ribs—Withering Pulse erupting from the point of impact. Flesh peeled, bone cracked.

It roared.

Then—it did something vile.

It grabbed a grotesque’s corpse nearby... and threw it at me like a projectile.

The body slammed into me midair, trying to knock me off balance. But I caught it. My hand pulsed dark—

"Ascend."

The corpse twitched, then snapped upright—glowing with my sigil. It turned and bit deep into the Tyrant’s shoulder.

It screamed. I smiled.

"You’re holding onto your own kind," I murmured.

But it got worse for him.

Two more grotesques lunged from my army, clamping onto his legs, arms, wings—dragging him down, biting, ripping.

"Get em pests"

The Swarm Tyrant roared so loudly the sky itself trembled. A sphere of poison burst from his body—melting them all.

Ash.

I shielded my eyes, but I heard it—his rage."You BITCH!"

Then came the aerial battle.

We both shot upward—he, with his corrupted wings, and I, using my chains as grappling veins of shadow, slingshotting myself through the air.

To the average eye, we were nothing but streaks.

Dark and red.Tyrannical Darkness and Cursed Destiny.

Claw met chain. Poison met thorn.

I bent backward midair as his tail slashed past my neck—barely an inch. My chains looped around his leg, yanked him into a spiral, then I teleported behind him mid-spin with Curse Blink.

I drove my knee into his back, flipped, then kicked his skull downward—but he twisted, grabbed my leg, and hurled me through a building below.

I gritted my teeth. Debris exploded around me. But my curse reacted. The moment my blood hit the rubble, it rose—a thousand thorns lashing out and dragging me back into the air.

I was bleeding.

I was smiling.

This was what I wanted.

"You should’ve stayed in your nest," I spat, pulling a shattered tooth of his from my side and throwing it back with cursed acceleration.

He deflected it, lunged again—and this time we clashed in midair, grappling, clawing, slashing, and I—

—I saw my reflection in its eye.

Broken. Beautiful. Unhinged.

I bit his throat with my cursed fangs, ripped a chunk out, and kicked away midair, chains grabbing the sky itself to hold me.

He fell, coughing black.

But I knew this wasn’t over.

Not yet.

The sky burned.

And I wasn’t done.

We were falling.

Down through the blackened sky, through the ashes of Rinascita, through the ruins of everything I once believed could be saved.

And in that descent—I remembered everything.

Kaiser.

His voice.

That smile he gave only me.The way he tilted his head when he knew I was hurting but refused to say it.The way he held my hand without asking.

The day he found me, I had no name.

But he looked at me—not like a monster, not like a tool—and said softly...

"You name... will be Celia."

That moment wasn’t just the happiest memory I had—It was my entire existence.

And now he was gone.

That was the last thread holding back the thing inside me.

The final piece of humanity.

Snapped.

My eyes darkened completely. A sea of black. My voice became hollow. My skin pulsed with veins of cursed magic. I didn’t even feel my heartbeat anymore.

I wasn’t Celia the girl.

I was Celia the Curse.

And the Queen of Curses was about to make history.

"YOU TOOK HIM FROM ME!!!"

I screamed, thorns and chains bursting from every direction.

The Swarm Tyrant tried to recover, but I was already there.

No warning. Just death.

I slashed my arm into the air.

And then—For the first time in all of history, the wind screamed with me.

I merged the element with curse—bending wind itself to obey my sorrow, my fury, my hatred. And I sharpened it. Not like a blade. Not like a scythe.

Like a punishment.

And I swung.

The cursed wind sliced through the Tyrant’s wings like wet paper.He roared, but I was already above him, my eyes glowing red-black.

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!!"

Each scream was paired with a slash of the cursed wind.

Limbs flew off.

Thorns exploded beneath his body, spearing him upward like a broken doll.

It tried to grab me. I disappeared with a cursed blink and appeared inside his own shadow.

From behind, I whispered coldly—

"You’ll never be forgiven."

I wrapped a curse around my leg, twisted my heel, and slammed it into the back of its skull, shattering part of its mask.

It tumbled across the air—but I chased.A cursed chain looped around the tyrant’s neck, the other tightening around his spine.

I pulled.

The air bent with the force.

"KAISER DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!"

I hurled him downward, letting gravity slam his body into the ruins of the plaza.

Stone exploded.

Dust rose.

But I wasn’t done.

Not even close.

I raised both hands, whispered a spell no one ever had before:

"Winds of Grief... Sorrow’s Limit... Deadly Spiral."

The sky responded.The cursed wind twisted like a typhoon, razored edges cutting into the ground itself as it surrounded him in a circular hell.

And then it collapsed inward.

He howled. His flesh was torn into ribbons, his armored shell split apart.

Piece by piece, limb by limb, I was erasing his body from this world.

"YOU TOOK MY HEART! SO I’LL TAKE YOUR EXISTENCE!"

He couldn’t stand. He couldn’t breathe.

His voice was mangled and low.

"You... demon..."

"No," I said coldly, floating down—my body still radiating cursed energy so dense it cracked the earth.

"I’m the one he loved."

His entire body had been shredded.

Only a glowing mass remained.

Its core.

Still pulsing. Still alive.

Untouched by cursed magic.

I stepped forward, panting, my vision blurry—but I didn’t stop.

"Why..." I whispered, trembling.

"Why won’t you just die...?"

I poured my cursed magic into it. Nothing.

Ripped thorns into it. Nothing.

Even wind... nothing.

It was like it existed outside of death itself.

And that—That broke me again.

Because even now... Even after I gave up everything...

I still hadn’t killed it.

I couldn’t...

Meanwhile — In the Cult of Nemesis

Far beneath the crust of the world, where no sun dared to reach, a throne of bone and shadow lay untouched by time.

Azrion sat there, unmoving. Fingers laced. Head low. His eyes reading the Foresight Diary, whose pages were writing themselves in ink that bled like veins.

He muttered under his breath, voice colder than death itself.

"You can never defeat the Swarm Tyrant alone."

The words written upon the page echoed him exactly, as if mocking Celia’s efforts.

"That is the fate sealed for this world."

The letters pulsed on the page.

You are not strong enough, Queen of Curses.

He closed the diary. Slowly. As if the end had already been decided.

Somewhere Far From Rinascita

A distant wind blew.

Dust rolled across the worn stones of an old path—leading into a quiet, long-forgotten village:

Levinton.

A man walked its path. Long overcoat trailing behind him. Head lowered. His footsteps slow... but unwavering.

He stopped just before the old well in the village center.

Blue eyes shimmered beneath dark bangs. A presence ancient... but familiar.

He looked up, past the clouds—towards the unseen chaos raging far away.

And muttered under his breath:

"...She alone has no chance of winning."

The breeze stilled around him.

Then a smirk formed on his lips.

"But who said..."

"...she was alone?"

His blue eyes burned as the future shifted itself.

Back in Rinascita — Falling From the Sky

Celia and the Swarm Tyrant spiraled downward, their cursed auras clashing and twisting the sky into storms.

Wind howled.

Ash scattered.

And just then—A green streak of pure lightning split through the sky.

It screamed forward—cracking the heavens open.

BOOM!

It arced—curving like a serpent—until it reached her.

And in that moment, her eyes widened.Her lips twitched.

A dark, sharp smile returned to her face.

"...Took your time," Celia whispered.

"Sorcerer."

In front of her, in mid-air, a figure appeared—standing against gravity as if the sky itself bent to his presence.

White eyes.Lightning running along his skin like it was born there.Blood dripping down one side—but he stood tall.

Lucas Reinhardt.

He raised his head and stared directly at the Swarm Tyrant.

No emotion.

Only intent.

Deep Below — In the Cult

Azrion’s hand twitched.

The Foresight Diary violently flipped pages on its own, letters rewriting, overwriting, tearing through fate.

"Impossible..." he muttered, watching prophecy tear itself apart."This... shouldn’t be happening."

Above Rinascita

System screens bombarded Lucas’s vision, flickering endlessly:

「WARNING: Mana Rejection Rate exceeds 4100%」「WARNING: Core Limit breached」「WARNING: Heaven’s Singularity has already been cast once in under 2 hours」「WARNING: Beyond Set Limits」「WARNING: Imminent Body Collapse」「WARNING: Death Imminent—Proceeding will result in complete mana rupture」

A thousand more overlapped his sight.

And yet—

He didn’t blink.

Didn’t flinch.

Didn’t care.

He clenched his fist.

Looked up at the beast that haunted them all.

And muttered:

"Fuck. Limits."

He raised his hand to the sky. Fingers trembling. Blood soaking into his sleeve.

"All I want right now..."

Light gathered like a collapsing star.

"...is to see it..."

His body cracked from the overload. But he didn’t stop.

"...dying under..."

The air ruptured. Sound vanished. All was light and silence.

System screamed:

「CASTING: HEAVEN’S SINGULARITY — OMEGA VARIANT」「WARNING: Mana threshold -15,000. Proceeding will erase user’s soul.」「This is your last chance to cancel.」

Lucas smiled.

"...my feet."

And then—he unleashed it.

Time Slowed

The storm above Rinascita stopped spinning.

The clouds froze.

Light no longer moved. Sound no longer echoed.

It was as if the world itself paused—holding its breath for what was about to happen.

And in the stillness, a soft ding broke through the silence.

System Notification Appeared Before Lucas

「Secret Skill Unlocked: FATE」

「Would you like to use it?」

Lucas, barely able to think, looked at the words glowing faintly in the void of his mind.

His breathing was uneven.

His body barely holding together under the weight of the Heaven’s Singularity charging overhead.

His lips parted.

"...Yes," he whispered.

Then Time Moved Again

The heavens erupted.

Heaven’s Singularity: Omega Variant tore open the sky like judgment incarnate.

White light blazed like divine fire—curling down in spiraling chains of radiant death aimed squarely at the Swarm Tyrant.

And across the sky from it—Another magic formed.

But it wasn’t light.

It was Cursed.

And it bled with every sin the world had ever cast away.

Celia’s final cursed spell surged like a tidal wave of hell.

Her arms spread, black veins glowing up to her fingertips, her chains spiraling around her like wings of a fallen goddess.

Her voice was cold—sharp like knives wrapped in silk.

"Devil’s Benediction."

The sky cracked as red void magic gathered, a twisting storm of anguish, hatred, obsession, and loss.

Two magics.

One from above.

One from below.

And the Swarm Tyrant?

Trapped in the center.

Lucas smirked weakly as the world itself began to fracture under the power building.

"...Don’t you have something to do, witch?" he said, his voice strained.

Floating beside him, Celia’s blood-smeared face turned slightly.

"...You talk too much, sorcerer." Her red eyes locked on the Tyrant with finality.

And then—She raised her hand to the sky.

Chains burst from beneath the town, tearing upward—grabbing every cursed grotesque still bound to her will.

They twitched.

Jerked.

Stared at her one final time.

And Celia, voice a whisper of death, gave the order:

"...All of my cursed grotesques."

Her nails dug into her palm until blood dropped like ink.

"Kill yourselves."

Then—

—Silence—

Across Rinascita, every grotesque under her command—exploded.

Each cursed body igniting, turning into ash, red flames, and void magic—ripping through the regeneration cores spread out across the land.

The Swarm Tyrant’s eyes—wide with shock.

It turned its head.

And for the first time—its voice trembled.

"...No..."

Its jaw quivered, and the overwhelming bloodlust that had once defined its monstrous form... cracked.

"I’ve... felt this before..." A hiss of breath left its lungs.

"This is my... death."

The panic of a man.

"I was... human. I... I remember now..."

It clutched its head, claws digging into its own skull as fragmented memories pierced through centuries of grotesque evolution.

"The Asura Academy... of Sorcery..." it muttered, breath ragged. "I was a student there... I... I was in the same class... with him... and her..."

Its knees buckled slightly, wings twitching erratically.

"That pink-haired girl... Elfina..."

Its voice grew quieter, as if speaking from within a long-sealed tomb.

"...and that blue-eyed monster... the one who killed me... when I hurt her."

Tears—real tears—welled in the corners of its grotesque, mutated eyes.

"My name..."

It looked up—meeting Celia’s gaze, seeing his death reflected back in those blacked out eyes.

"In my dying moments... I remember..."

A final breath left its shattered body.

"...It’s Milo."

It staggered.

It looked down at its chest.

The invisible thread that linked it to the grotesque race—Was gone.

Then the sky—Fell.

Heaven’s Singularity collided with Devil’s Benediction.

White light met red void.

Celestial judgment met cursed obliteration.

And in the center—the Swarm Tyrant screamed.

Its body was torn apart at an atomic level.

Its armor, evolved from nightmares, shattered into nothing.

Its corrupted soul—burned under divine justice and drowned in cursed hatred.

When heaven and hell merged—Even monsters were erased.

The explosion that followed wasn’t sound.

It was silence.

So loud it broke the clouds apart and sent tremors across continents.

The skies glowed.

The ground shook.

And in the center of the crater that swallowed half of Rinascita—

The Swarm Tyrant was no more.

Not even ash remained.

Just two figures—

Floating in the sky.

One soaked in light.

The other wrapped in chains and red shadow.

Lucas and Celia.

The world was quiet.

Too quiet.

Lucas floated for a moment longer... until the surge of mana backlash hit him like a tidal wave.

He dropped—not crashing, but falling softly onto one knee. The divine remnants of the Heaven’s Singularity shimmered around his burnt coat like fading stardust.

His vision blurred. Limbs felt distant. His heartbeat slowed.

System Notification:

「 WARNING: HP: -200 | MP: -15,000 」

「 Vital Functions: 3% Remaining 」

「 Total Shutdown Protocol Initiated 」

「 You did good... Hero. 」

Lucas let out a low chuckle... and collapsed.

Darkness swallowed him whole.

Celia – The Devil’s Queen

I walked slowly, every step like a curse spoken against the world.

Chains scraped the ground beside me. Blood dripped from my lips and fingertips.

And ahead of me, like a decayed memory—was the shattered skull of the Swarm Tyrant. Still steaming. Still twitching.

But not dead.

Not yet.

Its mind was gone. Its soul obliterated.

But I didn’t care.

I didn’t want it to vanish.

I wanted it to serve me.

I stood before the grotesque remains, black mist forming a cloak behind me as my eyes glowed red and my chains coiled around like serpents.

"You don’t get to die yet," I said.

Meanwhile – The Cult of Nemesis

Azrion stood from his throne, fury burning in his veins.

"Send the Leviathan!" he screamed, his foresight book writing in frantic, cursed ink.

The Silent Executioner raised its hands to command—only to scream back in pain, reeling.

"M-My Lord!" it gasped. "Something... something is interfering with the Leviathan’s mind!"

Azrion’s eyes widened.

He turned back to the book.

The pages twisted. Words rewritten. Possibilities shattered and overwritten.

One name pulsed again and again in divine ink:

FATE SKILL.

Azrion’s hand trembled.

"...Another one... changed fate..." he whispered. "Not just Lucas... but him too..."

Far Away – Levinton

A lone figure in a black overcoat stood before Levi’s house.

Blue eyes shimmered under the shadow of his hood.

A smirk played on his lips as he watched the wind swirl toward Rinascita.

He muttered lowly,

"...That’s it, Azrion."

He turned, stepping into the fading sunlight.

"I win."

Back to Celia

I knelt before the remains of the monster that once ended lives like insects.

And raised my hands.

The chains around me glowed deep red, my voice whispering ancient curses not heard since the void screamed itself into being.

"Serve me until eternity."

The fragments began to twitch.

Bones crackled.

Flesh weaved itself back together—wrong, twisted, beautifully loyal.

My voice deepened. "Fulfill my wishes."

The sky trembled.

Black mist surged from my feet into the tyrant’s dying head.

"Ascend."

The Swarm Tyrant rose.

But not as it once was.

This form was sleeker, more humanoid in posture but inhuman in essence. Wings sharper than scythes. Its skin armored with black curse-steel, veins glowing red. A crown of thorned horns spiraled from its head like a halo corrupted.

Eyes opened—empty of will. Full of obedience.

A voice escaped its new lips, distorted and loyal.

"...What is... my name...?"

I stepped forward, the wind curling around me.

"Your name..." I whispered.

My chains danced behind me.

"...is Crownless."

It bowed its head in reverence.

And the world would never be the same.

Crownless then handed me the paper, its battered body trembling as it pressed the fragile sheet into my hands. It had carried it all this way, brought it back through the chaos with my cursed magic—rewriting every word by memory.

I held it close, my fingers slick with tears threatening to fall, my breath catching in my throat.

With his last blood, I saw what Kaiser’s last words were... he wrote...

Do you like the name I gave you... Celia?

The words blurred beneath my trembling gaze. I clutched the paper tighter as my tears broke free, streaming down my face like a river, soaking the parchment, mixing with the storm pouring from the sky.

"Kaiser..... I love my name."

I screamed. Screamed at the heavens, at the cold rain washing over me, at the cruel fate that stole him away.

He was truly gone. Forever.

My heart shattered into a thousand silent pieces.

"I’m so tired... so tired of all this pain...""If only I could disappear... maybe then the hurting would stop..."

Everything he was—the way he smiled, the way he saw me as more than just a curse—I remembered it all, sharp and aching.

The warmth of his touch.

"I wanted to hold you... just one more time!"

His quiet strength when I was falling apart.

The stolen moments where I thought maybe, just maybe, I belonged somewhere.

But now... now all I have is this hollow ache and a war won with blood and tears.

I sobbed until my lungs burned, screamed until my voice cracked, until there was nothing left but the cold emptiness inside.

I won the war.

But I lost my heart.

"My reason to live is gone."

Just then I lost consciousness and fell down. Unable to contain this pain any longer and from my exhaustion.

And so begins the tale of the last step.

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