Light and darkness collided, creating an invisible crescent arc of the void that surged forth at Lucas, utterly obliterating anything that stood in its path.
However, as that arc of void reached Lucas, it started swirling, folding on itself and turning into an orb the size of a grain of rice – a miniature black hole.
The miniature blackhole stopped right in front of Lucas and then shot backward at Nero in a display of an incomprehensible speed, slowly growing big.
Kach—!!
Nero tried, but he couldn't move out of the way – at least not completely. The black hole pierced his shoulder like a bullet and devoured a huge chunk of his arm before disappearing.
What was left of Nero's arm fell to the ground with a revolting thud, still holding the light sword in its grasp.
Meanwhile, he himself staggered back in pain and let out a gut-wrenching scream before falling to his knees.
In just under a minute, Lucas Morningstar had brought three of the strongest people on this planet to their knees.
However, instead of being overjoyed as one would expect, he was heartbroken. A dark look washed over his face as he sighed.
"Eight billion people on this planet. I will kill my love along with two of my closest friends in the world… and save the world."
With that, he walked up to Amelia and raised his spear over her head.
Amelia shifted her head to look up at him, but before she could do that, Lucas thrust his spear down on her, bursting open her skull.
He retracted his spear as Amelia's lifeless body fell to the ground, causing both Nero and Anastasia to widen their eyes.
They screamed and cried, cursing Lucas while trying to get up and kill him in the most painful way imaginable, but he didn't pay any attention to them.
For him, this ordeal was already way more painful than anything the universe could subject him through.
As soon as he reached Anastasia, Lucas once again brought down his spear on her, splitting open her head.
The light in her eyes faded as her body turned limp, falling to the ground much like her friend's.
Lucas sighed, steeling his resolve for one final push. But just right then, he felt a massive mana disruption in the atmosphere. n--In
Frowning slightly, he turned around, only to see Nero weakly pulling himself back to his feet, clutching his right shoulder.
Several swords were hovering in the air all around him.
Those were all six of the Heavenly Swords, each one a manifestation of an element of the universe – Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light, and Darkness.
He cursed at Lucas and extended his one good arm, causing all six of the swords to merge into one – a sword with a blade that shone into a myriad of shades.
It was the seventh Heavenly Sword – the Sword Of Existence. Nero reached forward and grabbed its hilt. As soon as he did that, crackling energy erupted from him and started reshaping anything it touched down to the quantum level.
Nero's severed arm floated up in the air and joined back with his shoulder, stopping the flowing blood and regrowing the destroyed parts.
His feet lifted off the ground as he began levitating. He pointed his sword at Lucas, who was still looking at Nero with dark, gloomy eyes even after witnessing him perform a godly feat.
"Die!" Nero yelled as a pulse of energy threatened to erupt at Lucas. However, the silver-haired boy simply raised his quill and aimed it at Nero's sword.
In the next moment…
Thack—!!
Thud—!!
A net of cracks appeared on Nero's sword as it broke into thousands of shards.
Nero fell to the ground with a thud, feeling a crippling weakness assault over his already exhausted body.
"Wha… What the…"
He couldn't even muster comprehensive sentences as Lucas walked over and gave him a final look.
There was only unfathomable sorrow in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said as he lodged his spear deep in the middle of his skull, killing his last friend.
The room fell silent, filled only by the echoes of Lucas' heavy breath. The once formidable heroes lay lifeless at his feet.
The last hopes of the world… were dead.
In the somber silence, Lucas couldn't escape the weight of his actions. The sacrifices he made for the greater good seemed hollow and cold.
No one among the three of them even came close to seriously hurting Lucas. He killed the three heroes in a matter of minutes.
Lucas stood in silence before the lifeless bodies of his friends, bravely holding back tears welling up in his eyes.
He wiped the blood of his fallen friends from his face with a trembling hand, leaving a few red smudges on his pale skin.
"There was no other way… There was no other way!"
With a quivering voice, he repeated a single sentence, as if convincing himself that there truly was… no other way.
And indeed, there wasn't. He had really tried everything he could. In the end, this was the only conclusion.
"The lives of three against the billions," Lucas muttered under a shaky breath. "There was no other way."
Even if they had vanquished the Vampire Monarch, they would have ultimately been killed by the Dragon God.
That ruthless demon would have slaughtered the entire planet in order to get to them.
Lucas had witnessed this happen before – the destruction wrought by the Dragon God, and his friends taking futile last stands against him before being instantly killed off.
No one could stop the Dragon God – neither them nor him nor the countless other champions that came before them.
Lucas himself had proven it. If he could kill them in under a few minutes, then the Dragon God would erase their existence with just a snap of his fingers.
Tears streamed down Lucas' face. He couldn't stave off the breakdown any longer. He fell to his knees and started crying his heart out.
He was tired. He was hurt. And most importantly, he wanted all of this to just end.
"If only you had been stronger… just a little stronger," he gasped amid sniffs and sobs, casting a furious gaze at Nero. "Why did they choose you?! Why didn't the heavens choose me?"
If the heavens had chosen him… if he was fated to banish the darkness instead of his friends… he would've done it by now!
If he was the chosen one, he would've ended it all!
