Chapter 47: I'll Kill You with a Single Snap

I stretched my limbs and stood up. Though the girl’s thighs were tempting, my life mattered more—I wouldn’t bite the dust so easily.

“How are the townsfolk?” I asked Kasa, who’d just sprinted over.

“Can you let me catch my breath?” Kasa grumbled, his face twisted in resentment.

“You’re a Golden Knight, for heaven’s sake. Aren’t you ashamed to disgrace the royal family?” I shot him a withering glare.

“Bro! I just crawled back from death’s door. Show some sympathy!”

“Tch~ Who hasn’t?”

“............”

“Klath... cough cough,” Old Man Ster called weakly from under a nearby tree.

“Old Man Ster, you’re alive?” I jogged to the tree and turned to the Old Mage beside him. “Master, you’re unharmed too?”

“I’m fine. Ster has final words for you. Listen closely. Remember well...” The Old Mage’s face was grim.

“Klath, you truly are the Goddess’s chosen savior. Today, you refused to abandon Crescent Town. When the apocalypse comes, I know you won’t abandon this world.”

“Your Holiness flatters me. I’m just a stubborn fool clinging to everything.”

“Sigh... Who lacks obsessions? Don’t dwell on it. You forcibly fused with the Dragon Princess’s divine core. Not through baptism, but it worked. Just... side effects.”

“Side effects?” I touched my face, cold sweat dripping. “What kind?”

“The Dragon Princess is an ancient red dragon of blood and fire. Her divine core holds overwhelming blood and fire elements, so...”

“So? So?!” My face paled.

“You get nosebleeds when emotional!”

“...Old man, you scared me to tears.”

“Puhahaha! Rare for this old man to crack a joke. Feels good. Alas, I’m leaving this world soon. Otherwise, I’d try living differently.”

“You? What’s wrong? Badly hurt? I know light and life magic—I can save you!” I yanked on the Star Absorption Gloves, ready to cast.

“No need.” The Old Mage waved a hand. “Ster was struck by the Raven’s Verbal Spirit. It corrupts flesh and soul alike.”

“So... the Ravens?” My nose stung. I’d only met the holy beast Ster twice, but I respected this gentle elder.

“Never mind. I should’ve died with the empire years ago. I lingered for one thing alone.”

“Tell me. I’ll do it!” I wiped my eyes.

“Feel your chest.” Ster pointed at me.

I touched my neck—when had this stone pendant appeared? It gleamed like jade, shaped like a crescent moon, radiating soothing energy.

“What is this?” I stared at the two elders, puzzled.

“The ‘Lunar Essence Stone’ I mentioned—the key to the ‘Unknown Land’ Ster guarded with his life.” The Old Mage sighed. “It broke through the fire pillar to bring us here and stabilize your divine core’s fluctuations.”

I stroked the azure stone, chuckling bitterly. “That’s a massive debt.”

“Hehe, too late to regret. Repay it to the Elven Race.” Ster smiled warmly. “How many years since the war? Maybe they’ll reclaim their homeland.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll repay it. Old man? Old man!”

Ster closed his eyes. His body dissolved into shimmering specks, vanishing into the air.

“Master, why do some people destroy others’ happiness?!” I knelt by the tree, tears streaming down.

“This old man... has no answer.”

“I’ll never forgive them. Never!”

A powerful spiritual probe swept the ground. My hair stood on end—Legendary?!

“Bad news! The enemy has backup!” The Old Mage’s face paled. He rallied to fight, but his injuries buckled his knees, and he collapsed.

“Grandpa!” Monaluna rushed to support him.

“Master, I’m in a foul mood. Since a punching bag showed up, let me vent!—Elemental Armor!”

Electric arcs erupted from my belt. Zaku’s armor components snapped onto me in an instant.

“Clang! Clang clang clang!” Magic arrays swirled around me. Pressure rivaling peak Saint-level radiated out, clashing with the unseen Legendary.

“Zaku—Assault! MAX!!!”

With my roar, loose armor parts burst off. White steam hissed from joints. Pressure surged again—reaching initial Legendary level.

“Hmph?!” A figure materialized from the void. Black feather cloak. White mask. Pitch-black staff.

“I am Shamoye, one of the twelve Raven Lords of the Ravens of the Cold Night. Young brother, you have talent. Join us. I’ll spare everyone—even Crescent Town’s residents.”

“Hahahaha! You should worry about how *I’ll* spare *you*!” I stepped forward, shielding the others behind me.

“Hmph, insect. I offered you mercy. Ungrateful fool. Killing you is a flick of my finger. Fine. I’ll slaughter you all, reclaim the ‘Lunar Essence Stone’, and take you for soul-searching!”

“Chattering like a sparrow! In heat or something?!”

“You insect! How dare you—”

“Insect my face! Stuck on one word—speech impediment? Did you memorize that monologue off your palm and almost bite your tongue? How’d a dumbass like you become a Raven Lord? Did your HR manager eat earwax as a kid?”

“You! You! You!”

“Tsk tsk, a stutterer? Admirable grit! Or... did you sleep your way up? A virgin selling his ass? Filthy!”

“Aaah! I’ll reduce you to ashes!!”

Shamoye unleashed crushing pressure. Lightning elements surged skyward, converging on his staff.

“O most explosive lightning, heed my soul’s call! Gather before my staff—form rampaging thunder! Tear heavens and earth! Infinite thunder, boundless lightning!—Apocalypse Thunder Strike!”

Purple lightning flooded the sky. As Shamoye swung his staff, bolts condensed into raging streams. Density spiked—some turned liquid plasma, surging toward me with apocalyptic force.

I watched the thunder roll, lost in memory:

Days ago, after obtaining the ‘Raven’s Lament’ crystal, I studied its energy structure. World energy splits into elements—but what lies beneath? The crystal held the answer.

Its energy was finer than elements. Attribute-less, yet able to become any element. Chaotic primal energy clashing caused explosions; injecting magic intensified it. I named it ‘energy particles’.

This proved a theory: any two elements can convert into each other. The released energy is colossal!

Based on this, I forged a new magic system—Hybrid Magic—unlike traditional fusion magic.

Back now, I raised my right hand. I’d prepared this trump card long before the Legendary appeared. Taunting him bought time—forcing him to unleash his strongest spell.

Only then could I end this in one move.

My middle finger sparked with purple lightning. My index finger burned with fierce flames. My thumb swirled with energy particles.

“Snap!” My thumb struck the flames. Lightning vanished. Flames turned azure. The arc landed perfectly on the incoming thunder.

“Boom!” The impossible happened—the lightning ignited like gasoline! Bolts caught fire, racing upward. The sky blazed with blue flames.

“Aaah aaah!” The Raven Lord at the core screamed, engulfed. Energy from the conversion was violent yet swift—even a Legendary couldn’t react.

But a Legendary is a Legendary. Shamoye burst from the flames, disheveled and unstable. He’d paid a heavy price to escape.

“Good! I’ll remember you!” Shamoye snarled, carving a spatial gate with his staff. He vanished inside without a glance back.

“Hey! Heat season! You forgot your souvenir!!”

I switched the fully charged ‘Raven’s Lament’ to my right hand. The ‘Elemental Sniper’ whirred as I hurled it into the closing gate.

The crystal shot through the spatial tunnel. The gate vanished—then a violent explosion rocked the spot. The shockwave pierced dimensions.

“If you’re not dead, I’ll take your name, dumbass—you said killing us was a flick of your finger? Now you don’t have a fingertip left! I killed you with just a snap!”