Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint
Chapter 337: The Song of Wither And Fireblast (End)

Juggernauts were special items bestowed by the Golden Lord to the Primarchs.

They were unique tools that only a Primarch could properly wield.

Designed with the abilities of the Primarch in mind, they could unleash infinite potential when used by the right person.

Still, if it’s a tool made by humans, then as the King of Humans, even I could—

I clenched my fist.

One of Rocket’s wings burst into flames.

An internal explosion rocked through the structure and wrecked it completely.

The impact was significant enough to stir up a storm. Rocket, caught at close range, suffered due to the severe shock.

“Gaaaah…!”

“Now!”

It was the perfect moment for the Regressor, who was poised for an attack.

Rocket had lost his balance, creating the ideal opening.

The Regressor ran her hand along Chun-aeng and lifted it over Jizan.

When steel strikes steel, sparks fly. When the earth meets the sky, lightning flashes.

As static built up the air with a menacing charge, the Regressor shouted.

“Aerith Blade Supreme, Reverse Thunder!”

Lightning rose from the ground and shot skyward.

As it sought to return to the sky, it found its place among the airborne debris.

There, staggering under the weight of countless metal attachments was a pitiful figure.

Though he was still reeling from the earlier impact, the unstoppable force of nature had never faltered before the misfortune of a single individual.

Lightning branched out into thousands of streams and engulfed Rocket’s whole body.

Trapped in the torrent of electricity, he screamed in agony as nature seared his body alive.

“Aaaaaargh!”

But it wasn’t enough to defeat him.

Although humans could bend nature to their own will, it would always have its own laws—lightning would take the easiest route available.

Most of the current traveled through the Juggernaut, leaving Rocket’s body relatively less affected.

Nevertheless, the battle was over.

Having endured both an explosion and a lightning strike, Rocket was no longer in the condition to fight.

“Lord Rocket! Are you alright?!”

One of Rocket’s subordinates flew over in a hurry.

The battle had taken long enough that many people were now paying attention to the scene.

It was not unusual for Rocket’s subordinates, who had stayed away so far, to start approaching.

“Lord Rocket! Over here!”

One of them caught Rocket as he fell.

The weight of the Juggernaut almost dragged them both down, but thanks to Rocket regaining consciousness and reigniting his thrusters, they managed to stabilize.

Supporting Rocket, he anxiously asked.

“Are you okay?”

“Ugh… First Wing. The Winged Assault Squad… Where…”

The ‘subordinate’ answered with confidence.

“Don’t worry! They are all waiting for you, my Lord!”

“Don’t… just wait. Bring them all…! Have them come and kill those bastards!”

When Rocket yelled in anger, the ‘subordinate’ looked troubled.

“T-That’s not going to work, my Lord.”

“Are you scared?! Did you forget that your lives are in my hands? This is an order! Attack now…! Or I’ll detonate all of your thrusters!”

“What ‘I’ mean is, you see…”

“What?!”

As Rocket’s face twisted in fury toward the hesitating ‘subordinate,’ something sharp and cold burrowed into his body.

It was so subtle and precise that Rocket didn’t realize it until the blade had already pierced him.

Realizing something too late, he opened his mouth in silent shock.

The ‘subordinate’ spoke in a calm tone.

“Because they’re already six feet under~ Hehe, how can you order the dead around?”

At some point, his face had changed to Hilde’s.

Rocket’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Moments later, a massive explosion erupted.

Rocket triggered an explosion across his body to throw Hilde off.

Even as a master of Qi Arts, without a foothold, Hilde couldn’t counteract the force.

Both were flung in opposite directions.

Rocket’s body spun uncontrollably as he plummeted to the ground.

Crashing down with a thud, he struggled to move and pulled back his cloak.

Blood welled up from where the blade had briefly been.

“Ugh…! Cough, cough!”

A short distance away, Hilde landed lightly, twirling her bloodied blade as she murmured.

“Hmmm~ No wonder the blade didn’t go in well~”

Hilde’s eyes flickered over Rocket’s exposed body beneath the cloak.

His back was hunched.

What had seemed like a backpack concealed by the cloak and Juggernaut was actually his own misshapen torso.

That explained why he had survived even when Hilde stabbed with lethal intent.

But it was only a matter of ‘when’ he died.

“Rocket, the Fireblastarch. The most powerful war-monger in the Fallen Dominion. You control an airborne unit with thrusters, right? According to my information, the Winged Assault Squad serves as messengers for the Golden Palace too.”

“Ugh…!”

“It would have been a tricky unit to face without Historia. I didn’t think I’d deal with them here. Lucky me~”

Hilde looked back at me with an innocent smile.

“I can kill him now, right, Father?”

“Wait a moment.”

“Oh my? Why? Is there something else you need to check?”

The Regressor, now moving quickly, drove Chun-aeng into Rocket’s wing.

Stepping on Chun-aeng to keep Rocket down, the Regressor spoke with a commanding tone.

“This is your last chance. Tell me where the Golden Palace is.”

“Cough…! You…!”

“If you call yourself a messenger of the Golden Palace, you must know where it is and what it looks like. If you want to live, be honest. I’ll spare your life.”

“Hah… Ha… To think that you’d even know that…”

｢To think they’d know even that, those fools of the Military State who dared to kill their own king…｣

Rocket let out a short, bitter laugh.

As if resigned, he stammered through blood-flecked coughs.

“…Fine. I’ll tell you…”

｢…I’ve already lost everything—my squads, my reputation, my wealth, even my Juggernaut. I have no reason to live… and they won’t let me live anyway. If so…｣

He muttered something inaudible, too low for the Regressor to catch.

The Regressor clicked his tongue and stepped closer.

“What are you mumbling? Speak clearly.”

As the Regressor moved forward, Hilde shifted, ready to deliver the final blow.

But that was exactly what Rocket had been waiting for.

He activated his Unique Magic.

The metal that made up his Juggernaut, crafted by the Golden Lord specifically for him, was an Alchemic Steel that wouldn’t wear out no matter how much it burned or exploded.

Thus, Rocket could fly endlessly, without fear of depleting his resources.

But at the very end, even that immortality could serve as fuel for a final explosion.

“You… will die…”

“What?”

Rocket raised his blood-stained arm.

The last bit of his mana flowed from his arm into the Juggernaut.

Though the metal created by the Golden Lord was of the highest quality, the Primarch… could still alter its structure, however faintly.

He turned the immortal metal into mortal metal—to burn everything and his enemies at once.

“With this inheritance given by the Golden Lord… I’ll take you all down with me!”

Rocket shouted as he released his Unique Magic.

It was too late to react.

The ensuing explosion would decimate everything within hundreds of meters, sweeping up the Regressor and Hilde in its wake…

But.

“What are you doing?”

The Regressor muttered absently.

The Heavenly Counter Domain did not activate.

The defensive Qi engraved on the Regressor’s body didn’t signal any danger.

Because there was no danger.

“W-why…”

Rocket stared at his Juggernaut, its glow fading.

The last desperate move he had prepared, the final trick of the masterpiece bestowed by the Golden Lord, was rusting away.

Alchemy could only operate based on fair exchange. The Alchemic Steel forged by the Golden Lord would have created a magnificent explosion worthy of Rocket’s final legacy.

If only it had not withered…

“R-Rust…”

- Clip-clop.

Slow, deliberate hoofbeats echoed on the dry ground.

The Witherarch, Peru approached Rocket on Aurea.

Against the impassive gaze of Peru, Rocket shouted desperately.

“Why…! Why are you interfering…!”

Peru spoke slowly.

“…You were trying to self-destruct.”

“They should have died here! Their land could have been ours! Why did you turn my Juggernaut into rust?!”

“…Same. Your explosion. My wither. They both make Juggernauts useless.”

｢And if both lead to the same outcome… If both ended up destroying the Juggernaut…****｣

Peru spoke quietly.

“…Less destruction and dying is better.”

Peru avoided fighting not because of a lack of ability but because her power erased value itself.

Yet if someone like the Fireblastarch intended to sacrifice all value for total annihilation, Peru would intervene.

The glow that surrounded the Juggernaut slowly died down.

Rocket, realizing that the life of the Golden Lord’s masterpiece was fading away, let out a howl.

“Don’t fuck with me! Peru, you know of our wish…! You stole our second home—”

“Yes, yes~ We hear you loud and clear.”

- Slice

The shout was cut off as if sliced by a blade.

Moments later, Rocket’s head fell to the side.

The Fireblastarch, the fire that had raged against the Regressor, the Military State, and finally Peru, died with a face full of resentment.

A period was placed on a soot-covered chapter.

From a short distance away, I silently bid him goodbye.

Farewell, Lord Rocket.

A man who burned like a flame until his final breath.

Like a firework, your life was short, but your end was definitely colorful.

When I looked up to say my last rites, Hilde was hiding her blade behind her back and giving an awkward smile to the Regressor and Peru.

“Please don’t look at me like that~ I only took on the dirty job that no one else could bear. Could we have just let him go without killing him? I think I deserve praise, don’t you think~?”

She feigned innocence, even though she had intended to kill him from the start.

In truth, I was the one who played the biggest role in neutralizing Rocket.

They do say never let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, but isn’t it a bit much to work so hard and not even get a little recognition?

Anyway, I should step in to mediate before things get more awkward.

I sighed internally and called Azzy.

“Azzy.”

“Good job, woof!”

“…No, that’s not what I meant.”