Spark's End

"Heh heh, hahahaha! A spark that ignites in this dark world and burns everything to ash—what pure, ultimate beauty! Do you see it, you greedy, ugly, cruel nobles?!

I have returned from the flames; not even hell can halt my steps! Even if I burn myself to ashes, I will bring back this fire of ending! Tonight, in the name of Leo, the time for judgment has come!!!"

Leo gazed almost entranced at the royal palace engulfed in a crimson sea of fire, laughing maniacally. Yet for some reason, tears seemed to slide from the corners of his eyes.

Standing diagonally behind Leo, Anvis could see that Leo's left hand had instinctively clasped the pendant he always wore around his neck.

It was not some powerful magical artifact, but an utterly ordinary Magic Shadow Locket that could hold a small Magic Shadow Photo. Even an ordinary mercenary could afford one.

With Leo's Ninth Rank power, he had to be extremely careful not to crush it. Yet even in the grip of intense emotion, the way he held the locket remained incomparably gentle.

Below them, the explosions of clashing magic, the crackling of blazing flames, the roars of Professionals, the clash of weapons, the wails of the wounded, the terrified cries of women and children... all these notes intertwined to form the accompaniment for this moment.

Billowing smoke from the blaze obscured the Twin Moons in the night sky. Deep darkness draped itself over Leo like a cloak, while the distant flickering flames gilded its edges in blood-red, making him seem like a demonic ghost from hell crawling back into the mortal world.

"You should get moving. The seventh- and eighth-rank nobles do not matter, but against the Speaker at the Ninth Rank Limit, if you do not show yourself, those