"No way..."
Aoko was momentarily stunned by the scene before her, but in an instant, she made the best possible decision—she increased the output power of her magic, causing the glintstone magic torrent of Comet Azur to thicken even further.
However, as the son of the Full Moon Queen and a master of gravity magic, Radahn instinctively knew how to counter glintstone magic—especially since this particular glintstone spell was one of the many mastered by his mother.
Immediately, he manipulated his gravity magic to distort the space-time in front of him, altering the trajectory of the burning, surging magical torrent that was assaulting his body. With an upward flick of his twin greatswords, the supercharged glintstone cannon was forcibly redirected, shooting toward the blood-red sky. It tore through the clouds that had long shrouded the battlefield, revealing the long-lost starry night to all.
Radahn's roar echoed across the desolate wasteland. More and more arcs of gravity magic erupted from his massive frame, distorting the very space around him, making his form appear blurred.
But what he did next shocked everyone—except Aoko.
With a thunderous explosion, the towering figure of the demigod vanished from the battlefield, leaving behind only the massive crater created by their magical clash.
All the participants in the battle festival immediately began looking around frantically, searching for Radahn's whereabouts. However, Aoko wasted no time—she poured the majority of her magic power into activating Soaring Wind Realm, grabbing Touko, and flying far away without even a glance back.
"Run!" Aoko shouted, warning the others—especially the forces led by the veteran general Gaius. The old warrior, who had just climbed back onto his war boar, immediately understood what she meant. Without hesitation, he ordered his troops to move at full speed while tilting his head skyward, as if trying to locate something above.
Other warriors, like the Tarnished, although unsure why Aoko and Gaius were fleeing, trusted his instincts—and his allies. Without hesitation, the Tarnished summoned the horse, Torrent, sprinting in the opposite direction, even grabbing the dazed Half-Wolf Blaidd along the way.
But not everyone reacted so quickly. Most of the remaining fighters stood in confusion, aimlessly scanning the battlefield for their vanished foe. A few, like the Knights of Miquella, remained on high alert, raising their weapons in preparation for an unseen threat.
Then there were the fools—those who mocked Aoko and her allies for running, jeering that even a demigod is nothing special. Some of them even laughed and lowered their weapons, ridiculing the anticlimactic end of the battle festival.
As for a certain cunning bald-headed figure, no one had even noticed when he had slipped away.
"Hey, look over there—what is that?"
Someone standing atop a battlefield hill nudged their companion, pointing toward the star-filled night sky. Following the direction of the pointing finger, the companion saw a single star growing brighter and brighter.
Unlike the other twinkling, motionless stars, this one glowed red, its brilliance intensifying steadily.
Its size was also increasing.
It was descending toward the battlefield.
At first, the warriors on the ground merely watched in curiosity. But then, as they realized the star was heading straight for them, panic spread through the ranks.
That was no star.
It was a meteor, blazing with relentless fire, carrying boundless destruction as it plummeted from the heavens.
By the time everyone finally understood why Aoko had fled, it was far too late.
Starscourge Radahn had made his own demigod body the core of a meteor, using gravity magic to soar to the highest reaches of the Lands Between—before plunging back down at terrifying speed.
Channeling all his energy into acceleration, converting gravitational potential into devastating kinetic force, Radahn crashed into the densest part of the battlefield.
The resulting explosion far exceeded anything seen in the game—a cataclysmic detonation shook Caelid's battlefield. Even those like Aoko and Touko, who had escaped early, were sent tumbling through the air by the shockwave. The unlucky ones closer to the impact zone were obliterated instantly.
A colossal mushroom cloud billowed into the sky.
Though Aoko had caused many large-scale explosions in the past, this method—using one's own body as a cannonball—deeply shook Miss Blue.
Veteran general Gaius immediately pulled his war boar's reins, turning back. He ordered his entire force to charge back toward the battlefield, seemingly understanding Radahn's ultimate move all too well.
When Aoko returned to the aftermath of Radahn's Great Starfall Impact, she found that most of the battle festival's participants had been wiped out.
Only a handful remained:
The Miquella Knights, who had survived by layering their Purifying Golden Prayers as shields.
The Finger Maiden Sorceress, who had cleverly overlapped her protective prayer with the knights' defenses, barely survived.
As for the rest—
Some were vaporized in the explosion.
Others were reduced to charred husks by the inferno.
The few hardened warriors who had miraculously survived were swiftly butchered by Radahn, now a berserk whirlwind of death.
The battlefield was littered with corpses. Even the once-spirited Warrior Jar now lay shattered, its ceramic body covered in fractures, a large chunk missing from its back. The contents inside had spilled out through the cracks.
If Radahn had retained even a sliver of combat technique and rationality before, now he was fighting purely on primal instinct.
His emaciated warhorse was nowhere to be seen. Instead, purple arcs of gravity magic kept his enormous, legless body afloat, allowing the demigod to hover just above the ground as he continued his rampage.
His twin greatswords spun like a meat grinder, carving through the last remnants of life on the battlefield.
But even in the face of this monstrous foe, his surviving opponents did not falter.
The Miquella Knight Commander, wielding a golden-glowing longsword, led his final seven knights in a desperate last stand. Their holy prayers burned brightly as they counterattacked.
General Gaius, urging his war boar forward, grabbed a massive lance from the battlefield's wreckage and charged at his former comrade once more.
The surviving Albinauric archers, who had escaped due to Aoko's warning, followed closely behind their general, unleashing a hail of arrows.
The Tarnished, usually absentminded, now bore a determined gaze. Urging Torrent into a full sprint, they too rushed toward the Starscourge General.
Only Blaidd faced an awkward dilemma—lacking a mount, he had no choice but to sprint across the battlefield on foot.
Watching from above, Aoko hesitated for a moment before descending, pulling Blaidd into Soaring Wind Realm and lifting him into the sky.
This was the final stage of the battle.
Even for Radahn, who had survived re-entry into the atmosphere, the impact had left its mark.
His wounds, once held together by sheer will and magic, began to rupture.
With every swing of his blades, his blood splattered across the land he once ruled.
The life of a hero, like a candle in the wind, had entered its final countdown.