Apocalypse Reset: My Crab Can Heal the World!-Chapter 120: The King’s Will

The people of Dimartino gasp as the light overtakes them.

"What is this?"

"Look at the sky!"

"The foam - it's surrounding us!"

In Ordella, where the newly resurrected still reel from their return to life, a young woman reaches out toward the foam as it encases them, only to find it did not burn. Clancy's cleansing power foam does not purge - it protects.

"This is the will of the gods!" The woman shouts to those around her. "A blessing of the great King Crab!"

And at the now-ruined castle, Maria stands frozen, golden eyes wide as she watches the impossible unfold.

"This wasn't just an attack," she murmurs. "It was a gift. Divine protection…"

"Oh, Clancy," she whispers, an unfamiliar emotion tightening in her chest. "You foolish, stupid, wonderful crab."

From Maria, a higher compliment could never be received.

Barns staggers to his feet, still trying to comprehend what just happened. His breathing is ragged, his body heavy with exhaustion, but as he looks up at the towering dome of swirling, celestial foam, his chest swells with something beyond words.

A shield. A barrier of cleansing magic, forged from Clancy's final act of defiance.

"Clancy…" Barns mutters, his voice hoarse. "What the hell did you just do?"

Above, Nazakiel's wicked grin falters.

He could feel it—the world has shifted.

The Sentinel reaches out, summoning a spear of pure annihilation, its energy crackling with enough force to pierce the heavens. Without hesitation, he hurls it toward the barrier, watching as it streaks through the air. A lance of light - unbridled destruction. His most powerful attack, from the perspective of sheet destructive power on impact.

It collides with the foam.

And disappears.

Not shattered. Not deflected. Erased. As if the attack were nothing at all.

Nazakiel's pupils dilate as his own attack is swallowed by the cleansing barrier. He raises his hand, preparing to summon another—only to pause as something unthinkable happens.

The foam pushed back.

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Like a living tide, the radiant wall of light surges outward, repelling him. Not an attack, but outright denial.

Barns looks up at Nazakiel, though it's hard to even see the tiny dot floating far above.

The Sentinel's expression twists into something close to disbelief.

"This… should not be possible!" Nazakiel howls, his voice raspier than before.

Barns smirks, taunting the Sentinel even though he can't hear. "Guess you're not as unstoppable as you thought."

Nazakiel's jaw clenches. For the first time since arriving in Dimartino - no, for the first time since ascending as a Sentinel - his absolute certainty has been shaken to the core.

Clancy's final act, whether intentional or the last desperate grasp of a dying king, had created an impenetrable divine barrier.

Dimartino, Ordella, and even the Pale Court are now untouchable, enveloped in a shimmering cage of translucent, foamy light.

The First Undead's horde could not breach it.

The Sentinels could not corrupt it.

The Emperor himself would have to face a new reality. Humanity has been granted a shield that not even Yharan's greatest warrior can pierce.

Barns kneels beside Clancy's fallen, monolithic form, pressing a hand against the crab's cracked shell.

The King is still alive - but barely. Between Nazakiel's attacks, the swarm of comets that devastated him earlier, and the sheer exertion of his god-level abilities, his vitality is all but sapped.

His body shudders with shallow, pained breaths. The strain of his final miracle had drained him beyond anything he had ever endured.

Barns clenches his fists.

He has to save Clancy.

But even as he presses his forehead against the rough shell of his friend, he knows the truth.

Even if he somehow saves Clancy's life, the King of the Land Above would never fight again.

"Clancy!" Barns shouts into the shell. The crab is so big, he's not even sure if he can hear.

"Damn it, Clancy! Don't you give up on me now!"

Tears begin to stream down Barns' face.

The gargantuan crab takes one pained, stilted breath. His shallow breathing makes the entire castle quiver, from its impossible scale.

"Clancy!" Barns roars, growing increasingly agitated. "Say something, King! So I know you're -"

Maria climbs onto the shell and lowers herself to Barns' side. She puts her hand on his back, but doesn't say a word.

"Why don't you say anything…you can't just do something this cool and then die over it!"

The heavy shell underneath Barns and Maria shifts - ever so slightly. The faintest sign of life.

"BaRNacCLEs…"

The mighty king's voice is haggard, tired. As huge as he is, it's still barely a whisper.

"LeAVE…BeST KINGdOM…EVER MaDE…TO BEST FRIEND…CRAB eVER Had…"

"CLANCY!"

One final inhale.

"CLANCY, STOP JOKING AROUND!"

One final exhale.

"KING! PLEASE! I…"

The tears stream down Barns' face. Maria holds him tighter.

"I need you."

Deafening silence.

Impossible stillness.

Time itself lurches to a grinding halt.

A shimmering ripple spreads across Clancy's colossal form, a faint, wavering light that flickers like a dying ember in the dark. Barns presses his palm against the shell, his breath caught in his throat, watching - waiting - for any sign of movement.

But instead, the light begins to escape - burning off the crab's shell, sending a stream of vibrant, dazzling energy up into the sky.

It dissipates freely - beautiful, but also haunting.

Clancy's massive frame, once burning with radiant, divine energy, now dulls - the vibrant reds of his shell wash away, and the deep, royal hues of his carapace bleach into a stoic gray. The cracks along his shell widen, and power that once surged through him seeps away, evaporating into the air like mist under a hot morning sun.

Maria tightens her grip on Barns' shoulder. "He's… turning to stone."

Barns' throat tightens. "No."

His fingers curl over the shell. "No, no, no. Wake up! We can fix this! We'll figure something out!"

The light in Clancy's violet eyes darkens.

And then, all at once -

The golden glow that once coated his entire body releases like a flock of nesting birds startled into the sky.

It flees in sweeping waves, his enormous form shedding the last traces of his god-like state. His once-mighty limbs stiffen, losing their fluid, crab-endowed strength. His claws, powerful enough to split mountains in two, fall slack. His entire body settles, motionless, an unshakable, monolithic husk.

The world holds its breath.

The once-living titan is now a monument. A testament to the might of the Greatest Crab That Ever Lived. Clancy. The Emperor of Humanity.

From the ground, the people of Dimartino look on in silent awe. There are no cheers, no cries of triumph. Only reverence. Even from far away, Clancy's mighty form is visible. And what is happening is clear.

In Ordella, they press their hands together in quiet prayer.

The King of the Land Above, the savior of Dimartino, the greatest hero they had ever known…

Now stands as an unmoving, eternal guardian, at the epicenter of a barrier of light that defies all evil that would threaten humanity.

Barns stares at the empty husk beneath his hands. He knows Clancy is still inside, somewhere. The real Clancy. The one who would click his claws in excitement at the sight of food, the one who would shout absurd, ridiculous things about prostitutes. The one who stood beside him, always, through every battle.

His guardian, his mentor, his teacher. His best friend. His companion.

The other half of the 'legendary hero' tag-team.

But now, there's nothing.

No warmth.

No movement.

No sound.

Only silence.

Barns' chest tightens, his pulse pounds against his skull.

Maria shifts beside him, voice soft, measured - yet laced with something rare. Not her usual dry amusement. Something else.

Grief.

"Barns…"

He doesn't move.

"Barns."

Still, nothing.

Maria swallows hard, her eyes burning with unshed emotion. "…He knew. He did it for us. For all of us. He couldn't win. So he did what he could."

Barns exhales sharply, his vision blurring.

She continues, her voice quieter now as if saying it too loudly would undo his sacrifice. "This was never a fight we could walk away from."

Barns clenches his fists. "Then why?" His voice cracks. He stops, forcing himself to breathe. "Why did he…why didn't he tell me?"

Maria doesn't answer.

Because there's nothing to say.

Because Clancy was never going to let himself lose.

Because Clancy had already decided, long before this battle even began, that Barns would be the one to carry on.

The weight of that realization crushes him.

Barns lowers his forehead against Clancy's shell. His best friend. His first friend. The one who raised him, who gave him his name, who stood by his side when no one else would.

Now, Clancy is nothing more than a gray, lifeless husk.

A silent guardian, standing watch over the kingdom he died to protect.

Maria exhales softly, brushing a hand over Barns' back, grounding him.

"Dimartino still stands," she murmurs. "Because of him. A more legendary hero there has never been."

The words sting.

Barns shakes, pressing his eyes shut, trying to fight back the sickening grief clawing at his throat.

But he can't.

And so, for the first time since he was a child, the Legendary Hero of Dimartino buries his face against the cold, unmoving shell of his best friend, and lets himself break.

All the while, Maria holds him steady.