Book 10 Chapter 21

Episode 246

This is absurd.

It's a greatsword, isn't it? Its size and mass are enormous.

You're saying you can swing such a sword unrealistically fast? And I couldn't even follow its movements?

"My neck? Ha, cut the funny talk!"

I was just momentarily off guard.

Kashanu pulled a syringe from her pocket. Inside was a blood transfusion.

As soon as the needle was plunged into the severed limb, the severed arm began to regenerate rapidly.

'Fae-Quarier's super-fast regeneration?'

Miria's eyes narrowed.

No, that's not the hemolymph Fae-Quariers use; it's human blood. In that case, that is…

Kashanu's face was covered in cold sweat from the rebound of regeneration, and she shrieked.

"It's your head that's going to fly off!"

I must not lose, no matter what. I must not be defeated in anything.

I must not disappoint him. If I do, I might be abandoned by my father.

Kashanu was a Half-Demon.

Half-elves, born from fairies and humans, are merely treated as impure by fairies, but Kashanu was a hybrid of human and Blood Fiend.

Blood Fiends, one of the Six Great Demon Races, are born with an appearance very similar to humans, which seemed to have piqued her father's interest.

He abducted and imprisoned her mother, a princess of a Blood Fiend kingdom, and made her bear his child, and that was Kashanu.

Her mother was then banished from the kingdom, saying that she had mixed with the ugly and lowly blood of humans.

And somewhere on the outskirts of the desert, she tried to curse and kill Kashanu before her head exploded, killing her.

"Kashanu" was the last word her mother uttered, and it was said to be used as a word of curse among Blood Fiends.

- This is surprising. Originally, demons don't have emotions like affection, do they? Power, slaughter, dominance are everything. They're more beastly than beasts.

- …?

- Longing for affection from parents is a weak trait that only humans possess. I came to see what happened to our feisty little beauty, and quite an interesting result emerged, didn't it?

It was her father who saved Kashanu.

Her father was human and claimed to be a great mage who had left a profound mark on human history.

However, he did not tolerate being called "father" and would coldly react negatively if she continued to do so.

She finally gathered the courage when she came of age.

- Th-that, that, what do I have to do for you to let me call you Daddy?

- I hate talentless people, so if you get strong? Well, I don't know. I'm busy, so scram.

- Th-the Adamantite-rank adventurer! They say that's the strongest among humans right now, so if I become that?

No direct answer came back, but he didn't deny it, so she thought he had permitted it.

She did her best.

She truly did her best.

She always acted alone, fearing that her lineage's secret might be exposed if she got involved with others. Many people suggested forming parties, but she always acted alone.

'It was fine though. I wasn't lonely or struggling.'

Because her father was truly important to Kashanu.

If she could only gain recognition from the father who saved her, fed her, and sheltered her, her relationships with other humans meant nothing.

It took 20 years, but thanks to the Blood Fiend power inherited from her mother, she eventually attained the position of supreme being.

'Now I can finally call you Daddy. Now Daddy has finally started to acknowledge my usefulness.'

The demonic sword 'Stardust' was also stolen and brought to her by her father from her mother's kingdom…

"I've built all of this up, do you think I'd let you destroy it now?!"

Kashanu's body transformed into a red mist and then dissolved into the atmosphere, disappearing.

'Transformation into mist… a royal?'

Watching the eerily trembling atmosphere, Miria calmly lowered the tip of Shurpen's blade.

'Only nobles can split their bodies into countless bats, and only royals can use mist like this.'

During the turmoil 300 years ago, she only faced a royal once.

But that one experience was enough.

Royal Blood Fiends are called incarnations of evil and wield extremely powerful forces, but this one compared to the king she met then…

'A sensation of widely expanding touch outside the body.'

She instantly detects the killing intent approaching by widely spreading her sensory antennae. Just like now.

Time Flow Swordsmanship, 14th Form.

The blade of the holy sword, swung at an abnormal speed, deflected the blade of the star and cut the body of the opponent holding it.

"Caught you?"

No sooner had she said that than the body exploded, drenching Miria in blood. Even her face was so soaked in blood that both her sight and hearing, and sense of smell were blocked.

Blood Plague.

A power used by blood kin who manipulate blood, it causes the blood of those exposed to it to flow backward and die, or breaks their minds, making them their puppets.

"The battles of the pinnacles are decided by a single hair's breadth!"

She was confident she had defeated this arrogant human. She was clearly at the stage of deciding how to kill her.

'Certainly.'

But that feeling of victory vanished like a lie in the next moment.

'She definitely melted into the atmosphere.'

Then she felt a crushing pressure as if her own body was being crushed by a rock, and *fwah*, a cold, empty, and terrifying sensation of death cut across her waist.

The dimension around her body, returning to human form, was shattered like a glass window.

She was now in an un-cuttable, inorganic state, yet it could be cut? Could a sword cut reality itself?

'I hate her.'

She hated her enough to want to kill the enemy who destroyed the happiness she had so painstakingly built up.

But the streak of blood drawing a long arc across the sky above her head clearly pointed to death.

An empty and solitary terror began to eat away at her mind, whitening it. The same terror she had felt 28 years ago.

'No.'

If I'm in this state, Daddy will come help me.

It's the same as then.

He'll come protect me. He'll come help me. So don't give up, Kashanu.

Right, Daddy?

The parents she had seen living in the human world mostly dropped important things and rushed to their children's aid.

"Right, Daddy…?"

The last thing that flashed before Kashanu's eyes was a dream sight she had never seen in her life: Zernix and Kashanu laughing joyfully with each other…

"Khh, haa…"

Only after confirming that Kashanu's pulse had stopped, Rista collapsed to her knees. She still couldn't see ahead due to the blood covering her.

'Shurpen, my body can't withstand Shurpen's power.'

Shurpen had certainly lent her power. It had allowed her to use the power of her past life. But there must be a price for that.

"Stay still, I need to remove the impure blood that entered your body."

Had she been unconscious for a very brief moment after collapsing like that? When she came to, Sirin was attending to Miria's condition.

Water magic cleaned her body, and healing magic warmly caressed the bleeding areas.

Through her half-opened vision, she saw Pipi. Having regained some strength, Pipi was sitting demurely on Sirin's head.

"Pipi."

"Pipi, Pipi."

"Have you been well?"

It was a question of the utmost normalcy, yet the weight of it, for both the speaker and the listener, was immense.

Still unable to fly properly, Pipi crossed over to Miria's head and lightly pecked her crown.

Sirin, watching the playful act while chanting spells, said,

"The top of your head is completely bleached white."

"Really?"

"It seems you used up your lifespan using the holy sword with a non-Fae-Quarier body… Ah, you shouldn't stand up yet! You must be exhausted."

I couldn't have used that much of my lifespan yet. And even if I did, I have to use more today.

"Is Aki, has Aki come down?"

"No, when I arrived here, only you were here. Look, Rista-nim!"

"Don't call the name of someone who died long ago."

Miria staggered as if to fall, yet she rushed into the lighthouse.

The neatly incinerated bodies of demons were scattered everywhere. Aki's skill had already reached a stage where ordinary demons couldn't even approach it.

But why hadn't he come down yet? Had something happened? Was there a more powerful Black Church leader?

'I shouldn't have sent him alone…!'

Her heart felt like it would burst with anxiety.

She gripped the inner wall several times, stopping to catch her breath, and only with Sirin's support could she finally reach the top.

And what met her eyes was… first, a dragon's flame blocking the entrance to the top of the lighthouse.

"You have come."

Aki lay unconscious on a fiery altar, cradled by a dragon formed solely of flame with no physical substance.

Should it be called pure, or impure…?

The dragon, except for its head, glowed a dark blue, the light of the abyss. Miria caught her breath and spoke.

"Pyras-nim…"

"I did not expect to meet you again. The gods always achieve things we cannot even imagine."

Though she had a rough idea, Sirin looked at Miria with a fresh expression of surprise.

"Give Aki back. And remove that barrier."

"Give back, give back, give back."

"I cannot."

"I don't want to hurt you. Rin, Rain is in there."

"Rin, die, Rin died. Rain, Rain, Rain-im."

"If you cannot endure even a moment's wait and resort to force, I will not stop you."

"What do you mean by that?"

At that moment, Miria didn't know, but Aki was also talking with Pyras.

Not in this real space, but sitting in the pavilion that stood in the Crimson Mountains in that distant era of origin.

The young man sitting next to Aki had the same fiery red hair as Aki and wore dragon-scale armor.

"The era in which my physical body died was a time when only corpses and lamentations filled the land due to a terrible turmoil that lasted for many years."

"Lamentation…?"

"The Great Fire was contemplating building a wall of flame with his own body after banishing the abyss beyond its limits."

That was the origin of the <Flame Myriad Miles>. The border of the civilized world guarded by the Red Dragon Legion.

"But it was clear that cities built on the coast would continue to suffer endlessly from the invasion of the abyss."

"Suffering…!"

"Therefore, I commanded that this lighthouse be built with my remains. For my body to die, but my spirit to remain here, watching over the abyss forever."

It was relatively recent that a man named Zernix came looking for me.

- Hey, old dragon. Take back those fiery eyeballs that guard the coast.

- You…

- You'd better cooperate. Otherwise, I'll destroy this insignificant lighthouse in an instant and annihilate your soul.

I intended to confront that human.

I had no proper physical body, while that human's abyss was mighty, so my resistance was unlikely to yield great results, but I had to.

"But that wicked human told me of your existence."

"Aki?"

"That Alakish's daughter was coming here… And then, a longing for my sister, separated a thousand years ago, crept into my heart. The abyss always penetrates the weak crevices of the soul."

A silent sigh filled Pyras's eyes as he looked up at the sky over the distant mountain range.

"Even if it meant my soul would be annihilated, I should not have cooperated. Now I cannot even retract my power at will, so to remove that barrier, I must annihilate my soul."

"Aki, the story is too complicated."

"Whether I cooperated or not, the outcome of the abyss ravaging this city would not have changed much, but as a result, I ended up defiling even the noble lives of my brothers and sisters."

"No-noble…?!"

"I failed. Your mother protected the Arctic for over fourteen hundred years, and Shalesalum fulfilled his noble mission and died, bringing two hundred years of peace."

I, their younger sibling, couldn't control my own longing and ended up in this state.

"That is why my heart aches."

At the end of his life, Pyras himself didn't quite understand why he was telling this story to his sister's daughter.

Now his soul would be annihilated. Having succumbed to the whispers of the abyss, his soul would be eroded, and he would meet a miserable end.

Still… selfish as it was, even at the very end, he thought this wasn't so bad. Because he got to see Alakish's daughter.

"Uncle Pyras."

Then, suddenly, a small, pure white hand gently stroked Pyras's head.

"It's okay."

The young dragon's intelligence hadn't fully understood this long and difficult story.

She merely saw that Pyras looked too sad, so she simply did what Rain used to do for her in such situations.

But it was… so similar to the comfort Alakish used to give young Pyras, somewhere in a distant memory.

- It's okay, Pyras.

In the whispers of memory, Pyras's eyes widened… and tears streamed down his face.

Kneeling and hugging his young niece, Pyras wept silently, tears continuously flowing from his eyes.

And the hand placed on Pyras's shoulder was Alakish's, a miracle created by the spirit dwelling in his daughter's Dragon Orb.

"You've suffered enough, Pyras."

The abyssal energy that had eroded his soul burns and vanishes in the flames… his soul is gradually restored to purity.

"…!"

Without knowing what was happening in the mental world, Miria, who had been anxiously watching from outside, widened her eyes.

'What? Why? How? Pyras's soul is being absorbed into Aki's body.'

Is he inheriting the power of the Dragon Orb?

Can a single True Dragon possess two Dragon Orbs?

"Look, look, look."

At that moment, Pipi, perched on the outer window sill, called Miria. Miria turned to look, her eyes a mix of hope and fighting spirit.

"The barrier is disappearing…"

"Rain, Rain, Rain, urgent help."

Miria quickly turned back towards Aki.

However, the flames blocking the entrance had not yet vanished, and the dragon made of flame was still being absorbed into his body.

'Pyras still had his reason. And I didn't feel any malice…'

And that's clearly giving him strength now. So I have a more urgent task to do than waiting for Aki here.

"I'm going, Pipi!"

As she dashed down the stairs, Pipi, with her injured body, precariously landed on Miria's head.

"Together, together, together, we are friends. Pipi, Rin's friend. Pipi, Rista's friend."

At those simple words now, Miria had to bite her lip, realizing the depth of sorrow Pipi had carried for 300 years.

On the day of the final battle, Pipi was left behind with Turena. And she never saw Rin again.

She had regretted not being able to follow them for her entire life… Miria placed a hand on Pipi's head.

"Yes, this time, let's go together. And end everything."

* * *

Finally, I succeeded. I succeeded in burning off the Mage Slayer's left arm.

Draw out your full power.

It's not time to feel relieved yet.

Judging that he could now freely toy with me without any damage, the enemy finally appeared from within the dimensional curtain.

"Hehehehehe, you've struggled quite a bit to get here, so I'll let you properly witness this great senior's magic skills."

It was truly the first time I had faced his true form this closely.

The explosively overflowing magic power and toxic energy were overwhelmingly stifling.

It was as if lightning had struck water, and the electric shock was spreading everywhere.

'This is the first enemy with a stronger presence than "Young Master Baekdo" Sharcus…'

Those controlled by possession magic foamed at the mouth even while unconscious, and quite a few could be seen exploding their heads or internal organs.

Damn it, my knees feel like they'll buckle any moment. But a grinding rage superseded the fear.

"…?"

Then, a warm power suddenly caressed my entire body, embracing the pain and fatigue that had been rampant throughout.

This was a miracle of healing.

And the woman chanting that miracle was… the Priest Slayer, also part of the Slayers.

"What am I doing? I don't want to hear excuses like I went to heaven and fought Zernix, but I lost because he fought like a cowardly bastard."

Just then, as a chill ran down my spine, the puppets began to fall to the ground one by one, like dolls with their strings cut.

'Someone outside, a comrade, broke his magic.'

Zernix caressed an ethereal body that came into his grasp, muttering, "Still one left, huh."

He was such a dark-hearted individual that it was hard to tell if his expression was one of bewilderment or a smile.

But it was obvious to anyone that this moment presented an opportunity to turn the tide. Rain crossed his hands, forming a mudra.

"You only fight battles you can win? So that's all you are, even after living a thousand years."

"Oh, you impudent brat? How many grand battles have you fought?"

"I've never fought such battles. My entire life has been nothing but battles I had to win. I'll show you what kind of battles those were."

Because if we lost, it meant the world lost.

There was never a time when we could choose to fight only winnable battles. That was our fight 300 years ago.

Zernix raised an eyebrow as if perplexed, then chuckled the next moment.

"I thought that staff and conical hat looked strange no matter how I saw them, but you really were the 11th, weren't you? The brat who was no match for a single punch has grown quite a bit, huh?"