Chapter 290
Chapter 290
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 290
Chapter Title: Chapter 6-4. Blue Spear Knights
-----------------------------------------------------------------
He had returned. To that moment when he obtained Rudmillan.
Naturally, the heart pain he had felt then surged again. The pain from stabbing himself with Altemia faded in an instant. He took deep breaths in and out, forcing his body upright. Judah felt his body sway against his will. His brow furrowed involuntarily. Clutching his heart, he took a step forward.
"Urgh…!"
Asmodeus, collapsed on the altar, let out a small groan as if regaining consciousness, but he ignored it and slowly exited the room. Once the pain fully subsided, he shifted from walking to running. Racing through the dim maze, Judah ascended from the fourth floor to the third, then to the second, and toward the first. By the time he noticed the message, he was nearing the first floor.
[Your ally [Lime de Trithan] has died.]
She had died after all. Judah sighed as he ran. Thinking of how Arhil had died shortly after Lime made even this moment to sigh feel wasteful. As soon as he reached the first floor, he summoned Lüsen Ardahan and had it smash through the ceiling. He anxiously watched as it wildly swung its fist, shattering the ceiling.
'Too late.'
Both running there and breaking through the ceiling were too slow. After fully breaching the ceiling and emerging outside, Judah realized he was far from the labyrinth's entrance. He could see the encirclement of Blue Spear Knights. Beyond those surrounding the entrance, more were converging on this spot—visible now that he had climbed onto Lüsen Ardahan's shoulder.
He urged Lüsen Ardahan to run. The sight of it charging across the black ground was utterly majestic. The Blue Spear Knights turning to look would feel as if a massive boulder was rolling toward them.
But it was still too late. In the distance, he saw Arhil pierced by Organ's starfish spear and dying. Judah gritted his teeth at the sight of her body thrown to the ground. Suppressing his surging rage, he summoned Altemia right there, stabbed it into his heart, and killed himself. When Bell-Teraza's power resurrected him again, he stabbed his heart once more. Consciousness faded quickly.
"……."
When he opened his eyes, the heart pain hit again. This pain meant he had rewound once more. The third time now. The pain even felt somewhat familiar. He let out a long breath and fell into thought.
Even if he ran out of the labyrinth again like this, it was too vast—he wouldn't arrive before Arhil died. Lime was doomed to die no matter what, and to save Arhil, he'd have to draw Organ's attention before the spear thrust. With endless repetition, he could save her.
A sudden fear gripped him.
What if he became numb to Arhil's death in the process? It was a joyful thing to rewind the past through death and correct mistakes, but growing desensitized to a comrade's death was far from good.
As he waited for the pain to subside, a sudden thought made Judah turn his head. He saw Asmodeus collapsed on the altar. Clutching his chest as if to rip it out, he approached her.
"Urgh…"
Her tail and wings twitched faintly, suggesting she'd regain consciousness soon if he waited a little. If his memory was correct, she had escaped this labyrinth's depths via some spatial teleportation magic or authority, embarrassed about something. Unlike him, who had to blindly run through the dim maze without knowing spells, she could reach the entrance with a mere gesture. If he could just convince her, they could escape before Lime died.
"Asmodeus!"
Even calling her name didn't rouse her immediately. He drew close, grabbed her shoulder, and shook it.
"Ugh…!"
She was defenseless. No reaction even to him touching her body without permission. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Her eyes widened at the sight of Judah right in front of her. She pushed herself up.
"Judah!?"
Startled, she checked that her seal was broken and eyed him warily. It was natural, given her weakened state right after release.
"You can teleport out of the labyrinth, right?"
"…I can, but."
"Then teleport us!"
"What? What's this all of a sudden…? Wait. Let me recover some mana first, then we'll talk."
Asmodeus shot Judah a glance and said. There was still time before Lime died, so despite his impatience, he decided to wait. He nodded and stepped back from her. She promptly spread her wings wide and began absorbing the surrounding mist.
Whooooosh—
Wind gathered around her, drawing in the mist that seeped into her body. Asmodeus wore an ecstatic expression, feeling her mana surge. This sensation, absent for so long, felt utterly new to her.
"Hoo."
Having fully absorbed the mist, Asmodeus exhaled lightly. She glanced at Judah, her face flushing red. For Judah, this situation had repeated three times, but to Asmodeus, the 'recent' memory was intensely stimulating.
The fact that she, a demon of lust, had begged and writhed like that for a mere human—shaking her hips in desperation—felt mortifyingly embarrassing. Embarrassed? She wanted to crawl into a hole.
"Asmodeus?"
Judah called her name and approached.
"Wait, stop there. Don't come closer. No, two more steps back. Yes. Good."
Her face red, she held out a hand to stop him. Satisfied once about two meters of distance opened up.
"So, what do you mean by teleporting you?"
Judah blanked for a moment, unsure how to explain the situation. In the blink of an eye, he concluded there was no time for explanations. Ignoring her order to stay back, he strode two steps forward.
"Eek!"
Asmodeus recoiled like a shy maiden with no tolerance for men at his sudden approach. She flailed and nearly fell backward off the altar but barely caught her balance.
"Send me to the labyrinth's entrance. Right now."
"…No. I'm going alone."
Asmodeus eyed his attitude thoughtfully, then smirked with one corner of her mouth and vanished. Judah drew a deep breath at her disappearance before his eyes. Irritation surged. Just as he thought he'd have to suicide and try persuading her again, Asmodeus reappeared.
"I've changed my mind. I'll take you. To the labyrinth's entrance. Something really interesting's happening out there."
Asmodeus extended a hand from atop the altar. Though her face was flushed in embarrassment, she showed no intent to cover her naked body. Judah wasn't aroused in this situation, but his eyes naturally drifted there. He took her hand.
His vision flipped, nausea hitting him. In a split instant, the surroundings changed. He was out of the labyrinth, at the entrance. And something was falling around them like a shower.
Kwarungkwarungkwarung!
"Ju-Judah?"
"Judah!"
Lime stared in bewilderment, while Arhil called his name joyfully. Suddenly, Asmodeus swooped in close. Floating in the air, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his cheek. A smooch sounded as she pulled back, waving.
"This is my payment. Bye now. Good luck."
She waved with a playful smile, pointed behind him, and vanished. Lime gawked like he'd seen a ghost, but there was no time to greet him. Asmodeus hadn't pointed back for nothing. Sure enough, turning revealed something approaching in a white trail, right before his eyes. Judah drew Yakal from <Bag>.
[[Thirteenth Sword, Beast of Wrath Yakal] recognizes its owner as user!]
[<Radiance> [Equivalent Exchange] skill effects slightly enhanced. (View details)]
[Acquired skill, [Swordsmanship - Secret Art of the Sword Demon].]
[The corresponding skill is from the demon world…]
The familiar message appeared again. Déjà vu hit, but the situation now differed from before. He could save not just Arhil, but Lime too. That lightened his heart immensely. He dismissed the obstructing messages from his view, placed a hand on Yakal's broad blade, and assumed a defensive stance. Then he swiftly activated his skills.
Claaang!
"Kh!?"
He blocked the thrown spear head-on. His body was pushed back. The shock through his arm was immense—enough to make him wonder if it had broken. The spear's form, bouncing off the blade, was very familiar.
A conical spear etched with beautiful patterns—Organ's fragment, the starfish. The rebounding starfish pierced its tip into the ground before melting into the air and vanishing. It had been resummoned to Organ's hand, no doubt. First things first: block the countless spears raining from above before another throw came.
"Lüsen Ardahan!"
At the call, space split behind him, and a sturdy arm—like rock itself—extended, swinging at the falling spears. They scattered like toothpicks. The expression "plop plop" fit perfectly— the spears harmlessly bounced off Lüsen Ardahan's arm.
"Ah…?"
In the process, the ice barrier Lime had painstakingly made shattered effortlessly into powder. It had taken real effort, yet this massive giant's arm demolished it casually. An inexplicable emptiness washed over him, soon replaced by relief. Lime exhaled and looked at Judah.
"Truly, your timing is astonishingly perfect."
He gave a thumbs-up. He had no idea that without Judah's arrival, he would have been helplessly slain. Recalling the death message he'd seen twice, Judah smiled lightly.
"Yeah, it is."
==========