Chapter 406
Chapter 406
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 406
Chapter Title: 2-29. Disaster from the Future (2)
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I instinctively knew.
The being I was looking at was Akasha.
The shadow of the figure silhouetted against the sunset stretched long across the sandbar.
"Huu... huu..."
My breath came in ragged gasps.
Cold sweat seeped from my palms, soaking into the hilt of my sword.
An overwhelming pressure unlike anything I'd ever felt bore down on my shoulders.
'Damn, what the hell is this?'
It was nothing like Abel after absorbing the leyline source, or even the Bald King.
Akasha stared at me without the slightest movement.
His face was hidden behind a mask, but I could feel his gaze observing me.
Naturally, my eyes scanned his appearance.
The first thing that caught my eye was his enormous height.
I'm pretty tall myself, but he was half a head taller.
Yet he wasn't broad; he looked more like a gaunt tree standing there than a person.
'What the hell are those scraps stuck on him?'
Next was the mask.
It was plastered with ragged scraps of cloth, making its original shape impossible to guess.
Each palm-sized piece bore different drawings.
The utter lack of harmony or pattern added to the eeriness.
'Where have I seen that before?' A sudden chill of déjà vu hit me.
Some of the drawings looked familiar.
Especially the one in the center of his face.
Two overlapping circles of different colors, symbolizing the time between day and night.
The moment I realized what it meant, the hairs on my body stood on end.
"Rorhon's...!"
I'd seen it once before.
It was unmistakably the emblem of the Twilight Mage Tower.
The one owned by the Archmage Rorhon.
But what sent shivers down my spine wasn't just the matching design.
The fabric of the cloth with the emblem matched the robe worn by Rorhon.
In other words, it had been torn straight from Rorhon's actual clothing.
'Come to think of it, the rest too.'
It wasn't just the Twilight Tower.
Each scrap bore the symbol of some renowned organization.
I could spot the emblems of the Dawn and Full Moon Towers, and even the Imperial Knights.
My fist clenched tight.
"...Did you kill them all and take these?"
Akasha didn't answer.
He remained silent, facing me.
The setting sun scattered crimson final words across the sky.
Suddenly, a sharp metallic tang assaulted my nose.
"Rtansie."
Glancing toward the smell, I saw Rtansie's legs.
Both severed, lying as if taking a rest.
A geyser of blood spurting rhythmically confirmed this was no dream, but harsh reality.
She may have committed a grave sin deserving death, but this was too much.
After all that ordeal to come back, it was way too sudden, damn it.
'Move.'
I needed to snap out of it.
I bit the inside of my cheek.
The metallic taste of blood loosened my stiffened body.
As I slowly reached for my sword hilt,
"Huh? Lord Ronan. You were here?"
"What... ugh, why's the door open...?"
Twisted voices came from behind.
I whipped around.
Two drunken men were staggering up the stairs, arms around each other.
"You two."
"Have you seen Mage Rtansie by any chance? She said she was just stepping out for air and vanished."
"Come on in... urp, Lady Navardoje's looking for you. She's tearing the place apart for her child... ugh! Lord Ronan, you're a dragon too?!"
They were Orse's subordinates, the ones who'd begged him for tales of valor.
Akasha, who had been still, suddenly moved.
His cloak parted, revealing a long arm.
The emaciated arm, bony as a reaper's, was the same black as his cloak.
A chilling sense of crisis flashed through my mind.
"Damn it, dodge!"
"Khek!"
It happened in an instant.
I spun and kicked the two drunks away.
They lost balance and tumbled down the stairs.
Kwajik!
At the same moment, a white rift tore open in the space where they'd been.
"Hiiiik?!"
"W-what the fuck!"
The fallen men screamed.
If they'd kept climbing, the rift would've bisected them.
I couldn't cower any longer.
Drawing my sword, I turned to the men and shouted,
"Hurry and get Lady Navardoje! This isn't something just anyone can handle!"
"L-Lord Ronan?!"
"I'm fine, so shut up and run!"
"Y-yes, sir! We'll be right back!"
The men fled without looking back.
I'd prevented two pointless deaths, but there was no relief.
A surge of powerful mana erupted from Akasha's body.
The pressure crushed my shoulders again.
The space around him warped and rippled.
"You bastard, who the hell are you to kill my flying squirrel!"
Still, I had no intention of backing down.
I kicked off the ground and leaped at him.
My blade, infused with sword aura, glowed red.
Akasha countered by pointing his index finger at me.
Kwaaaaa!
An invisible force shot toward me.
It was like Rtansie's telekinetic torrent, but far more advanced.
'It's just magic anyway.'
The visuals were terrifying, but no need to flinch.
To me, magic was like colored paper that changed shapes freely.
As I swung to cleave the mass,
Kagagak!
A heavy resistance pushed back against my blade.
"What...!"
This was a first.
The handfeel was stiff.
Mana, which should have been soft as tofu, was tough enough to make slicing a chore.
I could cut it, but not cleanly—meaning it wouldn't count as a proper defense.
The uncut portion slammed into me.
"Keurk!"
The world blurred.
My body flew as if yanked from behind.
Kwaaaaaang!
A thunderous boom echoed as my back hit something.
"Fuck... what was that?"
For a split second, my vision went black, then returned.
The impact could've cracked my skull.
When my hazy sight cleared, I was in a completely different place.
"...Where's this?"
My limbs were embedded deep in rock.
Blood trickled from my open mouth.
Looking around, I soon realized it was a familiar spot.
The landscape was unmistakable.
Far ahead, the coastline I'd come from was visible.
My body was buried in the side wall of Winter's Horn.
"Holy shit, I flew from there?"
It was absurd.
Thousands of meters in one hit.
Narrowing my eyes, I spotted Akasha.
He floated mid-sea, staring at the same spot as before.
What?
Was I not the target?
As I caught my breath and pulled my body from the rock,
Kwaaaaa!!!
A volcanic explosion roared from afar.
"Ugh...!"
My eardrums nearly burst.
It came from Akasha's direction.
Lifting my head, I saw him with one arm extended.
Something anomalous was happening.
A massive rift tore across the shaking ground.
The sea churned violently, sweeping over the land.
"What the fuck are you... hup!"
I didn't know what he was doing, but it felt bad.
With a shout, the stone wall imprisoning me crumbled.
As I was about to burst free,
Akasha, still with arm outstretched, clenched his fist.
Kwagwagwang—!!!
The rift-covered ground exploded all at once.
Something enormous beyond comprehension erupted from the earth.
"Fuck."
For an instant, my mind went blank.
It was the resistance headquarters, shattering the ground as it rose.
Soil and rock clung to its frame like a waterfall.
Wires from lights and facilities snapped, sparking wildly.
"Kyaaaaak!"
"W-what!?"
Screams echoed from inside soon after.
The banquet was in full swing; most rebels were trapped within.
I couldn't spot Orse or Fantasion yet.
This was seriously bad.
My body swelled with the sense of crisis.
As I broke free from the cliff and prepared to leap,
A roar that shook the heavens burst from the headquarters.
【Kraaaaa!!】
"That's...!"
A familiar voice.
I whipped my head around.
Kwabang!
The slowly rising headquarters' outer wall shattered, revealing a massive woman.
Her crimson hair blazed like wildfire.
【Who dares commit such an act—!】
"Navardoje!"
I shouted without thinking.
She was partially transformed into a dragon.
Maintaining human form but with horns and wings out—like when she'd held me and flown underground.
Horns sprouting from her head glowed scarlet.
【My child!】
Navardoje turned this way.
Her eyes widened hugely upon meeting mine.
【G-Goodness... are you alright?! Who did this...!】
"Damn it, get out of there!"
【Be careful, you say... ugh!】
Fortunately, she caught on quick.
Navardoje twisted her shoulder.
A white rift slashed above where her chest had been.
【This...!】
A moment later, and her heart would've been carved out.
Gritting her teeth, Navardoje's gaze locked on Akasha.
【So, it's you.】
"......"
Akasha didn't respond.
His bony finger was already pointing at Navardoje.
Her wings exploded open.
【Do you know what you've done!】
The red wings spanned dozens of meters on each side.
Her furious pupils narrowed into vertical slits.
With a bellow, she charged at Akasha.
Akasha silently flicked his finger in the air.
Seogek!
Seven rifts slashed around the oncoming her.
Space magic that would inflict fatal wounds on a graze.
【With this...!】
But none touched Navardoje.
Her flight skills far surpassed Orse's.
As the distance closed rapidly,
Akasha extended his middle finger alongside his index.
Kuaaaaa!
Above Navardoje's head, as she dodged rifts in flight, a mass of force poured down.
"Sis!!"
The same attack that sent me flying.
Even larger in scale.
But Navardoje didn't slow.
Her form vanished mid-flight in an instant.
"......!"
Akasha flinched.
The first sign of surprise since appearing.
I scanned around too,
Hwaruk!
Flames erupted above Akasha's head.
I gasped.
Navardoje, who had vanished, descended through the crimson blaze.
【You think you'll get away with touching my child!】
Her extended legs were wreathed in fire.
Akasha's reaction was a beat slower than mine.
By the time he looked up, it was too late.
Navardoje spun once for momentum and slammed her heel into his face.
Kwaaaaaang!
Akasha crashed into the sea, sending up a spray that blotted the sky.