Chapter 421
Chapter 421
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 421
Chapter Title: 2-91. The Second Full Stop (10)
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I was running along a path made of blood and mana.
"Slow down a bit! You quadrupedal shit weasel!"
"Ppyaak!"
I shouted desperately, but Sita 2 didn't stop.
The marten racing along, stuck to the ground like glue, looked just like a black meteor. Its tail had shot out straight the moment it started running and hadn't touched the ground once.
"Damn it, what the hell influenced it to produce something like that?"
No joke—it was way faster than the Sita or ghost horses from the original world. Had it traded flight for pure speed? Hurrying was one thing, but this was getting hard to keep up with.
"Hey, let's go together."
"Huh?"
A familiar voice came from behind before I could even turn my head. Ronan 2, looking like he was still half-asleep, pulled up alongside me.
"What? You're already up?"
"Yaaawn... If anything, I slept too long. I heard the rundown. Just gotta help catch that fucker Akasha or whatever, right?"
Ronan 2 yawned. Unlike me, who was running for dear life, he looked pretty relaxed at this pace. That's when I noticed the bright red handprint etched on his left cheek. It definitely hadn't been there before.
"What's with the handprint? Who smacked you?"
"Instructor Naviroje. Ahh, it stings like a bitch."
"Self-inflicted. If you slobber all over someone's shoulder like that, even I'd lay into you."
"Nah, that's not it... I was still groggy and asked why she was so clingy today, if she was sick or something. Fuck... I thought she was my sister."
"You moron."
It was so ridiculous I let out a hollow laugh. Considering my sister's temper, the fact that his head was still attached to his shoulders was a miracle. Ronan 2 asked,
"So. How strong is this Akasha guy?"
"Extremely."
"Heh, if you say that, he must be no joke. How strong are we talking, metaphor-wise?"
"If Akasha fought you using only his pinky toe, I'd bet my entire fortune on him."
"Fuck. Betting on a toe instead of even a finger? That's cold."
"Unless the payout guy's gonna bolt, I'd pawn my damn underwear and go all in."
I was dead serious. No clue how strong Ronan 2 had gotten, but he wasn't Akasha level.
"...Now you've got my blood pumping."
But instead of backing down, he seemed fired up by my words. Rubbing his chin, Ronan 2 surged ahead.
"Is he nuts?"
I got where he was coming from. When you're in that explosive growth phase, the world around you fades away. But Akasha was different from anything we'd faced so far.
'Please don't be too late.'
One wrong move, and we'd have corpses. Muttering curses, I picked up my pace. The ruined Pale Castle was now right in front of us.
Akasha's three eyes curved like crescent moons. He stood there, waist bent at a grotesque angle, facing Asel. The mirror-smooth mask reflected Asel's deathly pale face. A hook-like claw pressed lightly against Asel's cheek.
"Ah. Ahh... Aaaa..."
Tears streamed from Asel's eyes without a hint of resistance. He couldn't speak, barely even breathe. Akasha's finger was impossibly cold—impossible to believe it was part of a living body.
'I'm dying. What happened? It collapsed for sure. I'm dying. Dying here. Why didn't anything happen? I don't want to die. I don't want to die.'
Fainting would have been a mercy, but even that was out of reach. Asel rolled his eyes, scanning the surroundings. The fissure was still there, the rock wrapped in iron chains unchanged.
Just as he wondered if it had all been an illusion spell, the ceiling caught his eye. Half-embedded with the statue, it was covered in thousands of cracks like mosaic tiles.
"...No way."
A chill like ice froze his entire body. It hadn't been an illusion. The ceiling had collapsed, just as he and Didikan had planned.
Akasha had simply restored it all to its original state.
He'd probably used telekinesis to reverse the collapse, then some insanely precise spatial magic to drag the two of them back in. Realizing this, Asel gave up thinking altogether.
Akasha poked Asel's cheek repeatedly, like he was playing a game.
He seemed to mutter something now and then, but it was meaningless. Given the situation, it felt like mockery: Did you really think this would catch me? Each time the soft cheek dimpled and sprang back, Asel's body twitched.
'Move.'
Didikan stood frozen like a stuffed specimen, watching the scene. Akasha's claw looked ready to rip through the cheek and burst out the other side at any moment.
His tail had curled between his legs ages ago. His teeth chattered like he had a fever.
'Move. I have to move. Move...!'
This level of terror was a first for him too. The day the cave giants overran Gran Cappadocia's forge. The day he lost Elder Doron. Even those hadn't felt this hopeless.
Instinct screamed: You're nothing but a bug before that mage.
Overwhelming powerlessness and despair crushed Didikan.
'Asel.'
If things stayed like this, it was all over. The absorption Asel had tried to block was still going strong, and the dimensional fissure was only widening. Suddenly, Doron's face flashed before his eyes.
The master who was no more. The grumpy dwarf elder's final words were Didikan's very reason for living.
'Move. I'm the last ember of Gran Cappadocia.'
Doron had called him the last ember right before drawing his final breath. An ember must never go out, no matter the hardship.
Survive until he was shitting himself against the walls, preserving the lineage of the empire's greatest forge.
Someday forge a legendary sword worthy of a swordsman like that coat-wearing man. That was Didikan's mission.
Slowly drawing breath, Didikan threw his maw wide and roared.
"Kraaak! Move!!"
His voice echoed. The paralysis lifted. Didikan charged at Akasha like a wild beast, bellowing. His gaping maw flashed with razor-sharp fangs.
"Kraaaaa!"
"Di, Didikan! No!"
Asel snapped to his senses in horror. Didikan hurtled forward like a gale, but Akasha didn't flinch. With an air of utmost boredom, he flicked his index finger.
A formless shockwave slammed into Didikan's gut.
"Ugh...!"
Didikan's eyes bulged. He flew back like he'd been hit by a wagon. His body shot straight, smashing into the wall at the far end of the hall before finally stopping.
"Ughk. Keuugh! Cough!"
"No!!"
Asel screamed. Akasha slowly lowered his hand. Staring at Didikan, he let out what sounded like a tsk.
Incomprehensible, but it sounded like mockery. Asel's legs gave out, and he collapsed in place.
Looking up at Akasha, he shouted,
"Wh-why are you doing this?!"
"Pl-please stop. You can't waste your power on this... right?"
Akasha didn't respond. He turned back to Asel and bent at the waist again. Asel's face reflected on the smooth mask once more. But the mood was different now. Those three glaring eyes felt like arrowheads aimed straight at his heart.
"...Hik."
Asel's eyes rolled back. Fear had finally crossed the threshold, severing his consciousness.
His slender body pitched forward. Akasha casually extended his instep to cradle Asel's forehead.
A grotesque groan leaked from beneath the mask. But with one passed out and the other on the verge, there was no one to react.
Akasha tilted his head side to side before turning to face Seniel. The bizarre incantation resumed. The overflowing life force began surging back through the chains.
"No... can't."
Didikan lifted his head while sitting. Blood dripped steadily from his nose and muzzle. He had to save Asel at least, but his battered body wouldn't move.
The fissure, like a gateway to another world, was steadily widening.
'Is this the end?'
There were no more options. The devilish temptation of resignation was about to claim him when a rustling came from the door.
Didikan and Akasha whipped their heads around almost simultaneously. It was a foreign noise unlike anything before.
But beyond the shattered door, there was nothing. The hall's silence hung thick. Just as he dismissed it as a mishearing and turned back to Asel,
"No big deal. What."
"Huh?"
A man had appeared right in front of him. One who hadn't been there before.
As sudden as the darkness that comes when you close your eyes.
Wearing the Imperial Phileon Academy uniform, the man knelt on one knee, grinning. A single longsword, stained with blood, was gripped in his hand.
The man said,
"Wolf bro. You okay?"
"Y-you...!"
Didikan's fur stood on end. He'd seen that face before. The outfit was different, but it was unmistakably the swordsman in the coat who'd butchered the giants. Before he could question what was going on,
Akasha spun around in alarm and froze. Hundreds of slashing lines crisscrossed his body. A circle of sunset-hued mana had already enveloped the area.
"Die, you monster."
The man intoned it like placing a period. But contrary to his expectations, Akasha showed no reaction.
"...Huh?"
No cuts opened up. No cloak shredded with a spray of blood. Sensing something off, the man glanced back.
The cloak was covered in sword marks, but not a single drop of blood leaked out.
"What the fuck."
Unprecedented. As he moved to follow up,
The silent Akasha quietly raised his right index finger.
Kwachik! An invisible force seized the man.
"Kraaaak!!"
The man screamed in agony. Without a chance to react, he was smashed into the ceiling, then slammed back into the floor. Dust settled. His unconscious form was revealed, ass high in the air.
"Oh. My god."
Didikan squeezed his eyes shut.
The pose was undignified, but more than that, the last flicker of hope was snuffed out. For the man who'd carved through giants to go down so pathetically. This truly was the end.
Akasha approached the downed man after subduing him in one shot. He seemed faintly annoyed. No explanation needed—it was for the kill confirmation.
As Akasha extended his finger again, the sprawled Asel grabbed his cloak hem.
"...Don't, do it."
Akasha looked down silently. Asel stared back, face a mess of tears and snot. His twig-like hands trembled violently.
A squeezed voice leaked from his lips.
"Then... hup, everyone dies."
"Ah, Asel..."
Didikan sighed. He couldn't fathom the courage it took for that. He felt utterly pathetic. As he gritted his teeth to somehow rise,
"Good job. Unknown bros."
"What?"
The voice echoed through the hall again.
Didikan whipped around toward the source and gasped.
"Wh-what...! Why is there another one...?!"
A swordsman stood there. Identical to the one who'd just barged in and fainted, but this one wore the coat he'd seen before. Had the first one recovered already? No—the original was still facedown, out cold.
Ronan kicked off the ground and leaped.
"Your courage just saved the world."
The black coat flapped like wings. In an instant, he passed Akasha and yanked his sword hilt. Akasha thrust his fingers out in panic.
This time, his demeanor was dead serious, on another level entirely. But Ronan's action was already complete.
As the blade traced a crescent arc, the chains binding Seniel snapped. The life force that had been suppressed, unable to escape while being absorbed by Akasha, exploded outward.