Chapter 444
Chapter 444
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: In Father's Name (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dainhar's Seed Repository was exactly as I remembered it. The corridor was lit by glowing LED lights. Elsia was chasing after me from behind, panting heavily, but I pretended not to hear and kept running.
'It was definitely a right turn here.'
I didn't stop running even once. Since I'd visited this place in the first parallel world too, my body remembered the way. Maybe that's why it took less than five minutes to reach my destination. A steel door painted with yellow and black stripes stood silently shut. Embarrassing as it was, I was a bit fuzzy on the password this time.
The last two digits... 4? 7?
"Screw it."
I pondered for about three seconds before swinging my sword. A long diagonal slash carved across the door. The severed steel plates collapsed, revealing a spacious room. It was littered with machinery and wires, giving the impression of being inside the guts of some massive monster.
In the center stood a single pillar emitting a blue glow.
"...!"
My gaze locked onto it naturally. It was a life-support device made with Dainhar-era technology. Inside the pillar, filled with preservative fluid, floated a naked man. His back was to the entrance, so I'd have to go deeper to see his face.
I faced the man and let out a curse.
"Damn it, fuck."
Of course, it wasn't the kind of curse born from a foul mood.
I swept a hand over my face and looked up at the man again.
Dozens of tubes sustaining his life were connected to his body. The blackened, festering wound in the center of his chest was clearly from some ungrateful bastard who'd bitten the hand that fed him. Silver-white hair identical to my sister's swayed like aquatic plants.
No doubt about it—it was Cain, my father.
"You're still hanging on, huh? Heh."
A hollow laugh escaped me. It had been so long since I'd last seen his face.
This was the first time since he'd blocked Abel's strike and fallen in the original world. Even in the previous two parallel worlds, Cain had already been dead, so I'd never seen him.
Every breath he took fogged the glass surface with white vapor that faded away.
I placed a hand on the glass tube and tilted my head.
"Hey."
Something felt off. He looked asleep just like in the original world, but his condition seemed worse. The hole in his chest swelled and deflated as slowly as a whale's lungs. The cause was obvious.
'It's deteriorating. He looks critically ill.'
Father had been dying from the start. The glass tube and bundle of tubes before me were just life-prolonging treatments to fulfill his wish to see me before death. There was only one miracle cure in the world that could heal him.
At that moment, a sharp cry echoed from behind Cain.
"Stop!"
I lowered my gaze. Through the transparent glass, I saw Elsia bracing herself against the doorframe, catching her breath. The contrast between her silver hair and flushed face was striking.
"Huff...! Huff! Fi... finally caught you...!"
"Elsia."
"Who the hell are you!? Why come here, and how did you know the password...!"
She must have pushed herself hard running. A smile tugged at my lips seeing her familiar face. I'd been so focused on Father that I hadn't paid her any mind, but she was someone I hadn't seen in just as long.
Suddenly, a thick droplet of liquid splattered onto the top of my foot.
"Grrrrr..."
"What the—?"
I looked up at the sound like boiling metal.
A massive wolf's head, big enough to swallow a bull whole, had burst through the ceiling. Semi-transparent, it wasn't a real wolf but a spirit. With its neck fur bristling, it waited only for Elsia's command to devour me.
"When did you summon this thing?"
I rested my hands on my hips and chuckled. Those gleaming fangs looked pretty menacing.
Now that I noticed, the wolf spirit wasn't alone. Cain's room was now filled with spirits large and small. A flaming snail, an upside-down bat glaring at me, a shark fin circling the floor... I'd been completely surrounded without realizing.
Elsia brushed back her sweat-matted hair and pointed her index finger at me.
"Don't change the subject. Step away from the glass tube right now before you answer. If you do anything suspicious..."
"Fine by me."
I did as she wanted. Raising both arms, I took three steps back.
Caught off guard by my compliance, Elsia froze.
"What..."
"I'm not your enemy. I didn't mean to scare you, but it happened anyway."
"Scare me...? Wait. That killing intent was from you?!"
"For now, yeah. Sorry if I startled you."
I nodded. I'd released my killing intent the moment I arrived near the Seed Repository.
It was almost a reflex. I was tense about possibly running into Akasha right away, and the side effects from repeated spatial jumps had my guts twisting like crazy, putting me in a foul mood. My damn insides were still doing tap dances. I missed Lucky Stripper.
Elsia's face paled.
"No way... I've never felt that kind of presence even from Abel."
"Wouldn't surprise me. I'm probably stronger than that shithead anyway. Wonder what he's up to now."
"You even know who Abel is?"
"Why wouldn't I? He's the fucking bastard who stabbed my big brother. I know pretty much everything else too. Phew... I was worried something happened, but you're okay. Thank goodness."
I let out a belated sigh of relief.
Confirming Cain's status alive gave me a sliver of mental leeway.
Elsia now stared at me like I was some great demon crawling up from the abyss.
"...Who the hell are you?"
"This guy's son."
I jerked my chin toward the glass tube. Elsia's face hardened.
"Pardon?"
"Name's Ronan. You'd think this guy mentioned me once or twice, but you never heard?"
"Ronan. Ronan?"
For a split second, all the spirits froze. Even the wolf spirit inching closer halted mid-air. I kept my arms raised.
"No way."
Elsia approached slowly. Her steps were so cautious, like walking on half-melted ice. She stopped three paces away and alternated stares between Father and me. With each cycle, her ruby eyes widened a bit more.
On the thirty-third repetition.
"...My god."
Elsia covered her mouth. Tears welled in her large eyes.
"Really. Is it really you, Lord Ronan?"
"Nice to see you, Elsia. Ah, first time here, though."
All the spirits were reverse-summoned. Mana smoke dispersed in the blue light.
Confirming the hostility gone from her, I grinned.
"Yeah. Glad you're alive."
"H-how? Did you remove all the restrictions? You shouldn't be able to see the Savior... No, more importantly, why? The coming-of-age ceremony was ages ago—why now? I, I...!"
"Elsia. Calm down."
I gripped her shoulders amid the barrage of questions.
Her long white ears twitched.
"I'll explain first. Ask questions after you hear everything. Okay?"
She bit her lower lip, staring up at me, then nodded. I told her everything—just the essentials. Honed by three parallel worlds, my summarization skills were sharp.
As expected, her response was what I'd predicted.
"...I can't believe it. Parallel worlds?"
"Yep. I'm not this world's Ronan. That idiot's probably bitching with his criminal buddies about why things look so shitty right now. But I sent someone, so you'll meet him soon. Oh, sister's doing fine back home."
Not some backwater agency—Acalusia handled the request. Considering what I did there, Lady Adrian would commit crimes herself to drag Ronan-3 in.
Finishing, I glanced at Father.
"Anyway, his condition looks pretty bad."
"Ah... yes. It's worsened a lot in the past few months."
Elsia's voice grew somber. She lowered her gaze.
"Truth is, every morning I wake up prepared for the worst. There were times he could hear even if just eyes closed, but now even that's not guaranteed. The only cure is..."
"That bastard's blood."
"Exactly as you said."
Elsia sighed faintly. The only antidote for the wound from Abel's sword was Abel's blood. Knowing that, I fell deep into thought.
"Hmm."
Honestly, chopping off Abel's limbs and squeezing out blood and tears wasn't hard for me now. At this point, he wasn't absorbing roots yet—just bowing to baldies and lobbying hard.
Only one reason kept me from acting rashly: Akasha.
'Why the hell were you here?'
I pulled out the mana tracker. Thanks to Erzsebet's string, I wore it like a necklace. The needle inside the detection orb spun in place.
'He left already. Just showed his face.'
I'd activated the tracker right after arriving north. The Acalusia mother-daughter masterpiece caught even Akasha's faint mana dispersing in the blizzard. Right after detection, the needle pointed toward the Seed Repository.
But only three minutes.
Mid-sprint, the needle lost direction and spun idly. Erzsebet said there were two possibilities.
Akasha went to another parallel world, or fled too far for pursuit—like off this planet.
"Damn it..."
My worries deepened. Where the hell was that heavily injured guy wandering?
Could he even go to another parallel world? He'd die instantly. But what if this was all a trap I didn't understand?
Meanwhile, Cain was dying.
As I racked my brain frantically, groaning inwardly.
Thud-!
A heavy vibration rumbled from beyond the wire-covered ceiling.
"Wh-what?!"
Startled, Elsia hunched her shoulders.
I jerked my head up urgently.
"This feeling..."
The tremor seeping through my skin was familiar. My arm hairs stood on end. My body moved before my mind. I shoved Elsia back and bolted outside.
"Wait, let me send spirits..."
"No time."
Couldn't risk damaging the life-support here. I dashed to a remote room and swung my sword. Two crescent sword beams shattered the ceiling and burst out. Bright sunlight poured down like stage lights.
"As I thought."
The tiny patch of sky visible showed glittering mana floating about.
I inhaled, my thighs swelling. I crouched low, then sprang. My body shot through the hole like a spring and landed on the ground. A rush of cold wind slapped my face.
Not far from the Seed Repository entrance, a white rift scarred the clear sky. A massive, pale human arm protruded from it.
A voice that thrilled me boomed out.
The low, thick baritone and white forearm unmistakably belonged to a giant. Following that white arm up would surely reveal a bald head. It thrashed the air like it was grabbing at its throat.
The reason for the sudden rift was obvious.
"Yeah. Moving would leave a trace, obviously."
Proof Akasha had teleported. The rift's size confirmed it—barely big enough for a werewolf. If it was to pull out a bald head, it'd be much larger.
The moment it was revealed Akasha had gone not to another parallel world, but the giants' realm.
"Perfect."
My lips curled up. Nothing but good news.
At the peak of my arc, my body began slowing in freefall. I swung my reddened sword in a flourish. Sword energy shot along the trajectory, piercing the giant's arm.
"Get your filthy hand out."
The arm severed without resistance. Blue blood gushed like a fountain over my head. My underwear got soaked, but with my worry resolved, it didn't bother me.
"Oh my god! What is that...!"
Elsia's scream echoed from afar.
The thrashing giant arm retracted into the rift.
I flipped in mid-air, landed, and held up my blood-smeared sword.
"Elsia, I just had a great idea!"
"Y-yes?"
If this plan worked, Father wouldn't die.
Probably.