Chapter 456
Chapter 456
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 456
Chapter Title: 2-126. Akasha (3)
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I swung my sword. The sunset exploded, unfolding the world.
A long straight line was etched into the darkness of the bottomless abyss.
"The world..."
It was a success. The horizontal line, about ten meters long, blazed with a lethal crimson glow. It was my world, forged into the shape of a slash. Within its blade-narrow width, the imagery of a sunset burned fiercely.
Akasha, scattering like mist, let out a scream.
『■■! ■■■■■!』
It was a chilling sound that could freeze blood. It rivaled the agony from when its leg was severed in the previous world.
I whipped my head around. Part of its gaseous body was dissolving, dyed in the color of sunset. It was where the world had sliced. The sight resembled a burning leaf.
"Hup!"
I swung my sword again to cleave the rest of Akasha.
Two short straight lines crossed in midair. There was a ticking sensation as sparks flew, but no scream followed. It had fled beyond the abyss in the meantime.
The ground beneath my feet gave way completely, and the fall began.
"Think I'll let you escape?"
I murmured while glaring at where Akasha had been.
My body plummeted at tremendous speed, but the world I'd carved remained vividly shining.
Suddenly, thin cracks began spreading from the sunset-hued straight line.
"That's..."
It was a fissure glowing the same crimson as the world.
The cracks spread far faster than my falling speed.
Soon, the entire bottomless abyss transformed like leaf veins flowing with orange juice.
Kwaaang-!!
The darkness shattered like breaking glass.
My vision brightened instantly. The desolate landscape of Dakonya sprawled before me. A howling storm of rain and wind slapped my face as if lying in wait.
"Krak!"
The sudden appearance of solid ground made me fall flat on my butt.
I bounced up, steadying my ragged breaths.
"Hah, heuk...!"
My lungs swelled and deflated rapidly. It was the backlash from expending massive mana all at once. I could understand why deep-sea fish die the moment they surface.
Gripping the sword hilt, I looked up. The sky still poured down mad rain. The stinging raindrops confirmed it wasn't a dream. The abyss had collapsed.
'I did it.'
I clenched my fist. The time spent with Kain wasn't wasted. I'd shattered the darkness that seemed impossible to break forever with my own hands.
Akasha was nowhere in sight. As I scanned around, something crunched underfoot.
"Huh?"
I looked down. Grancia's promissory note gleamed beneath my shoe.
It must have fallen from Akasha's sleeve. The note looked unchanged from when Schlieffen, smitten with my sister upon entering Phileon Academy, gave it to her as an apology.
Nearby lay Naviroje's emerald, Zeifa's crescent blade ornament, and Acalusia's promissory note, all scattered.
"...Schlieffen."
Blood trickled from my bitten lip. From the circumstances, it was clearly something I'd brought from the future of that world.
Probably a keepsake. Schlieffen wasn't the type to hand out promissory notes to just anyone.
The brief elation faded, replaced by rage.
Self-reproach boiled up from my gut and spilled out.
"What the hell was future me... doing..."
Everything was incomprehensible.
I couldn't understand why a dying Akasha had suddenly grown stronger, why the future of the world—my greatest weapon—had been shattered, or why future me, with all that experience, hadn't stopped Akasha.
"Huh? You idiot..."
I gathered the promissory notes and keepsakes.
Stuffing them all into my pockets weighed down my coat.
I strained not to think of those who'd been hit this time.
Even a glimpse of their smiling faces might drive me mad.
"...Not yet."
Covering my eyes with my palm, I muttered.
"It's not too late to turn it around."
I knew it. In times like this, I had to stay calm.
This wasn't the moment to weep; it was time to steel my resolve.
Sarantea said she came to change the future. That meant if I killed Akasha here, the catastrophe wouldn't happen.
Calm down, Ronan. Calm down.
Repeating it in my head, I removed my hand from my face.
"You bastard. Where'd you go?"
Akasha was still nowhere to be seen.
Seniel continued spewing life force like a restless volcano.
I pulled out the mana tracker. The needle inside was still fixed on Seniel.
I was about to search for Akasha's mana and press the detection button.
"Ugh!"
Wet bangs slapped my eyelids. Blame the raging storm. My surging blood pressure made veins bulge at my temples.
"Fuck this, it's annoying as hell!"
Normally I'd brush it off, but not now. I couldn't tolerate it. The drab world was already grating. Gripping the hilt, crimson stained the blade.
"Get lost!"
I aimed at the sky and unleashed a slash. A sword beam large enough to cleave mountains shot out. The tips of the blood-red crescent vanished into the thunderclouds.
Kwaaaa-!
The cloud layer exploded and scattered in an instant. Wind and rain halted together. The remnants of the downpour turned to dew, slowly settling as mist.
But the blue sky I longed for didn't appear.
"What."
I nearly dropped my sword. A chill like being struck by lightning raced through me. Where blue sky should be, amorphous darkness boiled.
The massive blob of blackness could swallow all of Dakonya and still have room, writhing like a hell about to spew sulfurous flames.
Then, the spinning needle on the mana tracker locked onto the center of the darkness.
My gaze naturally lifted.
『■■...■■■...』
Akasha was there.
"You."
It panted roughly, like someone who'd sprinted full-tilt.
No different from me right after escaping the abyss.
And despite recovering to reappear, it was a total wreck.
Blood dripped from its limbs.
Its robe was torn to rags again in places.
'...Surprisingly not bald.'
But one difference from its previous injuries: black hair spilled from where the hood had been torn off.
Thick and long. Waving in the wind, it evoked a black lion's mane.
In my life, only Adeshan had such lush black hair.
Akasha growled.
『■■■■...!』
Still unintelligible. But its extreme fury was clear.
I swallowed hard. Though I'd shattered the abyss, the situation wasn't great.
That seething darkness was surely Akasha's creation—an extension of the world. Immensely larger than mine or even Kain's.
My own state? Questionable if I could manifest the world again.
Cold sweat slicked my palm, sticking to the hilt.
Steadying my breath, I sneered, lifting one corner of my mouth.
"What're you saying, you freak."
No matter how shitty, retreat wasn't an option.
Whether I could do it didn't matter. I had to.
Akasha raised its sole left arm. The darkness reacted, twisting. I tried preparing my world, but as expected, it wouldn't activate.
Damn it, if only I'd trained properly for three days.
Racking my brain, I made a decision.
"Help me out just once!"
I placed my free hand on Seniel.
Vast life force poured into me. Indescribable nausea surged.
"Urp."
Even ten spatial jumps hadn't been this bad. It felt like swirling my guts in a leather sack.
But the judgment was right; mana filled rapidly. My hair lengthened under the life force's influence. I pulled my hand away when it reached my waist from nape to shoulders.
"Haaaah...!"
I gripped the hilt with both hands. Nosebleed dripped, wetting the ground. Seniel's life force churned inside me.
Wiping the blood with my sleeve, I said.
"Feels good."
I understood why Akasha scoured for Seniel.
Its inhuman strength made sense. This from a brief absorption; crossing three parallel worlds to steal life force warranted that much.
The white blade brimmed with the world. Overflowing imagery dyed the surroundings. A three-meter radius became a sunset-fading field. Wet stone turned to grass swaying at my feet.
『■■■!』
Then, Akasha lowered its left arm.
Its index finger traced a savage arc toward me, and darkness plummeted.
Vision filled with black instantly. The darkness of the world seemed malice incarnate to destroy worlds.
No dodging, nor any intent to.
Gripping tighter than ever, I leaped into the darkness.
"Haaap!"
Bangs flipped back. Ground receded swiftly.
A comet-tail trajectory marked my path. Canyon peaks were already swallowed by darkness.
"Ronan...!"
I ignored Lin's voice.
The clash arrived.
Confirming distance closed, I swung. Crimson line slashed atop darkness.
Kwaaaaa!
Darkness tore apart like parting waves. Simultaneously, shock rivaling five fingers crushed me.
"Keuk!"
Blood surged up my throat. The enveloping scenery rippled.
Aftermath of worlds colliding. Kain had said unless total dominance like before, this was inevitable.
Excruciating, but irrelevant.
'It's working.'
Worth it. If overpowered, I'd have fallen into the abyss already.
I spat intral blood and swung again. Slash frenzy unfolded. Hundreds of blazing sword traces adorned the darkness chaotically. Each parting line tore darkness. Shreds fell like snowdrifts at my feet.
"...!!!"
My voice was now beastly roar.
From afar, Dakonya must be a spectacle. Not defying a waterfall, but dissecting upward like salmon. Every minute, every second felt eternal. I'd cleaved about half, estimating.
Suddenly, Akasha's voice echoed from the depths.
『■■-■!』
The one-sided darkness changed.
Hand-shaped overall, it gripped me.
"Shit...!"
Instantaneous. Finger size dwarfed a mage tower; no escape. Brain-shaking impact, then total blackout. Ground vanished beneath.
'No.'
My world rocked violently.
Abyss darkness pressed from all sides to shatter the world. The fading sunset hill imagery was degenerating to mere color.
Suddenly, vision cleared to blue sky.
"Huh?"
Dazzlingly azure. Occasional clouds added ink-painting charm. Prettiest sky across two lives, four worlds.
I couldn't comprehend.
"This is...?"
I plummeted through it.
Akasha's mana blanketed it; not the real sky.
Incredibly, another of Akasha's worlds.
"...What the hell are you, Akasha."
Amid body-aching pain like exploding, I let out a hollow laugh.
Everything confused now.
The only certainty: this fight was the last, and little time remained. Sensing sudden killing intent, I leveled my sword.
『■■!!』
Akasha burst from a rift overhead, thrusting chain-wrapped fist.