Chapter 457
Chapter 457
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Akasha (4)
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Akasha burst out, tearing through the rift.
A fist wrapped in iron chains slammed into the flat of my sword.
“Urk!”
A numbing shock ran through my wrist, pushing my body back. For a skeleton, it packed a decent punch.
Dozens of iron chains forged from Akasha's mana writhed under his sleeves and cloak like living snakes.
『■!』
Suddenly, he thrust out his fingers.
Two thick chains shot toward me, coiling around my waist. As I was yanked forward, Akasha charged straight at me.
“For a spell-slinger...!”
I gritted my teeth as I plummeted through the sky.
Bold to attempt close-quarters combat. Though it was probably less courage and more desperation. Seeing him thrash about like this, his mana must be running low. He likely never expected me to break through that massive spell of his.
“Fine, I'll indulge you!”
I steadied my stance and swung my sword. The chains around my waist snapped in an instant. My follow-up thrust clashed with Akasha's fist, sending us both rebounding from the colliding forces.
“Hup...!”
『■■...!』
Akasha and I caught our breaths with similar groans.
Then, without a word, we charged at each other.
A brutal exchange of blows ensued. Flashes erupted every time my sword strikes hit Akasha. Occasionally, I felt the blade bite into flesh, but most attacks were blocked by the serpentine chains.
Of course, Akasha's attacks weren't landing on me either.
“Akasha! What the hell are you?!”
I shouted as I swung my sword. The wind was roaring so loud I had to squeeze out every ounce of voice. Akasha's thick locks whipped wildly around his head.
He tilted his head.
『■?』
“Why are you destroying the future?! What's your beef that makes you pull this shit?!”
I couldn't hold back my curiosity. His bizarre actions aside, I couldn't fathom how a villain could manifest such a beautiful sky as his mental image.
“What's your damn goal?! What's this grand purpose you're chasing by sucking up all that life force and wrecking the world?!”
It made no sense. Akasha's deeds were riddled with contradictions.
Looking at the results alone, he hadn't done much harm to any of the three parallel worlds.
No, he could even be hailed as the savior from the darkness.
He'd restored the lives lost in the first parallel world and ripped open the sky in the second, enabling the slaughter of the giants.
In the third, he'd provided the crucial clue that let me uncover Acalusia's secret and reunite with Kain.
Sure, there was some killing along the way, but they were all scum like Nebula Klazje's vermin who deserved death.
'Why.'
But the atrocities he'd committed in the future were unforgivable.
Akasha had destroyed nearly every bond I knew and loved. Marya, Schlieffen, Erzsebet, Instructor Naviroje, Zaifa, Rorhon—all my dear friends massacred. This wretch had shattered treasures beyond cities or civilizations.
The relics they'd left behind rattled together in my coat pocket.
Remembering their faces in a fleeting moment, I gripped the hilt tighter.
“You bastard! I'll tear you apart myself!”
『■■■■ ■■■■!』
“Speak so I can understand, you freak!!”
My roar echoed across the sky.
The flurry of intensified sword strikes poured down on Akasha. The frothy image of my world sharpened into crystalline clarity like a photograph.
Boom!
We halted our fall, landing in a sunset-drenched field. No time to readjust—we dove right back into combat.
『■■■■...!!』
The balance of power began to crumble. Swallowed by the sunset, Akasha was no longer my match. My slashes tore into him before his chains could regenerate. Thrusts pierced his cloak, punching sunset-hued holes. Blood sprayed like paint, soaking the field.
『■■! ■■!』
“Die!”
The end was near. Akasha's unbalanced body lurched forward.
I seized the opening, slashing upward diagonally. Fights end with the opponent's head severed. Blood-smeared blade aimed for his neck—when a sickening crack rang out, and his torso bent backward at an inhuman angle. My strike merely grazed the mask's surface.
“Pointless struggling...”
I gnashed my teeth. Persistent bastard, but it didn't matter.
I swung down again for his neck. Akasha's left arm shot up. A bloodied palm blocked my view.
“What.”
And my breath stopped.
On Akasha's bony ring finger dangled a silver necklace.
A simple yet exquisitely crafted piece I knew all too well. Unforgettable. I'd given it to Adeshan back when we were reveling in the joys of young love, before the kid came along.
“...Adeshan.”
One second felt like a year.
Worn by time, but unmistakably that necklace.
Her tearful joy at her first jewelry gift flashed before my eyes. All thought ceased. Even future Adeshan was dead.
My descending blade wavered.
『■.』
Akasha didn't miss the gap.
He snapped his upper body upright. Below his right shoulder—supposed to be severed bare—grew a new arm. Hundreds of large and small chains twisted together into one. Atop the clenched fist, hellish darkness blazed like flames.
『■■■!!!』
Akasha cried out something. The recoiling fist accelerated wildly. It screamed don't take this head-on. A direct hit would end everything.
But Adeshan was dead.
I knew I had to dodge or block.
But Adeshan was dead.
The mental image's sunset burned beautifully.
Akasha's black fist arced through the air, burying deep into my gut.
“......Guh.”
My brain rattled. The sunset faded. My fragile world shattered like glass. No groan escaped. In the darkening void, a sweet voice lingered in my ears.
- You have to take responsibility until death do us part.
Smiling Adeshan said it. Crimson ears peeked through her damp hair.
The morning after our first night, in Phileon Academy's courtyard, hands intertwined, basking in sunlight filtering through leaves, feeling each other's warmth, sharing stories unfinished from dawn, faces flushing at memories of bare skin, her embracing me after my obvious answer,
dreaming of a happy future,
smiling,
laughing.
Darkness exploded, revealing the blue sky. Light poured into the dim Dakonya Valley.
A black shadow plummeting from on high crashed into the ground.
『■...■■...!』
As the dust settled, Akasha emerged.
He gasped like a dying man. His chain-formed right arm had fulfilled its role and was dissolving back into mana.
『Hah... ■uh■... .』
A strange sound—laugh or sob?—leaked from beneath the mask.
A red pool spread under his cloak. His thick hair soaked up blood like a brush. He'd won through sheer grit, but at too great a cost.
Realizing the problem, Akasha froze.
『■run... .』
He raised his trembling left hand to fiddle with the mask's interior. For a moment, his voice had sounded human, but it warped back to its eerie tone.
Suddenly, a dull thud echoed from behind.
『■■...!』
Akasha whipped his head around. About ten paces away, Ronan lay face-down. He looked far better off—only blood trickled from his mouth.
But Ronan's eyes remained shut.
『■■■■■■... .』
Akasha let out a long sigh. Even after five minutes, Ronan didn't stir. Seemed dead, sprawled there. After catching his breath longer, Akasha staggered to his feet.
『■■■.』
His gait was precarious, like a sandcastle battered by waves.
Legs limped, frail body swaying in the wind.
But he didn't give up.
Akasha finally reached Seniel and stood before it. The sacred rock had ceased its life force eruption, self-repairing. The smooth severed face was now covered in rough, scab-like stone.
Watching this, Akasha placed his hand on Seniel.
『■■ ■■■■■■.』
And began chanting a bizarre incantation.
The same sequence of words from the previous parallel world.
The life force dormant in the rock was being absorbed into him.
Unlike before, no one was left to stop him. Akasha drained the floating Seniel fragments and the rock's emanating vitality until it visibly dwindled before finally releasing his hand.
『...■■.』
Akasha dropped his arm. Life force capable of restoring ecosystems destroyed over centuries pulsed in his chest.
Yet his grievous wounds remained unhealed.
Impossible without suppressing its use himself.
『■. ■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■.』
Akasha muttered to himself, then blankly gazed at the sky.
His expression mixed relief and regret, like an old man fulfilling a lifelong wish.
As he admired the vast Dakonya sky,
“A...kasha.”
A familiar voice rang out from behind.
『■■.』
Akasha froze. He turned his head with a rusty creak. Ronan stood there, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, staring at him.
Silence fell.
Akasha spoke.
『■■■... ?』
“I blocked it... barely.”
Ronan rummaged in his coat pocket.
In his hand, three chunks of shattered ore. Seniel fragments. Their fractured surfaces sparkled like gems. These had blocked Akasha's final blow.
Ronan stuffed them back into his pocket.
“I owe you in more ways than one.”
『■■!』
Akasha desperately thrust out his arm. All five fingers splayed wide.
His last reserves transformed into magic. A tidal wave of savage power surged at Ronan. Calmly drawing his sword, Ronan slashed vertically.
Kwaaaa!
The cleaved force parted around him.
『■...!』
Akasha stumbled back. His magic had failed. Ronan's blade gleamed in an unfamiliar hue. Not crimson sword aura, nor the vermilion of worlds. A beautiful shade blending gold and dawn flowed along the edge.
Ronan spoke.
“Almost had me... shame. Showing that at the end... really good strategy.”
『■■■... .』
“Guess I'm only human. I know staying calm saves everyone, but I couldn't... all because I care too damn much.”
Ronan dangled the necklace.
Akasha's dropped memento from future Adeshan.
“But now I'm clear-headed... thanks to that solid hit. First off, thanks to you.”
『■■■■?』
“Yeah... come to think of it, you enabled saving all three parallel worlds. Been nagging at me, but now everyone's getting a happy ending... Grand General's probably smiling down.”
Akasha said nothing.
Ronan's face was serene, even a touch relaxed. Utterly different from the fury during their world-spanning clash.
“So... I can forgive you... Hah, future tragedies won't happen anyway... Now that we're here, no one dies unhappy.”
『■ ■■■■ ■■■?』
“Right... I'm on death's door. But so are you, aren't you...?”
Akasha flinched at Ronan's words.
He spoke as if hearing Akasha's own voice.
Before he could check the mask, the light rippling along Ronan's blade intensified.
“So, let's end this with one final strike...”
Warm sunlight radiance. Faint yet brimming with vitality, evoking dawn cresting a ridge. Beautiful, but its aura was ominous.
『■■...!』
“No need to hold back.”
As Akasha sensed peril and moved, Ronan swung. Dawn's erupting light engulfed the valley.
“It's my gift... with gratitude.”
The voice faded.
A colossal force shoved him; Akasha's consciousness snapped.