Chapter 137
Chapter 137
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 137
Chapter Title: Gathering Legends (3)
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Suddenly, Laura spoke up.
"I'm sorry."
"Have you lost your mind now that death is closing in? What the hell are you talking about?"
"When I think back on it, I wasn't trying to beat you all back then. It didn't matter if I won or lost; if I got eliminated, that was that. Nothing had any value anyway."
Laura's eyes grew distant. Dikal was bewildered. He couldn't fathom what was going through her mind.
"Someone with no will to live survives by dragging down those desperately clinging to life. Now I realize just how insulting that is. Until recently, I didn't even know that much."
Perhaps the previous Laura's existence couldn't even be called living. Without passion or desire, she had been nothing more than a puppet, acting solely as her creators desired.
Life had begun the moment she set out with Azel.
When the inner flame she thought dead reignited, she decided her path for the first time—not by others' will, but her own. The gray world gained color, and every day brought fresh wonder.
"So... now I have to win. Not because I must win to survive, but because I want to win. Because I want to live, I'll survive."
"That's ridiculous. If mere wishing made it happen, there'd be no tragedies in the world. I've never understood your thoughts before, but you're definitely out of your mind now. Die in madness and become the foundation for my victory."
Dikal sneered cruelly, surrounding Laura with cursed swords. Had it not been for her, he wouldn't have lost his name and become a cursed, masked expendable. Now that he'd reclaimed his rightful place, it was time to claim recompense for his suffering!
It was then, as he moved to deliver the finishing blow.
"One thing we need to clear up first. Dikal, you're arrogant."
"What?"
The moment Dikal bristled at Laura's assertion—
Boom!
Her magic pierced his defenses and detonated.
"Argh!"
Dikal's barriers were solid. The advantage he'd built through their exchanges wasn't easily overturned.
But Laura bypassed every defense, unleashing a shockwave. Dikal plummeted, drenched in blood, before barely soaring back up. As if the prior disadvantage had been a lie, Laura unleashed a storm of spells upon him.
Bang-bang-bang-bang!
The cursed swords were struck almost simultaneously by her magic and flung away. His disrupted dragon demon energy refined itself, forming eerily precise shapes.
Dikal was aghast.
"How... how did you breach my defenses...!"
"You've stagnated for too long."
Laura gazed at Dikal with sorrowful eyes.
Dikal was undoubtedly a prodigy. Even relying on dragon demon armaments, he'd performed the Dragon Slaying Ritual, leaving no doubt as to his power.
Not all born from the artificial womb were dragon demons. Though deeming them superior, the Aunsor clan had experimented with possibilities, creating both dragon demons and dragon demon hybrids as successor candidates.
Among dragon demon hybrids, Dikal was peerless. He had surpassed dragon demons and competed with Laura to the very end.
But that was long ago.
"Even without dragon demon armaments..."
Laura dismantled Dikal's defensive spells one by one. He resisted desperately, but was overwhelmingly outmatched. The advantage he'd amassed crumbled like a sandcastle.
"You came too soon."
At last, Laura's spells began manifesting one after another, shattering the silent exchange. Control of the air shifted to her; lightning exploded, heat boiled, threatening his life. In contrast, Dikal's spells were sealed before they could even form.
Their dragon demon energy was comparable, with Laura holding a slight edge. Dikal wielded Aunsor's magic tools and was brimming with unnatural power fresh from the Dragon Slaying Ritual.
Yet as mages, Laura vastly outclassed him.
It wasn't just spellcasting. The spells she knew were far superior.
It was inevitable. No matter the genius, mastering, researching, and refining magic required time. As successor, Laura had accessed secret arts, growing as a mage.
Dikal, however, had been cut off from knowledge the instant he was eliminated. He was like a tool with fixed capabilities, fighting only with what he'd learned by then.
Thinking a superior magic tool could bridge that gap was to underestimate Laura. Her prior disadvantage stemmed from mental turmoil, not skill.
With resolute expression, Laura declared to Dikal.
"There's so much more I want to see. Every morning I wake, new cravings arise. So I must live—not as the puppet they made, but to see what's beyond the path I've chosen."
"Lau... raaaaaah!"
Dikal screamed. The surrounding area was now fully under Laura's control. Even the six cursed swords, imprinted via his blood, faltered under her magic's interference.
"I'd love to say it's over, but..."
Laura murmured. Then lightning bolts rained from all directions.
Boom! Kaboom!
Yet Laura emerged unscathed from the storm. Her gaze shifted from Dikal to the ground below.
Powerful dragon demon energy waves emanated from there—over thirty in number. Comparable to the field officers in dragon demon energy alone, they harbored killing intent toward her.
The Shadow Sword Corps that followed Dikal. He'd ordered them to stand by while he handled her alone, but with the situation like this, they had no choice but to intervene.
Suddenly, Azel's words flashed through Laura's mind.
'Unfortunately, there's no easy solution. Many worldly problems are unavoidable, just like that.'
At some point, those born as tools from the same artificial womb—her siblings—had lost all value to her. Their elimination no longer caused pain or wounds.
But in this moment... their killing intent toward her ached in her chest.
"...I know. I have no choice but to end it."
Laura forced a sad smile, steeling her resolve.
3
As Dikal engaged Laura, Kairen and Leticia found themselves cornered once more. Even focusing on defense, they were soon covered in blood.
"Urk!"
Kairen took a hit from Reygus's kick and went flying. He barely rolled to his feet with a landing technique, but soon staggered, knees buckling.
"Hah, hah, haah..."
Amid the battlefield's cacophony, a languid sensation washed over him. Proof that injuries and stamina drain had eroded his focus. The fight with Reygus hadn't been long, but it had taxed body and mind excessively.
Leticia fared no better. She could scarcely stand.
[Ah, this really takes me back.]
Reygus spoke before them. He'd fully exposed their limits. He could end them anytime he wished. But his leisure wasn't arrogance—it was sentimental.
Even on battlefields where intelligent beings slaughtered one another, they sought style and romance in their folly—and Reygus was no exception. No, having lived long and returned from death, he cherished these clashes with worthy foes all the more, regretting their end.
"Damn..."
Kairen ground his teeth.
The blow from earlier, when caught off-guard, had been too severe. Without it, he could've held out longer...
Leticia spoke in a voice laced with venom.
"That's why old folks are like this. A man who's died once shows such leisure. Didn't your previous life teach you that such leisure invites death?"
[Are you protesting for a quick end?]
Reygus tilted his head. Leticia chuckled.
"I'd have no retort if it sounded that way. Being in the weak position after so long... it's not pleasant. I've always felt the strength of the collective, but it's been ages since I've personally been the underdog against someone."
Reygus eyed her curiously. Desperation from the corner? But the way she swept back her disheveled bangs suggested otherwise.
"But it's too early to feel victorious, legendary Dragon Demon General."
[Got a hidden trump card? Show it if you have. I'm the type who goes wild for that sort of thing, courting danger.]
"Fool."
[My comrades often said the same. But after so long without a worthy foe, wouldn't it be a shame to end it without seeing your all? That's the joy of my life.]
"Comrades, huh. Yes. That's what I believe in too. It's unfamiliar since I haven't had many, but..."
[Hm?]
As Reygus puzzled, the ground beneath him vanished.
[What?]
The earth warped strangely and caved in. Reygus's body plunged into the pit.
Mages sometimes sank charging foes with crude pit spells, but this was different. No warning until the supporting ground disappeared.
The instant Reygus grasped the phenomenon, a blinding bolt surged from below.
Rumble! Kaboom!
[Damn! Aunsor trick!]
By a hair's breadth, Reygus blocked and shot skyward. A flash pursued him. He swung his Seal of Annihilation at a point in the air, and it exploded.
Kwaaaaa...!
From behind emerged a red-haired youth, Azel, hair whipping in the wind.
[Ho!]
Reygus's voice brimmed with ecstasy as he flew from the ambush. The red-haired youth wielding a sword gleaming blue, body surging with lightning—identical to someone from his memories.
[It really is you!]
He burst into uncontrollable laughter.
[Azel! You're alive!]
A strange silence descended on the battlefield.
-Continued in Volume 6