Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: The One Seeking Fate (2)
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Yuren didn't know exactly when he had become a Dragon Demon Worshipper.
The oldest memory he retained was of his mother's corpse, cold and stiff. He wasn't sure of the details, but his mother had apparently frozen to death in a filthy back alley of a rundown city, sick and impoverished.
That had been Yuren's fate as well. But someone had taken the still-wordless child and sent him to a Dragon Demon Worshippers' talent training facility.
There, he learned to speak and was inculcated with the knowledge and mindset of a Dragon Demon Worshipper as he grew up. The instructors sorted the children by aptitude early on, and in that process, Yuren was set on the path of the mage.
As a child, he had no questions about the environment surrounding him. Believing everything the adults there taught him to be truth, he gradually became a zealot.
His first kill came at age nine. To help the Dragon Demon Worshippers take root in the city, he murdered an elderly couple who controlled the local commerce.
Looking back now, they were truly innocent and had been kind to the children. Exploiting their compassion, he had disguised himself as a homeless urchin on a cold day, entered their home, obtained a bowl of warm soup, and then poisoned it with a magical toxin.
Even after that deed, he felt no particular emotion. By then, his education had already ensured that those who did not follow the great Dragon Demon King's teachings didn't seem like the same 'people' to him. They were merely filthy trash propping up a corrupt world.
Change came at age fourteen.
One day, an unknown voice began whispering in his dreams.
'I shall teach you the name of your bloodline. Yuren Lister.'
"......Mm."
Yuren opened his eyes. Beneath his tousled brown hair, pale bluish-gray eyes scanned the surroundings.
His vision was shaking wildly. And well it might—someone had him slung over their shoulder and was on the move.
"Getting carried over a woman's shoulder... that's a new experience......"
"You've got the energy to spout nonsense, so that's a relief."
A sharp voice replied. It belonged to the one carrying Yuren.
She was a woman smaller in stature than Yuren. With her black hair neatly cut in a bob and clad in jet-black leather armor, she was a beauty with a cold demeanor and amber eyes.
She was a Dragon Demon Hybrid. A horn like a glowing scarlet sculpture protruded from behind her right ear, and a Dragon Demon Stone on the back of her hand gleamed the same color as her eyes.
Yuren spoke in a strained voice.
"Letitia, I'm glad you're pleased... but that might have been my last bit of nonsense... in life......"
"If you're starting to think you'd actually prefer that, cut it out. You shed that much blood doing something stupid and still didn't die—be grateful for your luck and shut up."
"What about the kid...?"
"Dead."
"......"
Yuren's expression twisted at Letitia's answer.
He was gravely wounded. His feet had been pinned down protecting the children fleeing with him, and in trying to save one of them, he had thrown himself into harm's way and sustained a deep sword wound before blacking out.
"If only... I'd left it alone, then......"
"I said shut up."
"......"
"Don't tell me a smart guy like you couldn't imagine the outcome. You steeled yourself for the regret and did it anyway. Because you couldn't bear to see those kids lured down the path of zealotry, their human dignity trampled."
The current crisis stemmed from Yuren targeting the most vicious of the Dragon Demon Worshippers' training facilities. Upon learning it wasn't just producing combatants but 'breeding' children with specific constitutions as test subjects for vile experiments, he couldn't simply pass it by.
During the preliminary work, he had met Letitia, and they had joined forces. After a month of preparation, they destroyed the facility and helped the children escape.
But something unforeseen happened. Pursuers who had been tracking Yuren appeared as if they had been lying in wait.
Yuren said laboriously.
"Put me down......"
"You're in no condition to walk."
"I know, but you too......"
Yuren had noticed Letitia was injured as well. On the way here, she and Yuren had felled over a hundred Dragon Demon Worshippers. It would be stranger if they weren't exhausted and wounded.
"I'm not so weak I can't carry a single human whelp."
"No... you can't fight enemies... like that......"
"...Enemies?"
Letitia flinched at his words. She possessed skills even Dragon Demon Worshippers feared. But she hadn't sensed any approaching foes—how had Yuren detected something?
At the same time, Letitia felt a gaze looking down on her. She had mastered gaze detection.
'Hiding their gaze? No. They weren't watching until just now!'
The enemy here had been lying in ambush the whole time. They hadn't been watching the two specifically but had cast their gaze only when they entered their detection range.
The moment Letitia realized this, lightning struck.
Kwarung! Kwang!
It wasn't one or two bolts. The night sky, illuminated by the forest fire, tore open as lightning flashed in all directions, searing the retinas with cracks of light. Then dozens more bolts rained down.
It was destructive power capable of annihilating not one human but an entire army of dozens. Yet moments later, two figures emerged from the scattering lightning.
"Gh, this... a high-ranking executive?"
"Indeed, sinner. Escaping that trap—impressive."
A person stepped out from between the trees. She was a Dragon Demon Hybrid woman cloaked in potent darkness. Yuren, seeing her black hair fluttering in the heat-distorted winds, said hoarsely.
"Nibiris... direct bloodline of the Dragon Demon King......"
"Hm?"
The Dragon Demon Hybrid woman was none other than Nibiris. Recognizing Yuren's presence as a serious issue even in the Dark Snowfields, she had been dispatched as a high-ranking operative.
Nibiris's expression hardened.
"How do you know me? A mere apprentice grunt?"
Among the Dragon Demon Worshippers, few outside the Dark Snowfields knew of Nibiris. She took great pains to avoid exposure when venturing out. Like when she had joined Regina in attempting to kidnap Dragon Princess Arietta of the Lurein Kingdom, paralyzing the minds of low-level operatives to ensure they didn't see her.
Yet Yuren had identified her at first sight. A low-level operative couldn't do that.
Yuren laughed.
"Hahaha... who knows? How about that......?"
"Even on the brink of death, your talent for getting under my skin is exquisite."
Guuuuuu!
The darkness cloaking Nibiris surged with savage momentum. It was a darkness that cursed merely by contact. Without her permission, even breathing became difficult, and one would perish within from myriad poisons and plagues.
"Pathetic."
It was a cursed darkness that would freeze a human mage solid just to behold. But Letitia, carrying Yuren over one shoulder, spoke coldly and swung her weapon—a long cross spear—once with great force.
Shiiiii!
A fierce gale laced with icy chill erupted around her, driving back the darkness. The temperature plummeted sharply, and the surroundings began to freeze.
Nibiris glared at Letitia.
"Impressive. As expected of one with the overly grandiose title 'Ice-Blood Empress,' you have some skill."
"You're the ones who started calling me by that outdated moniker."
Letitia was known among the Dragon Demon Worshippers as the 'Ice-Blood Empress.' Starting her activities eight years ago, she had slain countless worshippers, including many Dragon Demon Hybrid executives.
Nibiris said.
"I see. Then die here with honor."
Countless spells unfolded from the darkness cloaking her. Lightning crashed, only for razor winds to follow, then flames to pour like rain.
"Didn't I just say it's pathetic? Forgotten already?"
But Letitia repelled all the magic. Even with Yuren slung over one shoulder, she moved with astonishing agility into gaps untouched by the spells and counterattacked.
Boom!
An explosion rang out, shaking Nibiris's barrier. Nibiris was stunned.
'At this distance?'
She had kept ample distance. Yet cracks had formed in her barrier as if struck by a full-force blow from point-blank range? And before she could react, another strike landed precisely on that crack.
"Ugh!"
She barely dodged. Chilling. Her meticulously layered multi-barriers had been pierced by dozens of pinpoint consecutive strikes with unbelievable precision.
At the same time, Nibiris realized her mistake.
'Magic.'
That previous attack hadn't been Letitia's—it was magic from Yuren, who had seemed on the verge of death. Realizing this shocked her.
'No way. A human?'
That move had astonished even Nibiris. A human had cast such magic?
"Impossible!"
Nibiris, half in disbelief, unleashed her own spells. Simultaneously...
Boom!
An explosion rocked her freshly reformed barrier. As if anticipating the moment she cast her magic, a perfect counter struck. It pierced the core of the spell's formation just before full manifestation, disrupting it, then passed through her sensory blind spot with needle-like accuracy to strike Nibiris with an arrow of magic.
'A human—no, a mere whelp—possessing such skill......'
By now, Nibiris felt not anger but a chill of dread. This was a level of magic manipulation reminiscent of the grand archmages of the Dark Snowfields who had taught her.
Nibiris asked.
"Rebel Yuren, is the Guardian Shadow truly behind you?"
"Who knows... if they were... that'd be convenient......"
Yuren smiled weakly. Until he had formed an alliance with Letitia, he had operated entirely alone. But from the Dragon Demon Worshippers' perspective, it was impossible to believe he acted solo.
For one, he was an extraordinarily skilled mage. Even astonishing Nibiris.
No matter how genius, a mage's growth depended heavily on the quality of knowledge they could access. Yuren had solid foundations, so he would grow swiftly upon learning high-level magic—but who had taught him? Creating new spells from self-taught basics required vast research and effort, far less efficient than learning established knowledge.
Abruptly, Yuren said.
"Letitia, someone else... is coming......"
"Got it."
Letitia understood his meaning.
The area was already swarming with Dragon Demon Worshippers pursuing them. Thus, this 'someone' Yuren mentioned had to possess combat prowess threatening enough to both of them.
"Time to push a bit. You can at least provide support, right?"
Whooo!
As Letitia spoke, she thrust her spear into the ground. Frost formed on its surface, spewing swirling cold. Immense mana was gathering.
Even more astonishing was the nature of that mana. Another mana intertwined with Letitia's Dragon Soul mana, creating a complex amplification effect.
It was Yuren's magic. He had crafted a mana pattern perfectly resonating with Letitia's Dragon Soul mana to maximize her power. While support magic amplifying warriors' mana existed, this transcended common sense.
Letitia grinned, pulled the spear free, and slammed it down again.
"Impressive. Even in peak condition, I'd struggle to output this much power."
Kwahahaha!
Immediately, a terrifying wave of cold shot forth.
It wasn't mere cold wind or blizzard. A pure white energy surged, and everything dozens of meters ahead froze in a fan shape.
'This...!'
Nibiris, who barely countered, was aghast. Shockingly, her vision was obstructed. Thick ice had formed over her reactive barrier, blocking her sight.
Then an even fiercer cold wave struck.
Kwarararak!
This time with devastating impact. Her barrier shook violently as the temperature plunged.
The final cold wave turned the spot where Nibiris stood into a massive ice pillar.
"...Worthy of the Ice-Blood Empress title, indeed."
It took Nibiris a moment to break free from the ice pillar imprisoning her. Emerging, she muttered while surveying the surroundings.
Everything was frozen. As if in a snowfield, part of the burning forest had turned stark white, with massive ice pillars jutting up between.
"Miss!"
Leaping over one such pillar came a man. Durang, a hulking figure in black armor. He asked.
"Are you hurt?"
"No. But they got one in on me. Can't underestimate them. Next time, I won't leave them any leeway."
From the start, Nibiris hadn't underestimated Letitia. Though her words were provocative, she had acknowledged her as a formidable foe even in the Dark Snowfields and fought accordingly.
But Yuren had been an unexpected variable. Displaying such magic on the brink of death.
Nibiris asked.
"The others?"
"Not here yet."
Durang quickly grasped the implication in her question.
The mission to capture rebel Yuren wasn't hers alone. It wasn't that no other forces existed, but that she wasn't the sole commander. Rivals vying for credit were converging from all directions to claim Yuren.
This stemmed from the Dark Snowfields' inability to pinpoint Yuren's movements. He had shaken pursuers and vanished countless times.
Thus, the Dark Snowfields had dispersed elite operatives across regions, promising great merit to whoever captured him. Nibiris was here because Durang's persistent tracking had given her the first intel.
But only slightly ahead. Word that Yuren was being tracked had reached the higher-ups. Rivals would arrive soon.
Nibiris said.
"I won't give Laura or Kirien a chance to interfere."
"Yes."
Durang bowed his head.