Chapter 121
Chapter 121
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: The Seal
-----------------------------------------------------------------
●
Getting dragged into a fight out of nowhere wasn’t something Elnor experienced often.
To begin with, having her room explode while she was just in her nightgown was a first, and getting assaulted by someone wielding a sword right after was also unprecedented.
A blind assassination attempt with no warning or reason whatsoever. As the daughter of the Tristan Ducal House, she’d been through plenty of rough situations, but nothing this abrupt.
Even accounting for that, the ‘disadvantage’ she was facing right now was far from normal.
Since becoming an adult.
Had there ever been even once when she’d been pushed back this hard in a fight?
“...You said you had someone to introduce me to, Tatiana High Priestess.”
She glared at the people in front of her, breathing raggedly.
“They’re certainly no ordinary folk. Confident enough to throw them at me.”
Two guys standing back with arms crossed, keeping their distance.
One was Tatiana, and the other a frivolously dressed man draped in clinking jewelry from head to toe.
And standing right at the front.
The ‘masked’ woman was speaking to her with casual nonchalance.
The one who had appeared out of nowhere after the massive explosion and thrust a sword at her.
“Ease up and call it quits already? You can’t win, you know?”
Elnor scowled deeply at the leisurely words.
A mocking tone. Just hearing it made irritation bubble up.
“...We’ll see. I’m not one to run from a fight I’ve already stepped into.”
The masked woman snickered.
“You never change, do you? So damn stubborn. I’ve seen you so many times, and you’ve never reacted differently once.”
“...I’ve never met anyone as suspicious as you.”
And that was true.
Someone this unpleasant would stick in her memory after one encounter, but she truly had no recollection.
“No.”
But.
The masked woman refuted her in a low, sunken voice.
“We’ve met plenty of times. More than enough to make it tiresome.”
“...”
She had no idea what that meant.
Elnor sighed and pulled herself to her feet. Better to focus on breaking out of this mess than dwell on cryptic nonsense.
Her narrowed eyes stayed fixed on her opponent.
“...”
Elnor’s face hardened as she watched the masked woman playfully swing her sword around.
Even judging by eye, the gap in their abilities was enormous.
She didn’t need to be at her peak condition; this body barely scraped average.
Normally, attacks like these would drop her without resistance.
-!
Elnor kicked off the ground and charged forward.
Her signature flash-like strike.
Superhuman physical power paired with swordsmanship honed to the limit. A frail body like this, clearly untrained, should’ve been swept away and crushed.
But.
-!
It bounced off.
Elnor barely regained her balance, gritting her teeth slightly. In that split second, the opponent’s sword grazed her shoulder.
A shallow but definite wound etched onto her body once more.
‘...What a strange opponent.’
Yeah. That was the problem.
Just now, again.
This woman had gotten ‘suddenly’ stronger.
The overwhelming power gap between them had closed in an instant.
As if she had a trait that made her stronger whenever her life was in danger.
The harder Elnor pressed, the stronger that trait seemed to grow.
She’d seen someone like that before.
Not just similar—exactly the same trait.
“You.”
Elnor spoke in a voice like cracking ice.
“Are you connected to Dawood somehow?”
“...”
The masked woman just shrugged.
“Even if I was, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“...”
“Just die here nicely instead of asking silly questions.”
Elnor sighed again.
“Can’t do that.”
“...You haven’t landed a single solid hit, but you sure talk big. What makes you think—”
“I have to bear a child.”
“...”
“With Dawood. We made a promise.”
The masked woman fell silent for a long moment, staring at Elnor’s utterly serious expression, then let out a deep sigh.
“...Whatever. Give it your best shot. If you can survive, that is?”
They faced off with swords drawn once more.
The same scene that had repeated endlessly so far.
The outcome would likely be the same.
Unbelievable as it was, Elnor was being outmatched in close combat by this woman.
‘...No choice but to use it.’
Elnor steeled herself and refined the ‘energy’ writhing within her body.
A power she’d avoided using herself since hunting the ice tiger with Talion.
It felt like her very ‘essence’ would change entirely because of it.
“...”
But.
Beyond that.
An inexplicable foreboding blocked her from using that ability.
Elnor’s gaze lingered on the man standing back there.
The frivolously dressed one covered in clinking jewelry.
His outfit looked ridiculous, but.
The dread it radiated was horrific.
As if she absolutely could not use that energy in front of him.
“Got some hidden power you’re holding back?”
In the meantime, a mocking voice came from the masked woman.
“Why not use it? You’ll die at this rate.”
As if.
She knew Elnor was concealing something.
As if she was ‘waiting’ for her to use it.
“...No.”
She had no intention of playing right into that.
Elnor sighed and gripped her sword, resuming her stance.
“You’re no match for my blade alone.”
“...Suit yourself.”
Once again, their swords clashed.
Or.
They tried to.
A ‘formation’ suddenly materialized before them.
“...?”
“...?”
Bewilderment spread across everyone present at the abrupt phenomenon.
None of them had interfered with it.
And in that moment.
Something ‘dropped’ from the formation with a thud.
●
Thinking about it, things had rarely gone smoothly according to plan.
I always thought I accounted for every variable, but nonsense always cropped up once or twice.
“...”
Still, even I was a bit stunned by this.
Pain was blocked, but the sense that something had gone terribly wrong hit me crystal clear.
Everything below my chest felt gone, severed entirely.
In other words, I’d taken a fatal wound down there.
Something spilling from deep ‘inside’ my body squelched under my feet.
“...”
Don’t think about it.
Pondering what it was right now would leave me unable to do anything.
[System Message]
[ HP below 0.5%! ]
[ You are on the verge of death! ]
[ Emergency treatment recommended! ]
Like this could be fixed with emergency treatment.
At the edge of my vision, I spotted the one person who might manage something similar.
The Saintess, who’d been sitting quietly in the nearby bushes, now pale-faced and rushing out.
“...Stay still! Stay calm!”
Before I could explain, she stuck to my side and unleashed her holy power.
An array of high-level miracles poured out, far beyond the basic blessings I could handle.
Stuff powerful enough to restore even someone on the brink of death to full health, as long as a thread of life remained.
But it didn’t seem to help much.
[System Message]
[ The ‘White Devil’s’ demonic energy is interfering with regeneration! ]
Of all things, getting hit by Yuria—who’d been influenced by a demon—had left demonic energy plastered all over me.
Seeing the wounds refuse to improve, all color drained from the Saintess’s face.
“W-wait. I-I’ll save you no matter what it takes...!”
White light seeped from her body again as she spoke.
I could guess what she planned.
Burning her own lifespan. The most insidious kind of miracle, treated as forbidden dark magic.
“...”
Grateful as I was that she’d go that far to save me.
A person titled ‘Saintess’ knowing this stuff opened up a deep story I wasn’t about to dig into.
There were ‘watching eyes’ here. Couldn’t let her pull that out.
“...Stop.”
My throat was full of blood, making full sentences hard, but I managed those words.
“Don’t.”
I pieced it together laboriously.
“You’ll... pay for it. Stop.”
“...”
The Saintess’s eyes widened.
A storm of complex emotions filled them, then she bit her lip until it bled.
[ Target ‘Lucienne’ is greatly shocked by your words! ]
[ Guilt is imprinted deep into her subconscious! ]
[ Negative influence imprinted! ]
[ Negative Imprint triple-stacked! ]
[ Major personality change occurs. ]
[ Behavioral patterns change! ]
[ Dominance over target increases! ]
[ Collectible reward granted! ]
“...”
Even in this mess, skills ticked away reliably.
But now wasn’t the time to care.
“Is that what matters right now?! Why are you like this even in—!”
I shook my head at the Saintess’s angry voice.
No, that wasn’t the issue.
If my thinking was right.
It wasn’t just ineffective and wasteful—there was no ‘need’ for it at all.
“...”
Consciousness sank deeper.
I double-checked the ‘objective’ I’d planned from the start.
With my fading awareness, I painstakingly calculated the best decision for survival.
Even with my cheat-filled body’s buffs, time was maybe a few dozen seconds. No room for panic.
“...Saintess.”
That was all I got out.
Then, with gestures, I signaled her clearly.
Hand over the amulet she was wearing.
“...”
She tremblingly extended the Soul Linker, and I barely slipped it onto my wrist.
[You, y-you bastard, hold on tight! One slip here and it’s all over!]
[Can you hear me?! I’ll whip up a formation right now, just stay put...!]
As soon as it connected, Kaliban and Valkasus screamed in my head simultaneously.
“...”
Quiet down. Speak softer.
Lost too much blood. Maintaining consciousness was getting harder.
‘Valkasus.’
It was him I needed.
My lifeline hung on whether he could grant this request.
‘Spatial transfer spell. Possible?’
Spatial transfer was top-tier in any ability system. Usually.
The time I gave Liru a single mana stone and flung her that far was an outlier.
But if he couldn’t now, I was dead for sure.
[...Your body has too few strokes etched in, so not far. A tenth of the mana stone you used on that Liru girl is my limit.]
‘That’s enough.’
Good thing it wasn’t an issue.
Truly the world’s top alchemist. Even absurd requests like this, handled effortlessly.
I passed Valkasus the coordinates. And.
“Dawood, b-blood, blood, b-blood— N-no, it’s my fault, I-I messed up— Please, pleeease—”
To the girl bawling her eyes out, I spared one last word.
“It’s fine, Yuria.”
Squeezing out my final strength.
“Not your fault.”
Really.
She’d suffered plenty because of me; she deserved this much once.
To begin with.
I had no plans to die yet.
‘...Kaliban.’
I murmured it into my dimming mind.
‘One promise.’
[...No corny last words. Don’t even think about dying.]
I snickered at his slightly teary voice.
Not that. Don’t worry.
This guy always acted prickly but had a soft spot.
‘When I explain later, listen. No anger.’
[...What?]
Kaliban sounded baffled.
But I meant it.
Whatever he saw next might make him want to kill me later.
He was ex-Guardian tier; not impossible.
Then, Valkasus’s alchemical formation enveloped me.
The scene before my eyes shifted in an instant.
The student dorm provided by the Forge of Struggle. Elnor’s room in particular.
Half-destroyed, crumbling everywhere. Clear signs of ‘combat.’
And by now, surely...
“...Dawood?”
Elnor’s voice rang in my ears.
Yes. Right on target.
Considering her usual temperament.
Her reaction to me in this state was predictable.
[System Message]
[ Aura of the ‘Taecheon’s Seal’ detected! ]
There it was.
[System Message]
[ ‘Taecheon’s Seal’ reacts! ]
[ You have interacted with ‘demons’ sufficiently many times! ]
[ Your attribute changes from ‘Human’ to ‘Half-Demon’! ]
And with that window.
My consciousness went dark.
●