Chapter 41: Death
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 41: Death
Ludwig sang of fury.
Yohan had never seen him so angry.
Even considering their brief acquaintance, Yohan had never imagined Ludwig to be a man of such passion, capable of erupting in such fury.
Moving from a dead stop to top speed in a single breath, Ludwig instantly appeared before Hekaterina and swung his weapon.
Perhaps it was a speed astonishing even for a witch, as Hekaterina's eyes widened in surprise.
But surprise alone wasn't enough to stop Ludwig's attack. The weapon he swung smashed into Hekaterina's head, and even after her skull was crushed, he continued to strike, completely obliterating it.
It was far too excessive to be called a confirmation kill, but Yohan couldn't even think of stopping him.
“Huu, huu….”
After swinging his weapon with abandon, Ludwig panted heavily, seemingly exhausted. He tossed his weapon carelessly to the floor and checked on Carlos, whose chest had been pierced.
The blood was warm. That meant he was still alive. Ludwig tore a piece of his own clothing and wrapped it tightly around the man's chest to stanch the bleeding.
“...M-Master?”
“Yes, it’s me. Carlos. It’s me.”
“Ha, haha… a lie… After not showing your face for decades…”
“I’m sorry. So please, don’t die like this.”
As Ludwig held Carlos with a sorrowful expression, Yohan felt an unidentifiable sense of anxiety and fear.
By the time he realized the source of his anxiety, it was already too late. Hekaterina, whose entire body had been utterly destroyed, rose to her feet perfectly fine. She transformed her hand into that of a giant monster and crushed Ludwig in its grip.
“Ugh—!?”
“Kihihi, that hurt. It hurts. Yep. It’s been a while since I’ve felt pain like this. This technique… you’re a holy knight, aren’t you? But how can you attack another holy knight?”
Caught in the grip of the giant monster's hand, Ludwig couldn't move at all. It was only then that Yohan realized the magic cast on Ludwig wasn't invincibility.
Whether it was intentional or a coincidence, Hekaterina had merely subdued Ludwig. And naturally, any magic that couldn't kill him would still affect him. Just like how Margaret's spatial movement had worked on him.
As Ludwig struggled, trying to move his body, Hekaterina clenched her fist as if to say his resistance was futile.
Then, noticing her grip wouldn't tighten past a certain point, she tilted her head in confusion.
“—Huh? Why isn’t this working?”
“Let… go… of me!”
“Magic? Is it magic? Is keeping men a trend among witches these days? First that one, now you, what's with kids like you…”
Hekaterina tilted her head and looked toward where Yohan had been. Yohan was gone. Realizing this, she immediately leaped backward.
The moment she threw herself back, Yohan's blade slammed down into the spot where she had just been standing. Realizing his strike had missed, Yohan clicked his tongue and chased after the retreating Hekaterina.
“Aha, ahaha—! You were a holy knight, too!?”
From his movements, which far surpassed those of a human, Hekaterina guessed Yohan's identity. She immediately transformed her free left arm into a monstrous limb and thrust it toward him.
She knew the holy knights' weakness very well. Their power shines only from the edge of their blades.
Only the consecrated edge of their weapons could slice through magic. And while they could cut the magic, they couldn't stop the physical phenomena it created.
That was why she was the natural enemy of holy knights. Seeing her monstrous hand, they would assume it was a simple physical transformation and charge in, thinking they could easily cut it, but…
‘They're wrong—!’
Slice—!
“Huh?”
Just as she had grabbed Ludwig, Hekaterina reached out with her massive hand to seize Yohan, only to freeze for a moment as she watched her own fingers get sliced off helplessly.
The pain of her severed fingers soon followed. The hand she had transformed into a monster was her real hand. She had only changed its appearance with magic.
Perhaps because the massive fingers had so many nerves, she felt a pain so intense it felt like the capillaries in her eyes were bursting. It was a pain so fierce that if she hadn't been accustomed to it, she would have screamed and rolled on the ground like a little girl.
In the brief moment she endured by gritting her teeth, Yohan began to completely mince her left arm.
Her fingers were all lopped off, a major artery was severed, and her forearm was left in tatters.
Seizing the opening while her left arm was completely useless, Yohan went straight for her right hand. Convinced that Ludwig wouldn't be harmed, his slashes were without a shred of hesitation.
‘Is this bastard crazy!? His own comrade is right there!’
In truth, Hekaterina was reminded once again that holy knights were nothing but incorrigible madmen, seeing how he paid no mind to Ludwig, who was being held hostage.
But even if he couldn't be used as a hostage, there were plenty of other ways to use him. Hekaterina used magic on Ludwig, who was still caught in her grip.
A moment later, Ludwig's body began to swell grotesquely. His skin completely melted away, oozing slime, until he had transformed into something no different from a monster.
Hekaterina then threw the monstrous, balloon-like Ludwig at Yohan.
“Ugh—!”
Catching Ludwig as he flew toward him, Yohan saw Hekaterina's follow-up attack and sensed his own death.
There was no way to dodge that attack while holding this enormous body. It would be the same even if he belatedly threw Ludwig aside or used him as a shield.
Perhaps it was thanks to his month of training, but Yohan didn't close his eyes, staring straight at the attack flying toward him.
As if determined to see exactly what it was that killed him—.
The moment he made that resolve, the incoming tentacle completely vanished. As did the figure of Hekaterina, who had been launching the attack from a distance.
As he tilted his head, unable to understand what had happened, a familiar voice belatedly echoed through the guild.
“Haa, haah—! I-I wasn’t… too late….”
Margaret, who had hastily chanted a spell, appeared, panting for breath.
Realizing Hekaterina had been sent flying far away by Margaret, I immediately ran to her and shouted.
“Margaret! The hospital, get us to a hospital!”
“...It’s already too late.”
“What do you mean, too late? We have to save the instructor at least…!”
I was about to take Ludwig, who was cradled in my arms, to the hospital, when I belatedly remembered that he was an immortal under a curse.
He doesn't die. If the power of the magic was real, he was the kind of being who could walk out of the center of a nuclear fireball without a scratch.
So, even though he looked like a rotting mess on the outside, it meant there was nothing wrong with his health.
“...I’m fine.”
Indeed, Ludwig was perfectly fine. I let out a hollow laugh as I looked at him. The fluids oozing from his entire body as if from a burn, the stench that emanated from him, and his swollen form, so bloated he couldn't even stand on his own, made it impossible to believe he was okay.
But Ludwig himself replied in a calm voice I had never heard from him before.
“Rather than me… take that child.”
“That child…?”
“Carlos… my disciple….”
Hearing that, I looked at Carlos, who was lying in the middle of the guild hall. He had been breathing when we first entered, but perhaps because too much time had passed with a hole in his chest, his heart had grown cold.
Lifting his limp, stiffening corpse, I approached Ludwig, who was lying on the floor, unable to even roll over.
Ludwig looked at the dead Carlos, his expression bitter as his lips moved slightly.
“...Carlos. He wasn’t someone who should have died like this.”
“...He must have been a disciple you truly cherished.”
“Disciple? It was more than that. This boy is my descendant. The only trace she and I left behind…”
“...A descendant? You had a child?”
“Did I not tell you?”
“No. I’ve never seen you talk about yourself, Instructor.”
“Is that so….”
He said, lost in thought. Then, he collected himself and spoke.
“It’s too long a story to bring up now, so I won’t.”
“But, I was curious…?”
“Enough. I don’t want to talk about it. More importantly, Yohan, this is for the best. Now, kill me.”
“This again, all of a sudden….”
“This time, you must kill me.”
Ludwig began to explain his current physical state.
“I may look like this on the outside, but my life is in no danger.”
“Then isn’t that a good thing…?”
“No. This form is needlessly sturdy and needlessly healthy. If you don’t kill me, I’ll have to live like this for thousands of years.”
“What does that….”
“And it should be obvious, but I don’t want to live like this. I felt that way even when I was human; I’d rather die than live in this hideous form. You understand, don’t you?”
“R-Right! If I use my magic to nullify the spell on you, Instructor…!”
“It won’t work. If that were possible, the witch’s arm should have returned to normal when you cut it earlier. But what actually happened? You may have sliced her arm, but you couldn’t revert it to its original state. It will likely be the same for me.”
Thinking back, it was true. Both the arm that had reached for me and the one that had held Ludwig had been hacked to pieces, but neither had returned to normal.
In fact, I had been continuously using my magic on him for a little while now, but his body showed no signs of returning to its original form.
“Kill me, Yohan. It’s time… let me rest. And while I’m asking you to kill me, I’m sorry, but could you avenge me as well?”
“...I won’t. If you have a problem with that, get up and do it yourself.”
“Hahaha, then I suppose I’ll have to die with regrets.”
Ludwig didn't back down, prodding my conscience to the very end. I bit my lip hard and drew my sword.
Then, I imbued the sword with magic. Magic Nullification. The magic I had thought to be the natural enemy of all witches, one I had never imagined using on a human.
“I absolutely will not get revenge for you.”
“That’s not so bad either. God himself said if you are struck on the left cheek, you should offer the right.”
“I’m serious, I won’t do it! Don’t you feel wronged? Don’t you have any desire to live?”
“Yohan.”
He called my name in a sorrowful voice.
“I’ve lived too long… to feel such things anymore. I am tired. An ember may remain in a pile of ash, but it cannot burn again. Let the ashes be as ashes… let me scatter in the wind.”
The tip of the blade aimed at the ash.
The ash grinned and offered its body.
The blade stirred the pile of ash. The ash on the sword clung stickily, smeared on as if refusing to ever come off.
“Fuck.”
I killed a person.
Someone I knew.
We weren't close. We knew nothing about each other besides our names.
“...Fuck.”
And so, to tell me not to be sad would be an incredibly cruel thing to say.
And so, to tell me not to seek revenge... my heart burned too hot.
“Yohan, someone’s coming. Let’s go back.”
“...Yes.”
I returned to the cabin.
Unable to even bury the body, filled only with regret.