The Child of Prophecy (4)
Noah's origin is salvation.
It was an organization formed by those who had received a revelation, gathering others who shared their will. That was Noah.
Yet unlike the Noah that first came together for salvation, the organization slowly rotted from the outside in with the passage of time, twisting away from its original purpose.
"Well, not me, of course~!"
"No. I believe you, Utaba, are the most corrupted of all."
A man with eyes like a blazing sun and hair the deep crimson of blood.
Mazia answered Utaba's words, her long silver hair swaying, a pure white bandage wrapped over her eyes.
Even a single one of Noah's executives was enough to throw an entire nation into chaos.
Two such executives of Noah were gathered in one place now, watching someone.
"Mmm~ Beautiful Mazia. Hearing you say that hurts my feelings."
Utaba's hand reached for Mazia's shoulder, but she moved a beat faster and slipped out of reach.
"Let us go."
Whoosh.
Utaba's hand cut through empty air as Mazia strode ahead and answered.
He raised the hand that had sliced nothing, shrugged his shoulders, and followed after her.
"So what are we doing from here? Taking him with us?"
Among the 'Children of Prophecy' that Noah sought, Persona had flagged one as suspicious: Lee Cheon-seong of Legna Academy.
Heading now toward Cheon Seong's residence, Utaba asked Mazia whether they would take him.
"Today we have come only to confirm whether Persona's words are true."
"That so? Wouldn't it be better to just grab him now?"
At last, since Noah's founding, they had found a Child of Prophecy.
It was still only a guess, of course, but Persona rarely erred even when she claimed she had no sure way to identify one. As far as Utaba was concerned, simply taking Cheon Seong was the better choice.
Yet contrary to that expectation, Mazia replied that they would only verify whether he truly was the Child of Prophecy.
Utaba found it odd, but he did not bother arguing.
After all, Mazia was Noah's most vital figure—the prophet.
Her choices always raised questions, yet they were always perfect judgments. No one in Noah ever doubted Mazia's prophecies.
And so, just as they were about to arrive at Cheon Seong's residence—
Thud.
"Huh? Why'd you stop all of a sudden?"
Mazia's feet halted without warning.
"Utaba. Prepare yourself."
"What am I supposed to prepare for out of nowhere, seriously."
Mazia looked at the grumbling Utaba and answered.
"The thing you love most."
.
.
.
.
Grin.
"If it's that, then I'm more than welcome. How about it? Want me to do it right now?"
"No. That is not it."
Mazia stopped Utaba as he began to draw up his mana with a chilling smile, waited a moment for something, then spoke again.
"You may begin now. It seems they intend to prepare the stage for us over there."
"A stage? What the hell are you talki—"
Whoooom!
A sudden, massive wave of mana enveloped Utaba and Mazia.
A forest where towering trees formed a dense canopy that blotted out the sun.
Teleportation—highest-tier spatial magic.
And not a small-scale cast either. Transported into an unknown forest, Utaba looked around and let out a whoop of pure delight.
"Wooo!! This is gonna be fun as hell! Wait, did that guy do this?!"
"No. That is not the case, but it seems Cheon Seong himself has arrived."
KRAAAAAASH!
Black demonic energy erupted skyward. At its center stood a man whose black eyes had sunk into darkness, staring at Utaba and Mazia.
"Fuck, you bastards."
Lee Cheon-seong—one of the three 'Children of Prophecy' Persona had named as suspects.
He exploded with black demonic energy and murderous intent, threatening Noah's executives, Utaba and Mazia.
Drinking the World Tree's sap did not raise my rank to Highest.
Hearing that alone, one might think the sap of the World Tree—mother of life and mana—was only good for regenerating a single arm. The truth was nothing of the sort.
Rank can be forced upward somehow with other elixirs and external factors. What I gained was an achievement that made a mere rise in rank look trivial.
That was sensory perception.
It might not look like much on the surface, but while sensory perception can be artificially boosted for a short time with elixirs and outside means, a permanent increase is impossible.
Yet the World Tree's sap—specifically, the pill formed from a large quantity of solidified sap—permanently elevated that sense.
And by no small amount: fully double my original perception.
Because of it, I could now read a person's emotions to a certain degree.
Thanks to that, Cheon Yu-seong's jealousy and hatred toward me, and the love of Beatrice, Yuna, and Hana, all came through even more clearly, which had been rather satisfying.
If only I had not sensed those two dog bastards approaching this place.
Two auras I was not used to, yet could never forget.
Utaba of Flame and Mazia of Prophecy—two of Noah's eight executives.
Two giants, each capable of throwing a nation into turmoil alone, were heading straight here, toward my family's home.
Fortunately I had asked Beatrice to divert their path, so she and I had relocated to the forest where we usually trained.
Crunch.
Hmph! I hate you, Daddyyyy!!
Because I had to come as well, Hana—whom I had finally managed to soothe—was sulking all over again.
"Woooaaah! You're crazy strong! Come on, fight me—"
Swaaaaaash—
"So you'll have to pay the price for that. You fucking bastard."
A black moon rose in the forest.
Immediately after, Cheon Seong's White Night leapt toward Utaba, pouring out pure white light that crashed over both Utaba and Mazia.
Whoooosh!
Fwoooosh!
Blazing flames tore through the light of White Night.
"Hoooahhh! That came in pretty hot!!"
Clear crimson flames like the sun itself erupted from Utaba and swept toward Cheon Seong.
Utaba of Flame, one of Noah's executives.
As his epithet suggested, he was a fire-attribute ability user—and absurdly enough for a villain, his power was 'Sun'.
The flame of purification.
Utaba's fire grew stronger while the sun was up, and at noon—when the sun blazed brightest—its power rivaled even Yoo Hwa-young's Eternal Flame, which could be called the absolute peak of destructive force.
Fortunately noon had long since passed, so he could not bring out that level of power. That did not mean Utaba was weak in the slightest.
Even as I am now, winning against both Utaba and Mazia is impossible.
If I used Last Radiance I might force a draw somehow, but once its duration passed three minutes my life would be in danger, so I could not use it.
Your technique is certainly formidable, yet it would be best to refrain from using it until you grow somewhat stronger.
I also had a promise with Beatrice, so this time I did not aim for victory.
What I must do now is make it so Noah cannot treat me lightly.
And if that failed, I had to at least kill the prophet, Mazia.
"Hup!!"
BOOM!!!
I compressed demonic energy into my fist to the extreme and struck Utaba's flames head-on.
The flames flew straight toward Mazia, who had been quietly watching me from behind.
A counter that used the property of demonic energy to reject mana.
I had tried to use it once in the Underground Auction House, but my skill back then had been so pathetic I could not pull it off.
Slip.
The flames flying toward Mazia were absorbed right back into Utaba. He dusted off his hands and asked,
"Whoa, whoa. Do you know Mazia's true nature or something?"
"Why have two of Noah's executives come looking for me."
"Answering a question with a question? You've got no manners, do you?"
Utaba sighed as if he could not deal with this. Cheon Seong answered with a sneering smile.
"I threw away any manners I might have had for the villain executives of a mad terrorist cult that preaches salvation."
"That's a misunderstanding~ We really do want to save people, you know?"
Utaba claimed Cheon Seong's words were a misunderstanding.
"Then how about you put away that murderous intent before you talk?"
When Cheon Seong pointed out the savage killing intent that stood in direct opposition to any talk of salvation, the corner of Utaba's mouth twisted into a chilling smile.
"Whoops. Lost control there, did I?"
KRAAAAAASH!
Flames far beyond the first burst erupted from Utaba and seared Cheon Seong's skin.
"What—? The sun should be—"
"Ah~ right. The sun outside already set a while ago. Didn't expect you to know even my unique ability. You're more impressive than I thought."
Faced with firepower that should only appear at noon, Cheon Seong faltered. Utaba pointed to the sky with that same chilling smile.
Cheon Seong's gaze followed, and only then did he discover the sun floating higher than his own black moon.
"But that doesn't mean I don't have my own methods."
The brightly burning sun shone down on Cheon Seong's Black Moon.
"Alright! Now let's fight with everything we've—!"
"Let us return, Utaba."
"What?"
Just as Utaba was about to press Cheon Seong with the sun that strengthened his unique ability, Mazia—who had been watching from behind—told him they should leave.
"Mazia, are you serious? I've got everything ready and you want to go back?"
"Yes."
At Mazia's firm confirmation, Utaba's face twisted.
"You think I'm just gonna let you leave?"
Hearing that, Cheon Seong unleashed Black Night toward Mazia and Utaba.
Black Night, amplified by Black Moon, crashed over them with force enough to swallow Utaba's sun.
"Fuck, don't you know when to butt in? We're talking here."
Fwoooosh.
But Cheon Seong's Black Night was dismantled far too easily by Utaba's flames. An irritated voice followed.
"Hey, Mazia. I'm asking one more time. You really want to leave like this?"
Swoosh.
Tap.
Utaba glared down at the smaller Mazia with eyes full of killing intent and rage. She simply stretched out her hand and lightly tapped his forehead.
"You little fucking—"
At that light tap from Mazia's hand, Utaba lost consciousness and collapsed. The moment he fell, the sun that had risen in the sky scattered and vanished.
Mazia supported Utaba, then spoke to Cheon Seong, who was staring at her.
"Then, Child of Prophecy—I shall look forward to the day we meet again."
"Wait a secon—"
Whoooom.
With those final words, Mazia vanished without listening to whatever Cheon Seong had been about to say.
Left alone in the forest, Cheon Seong.
Slip.
He rolled up his sleeve in silence. The skin of his arm, seared red by Utaba's flames, came into view.
The result of a mere instant of exposure to Utaba's maximum firepower.
Not even an attack—just exposure—and it had done this.
Clench!
Crunch.
Cheon Seong's hand clenched so hard his nails dug into his palm; his teeth ground together with a harsh sound.
"I am… still weak… That was an arrogant thought."
The belief that I could force a draw against two of Noah's executives if I went all out had been nothing but my own arrogance.
I was still weak.
Damnably so.