Chapter 47
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Raven
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The Twilight I could wield lasted at most about a minute.
Even after gaining this tremendous power, I couldn't utilize it properly.
It took time just to get a feel for controlling the feathers.
But what about now?
After offering up that golden helmet as tribute just moments ago, the time granted to me far surpassed a single minute.
All my feathers were dyed in Twilight.
"Caw."
As I spread my wings, dozens of feathers scattered in every direction.
Bertolt's eyes widened.
Her expression mixed bewilderment and panic.
It was only natural.
The ability I'd just demonstrated defied common sense.
A mere bird—no, an opponent who hadn't seemed all that strong—was manipulating time itself.
The effect was limited to Skarnas, but Bertolt had no way of knowing that. She might think I was controlling the time of the entire world.
Just as she transcended human limits as a superhuman, I must have seemed like some being that surpassed the boundaries of ordinary creatures.
On top of that, making her helmet vanish had clearly rattled her.
Rumble...
The feathers flew wildly in all directions, putting on an even more overwhelming display.
To break her spirit.
"...A divine revelation has come. Slay the wicked demon impersonating the light of Twilight."
But Bertolt didn't yield.
Golden light poured from her sword.
It resembled the energy that had blocked my shadow flames before.
That must be the power of a holy knight.
And instinctively, I knew.
Even if I turned my body into shadow, I couldn't dodge that attack.
Even a Lace would fall to that blade.
Her counter was incredibly dangerous, but would it work on me now...?
Who knows.
For starters, I had no intention of fighting her fairly one-on-one.
Whoosh!
Countless feathers whipped up a storm.
A spectacular sight worthy of the name Twilight Storm unfolded.
Each feather was as hard as steel, moving at my command.
If I fought Bertolt head-on, I'd lose.
Even if there were two of me, or ten—it wouldn't matter.
But what if there were thousands?
I no longer felt like I'd lose.
"Haaah!"
Bertolt thrust her sword forward with a shout.
Clang!
The golden light seemed to pierce the Twilight Storm for a moment, but what she cut down was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Whoosh!
Even if her single slash felled ten feathers, over a hundred times that number remained.
And severed feathers didn't lose their power.
If anything, they just grew smaller and multiplied.
"You demon! Stop hiding behind that storm like a coward and face my blade!"
She tried to push through the feather storm to reach me, but there was no way she'd make it.
Clang!
It was impossible to deflect every feather.
Scratches continued to appear on her golden armor.
"...You coward! Are you toying with me?!"
Enraged, she charged at me again.
Why the sudden fury? She'd figured it out.
Her armor was scratched, but her bare face—sans helmet—remained unscathed.
In other words, I was deliberately avoiding her face.
"L-Lady Bertolt! We'll join you!"
And the adventurers were closing in.
"I'll kill you and forge a new helmet from your feathers!"
I had no reason to kill this knight right now.
It was true that some lingering aversion to harming humans still held me back.
Besides, even if I attacked with lethal intent, it probably wouldn't end her easily.
A few scratches at best.
It seemed like the time had come to use it.
The reason I'd tangled with these humans in the first place was to complete the quest.
I couldn't move on to the next area without clearing it first.
Infamy or fame.
All the preparations to raise one were complete.
What I'd show them: Skarnas's Great Crow overwhelming the Emerald Holy Knight.
"Caw, caw."
The very moment the adventurers joined the battlefield and looked upon Bertolt.
Whoosh!
I moved thousands of feathers at once.
The Twilight-infused feather storm surged toward Bertolt.
Bertolt's hands began to tremble.
Her opponent was strong.
Far stronger than she'd imagined.
The feathers changing color to alter time—a power utterly divorced from reason.
She hadn't blocked that final storm of strikes entirely.
Yet she was still alive.
That meant her foe harbored no killing intent toward her.
Had it, at least one of her arms would have been severed in that last attack.
Thus, she felt shame.
Receiving such mercy from an ill omen.
She had accomplished nothing.
Neither defeating the ill omen nor concealing her face.
"A-Are you alright?!"
Bertolt was plagued by obsession.
The compulsion to eliminate everyone who had witnessed her current appearance.
Erasing one person's memory wasn't hard.
But not so many.
So what should she do?
Eliminate everyone here with her own hands.
A convenient excuse presented itself.
The ill omen was stronger than expected, and the adventurers disobeyed her order to stand down, falling to the enemy.
If questioned, that explanation would let her slip away unscathed.
She was, after all, the Emerald Holy Knight.
With her sacred blade, she could atone for her failure by slaying the innocent.
Bertolt asked herself.
Was that her true conviction?
Yes.
The doctrine of Ozma, the god she believed in, demanded it.
According to Ozma's teachings, concealing her face was paramount.
She could cut down those adventurers in a single stroke without issue.
But was this truly right?
No need to hesitate.
Ozma's teachings and the Emerald Holy Knights had guided her from her wandering days.
Tracking the Sage's traces and eradicating them was her mission from Ozma.
If the adventurers learned her true face, it would greatly hinder that purpose.
Thus, Ozma commanded her.
Kill them all now.
"L-Lady Bertolt...!"
One adventurer called to her in a trembling voice.
She instantly recognized the emotion in that voice.
She'd heard it countless times.
The voices of those who'd seen her bald head without a single strand of hair.
That quiver.
Her course of action was set.
"...You've seen it, then."
She wouldn't hide it.
"...Y-Yes, we have."
Nor would he.
"And? What do you think?"
The same question she'd asked the man in the chapel who saw her face.
The same answer would come.
"...If I may be so bold, I think it's beautiful."
"You filthy... What?"
An unexpected response.
Was he mocking her?
Or had he sensed her intentions and was flattering her?
Bertolt felt even deeper shame than before.
How could anyone call her current self beautiful?
Beautiful.
A word she'd heard long ago.
Back when she still had hair.
Back when she was an innocent girl.
In childhood memories she could barely recall.
But now, it was impossible.
A horrific curse that turned her eyes red and shed every hair from her head.
She sought the Sage to overcome it, but he offered no help.
To be precise, he took full payment for the cure and then vanished.
If even the all-wise Sage abandoned her, who else would grant her wish?
Ozma.
No one but the god she served.
"Are you insulting me by calling me beautiful?"
"Y-Yes... I just don't understand why you'd wear a helmet..."
The adventurers were genuinely awestruck.
Having seen the face hidden beneath the golden helm.
And witnessing the knight who stood against Twilight.
Though she'd lost her cherished helmet, they'd seen something that shone even brighter.
A female knight with hair the color of rubies, like Twilight itself.
"C-Could it be..."
Only then did Bertolt notice the anomaly.
The ill omen had ceased attacking and was watching from the tree branch.
Her own hair resembled Twilight, obscuring her vision no longer.
She touched her head.
Lush red hair met her fingers.
"Caw, caw."
As she knelt and looked up, she saw the crow.
Many feathers missing, giving it a comical look—but it was anything but laughable.
This was no ill omen.
That being had fought her until now to heal her.
Bertolt redefined it.
It wasn't an ill omen.
Stealing her helmet taught her that hiding wasn't everything.
The wide-area assault reminded her that a knight must protect others.
It taught her all this and partially lifted a curse no one else could.
How could she call such a being an ill omen?
A sacred bird wielding mystical power.
Worthy of being called a divine messenger.
Feathers lost, yet it simply gazed down indifferently.
Skarnas's Great Crow.
"Raven..."
Bertolt murmured the name.
Hey, give it back!
"Caw!"
No, my feathers!
[Sub-quest: Skarnas's Great Crow completed.]
Completing the quest is great, but this doesn't balance out!
What if I end up bald?!
【Skarnas's Great Crow】
Sightings of you have increased.
Quest completes when Infamy or Fame reaches a certain level.
Quest completed!
Your Infamy has reached maximum.
Your Fame has reached maximum.
Reward for max Infamy:「Ominous Aura」 enhancement
Reward for max Fame:「Sacred Aura」 acquired
Huh?
Something's off?
Why does it say both are maxed out?
Is this a bug?
[Reward granted.]
[Reward granted.]
I don't know what it is, but double rewards sound pretty good.
...
Still, I can't forgive that thief who stole my feathers.