Sunset (3)
The small orb resting on the desk began to emit a powerful vibration. It was loud enough to be noticed no matter what else was going on.
“······!”
Vincent, who had been peacefully dozing right beside it, snapped his eyes open in alarm. He looked around and quickly realized the vibration was coming from the small orb.
‘A warning?’
The orb he had given to Adel was meant to activate only in truly dangerous situations. Right now the red sky had vanished and the sun was shining. There was no way he would be threatened by low-ranking demons at a time like this. Some kind of variable must have occurred.
“Looks like trouble,” Allen said as he stepped out of the room, sword already strapped to his waist. His attitude was perfectly calm.
“······Yeah. Seems that way.”
Vincent shook off his groggy state, stood up, and grabbed his own sword.
“Let’s go.”
He moved quickly and opened the door to the Demon’s Boundary. Amid the swirling blizzard, Vincent and Allen began searching for any trace of Adel’s group.
Vincent closed his eyes and expanded his senses. He stretched them from the area they had been active in all the way to the farthest possible distance.
‘······Nothing?’
He couldn’t feel their clear presence anywhere.
‘Over there?’
The last place their trail had been cut off was right in front of a forest he had never entered before.
“They went in here,” Allen said, stopping at the edge of the forest. He had been following the mana markers he had left on them.
“Vincent, catch.”
Allen tossed him a small stone. It was engraved with his mana.
“I’ll go on ahead.”
With those words, Allen dashed into the forest.
‘He really did leave markers.’
Mana markers—sometimes simply called markers—allowed the user to know the location of anything they had imprinted with their mana, as long as mana existed there.
“······.”
Even though Vincent desperately wanted to follow, he couldn’t bring himself to take a step forward right away.
‘You want me to go in here alone?’
This forest was called the Labyrinth Forest. From the moment you entered, your senses would blur and you would be unable to reach your proper destination. In the Demon’s Boundary it was considered little more than a light prank, but for Vincent it was the most vicious forest imaginable.
‘Damn it.’
Since he couldn’t avoid going in, he immediately broke into a run and plunged inside.
‘Ha······.’
This was exactly why he hadn’t wanted to come in. Once inside the forest, Vincent followed the marker toward Adel’s group, but the scenery before his eyes refused to change. It felt like he was running in circles.
‘Just keep going.’
Even so, he continued to run.
KWAAAAAANG!
‘Over there?’
By the time Vincent arrived at the clearing after hearing the roar of battle, the sunset was already painting the sky.
“You’re here.”
Allen glanced at him with the same relaxed attitude as always.
“······What are you doing?”
Vincent asked, feeling puzzled by the sight.
‘Weren’t they fighting?’
Adel, Christina, and Sylph must have been in danger against some powerful opponent. It was strange that Allen wasn’t intervening.
“Look.”
Allen spoke simply and turned his head toward the clearing. Vincent followed his gaze.
“······.”
In the clearing lay the collapsed forms of Christina and Sylph. There was also Adel, radiating an immense amount of fire energy while holding his sword, and a single demon preparing to launch demonic energy at him.
‘He took an elixir.’
The original Adel would never have been able to wield such vast fire energy. He was only able to do so because he had consumed an elixir.
‘What kind of resolve did he have?’
Taking an elixir while both body and mind were already damaged was more likely to become poison than medicine. Vincent couldn’t imagine what kind of determination it must have taken for Adel to swallow one in such a ragged state.
Shhhk.
The sunset glided along the blade of the sword.
Wooooong!
A mana blade the color of sunset descended with majestic force, aiming to bisect Hal.
Hwaaaaaah!
It sliced through even the incoming demonic energy, and the falling sunset seemed capable of cutting through anything.
Puhwaaaaak!
The sound of spraying blood rang out, and it looked as if Hal had been killed.
But.
“The crimson sky has arrived.”
Hal was still alive, with only one arm severed. He had dodged Adel’s sword using the power that returned to him with the arrival of the red sky. It was clear that he was now fundamentally different from before.
“This really is the end.”
Hal approached the now-immobile Adel, slowly releasing demonic energy as if to say it was truly over.
Adel had not given up yet. His eyes were still alive.
‘It’s over.’
But his body refused to obey him.
“······.”
“······.”
Having witnessed the scene, Allen and Vincent silently met each other’s eyes and nodded.
Ssssh.
It was the moment Hal thrust his demonic-energy-infused fist toward Adel’s heart.
Kaaaaang!
A sound that should never have come from an unpowered body rang out, and the fist stopped dead. When they looked down, there was a single sword.
Sasasasak!
“······!”
The death knell had sounded. Hal immediately pulled his body back and stared at Adel. Two men now stood beside him. One of them had thrust his sword forward.
‘The heart.’
It was aimed at the exact spot near the heart where Hal had been standing moments ago. If it had landed, he realized he would already be dead.
“······.”
Adel looked at the backs of the two men until his eyes met Vincent’s.
“You did well.”
The sincerity in his voice was unmistakable. Though Vincent usually didn’t inspire much trust, in battle he became completely reliable. Seeing that side of him, Adel closed his eyes with peace of mind.
“Then it’s time to deal with the bug.”
“······Are you referring to me?”
Hal hadn’t thought they would say that. He knew he was the only one around who could be called that, but because he didn’t yet understand his opponents’ level, he had denied it.
“Huh? Then who else is there?”
Vincent said with a smile. Despite the smile on his face, his words clearly carried naked fury.
“······.”
Without answering, Hal began gathering his demonic energy.
“······.”
Vincent watched for a moment before nodding.
“At this level, you haven’t even reached Mid Rank yet.”
Muttering those words, Vincent swung his sword once and then turned his back.
“······?”
Thinking the incomprehensible action presented an opportunity, Hal charged forward.
Slash!
Slash!
The sound of cutting rang out. An incomprehensible sword wind blew in, and Hal’s body began to be torn apart by countless wounds. The pressure grew fiercer and fiercer until he could no longer move.
The man who had been stronger than Adel could offer no resistance and simply stood there suffering. Sensing that it was enough, Vincent sheathed his sword.
Puhwaaaaak!
The sound of blood exploding rang out, and Hal’s breathing stopped.
“Is it over?”
Allen, who had known Vincent was angry, had stayed out of the fight. Vincent slowly nodded.
“Yeah.”
Since Vincent already knew that fact, he simply thought a silent thank you in his heart.
“Then let’s head back.”
Allen had apparently taken care of Christina and Sylph during that time; both of them were now hanging from his shoulders. When Vincent nodded while hoisting Adel onto his own shoulder, Allen set off.
Paak!
This time Allen took the lead and guided the way, so they arrived quickly.
“······.”
The first thing I did after regaining consciousness was organize everything that had happened up until the moment I closed my eyes. The fact that my body wasn’t in normal condition was pushed to the back of my mind.
‘It wasn’t a martial art.’
Red Sunset was the form of a mana blade. It was a single technique that perfectly captured the image of a setting sun. I had foolishly used it as a long-range attack.
‘That’s why only I could use it.’
When Charles said it was something only I could use, she had meant it literally.
‘Who in their right mind would condense mana like that while forming a mana blade?’
The method of forming a mana blade and the method of simply condensing mana were completely different. It was like the difference between gathering it with intention versus gathering it without any thought. The mana blade version was far stronger.
I had simply performed condensation, and that had taken the form of a mana blade. Then I had turned it into the technique called Red Sunset.
‘No wonder they misunderstood.’
I had created a technique using a method no one else could replicate. If it wasn’t my own new martial learning, what else would they think it was? Cain, Charles, and Darren’s misunderstanding was somewhat inevitable.
Since I would one day build my own martial arts, it wasn’t entirely wrong. But still—
‘This isn’t a martial art.’
To be precise, it wasn’t my own martial art.
Red Sunset was a technique born from the framework of the Flame Divine Art. What I had created was merely adding one more thing to something that already existed. That was also why it wasn’t a proper form or stance.
What I needed to do from now on was create a framework like the Flame Divine Art itself. Only now did I truly realize how high the wall of creating one’s own martial learning really was.
‘My own martial path was still far away······.’
I started to feel embarrassed about my past self, who had proudly claimed to have created martial arts.
‘Well, I did make something······.’
It just wasn’t something I had created completely on my own.
After organizing my thoughts to some degree, I opened my eyes.