Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: Cadenza
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“Nyum.”
*Pop, pop, pop.*
Every time Veronica bit into the skewer, a lively… no, brutal sound rang out.
No one knew if the noise came from the skewer itself or from the bandits’ clothes bursting apart.
“It’s delicious since it’s been a while.”
Veronica narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, flung open the lid of the treasure chest like a sofa, and reclined leisurely.
It was a posture as comfortable as lounging on a couch.
Towering ancient trees overhead blocked the sky, making it hard to tell if it was morning or afternoon.
“Where is this place?”
“The entrance to the Great Forest, big sis.”
“Oh, really?”
But Veronica paid no mind to the words “Great Forest.”
To her, the skewer in her hand was far more important right now.
And so… she held out that precious skewer slightly and said,
“Want one?”
At those words…
The movements of the bandit gang carrying the treasure chest halted all at once.
“No thank you, big sis!”
“Enjoy it yourself!”
The bandits shook their heads vigorously.
Their faces were practically tear-streaked.
“Really?”
It was understandable.
Because the skewer Veronica was munching on…
Was a low-rank monster, the blue “Bombardillo”—something no sane person would ever consider eating.
“Nyum.”
*Crunch.*
Veronica bit into the skewer once more.
A series of *pop!* sounds burst from her small mouth, and one bandit clamped his hand over his own upon hearing it.
“Ugh, ughhh…”
“Hey… isn’t that thing originally—”
“Shh… lower your voice…! If she hears, we’re dead!!”
Veronica ignored the bandits’ reactions entirely and picked up another skewer.
She bit into it again with a *crunch*—
“Ah, shit.”
““……!!””
The bandits’ hearts dropped at Veronica’s chilling voice.
Regardless, she tossed the skewer she held outward.
“A bit undercooked.”
*Spit, spit.*
She clicked her tongue repeatedly, her face twisted in subtle annoyance.
To her, it was just irritatingly underdone food.
To the bandits, it was pure terror.
And then.
“Big sis! We’re almost there!”
One bandit raised his voice.
The spot they stood in was already a bit deeper than the Great Forest’s entrance.
A little further in… and even a single blink could get you lost, dead without a trace, in the heart of it all.
“We might die if we go any farther, big sis!”
“Hmm, that’s not your concern.”
The bandits’ eyes went blank.
*Thud.*
Veronica hopped down lightly from the chest, landing softly on the ground.
The moment she did… the treasure chests resting on each bandit’s shoulder floated up gently.
“That’s enough. You all head back.”
“Y-Yes?! For real…?”
“Or do you want to die here?”
“Th-Then what about you, big sis…?”
“Hm? I’m fine dying.”
The bandits’ faces turned ashen.
Staring at their dazed expressions, Veronica pulled something from her pocket.
She flicked it with her finger, tossing it to the bandits.
“Wah!”
One bandit caught it deftly in surprise, his eyes wide.
The bandits’ faces turned strange upon seeing the item.
In his hand… a sparkling gem.
With that final sight, Veronica turned and vanished gracefully into the forest.
“Live good lives, now.”
*Tap, tap.*
Her footsteps faded between the leaves, and soon, Veronica was completely out of sight.
“…….”
The bandits stood speechless for a while, staring blankly in the direction she’d gone.
Then, quietly…
One bandit spoke up.
“…Should we, like, get our shit together?”
“……Yeah.”
“…Yeah. Let’s do it.”
“…Good idea.”
And so, Veronica… straightened out the bandits’ lives in an utterly unexpected way.
Of course, she had no such intention.
***
As my eyes slowly adjusted to the pitch-black darkness, the reality of standing in the heart of the unknowable Great Forest gradually came into focus.
The damp scent of soil, along with tree trunks so close they choked the air.
*Whoooosh—*
It felt like wind blowing, but whether it was nature’s breath or the forest exhaling itself was impossible to tell.
In that eerie place, I rested my hand on my chin and nodded.
‘Was on the fence, but it really is an elf.’
The true nature of the Greed Calamity, described ambiguously even in ‘Aka Reang.’
Not human, but an extinct race: an elf.
Just a silhouette mentioned as ‘a race said to have vanished long ago.’
And now, before my eyes, that ambiguity was solidifying into reality.
‘But… is it really just an elf?’
That was the problem.
Elves as a race were strange and mystical, sure…
But the abilities Caden displayed far surpassed any ordinary elf.
Treating the Great Forest’s paths like home, uprooting ancient tree trunks, splitting the party in an instant, inverting the forest’s winds and life force entirely.
‘Hmm….’
The Greed Calamity I knew didn’t have such powers.
Its attribute was unrelated to 「Wind」 or forest manipulation, and controlling the entire forest like that was impossible…
…or should have been.
But—
‘…Ah.’
Putting the thoughts together again, the conclusion was simpler than expected.
It might be possible.
Greed Calamity.
Its ability… was ‘Copy.’
An utterly greedy power.
‘Then….’
Commanding the forest, raising ancient trunks, unfolding the entire Great Forest like sheet music…
All of it became possible.
‘Tch.’
I clicked my tongue.
How the hell were we supposed to take down a calamity with such an absurd power in just a month?
It was a bet anyone would call impossible.
Maybe that’s why I unconsciously opened my status window.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Adel ]
Limit Break : ★★☆☆☆
Attributes
: 「Abyss」
: 「Space」
: 「Phantasm」
: 「Nothingness」
Unique Skills
: 【Disaster Eater】
: 【Walker of Silence】
: 【Word Spirit】
: 【Falling Blood Return to Flower】
: 【Red Thread : Guidance】
: 【Echo's Call】
: 【…】
Unique Traits
: 【Ten Thousand Disasters Under Heaven】
: 【Laplace's Eye】
: 【Language Understander】
: 【Stigma】
: 【…】
Achievements
: 【King of the Abyss】
: 【Sword that Reclaims Wrath】
: 【Falling Moon】
: 【Dreamer】
: 【………】
Stats
: Stamina : 15 (D)
: Strength : 5 (F)
: Intellect : 29 (B)
: Mentality : 32 (A)
: Mana : ■ ()
Talents
: 【All talents fixed to ‘Lowest’ due to 「Stigma」.】
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
As always… shitty stats that make you want to puke.
But right now… wasn’t the time to despair over numbers.
The Great Forest had its own achievements and experiences unique to it.
And above all, what I needed now wasn’t external power growth, but to steel my inner self.
To redefine the direction of my very existence.
…That’s when it happened.
- *RAAAAAWR—!!*
I instinctively looked up at the ear-splitting roar.
Far off—
Pushing through shadows between trees, dozens of monsters charged straight at me.
Not just one or two.
Over twenty, by rough count, merging into a single direction and barreling toward me.
‘Oh, fuck.’
The surroundings were a space blanketed in trees.
Roots and trunks snaking everywhere like chains, making even free movement a struggle.
On top of that…
Leviathan and Bahamut were stuck to Rev’s side, not mine.
‘…….’
Summon Leviathan and Bahamut?
…Possible.
But—
Rely on others again?
Overcome the crisis with someone else’s power again?
‘……No.’
I…
Had no intention of leaning on others forever.
*Clap!*
I clapped my palms together.
Then, a faint seam of light formed between my hands, and thin threads of mana connected palm to palm.
Those slender threads overlapped, twisted, layered, and flowed.
And the moment the mana gathered into form…
《Abyss / Low-tier Magic》
「Deep Flow」
Bluish-purple.
A fluid of mingled darkness and water wrapped around my wrist, pouring from my palm like a blade.
*Swish—*
Flowing like water along the grain, yet… sharp as a blade.
I… swung my hand blade at the charging monsters.
*Slashslashslash…!*
Nearby trees and trunks were sliced in an instant, splitting in midair.
Debris rained down onto the grass.
*Splat!*
But…
The moment that water blade touched a monster’s body.
It lost form, became droplets, and seeped into the soil.
────!!
The monsters roared.
More ferociously, more maliciously than before.
Drool hung from their maws, their once-red eyes drowned in madness.
…True beasts.
Monsters driven solely by instinct to tear apart the prey before them—no thought, no fear, no doubt.
‘…….’
I swept my gaze around once.
The blocking trees and trunks were severed.
Meaning… sightlines and space were clear.
*Whoosh!*
I immediately wrapped mana threads around my body, kicked off the air, and leaped into the sky.
Above the monsters’ heads.
A height where those beasts’ eyes lost me for a moment.
Those few seconds, that split instant.
But…
I split that instant into eternity.
One stroke.
A single line drew from my fingertip.
I laid upon it meaning that doesn’t exist, silence beyond words…
*Ripple—*
The line wavered, and the world dented slightly.
Singularity.
The boundary where existence and nonexistence cross, where all phases melt into zero-space.
The monsters stood upon it.
Or rather… I had bound them there.
- *RAAAAWR!!*
The monsters howled, but their cries warped inside the boundary, unable to flow properly.
*Crackle—*
The eternally stretched time snapped back to an instant.
In that instant, I called its name.
“…Event Horizon.”
《Space / Unique Magic》
「Event Horizon」
──────!!
Space tore.
Sound sucked into darkness, light, form, direction… all concepts sank.
- *Raaawr…*
The hunter beasts became the hunted in that moment.
And in that instant, Caden’s words suddenly came to mind.
—“Play your Cadenza… with all your might.”
Cadenza.
The section in a concerto where the accompaniment stops, all instruments fall silent, and only the soloist pours out their virtuosity center stage.
No one to help, no one to stand in—no one but ‘me’ alone.
‘Ha.’
I let out a hollow laugh.
So that’s why…
Caden separated the party.
For one reason alone.
To force each their own story.
To halt the concerto, place each on stage, and make them play their own virtuosity, conclusion, tale.
──!!
The monsters’ final cries echoed into oblivion within the singularity’s darkness.
The forest fell utterly silent in an instant.
And… what remained as the singularity closed.
“……Cough.”
Not the blood on my lips, nor the agony twisting my guts…
My own performance.
*Whoooosh—*
In that moment.
The Great Forest awakened its sleeping winds.
Dormant trees slowly drew breath,
Leaves trembling at branch tips lost direction in the air, then gathered toward me like lines drawn on sheet music.
‘Haa….’
The forest—
Savoring the afterglow of the just-ended solo.
The wind—
Rewinding to savor the performance’s final note.
Swept gently around me once.