Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Falling Moon
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Blood flows out.
From the edge of my lips... no, from somewhere even deeper...
From inside me.
Every time I exhale, something within me screams.
"Logically..."
The more I speak, the more I break.
I know that better than anyone...
"Let's go back."
In the end, reason couldn't overcome emotion.
Emotion overwhelmed me, and I... surrendered to it.
"...Neru."
That name...
I never imagined I'd call it with such struggle.
Just two syllables.
Why did I hesitate so much over that short name?
"...To where you originally belong."
Thinking back, it was like that from the start.
When I first met Neru, and when I lost her at the end...
I was always hesitating.
"......"
At first, pleas and hesitation intertwined, making me turn away from the future.
At the end, emotions and hesitation entangled, preventing me from holding onto you.
So...
Better late than never, I need to hold onto you.
"......"
Pain is something I'm used to.
But...
Letting something slip away... I can never get used to that.
Tick.
The time that had stopped begins to move...
Tick.
The hands of the clock diverge.
Like second hands tracing different paths.
Like fates that can only drift apart.
Swish...
Neru puts away the whiteboard.
As if declaring the conversation over... she grips two daggers.
And...
Whoosh!
Neru's body distorts.
Merging with space itself... blending into the background.
Then that form vanishes.
Clang!!
I twist my body on instinct.
I barely draw 【Leviathan】 in time to block the incoming blade.
"..."
My body right now, due to the 【Stigma】, is as good as half-dead.
【Bloodfall Revenant】 gave me one chance...
"...Why."
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Neru ]
Favorability: 【Clo■】
Status: 【Posi◎#^】
■■■■■■□@#!% (6/10)
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
Why does she charge at me like she wants to kill... yet not kill?
Why does she reach out... yet refuse to touch in the end?
Tick.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Neru ]
Favorability: 【Clo■】
Status: 【Posi◎#】
■■■■■■■□@% (7/10)
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
Whoosh! Whoosh!
My vision can't keep up.
From closer than anyone, at a speed stranger than anyone... Neru moves.
First, my arm.
Then, my shoulder.
One by one... they get sliced.
Your traces are etched onto my body.
Tick.
...The second hands have already parted ways.
Running on the same circle, yet on paths that never meet.
Passing each other. At a distance we can never bridge.
"......"
I need to stay calm.
I need to take Neru with me.
I need to survive.
Tick.
Time is short.
No, it doesn't need to be long.
If I have 10 seconds, split it into 5. If 5, divide into 1.
If 1, delve into decimals. Time expands with the depth of thought.
To survive and take Neru, I must split the seconds again and again.
Whoosh!
Blood sprays.
This time, my leg.
The glancing blade rends flesh, carving a red line.
Tick.
...Predict the trajectory.
Arm, shoulder, leg.
Neru targeted my mobility first.
Next target is one of two.
Ankle... to block escape.
Wrist... to eliminate variables.
"......"
My leg is already cut.
Even if I run, I can't match Neru's speed.
The last variable left... my wrist.
The one gripping 【Leviathan】. My final option.
Whoosh!
Once more, the darkness warps.
A shadow fused with the background lunges at me.
"......!"
I lean back.
The dagger grazes past my eyes... slicing through the cold air.
And...
"......"
We lock eyes.
Beyond the mask... Neru's trembling pupils.
Tick.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Neru ]
Favorability: 【Clo■】
Status: 【Posi◎】
■■■■■■■■□% (8/10)
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
I still don't understand.
Why Neru left the cradle.
Why she vanished without a word.
Tick.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Neru ]
Favorability: 【Clo■】
Status: 【Positive】
■■■■■■■■■□ (9/10)
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
Thud...!
Neru's kick slams into me, and I'm flung to the ground.
Swish.
Immediately after, Neru straddles me, aiming her dagger's tip at my chest.
Tick.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Neru ]
Favorability: 【Precious Friend】
Status: 【Positive】
■■■■■■■■■■ (10/10)
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
...It's exact.
The time has aligned.
The two second hands that had long diverged...
Finally face each other.
***
"......"
The dagger at Adel's chest trembles.
Just a little... a tiny bit more pressure, and it's all over.
In that instant...
───────!!
Neru's hand.
The crescent moon pattern etched there throbs red.
'Stab.'
'Kill.'
'He's the enemy.'
An unpleasant voice from the depths of her consciousness.
The corrupted contract tries to erase even her sense of self.
But...
"...No."
Neru grits her teeth and bows her head.
Biting her lip... suppressed emotions leak out.
"My..."
Once, they played together...
Gave Neru delicious food...
Her most precious...
One-of-a-kind...
First friend.
"...Friend."
The moment that word leaves her lips, Neru's breath stops.
"Friend" crumbles her from within.
Just uttering it blurs the reality before her eyes unbearably.
"......"
Even calling him friend, the dagger in her hand still aims at Adel's heart.
Does that make sense?
No matter if it's "forced," no matter if it's "coerced"...
Do you really think that excuse washes it all away?
And...
"Urk......"
The crescent pattern on her hand glows.
That moonlight binds Neru's body.
And Neru...
Unable to endure the pain, hurls the dagger far away.
Clang!
Before it even rolls across the floor, Neru embraces the unconscious Adel.
"Hah..."
She gasps for breath.
Run and keep running.
She must escape this place.
Anywhere.
Far... just as far as possible.
But...
Her body is heavy.
Hundreds of times heavier than usual.
─────!!
"Urgh...!"
The more she flees, the clearer the moonlight becomes.
The pattern's glow intensifies, and the pain swells in proportion.
And... in that moment.
"Where do you think you're going, Neru?"
"......!!"
Just one blink, and the surrounding space has changed.
A space bathed only in moonlight.
In that dreamlike, uncertain place, Neru stands holding Adel.
"Trying to run away?"
Kamar looks down at Neru from his throne.
Propping his chin, he smiles leisurely.
His scarlet eyes pass over Neru, toward Adel in her arms.
"Well... I'll let it slide this once. Bringing back the top ranker... alive, no less. Good work."
"N-No... don't..."
Neru instinctively clutches Adel tighter.
But... Kamar tilts his head curiously.
"What's not to do?"
"......"
"Look at him, Neru... You did that to him."
The pool of blood spreading across the floor.
Fading breaths.
From the blood loss alone, he could die any second.
"N-No, that's not..."
The scarlet-glowing crescent pattern on Neru's hand.
'You killed him.'
'It's your fault.'
'All because of you.'
Whispers cruelly vivid.
The more she tries to escape, the deeper they burrow.
"Hah... If your daddy had listened that well, he wouldn't have had to die."
"......Died?"
"Oh, you didn't know? Your daddy's dead."
Thud.
Neru's mind goes blank.
"...Daddy?"
With those words, something snaps in Neru's head.
...She betrayed her most precious friend to protect her family.
And waiting at the end...
Her father's death?
"......"
Thud.
Neru's mask falls to the floor.
The face hidden within is revealed...
Thud.
Quietly...
A droplet from Neru's eyes... falls onto Adel's mask.
***
Thud.
...I see it.
Thud.
Droplets falling onto the mask.
And... a cat with an ugly face, twisted in anguish, tears streaming down.
[ The player's rage reacts to the 【Fragment of Rage】. ]
[ The player's stats increase. ]
Rustle...
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Bloodfall Revenant】
Fallen blood reverts to life, blooming anew.
: Absorbs spilled blood to recover stamina.
The blood's cycle rejects death, and life blooms once more.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
Defying the natural order, the blood from my dying body reverses, and flowers bloom.
[ The player's rage reacts to the 【Fragment of Rage】. ]
[ The player's stats increase. ]
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Adel ]
Stats
: Stamina: 29 (B)
: Strength: 29 (B)
: Intellect: 29 (B)
: Mentality: 31 (A)
: Mana: ■ ()
Talents
: 【All talents fixed to 'Lowest' due to 「Stigma」.】
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
"...Daddy died?"
At Neru's dazed mutter... the situation starts to click.
The man on the throne.
Moonlight's leader... Kamar.
He must have whispered something to Neru.
But I know.
It's not the truth.
Or perhaps, from Kamar's perspective, it might not be a "lie."
He might believe it's the "truth."
[ The player's rage reacts to the 【Fragment of Rage】. ]
[ The player's stats increase. ]
...I saw it in Kamar's eyes and was certain.
Scarlet-tainted pupils.
Whatever butterfly effect... the calamity of lust, Witch Bellamir, has interfered with Moonlight.
"Then..."
The Moonlight leader I know... Kamar's ability is simple.
"Contract."
An absolute unique skill.
Once made, no one can break it.
But...
If that contract was altered by the witch's hand?
Through the witch's intervention, Kamar's contract gains "coercion."
"Yeah... No sane person would do that."
The "Beru" I know...
Would never make such a contract.
No matter Moonlight, no conditions or goals...
Uncle Beru would never put his daughter in danger with a contract like that.
[ The player's rage reacts to the 【Fragment of Rage】. ]
[ The player's stats increase. ]
"Y-You, how...!"
As I rise fully recovered from half-dead, Kamar's eyes on the throne widen.
Unable to hide his panic, he jumps to his feet.
Thud.
"......"
"......"
I place my hand on Neru's head.
Soft hair.
Drooping cat ears.
I gently stroke such Neru... and attune my mana.
- Crackle... Crackle...!
Space warps at my fingertips, a rift tearing through the boundary.
...One charred black arm.
Blood beads up, pain accompanies it, but...
"...Wait just a bit, Neru."
Swish.
I leave her those words... and push her into the rift.
"...A-Adel."
"Tell Uncle I said hi."
Still with that ugly face, tears flowing as she looks at me, the cat.
The place I sent her... is where her father, Uncle Beru, is.
"H-How in the world...!!"
Something isn't going his way.
Kamar shouts in panic.
"D-Damn it...! Kill him...!!"
He raises his hand...
And the crescent pattern on it blazes scarlet.
Soon after...
People pour in from all sides.
No... puppets in human form.
[ The player's rage reacts to the 【Fragment of Rage】. ]
[ The player's stats increase. ]
───────!!
A pitch-black abyss spreads from my feet.
That endless darkness swallows the entire space... even the moonlight.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[ Adel ]
Stats
: Stamina: 39 (A)
: Strength: 39 (A)
: Intellect: 39 (A)
: Mentality: 31 (A)
: Mana: ■ ()
Talents
: 【All talents fixed to 'Lowest' due to 「Stigma」.】
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
Stats skyrocketing from the 【Fragment of Rage】.
My body feels endlessly light.
【Leviathan】 feels like a feather.
Whoosh!
I swing the sword.
And the puppets before me...
I erase them effortlessly.
Seeing that, Kamar yells.
"Killing people and feeling nothing!?"
People...
You call these people?
Shells without souls inside those forms.
Neither dead nor alive...
Can you truly call them people?
"......"
I give no answer.
In silence, I question myself.
I am not "Klaus."
I am not the "protagonist."
I am not "good."
I am just...
A selfish human who'll do anything to survive.
So, blood on my hands... for my goals, I don't care.
...But.
"...What is my goal?"
Survival.
That was all.
...It definitely was.
"...No."
I remember.
The emptiness when Neru vanished.
The disgust when Karnel was in danger.
The rage when Rev was hurt.
The silence if the Yonggari leave.
"......"
Yes.
My goal has changed.
At first, just me surviving was enough.
But now...
"..."
Not just me. Protecting those around me and living on.
So... I slice the puppets without a second thought.
"......"
Because they're not people?
No.
Because I'm selfish.
Utterly individualistic.
And... more human than anyone.
"You bastard...!!"
An anger-filled shout.
Kamar raises his hand, igniting the crescent pattern.
The scarlet mana surges, momentarily enveloping me, but...
I simply adjust the mask's edge.
And...
"Stop."
"......!!!"
With those words, everything halts.
My words become reality with 【Utterance】.
They overrun the space, freezing Kamar's body too.
Step by step.
I walk slowly to Kamar.
Scarlet pupils.
Chaos and fear mix, shaking wildly within.
"......"
Yes.
This is Moonlight's true nature.
A shell wrapped in bravado behind a fancy cloak.
Just one pathetic human... luckily got a cheat-level unique skill.
And this is the result.
Tap.
I stop before Kamar.
And...
Raising 【Leviathan】, I aim the blade at his heart.
Stab...!
Piercing skin, slowly... ever so slowly... burrowing toward the heart.
Kamar squeezes his eyes shut, as if unable to look.
Fleeing like that, denying reality, but...
I don't even allow that.
"Open your eyes."
Kamar's eyelids flutter and part.
And what he faces... is the horrific sight of the blade digging into his flesh.
"Urgh...! Urrrrgh...!!!"
Swallowing screams, biting his lip, body convulsing in terror.
How unfair is this.
He inflicted pain and fear on countless others... yet he ends without feeling any.
Isn't that too easy an end?
"Urgh...!"
Slowly.
Ever so slowly.
Piercing flesh at a speed he can feel the agony, toward the heart.
And...
"......"
Kamar slumps.
I silently draw out 【Leviathan】.
Stagger─
【Fragment of Rage】's effect fades.
Fatigue crashes in like backlash, body sways.
And, seizing the gap...
"Urghhh...!! You worthless thing...!!"
Kamar rises again.
Like a final spasm before death.
Like a last burst of strength.
The bastard clings to life till the end.
Just like the lives he trampled...
"......"
But...
I don't raise 【Leviathan】.
Without moving a finger, quietly...
I call the venomous fish's name.
"...Levi."
Responding to the call...
Cleaving the abyss's darkness, a massive form rises.
────────!!
Heaven and earth twist.
The boundary of sky and land crumbles, one dragon surges upside-down from the depths.
Under its pressure, space screams.
Beneath the shadow light can't touch...
Kamar's form vanishes.
"......"
[ Defeated 'Kamar' of Moonlight! ]
[ Achieved 'Falling Moon'! ]
The moon has fallen.
Its light was an illusion, and its end...
Shatters miserably in silence.