Chapter 97
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: Graver (6)
Grumble...
"Damn it all!"
Graver, who had been hiding inside the pile of corpses, let out a scream.
The massive heap of corpses was screaming.
He could feel it. The light slashes incinerating the corpses.
Brilliant, holy light was burning the corpses to ash.
And the light was steadily advancing, reaching even toward Graver within the pile.
What should he do?
The pile of corpses was collapsing. The enormous mass was crumbling powerlessly before the light slashes.
Staying put inside would just turn him into a frog in boiling water.
'I have to get out.'
Rage surged up, but there was no helping it.
Kline Leonhart.
He never imagined the bastard would possess the power to shatter his ultimate technique.
A misjudgment was a misjudgment. He had to deal with the unexpected situation.
Crack!
A hole opened up in the rear of the corpse pile.
Graver slid straight out through it.
'They won't know.'
The front had the massive corpse pile, with light scattering as it burned.
How could they possibly notice him slipping away from the back?
Escape first.
Escape, and plan for next time.
As long as he stayed alive, anything was possible.
Graver bolted up the mountain.
"Hah, huff!"
He had never trained his body.
He had always fought by manipulating corpses.
As a necromancer, there had been no need.
But now, he had scattered nearly all his corpses across Aonia.
He had summoned the pile, leaving scarcely any behind.
Running up the mountain on his own power was far from easy.
But he couldn't stop.
If they caught up to him even for a moment—
"!"
Graver dodged the attack purely by luck.
His clumsy sprint had snagged his foot on a branch, ruining his balance.
At that instant, he felt a sword slicing toward his back.
"Gah!"
He tumbled across the ground.
A boy slowly approached the spot where he staggered to his feet.
Bright blond hair and clear blue eyes.
The boy singled out by the Blood Demon, leader of the Crimson Blood Cult.
Kline Leonhart had followed Graver.
"H-how...?"
Graver's teeth chattered.
How, exactly?
There was no way they could have seen him escape.
From within that massive corpse pile and torrent of light, how could they have spotted his flight?
And after unleashing such slashes, how did he have the stamina left to pursue?
It made no sense...!
"I have good eyesight."
Tap, tap.
Kline tapped around his eyes with his fingers.
"What?"
"Your daughter's unmatched when it comes to pupil power. Even I learned from her."
"What do you—"
"You wouldn't understand."
A voice laced with menace.
Kline had no intention of forgiving Graver.
Yoru's keen eyes were likely due to inheriting Graver's blood.
No ordinary human could develop such pupil power.
But... that wasn't a blessing. It was a curse.
If she could have normal eyes, Yoru would have discarded that power in a heartbeat.
Red eyes.
Kline could not forgive the man who had ruined her life.
"Kuh!"
Graver fled backward once more, his untrained body struggling over the hills.
He kept crashing into trees and stumbling over stones.
Still, he had to escape.
That guy right now... he fully intended to kill him...!
Step by step.
Kline pursued Graver at a leisurely pace.
He could catch up and stab the man's heart right now if he wanted.
The reason he didn't was to make Graver suffer.
If only a little, to ease Yoru's grudge.
Hummm...
Due to his unstable mentality, the reverse world flickered into view around Graver.
Gray ripples danced across the surface like water, replaying the past.
In the reproduced memories, there was a boy.
A boy who looked just like the current Graver, but far younger.
Kline glanced indifferently at the reverse world.
The boy was ordinary.
Not particularly evil, nor particularly good.
Just a common person anywhere.
But the boy had one peculiar hobby.
—Son, you can't do that.
—Why?
—Digging up graves goes against propriety.
The boy liked corpses.
No one knew why he liked them. There was no reason.
He simply did. Corpses were his taste.
As he wandered graves and dug them up, his mother would scold him with a worried face.
But the boy couldn't understand.
'Why?'
Couldn't he like them?
Just like other kids his age liked swords or magic, he merely liked corpses.
Thinking that way, he showed his friends the bodies he had dug up.
—Crazy bastard.
—Hey, let's not hang out with him.
He received nothing but looks of disgust and rejection.
And so the boy gradually grew into an increasingly alien existence.
The more his tastes were rejected, the more rebelliously he cherished them.
By the time years had passed.
He had become a madman who had abandoned even his family.
—Heard about that kid? He's a corpse freak.
—Digs up graves and raises the bodies? Ugh, disgusting.
—I wish he'd just leave our village already.
The rejection intensified.
Eventually, the villagers resolved themselves and called the boy out separately.
Then they struck him from behind and beat him mercilessly.
—Die!
—Monster bastard.
—Why were you even born?
—Your very existence is a sin.
The words hurt more than the blows raining down on his body.
Why?
It was just a simple hobby.
What was wrong with keeping close what he liked?
Why did he have to suffer this treatment?
After a full day of beating, the boy was left half-dead.
The villagers departed.
They wouldn't even grant him a grave.
As the boy lay dying.
Light footsteps approached.
"Hoo."
A cheerful voice.
A woman's voice.
"I stopped by for some amusement, but something quite interesting is happening. A corpse-loving child..."
She smirked and drew near the boy.
And made a proposal.
"Don't you want revenge?"
A sweet temptation.
"Don't you want to turn the lives of those who called your birth a sin into hell?"
"......Yes."
The boy clutched the dirt with his dying hand.
Of course.
He hadn't chosen to be born this way.
If they couldn't understand even that.
Then he would make everyone else's lives hell...!
"Of course...!"
In that moment.
The boy became Graver, the fourth division leader of the Crimson Blood Cult.
The end drew near.
A cliff loomed behind Graver.
A fall from there would kill his frail body.
"Kuh!"
He whipped around, eyes bloodshot.
There stood Kline, approaching with emotionless eyes.
"Why?!"
Graver bellowed in fury.
As if venting long-accumulated grievances.
"Why are you trying to kill me?! Is liking corpses such a sin?!"
A shout devoid of context.
But Graver had no time for rational thought.
Death was closing in.
Better to spew everything inside.
"I wanted to be normal too! I wanted to hear that my birth was a blessing! Why me, why only me...!"
To his frantic confession.
Kline replied without a flicker of expression.
"I understand."
"What?"
"Your past was pretty heartbreaking. Unjust, sorrowful. It wasn't something you chose—just decided from birth. Being denied your life for it must hurt."
"Then!"
"But."
Shing.
The sword was drawn.
Light gathered, the blade blazing brightly.
"That doesn't make it a reason to forgive you."
It was obvious.
The only mitigating factor for Graver was his painful past.
Hurting others because of it. Killing them.
......Ruining a mother and daughter's lives at once.
There was no chance for forgiveness now.
"Eeeeek!"
Graver desperately summoned corpses with his last strength.
A wall of corpses blocking between him and Kline.
Kline advanced, piercing them all.
A sword of light.
He gripped it fiercely by the hand.
And thrust it straight into Graver's heart—
"Farewell."
Ending the life of the man who had suffered pain and inflicted it in turn.
Dawn broke.
The long night was over.
I silently gazed at my fallen foe.
Graver had breathed his last.
Vampires' weakness is the heart.
I had stabbed it properly, so he wouldn't rise again.
"......"
The reverse world was truly annoying.
If it hadn't shown his past, I could have killed him without a shred of pity, heart light.
Was it deliberately trying to shake my resolve?
Both Bloodied and Graver had shown me their past memories, souring my mood.
Not that it would have spared them anyway.
"Hoo."
At any rate.
It was over.
My entire body trembled faintly. I had overtaxed my mana.
Different from when Ariel touched me.
This was pure bodily exhaustion. Recovery would take quite some time, probably.
I might not be able to wield the magic sword for a while.
"Kline!"
Then Yoru came running from behind.
She stood beside me, panting hard from squeezing out her last strength with her weary body.
"How'd it go?"
"Here."
I stepped aside without a word.
"!"
There lay Graver's corpse.
His red eyes, pierced through the heart, stared blankly without focus.
Yoru's mouth fell open at the sight.
Silent time passed.
I waited for her to gather her thoughts.
It must have been a long road. How much of her life had he ruined?
Seeing the source of it all dead now... I couldn't imagine the flood of emotions.
"He's... dead."
Yoru spoke haltingly.
Then, belatedly, she pulled up the corners of her mouth.
Truly as if a weight had lifted from her heart.
Though tears streamed down her cheeks as well.
"Haha. Mom... are you watching? He's dead. That bastard..."
Sob, sob.
I wrapped my arms around Yoru's shoulders as she cried.
At the very least, she deserved this comfort.
After some time crying.
"Thank you."
"Hm?"
"Kline. It's thanks to you. Impossible without you."
"Nah, what. You pulled your weight big time."
Without Yoru buying time against the corpse pile, I couldn't have unleashed the light slashes.
Graver's death was in no small part her doing.
"......Now what?"
Yoru murmured, staring blankly at the sky.
Joy and emptiness swirled in her red eyes.
Revenge was like that.
You burned everything racing toward the goal.
Once achieved, it all turned to ash.
"Me... how do I live now?"
I pondered my answer.
Live freely. Live happily.
Happily.
There were plenty of words I could say... but they probably wouldn't resolve her melancholy right away.
'Ah.'
Right, that existed.
I rummaged in my pocket.
Pulled out the gift Ellie had given me once.
"Yoru."
"Yeah?"
"Here. Take this."
In my hand was a pair of lenses.
"What's this?"
"A gift to make you normal."
I calmly repeated Ellie's explanation.
You could change your eye color to whatever you wanted.
Once applied, it was permanent.
After hearing it all, Yoru's eyes went wide.
She spoke with a dazed expression.
"Why give something so precious to me...?"
"Because I want you to be happy."
I hate the words "your birth is a sin."
If that were true, my little sister shouldn't be alive either.
If others call it a sin.
I'll just make her happy.
"Wha, what..."
Yoru's cheeks flushed bright red.
She twisted her body.
"Hey. Careful."
Now that I looked, her body was a total wreck.
Trampled by Graver, and holding out against the corpse pile for so long.
Dangerous if she didn't get treatment soon.
I caught her body as it nearly tumbled over the cliff.
Somehow, Yoru ended up fully in my arms.
"......"
"......"
Our eyes met in silence.
Then she spoke.
"Will you put them on my eyes?"
"Huh?"
"I want to receive them from your hands."
"Well, if that's what you want..."
I placed the lenses over Yoru's eyes.
She closed them gently.
Pondering what color, it seemed.
"Whatever you like. Just not red. Change to the prettiest color you love..."
"Yeah. I've decided."
Yoru didn't deliberate long.
When she opened her eyes, the color was.
A clear blue.
Sparkling blue eyes.
She had pretty eyes to begin with, so they suited her perfectly.
'But...'
Blue was fine, no issues.
Why blue specifically?
"Why that color?"
"Pfft."
Yoru burst into giggles at my words.
Then, she quietly stood before me.
She went up on her tiptoes and pressed her nose to mine.
Blue eyes met up close.
"Because looking into your eyes makes me happy."
That's why she chose the same color.
Yoru confessed.
Graver had fallen.
The corpse pile had collapsed.
The corpses spread across Aonia would stop multiplying and be cleared away.
The archenemy who had tormented Yoru's life so cruelly.
The Crimson Blood Cult division leader I had to defeat.
None remained.
—There! Who's there?!
—Damn, what's this stench? My nose is gonna rot.
—The one who used that light earlier might still be around. Search!
Seeing the torches of the late-arriving Aonia soldiers climbing the hills.
Yoru and I exchanged smiles.
......Ah. Of course, we passed out the moment we tried explaining to the soldiers.