Chapter 136
Chapter 136
Ch. 136 .｡.:✧ Solra’s Choice (4) ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Solra’s sin was simple, greed.
His desire was excessive. He wanted to save his brother, but he chose the wrong allies.
He shouldn’t have made a deal with the Heavenly Kings.
There was no way for me to change his mind, not while his brother, Xenon, was a hostage.
As long as Xenon was in Luna’s clutches, Solra had no choice but to serve evil.
So, I waited.
Waited for him to realize his greed had led to disaster. Waited for his journey to save his brother to become a journey to end his suffering.
That moment had arrived.
It was my turn.
Solra’s sin was simple.
Therefore, it was easy for him to repent.
His sense of justice was still alive. It might be hypocritical and cowardly, but he hadn’t completely turned to evil.
His crime was merely complicity in the Heavenly Kings’ atrocities.
There was still a chance for redemption. And I would be the one to offer it.
“Yoo-jin… don’t go…”
A trembling voice whispered in my ear as holy magic flowed into me from the hand on my back.
It was a voice so sweet, it made me want to stay.
“If you don’t want me to go, stop supplying me with magic power.”
“Then… you’ll… hate me…”
I didn’t deny it.
It was partly true.
“The one who hates being hated by me put a warrant out for my arrest for attempted rape?”
“I’m sorry… I made a mistake…”
Jill apologized, her voice barely a whisper, offering no excuses.
I was surprised.
The Jill I remembered from the first loop never apologized.
‘There’s room for leniency.’
The warrant hadn’t been made public, so it wasn’t exactly slander. And since my fabricated identity had been erased, the charge of attempted rape was gone.
So, while she had acted like a bitch, it wasn’t irredeemable.
Of course, that didn’t make it any less bitchy…
“I was scared… I was scared you would never see me again…”
“Why aren’t you answering…? This… isn’t the end, is it? You’re not leaving, are you?”
“I am.”
I couldn’t lie.
I was leaving.
Leaving this place, and eventually, leaving this world.
I couldn’t give her false hope.
“Yoo-jin… I have something to tell you. I’ve been too scared to say it… too scared to make the first move… I like you. I like you a lot. It hurts so much without you… I realized it after you left. I’ll do better. I really will. I won’t treat you badly. I’ll cherish you as much as you cherish me. So please… stay with me…”
I couldn’t stay.
If I stayed and accepted her feelings, it would be game over. But staying by her side, using her affection while rejecting her, was cruel.
That would be the most heartless thing to do.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Yoo-jin… you’ve changed. You never used informal language with me before.”
Had I?
I suddenly remembered that I had always used honorifics with Jill in the first loop.
“You weren’t this aloof before.”
I could feel it too.
Twelve loops had taken their toll on my emotions. I was probably at my most cheerful and energetic in the first loop.
“And you weren’t this… reckless…”
Boom! Kaboom!
The sounds of explosions echoed in the distance.
Solra was being beaten by his brother. And I was about to head there.
Jill knew it too.
The me from the first loop would have suggested we escape to safety together.
Even a single scar on a main heroine’s skin was a disadvantage, so my and the heroines’ safety had been my top priority.
“You’ve changed… The Yoo-jin I knew was a shallow, cowardly man… Why have you become so strong…?”
Shallow and cowardly.
A perfect description of me from the first loop.
“And it’s frustrating… because I still like you… even though I know you’ll probably die a meaningless death somewhere… I like you so much, I don’t know what to do… I’m so anxious… I want to stop you, but I’m scared you’ll hate me… All I can do is give you my magic power…”
Jill’s voice cracked with emotion.
The hand that had been gently caressing my back moved to my chest, and she embraced me from behind.
I felt her ample bosom against my back, and the flow of magical power intensified.
“You’re going… aren’t you…?”
“Yes.”
“Promise me you won’t die…”
“I won’t.”
“You’re not saying you hate me and that’s why you’re leaving… You don’t hate me, do you?”
“…”
“I don’t know why, but I’ll wait. I can endure it now. I can wait because I know you’ll come back. I can live because I know you don’t hate me. So please, please don’t die…”
A holy blessing enveloped me.
It was a thin but sturdy shield, much stronger than the one I had seen in the first loop.
Jill had grown stronger, too.
“That’s enough.”
“But I haven’t given you everything yet…”
“Use the rest to heal Solra.”
“What? He’s a traitor.”
“A useful traitor. He hasn’t completely betrayed us yet.”
“You’re risking your life again…”
“…”
“Don’t die. If you die, I’ll kill you. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Jill’s tears soaked my back.
She slowly released her embrace. It was time. Time to recruit the strongest swordsman in the world to my side.
I drew the Demonic Sword and headed towards the battlefield.
“Stay back. It’s dangerous.”
“Okay…”
Undecided, who had somehow appeared beside me, stood at my side.
The square, ravaged by explosion magic, was in ruins.
Solra lay in the center, bloodied and barely breathing.
|He’s going to die.|
‘Shut up, before I give you to Luna.’
|Are… are you really going?|
‘Yes. It’s too late.’
|…|
The Demonic Sword whined.
If I lost here, it would be captured by Luna and suffer the same fate as Xenon.
It seemed to realize this, and its protests subsided.
Helping me was its best option, too.
|Can you… give me a little… just a little control over the Demonic Sword?|
‘What? No. Why would I?’
|I can… mimic some of my main body’s, Belphegor’s, abilities. I can cut magic.|
‘Damn it. It’s worth a shot.’
|I’ll do my best.|
I couldn’t afford to die here, so I granted the Demonic Sword partial access to my magic power.
I transformed it into a large two-handed sword, the kind used for the defensive Frost Style swordsmanship.
“Luna, please… give me the order…”
“Good! Good, good! The Holy Knights are approaching! I’ll heal you now, and you’ll annihilate them-”
“Solra.”
Just before he completely crossed over to the other side, I placed my hand on his shoulder and spoke softly.
Nicholas, or rather Luna, glared at me, and Solra flinched.
He recognized my voice.
That was enough.
Jill could heal him from here.
“If you bow your head here, there’s no turning back. Then I’ll have to kill you.”
“So… you weren’t… a Heavenly King…”
“Of course not, you idiot. Only a fool would fall for that. Now choose. Are you really going to join their side?”
“I have… no choice…”
“You do have a choice. Let me give you a hint. I’ve destroyed all of Luna’s remaining puppets in Cologne.”
“What are you talking about?! Shutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutupshutup!!!”
“That means, if you kill that cardinal, the necromancy will be broken.”
Luna screamed, trying to interfere, but my voice was being transmitted directly into Solra’s mind through the vibrations of my magic power. It was useless.
Solra’s eyes widened as he understood my words.
“Heal yourself and follow me. I’ll make sure he doesn’t run away.”
I poured three bottles of high-grade potion over Solra’s head and walked forward.
It would take about five minutes for Jill’s healing magic to restore Solra enough for him to move.
I just had to hold on for five minutes.
I wasn’t expecting to win.
How could I defeat a flying mage?
“Kill him, Xenon!”
Ssst!
Xenon gathered an immense amount of magical power, creating a terrifying pressure.
It looked like he was about to unleash an 8th or 9th circle spell, but all that magical power was being used for a mere 4th circle explosion.
‘His magical efficiency is terrible. He can’t keep this up forever.’
The solution was simple.
Don’t get hit.
If I could get close without being hit and destroy Nicholas’s body, I would win.
‘You said you could cut magic, right?’
|Um… probably?|
‘Seriously? Just tell me you can do it.’
|I… I can do it!|
‘No, tell me you can do it.’
|I think… I can do it…|
‘Ugh.’
I had no confidence in him.
I wondered if the Demonic Sword was trying to get me killed, but I had no choice but to trust it.
“Frost Style Third Form.”
Whoosh!
Xenon unleashed his explosion magic.
The ball of energy hurtled towards me. I could dodge it by accelerating momentarily, but that would be the end.
He would immediately fire another one, and I would be hit while I was still recovering.
Unlike Solra, I couldn’t withstand multiple explosions.
One direct hit would kill me.
No, even a graze would be fatal.
So, I had to face it head-on.
I stared at the incoming energy ball and, at the perfect moment…
“Intercept!”
Clang!
I swung upwards, my blade meeting the magic.
Normally, magic wasn’t affected by physical force. It should have passed right through my sword and obliterated me.
Boom!
“What?!”
The energy ball exploded upon contact with my blade, its force deflected harmlessly into the air.
Luna stared in disbelief.
“Kill him! Now!”
This time, it was a double attack.
Two weaker explosions, fired in rapid succession.
Boom! Kaboom!
“This is… impossible!”
I deflected both with consecutive parries.
A swordsman’s speed was far superior to what a mage considered “fast.”
I had already advanced three steps.
Luna, realizing I was closing in, turned and fled. But he couldn’t escape.
“W-What?! This is Kali’s ability…!”
A mirror-like sphere enveloped Luna, trapping him within the Heavenly Armor Plate.
He couldn’t escape in this form.
He could transform into a spirit and slip through, but that would sever his connection to his necromancy, and he would lose Xenon.
He had lost.
|I can’t keep this up! I’ve used too much concentration! I’m reaching my limit!|
“Just hold on a little longer.”
Could I cut Xenon down with Iron Blood Storm Slash?
I wasn’t sure.
He seemed to have some kind of barrier, so a single strike wouldn’t be enough, but perhaps repeated attacks would work.
However, if I bisected Xenon, I didn’t know how Solra would react.
For now, it seemed best to drain his magical power and weaken him.
But Xenon’s barrage of explosions showed no sign of stopping.
|Does he have infinite magic power?! He’s wasting 90% of it with his inefficient spells, yet he’s still firing non-stop!|
“He can’t have infinite…”
At this point, I was starting to doubt myself.
I thought I could just endure it…
Boom! Kaboom!
Three consecutive explosions.
I dodged them, focusing on Xenon’s fingertips, not the magic itself.
“Gah!”
But he seemed to have anticipated that.
He started firing in unpredictable directions. A direct hit sent me flying.
I realized I had been unconscious for about a second. I should have been dead, but Jill’s barrier had saved me, though I was badly injured.
The barrier was gone now.
One more hit, and it would be over.
“Ugh… haa…”
My limbs, which had received the least protection from the barrier, were severely wounded, and shrapnel was embedded in my body.
Solra would probably scoff at my pain, but… I felt like I was dying.
“I can do this all day. Let’s see when you run out of magic power.”
Xenon glared at me, his eyes filled with rage, and began to gather an immense amount of magical power, far greater than before.
“Huh?”
I couldn’t dodge that. It would kill me. No, it would obliterate me.
It was powerful enough to destroy this entire block.
I had to stop it. I had to cut it.
“Dakia Style Secret Technique…”
I quickly transformed the Demonic Sword into a curved blade and raised it, ready to strike.
I gritted my teeth and was about to unleash my attack when…
Rumble!
Dark clouds gathered, and rain began to pour.
I was confused, and then…
“Aaaaagh!”
A bolt of lightning struck Xenon, and he fell from the sky.
Solra, enveloped in electricity, appeared beside me and caught him.
“I’m sorry…”
Solra’s hand pierced Xenon’s barrier and reached for his chest.
“I’m so sorry…”
“Ugh! Ah! Aaaah…!”
He ripped out Xenon’s heart.
The half-blackened heart pulsed weakly in his hand, then stopped.
It was over.
Solra had ended it himself.
I released the Heavenly Armor Plate.
“Haa… damn it…”
I sliced the stunned Cardinal Nicholas into pieces.
He had been dead for a while, there was no blood.
A cold aura seeped out of his dismembered body and dissipated.
I had missed the spirit, but I had destroyed all of its puppets in Cologne.
It couldn’t use its necromancy anymore.
Solra and Xenon were free.
Free to die.
“Solra…”
“Xenon… it’s me…”
Xenon, coughing up blood, raised his hand weakly.
Solra embraced him, holding his hand against his cheek.
Xenon’s eyes were filled with life, a will to live.
He looked at Solra, a faint smile on his lips.
“Xenon… no…”
The flow of blood from his chest weakened. His hand went limp.
The life in his eyes faded, replaced by emptiness.
He didn’t respond to Solra’s calls.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!!!”
Solra’s scream echoed through the rain-soaked square.
Lightning flashed in the dark clouds, and his rage filled the air.
“Aaaaaah…”
Solra held Xenon’s bloodied body, tears mixing with the rain.
“What in the world is going on here?”
An old man with an umbrella frowned and set down a large toolbox.
Cern.
He had arrived just in time.
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