Chapter 62
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: True and Fake (3)
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Whoosh!
Shakar's aura exploded outward, enveloping the surroundings.
Vicious flames surged wildly, completely incinerating the area nearby. Fortunately, most of the retainers were knights or possessed equivalent martial prowess, so they were managing to hold on—but it wouldn't last long.
They weren't even trying to fight back; simply enduring in place was already grueling.
A momentum several times fiercer than before. Yet, for some reason, Shakar's voice echoed from within the now gloomy blaze.
"With just a tiny fraction of power, you've awakened this much strength."
"Hmm..."
This was definitely dangerous. Until moments ago, Shakar had been at best on par with me when I first arrived at House Zahav.
But now was different. Judging solely by the aura I felt, in a straightforward fight, even going all out, he'd be a tough opponent.
I could somewhat understand why Shakar had been so terrified.
The true body he called "that lord" must possess far greater power than this.
But. But still.
"Not only an idiot, but a coward to boot."
"...What did you say?"
"If you didn't hear, I'll repeat it. Shakar. You're an idiot and a coward. You won't even bark, just wag your tail like a beaten pup, and yet you go around bragging about your leash to others. Pathetic."
"You still haven't grasped the situation...!"
"Of course I have. Perfectly."
I chuckled softly as I checked the aura circulating within me and the mana roads it traversed.
Finally, I confirmed the mana from the fang Ignis had given me and reached a conclusion.
Once should be no problem.
"You figured you couldn't win, so you became a dog. Makes you no different from the knights who died by your hand. No—at least that knight named Greg wasn't such a bootlicker, so he's better than you."
"...And what's wrong with that?!"
Shakar bellowed. Perhaps ashamed of himself, he swung his arm in a fit of rage.
Boom!
The aura that followed his motion—now far more intense black flames—shattered the inner castle wall with effortless ease.
At this point, sensing something ominous, the retainers began drawing their weapons one by one.
"I told you not to interfere and just watch, didn't I? Fall back further. It's about to get dangerous."
They flinched at my words and retreated while shielding Jevella.
Irritated that those who had so vehemently opposed his own commands now obeyed mine without question?
Shakar vented his frustration with an indignant snort.
"This is the South! It's only natural for the strong to dominate the rest! Survival of the fittest! By the very logic of the power that lets Zahav rule the region, what's wrong with submitting to one even stronger?!"
"Everything about it is wrong. From the very beginning."
Ever since reincarnating into this world. After witnessing all sorts of ugliness in Calypso Territory and observing the South's cult of strength, I'd pondered many things.
But the answer always came back the same, and it would remain so going forward.
"House Zahav rules the South not because they are the strongest. It's because they stand at the forefront, blocking the dungeon monsters."
The reason the people of the South hadn't tried to oust House Zahav even as scum like Shakar multiplied was simple.
For all their complaints, in the end, only House Zahav could hold back the dungeon.
"House Zahav's ability to reign as monarchs even before the Empire wasn't because they were the strongest, either."
According to what I'd heard from Ignis, the Zahav of that era wasn't the degenerate house it was now. Less a king and more a warrior in temperament, with plenty of flaws in their rule...
Before the Empire. They had positioned themselves as the shield protecting the people from dozens of surrounding nations. That was why they could maintain a nation through their bungled methods—and even conquer the surrounding lands.
I straightened my back and squared my shoulders. Then, raising my voice so everyone present could hear, I continued.
"Strength is ultimately just a means. True strength comes from the heart, not the fist."
It's not that people follow because you have power. It doesn't mean you can do whatever you want.
Rights follow because you shoulder duties you didn't have to with that power.
"In the end, what matters is will. Not how hard you can swing your fist, but what you swing it for."
I lightly tapped my chest—as if recalling an old oath, or awakening the embers slumbering within.
"Live like a human. No matter how shitty the situation or how mighty the enemy, never become a beast."
The aura that had been quiet for the past few days began to boil, along with the still-unrefined mana.
"Only then can you, even if born into vulgarity, die with nobility."
The circulation of energy sped up. Accordingly, I gave direction to the power that was growing harder to control.
This was the third time attempting it, so it wasn't as difficult as before.
"Ah, and—this is the most important part."
I chuckled and spoke in what I considered the most Zahav-like manner.
"No flame in the world burns while discerning what it should consume and what it shouldn't."
"What?"
The moment Shakar had preemptively cowered, compromised, and justified himself to the world, his flames might have grown in scale—but their heat had cooled cold.
Lukewarm fire isn't fire at all.
"Just burn hot. Hot enough to consume the entire world."
At the same moment, the condensed aura erupted into perfect rampage, shooting skyward.
Kraka boom!
A pillar of fire soared toward the heavens like a dragon's breath. The flames cloaking my body layered endlessly, adding heat without limit—as if they were stacking upon themselves.
An omnipotence filling my entire body. Simultaneously, a sense of destruction from rapidly dying.
This was the power that, just a few weeks ago, had incinerated the western calamity known as the Wild Hunt and hurled the colossal Mortheus aside.
Shakar's black flames scattered from the mere aftermath, instantly engulfing the entire plaza and overflowing outward.
But my aura did no harm to anything else. The direction I'd imposed... was aimed solely at Shakar.
D-don't come...!
Only then did Shakar realize all this power was converging on him, desperately squeezing out his aura.
A faint black flame flickered atop Shakar's body.
Fwoosh.
My aura, which had permeated the surroundings, scattered it in an instant.
As if it could tolerate no other flames besides itself.
I slowly raised my clenched fist. I pulled my elbow back to its limit, as if drawing a bowstring.
The flames naturally concentrated on my fist, and Shakar screamed in a frenzy.
"If I... if I die, what then?! Do you think you can face that lord?!"
"I told you. That doesn't matter."
If that "lord" or whatever truly crawled out of the dungeon. Then there was only one thing I needed to do.
Hadn't I already decided to bear the name of House Zahav, even if it was fake?
"House Zahav's duty... is to block the dungeon overflow."
"You can't block that lord...!"
"Then I die. What else?"
"...Huh?"
"Fight as best I can. If it's still not enough, well, unfortunate. Can't be helped."
From the moment I'd resolved to escape that mad alchemist's lab, this conviction hadn't wavered for a second.
Thanks to it, I'd survived until now and grown this strong.
And it would be the same going forward. No—I'd make sure of it.
"Come to think of it, it's absurd. That 'lord' is just sealed away, but alive, right?"
"Why..."
"Anything alive eventually dies."
If I could die, then so could my opponent.
"Anyway, Shakar—you die today."
"Kuh!"
Shakar whirled around to flee in panic. But my fist was faster.
The tensed muscles released, and the condensed aura unfurled like a storm.
A burning vortex—or awl-like fist—shot forward, piercing Shakar's back and incinerating his heart.
"Gahk...!"
The irony of a Zahav, who should possess strong fire resistance, dying by flames.
"Aaaah!!"
Shakar writhed as the blaze spread from his heart throughout his body. It was futile resistance, and even that soon weakened.
As he charred pitch-black, did he realize something? His faint struggles ceased, and he flinched.
He twisted his head to look my way.
"Th-this power... it's Zahav's... you bastard...!"
"No. From now on, the fake is you."
He seemed to grasp my secret in his final moments, but it was far too late.
Fwoosh!
With his remaining strength spent, he turned to ash in an instant and scattered on the wind.
The last descendant to inherit House Zahav's Bloodline Ability died just like that.
"...Hoo."
I exhaled deeply and concentrated the still-rampaging aura into one hand.
With my current abilities, there was no recovering the aura that had already begun rampaging. So I'd just expend it all and replenish with Ignis's fang.
Humm—
Flames gathered into a sphere above my hand. Even maximally compressed, the flow was so turbulent that embers sporadically flew outward.
But the effect was certain. Not only the residual aura in my body, but even the flames scattered around converged to a single point.
Jevella and the retainers stared blankly my way, unable to believe what had just happened.
No—now that I noticed, I could feel Yuria's gaze from inside the inner castle, guarded by the Head Butler.
So that's where she was; Jevella had hidden her well.
Thus, before nearly everyone of House Zahav, I raised the blazing aura sphere and spoke.
"The fake is dead."
And with that, I launched the aura, now nearing its limit, straight into the sky.
The burning sphere rocketed upward, detonating in a massive explosion midair.
Boom!
As if another sun had appeared beside the sun itself.
Now utterly speechless, they stared blankly back and forth between me and the second sun hovering in the sky.
Before them, I declared.
Words directed outward, but truly meant for my own ears.
"I alone am Zahav."
My name is Enoch Zahav.
...
...What a letdown to my cool pose—backlash hit me before long.
I spewed blood from all seven orifices and collapsed.
"Guh."
As pure mana seeped in from Ignis's fang, I thought.
Fucking hurts.