Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: When You're Feeling Relieved, That's When They Stab You in the Back. (3)
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"What are you gonna do about it if I do?"
I sneered mockingly at him. Then I reached out to grab the remaining chains as well.
At that moment, Blackstar's movements suddenly went still.
"Hm?"
I let out a puzzled grunt for a second.
'This guy's not the type to give up that easily.'
My prediction hit the mark.
In the next instant, Blackstar's knees bent slightly.
'...You bastard, no way?'
I immediately realized what he was planning.
Sure enough, he started charging straight toward the wall in front of him. He was going to slam his body into it to shake me off.
"Uwaaack!"
The young man screamed again, covering his eyes.
"No you don't!"
In that split second, I managed to snatch the last chain.
Kak-duduk!
With the harsh sound of the chain grinding,
"Purruk!"
Blackstar's body came to a halt. But he didn't give up.
His golden eyes flared up like molten lava bubbling in a furnace.
The pull from the end of the chain grew stronger in the opposite direction.
Kkii-gik, kkii-gi-gik.
The chain began slipping bit by bit from my hand, being dragged toward Blackstar.
He had started a tug-of-war with me.
"Hmph."
I twisted my lips into a smirk.
I tightened my grip on my fingertips, clenched my jaw, and gritted my teeth. The muscles in both my arms bulged as if they might burst, and my knuckles turned white from the iron grip.
Kkii-gi-gi-gik.
The chain screeched unpleasantly as it was pulled toward me.
"Pu, rruk...."
Blackstar's entire body trembled violently. The area where the chain tugged must have been excruciating, yet he showed no sign of giving up.
"You're one tough bastard."
He had probably never in his life carried a human on his back.
Humans who had locked him in a dark iron cage and fed him just enough to keep him alive.
The fact that one of those objects of hatred was now riding on his back was making him even more tenacious. But showing that tenacity in front of me was pointless.
After all, tenacity is relative.
"You should just give up."
I let out a low chuckle and resorted to my final measure.
"......"
I closed my eyes and focused inward.
The void, the energy of Requiem. The very thing that had made Diego shudder in horror.
And the killing intent he had exuded right before he was about to break my arm.
There was a stark difference between the two, but they shared a fundamental similarity.
'Spreading an Absolute Domain and killing intent are different.'
An Absolute Domain involves drawing out one's ki sense like thin, long threads and extending it. It's something only I can perceive, undetectable to the opponent.
But the killing intent Diego emitted was something hazy. Tangible, yet invisible to the eye.
'This is... right, mist. Like mist.'
Mist that slowly soaks the opponent's instep, creeps up their ankle, and before they know it, leaves them gasping for breath.
Instinctively—or as if I already knew—pitch-black energy began emanating from my body.
"Pu... ruk."
In that instant, Blackstar's movements stopped. The taut chain went slack.
This was it.
With that certainty, I focused even more on the sensation. I made it thinner, fainter, like mist seeping out from my body.
"Pu-ruruk...."
The furious, savage roar gradually lost its power.
More, more. Until he completely submitted.
I worked to draw out the energy thicker, heavier, denser.
Like a curtain unfurling, so that anyone with sensitive ki sense wouldn't even dare try to pierce through it.
'Like Diego.'
I envisioned my goal, what I aspired to become. I overlaid his image onto myself.
Thus, with my fingertips still gripping the chain tightly, I sharpened and honed the killing intent I was emitting even further.
And finally,
"...Kiiing."
A sound of submission leaked from Blackstar's mouth.
Clang, thud.
As he ceased resisting, the slackened chain dangled loosely.
"Kiiing."
Blackstar dropped his head powerlessly. His suddenly docile demeanor was proof that he had decided to submit to me.
To a human who emanated an overwhelming pressure even a superior monster like him couldn't withstand.
"That's more like it."
I pulled my lips into a smile.
Satisfied that Blackstar was now fully in my grasp.
❖ ❖ ❖
"Puha!"
The dawn air was chilly, and the water in the bucket, left out all night, was even colder.
"Uuugh."
Melina shivered as she dipped her hands into the bucket, her teeth chattering.
"Winter's just around the corner."
Washing her face like this soon would leave her hands and face frozen stiff.
As she thought that, she stared blankly at her reflection in the water.
"Urgh."
Normally, Melina would smile faintly whenever she saw her face in water or a mirror.
Even she thought there was no beauty in the territory that matched hers. Despite the soot stains from the forge walls, Melina's fresh beauty didn't fade.
"Haaah."
But ever since that incident a few days ago, Melina sighed in irritation every time she saw her own face, far from smiling.
'Your face isn't my type either.'
That one line Abel had tossed out with a light chuckle lingered in her mind, tormenting her endlessly.
Melina pouted, sticking out her lower lip.
"I'm pretty good-looking, aren't I?"
She caressed her cheek with her wet hand. Her youthful cheek was smooth, and her delicate features brimmed with vitality.
"All the boys said I was pretty."
In fact, most of the boys in the village had confessed to her at least once. Though they all fled in terror from her ferocious drunken antics.
"Melina! You done yet?"
As she peered into the bucket for a while, her mother Alessia's voice rang in her ears.
Tang-tang!
Followed by the strong sound of hammering on the anvil.
Lately, Alessia had been swamped preparing to deliver materials to the border.
Yet even in her busyness, a smile played on her face, and her cheeks glowed with healthy vigor.
And Melina quite liked seeing her mother like that.
"Coming right now!"
Melina shouted energetically, then scrubbed her face vigorously.
"Ugh, my hands are freezing."
She shuddered, groping around blindly for the towel beside her.
"Where'd it go?"
As she muttered,
"Here."
A familiar voice came, and a towel plopped onto her hand.
"Mom?!"
Melina jumped back in surprise. There stood Abel, arms crossed.
"I'm not your mom."
Abel said flatly with a sour expression. Melina froze in place, clutching the towel in shock.
"Ah, uh. Um...."
What should she say?
Her mind went blank. Not only had he appeared out of nowhere, but she hadn't expected him to say something like that.
Then, feeling his direct gaze, she finally pulled herself together.
"Ah, h-hello, Young Master."
She hid the towel behind her back and bowed her head. Water dripped from her face onto the ground.
"Ah."
She had been washing her face.
Embarrassed at being seen like this, her face heated up.
While Melina stood there unsure what to do, Abel's gaze brushed the tips of her reddened ears.
"Washing won't turn a watermelon into a pumpkin."
"Pardon?"
Melina looked up in disbelief. Then she met Abel's faint, dripping smile as he looked at her.
"Well, better than last time, anyway."
He tossed that out and turned away.
"Alessia's inside, right?"
Without waiting for Melina's reply, he strode into the forge.
"Ah...."
Melina stood still for a moment, pressing down her pounding heart. Then she realized the washing water on her face had already dried from the heat.
"-!"
Her face flushed bright red. Even without a drop of alcohol.
"Ugh, seriously."
Why did she keep getting swept up by Abel like this? It was embarrassing, as if there was more to it than just him being the lord's son.
"Why am I like this?"
Melina shook her head and hurried into the forge.
❖ ❖ ❖
"Hoo."
I whistled as I entered Alessia's forge.
"Who...."
Alessia's eyes widened as she turned her head.
"Ah, Young Master Abel?"
She stopped hammering the anvil and stood up hurriedly.
"Greetings, Young Master."
"Yeah, yeah."
I brushed off her greeting half-heartedly. Then I looked around with keen interest.
Alessia's forge had changed beyond recognition since last time. Not only was the furnace roaring nonstop, but the area around it was filled with all sorts of things she had made.
"Hmm."
My gaze lingered especially on those items.
"Um, Young Master."
Seeing me like that, Alessia spoke in a worried tone.
"What brings you here?"
"Is this a place I shouldn't come to?"
"...No, not at all."
She probably thought I wouldn't come back after last time. Or more precisely, she didn't want to see me again.
Her flickering eyes confirmed it. They were filled with anxiety about why I had returned.
"Was there a problem with the previous items, by any chance?"
"If there was,"
I let out a chuckle.
"You wouldn't be alive right now."
Because I, dominated by Requiem, would have swept through the entire territory.
"...!"
Alessia's face drained of color.
Having not heard the rest, she must have imagined her neck under my angry hand.
"Well, anyway."
I approached her and gestured toward the items around us with my chin.
"Seems business has been booming since then."
"...Yes, it has."
"Has that green light flashed again on any of them since?"
At my new topic, Alessia's expression grew strange.
"Ah, yes. It has, occasionally."
"Which ones?"
"Ah.... Well."
Alessia made a troubled face.
"I destroyed them all."
"...What?"
My eyes flashed fiercely. Alessia replied in a shrinking voice, intimidated.
"They just felt ominous somehow.... What if they were possessed or something?"
Possessed? Possessed by what ghost?
Frustrated, I thumped my chest inwardly.
'Damn it.'
In my haste, I hadn't explained in detail, leading to this mess. From her perspective without context, it might have felt that way.
'But if she'd just used them, she'd know they weren't ominous.'
Frowning, I asked,
"What were they? Tell me whatever you remember."
"Hmm...."
Alessia tapped her chin, deep in thought.
"A sickle, and an axe."
"Hmm."
I nodded.
If the Guardian's Power dwelled in such items, it would be hard to sense it.
'Sickles and axes are meant for harming things, after all.'
Of course, in Alessia's case, she was probably making them for farmers to use normally.
Her thoughts at the time were likely...
'Wishing for their prosperity and safety.'
That's how the Guardian's Power works.
It manifests from the creator's intense wish or will.