Chapter 217
Chapter 217
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 217
Chapter Title: The Commotion in Heaven (4)
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As the jewel's rotation sped up, its influence reached Canis.
An overwhelming drowsiness washed over him. He bit his lip, trying to endure, but if he continued cutting the cuffs like this, the women's wrists would be severed.
'No! I can't leave Arin behind!'
Blood trickled from his bitten lip.
Watching him, Amy and Tess could offer no advice.
The only one who could stop him was Arin.
“Canis, there's still time. Back away for now. At this rate, you'll collapse first.”
“Damn it! Damn it!”
He knew he had to retreat.
Just a little more to cut. If only he had his master's immense power, he would have cut through all the cuffs by now.
-Information transfer rate: 50 percent.
“I will save you. Just wait a little longer.”
Canis couldn't bring himself to meet the women's eyes as he moved away, out of the objet's range of influence.
As if by magic, his mind cleared. But the agony of that moment was unforgettable. It was a compulsion incomparable to any sleep spell.
'That's right, compulsion. That's the hallmark of an objet.'
Objets are mutations of the material world. They are things whose very concepts have been twisted by some cosmic error.
Therefore, as they did not violate causality, it was impossible to block an objet's power by any means.
Moreover, time was running out. In a situation with a time limit, summoning the Sleep Mara was an excellent choice.
“Rian, stay back. I'll handle this.”
Canis switched places with Rian. For a swordsman with a vulnerable mind, the Objet of Sleep was nothing short of poison.
Peope pointed to the entrance of the Great World Stage and shouted.
“Hey, everyone! Look over there!”
The giant Ymir was charging toward them, his massive body lumbering forward.
Rian's eyes hardened. He seemed smaller than the first time they met, but it was definitely the same giant.
Even the level-headed Canis couldn't hide his anger this time.
“Damn it! A giant, too!”
“Stay calm. I'll take the giant. You handle Baalv.”
Considering their respective strengths, it was the right call. But even setting matchups aside, Rian wanted to face him himself.
In their first fight, he hadn't even managed to inflict a fatal wound, but this time, it was his turn to show his true strength.
As Rian reached the entrance, Peope flew over, holding the Metagate.
“Hey, what about this?”
“Guard it for me. We will definitely return.”
“What? How am I supposed to handle something this important...!”
Peope couldn't finish her sentence. The request was burdensome and too much to ask, but after seeing Rian's face, she couldn't say a word.
It wasn't the face of someone who truly believed he would return.
“But if you find yourself in danger...”
Rian turned to Peope and gave her a gentle smile.
“Just toss it aside and run. It's not more precious than your life.”
Peope pressed her lips together, her expression sullen.
How could he say such a thing? Why were all humans such fools?
“Don't be ridiculous! Why can't you just be honest? You want me to protect this even if I die, don't you! Without this, you can't go back!”
Rian didn't answer.
“You idiot! Your opponent is Ymir! Ymir, the king of giants! If you fight him, you'll die for sure!”
Rian finally understood. So his name was Ymir? Not just a giant, but the king of giants.
Then, as a final opponent, he couldn't ask for better.
Peope's heart felt heavy. Was this the life of a human? Was it because their lives were as fleeting as mayflies compared to fairies that they burned so desperately?
Rian blocked the entrance. Backlit like a total solar eclipse, he looked strangely larger than life.
“Your name... your name is...”
Peope forced out the words, her voice hoarse and choked.
“What's your name?”
She asked Rian. Giving one's name in Heaven was dangerous, but Peope felt she had to know. Because now, they trusted each other.
“I am Ogent Rian.”
Rian said, raising his greatsword and looking back at Peope.
“I am Shirone's sword.”
*Thud!*
Slamming his greatsword deep into the floor, Rian leaned his back against the blade and lowered his center of gravity.
Ymir charged, a grotesque grin splitting his face.
“Hehehe! A second round, is it? Now that's what I call a warrior.”
“Come at me, king of giants.”
Ymir charged forward without slowing down.
Feeling the pressure of an oncoming boulder, Rian braced himself and let out a roar.
“Hraaaaaaagh!”
Ymir crouched, and his shoulder slammed into Rian's torso.
The greatsword bent as if to snap, then sprang back with elastic force.
*Crack!*
A sound like something breaking came from within Rian's abdomen. A spray of blood erupted from his throat, staining the air red.
@
A shockwave pierced through Ymir's chest.
The battlefield where Heaven's greatest magic swordsman and warrior had clashed was utterly devastated.
Depressions marked every spot they had passed, and wind blew in through the shattered windows.
Ymir was leaning against a wall, laughing. The shockwave's signal surged through him, breaking his body down at a cellular level.
“Hehehe, not bad. How does it feel? Stabbing me.”
Ashur had a bitter taste in his mouth. Even if this was Ymir without his true body, he wasn't someone who would fall to a single blow so easily.
“...Was this just a 'part' of you?”
Ymir was a giant who had achieved the 10th stage of the unprecedented Art of Anecdotes. Only Ra knew how many bodies he had absorbed, but it was widely believed to be well over ten thousand.
“Just because I'm a giant doesn't mean I can't use my head. Take your time. I'll go on ahead and wait for you.”
As Ymir slowly slumped down, Ashur's sword slid out, cleaving his head.
A moment later, Ymir's body bubbled and dissolved into a black liquid.
Ashur glared at the liquid pooling at his feet. He opened his palm, and his sword transformed into a signal and vanished.
“Damn it, I was careless.”
Ymir disliked strategy. He considered it a last resort for the weak. But today, he had cast aside his pride and chosen to head for the Great World Stage.
An animal instinct? No, it was a superhuman instinct.
Ymir preferred simplicity, yet he always triumphed over complexity. This was because he was born with a single trait: the instinct to smell war.
Looking back at the history of Heaven, Ymir was always at the heart of war.
This time was no different.
He had sensed that the events taking place at the Great World Stage would be the decisive factor in finding his true body.
“I might be too late.”
Though their dispositions were opposite, Ymir's nose was trustworthy.
For him to abandon a fight and disappear meant there was no time to waste. The situation at the Great World Stage was clearly more dire than he'd thought.
Ashur kicked off the ground and left the battlefield.
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“Canis! Get back! You can't go on!”
Arin cried out. It had already been ten minutes since he entered the objet's domain. Despite this, Canis, far from retreating, was increasing the casting speed of his spells.
Baalv had moved away, as if Canis wasn't even worth dealing with. The Ikkaku Mara's abilities were fundamentally superior to Canis's, but as long as the objet was present, there was no need for him to engage directly.
The Objet of Sleep could lull living beings into slumber, but what was more terrifying was resisting it.
Forced resistance would lead to an accumulation of fatigue from sleep deprivation, eventually resulting in death.
Canis's current mental state was equivalent to having gone without sleep for roughly eight days.
“Impressive, for a human. But how long can you last? Without deep sleep, there is only death.”
Canis came to his senses.
He hadn't heard what Baalv had said just a moment ago. The sights before his eyes weren't registering in his brain.
-Canis! Snap out of it!
Harvest shouted through their mental channel. But it was no use. His mind was beginning to go numb, and not even a reply came back.
“You seem quite concerned about your master. Then again, it's only natural since you share his life force, isn't it?”
Harvest looked back at Kariel's words. The archangel had descended to the ground and was observing the situation. He had clearly seen through the weakening of Harvest's power.
“Maintaining the darkness requires considerable energy. Are you supplementing it with a human's life force? An interesting idea, but it only disperses your power.”
Canis slowly pushed himself up.
He had only just realized he'd been on his hands and knees. He hadn't even been aware of the drool trickling from the corner of his mouth.
“Arin, I don't think we can all make it back alive.”
“No! Canis! Absolutely not!”
A terrifying thought crossed Arin's mind.
Knowing Canis, who resembled his master in temperament, the only card he would play in this situation was the one Arcane had used just before his death.
Harvest reached the same conclusion.
-Canis, you're not thinking of Abyss Memory, are you? But you're not Arcane. You might not be able to withstand it.
Canis shook his head. That level of resolve wouldn't be enough to defeat the Ikkaku Mara.
-No. I'm going to try what we talked about before. I need your power, Harvest. You can help me, right?
-No. That spell is only possible in theory. You've never even tested it. You have to at least try it after deciphering the Book of Light and Darkness.
-Harvest, if one of us has to survive, it has to be Arin. You know that.
Harvest didn't answer. But his silence was an admission. It also meant his own annihilation.
-Understood. I'll give you my power.
Harvest's body was absorbed into Canis's shadow.
His consciousness clearing ever so slightly, Canis prepared for death.
He had never thought about what kind of situation he wanted to die in. He was simply ready to enter the eternal world of nothingness.
“Limit of Abyss.”
The spell, designed only in theory, was activated.
In an instant, his mental fatigue vanished. But he hadn't erased his memories like Arcane.
What he had erased was his limit.
Canis knew what kind of person he was. He would probably never reach the supreme state like Shirone.
So, he surpassed his limits in his own way.
Children who don't know fire will readily put their hands in the flames, and great monks self-immolate to enter nirvana.
The difference between ignorance and enlightenment is vast, but the mental fortitude to throw oneself into the fire is the same.
If Canis couldn't be an enlightened monk, he chose to be an ignorant child.
The result was a temporary state of Immortal Function.
Of course, he hadn't truly reached nirvana. But in terms of combat, he had obtained a sufficiently similar mental power.
“Here I go!”
Until the duration of Limit of Abyss ended, he felt no fatigue. But to Arin, the sight of Canis flying about with such vigor was hell.
“Canis! No! Please, don't do this!”
Arin shouted through her tears. Without Canis and Harvest, she didn't have the courage to live in this world.
But Canis couldn't hear anyone's voice. Feeling a slight thrill from successfully casting the spell for the first time, he unleashed the greatest magic he could muster.
'Kin of Darkness.'
A spell that converted a mage's spirit into physical force. Arcane's was a Dark Golem, but Canis's kin took a completely different form.
A shadow spread across the floor like the surface of water, and a giant earthworm, called a Worm, shot up from it.
“Master...”
If one could attain a mental state comparable to Immortal Function, Kin of Darkness was the most compatible spell.
'You'll praise me, won't you?'
The ten-meter-long worm arched through the air and fell vertically.
Baalv wasn't tense. He simply moved away nonchalantly, his arms still crossed.
“Not bad. I'll praise you for this one...”
Before Baalv could finish his sentence, another Dark Worm erupted from the floor.
Like a reverse waterfall, it swallowed Baalv and shot up to the ceiling.
The objet shattered with a crack, and the sound of Baalv's bones breaking followed. A moment later, Baalv's grotesquely twisted corpse fell to the ground.