Chapter 248
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 248
Chapter Title: Rockwind Plains (5)
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A massive bipedal monster with long ears like a goblin's—a bugbear.
However, like the other monsters in this place, it had turned to stone under the curse's influence. It swung its fist at him with a menacing roar.
He tilted his sword to deflect the attack, slipped inside its guard, and sliced off roughly half its shoulder.
As time passed, he grew more accustomed to cutting through something as hard as rock with his blade.
His mind sharpened to an unprecedented edge.
But the more it did, the more confused Aiden felt.
'Why... won't my body move the way I want...?'
Even just now, too much power had gone into his shoulder strike.
He realized the reason right away.
To be ready to turn around at any moment, his feet were tensed, naturally transmitting that tension to his shoulders.
He was constantly engaging muscles that weren't needed for the immediate fight. No wonder his body tired so quickly.
This was a first for him.
His arms and legs felt as heavy as wet cotton.
Even though his gaze was locked on the enemy, his mind kept drifting to his rear.
His heart felt a pressure that bordered on desperation, beyond mere impatience.
And Aiden knew the reason.
'My rear guard... it keeps bothering me.'
The slightest strange noise from behind drew his attention that way.
Every time, he exposed himself to the enemy's aggressive strikes, and his movements grew larger.
It had happened more than once or twice a day in combat.
He could tell because of Maya.
Just a few days ago, she had moved as heavily as he did now. But at some point, she began moving as lightly as a feather.
There was no hesitation in her steps. She focused solely on the enemy before her.
'Has my body ever refused to obey me like this...?'
He had never experienced anything like it.
Even after one mistake, he made sure the next move had no such error.
His body instinctively remembered those situations, ensuring he never fell into the same trap twice.
But not now.
His brain issued commands to his body on its own.
He knew he shouldn't move that way, but his entire body rejected the proper form.
Having never faced this in his life, his confusion deepened, and in turn, his body burned through stamina excessively just to survive.
It was a vicious cycle.
"For now... let's take a break."
In the end, unable to bear it any longer, Jun spoke up, and the party halted. They set up a simple base camp.
"Aiden. You... get some sleep first."
"...Understood."
It wasn't an environment where he could rest easy, but continuing like this would only worry his comrades more.
He couldn't be dead weight, so he forced his unwilling eyes shut and fell asleep.
"Hah...!"
Aiden's eyes snapped open in a nightmare where red mist swallowed him whole.
Unpleasant cold sweat dripped from his entire body.
As he lingered in the haze between dream and reality, he sensed a presence behind him.
"The swordsman's eyes are open."
It was Maya, standing watch.
"Why the sudden formal speech...?"
"Right now, I am a sword focusing its mind."
"Its mind?"
"Yes. I am a sword that has slain its emotions."
"..."
What did killing emotions have to do with switching to polite speech?
He didn't fully understand, but pretending he did, Aiden asked,
"...Sorry. I haven't been able to focus in fights lately, have I?"
"Mm. Indeed, lately your movements, Aiden, are all too heavy, swordsman."
"..."
"Aiden."
"Yeah?"
"Did you just have a nightmare, swordsman?"
"Ah, yeah. A bit."
"Are things hard these days, swordsman?"
"Probably... yeah."
"Be careful, swordsman."
What was she suddenly telling him to be careful of?
"Just now, your soul flickered for a moment, swordsman."
"What...?"
"It felt as if something had draped over you. Do you understand what I mean, swordsman?"
"No way..."
"That power you sometimes draw out in crises. It's creeping upward, swordsman."
"Why...? Without even my will..."
Fear crashed over him.
He had felt before what happened when that power consumed him.
A dangerous ability that couldn't distinguish friend from foe, treating everything around him as an enemy.
For it to slip from his control.
But Maya's next question was profoundly meaningful.
"Is it really not your will, swordsman, Aiden?"
"What?"
"In recent fights, you move like someone backed into a corner. I know that feeling well. And humans grasp at anything in desperate straits, swordsman. It's human nature to beg even unresponsive gods—what law says you can't crave the power you already possess?"
Her words pierced straight to the core, widening Aiden's eyes.
"Unconsciously... I've been wishing for that power...?"
"That's how it is, swordsman. Fights are grueling, time drags on. Fenrir's third appearance is almost upon us already."
And yet, they still hadn't found the source of the second curse.
"It's natural to crave greater strength. Regardless of purity or method."
"...How do you know so well?"
"That's my current state, swordsman."
"Maya, you...?"
"Yes. I am afraid too, swordsman. Afraid that one of us gets badly hurt or dies. And a tiny fraction of those old fogeys are trying to exploit my desperation."
"What? What do you...?"
"I haven't told the others, swordsman. Though... the leader seems to know already."
"Why hide something like that?"
"Saying it would just worry everyone, and to begin with, I have no fear of such threats, swordsman."
"You mean your current state?"
Maya nodded at his question.
"I slay my own emotions and perceive lives as mere objects, swordsman. Treating all equally. That's my way, swordsman. When I resolve to protect only myself this way, even those old fogeys can't target my body."
"So that's why you've been using formal speech?"
Finally understanding Maya's state, Aiden frowned.
"That sounds... way too tough."
"Yes. It is tough. If this state lasts too long... I'll revert to the me before meeting you all, swordsman."
Back to the self that erupted in killing intent at the drop of a hat, indifferent to the world save revenge.
Maya hated that version of herself.
"But the world doesn't let you do only what you want, does it, swordsman? That's something you know best, Aiden."
"..."
Aiden couldn't deny her words.
As Maya said, he had lived a life trapped in the imperial family, bending to others' wills.
In the imperial city, nothing was ever up to him.
"But why now, when I've finally got it...?"
"Because you've never had it before, swordsman."
"What?"
"The Aiden in the imperial city was born with nothing to begin with, swordsman. Never having possessed anything, he didn't even know what freedom was. So he might yearn for it, but he never knew the fear of loss."
"...!"
"Those who have much fear its theft, swordsman. Unlike the imperial you, don't you now possess so much?"
At her words, Aiden's gaze naturally turned to his comrades.
As she said, the comrades he had most yearned for stood right before him.
"You must face the fear head-on, swordsman. I've heard it often. And though I speak as if I'm wise now, I haven't overcome it either."
"But you're fighting well?"
"It's different. Right now, I am a sword fleeing from that fear, swordsman. You know it too, don't you? I don't even look around me in battle anymore. I pretend it's efficient, but it's not at all."
Indeed, unlike before when they synced with each other, Maya's current tempo was so fast even Aiden struggled to keep up.
"So, I'm using a cheat right now, swordsman. But I'm used to this method."
But Aiden was different.
He had lived staring stubbornly ahead.
"So, you must find your own way, swordsman. Perhaps not within yourself, but looking around at those nearby might be a method too."
"Look around...?"
It felt useless right now.
Looking around only showed his comrades, and he worried only for their safety.
"Well, adults' advice to kids never sinks in deep, they say, swordsman. Maybe one day it'll click for you. Just keep it in mind."
"...Thanks, Maya."
"If you get it, sleep again, swordsman. We've got fights tomorrow too."
"Yeah, we do."
He hadn't sorted his confused heart yet, but even so, he lay down to force sleep.
As Maya said, tomorrow's battles awaited.
"Watch out!"
Jun's voice snapped Aiden back to attention.
"Ah...!"
Slash!
Something whipped past Aiden's nose in an instant.
Grrrrr!
A dryad.
The tree fairy lashed out with roots bursting from the tunnel floor like whips.
Even though the curse had turned its roots to stone too, their flexibility was astonishing.
"Kuh!"
Dozens of roots wrapped around Aiden like living creatures.
Sensing the crisis, Aiden retreated.
"You okay?!"
Eleanora asked amid her golden holy power, and Aiden nodded urgently.
"I'm fine!"
For just a moment.
Extreme tension had made him lose focus briefly.
'No. Get it together.'
He muttered to himself like a reprimand and immersed in the fight.
The dozens of roots moved freely as if alive.
Grazed by even one, it wouldn't end with mere injury.
'I have to read them.'
Fortunately, his stamina hadn't dropped much yet.
He had to focus entirely on the enemy before him.
"Hoo..."
He steadied his mind.
The roots seemed to move independently, but on closer look, each kept a consistent interval.
He read the gaps between them and advanced with light steps.
Then, to kill the intruder in their domain, dozens of roots lunged at him.
He dodged as much as possible, summoning [Stone Shield] when the space narrowed inescapably.
[Stone Shield]
Even then, when they broke through.
[Iron Fist]
Jun's spell created an opening.
He aimed for that gap once more.
But perhaps because of that last spell.
One of the roots that had passed Aiden shot toward Jun like an arrow.
"...!"
Instinctively, his steps faltered.
Even without Aiden rushing in, Jun had already deployed [Shield] to block the root's attack.
But the timing was already thrown off.
In an instant, roots surrounded Aiden on all sides and charged.
[Water Cutter]
[Attribute Grant: Life Drain]
Jun, never taking his eyes off Aiden, fired a highly compressed blade of water to clear space.
"...Thank you!"
The opening Jun created aligned perfectly with the direction where Maya had neutralized about half the roots with [Myriad Spirits Rampage].
[Myriad Spirits Rampage]
He charged straight at the weak point protruding from the ceiling like a human head.
The moment his runeblade pierced precisely between its eyes.
"Eh?! Wait...!"
Before Eleanora's cry could finish, a gale erupted from the dryad's pierced forehead.
Compressed wind exploded its head like a bomb, sending shards flying everywhere.
Some pierced even Eleanora's holy barrier, battering and burrowing into Aiden's body.
That was the last sight before Aiden lost consciousness.