My Sun Is Not You
‘My sun is not you! You are not my sun! Leave me, Urshus! Do you truly believe that someone like you could defile my sun, my moon, my stars!’
And with that cry, the connection to Urshus weakened. The massive flames receded rapidly, just as they had when I was first dragged here. I ended the Soul Link Ritual at once and fled to a nearby stream, splashing water over my face. I could not bear to look at Rowell and the others as I was.
“…I clearly rejected you.”
-Yes. You did, back then.
That voice that seemed to know everything. I hated the sound of it. I hated the smile transmitted through Alsh Unak’s face, and the gaze I felt within the flames.
I stretched out both hands and summoned black runes into the air. There was no longer any need to be shaken by his words. Whatever he was plotting, whatever he had prepared, none of it mattered. All I had to do right now was shatter his vessel and rescue Lord Kainaxus.
“Lord Granbipra! Extinguish those flames!”
At my shout, Granbipra launched himself forward at once. His speed was so great that only faint afterimages remained visible. Suddenly, the area around the flames was engulfed by a dark-red wall, halting Granbipra’s advance.
-You think something like this can stop me?
But only for a moment. Red and blue light crossed over Granbipra’s right hand, and his fist pierced straight through the wall. The wall was consumed by the red and blue radiance, cracked, and crumbled away, revealing the flames once more.
At that instant, Alsh Unak’s hand moved. Runes appeared in the air.
“A summoning circle?”
It was not unheard of for demons to use summoning circles, but the composition was unusual—clearly the work of a summoner, even if mixed with something peculiar.
Countless wooden vines erupted from the summoning circle and shot toward Granbipra. Even if they were no ordinary vines, Granbipra would never fall to something like that…
“Do not forget that I was the one who summoned first.”
The vines racing toward Granbipra were instantly shredded into countless pieces. What blocked their path was a massive scythe and a suit of armor covered in rust. Even though I had summoned them in a moment of agitation, the sight made a bitter smile rise to my lips.
Armored soldiers wielding enormous scythes. Their blades gleamed, yet their armor was thick with rust—every stain the blood of enemies they had drenched themselves in during past battles.
These were all former Death Knights of Georges, specifically members of the elite Death Reaper unit. During our travels, Georges had half-jokingly proposed a wager, and when I won, he had handed them over as a prize.
The Death Reaper unit, known as the reapers of the battlefield. Their performance was undeniable, and given Georges’ personality, I had never suspected any trickery. Still, I had refrained from summoning them until now, just in case. Had they perhaps been influenced by that dark-red color without my realizing it?
Alsh Unak’s hands moved again. I thought it would be another summoning circle, but this time raw mana burst forth.
One Death Knight threw itself in front of me as a shield, but it meant nothing. The armor was torn apart, the black fighting spirit and deathly energy within it scattered, and the mana crashed straight into me.
“……!”
With a shockwave, two layers of my barrier vanished. As expected of a high-ranking demon. Cold sweat formed on my back. I had fought several battles recently, and even against Bagloros my equipped barriers had kept breaking, but this was the first time I truly felt my life was on the line. It felt as though I had returned to the old war.
“Attack at once!”
I gave the order to the Death Knights and summoned different runes. Even if they were the Death Reaper unit, they were still only Death Knights. They could buy time against a high-ranking demon, but they could not guarantee my safety.
If Granbipra extinguished the flames and joined the fight, the battle would be decided. All I had to do was hold out until then, and victory would be mine.
From within a white rune, a heavy footstep echoed as a crude mass of metal stepped forward. Its gray, nearly circular body nearly reached the ceiling, equipped with two hook-like hands and short legs.
It was one of the Guardians that had once protected me in past battles—a Metal Golem. Honestly, it had little use beyond being a massive wall, which was why it had survived until now.
Dark Elementals began filling the air. It was exactly like the battles of old. Fighting while protecting myself with Guardians and barriers, using multiple summons. Orcan had always scolded me for it, but this was my way of fighting.
Even so, I could not afford to relax. Despite the Death Knights’ swift movements, their scythes never reached Alsh Unak. Following his gestures, mana and spells poured out, and strange plants sprouting from summoning circles tripped or crushed them. The Dark Elementals scattered back to the spirit realm before they could even reach him, and the occasional spells and mana blasts that struck the Metal Golem had already melted and cracked its body in several places.
Still, I could not stop attacking or recall everything to focus solely on defense. As long as I kept pressing the assault, we were holding this much. The moment I switched to pure defense, I would fall even faster.
While continuously summoning Dark Elementals, I poured all my focus into controlling the Death Knights. They were Georges’ special Death Knights. They could no longer emit the dark sword qi that surpassed high-ranking knights’ Sword Qi as they had when linked to the Nether King Georges, but by connecting my consciousness to them, I could at least enhance the destructive power of their scythes using their dark fighting spirit.
A pincer attack from both sides, yet we could not break through the opponent’s barrier. Flames burst forth immediately afterward. I dodged quickly, but one Death Knight’s leg melted away.
That did not matter. I had never thought I could win in the first place. If I had truly intended to risk my life to win, I would have summoned Irshagas. As I had said, if I could simply buy time until Granbipra joined, the match would end there.
Sharing the vision of one Dark Elemental, I looked toward Granbipra. After shattering the black wall, he was now fighting against the dark flames pouring toward him. Just like before, his human form overlapped with a faint serpentine silhouette as he pushed through the flames.
So even a weakened vessel of Urshus from the distant past still carried weight. It was not at a dangerous level, but even Granbipra could not eliminate it instantly.
In the end, however, it was only a matter of time. Granbipra had already nearly reached the flames. A few more minutes and it would all be over.
As long as I focused only on the enemy in front of me…
“……!”
A sudden, powerful presence from behind made me reflexively summon Dark Elementals. At the same time, through their shared vision, I saw a summoning circle open and silver, spear-like tree branches lunging toward me.
I had known about the equipped barriers, yet for some reason I summoned the Dark Elementals even faster. The Metal Golem’s movements were too slow, and it could not properly respond to an attack coming from the opposite direction.
The silver branches struck me directly and were naturally blocked by the activated equipped barrier. Under normal circumstances, that would have been the end of it. But—
Countless other branches sprouted from the silver limbs and began distorting the barrier’s surface. Unlike raw destructive force, they dispersed the mana composition forming the barrier and slowly penetrated it. Before I could even react in surprise, one layer of the barrier shattered.
“Mana absorption—no, spell decomposition?”
Yes. It was not destruction. As I had said before, unlike autonomous barriers, equipped barriers were ultimately an extension of scroll magic. Even though I had maximized their effectiveness, their original structure and level were crude. If the opponent destroyed even one component or severed a connection, they would easily come apart. This silver plant was crawling across the barrier’s surface, locating the weak points in the spell, and dismantling the very elements that maintained it.
I had heard legends of divine trees possessing such power among the sacred trees, but to see one right before my eyes?
The Dark Elementals tore apart the silver branches and stems. If this continued, all my equipped barriers would be destroyed in no time.
Not only did the mysterious plant destroy my equipped barriers, but the attacks came so fast that I had no breathing room. And now he had even managed to summon something behind me, outside my field of vision.
His summoning ability was far more refined than I had imagined. It was not the crude method most demons used—simply opening a door with excess mana—but the summoning sense of a High Summoner.
“Th-this is bad…!”
A mistake. I had been so startled by the attack from behind that I had neglected controlling the Death Knights. Even when I hurriedly reconnected my consciousness, most of the Death Knights were already rolling on the ground, and the survivors moved so sluggishly that they were clearly damaged.
I had been too complacent. Even with Granbipra nearby, this was different from fighting alongside my other companions. Moreover, the opponent also possessed summoning abilities. It had been foolish to believe that buying time alone would suffice.
‘Even now, if I summon Irshagas…’
No, that was impossible. Since the opponent also had summoning abilities, he would never give me enough time to call Irshagas. Furthermore, my choice of Guardian had been wrong. If he could accurately summon even in places outside my vision, then a Metal Golem—large and slow, with nothing but durability—could not properly defend me. And since he also knew how to dismantle equipped barriers, I could not afford to give him any more time.
“…Fine. At most, a few more minutes.”
Surrounding myself with Dark Elementals, I stretched out my hand. Summoning circles unfolded across every visible space in the air. I would use everything I had. Such a simple tactic was never my specialty, but in this situation, it was the only option left.
No matter how excellent the opponent’s summoning sense was, he could not instantly discern which of these countless individual circles would activate first. If he attacked me while I was defending, he would be counterattacked by the summons I called from other directions. And if he focused on these circles instead, that alone would buy time.
Either way, he should not be able to endure for even a few minutes.
“……!”
Yes. Under normal circumstances, that would have been true.