Chapter 277: Lainella's Fate is Decided by Lainella (70)
Chapter 277: Lainella's Fate is Decided by Lainella (70)
A fierce blizzard dyed the world in monochrome.
The fluttering snow painted my vision gray. Objects that once held their own hues were now overlaid with a coat of pure white.
In that world of black and white, the man’s golden pupils felt like will-o'-the-wisps.
His black hair and pale skin formed a sharp contrast. Though his face looked incredibly weary, those burning eyes possessed a strange, magnetic pull.
Even at a glance, he looked like someone harboring countless stories.
Was he in his mid-to-late twenties?
In terms of physical appearance, there wasn't a vast difference between us. It was simply his unique aura that made him seem much older.
In a voice that was beyond emotion—sounding almost hoarse—the man asked, "Are you satisfied now? That the result of your reckless stubbornness is this?"
"……No."
It was a bizarre sensation.
The moment I faced the man, a vortex of complex emotions swirled within me.
A competitive spirit and a sense of defeat.
Pity and compassion.
And anger and obstinacy.
I exhaled that unprecedented vortex in a puff of white breath.
Before I knew it, snow had piled high on my head and shoulders—enough that it fell away with a dry crunch every time I tilted my head or breathed.
The conversation continued amidst the blizzard.
"I'm not... dead yet."
"It's only 'yet,' literally."
The man merely snorted at my stubborn words.
Even his cold sneer held only a faint trace of mockery.
"If you keep going like this, you'll die... No, it wouldn't be strange if you died right this second."
"Is that why you appeared?"
At my question, the golden eyes that had been staring straight ahead flickered toward me.
No matter how many times I saw them, they were eyes whose depths remained unreadable.
Instead of panting, I gritted my teeth and asked, "……To mock me, and then step onto the stage like you always do to solve everything with a 'ta-da'?"
"Unfortunately, that's impossible."
The man said this as he turned his gaze back to the front in silence.
The massive entity, dozens of meters tall, boasted an overwhelming presence.
Even the fierce blizzard couldn't hide its gargantuan shadow.
After staring at the monster for a long time, he exhaled a plume of white breath.
The world where time had stopped was still cold.
"Thanks to someone calling me out as they pleased... Of course, even if you hadn't, defeating a subordinate of the Evil God is out of the question. It exceeds the limit of how much I can interfere."
I had already expected as much.
I hadn't been counting on his help in the first place.
Hadn't he kindly informed me that it was 'impossible' the last time he was summoned?
I wasn't such a shameless person either.
It was just that, of all things, I was currently paying the price for ignoring his advice. Seeing his face at this particular moment made me feel uneasy.
Nevertheless, I hadn't failed yet.
If only to prove that I hadn't been broken, I tried my best to steady my breathing.
"Then why did you show up? You haven't shown your face once all this time... so why now?"
"Because there was someone eagerly stealing another's memories."
Phew. His white breath scattered like smoke.
He spoke without even giving me a glance.
"……You don't know what might happen if you keep that up, novice. Stealing techniques from the future isn't a cure-all. You are bound to pay a price."
Now it was my turn to be silent.
I had felt it vaguely.
It happened every time my skills grew at an abnormally fast rate, and every time I skillfully used techniques I had never even learned.
My mind and body were gradually slipping away from my control.
One day, I would swing a blade while surrendering myself to passion.
On another day, I would recite information I didn't even know.
Before I knew it, the things I couldn't handle were increasing one by one.
Wasn't even that solid wall standing before me now one of those things?
The subordinate of the Evil God stood here like destiny.
To turn my home and the many residents remaining here into ashes.
Furthermore, in order to peek into the man's memories, my consciousness and unconsciousness had to merge.
Because of this, my body had long since become a wreck.
I couldn't even fathom how much effort it would take to be able to heal again.
My silence stretched on, and the man took it as silent agreement.
"……Run away, even now."
He said it as if he were stating a predetermined fact.
Looking back at his life, it made sense.
In most of his battles, retreat was not permitted. Even if it were, it was merely a process of enduring shame and infamy.
Because he had a mission.
Even though he knew it was a painful choice, the man urged me again.
"I've told you repeatedly, you cannot defeat that monster with your strength... I've already finished taking measures to minimize the damage, so you just need to give up the territory."
"There are still residents left."
At my boiling retort, the man let out a deep sigh.
His eyes turned toward me once more.
They were still eyes in which not a speck of emotion could be felt.
"It's already too late. Dozens must have died already."
"……And there are many left."
"And soon, even they will die."
These were the words of a man with a worn-out heart.
There was no sign of pity or compassion for the lives about to be extinguished.
He continued as if tapping on a calculator.
"It's a sad story, but not all lives are equal. Sometimes, one person's life is worth more than hundreds of others... For example, yours."
I just stared at him in silence.
On the face of the man saying this, a faint trace of emotion could be seen for the first time.
It meant he was that sincere.
The man asked me again, emphasizing his words.
Like a hammer striking a chisel.
"If you die, who will save the world?"
Like a rock struck by a chisel, a throbbing pain rose in my chest.
I recalled the man's memories that had played back countless times.
'Save the world.'
I finally understood the man a little.
He had to throw away many things to keep that promise.
The detailed circumstances were still unclear.
It was because a blurry noise had been present in every one of those sorrowful moments of parting.
The only scene I could see clearly was the memory of the burning forest.
But even that single nightmare was enough to feel it.
The man didn't want to let go, yet he had to.
It was the wisdom of life gained from falling and crashing countless times.
That you must discard what needs to be discarded, or else you will only regret it someday.
Before I knew it, I was internalizing the man's way of thinking.
It's a foolish thing to do.
"The time you and I can meet is short. It looks like time has stopped, but that's only because this is a landscape within your unconscious. If you were to force yourself to move……."
Yes, even though it was a foolish thing to do.
I used all my strength to push my body up.
I tried to stand, only to collapse.
I slipped, buried under a pile of corpses, and fell into a pool of blood, the unpleasant metallic taste hitting my tongue.
My muscles screamed.
It wasn't just my muscles.
My entire body was shrieking.
My body, having reached its limit, begged for rest. Between my gritted teeth, groans I couldn't hold back leaked out in fragments.
I somehow used my sword as a crutch to lift myself up.
My legs wobbled and shook like a newborn fawn.
Perhaps my lungs were torn, as a faint scent of blood rose from my airway. Blood seeped into my eyelids, blurring my vision.
My panting breath met the cold wave and billowed out in white clouds.
The man watched that entire sequence of events without saying a word.
The sound of his sigh reached me right after I managed to stand.
"……Novice."
His voice was now laced with a hint of irritation.
"I told you, if you die, who will save the—"
"……Then what about them?"
At the sudden counter-question, the man fell silent.
His strange gaze fixed on me.
My reflection was faintly visible in a pool of blood.
Covered in gore, with snow even piled on my clothes, I wasn't a pretty sight.
Nevertheless, my eyes were still burning brightly.
"Then who saves them?"
The battlefield was littered with charred corpses. No, there would be even more beyond the battlefield.
And there would still be people crying out to be saved.
There was no way he didn't know this, yet the man still didn't give an answer.
He simply stared at me in the silence.
I let out a 'heh' of a laugh and finally took a step forward.
Even though it was just taking a step, it was incredibly taxing.
My knees almost buckled, nearly sending me sprawling again.
Watching that pathetic sight, the man asked, "……Why go that far?"
"Because a great knight... doesn't lie."
It was an answer spat out without even looking back.
And with another step, I stumbled and ended up slamming my knees into the ground.
A chilling pain shot up through my bones.
There was no strength left in my legs.
So I had to tighten my grip on the sword and force my body up once more.
"……I made a promise like that to Ned."
The man didn't react for a while at my answer.
Only after some time had passed did he burst into a fit of laughter, as if he found it absurd.
The man's questions continued.
"Just because of some childhood bravado?"
"……And what about you? What did you manage to save?"
I threw back a provocative question.
With that one sentence, the man's aura turned cold instantly.
It was what I expected.
So I raised my voice even more.
"By throwing things away one by one like that, what on earth is left? Is the world peaceful now that you've done that?"
"……Novice."
I felt the man slowly starting to stand up.
But now, I didn't even have the strength to look back.
I simply took another step forward.
"You will regret it. You can't grasp everything... Even if you get lucky a few times, the day will surely come when you lose something precious."
Again, another step.
"Do you have the confidence not to break even then? Even if you regret it, cry, and beg, it will never come back... I'm asking if you have the resolve for that."
It was a warning that sounded like a prophecy.
It was the truth the man had confirmed through the storms of many years.
Perhaps the day would come when I couldn't avoid that fate.
To be honest, I wasn't confident.
But I took another step.
Bloody footprints were engraved upon the slushy snow.
"You're still just a novice. You don't even know Binding and Unbinding, the esoteric arts of the Sword Circle, or the secrets of the Dragon Blood Runes yet……!"
"I'll have to learn."
I answered in a weary voice.
My eyes, glancing back at the man, did not yet fully resemble his.
"……If that's what it takes."
The man glared at me again without a word.
Just as I turned my gaze forward and tried to take another step.
Only then did a change occur in the man's previously motionless attitude.
He walked straight over with heavy thuds and grabbed my shoulder.
His terrifying grip was enough to almost make me scream.
When I looked back with startled eyes, there was a smoldering golden flame.
"Fine……."
It was burning with hatred, resentment, regret, and despair as its fuel.
"If you want it that much, I'll show you."
An intense radiance swirled, turning my vision pure white.
The dam in my mind broke, and countless memories came pouring down.
"……Watch closely. Because there's only one chance."
And so, my world began to be submerged.
The moment the man staggered to his feet.
Thunderbolts and gales were pouring down upon the battlefield.
The total assault on the Corpse Giant had begun.