Chapter 595: Jealousy is My Power (95)
Chapter 595: Jealousy is My Power (95)
In the beginning, there was light.
From that light, Arus was conceived, and thus the world began. As light vanished from the place where Arus was born, darkness appeared for the first time.
And from that darkness, Omeros was born.
When heaven and earth were being created, Omeros desired to craft the world in Arus's stead. However, all he could fashion were lumps of mud; only when Arus breathed life into them did they truly become living beings.
Thus, Omeros began to envy and hate Arus.
With a deceitful tongue, he tricked Arus and gouged out his eyes and liver, embedding them into the heavens—these became the moon and the sun, respectively.
Yet, darkness cannot overcome the light. Arus perceived his wicked intentions and banished him from the heavens. At that moment, Omeros gnashed his teeth and cried out:
"Since the world began with light, its end shall be darkness!"
With Omeros gone, heaven and earth were as peaceful as paradise. There was no war, no disease, and no death; all life frolicked according to the will of Arus.
But one day, the first person to harbor doubt toward paradise appeared. His name was Delphirem.
The blasphemous man thought:
Is this truly paradise?
He considered himself like a god and desired to become one. Thus, he cast aside the laws of Arus and dared to request the creation of human laws.
This was the first and foremost sin of humanity.
Those who were "Proud" began to shout that they could live in the world alone, relying on no one. Humanity, detached from God and the world, inevitably became lonely.
And so, times came when they could no longer bear the weight of their lives alone.
Thus, the first death, "Suicide," was born.
* * *
Thud.
A woman’s head rolled across the ground.
It was a hollow end, unfitting for her elegant appearance. The man who had taken her head let out a weary sigh and took a few steps back.
Deep fatigue still clung to his eyes. He was about to turn away when he paused, his gaze dropping downward.
Inside the barrier, where nothing but darkness existed, even the floor was invisible. Only the pitch-black void served as the ground.
That was why that pure white smile stood out all the more.
A twisted arc that seemed to mock or perhaps pity the man.
A faint flicker of displeasure crossed his golden eyes.
"Ha, 'Pride,' is it...?"
The man’s face contorted slightly as he recalled an unpleasant memory.
Given his usual stoic demeanor, the fact that his emotions showed at all revealed just how offended he was. Even if it was only for a fleeting moment.
The man quickly erased the ripple of emotion from his expression. He still had work to do, and only after completing every task would he gain even a sliver of a chance at victory.
It was time to cast aside lingering thoughts and move on.
...Or it would have been, if not for the hand lightly clutching his sleeve.
His emotionless golden eyes immediately scanned the source of the pull. Since there were few people capable of standing on this ground, her identity was clear.
The Great Witch.
A woman who, at a glance, looked like nothing more than a small girl. As soon as his cold gaze met hers, she jerked her hand away as if his stare were made of ice.
She looked utterly bewildered.
"Th-That... just now, you said 'Pride'..."
The voice she managed to squeeze out was incredibly cautious.
The way she peeked at him made her look like a frightened small animal. This was despite the fact that the Great Witch of the world should have no reason to fear anyone.
It wasn't the attitude of the weak before the strong.
Rather, it was like a woman facing a deeply angered lover.
The atmosphere felt strangely overwhelming, though the man simply turned his head away without much of a reaction.
"It is nothing for you to concern yourself with."
"B-But..."
"It wasn't a position I took because I wanted it, anyway."
His tone was firm, signaling that he didn't want to discuss it further.
At that, the Great Witch grew even more dejected. She remained silent with a gloomy face for a while.
Eventually, a long sigh escaped the man’s lips, as if the time he spent with his back turned in silence had been a lie.
"...There were circumstances. I never intended to betray humanity. Before, and in the future, I am humanity's blade and shield."
The Great Witch said nothing more. She simply stared at him blankly.
Because of that, the man found he couldn't stop his tongue from moving of its own accord.
"It can't be helped if you doubt me. But, at the very least, I will ensure the 'Ian' of this timeline is affected as little as possible..."
"I'm worried about you."
If it had been the man’s original self, how would he have responded?
He would have snorted and cut her off instantly, asking if they had ever even met before.
The past is the past, and the future is the future.
The man had never once forgotten this distinction. And yet, why now?
Was it because this place was the Boundary?
The man’s silent gaze shifted slightly.
"You don't need to worry. I can handle that much on my..."
Right then.
A sudden spray of blood erupted. The whirlwind that had been raging around the vampire's corpse turned into a cyclone, which soon became a storm that covered the area, letting out a fierce howl.
The sharp noise tearing through the air grated on the nerves. Within it were the screams of suffering souls.
Wooooooo—!
Then, a mocking laughter echoed through heaven and earth.
"Ahahaha! You... you say there's no need to worry? Pfft, ahahahahaha!"
The moment the man heard that laughter, he tucked the Great Witch under his arm. The small-statured Great Witch could only gasp as she was suddenly restrained by his arm.
Then, he sprinted.
He didn't even attempt to fight. The man spoke only a single sentence to the bewildered Great Witch.
"The Seven Deadly Sins do not die."
"But the vampire's main body should be in the Great Forest!"
The Great Witch had to strain her lungs to be heard over the wind. Regardless, the bloodstorm began to chase them, dropping droplets of blood like a torrential downpour.
Strangely, the storm began to take a shape resembling the vampire.
It was as if the storm itself had gained a personality. Even the loud laughter resembled the sound of the wind.
"You must know too, 'Pride'... what kind of end awaits you! A pathetic 'Master' who couldn't even form his own mental imagery and had to stitch together pieces of others—you won't last long! The end of those who covet the seat of God is always the same!"
Along with those words, blades of blood were fired.
The blood flying on the wind was so highly compressed that it was no different from solid matter. In fact, in terms of cutting power, it was a step above.
Dozens, even hundreds of blades poured down at once.
No matter how skilled one was, it was difficult to parry this many blades every time.
It was just that the man’s strength far exceeded that range.
As if he had expected this much, the man immediately drew his sword with one hand.
Starlight scattered across the sky.
A galaxy poured down, cleaving through the blood-red storm.
"The main body might be so. But that monster's prosthetic body is no different from one made by fragmenting a soul. Even if it's only thirty percent, since she's regained her power, we must assume she's secured a degree of immortality."
"Then we have to destroy the barrier!"
The Great Witch, quickly understanding his explanation, shouted back.
Instead of answering, the man swung his sword once more. The form of the bloodstorm that was about to collapse upon them from the air was shattered into pieces.
A ragged scream erupted.
Kuaaaaaaa—!
"But the core of the barrier is still on the outside! Are you planning to escape this barrier? That woman won't just let you go!"
"I'll only pretend to. If she fully recovers, things will become very troublesome."
The conversation between the man and the Great Witch couldn't last long. Before they could speak further, the vampire's laughter washed over their eardrums like a rainstorm.
"Fake, fake, fake... I will end your fate! The end destined for the sin of 'Pride'—the fall...!"
The swirling bloodstorm suddenly turned into a river, sweeping across the ground with a wet thud. The amorphous monster, its sticky mouth stretched to its limit, looked like a wretched demonic creature.
It was then that the man suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"I'll give you one piece of advice..."
With a low murmur, the man’s body rotated. His fluid change of direction and the posture he took as he stepped forward were so clean they could have been an illustration in a swordsmanship manual.
He gripped the sword with both hands, aiming the sword's point at his opponent.
Toward the woman laughing at the peak of that massive entity, whose size was beyond estimation.
Then, a Single Strike.
It was a simple motion—lifting the sword and striking down. But the ripple it caused was far too intense to be the result of a mere sword swing.
Boom!
No other sound was needed. It was the sound of the blood-red monster that had blanketed the earth being crushed entirely, fountains of blood erupting from its whole body. It was the sight of a mountain-like pressure grinding everything down.
The vampire couldn't even scream properly.
"Fa... ke... ku, eue...!"
"If only there were enough probability, you would have died by my hand already. I wouldn't have needed to do anything so tedious."
Despite the man’s cold warning, the vampire couldn't easily react. No matter how immortal a monster she was, her entire body had been crushed. She needed time to regenerate.
The one who was truly startled was the Great Witch.
"You can't kill her?!"
"No, I cannot kill her. That is my limit."
As the man’s monotonous voice continued, the Great Witch's expression changed by the second. From expectation to despair, and finally to a sigh and a shake of her head.
It was as if she had realized she was relying too much on him.
Though, it was partly because the man had displayed such overwhelming martial prowess.
The Great Witch asked in a much more subdued voice.
"Then what do we do?"
"The people who aren't me must do it."
As he spoke, the man’s eyes turned toward somewhere far off. At the end of his gaze, a girl in a pointed hat was fast asleep.
"...The people living in this era."
The look in the man’s eyes as he said that seemed somewhat wistful.
The Great Witch turned her head away in silence.
For it was an argument so sound that there was truly no room for rebuttal.