Chapter 604: Jealousy is My Power (104)
Chapter 604: Jealousy is My Power (104)
Hell is not far away.
Especially for those who spend their lives on the battlefield, hell was synonymous with life itself. If a place where blood splatters and screams echo isn't hell, then what is?
In a battle where life and death hang in the balance, the scale of the conflict is irrelevant. Even a clash between just three women can be profoundly fierce when their lives are on the line.
Especially when those three are powerhouses whose names are known across the continent.
Elsie, who had only recently reached the rank of 'Archmage,' was one. Her partner, the Great Witch, was another—one of only three Masters on the entire continent. And what of the woman who was single-handedly driving them both into a corner?
She was a legendary monster who had nearly set the continent ablaze hundreds of years ago. Even at only fifty percent of her original power, she was more than capable of dismantling the military might of an entire nation.
Her name was the 'Vampire.'
The noble-looking woman with gray hair swung her arms, her teeth gritted. With every movement, blood-red trajectories lashed out like whips, splitting apart to form razor-sharp blades.
Most were destined to be blocked by shields of mana, vanishing in a shower of sparks. However, the Vampire had a different trick up her sleeve.
A blood-red sphere hovered above her other hand.
The concentrated mass of blood, shimmering with an ominous light, traced a path at the speed of light the moment she hurled it.
Boom—!
It was a strike so intense it seemed to erase sound itself. The surrounding space tore along its trajectory before snapping back together with a thunderous roar. The force was enough to shake the very foundations of the barrier.
Neither the Great Witch nor Elsie had the strength left to block it.
"Aaaah!"
Screams and groans erupted simultaneously. Their mana shields were torn to shreds and shattered into pieces. Though they threw themselves out of the way, the two women’s small bodies were caught in the shockwave and sent tumbling across the ground.
They were already in a wretched state.
Their clothes were torn in places, their skin was bruised a vivid crimson, sweat beaded on their brows, and their pupils were beginning to lose focus.
They looked like people on the verge of total collapse.
And this was despite the fact that less than ten minutes had passed since the engagement began.
Only then did the Vampire exhale a long sigh and relax her hands.
Is it over now?
The battle had dragged on too long. There had been too many unexpected variables, forcing her to be more cautious than she would have liked.
Killing those two would be easy.
Their resistance was formidable, but they were bound to lose in a war of attrition. It might even be enjoyable to break through their interference and take their heads personally.
But there was a reason she hadn't.
The Vampire’s eyes flickered toward a certain spot. There, far from the center of the battlefield, lay a man facedown on the ground.
He still hadn't shown any reaction.
Is it truly the end?
He was a man who had lost consciousness before, only to be possessed by a new personality. It wouldn't be strange if he were hiding another trump card.
Especially since there was no telling what he might do.
Seven Deadly Sins: 'Pride.'
Though he possessed the most brilliant light among the seven stars in the sky, he was a tragic being destined to eventually become a falling star.
But his strength, at least, was the real deal.
Feeling a lingering chill run down her spine, the Vampire took light, graceful steps forward.
"Now, it's time to end—"
Just as she was about to deliver the finishing blow.
Pah!
A cloud of dust billowed up from the ground. It was a wide-range wind spell, though its only real effect was kicking up dirt.
Of course, since the caster was the Great Witch, the sheer force behind it was staggering. For a split second, even the Vampire was caught off guard as her body was lifted slightly into the air.
But that was all.
Having risen barely an inch, the Vampire landed stably without even needing to adjust her posture. If anything, the fact that her vision was obscured was more annoying than the physical impact.
The dust was thick and dense.
Just as the Vampire frowned and prepared to wave her hand to clear the air.
A low rumbling sound echoed. The Vampire froze almost instantly.
Then came the explosion.
A bolt of lightning plunged from the sky, incinerating the dust and triggering a terrifying blast. Amidst the storm of light and heat, the Vampire clicked her tongue silently.
How bothersome.
The smoke was torn away by the violent winds. The two women, their final desperate struggle having failed, lay prone on the ground, glaring at the Vampire with fierce eyes.
To the Vampire, it was a laughable sight.
"That was an amusing little trick. Though it failed to harm even a single hair on my head."
This was the difference in their levels.
The Vampire had regained half her power by any means necessary, while the Great Witch had not.
It was a gap that could not be bridged, no matter what they tried. Realizing this fact anew, a cruel smile finally spread across the Vampire's lips.
Yes, they had no moves left.
A thrill of pleasure shot up from her tailbone. The Vampire closed her eyes and gave a small, private shudder.
Finally.
I am looking down on you.
You are powerless, and I am taking everything from you.
Scenes from long ago flickered before the Vampire's eyes.
The day she was left alone in a corner; the day all the research she had poured herself into while holed up in a back room was reduced to scraps of paper; the day she had no choice but to watch from below the dais as the head of the family and the vassals acclaimed another!
She had lived solely for this revenge. For hundreds of years, she had sacrificed everything for this moment.
It was time for her efforts to bear fruit. It would be a preposterous lie to say she wasn't looking forward to it.
If only it weren't for the sound of someone pushing themselves up.
The eyes of everyone present slowly turned toward the source of the sound. There, a familiar man stood firmly on the ground.
"…Master!"
Elsie was the first to welcome this sight with joy.
Shock and frustration flickered in the Vampire's eyes as she realized the man's identity. But that lasted only a moment.
Something was wrong with the man who had stood up.
The Vampire wasn't the only one who felt a sense of wrongness. The expressions of the Great Witch and Elsie, which had briefly brightened, were now slowly hardening.
He staggered.
His broken body barely managed to regain its balance. But his movements were so limp and fluid that it was questionable whether the man had even regained his senses.
The man's eyes confirmed these suspicions.
His pupils were completely unfocused, revealing that he had not regained his reason. He simply pressed his palm to his head occasionally, letting out a low, pained groan.
And what of his aura?
A faint, strange light flickered in the Vampire's eyes as she watched him intently. Soon, her lips curled into a slight arc.
"…Aha."
It was just the 'kid.'
The presence of the Seven Deadly Sins: 'Pride' was unmistakable. He gave off the impression that the very air around him was being compressed by his existence. But this man was different.
Even his physical body was in shambles. Perhaps because his regenerative abilities had been stimulated by 'Pride,' the bleeding had stopped, but the fact that he was severely injured remained an unchangeable reality.
At this rate, he wasn't even worth dealing with.
The staggering man took a deep breath and slowly leveled his sword. He aimed it directly at the Vampire.
The woman couldn't help but let out a soft, seductive laugh.
"How precious, little boy… You're in that state and you still think you can fight? Don't—wha?!"
Right then.
With a thunderous boom, a pillar of dust erupted.
A heavy vibration echoed from the spot where he had belatedly kicked off the ground. It was a level of power unbelievable for a body that was supposedly a wreck.
Even the Vampire was momentarily flustered, raising her hand to block the sword.
But that was it. Despite the man's desperate strike, the woman's arm was perfectly fine without a single scratch, and even though he was pressing down with his superior height, the difference in raw strength was clear.
Is this his final struggle?
Just as the Vampire reached that conclusion and began to calm her mind.
Wham!
The sword struck the woman's arm once more. The ground beneath her, unable to withstand the aftershock, cracked and sank in the shape of her feet.
Still, it wasn't an effective hit. The reason the Vampire was surprised was something else entirely.
Is the power increasing?
It was, quite literally, inexplicable.
By all accounts, the man's body had passed its limit. Even with the help of drugs or sorcery, there was a limit to the strength one could squeeze out.
Like the strike he had just delivered.
But to follow it up with consecutive sword strikes of even greater power…
It was a situation that defied common sense. The Vampire narrowed her eyes, and for a brief moment, her gaze met the man's.
"…Ugh, ah."
She saw them. The man's eyes, stained blood-red.
It was because every single capillary had burst. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt such intense rage, murderous intent, and deep-seated grudges.
In fact, she didn't even need to look back.
The moment she met those eyes, a scene flashed through the Vampire's mind.
The eyes of 'Pride' she had faced at close range.
If those had been a dormant volcano, this man was an active one.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
A roar that sounded like a scream erupted, and the man's sword struck down repeatedly.
His momentum was truly terrifying. The Vampire, who had been so composed, staggered backward, and was eventually sent flying through the air like a ball struck by a bat.
Thud!
Suspended in mid-air, the Vampire's eyes slowly turned toward Elsie. She was the most likely suspect, the one who must have knocked the man unconscious and brought him back in this state.
The doll-like girl was currently staring at the man with a dazed expression.
"Wh-what…?"
She managed only two syllables.
That was the limit. The man's body, having already kicked off the ground, lunged at her. Those eyes, with the whites stained by burst capillaries, were nothing short of ghastly.
The hand that had held the sword was now a clenched fist aimed at the woman. It meant he was relying so heavily on instinct that he couldn't even distinguish between a fist and a blade.
For a split second, the world seemed to stop, converging on the man's hand. Seeing the mana particles swirling and gathering, the Vampire let out a scream in the slowed-down passage of time.
"What have you doooooooone!"
Then, silence.
The moment the fist connected, even the noise vanished. Only a wide shockwave spread out with a dull thud.
Mountain-Crushing Strike.
The legend of a single punch toppling a mountain range was being reenacted right here.
The woman's body became a streak of light, plunging into the earth. The ground shattered with a series of ruptures, and the soil, unable to withstand the impact, surged like a wave.
A massive pillar of earth soared high into the sky.
Faced with that strike that half-destroyed the earth, Elsie swallowed hard.
"I-I only did what I was told…"
A single drop of cold sweat rolled down her forehead.
However, there was one word that flashed through her mind the moment she looked at Ian.
'Berserk.'
Something was going terribly wrong.