Chapter 605: Jealousy is My Power (105)
Chapter 605: Jealousy is My Power (105)
Countless memories seep into the folds of my brain. The images saturating my mind are, without exception, tied to partings.
Was it called a 'Grudge'?
That deeply ingrained resentment was truly no different from a poison. It stained my head and heart in shades of black, scorching them, while my hatred and murderous intent grew more fervent by the day.
All of this belonged to the man’s emotions. It was also the burden he had to carry as a survivor.
He was a man who had witnessed death more times than he could count.
It wasn't just his loved ones. How many corpses had he seen that couldn't even maintain a shred of dignity, reduced to mere lumps of meat?
It was irrational.
That must have been what the man thought. No, it was what I was thinking.
The emotions he felt when he lost his lovers are transmitted to me with agonizing clarity. Like river water surging through a breach in a dam, a wave of pain sweeps away every last bit of my reason.
Yes, looking back, there were times like this.
It started after I received the letter from the future. At times, I found it difficult to suppress the inexplicable rage and bloodlust rising from my chest, and sometimes those flames would even incinerate my very thoughts.
I had once heard an explanation for this.
'It is because the synchronization rate has become too high.'
The man likely believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that I wouldn't be able to handle his long-festering emotions. At first, I had accepted that explanation with a somewhat skeptical eye, but finally, I truly understood those words.
It was a heart like a blade, honed over years—perhaps decades—of time. Every single jumbled memory was no different from a razor.
Is there any human who could pour razors into their blood vessels and remain sane?
There isn't. It would be the same across the entire continent.
Except for one—the man who had to somehow endure all those wounds.
But I had no choice.
The more I accepted the man's memories, the wider the range of techniques I could wield and the stronger their power became.
I didn't care if it was just a temporary berserk state. I didn't care if my body was reduced to a rag and I could never stand again.
If only I could kill that monster!
My teeth, clenched to their limit, screamed in pain. Blood welling up from my internal organs spilled into my mouth, but I didn't stop, even as the crimson trailed down my chin.
Suddenly, a voice soaked in relief tickles my ear. It is a plea moistened by tears and blood.
"I... I finally protected you..."
Two images overlap on my retinas.
A girl leaning against a tree, weeping with the burning Great Forest at her back.
A silver-haired woman pinned to the ground, glaring at me with bloodshot eyes.
The boundary line dividing my memories from the man's blurs. Scenes of the past, present, and future mix together, invading my vision.
"...My... precious person."
A meteor connects the heavens and the earth.
My body, wreathed in silver aura like flames, slammed down with a force exceeding gravitational acceleration. A tail of fire followed, and the vampire thrust her hands upward, resulting in an immediate collision.
A roar erupted as the ground shattered, and fragments of blood-red mana created a beautiful, violent harmony.
The first exchange was a contest of strength.
The vampire, who had hurriedly raised a blood-red shield, took two steps back with a look of surprise. Her blue eyes, tinged with bewilderment, were fixed on me.
It was a look that said she couldn't believe she was standing on equal footing with someone like me.
That was only natural. Kicking off the air once more, my body was propelled forward by the resulting elasticity.
Clang, clang, clang!
Seven streaks of sword light exploded the moment I landed. The Golden Silk Sword, pushed to its pinnacle, sealed off all resistance.
Three strikes parried her swinging left arm. Another three suppressed her remaining right arm, and finally, one strike drove toward her left shoulder.
With a screeching sound like metal grinding against metal, the blade bit into her left shoulder. It pierced her, but it was shallow. The vampire’s kick immediately slammed into my solar plexus.
"Guh...!"
My breath hitched and blood surged up, but the one who actually let out a groan was the vampire.
It was because my body, despite the impact to my solar plexus, had instinctively pulled her in as if embracing her leg.
An application of Moon Reversal: 'Abyssal Thrust.'
I wrung my muscles as if twisting my entire body. In the empty air where there was no foothold, the woman's body was hoisted up by raw physical strength alone and slammed back into the earth.
The sickening sound of leg bones shattering rang out.
A cry of shock escaped the vampire's lips along with a spray of blood.
"Th-this... could it be...!"
Boom—!
A heavy tremor shook the earth as dust billowed. Cracks were forming all over the already sunken ground. Of course, the vampire hadn't been idle during that time.
Pop.
With a hollow simplicity, my right arm exploded. Flesh turned into a handful of blood and scattered like flower petals.
Like sparks.
Another image flashes through my mind.
A woman, both familiar and strange, lay collapsed. Dark blue hair and light green eyes—my Master.
What did I do when I stood before her, she who possessed a more mature body than usual?
I knelt.
"...First Disciple."
"I'm... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Master."
I was crying, my hands trembling uncontrollably.
I was powerless. The agonizingly painful memory pierces my heart like an awl.
"I was... too late... Junior Sister... and Master, too..."
Why must I only shed tears?
It's frustrating. It's agonizing. My heart twists and my lungs feel like they're on fire. My Master's benevolent smile made my heart ache even more.
These were the people I loved.
I couldn't protect a single one of them. Why?
Despite that, my Master smiled without a hint of resentment.
"...What a pathetic First Disciple you are."
Boom!
With a powerful impact, my vision returns to the present. My body was already performing a dance of blood and death, independent of my consciousness.
As the vampire was slammed down, my left arm grabbed the sword that had been jarred loose by the impact and struck once more.
A clear sensation was transmitted to my hand. The feeling of the sword tip sinking, however slightly, into her abdomen.
But it was shallow. Before it could go deeper, the vampire had caught my blade with both hands.
The woman smiles.
"A pity. If your right arm were intact, who knows... Kid, no. Now..."
Static.
All sorts of memories jumble together, creating noise in my eardrums.
"...Should I call you that? You're awakening quite smoothly."
A trembling voice is squeezed out from lungs filled with blood and malice.
"Y-you..."
You killed my precious person.
I wanted to say that, but the words wouldn't form, as if blocked by something. Perhaps my airway was clogged with blood.
I could only draw my hand axe, fueled by sheer resentment.
The vampire had no room to pull the sword out.
Wham!
Like a hammer hitting a chisel, the hand axe struck the hilt of the sword, and blood erupted. From the vampire's mouth, and from my severed shoulder.
At that, the vampire broke into a pure white smile.
"Pfft... haha... cough... You... you're trying to kill me?"
Yes.
I muttered inwardly as if spitting the words out, striking the sword with the hand axe over and over again.
Wham, wham, wham!
With every strike, droplets of blood scattered and the ground gouged deeper. The blade sliced through the woman's palms and sank deep into her.
Before long, the vampire's laughter was mingling with the sound of her vomiting blood.
"Aha... cough... wheeze... Ahahaha! To think this... this was the price you had to pay... gag... Ahahahaha!"
I found that laughing face utterly intolerable.
Thud. I drove the hand axe down with all my might. My muscles, strained beyond their limits, trembled and failed to hold the handle. My cherished weapon spun away into the air.
But I had achieved my goal.
Squelch. The blade completely transfixed her abdomen. My hand grabbed the shoulder of the woman who was geysering blood and threw her away with all the strength I could muster.
There was no sound.
Even though a sinister and cruel event—a blade piercing from the abdomen through to the lower back—had occurred, the world remained silent. There was only the sound of blood splattering and the woman's body crashing into something.
I wasn't unscathed either.
The moment I stumbled, my body knelt of its own accord. My vision was blurry, likely from excessive blood loss. Suddenly, a speck of reason asked a question.
Why am I not dying?
Even for a High Expert, there should be a limit. Yet, I wasn't dying.
In fact, I could feel a bubbling sensation at the site of the amputation. A sensation distinct from phantom pain.
It didn't matter, though.
My only goal was to kill that monster.
I was willing to sacrifice anything for that.
I will kill her.
I... have to do it.
As determination, or perhaps obsession, took hold of me, my body stood upon the earth once more. One step, then two, with a stride soaked in hatred and murderous intent.
Just as I was about to kick off the ground and launch myself forward.
Whoosh.
"...First Disciple."
A voice tickled my ear along with a wave of warmth. The slender arms of a small body were pulling me back.
I should have been able to shake them off easily.
I had to, but... wait.
The strength drained from my body of its own volition. As I was about to collapse forward, the arms wrapped around me even tighter.
There was an unmistakable sob in that voice.
"Stop... stop now... You've... you've worked so hard."
My consciousness fades.
This was not a debt for me to settle.
The man who was weeping in the Great Forest.
His memories overflow once more. Thus, the one moving my lips was not me.
"Master..."
Following his Master's guidance, the man quietly laid his body upon her lap. Clear tears fell, wetting the man's face.
Like warm rain.
Perhaps the Great Witch looking down at the man couldn't understand herself either.
Though her expression was somewhat confused, she seemed to have no way to control her mouth, which was moving on its own.
Just like me.
Even that lasted only a moment.
Perhaps it was instinct. Within the 'boundary' where past, future, and present intertwined, the great mage decided to make the best choice.
She decided to entrust her body to this unfamiliar personality.
The woman smiled, just as she had on that day in the memories.
"...Have you been well all this time?"
It was an abrupt reunion between master and disciple.