Chapter 221
Chapter 221
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Anomalous Being (2)
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-You filthy worms!!!
KRAAAKOOM!
A thunderous roar echoed through the dying sands storm.
It was the hard-won fruit of the heroes' fierce battle.
With this, the age of demons would fade, and their own era would dawn once more.
But.
The emotion they felt now was not the joy of victory.
-To think you insignificant mortals dare defy fate itself!!!
Likewise, the creature's own sentiment seemed far removed from the despair of defeat.
The sand mountain blotting out the sky.
Having awakened from its long seal, it had no chance to savor freedom before being recaptured and sealed anew by the heroes.
It was a process that had repeated countless times already.
And perhaps one that would repeat endlessly into the future.
Unless the dark elves betrayed the great hero's sacrifice and will.
That high demon would never escape its pathetic cycle of breaking free and being imprisoned again.
Yet.
Even so, it declared:
-Very well, then. This sand mountain that blots out the heavens, Verbandes, shall watch closely. Your meaningless struggles.
Go on, squirm.
Thud.
A woman standing apart from the heroes stepped forward and addressed it.
"I wonder which side is truly the one squirming."
-You! So it was you again this time!
KRAAAKOOM!
The sands storm recognized the woman's face and unleashed its fury in thunderous peals.
Labela of the Forest's Night.
She spoke calmly to the sands storm.
"How many times must you be trampled by the worms you so despise before your thirst is quenched, Verbandes? Perhaps it's time you accepted your fate."
KRAK.
KRAAAKOOM!
The thunderous sounds rang out repeatedly, almost like laughter.
-So even you are just another worm trapped in the fetters of mortality!!! I see the fragments of mortality in you now!!! O Night of the Forest! Do you fear the flow of time!? Is destiny nothing but a curse with an end for you!!!
"..."
It was undoubtedly the desperate ravings of the vanquished.
No matter how one denied it.
The heroes' victory stood unchanged.
As did the demon's defeat.
Yet the demon's voice stirred anguish in the heroes.
Just as the demon said.
They felt unease at this endless cycle.
Must they forever dedicate themselves to a seal that would inevitably break?
Must they forever sacrifice to seal a demon that would awaken again?
The answer was set.
-Worms of mortality! Squirm forever!!! Your eternity is but a fleeting moment to me!!! I, Verbandes, the sand mountain that eclipses the sun, am immortal!!! At your end, I shall be there!
Forever.
Until that demon met its true death, the maddening cycle would repeat without end.
They dreamed of the demon's demise.
"Verbandes?"
Labela cautiously uttered the name.
"!!!"
The baby spirit shook its head violently, as if whipping it around.
"Nooo!!! I'm not Verbandes...th! I told you!!!"
The eyebrows, usually sharp-angled, curved into an even steeper arc.
It was a declaration brimming with fierce resolve and wrath, promising disaster if the name was botched again.
"If you keep that up, you won't be friends with Shoo-inny anymore, got it!?"
"Shoo-inny..."
Labela reflexively mulled over the mysterious code(?) when—
"Ber!"
"!!!"
The baby spirit reacted dramatically to the man's call.
The man's eyebrows were no small matter themselves, bristling fiercely.
"You can't talk to big sis like that! Bad boy!"
"!!!"
Bad boy.
At that bolt-from-the-blue remark, the baby spirit's eyes bulged wide.
"Say you're sorry!!!"
The baby spirit promptly tucked in its tail.
Deep remorse emanated from those appropriately furrowed brows.
"Big sis! I'm sorry!!! Take back my mean words!!!"
Was "no longer friends" such a grave insult?
Labela nearly forgot her situation entirely, lost in thought.
"I'll forgive you for changing my name!!! So you forgive big sis too, right!?"
The baby spirit thrust its head forward.
As if offering a handshake!
The magnanimous spirit of a heroine ready to pet the head and forget past grievances.
"..."
Entranced, Labela placed her hand on that head.
In response, the baby spirit shook vigorously, as if sealing the handshake.
Scritch-scratch!
The rough friction against her palm hinted that their bond had grown stronger than before.
"All good!"
What exactly was good?
Anyway, the satisfied baby spirit pulled its head away.
And declared proudly to Rishir.
"Shoo-inny! I apologized to big sis!"
"Ber, you know what that is!?"
"!!!"
"Admitting your mistake and apologizing first—how precious that is!"
"!!!!!"
The baby spirit raised both hands triumphantly.
"What in the world..."
Thus.
Labela wore a complex smile at the antics unfolding before her(?) eyes.
Soon, she turned to Rishir.
"Little one, care to explain in detail what happened?"
The baby spirit frolicked among the flowerbeds, following butterflies.
It was a scene Labela, who had led a lonely life in the forest, often dreamed of.
However.
To Labela's eyes now, that peaceful, quaint sight appeared entirely different.
"That spirit is really..."
The Sahila family, rulers of Kehllin, the dark elves' city.
The family's cherished lady and treasure.
Having heard the full story from Rishir, Labela could no longer take the baby spirit at face value.
And for good reason.
For it was undoubtedly a high demon, the sworn nemesis and nightmare of the dark elves.
"Bella, ma'am?"
"Hm?"
At that moment.
Rishir, who had been watching her reaction, cautiously spoke up.
His face was filled with astonishment.
"You believe my story?"
Not something else—no, Labela had listened intently to his tale involving his ability.
The dark elf princess implanted a demon in my body.
So it became a spirit.
That utterly insane story!
"When my little one goes out of his way for me, of course I must listen earnestly."
Rishir was moved by her kind smile, which seemed to soothe all his past hardships, yet felt complex emotions as well.
Because it's my disciple's disciple's story.
Merely that reason felt insufficient for acceptance, knowing full well how unreasonable his ability was.
In truth, how much abuse had he endured trying to make others understand it!
If one had rational thought, suspicion was natural!
It was a conclusion Rishir had reached through countless trials.
The reason for his mixed feelings at Labela's response.
At that instant.
Labela, as if fully grasping Rishir's inner turmoil, broached the subject meaningfully.
"Above all—encountering an ability like the one you described isn't my first time."
"...!"
Whoosh.
So startled, Rishir sprang up from the bench.
"I-Is that true!?"
Labela gently clasped Rishir's hand, calming him and guiding him back to his seat.
"Of course. Seeing a demon transformed into a pure spirit like you described is a first."
"Then—"
"However. I do know of similar cases."
Purification power.
Labela repeated the name Rishir had mentioned.
"That's what you call your power, right?"
"Yes."
"What a coincidence. That name sounded awfully familiar to me."
"You mean... you know someone else who uses purification power—"
Her languid silver eyes turned sly as she gazed at Rishir.
"It seems even this didn't make it into the histories. Well, lumping it as a 'miracle' makes for a better tale."
"Miracle..."
Rishir associated something with the word.
Astonishment dawned on his face.
"No way—"
"Tara Dolin. More familiar to you as the First Saintess, I imagine."
"...!"
Rishir unconsciously covered his mouth with his hand.
A chuckle escaped through his fingers.
The mentioned name was far grander than imagined.
The great hero who ended the Age of Chaos—
A legendary figure who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Hero himself?
"The First Saintess wielded purification power too?"
"Yes. If my memory serves."
Rishir was utterly engrossed in the ancient tale from his grandmaster.
His ability, whose true nature he thought impossible to uncover.
A clue to it had appeared, tied to a legendary figure no less.
As expected of his grandmaster.
Or rather, here, as expected of the "Night of the Forest."
Rishir felt awe at her visionary insight spanning distant ages.
"..."
Labela smiled, finding Rishir utterly adorable.
The spiritization of Verbandes.
In other words, the demise of the demon Verbandes.
Was it because she believed she understood the cause of that terrifying cataclysm?
The Night of the Forest had regained her usual detachment.
Then, suddenly.
"Bella, ma'am...?"
Rishir cautiously addressed her.
The way her hand enveloped his.
The gaze she fixed on him.
All of it conveyed deep concern.
"Little one. If we're to discuss your power, I'll have to tell you some unpleasant truths. And this is something you must hear, whether you want to or not."
"..."
Thump!
Rishir's heart pounded fiercely.
He thought: It's finally here.
"Shall we stand?"
Labela rose and faced Rishir.
"How ironic. Now that my long-cherished wish is resolved thanks to you, my little one—there's something that must take precedence over catching up with you."
"Regarding my power?"
Labela nodded weakly.
"From now on, I'll be looking into various records. It's so long ago, and something I'd forgotten, so I'll need to retrace it slowly."
She clasped Rishir's hand once more, ever so gently.
A touch frail and soft, incomparable to the weight of the name Night of the Forest.
"A warning beforehand. This conversation may be very trying for both of us. So please, steel yourself?"
"Understood."
"..."
She smiled with effort and stroked Rishir's head.
Thus, their dawn conversation came to an abrupt end.
A massive tree near the cabin.
Entering through the door and window carved into it revealed a vast space utterly unlike its exterior.
Formally the Night of the Forest's study—
But in scale, it rivaled a library.
Now.
Labela sat at the desk in the study's center, leafing through several books.
"Ah."
A deep sigh escaped her lips.
The First Saintess, Tara Dolin.
Labela spent time meticulously reviewing the great hero's life.
In the process, her achievements were reexamined—
Her abilities reexamined.
And above all.
Her abilities' final consequence reexamined.
Dedication.
Sacrifice.
And purification.
The First Saintess had met her end after abusing that purification power.
In that moment.
The high demon turned spirit flashed in Labela's mind.
"..."
Labela quietly closed the book and sank into thought.
Her languid expression gradually darkened with anguish.
"Little one, I have a story for you."
"Bella, ma'am?"
Breakfast time.
With Rishir and his companions gathered, Labela broached gently.
"It seems your friends should hear this too, so I've arranged this gathering."
Standing alone, Labela surveyed them as they sat.
"If I may ask, little one. Has your power always been used solely by your own will? Has anyone ever forced you to use it?"
Rishir's group unconsciously tensed under her gaze or averted their eyes.
The sorrowful wrath of the night weighed heavily in the air, pressing down on them.
"...Yes, Bella, ma'am. I've always wielded this power entirely by my own volition."
"Then... at least that's—...a relief."
Hoo.
Labela exhaled heavily before speaking.
"Rishir. To the point: you must never use that power again."
She then recounted the miracle-like power the First Saintess wielded and its price.
"As you know, she performed 'purification' countless times. That power to annihilate impure forces was truly a 'miracle' without peer."
However.
She added in a somber tone.
"Unreasonable powers inevitably come with a price."
The First Saintess paid a tremendous cost each time she used purification.
Her originally immense status degraded with every use—
And in the end, she lost all status and vanished.
That was.
The fate of those who wielded purification.
Labela recalled the saintess's myriad achievements.
No matter how much Rishir had abused the power, it paled in comparison.
However.
The scale.
Purifying the high demon Verbandes.
Nothing in the saintess's feats compared.
For instance.
Rishir had used a power even the saintess never experienced at such scale, and paid its price.
How unstable that outwardly fine existence truly was—
Labela's face clouded with deep worry as she contemplated it.
"Little one."
Labela squeezed her eyes shut and continued with effort.
"Each time you used purification, something anomalous must have happened to you."
"...Yes."
Rishir replied, his face tense.
"Every time I used purification... I experienced abnormal surges in my status."
"Yes. Using purification incurs that price as—"
Wait.
Something's off about the words.
"Status degradation... you said?"
"Pardon? No, I said surges."
"..."
Hmm.
Night of the Forest.
Her endlessly grave expression turned grave for an entirely different reason.
"..."
Rishir's group cautiously lifted their heads to observe her.
They began to feel a strange familiarity toward that transcendent being they once deemed untouchable.