Chapter 545: The Apostle's Destiny (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 545: The Apostle's Destiny (4)
Everyone has something they wish for.
A desired career, a vision of their future self.
Or something far too grand for one person to hope for, like world peace.
These wishes and desires, both great and small, are known by another name.
Desire.
You disagree?
You think it’s something of a different nature?
Perhaps.
There is a person.
One who wishes for world peace.
In a world of monsters, and humans more monstrous than monsters.
A world where some flee from them, and others protect those who flee.
A world of the hunted and the Hunter.
A relentless cycle of tearing and being torn apart.
Is it right to call a wish—one that is doubtful even if every nation on earth worked together—a simple, ordinary hope?
Wouldn't it be more accurate to call this, too, a desire?
That’s when I realized.
Not all desires are messy, sticky, and filthy.
The Saintess, Francis…
Even the Raid Team, fighting for their lives here, drawn by their own idealistic desires.
In the end, they had all gathered to take one more step toward their own desires.
At that point, any reason for hesitation vanished.
I would fuel their desires, feed on those inflated ambitions, and make them come true.
And with the power gained from that, I would achieve it.
My own desire.
“Hoo…”
I said it casually, but this was, in truth, a gamble.
A gamble with my entire life on the line—the gamble of a lifetime.
To reach the stage I wanted, I had to overcome him.
“Stop squirming and die, you insects!”
Viktor Vadim.
The arrogant vampire who was not only an Apostle of Greed but also a True Ancestor.
And…
“Don’t stop!”
“Hold the formation!”
“We just have to hold on until the mages are ready!”
I also had to win them over.
I had to show them.
Show them that my power would be a help, not a harm.
That by defeating an Apostle of Greed, one of my own kind, I was on their side.
Only then could I sway them.
And beyond them, the heart of the Saintess herself.
“Everyone, fall back!”
The moment the words were spoken, the melee dealers retreated in an instant.
The magic they had bought time to cast poured forth.
「Chain Lightning」
「Flame River」
「Earth Hail」
「Cyclone」
These were large-scale spells, designed from the start to completely annihilate enemy lines.
Now, enhanced by the power of Gluttony, an even more powerful magical bombardment descended upon the beasts.
A web of lightning spread out.
Crack-crack-crackle-!
A river of fire flowed beneath them.
Fwoooosh!
A hail of rock rained from above.
Thud-thud-thud!
Smash-!
And a great typhoon tore through their entire formation.
Whoooosh!
The beasts of greed, created from the blood of a True Ancestor, were certainly a threat.
Each one possessed power comparable to an S-rank.
They even had autonomous thought and action, allowing them to act as a unified will.
It was an ability with incredibly low risk and absurdly high returns.
But it wasn't enough yet.
The bond between the True Ancestor’s blood and the aura of greed was still weak.
So were the thought and action patterns engraved into each of them.
Grrrr…!
Groooowl!
Their hard carapaces shattered, and dark red blood gushed out from within.
Seeing this, the melee dealers charged forward as one.
“Aim for the torn parts!”
“Oooorah!”
Just as even the sturdiest fortress wall is finished once breached, so too were the beasts’ hides.
Persistent attacks on the opened wounds tore the small gashes wider, staining the surroundings crimson.
The members of the Raid Team fighting them were no exception.
Covered in blood, they laughed, baring their white teeth as they relentlessly tore into the enemies’ wounds.
They realized the tide of battle was turning in their favor.
Thud!
Crash!
Unable to withstand the gushing blood, the beasts shriveled and collapsed one by one.
And so, the path opened once more.
I strode through the splashing puddles of blood and stood before the True Ancestor, whose face was now a mask of fury. I gave him a light wave.
“Yo.”
“……”
Viktor Vadim didn't even react.
Staring blankly into the air, questions spilled from his lips.
“Why… Why is my army falling to a bunch of nobodies like them…?”
Why, you ask?
“There’s only one reason.”
“……”
His gaze finally turned to me.
“The ability is good, but you’re not good enough to handle it, are you?”
“Nonsense…!”
Yeah, he was right.
That was a lie.
If he truly wasn't capable, he never would have been able to infuse the True Ancestor’s blood into his own power in the first place.
He just needed more time.
Just as the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The same applies to abilities.
No matter how incredible a power is, it takes time to master.
His fatal mistake was having only just acquired the ability, leaving him short on time.
“Hmph… I’ve only just obtained it, so I’m not yet familiar with it. If I had a little more time, my army would never have been defeated…!”
“Yeah, I know.”
Right, I get it.
Your power is seriously terrifying, you know?
Once you get used to it, you could probably take on an entire country and win.
But.
“You don’t have that time, do you?”
Because.
“You’re going to die here today.”
“Shut up-!”
Viktor Vadim snapped.
His enraged voice thundered through the air.
“Do you think it’s all over just because you defeated some beasts made from a few drops of blood? No!”
With a rough wave of his hand, his aura surged.
As I said, that ability is versatile.
He can command an army with his blood, or he can use that blood solely for himself.
What he was showing now was the latter.
“The real fight starts now.”
The energy that had saturated the entire castle quickly returned to its origin.
No.
To be precise, his aura was compressing.
It slowly coiled inward, its volume shrinking as its density intensified.
“I will show you the power of the newly reborn Thorn Duke…!”
Rumble-rumble-rumble…!
The ground began to seethe.
From the splashing puddles of blood, thorns shot up.
Fwip-fwip-fwip!
Their speed was incomparable to before.
And it wasn't just the speed that had changed.
The size, strength, and sharpness of the thorns…
Every aspect had grown immensely.
If you get pierced anywhere, you can probably consider that body part useless.
“Whew.”
If he’s going to change things up, then I have no choice but to do the same.
The Domain of Gluttony, created by mimicking Blood Eater, wasn't so different from his ability.
Though its direction was a bit different, it could lead an army, or it could become an army of one.
「Domain of Gluttony – All For One」
The flow of power reversed.
The dozens of divided pieces of Gluttony.
From them, energy began to gather into the main body.
It wasn't just the power I had previously distributed.
The hopes, wishes, and aspirations of those who had collapsed, panting after the fierce battle.
Even the energy born from those feelings flowed into me.
“Hah… this feels good.”
Power was overflowing.
It was different from when I recklessly devoured an enemy’s power.
Unlike the enemy’s energy, which would thrash about violently until it was purified and absorbed, the allies’ energy approached as if it had been waiting, supporting my back and waist.
As if asking me to fight a little harder for the sake of its master’s wish.
Perhaps he sensed my surging aura.
“You…!”
Viktor Vadim’s face twisted horribly.
It seemed he had realized it.
“Just how much…!”
The fact that I had stolen the core of his ability and made it bloom into a power that was both the same and different.
How much did I steal?
That’s obvious.
“Enough that there’s nothing left to learn from you.”
“……!”
I’ve learned everything I needed to.
From how to utilize greed…
To the useful abilities that only a True Ancestor could use.
“I’ll kill you. No matter what, I will kill you…!”
I beckoned to the man, who was seething with rage, with my index finger.
“Go on and try.”
If you can.
“Kraaaaaah!”
Bwoooom—
The red aura, compressed to its limit, began to explode outward.
I, on the other hand, compressed.
I pushed the serenely flowing mana into my sword.
Soon, a clear Sword Aura formed.
I then compressed that form again, which was already made of compressed, sharpened mana.
The Sword Aura, which had extended about 10cm from the blade, shrank to 1cm.
Its form was new as well.
If the previous Sword Aura had merely been a clear projection of the sword's shape, the compressed Sword Aura shimmered over that clear form as if it were on fire.
What should I call this?
“Sword Flame (劍念)…”
The flame (炎) that burns away life, and the will (念) of all, achieved through the sword.
“Hup!”
I swung the sword down.
Shwiiik!
The oncoming aura, which had been erasing everything in its path, split in two, opening a way.
A narrow passage through a world of red.
K-thwack!
I kicked off the ground and shot through the passage.
The red aura slithered up my body like insects.
What was merely a liquid shaped itself into sharp tails and dug into my skin.
“Ghk…!”
My blood was being drained in an instant.
It was being sucked out so forcefully that my vision blurred in a flash.
I closed my eyes, which had instantly become a hindrance.
Grrrind!
Tensing my entire body to slow the blood loss as much as possible, I spurred myself onward.
Finally, our auras met.
Two auras, the same yet on different paths, intertwined, tangled, and pushed against each other repeatedly.
A tense battle with not an inch given.
Shwaaaak!
Crackle!
Thwump—
The closer our bodies got, the stronger the repulsion grew.
I stopped at a suitable distance, planted my feet, and drove them into the ground.
A declaration of my will to never retreat.
Aiming the tip of my shimmering sword, I wrapped my entire body’s mana in a set sequence.
The final strike to end his life would undoubtedly be the most beautiful sword form of my life.
My wife, who had started to smile again, and Seo-yeon, who had escaped her frail body and begun to run.
The dance of flowers scattering in the wind, which I had encountered on a trip to show them the beauty of a world they had rarely seen.
The greatest beauty of my life, created on the spot the moment I saw it.
And the cruel death hidden within.
「Rampant Bloom of a Hundred Flowers」
Flowers bloomed along the fiercely burning flame of the sword.
All different in shape, color, and scent.
A full, vibrant bloom of colorful flowers, each displaying its own beauty to the fullest.
They danced along with the sword.
Slice-slice-slice—
Sh-sh-sh-shk!
I wasn't particularly fond of this sword form, which I had created, drawn by its beauty.
Because I only realized it after I had completed it.
That the dance of flowers scattering in the wind was fleeting.
Though beautiful at a glance, the only end for a flower that falls to the ground after the wind stops is death.
The wilting flowers carved lines of blood onto Viktor Vadim’s body.
“K-heok…!”
Each line was deep enough to take a life.
He danced, too.
Writhing in the agony left behind by the beautiful approach that had cruelly dug into his flesh.
Pshhhk!
Sssst!
“Ghhh… D-do you think… I’ll lose… like thiiis-aaargh!”
The blood he spat out in a desperate struggle stained the fluttering flowers red and sent them falling to the ground.
One blossom.
Then another.
Even after all the flowers had fallen, he was not dead.
He had survived to the end, using his tenacious life force as a shield.
Covered in his own blood, he grinned widely.
“Khuhuhuhu!”
Confident in his victory, he declared.
“This is my victory…!”
Hundreds of blood drops that had swallowed the flowers flew toward me.
Each drop was a heavy bullet, containing the amount of blood of a single person.
Pew-!
My shoulder was pierced.
Pew-!
The other shoulder, too.
Psh-sh-sh-sh!
Hands, arms, legs, thighs, stomach.
As I collapsed helplessly, riddled with holes, I offered a sneer to the man so sure of his victory.
“Dumb…ass.”
“……?”
At the same moment, a single figure shot up from behind him.
“Uwaaaaaaaah-!”
Seo-yeon, her face contorted, charged forward with a hideous scream, her sword cutting through space.
“Wh-what…!”
It cleanly pierced through the very center of the bewildered Viktor Vadim’s heart.
Squelch-!
“Krrk… cough…!”
His aura shriveled in an instant.
His gaze, rapidly losing its light, scanned Seo-yeon’s twisted face.
“When… did you….”
Didn’t I tell you?
That the most beautiful sword of my life would kill him.
Struggling to hold onto my fading consciousness, I delivered my final words.
“Seo-yeon, nice…”
My vision went black.