Chapter 94 35. Unfunny Clown (2)
The Unfunny Clown (2)
Chapter 95
Tirpe and I immediately dodged backward.
There was no room for doubt. Our stats were low, and we'd encountered the Unfunny Clown.
That reaction was only natural.
We had to get away from our current positions as fast as possible.
That was the only thought in my mind as I threw my shoulders back. Tirpe, too, jerked her hips backward in a desperate backstep.
But we were too late.
Crunch!
"...!"
A right arm dropped onto the clown's outstretched right hand.
In his other hand, a woman's leg—cut cleanly at the thigh—tumbled into his grasp. It was a slender leg clad in stockings embroidered with bizarre patterns.
For a moment, we both stared blankly at our own bodies.
"..."
Tirpe and I wore identical expressions.
My right arm was...
And Tirpe's left leg was gone.
The moment we processed what had happened, both of us froze.
The pain was too sudden, too unexpected—there wasn't even time for adrenaline to kick in.
"G-G-GAAAAAAHHH!!?"
Which was why the scream that ripped from our throats was raw, unfiltered agony, drilling straight into our skulls.
Splurt!
Blood gushed uncontrollably from my shoulder, where flesh and air had swapped places.
"Ghhhk—!?"
Tirpe, too, contorted in pain, her face twisting as she struggled to keep her balance. Despite wearing high heels on her remaining foot, she wobbled unsteadily.
We clung to each other, barely managing to stay upright. Our ragged breaths were indistinguishable—both laced with the same torment.
Still, Tirpe was a regressor, no stranger to death.
I thought she'd endure the pain with surprising composure.
But I was wrong.
Tirpe was staring at her stomach in panic.
"A-ah..."
『The fetus is suffering from the mother's pain.』
Her face darkened, tears welling in her eyes as she desperately cradled her belly, as if shielding the child from the agony at all costs.
The moment I witnessed that—
Thump.
A scorching heat erupted from my chest, overwhelming even the pain in my shoulder, searing through my eyes.
You fucking bastard...
My gaze shot toward the clown.
[Ooh?! It's a magic trick~?]
Pierrot, meanwhile, alternated between staring at his own hands, as if even he was surprised by his own ability.
Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
[Hee?]
Not only that, but he flaunted the severed limbs in his grasp, flashing a grin so wide his crimson teeth were fully exposed.
Then, after giving my arm a few appraising glances from afar, his eyes turned icy.
[Don't need the man's.]
He flung my right arm away without a second thought.
I didn't care.
But then—his tongue slithered out, licking along Tirpe's foot as he examined it.
His eyes gleamed as his fingers fumbled excitedly with the straps of her stiletto.
Clack.
The shoe dropped to the ground.
"...!"
He pressed his nose against the delicate toes faintly visible through the stocking, his face twisting into something perverse.
[Mmm~~]
My stomach churned.
The moment that sight burned into my retinas, my pupils dilated to their absolute limit, and my heart pumped blood at a speed I'd never felt before.
Every part of me—my head, my eyes, my arms, my legs—every single component of my being burned with fury, as if set ablaze.
Not only had this bastard cut off my woman's leg, but now he was rolling his tongue over her toes, sending me a mocking glance.
I had never felt such murderous rage toward anyone in my life.
[Even a beauty's foot scent is... divine...? Huh? No... smell? The scent of a Fallen...? A Fallen Angel? Why's a Fallen here? Huh? The Fallen's pregnant?! Oho?!]
His eyelids twitched.
The clown's unfocused pupils rolled wildly as he blatantly stared at Tirpe's swollen belly.
"Kh..."
Finally, the tears pooling in Tirpe's trembling eyes spilled over. I quietly pulled her close, shielding her stomach from the clown's gaze.
Her fear—her desperate need to hide—was palpable.
But beneath it, I could feel her sheer determination to protect the child at all costs, even as she clenched her eyes shut.
Then—
『Five seconds remain until Earth's portal opens.』
The clown's grinning hand reached toward Tirpe. His malice was aimed squarely at her womb.
-...A Fallen Angel's baby sounds fun...!
The words, compressed like alien speech, slammed into my brain all at once.
[Ggggk. Let me just check how big that baby's grown—]
...I couldn't listen to another word.
『Summoning the 「Holy Sword of Sacrifice.』
I lunged forward, gripping the sacred blade in my only remaining hand. Blood poured anew from my empty shoulder, but I didn't care.
『Nimble Movement activates.』
『Shadow Stepping activates.』
None of that registered in my head right now.
The only thing driving me was the overwhelming urge to butcher this bastard.
In an instant, I finished winding up for the leap, kicked off the ground, and charged straight at the clown.
"I won't fucking stop, you bastard!!"
Even as I charged forward, the thought of how foolish this was wouldn't leave me.
A voice in the back of my mind seemed to berate me for this.
My chances against him were zero percent.
This was a wanderer who had lived for thousands—maybe tens of thousands—of years.
I was just a human who had barely scraped together 25 years of existence.
Even considering the time I'd spent quietly building my strength, this was suicide.
But I couldn't just stand there like a coward.
If I didn't act, the child in Tirpe's womb would be ripped out.
And as a man, there was nothing more pathetic than watching that happen with my own eyes—knowing I was supposed to be a father.
The clown watching me sneered in amusement.
His laughter made me feel like an idiot for rushing in like this.
But that thought faded the moment I glanced back at Tirpe. To steady myself, I turned inward, reflecting on my core.
I recalled what I truly wanted.
I had sworn never to feel that helplessness again—not like when I faced Do Ro-rang.
I had vowed never to be tormented by the fear of losing someone again.
That was my resolve.
I had carried it in my heart all this time. And even that wasn't enough—because there were still so many things I had to protect, so many responsibilities I had to bear.
I believed that even if I died, I couldn't forget that.
But the world was filled with malice beyond anything I could have imagined.
Right now, in front of me, the life of a child who hadn't even lived three months was being threatened.
Tirpe, as a mother trying to protect her baby, was crying as she watched my back.
Those images wouldn't leave my sight.
'Right.'
I didn't get stronger just to watch shit like this.
'I didn't push myself for this kind of—'
—"It'll be fine later."
I didn't work hard just to delude myself, pretending tragedies wouldn't happen while running away, consoling myself that the future would be different.
I...
Hadn't forgotten.
'I've been striving for everyone's 『Happy End』...!!'
So—
"—!!"
In this moment, I erased all thoughts of the future. I even discarded the option of running away. Right now, in this single instant—
I poured everything into this sword.
To knock him down, even for a second—to buy time to return to Earth.
『「■」 activates.』
I would make it happen with this blade.
Kiiiiing—
Every fiber of my being contributed to a single purpose, channeling that sole conviction entirely into the holy sword.
"!"
An indescribable light, like the one I'd seen from Park Ha-rin, flickered from the blade.
[?!]
The clown's face twisted in shock as the light engulfed him.
With that radiance, his left arm was severed.
But I couldn't cut through everything.
『<The Tower> is watching you.』
The sword's light vanished in an instant.
Still.
[GGRRAAAAAAHHHH!!]
That single moment of the slash was enough. The aftermath rippled belatedly through the world.
CRACKCRACKCRACKCRACK—!!
A sword strike, carved more vividly than anything else in this hazy world. Along the path of my blade, the Outer Dimension's space shattered like glass.
Though it was only a fleeting, transparent trail, the clown's arm was erased without a trace.
[YOU GODDAMN LITTLE SHIIIIIIIT!!]
The clown's revolting eyeballs rolled wildly. His body blurred past me.
And then, with no strength left in me, the clown appeared behind my back.
In his hand was a still-beating heart.
[Come to think of it, there was something I needed to collect from you. Kehkehkeh. I'll take this as compensation instead. With such an unusual circuit, I can study what just happened—]
His sidelong glance at me was filled with loathing.
『「Air」 and 「Heart」 have been 「Swapped」.』
There was no weight left in my chest.
"......"
The light Park Ha-rin had briefly summoned was no longer in the holy sword. It had vanished somewhere.
Instead, when I looked down, all I felt was the hollow absence where my heart should have been.
『「Favor of Death」 desperately tries to keep you away from death.』
『It fails.』
『It exhausts even the low-proficiency 「Favor of Death」's allotted capacity.』
『It exhausts all of 「Optimal Progression」's allotted capacity.』
『It exhausts all allotted capacity for 「Abilities」, 「Skills」, 「Stats」, and 「Potential」.』
『Your 「Tower」 has overloaded.』
Not even the strength to exhale remained in my body. Blood gushed from my mouth. Forget my heart—there was no power left in me at all. Every element of my soul, my body, had been incinerated in that single moment.
Finally, my knees buckled, and I collapsed, my forehead hitting the ground.
But I had no regrets.
『Portal to Earth will open in: 0 seconds.』
Because light was already erupting from the Obelisk of Origin.
『A portal to Earth has been generated.』
Dazed, I locked eyes with Tirpe, who had slumped to the ground.
And I smiled.
"Run... Now."
Beside Tirpe, the obelisk drew light.
A swirling vortex leading to Earth.
But Tirpe, her gaze still fixed on me, didn't move toward it.
She ran—to me.
『「Revert ⅔」 activates.』
On legs that had been restored in an instant.