Chapter 353
Chapter 353
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 353
Chapter Title: Throne Determination War: Redburn Territory Explosion Arc - 5
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Any wavering in the mind turns straight into an opening.
"『Ribbon Rope』, bind the Duke!"
"...Such childish tricks!"
Shalaralalak—!
The ribbons from the magical girl's outfit unraveled, multiplying into dozens of strands. The Duke swiftly swung his sword, slicing through half of them, but the rest struck home.
It was because the Foresight Lantern hadn't activated. Roderus, transformed into his magical girl form, was completely free from the lantern's influence.
Whirlick!
His limbs were bound. The taut ropes restricted the Duke's movements completely. And atop that restraint, Nangong Cheonghwi's attack came crashing down.
Boom!
By concentrating the Imperial Sword Form into a single point, he exerted overwhelming pressure on a narrow area. The Duke's knees buckled under the sensation of a giant's hand pressing down. But he wasn't subdued yet.
Magic bloomed from the Duke's grip and sword tip—flames and ice, fired crosswise forward and backward.
Roooar—! Cracklecrack—!
Keeeng—!
With a sound like nails scraping glass, a mana-hardened doppelganger separated and charged forward to block Envers's path. Then both the original and the clone prepared their defenses simultaneously.
Pop.
An umbrella-shaped barrier made of mana unfurled. The Duke's magic was deflected skyward by the solidified mana wall.
"Thanks, bro... no, sis...?"
"Shut it!"
Now was the moment, with his legs bound. This was the time to land a fatal blow.
Magical Girl Pure Knight wrapped her rapier in a blue galaxy swirl and spun it in a helix. A torrent of stars followed in its wake.
Flaaash—!!
A barrage of flashy effects concealed rapid thrusts targeting vital points across the body. The murderous assault zeroed in on the Duke's acupoints.
If they connected, it would bring him to the brink of death!
At that moment, the Duke forced his creaking body to move and shouted.
"Hmph, you think mere self-hypnosis can—"
Kigigik, pop!
Kakakakakakang!
In an instant, the Duke's body accelerated. Like a video on fast-forward, he moved dozens of times faster, batting away every single thrust from the magical girl.
"...What?!"
Kigigigik—
Once more, the Duke's body accelerated unnaturally. In a flash, the ribbons binding him were severed, and he slid toward Nangong Cheonghwi like a puppet on strings.
"This speed... even the Heavenly Demon's eyes can't track it— Gah!"
Paak—!
The Duke's kick carried its acceleration straight into Nangong Cheonghwi's abdomen. The impact sent his body flying nearly ten meters through the air.
Magical Girl Pure Knight heightened her tension to the extreme and assumed a defensive stance. ...What just happened? Had the Duke been hiding his power?
The Duke, freed from restraint in an instant, readjusted his longsword and spoke.
"Do you think fate comes first, or realization?"
"What nonsense is this, Duke?"
"Some fates are inevitable. Man doesn't chase fate to fulfill it. Fate moves man."
"......"
The magical girl realized it.
This was an advanced application of the Duke's parable, 『Foresight Lantern』. By imposing a strong fate upon himself, fate forced his body to move to make it reality.
Since he used it on himself rather than others, even Envers's Imperial Sword Form couldn't disrupt the information.
Did that make the Duke's parable invincible?
No. There was no way he could exert power beyond his body's output without repercussions. The Duke was currently suffering backlash. If he could chain it repeatedly, he'd have beheaded Roderus already.
She understood why he paused the fight to explain his ability aloud. He was buying time for his body to recover.
Then she shouldn't wary of unknown powers—she needed to attack. Right now!
"No respite for you!"
"Quick on the uptake. But I've already bought one breath. 『I repel the Blue Rose』."
Kigigigigi—
The Duke's body hyper-accelerated. The magical girl reflexively mana-hardened a shell, but the strike came half a beat faster than she could form it.
Before the shield fully materialized, the Duke's flame-wreathed longsword pierced through. The condensed flames at the tip swelled. A sign of explosion.
Roderus squeezed his eyes shut.
Kwaaaang—!!
The magical girl was blasted away, rolling across the ground.
"Kuhk, kuh... ugh."
"My training... was insufficient...!"
The Redburn brothers crawled on the ground. The Duke glanced at them before heading toward the carriage holding the children.
They weren't finished off completely. Closing in to kill them for sure would provoke desperate resistance, wasting time. Better to offer live sacrifices first.
He'd finish them cleanly after gaining absolute power.
Drip. Blood trickled from his nose. The Duke casually wiped it with the back of his hand. His organs were thoroughly shaken, his sinuses reeking of blood. But it was fine.
The Crimson Magic Tower's healing spell partially mended his wounds. Amplify it with a few souls, and it'd be perfect.
Kiiiik.
He opened the iron-barred door. Among the children packed inside, he grabbed the nearest one's neck and lifted. Squeezing the airway, it gasped and thrashed.
"Duke...! Don't touch them!"
"Release that hand at once!"
"Pathetic. I taught you words alone achieve nothing. You're failures, losers. Watch me ascend to godhood from the dirt. Executions come after."
He could feel the children's innocent souls. No pangs of conscience for sacrificing others. To him, they were mere batteries.
Crack—
The Duke snapped the live sacrifice's neck and absorbed its soul—
"...Cough, kuhk!"
Plop.
Clutching his chest, he vomited a gush of blood.
The Duke's eyes trembled. The moment he devoured the soul, an explosion erupted inside him. It had seemed perfectly fine. What happened?
Twitch, twitch. The child, whose neck should have been broken, opened its mouth.
"That's a fake soul Uncle made-mong. All the kids in the carriage are animal-made fake people. Meat puppets."
"...Faceless, you betrayed me too?"
"She's dead-mong. Poor thing. But you're not poor. You've done too many evil deeds."
"......"
Pew, pewf.
The meat puppets disguised as sacrifices fell apart in pieces. The carriage was now empty.
If even Faceless had turned, the order to rally provincial black mages wouldn't have been followed. She'd have wiped them out instead. Named black mages had fallen one by one, now unreachable.
Then no forces supported the Duke anymore.
It slipped away.
The Duke hallucinated everything he'd gripped slipping like sand from his hands. All he'd nurtured and built crumbled.
Where did it go wrong? Looking back, the smooth plan started creaking after ordering the mad mage's death. Everything twisted from that day.
Ridiculously, the Duke felt fate.
Futile.
"...Ha."
And that futility was soon filled with rage.
"Kr, hahahahaha—!!"
It was over. The Violet Tower Master would track him soon, maybe even the Empire's Sword Saint. No quick soul supply. Everything in ruins.
Then at least, he'd make the betrayers pay dearly. He gripped his longsword until the hilt crumbled. Turning with a savage grimace.
Roderus and Envers staggered to their feet.
The magical girl bowed her head, trembling as she addressed the Duke.
"...Maximus Redburn. You installed wicked magic circles to devour your domain's souls, delved into black magic, and plunged countless into suffering. Do you admit your crimes?"
"Facing death, seeking self-consolation? Yes, I did. But Roderus, my admission changes nothing. Your death is set."
"—No. With that answer, your fate has changed."
At those loaded words, the Duke finally looked properly at Roderus. The woman's form, ridiculous outfit. The voice's tremor.
He thought the shaking was rage or fear. But closer inspection revealed shame. Strange. Didn't fit the situation?
The magical girl, Roderus Redburn, declared.
"People of Redburn Duchy. As you've seen and heard, the current Duke Maximus is a vile black mage who devours souls."
"...Who are you preaching to?"
"Thus, I, 『Blue Rose』, shall judge the fallen patriarch in justice's name. Look upon me, and cheer me on!"
Wooong—.
Shimmering lights swirled around the magical girl. Her mana amplified, as if supplied by someone!
Caw— caw—!
A crow's cry echoed from afar. Perched on a branch, the mad mage looked down and spoke.
"Roderus, sharp. Figured it out? Broadcasting to the entire duchy."
"...I felt the pure energy flowing in."
"P-Professor... since when?!"
Yes, from some point, mana streamed from the masses. A sensation Roderus had felt once before during the session's final battle.
Using the mad crow's network, the mad mage broadcast the Duke's live sacrifice attempt live. His true face exposed to the whole domain.
And the people began cheering the magical girl fighting the villain.
Pure energy surged like a tide. The dense blue light, too thick for more to pass, undulated like wings behind Roderus.
Envers benefited indirectly too. Mana flowed into his body, deepening the blue glow in his eyes.
Before the clash, Roderus quietly asked.
"Just to check, mad mage. How long has this been live?"
"From the start."
"...You bastard!"
That meant they saw the transformation too!
Once done, he'd beat the mad mage senseless. If his magical girl identity was already out domain-wide, go all in. Showmanship time. Roderus shouted.
"Yes! I, Roderus Redburn, eldest son of the Redburn ducal house, shall judge the fallen patriarch. I won't ignore the family's shame and darkness. With my hands, I'll sweep away all these shadows—!"
"Bro—no, sis... no, bro! Let's go!"
"Call me sis once more, and I swear I'll turn you into a woman too, Envers. You take left, I'll go right!"
"Yes, bro...!!"
Tadat.
The Heavenly Demon and magical girl charged simultaneously.
"Pawns who should stay pawns, daring—! 『Four Malevolent Stars』!"
Kiiiiing—!
Complex magic circles unfurled from the Duke's hand. Enveloping his body, interlocking and spinning, they soon fired beams of four attributes.
Kwaaaaa—!!
"Got it! Hup!"
Crackle.
Roderus's ability solidified part of the beam, using it as armor to block. The beam split on the angular edges, veering off.
Envers cleaved through the center and plunged in.
"Take my blade, patriarch. If you truly know not the human heart, I'll engrave it with this edge!"
"Insolent failure!"
Kang! Kang!
The Duke's precise assassination sword clashed with Envers's swordsmanship. Ruthless thrusts at vitals were parried by upright, orthodox famed-sect techniques.
In that gap, Roderus's rapier shot forward.
"...Kuh!"
Pshut.
A hole punctured the Duke's shoulder in an instant. To shake off Envers, he prepared magic. Red baleful light flickered. At once, the brothers switched.
"Switch!"
Roderus blocked the magic. Envers blocked the sword. Under their organic pincer attack, the Duke accumulated damage bit by bit.
Envers smiled. Not the situation for it, but he couldn't help it. This was what he'd always wanted. See? He'd become bro's right arm, hadn't he?
"Truly reliable, bro!"
"Don't let your guard down. You saw earlier—he still has tricks!"
"Understood! We won't stop till we sever the villain's head!"
They meshed.
Envers leaped off Roderus's mana platform. His timely Imperial Sword Form disrupted the battle's rhythm. Roderus exploited the opening.
The Duke's body was wrecked. Internal injuries from the fake soul, unhealed. But this way, he'd just wither. He had to break through, even burning his own soul.
Vomiting blood, the Duke pushed Foresight Lantern to its limit.
"I've been waiting for that...!"
Then.
A small metal glinted through the air.
A mineral left where the 『Tower of Illusion』 vanished. The 『Illusion Stone』 the mad mage gave Roderus. Infused with faint illusory power.
The 『Illusion Stone』 interfered with fate.
Roderus's parable activated atop it. Together with the 『Illusion Stone』, it gave the unreal concept of 『Fate』 substance, partially endowing physical properties. Dragging it into intervenable realm.
The fate of victory was forged into a longsword shape. And.
Envers seized the forged fate with his own parable, drawing a virtual sword path from the sky.
Emotions surged.
Lives dominated. Born, cried, grew, walked—all for the Duke's plan. The brothers lived fated lives. Fated to die.
But now.
After stories endured, pondered, realizing life's meaning.
They could grasp and wield their own fate.
"Uwaaaaaah—!!"
Puwook.
"......Kuhk."
Fate pierced Duke Maximus Redburn's heart.
Envers lay sprawled, panting.
"Hahk, heuk... gonna die, gonna die, bro. Damn heavy."
"Rest, Envers. I'll handle the finish."
"Not... not bad, I think. Yeah, good teamwork. We synced well. What do you think, bro...?"
"Didn't get in the way."
"Haha..."
Envers chuckled with oxygen-starved lungs, then coughed violently for a while.
Roderus released his transformation. He gazed silently at the Duke dying impaled by fate. His eyes shook in disbelief at his defeat.
Lips moved, but formed no words. Roderus didn't want to hear anyway. What meaning in last words? He'd pretend not to hear.
Roderus left final words.
"Know your disgrace, patriarch. Your life was worth less than maggots."
"......"
Thud. The Duke's head lolled. Dead.
Revenge achieved, but no thrill. Roderus was briefly surprised, then accepted it. He had far more precious things; this Duke's death held no special weight.
Toktoktok.
Hayangi, who'd hidden afar, toddled over and hugged fiercely.
"Mom-Dad. So cool-mong."
"...Where've you been?"
"Played with Uncle-mong."
"Family tree feels messier..."
Had the mad mage babysat Hayangi? Roderus petted her head, then felt an odd gaze and turned. Source: Envers.
"What, Envers."
"Mom-Dad, so... um. Did bro have that kid alone? Transforming back and forth like that."
"...I'll bury you with the Duke."
"J-just curious! Not teasing...!!"
With the impromptu brotherly spat, the Throne Determination War effectively ended.