Chapter 360
Chapter 360
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 360
Chapter Title: Disaster, and the Hero (3)
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Death was approaching.
Raniel's pupils trembled, but only for a moment. Even as she lost her sense of direction, Raniel dashed toward somewhere. Amid the chaos where everything was upended, a place had revealed itself. Information she had known long before.
Cardy had said this church was modeled after the 'Main Cathedral' in Arcadia. Naturally, it shared the same structure... and the 'basement' from the Main Cathedral surely existed here as well.
"...Ugh!"
Raniel threw herself toward the hole she had pre-drilled in the floor. An evasion method she could use only once—she had wanted to save it, but the situation left no room for holding back.
Kagagagagagagagagak!
A deafening noise erupted above her head. As she plummeted into the basement, Raniel looked up. Everything was engulfed in black energy, surging toward the sky. It was truly defying the heavens.
Sek.
There was no time to be startled by that sword strike.
As if spotting Raniel fleeing, Kyle shredded the church floor. The thick walls were sliced into dozens of pieces, causing the floor to collapse. From Raniel's falling perspective, it was the ceiling crashing down.
Kyle descended along with the crumbling ceiling.
Standing atop the debris from the walls he had cleaved, Kyle assumed his stance. A mid-fall situation. An unstable footing. Yet even so, the sword's transcendent displayed his finest strike. Kyle swung his sword. Its tip didn't waver in the slightest.
Chwaaaaaaaaak!
Sword qi unfurled like a net, bearing down on the plummeting Raniel. Biting her lip hard, Raniel wildly scattered her Stocked spells.
Flames surging upward.
Ash bursting outward.
Dozens, hundreds of icy needles firing off.
She unleashed countless spells, but they were merely buying time. The sword qi sliced through everything it touched, tightening around Raniel's neck. Gritting her teeth, Raniel spun her body in midair.
A vast basement.
Thirty-seven pillars standing there.
Raniel tied chains yanked from wherever she could find them to a pillar and pulled. Shooting toward it at high speed, she barely evaded the sword qi.
Thud!
Raniel crashed into the pillar like she was embedding herself. Her body was a wreck. She hadn't fully dodged the sword qi—cuts marred her here and there. Regeneration was underway, but with her body already overtaxed, it wasn't fast.
Tap.
Unlike Raniel's clumsy landing, Kyle touched down lightly on the floor. He looked up at Raniel, dangling from the pillar. While Raniel was battered, Kyle was unscathed.
'...Damn bastard.'
Raniel bit her lip hard.
To beat Kyle, she needed something to block that damned sword. It had been that way even before Kyle became a disaster. Their compatibility was the worst.
Raniel couldn't block Kyle's sword.
Her options were to dodge or close in to preempt his strikes. But even the latter was impossible now. No matter how fast she was...
'If he grabs me even once.'
It's over.
The moment he grabbed her and swung, she'd lose part of her body. So what the hell should she do?
...She actually knew the answer.
She could now wield something unbreakable, capable of blocking anything. The Star Armament. As the Hero, she could claim it.
'But.'
For some reason, it hadn't appeared for her. It wasn't a lack of qualification as the Hero. She handled everything else just fine. Something was missing in Raniel, and that absence denied her the Star Armament.
She didn't know what it was.
Unable to grasp it, Raniel had to keep fighting. She kicked off the pillar and charged. Pouring out spells and leveraging her physical prowess to pressure Kyle. Speed was ultimately the only edge she had over him.
But even that reached its limit.
Kyle began matching Raniel's speed bit by bit. Despite his state, despite his strength, he was growing even more... His movements grew ever faster and more precise.
Movements without waste.
Predictions via superhuman foresight.
Using it all, Kyle started catching up to Raniel. Attacks she couldn't dodge increased. Blood flowed from Raniel's body.
Sek.
Kyle's even faster sword swept the area. Dozens of bundles of sword qi, massive sword qi, swordsmanship mimicking a transcendent's poured out wildly. As if boasting of his achievements, Kyle unleashed everything he had at Raniel.
Dodge. Dodge and dodge again.
Fleeing however she could, Raniel sought an opening. But she couldn't keep it up forever. Her Stock, loaded with hundreds, thousands of spells, was nearing empty.
Sizzle.
Her body, pushed to its limits while bearing the strain, hit its breaking point. Wounds multiplied, outpacing super-regeneration. Raniel slowed; Kyle sped up. Raniel bled; blood coated Kyle's sword tip.
She was being pushed back.
Continuously pushed back.
Retreating step by step until Raniel's back hit a pillar with a thud. She looked ahead. Kyle, now faster than her, charged with sword raised.
No way to dodge.
"...Fuck."
Puk.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
Ka■ was—no, 'Kyle' was.
Kyle could only be himself before the ashen gray. Chasing the ashen now, Ka■ was simply Kyle. The shadow kept screaming at Kyle to kill the ashen. But Kyle didn't want to.
The ashen gray flickered endlessly before his eyes.
Ash scattered in all directions. The ashes took human form, standing before Kyle. It assumed a stance toward him. Seeing it, Kyle thought. Ah, what is this. It's Raniel.
"What is it? Raniel?"
The ashes said nothing.
Silently holding its stance. Poised to charge at any moment.
Ah, I get it.
You want to spar like back then, huh.
Kyle let out a chuckle and raised his sword. It had started as a real sword with a sharp edge, but when he closed and opened his eyes, it was a wooden one. Closing and opening again, the surroundings shifted too.
The training grounds.
The training grounds where he had learned the sword from Uncle Kuntel.
And where he had often sparred with Raniel. Is that so. Am I dreaming? In his hazy mind, Kyle prepared to swing.
Tap, and Raniel charged.
For a moment, he couldn't track the movement and rolled on the ground. That guy, she's serious. His cheek stung. Let's do this, he laughed, getting back up.
"I've got some toughness to me, Raniel."
Hit me. I'll take it and counter.
Kyle swung his wooden sword and charged at Raniel. For some reason, his body moved well. He began gradually matching Raniel's movements, which he initially couldn't follow.
"Huh?"
At some point, Raniel started fleeing.
She occasionally used odd tactics. Came up with clever strategies. Was this one of those? Kyle chased, swinging his sword.
Whoosh, swoosh.
Swinging boastfully.
For some reason, countless sword techniques flooded his mind. Kyle imitated them. Raniel had always been ahead. He wanted to show her.
How much stronger he'd become.
What he could do now.
That he could stand on the same level as her. Yeah, I owe you so much. Now that I'm this strong, I could repay you.
"Really."
He swung, but it didn't connect.
Raniel dodged by a hair's breadth. Even now, this strong, he couldn't reach her.
"Really, you're something else."
It was always like that.
Because of you, I could become the Hero. You always led the way, so I could follow. So, Kyle thought.
"Just once."
Just once would be enough.
"I wanted to surpass you."
To go beyond you.
To gaze farther than you, not the same scenery. Call it ugly rivalry. Maybe the childish dream of a kid wanting to be a fairy-tale hero.
Still, he truly wished it.
Now that he was stronger, maybe he could, Kyle thought. So he charged with all his might.
Thud!
He slammed the ground and took his stance.
Thus, Kyle unleashed his best possible strike. Toward Raniel, cornered against the wall with nowhere to flee, he swung the wooden sword.
"Finally, it connected."
To Kyle, it was the most perfect strike ever. Even he was amazed at his swing.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Puk.
Raniel saw Kyle's sword piercing her heart. The bloodied blade. Piercing through, it emerged from her back and embedded in the pillar.
Kiiiiiiing!
The suppressed sword qi exploded from the blade.
The qi that sliced all it touched shredded Raniel's body. Her body convulsed as dark red blood madly burst from her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.
"Kuh, ugh."
Blood poured down Kyle's blade. He swung it sideways. The sword that pierced her heart shattered her ribs and burst outward.
Kung, kugugung!
Not just Raniel was ravaged by the sword qi. The pillar she leaned against got caught in it and collapsed. The falling pillar swallowed the tumbling Raniel.
Kwoong. Thud.
As the rising dust settled, Kyle looked down at his feet. Raniel was hidden beneath the grave-like pile of pillar rubble. All that was visible was blood trickling from the gaps.
No more ashen gray in sight.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 3.
Drip drop.
In her fading senses, Raniel felt something falling on her head. Rock fragments. But even that sensation soon vanished.
All senses dulled.
Not even pain registered.
Something kept pouring from her mouth, but she couldn't tell what. Her red-tinted vision gradually blurred. Strength drained from her entire body.
Raniel knew this sensation.
Death.
Death, thought distant, was closing in. It had crept right up to her nose before she knew it. In her hazy mind, Raniel focused on what sense remained intact. Sound, at least, still reached her.
Clack.
The sound of footsteps.
The scrape of a sword dragging on the floor. The sound was fading. Probably Kyle.
'Thinks I'm dead... and he's leaving.'
Going far away.
To a place I can't reach.
I barely made it this far, only for him to pull away again. He never stays within grasp. Inappropriately for the situation, Raniel smiled.
Did I say I wanted to become you?
Did he say he wanted to become like me?
Recalling Kyle's shouts, Raniel bit her lip. Looking back now, it was ridiculous. She didn't know how she appeared in Kyle's eyes. But Kyle wouldn't know either.
How Raniel had seen him.
Raniel had no dreams.
No self she wanted to become.
She lived only by duty. Not because she wanted to, not to become something she desired, but because she had to, because she must—she became the Sage.
Raniel hated that self.
A life of duty, so looking back, she called it 'hellish'. That's why she saw herself in Kyle. Unlike her dreamless self, she hoped the one advancing toward his dream would succeed.
Then maybe she could become something too.
Then it all might have meaning.
But this is the end result.
'I.'
What did I want?
Now, on the verge of losing her second life.
Ending it lacking once more.
Facing encroaching death, Raniel pondered for the first time. What self she wanted to become. What she truly desired. What slipped from her lips was a true wish she'd never considered before.
The ashen mage voiced her aspiration.
The stars heard that wish.
Stars answer human desires.
Starlight overflowed, responding to the ashen mage's wish. It reignited the flames in the remaining ashes. In that moment, the missing piece as the Hero was filled.
And it manifested before Raniel.
Something unbreakable.
The Hero's symbol.
The Star Armament.
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