The Heavenly Slaughter Star Runs Away
Rionne tossed and turned on the bed after Enoch left. Was something bothering him? He had seemed troubled lately. She should have a serious talk with him when he came back. Those drowsy thoughts drifted through her mind when—
“……!”
A massive wave of power rippled in from far away, and Rionne shot upright. It had been so faint, as if blocked by some barrier, that she had noticed it too late. But an aura this strong was no ordinary thing.
“Enoch!”
The moment her thoughts reached Enoch, Rionne bolted out of the house. She didn’t care that her bare feet were getting covered in dirt. She ran at full speed toward the source of the power.
What she found was far too cruel.
The shocking sight turned her mind blank at first. Then it filled with self-reproach, and all those emotions quickly boiled down into rage and hatred.
[Why… why you…!]
[Wait! Let me explain!]
[You filthy, nameless beast bastard…! Shut your damn mouth…!?]
Rionne’s fury made the entire forest tremble. Blue mana rippled beneath the moonlight and covered the night sky, transforming into countless swords. The fox shuddered at the murderous aura. If those blades fell, the forest would vanish without a trace.
[He’s still alive!]
[I will definitely skin you alive, throw your hide in a ditch, and your body—wait… what?]
[I said he’s alive! If your spirit helps right now, he’ll be fine!]
At the words that Enoch was still alive, Rionne rushed over in a panic. She examined the fallen boy closely and realized the thread connecting his soul and body had not yet been severed.
Rionne gazed at Enoch’s wretched state and stroked his cheek with trembling fingers.
“Enoch….”
Plop. Plop. Thick teardrops fell.
She crawled forward on dirt-stained knees until she was pressed close to him, then summoned her spirit.
“Undine!”
[Haaam… what the—… huh?]
The spirit’s eyes grew cold. Seeing those eyes filled with rage, Rionne shouted fiercely.
“Undine! Hurry!”
[What?]
“Heal him!”
Once she understood the situation, Undine called forth her true form. A colossal woman of water that seemed to swallow the night sky commanded her authority.
[Heal him no matter what it takes!]
Every river and spring in the forest, every cloud in the sky, and every water spirit in the area gathered. The highest-grade spirit’s fury made the world itself tremble.
As if a curtain of water had been draped over the night sky, an army of countless water spirits poured their power into Enoch.
Saaaaah……
Water infused with healing energy enveloped him. Torn wounds regenerated. Faint life force was rekindled. As she watched him slowly reclaim his life, Rionne’s strength gave out. She braced herself on the ground with one arm and stared only at Enoch.
“Enoch….”
His appearance gradually returned to normal. The blood was washed away. His shattered body was restored. Rionne lamented her own uselessness—she who knew nothing but fighting.
“I’m sorry…. I’m so sorry….”
The fox approached the weeping elf. Its lush nine tails wrapped around her shoulders, but—
Slap!
They were violently brushed away by a fierce hand.
“…You’d better run far away while you still can.”
The voice was thick with killing intent. The fox gave an awkward smile. That only made the murderous glare in Rionne’s eyes even sharper, but the fox was genuinely wronged.
[No, seriously, I didn’t do it.]
“Then what? Are you saying Enoch fought alone, got hurt alone, and destroyed this whole place by himself?”
Shockingly, that was exactly right. But the fox at least had enough social awareness to know saying so would probably get it killed.
[He seemed quite shocked when he saw me. Of course, I won’t deny that it was partly my fault. I was careless in hiding my presence, so the child partially saw through my realm.]
“Don’t talk nonsense. If he saw through your realm, why would he pick a fight? You’re telling me he fought a demigod without exchanging a single word until his body ended up like this?”
Yeah. Why did he do that, really? The fox was still curious.
“Besides, even if that’s true, Enoch got hurt because of you. You’re not seriously going to claim all those wounds are from fighting alone, are you? I hope not. Because if you do, I might really kill you.”
No, that part was actually true. The fox racked its brain and carefully chose words that would minimize the coming storm.
[That… child used a dangerous power. It looked like he forcibly replaced his upper dantian using a Circle. And he didn’t stop there—he even unified all three dantians.]
“You expect me to believe that? Replacing the upper dantian with a Circle? Countless mages have proven with their own deaths that doing something like that makes your head explode.”
Whoa, really? The fox hadn’t known that. It had known it was dangerous, but not that dangerous.
[Hard to believe, but it’s true. And later he even achieved Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown—]
“Enough! I’ve heard plenty of your bullshit!”
The corner of Rionne’s mouth twisted upward.
“What? If you keep going, are you going to say Enoch destroyed this place all by himself too? No matter how fast Enoch grows, I know better than anyone that he’s not at that level yet.”
[No….]
The fox felt like it was going insane. This elf clearly had no idea what kind of monster she was raising. Come to think of it, she was the one who had called this child gentle and cute. That was gentle and cute? The fox hadn’t realized it before, but this elf’s head was definitely screwed on wrong too.
[Hm? Wait. Didn’t you say you would explain about me to this young child?]
“Yeah, I did. So now you understand how ridiculous your nonsense sounds, right?”
[Then what the fu—… ahem! Then why didn’t this child recognize me?]
“…Just shut up already. If you keep talking, I really won’t be able to hold back.”
Rionne lifted the now-healed Enoch into her arms. Only his physical wounds had been mended, but his breathing was slowly returning to normal. If he just rested, he would surely open his eyes soon.
Yes. He had to.
Because if he didn’t, even Rionne herself didn’t know what she might do.
*
Enoch opened his eyes one morning about a week later.
The sunlight stabbing into his eyes was harsh. When he blinked and squinted, a voice that sounded almost like a scream reached him.
“Enoch……!!”
It was Rionne’s voice. He forced his stiff neck to turn. The moment he did, the overly bright world suddenly went dark. Rionne had pulled him into her arms.
“You’re awake…! Really…. I’m so glad….”
“…Rionne.”
Enoch hugged her back tightly. But only for a moment. Rionne pushed his arms away and took several steps back.
“……?”
“Enoch.”
Her eyes were swollen and red. She hardened her expression. It was a face he had never seen before. While Enoch was still confused, words that sounded like they were being forced through clenched teeth spilled out.
“What happened? And why did you go into the forest alone that night? Do you know how worried I was?!”
At her agitated voice, Enoch’s body shrank back. Rionne’s face twisted for a second, but she quickly steadied herself and kept her stern attitude.
“I’m not joking, Enoch. You almost died this time. Do you have any idea how I felt? How I—… how I felt…?”
In the end, Rionne couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst into tears.
Enoch panicked, not knowing what to do. He could only roll his eyes around. What he could understand was that Rionne had been worried about him, and that was why she was so sad.
“Rionne….”
“Hic…. It’s okay…. It’s okay, so… can you tell me what happened?”
Enoch nodded. No matter what he had done wrong, he had no thought of hiding anything in front of Rionne like this.
*
“…What?”
That was Rionne’s reaction while listening to the story.
“N-no, never mind. Keep going.”
But it didn’t take long before—
“What did you say? Wait, can you say that again, Enoch?”
After several interruptions, repetitions, and clarifications, the story finally ended.
Enoch glanced at Rionne’s expression. Her face was flushed. She looked like she was using every ounce of willpower to hold back her anger. Even Enoch, whose social awareness was catastrophically broken, could sense something was off.
“…Enoch.”
“Yeah….”
“Are you insane?”
Enoch’s eyebrows twitched.
“What on earth were you thinking, picking a fight with the Forest’s Owner?! I clearly told you about them!”
“…I didn’t hear it properly.”
“No, no, no…!”
Rionne jumped to her feet and began pacing the room frantically. She rubbed her face, let out heavy sighs. Seeing her like that, something inside Enoch twisted painfully.
“…I couldn’t help it.”
“Couldn’t help it?! Enoch, why do you always try to solve everything with fighting? Huh? I told you that sometimes you have to know when to back down!”
“It was instinctive….”
“Instinct my ass! You could really die next time! Don’t you get that?”
“…….”
“And! It’s fine if you go out at night, but why did you go into the forest? Don’t you know how dangerous it is? At least tell me before you leave!”
Enoch pouted, lips pushed out. Rionne’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the sight.
This was something that really needed to be corrected. What if something truly bad happened to him…!
“Enoch, you’re staying in your room today to reflect. No meals—… no, I have to feed you. Yeah. Anyway, don’t even think about coming out.”
“…….”
Enoch’s eyes filled with stubborn strength. Rionne sighed in frustration. The child who usually listened so well to everything she said was suddenly acting like this.
“…Let’s talk after we both cool our heads a bit.”
Creak— Thud.
The door closed.
Left alone, Enoch bit his lip hard. If he didn’t, the tears would come.
When he was struggling against the fox, what had kept him going? If she had just hugged him tightly and worried about him without saying anything, he would have listened to her. He hated that Rionne didn’t understand that.
…No, he didn’t hate her. He was just hurt.
After breathing deeply and thinking for a long time, Enoch suddenly got up from the bed. A wave of dizziness hit him and his body swayed, but he didn’t stop. He spotted his mercenary tag, grabbed it, and opened the door.
Creak—
The moment he stepped out, Rionne, who had noticed immediately, glared at him fiercely.
“Enoch. I told you to stay inside.”
“…….”
Enoch ignored her and kept walking. When he opened the front door and stepped into the yard, the sun—completely indifferent to human feelings—stabbed at his eyes.
“Enoch!”
“…Don’t care.”
“Are you really going to act like this, Enoch?”
Enoch whipped his head around and stared at her with a savage look. There stood Rionne with her eyes sharply raised—an unfamiliar expression.
“…Idiot. I hate you.”
With those final words, Enoch released lightning from the tips of his toes.
KWAAAAAAAAANG───────!!!
His body shot high into the sky. From the rapidly shrinking house, Rionne’s faint voice could be heard.
— Enoch! Enoch…!
It was a desperate cry. His heart wavered for a moment, but Enoch steeled himself.
Serves her right. Let her worry a little.
And so, the Heavenly Slaughter Star ran away from home.