Not a Bad Performance
The gaze from the sky erupted into a cylindrical pillar, tracing parabolic arcs amid rippling waves. Its true form was Rowen.
Ssssk! A compressed sonic boom tore through the air, pressing down on the heavens themselves. Black and red streaks chased each other in straight lines. Sword met spear, and an ice shield unleashed a deafening roar of destruction. The wide-area shield amplified into a barrier of blue energy—a true sanctuary, an absolute bastion wherever the hero's feet touched.
"Ice Ground!"
The pinnacle of magic closed in on Tesiah. Sensing the suffocating pressure, she twisted her body to the extreme, veering off course. This was no laughing matter. One of the Five Prophets' seats, a gift from Nom—a cubic artifact—locked onto the man before her. Realization dawned.
"Oppa... you're a Valenos, aren't you?"
Tesiah's eyes shifted. In unifying the demon cult, the Valenos family was a hindrance. That was the higher-ups' judgment. Muron's legacy, magitech. The Valenos family's unique mana and blood would make monumental contributions to its study. At least, that's what Muron had believed. So they hadn't stopped at offering the continent to them—they'd even raided Winterer.
Rowen glared at Tesiah. The demon cult. He couldn't fathom what madness drove them to side with the Demon Kings, to abandon their humanity and become demons. And why the obsessive interest in his Valenos family... It was exhausting.
"Hmm... Oppa, are you Kael? But you're too young for that."
"...Don't cross the line."
"Hm... Aha! You're Cain, right? The idiot from Valenos?"
"You're dead."
She'd struck a nerve. Rowen kicked off the air, and weapons cloaked in black aura followed in his wake. At his command, the swords danced. Tesiah manipulated her magic spear at extreme speeds. Sword and spear wove a crimson-and-azure ballet. He unleashed slashing strikes with his muscled arms. A crescent of black sword-qi curved toward her, cleaving through. But it was an afterimage—her speed so blinding it left a lingering trace!
"Young master!"
Bam! Arahan blocked Tesiah's kick. Her blue eyes tracked the woman's movements without fail, raising Rosbriel. The sword-qi of compressed gravity blazed fiercely. Arahan swung horizontally, using her shoulder to maintain perfect balance. Tesiah summoned her hovering magic spear to parry Rosbriel.
"Hehe... You're really in the way."
"...Why target the young master?"
"'Cause Nom-oppa told me to!"
"Nom?"
"You wouldn't know him even if I told you. I don't even know what that oppa's thinking."
Crunch! Tesiah's magic spear began crumpling under gravity's crush. She clicked her tongue, abandoning it on the spot and retreating. The spear disintegrated. But she compressed demonic energy anew, forging a fresh one.
Mio stood by Arahan, layering strength buffs and healing spells. She shouted,
"Rian! That bitch's body regeneration is insane!"
"...Regeneration?"
"It's straight out of Lucifer's Four Heavenly Kings."
The source of the golems' restorative power: Lucifer's Four Heavenly Kings. They all possessed overwhelming regeneration. Magitech had always been tainted by demonic hands, past and present. It displayed utterly unforeseen capabilities. That's why they were deemed high-risk threats.
Rowen pondered. His black sword-qi disintegrated even golems at the cellular level. So if he killed this woman here... wouldn't he know if it worked against golems too? If proven, he could reclaim Snowfall. Unintended, but he glimpsed hope. No—this had been an opportunity from the start. One he couldn't squander. If he proved he could slay a demon here, collapse them at the cellular level... If he tested his limits against golems, victory was certain.
Muron had claimed to refine the golems himself. But no way he'd made that many alone. Others must have succeeded too.
Mio activated the clock rune once more. The sky parted, revealing massive hour and minute hands. Tick-tock, tick-tock. They raced furiously—then halted. In that instant, Tesiah's body slowed again.
Arahan and Mio read Rowen's gaze. He was asking for it. Arahan knew because she always watched him. Mio knew from their long time together. Rowen wanted her feet bound. Reading his intent, they acted. As Mio slowed Tesiah, Arahan summoned chains from unseen voids. Even as Tesiah evaded tenaciously, Arahan spat curses—but to Rowen, her movements became an advantage.
Matching her pace, Rowen gripped an Ice Halberd and smashed it down. It arced in a parabola, black haze trailing like a tail. Boom! Collision. Demonic energy shattered into fragments. The magic spear cracked anew. They locked in a brief contest of strength.
Crack... Black sword-qi fissured the spear, corrosion spreading. Like holy power purging darkness, it sanctified.
Rowen eyed his foe. "What drove you to crave power, abandoning your humanity?"
"You wouldn't get it even if I told you."
"...Revenge, then?"
"Hehe... How'd you guess? Yup, spot on, oppa."
As expected. Rowen sighed into his palm. Even now, those who'd become demons were consumed by vengeful madness. Their hatred mostly aimed at humanity. Over half betrayed by loved ones, family. The rest had lost all human compassion. Innocent of prior crimes, they accrued sin upon embracing evil—the only way to quell their boiling rage.
But...
"Doesn't forgive your sins."
"Never sought forgiveness. Who's gonna absolve me? Why?"
"...Twisted."
He amplified the black sword-qi, advancing amid a barrage of blue flames. Tesiah dodged at supersonic speeds. Rowen exploited the gap, igniting his sword-qi. Whoosh! Blue ice blades darkened.
"Tch."
His power hadn't fully returned—he felt it. Normally, one swing would shatter mountains. Now, it merely leveled the surroundings.
"Still enough."
That last strike proved it. Amplify further, and he could slay this "prophet" before him—like the Four Heavenly Kings of old. Rowen infused his current body with past memories. His aura shifted. The motions of that distant youth, swinging his sword alone, melted into him.
Tesiah faltered. Her senses screamed. Fear? Her? No...
"No way..."
Her corrupted heart. Something linked to its abyssal depths trembled. The seed of corruption planted at birth had bloomed into a flower—and its petals quivered. Shadows of the Four Heavenly Kings recalled the distant past, memories flashing through her mind.
—Hero!
—You're the monster.
—Regeneration can't keep up...?
—Aah! Lord Lucifer!
Four memories. Their brief final moments projected before her eyes. Trembling, she gripped her magic spear tight.
"Hehe... Muron-oppa picked a fight with this monster?"
Valenos family. Guardians and true powers of northern Winterer. Their unique mana amplified down generations. Power inherited too. An absurd lineage.
"Even the Valenos idiot's this strong... What about Kael?"
"You fucking cunt. Stop right there."
"Huh? Hate being called the idiot?"
No.
"Comparing me to that retarded little shit Cain was your first mistake."
"Eh... not Cain? Then you really are Kael? Rumors say he's an adult though..."
"You lot don't deserve to utter my brother's name."
Demons and demonkin. Birds of a feather.
"Then maybe..."
Trading blows with Rowen, Tesiah accelerated her thoughts. Not Kael Valenos. Not Cain Valenos. Karin Valenos? No, too young—and a girl. Only one left.
"Oppa... are you the rumored illegitimate son?"
"Yeah. Figured it out?"
Tesiah could only frown. A mere bastard this strong? How monstrous were the direct heirs? Or... maybe Rowen was just an irregular. Even mighty Kadan had fallen to Muron's golem. She couldn't smash one either... but Kadan had strength.
"Ha! A bastard's this good...? Doesn't match the rumors!"
"That's called a preconception."
Clang! Rowen swung, unleashing sword-qi waves. Black lines surged like tides. Layered and compressed, it collapsed Tesiah's arm at the cellular level.
"Ugh!"
"Got her."
Arahan, waiting below, hurled chains. Tesiah tried regenerating her vanished arm.
"Can't?!"
Rowen's black aura blocked it.
As expected.
Rowen thought. Power not fully restored. But suppressing that regeneration meant golem fights would be utter domination. He'd dragged this out to confirm. Now he knew all he needed. Sure, he wanted intel on the cult—but they'd self-destruct. Fanatics to the core. Mio probably knew anyway; she'd left for investigation long ago.
Rowen beckoned to the flailing Tesiah. Weapons converged. Mana amplified via his core infused the ice armaments. Magic-forged blades charged ferociously.
Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!
"Gaaah...!"
Indescribable agony flooded Tesiah's mind. Weapons pierced her unrecognizably—abdomen, lower body, legs, neck. Black aura halted regeneration. Corrosion spread, veins carrying dark holy energy.
Here, she was merely Rowen's dummy for testing his power.
As predicted, her flesh began bloating.
"...Huh?"
No no no no no no no no no no no no no no!
Facing her impending death, terror gripped her. Meeting Lord Lucifer first time, no pain—just sorrow, laughter... Why? Why no recovery? What is this black power? Wrong...
Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong!
Conflicting demonic energies clashed within, opposite attributes rending organs into fissures.
Rowen clenched his fist. Impaled weapons erupted fiercer sword-qi.
"KyaAAAAH!"
"A bit more."
"Kkh...! Ngh..."
"More."
Tiny black points dotted her innards like stars—each a budding black hole. Swelling energies devoured her form. Ensuring no corpse recovery from hell.
"Told you. Who said kill people?"
Revenge was fine, but needless slaughter? No. Humanity's foe was demons. Demons didn't see humans as foes. Hence the line. Not hypocrisy. If someone spat, "You've killed plenty," they'd be idiots. Demons viewed humans as non-threats—yet slaughtered masses. Revenge wrong? No—they killed first. Even if humans tormented you, no excuse to kill innocents. Target only the guilty. Demons? Evil from birth. Must vanish from the world.
Rowen gazed at Tesiah with emotionless eyes. Arahan's chains tightened. Mio managed his and Arahan's stamina.
"That's enough."
Rowen aligned Ice Blade with his sightline. Blade to foe. View to tip. Simultaneously—
Slash!
He drew. A flash etched a black line. Rowen became shadowed light! Frost rays splintered outward. Energy that once shattered mountains, atomizing foes, consumed Tesiah's vision.
"Lord Lucifer...!"
A final, pleading wail. With that, her trace erased from the world.