Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: I Will No Longer Hold Back
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“Forcibly consuming your life force.”
At his observation, Inellia bit her lip and replied in a solemn tone.
“You mustn’t, Young Master. Even if I have to sacrifice my life, I must…”
“Must what?”
“I must kill him. If I don’t kill that monster…”
“Then what about Linbelle?”
“…Please take good care of her.”
Allen burst into laughter at her answer.
“You claim to cherish her, yet you’d leave her to me? How amusing.”
The mention of Linbelle made her pupils tremble violently, but she bit her lip hard. Wasn’t it a little too late to change her mind now?
“Would you still think the same if she were here?”
But even that resolve crumbled at his next words.
“What!? Don’t tell me, Young Master…”
As she stared at him with disbelief, Allen gestured toward the entrance.
At his gesture, Linbelle, who had been watching from the entrance all along, shot out at high speed and leaped into her mother’s arms.
“…Mom!”
“Linbelle… How are you…”
She looked at Linbelle in her arms with astonished eyes, but she didn’t let go.
Instead, she hugged her even tighter.
Then she looked at him with reproachful eyes.
“Young Master, why…”
“Mother, stop. I begged the Young Master to bring me here.”
“But…”
As if severing something within herself, she glared at the Chimera Creator with eyes full of hatred.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Linbelle…”
“It was my choice, my will. Don’t blame the Young Master.”
“Still, for you to come to such a dangerous place…”
“It’s because of that, isn’t it?”
The source of it all, the one who kidnapped her mother and led her here.
“…Well.”
That single phrase left her speechless.
“You came here alone thinking you just had to kill that thing, didn’t you!”
As if remembering something she had forgotten, she looked around.
“I remember this place. Not clearly… but I know it’s not a good place. But can you come all this way by yourself and defeat them all?”
“…”
“You can’t. That’s why you’ve been hiding until now. Or is it something else? Am I a burden, just like that monster said?”
“No!”
Inellia quickly cut her off.
“…That’s not it.”
“I know. It’s just… that’s just how I felt. How weak I am, how much I don’t know.”
Watching Francisca fight the monster that destroyed the mansion.
Watching Allen defeat countless monsters.
And feeling her own powerlessness.
Linbelle had come to realize how easily the daily life she enjoyed could be shattered, and how small her world had been.
I.
‘I want to be stronger.’
Like Young Master Allen.
Her goal had unknowingly shifted to the one who killed monsters alone and forged ahead.
As Linbelle hugged Inellia tightly, her mother couldn’t hide her indecision.
“Planning to die in front of your daughter? Tsk… I can’t imagine how deeply that would wound her.”
Allen spoke in a feigned tone of pity as he looked at her.
“But… if I can’t kill that monster…”
“If that’s the problem…”
Allen slowly took a step forward.
“I will handle it.”
“But, Young Master. Dver is truly strong…”
So what? Just because he’s strong. How is that a problem?
The one he aimed for was always lofty and distant.
“If you are a maid,”
He had been frustrated all along.
The events that unfolded differently from what he knew, the future that kept twisting, the one who clung to him pretending to be close.
Francisca was acting differently from how he remembered her.
Even after he chose to save the territory’s people, it was all for naught.
Even when he tried to take in Linbelle and Inellia, Inellia was kidnapped.
The traps and chimeras that were different from his memories, and even her resolve to face death.
All of it.
“Do your duty and listen to your master.”
Perhaps he just needed someone to take his anger out on.
But what did it matter?
That bastard had taken what was mine, something I had finally resolved to accept, and I was merely here to get it back.
Wasn’t that enough?
What more was needed? What reason was there to hold back?
Therefore.
“I will no longer hold back.”
A great circle near Allen’s heart began to spin rapidly, letting out a low hum like a ship’s horn.
His eyes turned to the creature that was transforming into a grotesque mass of flesh.
The source of his regrets before his regression, and the villain who had once again obstructed him.
“Dver, was it?”
The bastard who served me a shit sandwich.
After so much time, he finally faced him.
When he first headed to the city, Allen’s goal was simple.
Change the past.
By cleanly resolving the mistakes he had made, he would put the knotted feelings in his heart to rest.
If he were to add one more thing, it would be to recruit talented individuals.
That was all.
He had never wished for more, nor had he acted beyond that.
To finish what he set out to do.
That was all, and yet.
Why.
“Are you the cause of all this?”
Why had things turned out this way?
Allen’s gaze fell on the creature, which was still devouring the surrounding chimeras.
He hadn’t panicked even when Allen intervened.
Because he already knew.
“You must be the intruder who trespassed in the mountains.”
“That’s right. I’ve come for what’s mine.”
He looked at Allen with an even more peculiar gaze. His intense stare was focused on Allen’s heart.
“Are you after the Dragon’s Heart?”
“What if I am?”
“Then you desire the impossible.”
He looked at Allen with pity. Allen smirked and replied.
“Does that have anything to do with the current situation?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“I just feel sorry for a young man like you.”
Ha. A laugh escaped him. How dare a failure like him speak of me.
“Chimera Creator, the same goes for you.”
His senses sharpened. Countless threads shot out from within his domain, filling the empty air.
It had been strange from the beginning.
For a mage, perception was more than just a sense.
It was the root and sum of all means—to recognize, interact with, and handle the form of prana.
To waste such a perceptive ability by using failed chimeras like these. He finally understood the reason.
That bastard, that monster.
“You planned to discard magic from the start.”
Since he intended to modify his body, he wouldn’t have needed the existing hierarchy of magic.
The bastard’s perception was nearly depleted from sacrificing so many chimeras. How, then, would he face Allen?
*Crrrack—*
Simple.
‘One of the Chimera Creator’s ultimate ambitions is to transmute their own body.’
The bastard’s body began to change.
Having devoured all the nearby chimeras, regardless of whether they were alive or dead, he writhed as a giant mass of flesh.
The great circle near Allen’s heart began to vibrate, emitting a loud roar.
*Vwoooom—*
To attempt to shed one’s human form for something else, it was truly the stuff of stories.
“…I am fond of clever individuals.”
Dver replied. He grinned with the half of his face that remained.
“So I would like you to become a part of this old man. Will you cooperate?”
The bastard’s skeleton began to change. Emitting bubbling foam, it started to compress into a single form, unlike the demonic chimeras, a massive lump of flesh.
Allen could only stand by and watch.
As disgusting and horrifying as the act was, it was still a form of magic.
Magic.
The act of twisting the essence of the world under human will, using a system one has understood.
Unless one had mastered the same system, all acts of reverse-engineering or interference were futile.
A formula born from the human mind, from the realm of imagination, could run wild in a strange direction if meddled with.
Allen shouted to Inellia and Linbelle, who were watching blankly.
“Get back.”
“But…”
“I said, get back.”
Just as Inellia was about to say something, Linbelle pulled her hand.
“It’s okay, the Young Master will win.”
“But, Linbelle…”
The hesitant Inellia finally left through the entrance, prompted by Linbelle’s urging and Allen’s gesture to leave.
“You’re not leaving?”
“Then who’s going to stop you?”
Allen said as he walked forward.
A three-meter domain.
Within this tiny domain, he could do anything.
He could.
He had to.
Belief. That was the beginning and the end of magic.
“Young man, are you confident?”
“Should I run if I’m not?”
The bastard chuckled lowly. What a joke. As if he had any intention of letting him go.
“We’ll all meet again shortly.”
The bastard’s voice grew clearer.
A sign that the magic was complete.
Countless threads extending around Allen began to weave together. He observed his opponent.
Perfectly formed muscles filled his entire body.
Two horns sprouted from each temple for a total of four, and black carapaces covered various parts of his body.
The remaining areas showcased raw, reddish-black muscles, flaunting a grotesque appearance.
“Inside me, that is.”
*Thwack.* The bastard kicked off the ground.
In that instant, Dver’s body vanished. Allen’s expression hardened.
Allen dispersed a light shockwave into the surrounding space.
*Bang!*
The bastard’s body didn’t waver in the slightest. He moved in a straight line without faltering.
He swung a large fist. A clumsy punch, but the result was anything but light.
*CRASH!*
“My, my, I can’t even control a single body… How embarrassing. Haha.”
The bastard’s fist missed Allen and shattered the floor beside him.
Allen seized the opportunity, using a portion of his threads to strike the space.
*BOOM!*
The impact was strong enough to snap the bastard’s head to the side for a moment. But there was no wound on his face.
The shockwave had struck his face, but it had done nothing more than make his head shake.
“Will that be enough, young man? Put some more effort into it. A new body… It feels quite good.”
Dver swung his fist again.
His body’s movements, posture, distribution of power—everything was crude, as if he were doing it for the first time.
But the results that followed each action were not to be taken lightly.
The space screamed. The floor and walls crumbled under his steps, which failed to properly distribute his power.
He focused on the attack.
A stance without even the basics.
He ducked his head. The bastard’s fist cut through the air, missing by a hair’s breadth.
*Fwoosh—*
The next attack?
He looked at the bastard’s eyes. Slightly downward. His lower body twisted, and a contracted leg shot toward his lower half.
‘Move my body back a little.’
The extended leg made the space tremble, his clothes fluttering. Another attack came.
He didn’t just dodge once. He watched the punch, the contraction of the muscles, the center of gravity, the gap in breathing, and even the follow-through of his gaze.
He saw everything,
and moved his body.
A wide sweeping kick from the right. He bent his back deeply while taking a step to the side.
*CRASH!*
A hole was blown through the spot where he had been standing. The bastard, seemingly excited, let out a roar and increased his speed. He moved his feet, aiming for the gap in breathing.
A small shockwave broke the bastard’s momentum.
“Yooouuuu!”
A barrage of attacks poured down.
Fists rained down from all directions like a storm.
He closed his eyes.
As long as he was within his domain, he didn’t need to see to feel, so there was no need to rely on sight.
He moved his upper body.
He didn't need much. Just a slight tilt of his left shoulder.
*Whoosh!*
A fist pierced the empty air behind his already-moved body.
His breath came in ragged bursts. His muscles trembled, and his breathing was unsteady.
An alarm bell rang in his head.
Within Allen’s domain, threads wove together. He formed a hand sign with one hand, dodged an attack, and formed another. The threads overlapped.
One layer, two layers, three layers.
Something ordinary wouldn’t work.
A simple shockwave couldn’t even leave a scratch.
‘Then?’
What else?
Something that could kill him.
His eyes sank deep.
The bastard’s body? A synthetic lifeform based on chimeras.
Its durability?
Its attack power?
What about its patterns?
‘More.’
Allen’s hands moved.
An ash-gray drum materialized behind him.
As Allen struck the air, a sound echoed from the drum.
*Dooong—*
The moment the drum appeared, Dver hastily covered his ears.
He hadn't expected this method to work anyway.
As his hand sign reversed, a golden hammer fell from the air.
“This is…!”
The hammer was faster than whatever the bastard was shouting.
*BOOM!*
The space trembled, and a faint wind blew. He retreated, thinking.
‘That was shallow.’
Just before the hammer fell, whether by superhuman senses or primal instinct, Dver had managed to twist his body away. Allen clicked his tongue and withdrew his hand.
He could see the bastard’s condition.
A small, dented scratch was visible on the carapace covering his head.
“I underestimated you. I let my guard down, thinking you only had a single discipline… That was dangerous.”
Dver looked at him with an admiring tone.
Seeing this, the corner of Allen’s mouth twitched. Just how incredible was that bastard’s physical ability? To only be damaged that much.
‘To think you’re only this strong.’
Allen knew.
He knew the power the bastard who stole his brother’s body would possess, his future, and his limits.
That bastard was a hero.
He vanquished disasters wherever he went, making his name known throughout the world.
Compared to someone like that, the Chimera Creator, Dver, the bastard in front of him.
“Is that all you have?”
He was too pathetic.
His thoughts intersected.
Because of a piece of trash like this.
Is he even at the fifth circle?
Under his focused will, tens, hundreds, thousands of threads, each with its own form, wove together and filled the space.
“It’s a waste to even compare you to him.”
He arranged the concepts arrayed in his mind. Imagination materialized, and reality was altered.
The magic, manifested under his perception, granted substance to each of the tangled threads.
The schools of magic he had focused on his entire life before regressing were Soul, Space, and Contract.
The essence of the world as he understood it began to change according to his will.
The great circle near his heart spun explosively, spewing out threads.
“You have a harsh way with words, young man. So… I won’t be careless this time.”
Dver moved.
Allen narrowed his eyes. Above Allen’s domain, hundreds, or perhaps more, of black-green swords took aim at Dver.
Fists and swords clashed. The black-green swords repeatedly struck the incredibly hard flesh. Dver shattered the weapons, slowly closing the distance.
Dver’s posture was rapidly correcting itself.
From the clumsy movements of a child, it became more precise, faster.
He was adapting to his new body at an astonishing rate.
“Your prana manipulation is special. You have a promising future.”
*Crack—*
The swords shattered.
The broken fragments littered the ground, but only small scratches marked his body.
‘Any decisive wounds?’
None.
The bastard kicked the ground hard. As he charged in a straight line, Allen forcibly amplified his senses.
A momentary physical amplification.
Dver’s fist shot out powerfully. His simple punch made the entire space rumble.
Allen’s prana, not circulating through his body, imperfectly amplified his senses.
He could see Dver’s expression. Exhilaration, joy, greed, and.
‘Arrogance.’
The imperfectly amplified senses perceived the world in disjointed frames.
His thoughts couldn’t keep up with his senses. His vision was misaligned like a broken windowpane, and his ears were filled with nothing but ringing.
In that dislocated world, a stinging ecstasy tightened its grip on him.
*BOOM!*
“…How?”
“What? Are you so curious about a mage blocking with magic?”
He hadn’t meant to speak so crudely, but an unpleasant smile slipped past his lips.
“If you’ve abandoned magic, then shut up and be satisfied with the results. I am not like you.”
Different. Before he could finish his sentence, another attack came.
His senses amplified again.
The world slowed down.
Everything around him disappeared, leaving only the image of the bastard.
Within the imperfect senses, in the jagged, irregularly stretching vision.
The bastard’s breath, the fine hairs brushing against his skin, the rising dust and stone fragments, and his roaring cry—all of it grew closer and more distant at the same time.
‘Can I kill him with just this?’
Even in a situation where he could die, that bastard’s face came to mind.
His brother’s face, that stolen face, smiling so shamelessly.
‘You were always like that.’
As if he were the real brother, as if it had always been that way.
He poured prana into himself.
He still didn’t know how to find his brother’s soul.
And yet, time flows. When would he be able to find his brother? That bastard was getting stronger, but he didn’t even have a clue where to find his soul.
‘What good are theories?’
Even if he researched how to return the body, his brother wasn’t there.
He hated it with a sickening disgust.
How long did he have to face that bastard and smile? And what about those bastards behind his father?
And how long must I.
‘First, this one.’
To look toward the future, he had to overcome the present.
He moves his body. He assists it with prana.
A little more, even by force.
‘My brother.’
As his senses amplified, his skin became painfully sensitive, and everything grew vivid. Into that distorted landscape.
‘Wait for me.’
As the flow of every moment was perceived, within the ungraspable stream.
Into that state of ecstasy where everything flowed slowly.
He took a step forward.