Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: 54. The One Who Cannot Be Forgiven (4)
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Yuri tried speaking to Gert, but all he got were occasional short replies. He couldn't draw out a real conversation.
Yuri realized that the man's reason was no longer intact.
Becoming a Death Knight had worn away so much of him, replaced by raw aggression toward the living.
They were locked in this grueling battle when it happened.
"Uh..."
"What?"
The grand library where Pierre had dashed shook violently.
At the same moment, Gert's movements came to a dead halt.
"Die!"
Simon, oblivious to the shift and still swinging his sword wildly, struck Gert. But he was the one flung back.
Even so, Gert showed no reaction. He simply stared at the grand library.
Something was unfolding.
Yuri, Guilty slung over his shoulder, eyed Ivan's crew. They gazed at the grand library, arms spread wide in apparent glee.
"Finally, it's come to pass."
"Ooh..."
"Did it work?"
They muttered things like that.
Gert's pause gave them breathing room. Yuri signaled the others to hold position, then strode to Ivan and seized him by the collar.
"Explain. What's going on now?"
The man replied with eyes burning strangely.
"It will awaken."
"What will?"
"A new being to serve Him."
"Who is 'Him'?"
"That's..."
Ivan suddenly swung his sword at Yuri.
"None of your business!"
Yuri blocked the strike as if expecting it, then hooked his leg to trip him. Ivan rolled across the floor trying to flee, but Yuri yanked him back by the hair.
In the end, Ivan's neck snapped as he slammed back at Yuri's feet.
"Trying to stab me in the back again?"
"Gah..."
The remaining mercenaries surrounded Yuri, weapons trained on him.
Yuri dragged Guilty across Ivan's throat, drawing blood, then addressed them.
"Explain what your boss said."
One of the bowmen spoke up.
"It's over now. We need to run."
"What's over?"
"The demon flower slumbering in Adelbine will rise. That Death Knight's done for too. There's nothing we can do."
"Demon flower?"
"Sorry for the deception, but we all had our own motives. We have to flee now. It's the only way to survive."
"Not planning on it. Tell me who this 'Him' is and what the demon flower is. All of it."
"No time..."
At that instant, one wall of the grand library crumbled.
All eyes turned.
Black mist poured from the breach, spreading across the hall in seconds. The mercenaries' eyes glazed over.
Yuri felt the vile malice probing his mind too.
But Heart-Soul Severing rejected the impure intrusion. Mana surged through him like a disinfectant.
Yuri shouted.
"Everyone, snap out of it!"
Jared held steady, but Simon and Guinness might not.
Turning, he saw an unexpected sight. Corey was shielding the group with magic. The dark power from the library couldn't breach it.
"Oh..."
Yuri gave him a thumbs-up.
Meanwhile, the mercenaries trudged toward the library like thralls. Even Ivan, pinned down, wore a dazed expression and struggled to reach it.
Hose approached.
"Your Highness, I don't know much about magic, but that's black magic. It's bewitching them."
"Should we run?"
"Probably... but..."
Yuri and Hose glanced at Gert simultaneously.
The still figure began to move.
At first, Yuri thought he was bewitched too.
But Gert attacked the mercenaries heading for the library.
Fleeing wouldn't help. They lacked the will to resist on their own.
As Gert cut them down one by one, Yuri muttered while watching.
"What a mess this is turning into."
Gert ripped the hearts from the fallen mercenaries and crushed them overhead.
Blood soaked his skull as the core in his chest flared brightly.
Gert's aura grew stronger.
Corey, observing, spoke up.
"Your Highness. I think I get it."
"Tell me."
"I can feel it. Something evil was sealed in that library."
"And?"
"Like with Okua, it needs living sacrifices. Gert's been providing them instead. Whether intentional or not, killing off lifeforms kept it sealed by starving it."
Corey's reasoning rang true. Yuri had suspected as much.
Was there a reason behind the Death Knight's massacres, refusing death to keep slaughtering?
But his hands were stained with far too much blood already.
"Life, huh..."
Yuri gave a wry smile.
If only everyone could be happy. But no such world existed.
"Hey."
Yuri kicked Ivan's subdued head. The man blinked back to awareness, looking around wildly.
"What the hell..."
"What do you think? You got bewitched."
"Ah..."
"One question. Answer or die. Who is this 'Him' you mentioned?"
"Him is..."
Ivan looked at Yuri, then the library spewing darkness and Gert before it.
He licked his dry lips and opened his mouth.
"Will you really let me live if I answer?"
"Yeah."
"He is..."
His head exploded.
Ivan's skull shattered, splattering blood and brains across the floor. Yuri stared at the gruesome sight and muttered.
"He is who?"
"Not a name. Like 'he's the one' kind of 'he'?"
"Figured as much."
"Yeah."
"Damn it."
Ivan had some kind of curse too. Yuri kicked the headless corpse aside and turned away.
Gert stared at the library.
What was he thinking?
Yuri called out.
"Hey, Gert."
Surprisingly, a response came.
"Huh, he answered?"
Dust-laden wind swept through his skeletal frame. Bereft of plate armor, the bare-boned Death Knight looked precarious, ready to collapse.
Gert spoke.
"What about you?"
Gert turned his back, as if there was nothing more to say.
"No one around here explains a damn thing properly."
Yuri circulated his Mana Circulation Method, peering into the heart-soul realm.
Everything had changed.
The grand library was consumed by pitch-black energy, twisted into a grotesque monster writhing with tentacles. Opposing it, Gert was no longer a skull-headed Death Knight but a knight in weathered armor, cape billowing.
Yuri spotted something at his core.
The character was etched there.
It pulsed periodically, as if trying to convey a message.
Viewing Gert and the library through the heart-soul realm, it all clicked.
Gert was ultimately a product of black magic too.
Thus, he could never truly destroy the demon flower. His utmost resistance was slaughtering Adelbine's lifeforms to cut off its sustenance.
A stubbornly tragic path.
But Yuri was different.
He approached Gert from behind and shouted.
"Gert. I'll help you."
Gert halted and turned.
His glowing eyes flickered.
"No. You can't kill it. You know that."
"I can kill it."
Gert eyed Yuri. Yuri repeated firmly.
"I can cut black magic."
Erich Brioll had journeyed east, absorbing their martial arts to forge an entirely new Mana Circulation Method.
The details were unknown, but one thing was clear.
He sought a blade to oppose evil.
Thus, Heart-Soul Severing—the sword that cleaved heart and soul—reached Yuri.
"I am Yuri Brioll, third prince of Brioll. I can slay beings of darkness. I intend to eradicate every black magic spawn in Adelbine. You can trust me."
His declaration carried weight.
Gert stared with crimson-glowing eyes, silent for a long moment. His core blazed like wildfire. The "Fate" etched upon it shone brighter.
Gert spoke.
"Yes."
"Swear?"
Yuri couldn't help but chuckle.
Oaths had lost all meaning long ago.
The world was full of those who swore falsely without a second thought.
What an outdated knight.
Hand to his chest, Yuri replied.
"Of course. I swear on all my honor. In return, you owe me something too."
He stepped closer. Close enough that if Gert changed his mind, a swing would end it—but Yuri didn't care.
Face-to-face, he said.
"The being that destroyed Adelbine now aims to devour the entire continent. I plan to stop it. Once the demon flower is gone, tell me everything you know."
Gert regarded him wordlessly.
Yuri didn't press.
Instead, he clapped the knight's shoulder like a comrade.
"Got it?"
Having glimpsed his true form in the heart-soul realm, Yuri no longer saw a skeletal Death Knight.
Just a stern-faced, rigid knight standing there.
Gert stared a while longer, then silently turned and marched toward the library.
The bony figure advancing on the enemy was both pitiful and solemn.
He would fight until his soul wore away completely.
Yuri called to the rest.
"No more fighting Gert."
"He didn't answer just now, did he?"
"He did."
"Huh?"
"You couldn't see it..."
Guilty over his shoulder, Yuri looked up at the black tentacles extending from the library.
"He winked."
"What?"
"Let's go. The culprit behind Adelbine's fall is in there. Our enemy was never Gert—it was those ugly tentacles. Now I'm in the mood to fight."
"Damn, first a corpse pile, now tentacles..."
"We making it out alive?"
"Don't jinx it."
"This is what makes coming to Adelbine worth it. Haha!"
"I'll follow Your Highness as always."
"I'll do my best."
Everyone chimed in. Some grumbled, but none backed down.
Yuri led the way, the others falling in naturally.
Same formation as ever.
Yuri said.
"Don't die. I'll make any dead man pay."
"How, if we're dead?"
"Curious? Try dying."
The grand library began collapsing. Tentacles radiating outward pulverized the outer walls, revealing its hideous form.
Atop it loomed a crimson-black mass of flesh.
At the center gaped a horrific maw spewing dark currents.
"Corey, focus on blocking mental attacks."
"Yes!"
"Simon, Guinness—protect Corey first and fight."
"Yes!"
"Sir Hose, handle it your way."
"Leave it to me!"
"Rolang, Jared."
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Let's do this."
"We'll give it our all."
"Give it a shot."
Corey fell back, forming hand seals. Simon and Guinness guarded him, wary of tentacles.
Hose split off, seeking openings.
Rolang and Jared flanked Yuri.
"Gert's the strongest—support him, don't get cocky. Clear?"
"Yes!"
"And..."
Everyone drew swords.
No time for more orders.
Gert charged the demon flower.
Yuri roared.
"Make it count!"
He lay prostrate in pitch-black darkness.
Each breath released a sulfurous reek.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.
Countless characters flickered over his yellow pupils, then vanished. Soon, one emerged, illuminating the gloom.
It grew brighter until it lit the cavern.
He tilted his head.
The glow wasn't his own. Like the moon, it reflected a greater source.
So, what was this blinding light's origin? His pupils darted wildly through the void.
They fixed on one point.
His gaze pierced beyond the cavern, to some distant place.
At last, his mouth opened.