Chapter 267
Chapter 267
Translation: Godtl
Notker felt something strange during the fight.
His battle with Aster was evenly matched. Their sword strikes barely grazed each other's skin and tore at their collars.
They dodged and blocked each other by a hair's breadth, occasionally daring to counterattack—a constant back-and-forth.
He didn't know how many exchanges had passed, but the balance of power remained taut.
That's why he noticed.
'......What is this?'
Amid the prolonged deadlock, he hadn't realized it at first.
But soon, a chilling thought struck Notker.
'Why has this fight been perfectly even from the very beginning until now?'
At the start, Notker had fought lightly to gauge Aster's skill. In response, Aster blocked with clumsy defenses.
Then, after Aster's provocation—though not quite a provocation—Notker raised his Aura and began fighting seriously.
From holding back at first to now giving it his all.
Strangely, every stage had been 'evenly matched.'
'What? No, that's impossible! It can't be!'
Notker was a man who rivaled the Zodiacs. He was a recognized powerhouse within Manggot. Moreover, those called the Shepherds of the Round Table were individuals whose combat prowess never fell behind the Zodiacs.
Swish! Swoosh!
Craaack!!
His sword grazed Aster's cheek, cutting through his hair. Their blades clashed, and Notker countered Aster's retaliation.
......All of it, in an instant.
It felt like watching actors perfectly synchronized on a theater stage.
'What is this? What am I even fighting......?'
Aster's face was serious, brimming with the ferocity and weight of battle.
Yet that very seriousness felt like—
"Grrk, y-you little shiiit!!!"
Notker's sword swung upward. A lightning-fast downward strike—a speed Aster hadn't dodged until now. He intended to force a contest of strength.
But then.
Tap
"Your lower guard is open."
With Aster's quiet whisper—
Crash!
Notker tumbled forward. Aster had swept his legs.
At that moment, Notker felt like one of the Monsters he had watched fall comically at the Barrier, colliding with each other from a single burst of Aster's Aura.
"You grew impatient, and your movements became larger."
"Wha—?"
Notker stood up. Those words weren't so easy to brush off.
His movements had gotten bigger? Of course he knew. But the speed Notker unleashed afterward—until now, Aster had blocked every single one. He had taken that risk precisely because he knew Aster would counter.
Until now, Aster had consistently defended against his speed. But now, because his movements had grown larger, Aster retaliated.
The implication was clear.
'......This bastard, he was matching me......!'
Aster wasn't failing to keep up with Notker's speed.
He had been adjusting to it all along.
"You bastard, how dare you fight me like that......!"
Notker's hands trembled violently. He had never felt such humiliation before.
In Manggot, where he was born and raised, the air was thick with killing intent. Unlike the Monsters, the people of Manggot weren't naive. It was a world where the slightest opening meant others would take everything from you.
But even so, no matter how foolishly they might throw their lives away against Notker, they all fought with the desperate will to survive and kill their enemies.
Notker remembered the faces of those staring death in the eye.
That's why he knew.
That's why Aster's face displeased him.
"Aster Evans......! You lack the will to fight for your life!"
Aster didn't carry the stench of death.
Notker's Aura concentrated into his sword. The Aura that had been flowing along his greatsword now expanded beyond the blade, increasing its thickness and length—just like how Frondier had extended the reach of his shortsword with Aura. The difference was that Frondier used it as a momentary 'trick' to adjust the blade's length, while Notker maintained it constantly.
"Give it everything you've got! Aster!!"
Notker roared with fury. His voice, infused with Aura, resounded across the battlefield.
As if finding it merely a bit noisy, Aster's expression slightly furrows.
"You're saying the same thing too."
"The same thing?"
"Everyone who fights me says that. 'Give it your all.'"
What kind of nonsense is that.
Does that mean he's been treating all his opponents until now in such a manner?
"I am giving it my all."
"Don't spout nonsense...!"
"As proof, I can now see your hidden strength."
"......!"
At that, Notker's words halt.
Aster continues to look at Notker with solemn eyes.
"What does 'giving it your all' even mean? Is recklessly charging at you with strength and speed surpassing yours what you consider giving your all? Had I done that, I would have panicked at your aura and lost my life by now."
Aster's aura swells. However, unlike Notker's, his blade doesn't lengthen. It simply becomes sharper and more solid.
"One of the greatest realizations I had at Constelle was that I know nothing about others."
There was a time when Aster's heart grew arrogant.
Blessed with divine power far surpassing others, possessing physical abilities that left others behind.
Raised under the hellish training of his sister, who had reached the pinnacle with swordsmanship alone.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he carried the expectations of not just Constelle but the entire continent. As his god Baldur had said, he was 'humanity's hope,' and he was acutely aware of it himself.
Yet.
A certain girl mastered aura far earlier than he did,
A hostile man displayed extraordinary talent in battle from the start,
And a classmate walked the path of a mage, bearing expectations equal to his own.
'...There's no one as pathetic as you, Aster.'
He mocks himself.
'I couldn't stand by their sides when it mattered. Not during the Raid on Constelle, nor during the School Trip. Blinded by my own greed, I failed to look around me.'
The voice of that inscrutable, pitch-black boy still lingers in his ears.
He believed he saw others without prejudice. That he trusted only what he saw and judged for himself. That he wouldn't be swayed by rumors or gossip about others.
Yet even Aster, upon hearing Baldur's warning and learning that the target was called the 'Human Sloth'—
'That's why you grew stronger. Because you saw me as a threat.'
What had he done?
What had he been looking at, Aster?
"No matter what you say, my approach remains the same."
"...You're still holding back?"
"You must have strength left too."
At those words, Notker feels an inexplicable chill.
Its nature is immediately clear.
"I will fight you until every last ounce of your strength is exhausted."
"You... bastard...!"
The reason Aster's face displeases him.
From the moment they first met until now, Aster has never truly looked at Notker.
His earnest, cautious gaze is fixed elsewhere.
"If one could fully understand another just through something like 'desperation,' how convenient that would be."
Aster's cold gaze remains unchanged.
Whether fighting Notker now or anyone in the past.
He is always facing the shadow of a single person.
While Aster battles Notker beneath the Barrier.
Hector begins to feel his vision blur.
"Drop the quivers! Archers! Draw your bowstrings to the fullest, even if it slows you down!"
Shouting orders to the soldiers atop the Barrier, checking the knights' situation, filling the void left by Aster, all while keeping an eye out for Mango's arrival.
And simultaneously monitoring the duel between Aster and Notker.
If only he had one more body—no, even one more might not be enough.
'Aster! Assess the situation! Something's wrong!'
Hector moves more diligently than anyone, rallying the soldiers, yet an overwhelming sense of unease grips him.
'The Monsters' quality is low. For creatures from the Outside, weak ones keep pouring in steadily.'
To someone unaware of the Barrier's situation, Hector's thoughts might seem favorable. But Monsters from the Outside always attack the Barrier the same way.
As time passed, the tier of monsters invading the barrier was rising.
This was because higher-tier monsters would first exhaust humanity's long-range capabilities like arrows and catapults to avoid taking damage from them.
Thus, the fact that so many low-tier monsters kept swarming in meant there were even more higher-tier monsters lying in wait.
'At this rate, we might even run out of arrows.'
Of course, Tyburn's Barrier was also garrisoned with mages. However, their magic had yet to be fully deployed. It was only used sporadically to wipe out large groups—committing their full strength was still premature.
This was a fact known to both humans and monsters alike.
Though it might seem like the monsters were being slaughtered now, humanity's current advantage in this skirmish was only natural—the true war hadn't even begun yet.
Kreeee! A bird-like creature shrieked with a cry resembling a scream as it swooped onto the barrier, each time throwing the defenses into chaos. These things were too fast to reliably hit with arrows, and swords couldn't reach them—they were easiest to target when they closed in to attack humans. And each failed attempt meant another soldier's life snuffed out just like that.
The increasing numbers of these monstrous birds were like a signal heralding the monsters' 'escalation.'
The next wave flying in numbered at least ten.
Grit.
Hector clenched his jaw.
His right hand spread open, gathering mana.
[This hand shall become a spear descending like a torrent.]
[The spear shall reach its foe and seek the next.]
Kwa-rrrum!
Hector's arm shot forward, and in an instant, a bolt of lightning struck the monstrous bird. The electricity arced through the air, scorching the sky before vanishing, and over ten of the creatures dropped dead onto the battlefield in a single stroke.
"Huff, hah... I didn't want to resort to this magic."
Hector clutched his trembling right hand after casting the spell.
His father, Ludwig's signature magic—'Chain Lightning.'
Naturally, as Ludwig had an innate talent for lightning magic, his son Hector also possessed some aptitude for it.
Of course, unlike Ludwig, Hector required chanting, had a slower casting speed, and its power fell short compared to his father's—but considering he wasn't even a mage to begin with, it was still an impressive feat.
"Captain! Are you alright?!"
"Yeah. Just a little dizzy."
The reason Hector avoided using this magic was the mana cost. And, of course, there was also his resentment toward the fact that it was Ludwig's magic—a man he refused to acknowledge as family. But he wasn't foolish enough to hesitate in battle over something like that.
Hector was a warrior first and foremost. His absolute mana reserves weren't vast. While the aura warriors used was fundamentally similar to mana, the way they utilized it was entirely different.
If mages prioritized fuel tanks, warriors needed powerful engines. Where mages drew upon stored mana in bursts, warriors accelerated the circulation speed of their aura.
"Still, with this, at least the 'birds' should be scared off for a while, buying us time to assess the situation..."
As he muttered this, Hector surveyed the battlefield.
His words died in his throat.
The battlefield was still filled with nothing but low-tier monsters. They continued mindlessly hurling themselves against the barrier as if their sole purpose was to become corpses before it.
Compared to the humans raining arrows, magic, and catapult fire, the monsters' methods of attack were laughably simple.
Even the more intelligent monsters rarely employed siege weapons. There were two primary reasons for this.
First, monsters couldn't coordinate like humans. It was in their nature. The higher a monster's intelligence, the stronger their individualism—making it difficult for such beings to gather and construct siege engines.
They lacked the materials, knowledge, and craftsmanship required, but more than anything, maintaining a collective effort long enough to build them was nearly impossible.
And the second reason was...
"...What the hell is that?"
The Abyssal Monsters—beings beyond even the monsters of the Outside.
Once they appeared, siege weapons became meaningless.
Ssss—
Ssshk—
From the far reaches of the battlefield, a massive group approached.
Unlike the other creatures, they didn't shriek or howl. The sound of their colossal bodies moving was almost imperceptible with each heavy step.
They approach quietly.
"......Mi...!"
Of course, Hector wasn't the only one who saw it.
When someone's mouth opened, Hector hesitated whether to stop them—but.
"MINOTAURS!!!!"
He realized there was no point in doing so.
Every person on the Barrier instantly raised their heads to look into the distance.
Upon confirming the bull-headed giants, none could maintain their composure.
"Hahk, heuk...!"
Hector was a strong warrior with exceptional senses. He could feel the power of the distant Minotaurs as if they were right before him.
......Even a single one among those dozens lying in wait—Hector couldn't leave so much as a scratch on them.
Naturally, his gaze turned beyond the Barrier.
"ASTEEEEER!!!"
Hector shouted. He didn't know if it meant anything. Aster must have already noticed the horde's arrival. But he had to shout. He couldn't calm himself otherwise.
"......"
Aster simply watched the approaching Minotaurs in silence.
Even Notker, who had been facing him, was stunned.
"Minotaurs...?"
For such monsters to charge already.
Not even Manggot knew where or how the monsters would breach the Barrier. They merely sought to exploit that power.
Notker's mind raced in that instant.
'If I keep fighting this bastard here, I'm a dead man.'
Facing Minotaurs was more reckless than fighting a Zodiac. Unless you were a mage, it was unthinkable for a warrior like him.
"Aster! We'll postpone our fight! You should retreat inside the Barrier too!"
Notker said this before breaking away and sprinting off. His words weren't out of concern for Aster—he was simply stating the obvious course of action.
But Aster.
"......Somehow."
Muttering something incomprehensible, he merely stared at the Minotaurs across the battlefield.
"That monster... It feels like the reason Frondier said what he did."
——Days earlier.
Frondier had informed Aster of his deployment location in advance.
At the time, Aster had nodded without much thought. Though Tyburn was a harsh region, nowhere else was any better. Moreover, Aster knew better than anyone that he had to take the most difficult post.
But then.
"......I'm sorry."
Frondier had said.
His hand trembled as he pointed at the map.
Frondier was afraid of something. The mere thought shocked Aster—he'd never considered Frondier capable of fear.
"What's there to apologize for? I expected this anyway."
At first, Aster thought it was because he was being sent to Tyburn.
"I'm sorry. No matter how much I racked my brain, this was the best I could do."
"......?"
Frondier's trembling hand clenched into a fist, yet the shaking didn't stop.
He gripped it so hard that blood dripped between his fingers.
"Hey, hey."
"This is as far as I go. After using every method, doing every filthy deed in the name of efficiency."
"......What?"
"Even knowing this, even knowing I've never gone beyond this point—I had no choice but to send you here."
Frondier muttered words Aster couldn't comprehend.
"You're an Aster Evans I don't know."
"So what the hell are you saying?"
"That's why I could only place my miserable hopes on you."
Aster tilted his head.
He still didn't understand, but one thing was clear.
These weren't words Frondier was speaking to Aster. It was something closer to atonement, a confession muttered from somewhere deep within.
"......Aster."
"What?"
"Show me that my past self was simply incompetent."
......And now.
Aster hadn't understood Frondier's words then, and still had no clue what they meant.
But facing the Minotaurs in this moment, Frondier's voice somehow echoed in his ears.
"Could that bastard really see the future?"
—This is as far as I go.
—I've never gone beyond this.
Recalling Frondier's voice, Aster muttered under his breath.
"So this place, this very moment is what Frondier predicted—"
——My grave.
As Aster exhaled deeply, the Minotaurs finally noticed him.
And the bull—
The bull looked at him with its bovine eyes.