Chapter 162
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 162
Chapter Title: Recalux (5)
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A presence appeared before Ha Yuri and Luska.
It was a being infused with dark mana.
The aura of a powerhouse emanated from it—a sticky, ominous energy.
Finally, Recalux came into Ha Yuri's view.
An old man shrouded in a black robe, sporting a neat hairstyle and attire like some refined gentleman.
But the old man's appearance didn't even register with Ha Yuri.
"Yul, Yul-ah!"
There, right beside the old man, stood Ha Yul—her own little sister.
Unlike Ha Yuri, her adorable sister had jet-black hair.
"..."
"Yul-ah! I-it's sis! Big sis came to rescue you!"
"......"
"Y-Yul-ah...?"
As Ha Yuri desperately called to her sister, the old man finally spoke.
"Well... looks like I couldn't avoid getting caught after all. Anyway..."
Recalux closely examined the faces of the two women who had chased him down.
"Sharis didn't come along? What a pity. I was hoping to see the face of my old comrade—the traitor."
"W-what did you do to my little sister!"
Ha Yuri instinctively sensed something was off with her sister.
Her sister, who had always smiled at her, wasn't responding at all.
"Heh heh... Madan Clan's master. So you're the woman who slipped away back then? Never imagined that little squirt would end up leading Madan Clan."
"Answer my question! How dare you—how dare you touch my sister...!"
The moment Ha Yuri teetered on the edge of losing control, Luska placed a hand on her shoulder and steadied her.
"Calm yourself. You know excitement won't help in a spot like this. Stay composed."
Ha Yuri knew she was right, but her emotions refused to obey.
This was her sister—the one she'd been forced to forget, standing right in front of her.
"Hmm... this one's the one, eh?"
Recalux brought his hand to Ha Yul's face, caressing it like he was admiring his own handiwork.
Ha Yuri felt the world shatter at the sight. Her precious sister, being toyed with by this filthy geezer.
"My masterpiece. And what did I do, you ask? Nothing special. Just wiped her personality clean and turned her into my loyal servant."
Ha Yuri stared in stunned horror.
"Wiped her... personality...?"
"Ah... rest easy. It wasn't a total wipe. More accurately, her original self is buried deep in slumber."
"What...?"
"I tinkered with her body a little. The screams when I implanted the mana heart—pure agony. Had to drown her personality just to shut her up."
"..."
"I still remember it clear as day. 'Please don't! I don't want to forget my sister! Somebody save me! Please stop! It hurts! Let me live!' I could mimic it for you."
The old man cleared his throat and recreated the scene with a chilling expression.
"Sister! Save me! I don't want to forget! Somebody save me! Please save me! Don't do it! Stop! Grandpa, please stop! It hurts! Spare me!"
The grotesque sight of the old man imitating a fragile girl's cries was utterly repulsive.
"Spare me! Somebody save me! I don't want to forget my sister! Please!"
Bloody tears streamed from Ha Yuri's eyes.
"Ahem... how was that? Pretty much like so. From my side, she was too noisy—I had no choice but to silence her. Bear with me."
With that, the old man seized Ha Yul's chin, forcing her gaze toward him before speaking.
"You agree, don't you?"
"...Yes, that's right, Master."
"Heh heh, so she says."
In that instant, explosive mana surged from Ha Yuri's body.
Its ferocity—like a witch bent on freezing the world solid.
Ice Witch: mana worthy of her famed title.
"Oh ho... so this is the Ice Witch's rumored presence? We can't fall behind. Isn't that right?"
"Yes, Master."
"That sister of yours is fighting so hard to save you. Give her a proper response."
Right then, vast mana and blistering heat poured from Ha Yul's body. Her hair even ignited into crimson flames.
"I'm curious which sister wins—and survives. Ice against fire, no less..."
Ha Yuri inwardly reeled at the mana and heat radiating from her sister.
'How is she this powerful?'
Her sister was a flame mage, sure, but she'd never shone brightly.
Yet now she matched a ranker like Ha Yuri almost evenly. Ha Yuri held no fear of defeat—but only against someone other than her sister.
She had zero intention of killing her own sibling.
"Well then, let the sisters sort themselves out. Our turn to settle things."
"...Twisted hobbies."
"Heh heh... twisted? You ought to thank me. I'm graciously giving the pair some sisterly bonding time."
"You spout that nonsense so casually—while masking your tension."
"..."
As Luska pointed out, Recalux was more on edge than ever in his life.
His instincts screamed that this woman's power was overwhelming.
"...One curiosity: why target me? No grudge, surely?"
"Just orders. My master wants you dead."
"Orders? From who? Someone like you following commands?"
"No need for you to know my master's identity. Even uttering their name from scum like you insults them."
"Heh heh... ridiculous."
Even as he bantered with Luska, Recalux pondered nonstop.
'Who's after me?'
Ha Yuri made sense—once he spotted her sister.
But this woman? Total stranger. Unknown, unlike Ha Yuri's fame.
Such power staying hidden meant one thing.
Every foe she'd faced? Erased.
"...You speak without manners. I'd love to meet your 'master'—turn them into a test subject. You too, naturally."
The instant Recalux finished, Luska slashed from behind.
'When...?'
He'd kept eyes on her mid-chat. Yet she'd vanished in a blink.
"You crossed a line."
'Damn...!'
He twisted in a flash but couldn't fully evade.
Slash—
Thump.
"Grk..."
"Meant to cleave you in two, but you dodged. Just an arm lost—not bad."
'Insane speed.'
Dodged, yet an arm gone. Absurd.
"Khuh... know this? Chimera synthesis's apex—is remaking my body into one."
No sooner said, the severed arm twitched and lunged at Luska.
"Lame trick..."
It shattered into fragments in a heartbeat.
"This..."
"My body rivals immortality. The ultimate chimera, you might say."
Shreds morphed into black sludge, birthing eerie eyes.
Reforming, physics be damned.
"...You've forsaken humanity."
"Forsaken? Nonsense. Forsaking means quitting 'cause you can't. I transcended mankind's frail shell. Aye—conquered our innate flaws."
Luska pinpointed the nagging disgust's source.
A non-human masquerading as one.
Or once-human, now... other.
That cloying air, foul mana.
She'd blamed the location.
Now? Certain.
All from that ancient horror.
"Erm... baring a piece of me to a lady—embarrassing."
Crack—
With his words, Recalux's body split, unveiling nightmare fuel.
Writhing black mass, eyes and teeth of countless horrors embedded.
"Not mere fusion of a few beasts or folk."
Recalux rasped back in gruesome tones.
"Correct. Innumerable fusions. Countless egos crushed, powers devoured. I alone breached life's limits."
"Delusions of grandeur. 'Unique' isn't bandied lightly."
Luska lunged post-words.
"I'll absorb you. Join me. Become 'us.'"
Recalux's warped form stretched, teeth erupting in hordes.
Luska parried the onslaught, realizing: no human duel anymore.
Not human, not beast precisely.
A half-baked abomination—life twisted by obsession with lore and experiments.
'Cold steel versus endless fangs? Unexpected.'
Scraaaape—
Blade clashed gnashers, metal shrieking.
Earth burst next—Recalux's tendrils spearing like blades.
Luska whipped back.
Slash—
'Cut's temporary fix.'
Blocks feasible. Severed bits rejoined, retaliating.
Mere swings inflicted no lasting harm.
So—elevate beyond.
Silver threads whipped 'round Luska's blade.
Why she claimed elves' youngest warrior captaincy.
Her singular imagery.
Sword arced toward Recalux; instinct flared peril.
'Danger.'
Unprecedented power—gut screamed it.
Slender silver seemed frail, yet brimmed with rending intent.
Among natives, rare elites wove imagery into strikes.
To slice, impale—will made manifest.
Outworlders could, but stat/trait-bound players? Vanishingly few.
Mere sword? Fatal error.
'No dodging.'
Thrust velocity insane.
'Regen it is—tank the hit.'
Recalux ballooned his warped bulk defensively.
Whoom—
Sound unfit for a poke.
Mutated mass rent asunder by threads.
"Kraaaaaagh!"
Torn—regenerating. Uncanny.
Instantly, rear ambush: ground-spewed tendril speared her.
"Ngh...!"
Split-second twist spared heart, gored shoulder instead.
Luska backswung, shredding it.
"Kuh... remarkable. Reflexes defy reason."
"...Freak, cheap ploys. Escape's impossible—you know it."
Recalux's lingering human half smirked.
Mutant mouths echoed laughter—hair-raising.
"Hahahaha! Dunno? Over there's a foregone conclusion."
His gaze: Ha Yuri 'fighting' her sister via spells.
Barely a fight.
Ha Yul's barrages unilaterally parried by Ha Yuri.
Tear-choked wails summoning her sister—utterly heartbreaking.
"Please...! Yul-ah! Snap out of it, please! Big sis is here to save you! So please...!"
She couldn't hurl lethal spells at kin.
"See? Advantage still yours? Wrap this before your backup arrives, then bolt."
"......"
Luska bit her lip.
Monster tougher than anticipated; sister's addition worsened odds.
Ha Yuri yielding ground—not skill, but sisterly restraint on kills.
Recalux's eyes crescented slyly.
"Time for my true visage. Honor—you're first."