Chapter 197
Chapter 197
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 197
>Chapter Title: We're Brave
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Paang!
A crisp impact rang out.
After shattering the second barrier stone, I slid to a halt and immediately pivoted in a new direction.
A field of vision encompassing the entire space.
Kwaang!
With a deafening roar, the wall I'd just burst through exploded, hot flames roiling amid the scattering stone dust. And right after—
Whoosh! Kwang!
Infernal charged in without slowing, slamming down at the floor.
I kicked off the ground and leaped into the air, never taking my eyes off Infernal.
It seemed to keep its gaze locked on me too, its head twisting with a creak, and over its shoulder, another Infernal lifted its head.
In that brief moment leaping through the air and landing.
I sorted my thoughts.
‘For now... that's two barrier stones down.’
The situation itself was going smoothly.
Destroying the barrier stones wasn't that hard.
The only tricky part was maintaining the modified Collision Formula, but even that had become somewhat familiar now.
Not quite as natural as breathing, but inertia had kicked in.
So, it wasn't bad. No, it was actually good.
...It should have been, anyway.
Why, then, this feeling that I absolutely couldn't call 'good'?
Thud!
I landed and immediately turned toward the third barrier stone, sprinting off.
Grrrk—!
The familiar ripping sound echoed in my ears. Amid the flames of the crimson fire consuming the stone dust, I glanced back briefly.
‘Destroying the barrier stones’—if that was the goal, it was progressing perfectly.
Yet, I still couldn't call it 'good.' The reason was obvious.
‘Now... there are two Infernals.’
Not one.
Two of them.
A quick glance back captured the scene: two nauseating blobs of fire tumbling and rolling after me like mad, a sight that was just...
‘Gonna puke for real.’
When I smashed through a wall and ran, the Infernals would soon follow, pulverizing the hole I'd made.
If my speed slowed even a little—
Kwang!
A fist came flying without fail.
It wasn't just one anymore.
Being chased by two such lumps now made me realize the barrier stones weren't the real issue.
‘Yeah, the barrier stones aren't the problem.’
Smashing the third and fourth probably wouldn't be hard either. So, freeing the spirits was halfway done.
But the problem was what came after.
...What to do about those lumps.
Honestly, I'd even hoped for this.
‘Maybe... the Infernals will fight each other if they meet?’
There's that saying, right?
Only one ogre per mountain.
So, when their territories overlap, ogres fight to the death. I'd secretly hoped for that.
But.
‘...Doesn't look like it.’
Seeing them charge together in perfect sync made my vain hope feel embarrassing.
Which meant, as I'd initially feared, I'd end up chased by four Infernals in total...
“Buddy, really no way?”
[I d-don't know. Infernals don't die.]
I'd asked just in case, but the spirit, half in panic mode, was still no help.
Of course, ‘don't die’ was probably not entirely true.
‘...Anti-spirit war weapon, it said.’
Back then, Infernals weren't rare but weren't overwhelmingly transcendent either.
Sure, burning spirits was transcendent to a degree, but it wasn't immortal-level insanity.
So, there had to be a way to counter it.
‘But what the hell is it?’
No clue.
No core like a normal golem, and smashing it didn't stop it.
Look at yesterday.
I turned it to complete rubble, and it still moved fine.
‘...No runes to regenerate it either.’
Infernal was incomprehensible in so many ways, and the mystery only deepened.
‘Definitely, the spirits saw me as their savior...’
So, how had future me dealt with the Infernals?
Even the spirits didn't know this part. All they'd seen was that one moment of their release.
Oh, and for the record, I didn't think the spirits' vision was absolute.
I was just pondering Infernal countermeasures under the assumption that ‘I saved the spirits’ was true.
Anyway...
Kwaang—!
I smashed through the wall with all my might and entered a new space. No slowing down. A punch straight ahead.
Jjeeng...!
Just like before, a crisp impact rang out. Barrier stone fragments scattered into the air.
‘That's... three.’
Grrk—
As the third Infernal stirred a beat late and turned toward me, I bolted without hesitation.
One barrier stone left.
...Three Infernals on my tail.
This wasn't good.
I couldn't join Damian dragging four Infernals along.
‘Damn it.’
I had to find a way somehow.
* * *
Wooong—!
The barrier encircling Baharmut's outskirts thinned another layer.
Atop the altar in the grand hall, the spirits in the crystal orb shuddered at the even weaker restraints.
[One left...]
Even two layers had solidly blocked inside from outside, but now that power was gone.
Perhaps because of it, the natural energies forgotten for millennia slowly seeped into Baharmut.
Of course, the power was faint.
If the outer energies were an endless sea, this was but a drop.
The spirits of Myselrn, used to abundant natural energies, wouldn't even notice.
They'd probably feel no difference inside or outside the ruins, but to these spirits, it was huge.
As the Baharmut spirits trembled at the taste of natural energy after thousands of years.
Someone spoke.
[We need... to find a way.]
No one asked what kind.
There was only one method needed now.
Neutralize the Infernals threatening the savior and his companions. Those horrific beings.
The spirits chimed in one after another right after.
[No... way.]
[Kept thinking. But no.]
[Infernals don't die.]
[No. They do. But no way now.]
Why wouldn't they have racked their brains?
From the moment Aster shattered the first barrier stone, the spirits had pondered ways to defeat Infernals amid their fear.
But no method.
Or more precisely, no method ‘usable now.’
Infernals were horrific things made by melting thousands of spirits.
Unlike other spirit golems, no core, endlessly reviving to annihilate foes. Weapons made solely for destruction and slaughter.
Spirits who'd joined late like the one with Aster didn't know, but the ancient ones knew how humans had countered Infernals.
But.
[Not... now.]
[No way.]
[No item.]
Special items were needed to destroy Infernals, but none existed in Baharmut now.
In a sense, practically immortal.
[Then... what do we do?]
[Just watch? Them die?]
[That's sad. Very sad.]
The spirits fretted over the harsh reality.
The joy of impending freedom paled against the danger to their helpers.
Then.
[Let's see... the future.]
One spirit's voice.
[...]
[...]
The spirits fell silent.
[We have to see. The future.]
The first spirit pressed the others again.
To save them, they needed to see the future.
But it wasn't easy.
Seeing the future drained massive spirit power. Even spirits rarely did it.
In barrier-cut Baharmut, recovery was tough.
The third stone had helped some...
But the issue was.
[...Scary.]
[Don't want... sad future.]
[What if... no way?]
The spirits were afraid.
If they saw the future and still couldn't save them? Forced to watch destined deaths?
How to endure that horror?
But.
The first spirit spoke again.
[Still... have to see.]
Short, but laced with fierce resolve.
That resolve conveyed more than words to the spirits: reproach.
They're risking lives for us, yet we're too scared to even try?!
Perhaps swayed by that emotion.
[...Scary. But...]
[I... brave.]
[Me too... brave.]
Spirits voicing resolve one by one.
The spark of will spread like wildfire.
From the fearless to the most terrified, all steeled themselves.
Thus...
[We're... brave.]
[Agree.]
When all spirits' wills united.
[We'll... see.]
The divided spirits merged as one again.
And...
Woooong—!
A resonant hum like thousands of swarming bees, and a burst of brilliant light filled the grand hall.
...Of course, it might not work.
What they saw was only a probable future.
If in that future Aster and Damian's group learned nothing and died, the spirits were helpless.
They'd just watch the unchangeable future.
But.
[Just one. Tiny clue.]
Even a glimpse of something small could create possibility.
That was their faith.
...The future unfolding before the spirits.
They fell silent.
[...]
The backdrop: the vast grand hall, the spirits' altar space.
They were freed, and before them stood the saviors—three in total.
The boy at the front gazed at the roiling freed spirits. His expression oddly cold, an old spirit mage placed a hand on his shoulder.
- Don't hate the spirits, Damian.
- ...I'm just angry. I know. These spirits are innocent. Just...
Just resentful.
- They're immortal anyway.
To save them.
- We went this far, my friend went that far...
The boy closed his eyes tightly.
And before the three lay a boy neatly arranged.
The spirits knew instantly.
[The savior... is dead.]
The future they'd glimpsed.
Aster had stopped breathing.
[...Ah.]
The spirits sighed.
Why this outcome? Was the first future wrong? Why did the savior die, leaving those three...
As the spirits' minds grew tangled.
[Focus... minds.]
Steady themselves.
[We... must watch.]
...Thus, the spirits rewound time a bit further. To see how it led here.
The image reversed. Figures in the hall stepped back, events unspooling from end to start.
All the while, the spirits desperately hoped.
Please, let there be a way.