Chapter 439
Chapter 439
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 439
>Chapter Title: Why Hesitate?
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“Let's see...”
A voice echoed faintly through the space. The young man who had devoured the Fifth Elder patted his stomach with a satisfied expression, as if he had just finished a hearty meal.
It wasn't long before his gaze fell on Shine.
“Did you ask what I am?”
Shine stared at the young man without answering.
Was this really the same person? The innocent look was unchanged, and so were the clear eyes, but now there was an inexplicable glint of sharpness to them.
Above all else.
“...You've become even more dangerous.”
Shine curled up the corner of his mouth.
A surge of competitive spirit welled up inside him. It was the first time in his life he'd faced an opponent this unfathomable.
As if sensing that fighting spirit, a strangely benevolent smile formed on the young man's lips.
“Is there really any need to clash? You and I might end up sharing the same goals, you know.”
“...Goals?”
“Yeah, goals. For example, the Fifth Elder... well, I ate him. But we shared the same goals anyway. He was a good limb. Quite a shame he had to die.”
It was utter nonsense.
One moment he'd devoured him without a second thought, and now he was genuinely lamenting the Fifth Elder's death.
Shine stared at him in disbelief before slinging Proteus over his shoulder. Then he fixed the young man with a steady gaze.
The opponent's oddly calm demeanor had dampened his enthusiasm...
“So, what are you?”
“Finally in the mood to talk, huh? Alright then... how about this? You guess. I'll give you a hint. Or hey, you could even give me a new name. Let's see...”
The young man trailed off there and began humming a cheerful tune, for some reason. The air around him rippled and surged in time with the melody.
It wasn't so much that nature was joyfully dancing along with his emotions...
It was more like it was afraid.
It looked as if it were convulsing, having touched something it shouldn't have.
As Shine watched the scene with sunken eyes, the young man's voice reached him soon after.
“I've had so many names. I was a king, then a mage, a priest in the era of gods, and sometimes a knight armored in pride. In every age, I became a god or a legend in the end. But I can't list them all... I'll just tell you a few.”
First among them.
“Once, I was the god called 'Kaogia.'”
It was an event from so far in the past that the humans of the current continent wouldn't know it even if told. Back when humans hadn't yet built proper societies. And after even more time passed...
“Knight King 'Darakhan.'”
He had been a king.
“At one point, I was the mage of mages and the sage of sages. In a way, I was the first great sage.”
Countless other names poured from his mouth as well.
Shine listened silently, but unfortunately, none of the names were ones he recognized.
Still, it was astonishing.
“If you're not insane...”
It meant the being before him had lived through eons.
But could a human... no, any living creature survive for so long?
“It's natural not to believe it. But honestly, that's not the important part. I have this kind of past. So, what should I be called in the current era? That's what I want you to decide.”
“The current era...”
Shine trailed off. Then, without thinking, he blurted out.
“Smith.”
“Smith?”
“Yeah, didn't you say Smith? Why need another name? Just go with Smith.”
“Hmm... well. Er. If so, I've got quite a few names like that? Kenian, Mark, Colon...”
“Then make it Smith Kenian Mark Colon.”
“...”
The young man fell silent.
“...”
Shine fell silent too.
For a moment.
A subtle silence settled between them, broken by Shine.
Enough with the wordplay.
Now for the main point.
“What's your relationship with Salvatium?”
“Me and ours. The collective of those who share my goals and the parasites that live off them.”
“Speak plainly so I can understand.”
The young man laughed brightly at Shine's question. He tapped his temple and said.
“They're things to replace my dulled mind. And... things to replace my shortened arms like this. Also things to replace my distant eyes. These short legs... well, they're still usable, so let's leave them out.”
“So they're your limbs, is that it?”
“Limbs are hands and feet. Head, eyes, hands... that kind of expression fits better.”
“Then you're the root of all evil?”
“Evil? What evil?”
The young man tilted his head.
“What, is Salvatium evil? Why? Man... something's seriously wrong with this era.”
He shook his head as if baffled and plopped down cross-legged on the ground. He picked up a sharp stone and drew a line on the floor.
“Look, look. Let me teach you some history. Roughly... here. This is the time I've lived through. See?”
Ziiiiing—
A line about a meter long. The young man used it as his reference.
“Left is the past, right is the future. And the era I'd call 'this era' from my perspective... starts right about here.”
A short horizontal line was drawn over the long vertical one.
“Roughly... an eighth? Anyway, that's how it feels. You know what the dominant power was before this era?”
Shine stared down at the crouched young man. The young man blinked his clear eyes up at Shine, and Shine realized what he wanted to hear. The answer too.
Contextually, the response the young man hoped for was this.
“The forbidden magic?”
“Exactly. Good and evil change with every era... no, even within a hundred years. What's evil? What's good? Let's look at it broadly. Forbidden magic isn't evil.”
“Then...”
“What's that?”
The young man pointed at the 'Family' and posed the question. Shine nodded.
“That's... hmm.”
Sympathy, pity, and disgust spread across the young man's face. The 'Family' receiving that gaze curled up like a mouse pup before a tiger. The young man spoke soon after.
“Other mages did it with flesh, but he did it with souls... objectively, that's all there is to it. You can't call forbidden magic evil just because of those 'beings.' The evil one is the Fifth Elder.”
“Isn't that what you all do? Mocking the dead, disturbing their rest.”
“Not necessarily.”
“Not necessarily?”
“Of course not. Just because all thieves carry swords doesn't make swords evil, right? It's just a trend. Maybe many who prefer swords happened to be that type, or swords were the easiest weapon for desperate thieves to get.”
What was he even saying?
It meant forbidden magic was abused due to individual choices, not because the magic itself was evil.
It sounded reasonable enough.
Reasonable, yet...
“You don't really want to accept it, huh? I get it. What I'm saying might not even be entirely right. I told you, good and evil shift with the times. Nothing's absolute. We follow the era. So...”
“...If the era labels it evil, then it becomes evil. Is that what you're saying?”
“Names don't matter. No need to fuss over what it's called.”
It was a profoundly cryptic—or profoundly foolish—conversation.
The content was nothing more than a simplistic hypothesis that any hack philosopher who'd read one book might spout. Something anyone could rattle off without any real philosophical thought or understanding.
Yet Shine listened intently anyway.
Because that being hadn't read 'one book.'
Rather...
“...A long life.”
Shine didn't usually indulge in such Zen-like riddles, but there was a strange pull to conversing with this being.
However.
“I guess this kind of talk isn't really your taste.”
“Sword wielders have always been hot-tempered since ancient times. Yeah, I was thinking it's about time to wrap this up anyway.”
“Is that so. Then...”
Shine smiled and assumed his stance. There was no killing intent. Not a wisp of energy. He had to contain even the smallest bit. Only then could he win against this opponent.
Or maybe...
“...Even then, I might not be able to cut him down.”
But so what?
There was a wall.
There was a sword.
Fear was just a spice that made the challenge thrilling.
That was enough. It was fulfilling.
...As his resolve hardened, the encroaching night settled in deeply. A suffocating silence unlike before descended. The darkness devoured sound and spat out only quiet.
And—
Eyes glowing red.
That was when the young man's mouth opened.
“Ah, I get it. I had a feeling.”
“What did you figure out?”
“You're from the Night Clan, aren't you?”
“...”
Shine fell silent. Should he react? He pondered briefly, but the young man's words came first.
“Haha, don't look so shocked. Among the异種 I've never tasted, only the Night Clan wields this power. And right now...”
Tap, tap.
The young man tapped his head and grinned.
“Thanks to the Fifth Elder, my mind's working a bit better.”
Shine gazed steadily at him.
Even if the young man knew, it wouldn't change much.
Just cut him down.
But...
“Guess it's time for me to go. I'm starting to get dumb again.”
“By whose permission?”
“Mine. Oh, you don't want to let me go? How about a deal then? For example, that one...”
“...?”
The young man pointed at the 'Family.' The pitiful soul trembling in fear of his presence.
But what would he do with that spirit?
“I'll set it free. It looks like it's suffering all clumped up... I'll release it. In exchange, let me go. How's that?”
No matter the offer, Shine planned to swing his sword. But one phrase from the young man shook him.
“What?”
“I can free it. Not easy, but yeah. Oh, I'm getting dumber fast, so decide quick.”
...Getting dumb.
He didn't know what it meant. But Shine clearly felt the young man's presence shrinking by the second.
Weakening in real time...
“I can cut him.”
Certainty arose.
But he could free that spirit?
“Well? If you kill me... well, I'll die, I guess. Wait, will I? Wanna try? I'm curious too. Vampire Lord, Master Knight, and demon sword... would that kill me? But then the spirit stays trapped.”
The young man grinned slyly.
Shine took in the sight of him.
Meanwhile.
Step.
The young man took a step forward and opened his mouth.
“Sever the neck, pierce the heart.”
“...”
“Why hesitate? It's your chance to slay the root of evil.”
...It was a temptation so sweet it was dizzying.