Chapter 99
Chapter 99
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 99
>Chapter Title: It Wasn't a Bird
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dreadful evil qi. Light erupted into the space thick with violet mist.
Clang, craaaack—!
The clash of humid violet and blue flashes.
Amid the blue lightning surging toward the sky, a thunderous roar shook the earth.
Boom! Kwaaang! Boom! Boom!
[……Kuh!]
The Emperor spat out a pained groan under the relentless barrage.
Bone-rattling impacts. Even with evil qi wrapping his arms in layers, the shock reached his bones.
‘How…….’
The moment he unleashed his power as Destro, the gap between them had widened even further.
Tzzzz, chiiirp.
Crossed arms. The Reverse Heaven bindings rippling over his forearms. This damned suppression remained, but even so, he refused to believe he couldn't overpower a mere mortal.
‘Yet why!’
Boom!
In the brief pause between strikes, the Emperor seized Aster's nape and slammed him into the ground.
“……Kuhk!”
His body bounced up from the recoil. His frame bent like a bow. A mouthful of blood sprayed from his gaping maw, only to evaporate in blue lightning moments later.
[This……! Such a frail body!]
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
As if venting his rage, the Emperor stomped on Aster wildly. Each kick trembled the earth.
Blood spurted out like squeezing a waterlogged sponge!
Craaack!
It was then that the Emperor screamed in agony from excruciating pain.
[……Kaaak!]
His ankle twisted grotesquely. It dangled limply. Then, with a sharp crack! his vision flashed white.
Aster had risen in an instant and uppercut his jaw.
But the Emperor was Destro.
Craaack, crack.
His ankle reverted as if time had rewound, and his dazed mind snapped back like a weathervane.
His vision returned.
Aster's grinning face filled it completely, and once more……
Craaaang!
[Kruut!]
From the savage headbutt, the Emperor staggered back a couple of steps. Whoosh! Violet evil qi sprayed out instead of blood as he steadied his rattled mind.
[You brute! Have you no pride!]
No matter how lowly the pest, his opponent was the master of Reverse Heaven in this era.
The great journey of magic. He possessed the qualifications to reach its end.
The ultimate genius coveted even by the world's greatest prodigies! A talentless dullard would sell his soul for it!
The greatest privilege in all history!
How could one who grasped it……
“Pride? What's that?”
<……!>
The Emperor thrust both hands downward in haste. Aster's shin flew straight for his groin!
Thud!
Sparks flew in the Emperor's eyes as he blocked the kick.
[You filthy cur……!]
This wretch's fighting style was always like this.
He unleashed tactics that even back-alley thugs would find shameful, as naturally as breathing.
Awe-inspiring mana control worthy of respect even from a foe. Terrifying combat sense and savagery. Yet every action sank to rock bottom.
How could the Emperor not seethe with rage?
[First, I'll shatter those legs!]
Evil qi surged into the Emperor's hands gripping the shin.
Pzzzzz, paaak!
The mana lightning cloaking Aster's body flickered chaotically, and his shin bent unnaturally.
“Kuh……!”
Crushing bones. As the evil qi seeped in, searing pain invaded his mind, but Aster didn't stay idle.
[……You!]
Reflexively ducking his head from Aster's hand clamping his shoulder.
Usually, a headbutt followed. He'd learned the pattern.
But only for a moment. The Emperor's ducked head snapped back violently.
[Kraaaaaah—!]
A deep scream welled from his gut.
Crunsh!
His collarbone crumbled. The grip was so vicious it shredded flesh and crushed bone.
He tried desperately to wrap it in evil qi to block the intrusion, but why? The evil qi scattered powerlessly!
Psssh, pop!
Blue lightning crackled several times, cleanly dispersing the encroaching evil qi.
Interference Formula. The same technique that had shattered Karahen's barrier before. Matching mana wavelengths to disrupt the opponent's mana. Now applied to Destro's evil qi.
Craaack, crack!
A bizarre standoff. Each crushing the other's bones. Yet neither yielded.
[Kuhuhuhuhu!]
Eyes rolling back in agony, the Emperor poured strength to crush—no, rip off—Aster's shin.
“Heh.”
Aster bared his blood-smeared crimson teeth and twisted the Emperor's shoulder with force.
Excruciating pain.
‘Truly…….’
The Emperor captured Aster in his barely raised gaze.
It made no sense.
Unless he was a complete idiot, he had to know this war of attrition offered no hope.
No, even an idiot would grasp that.
Bones crushed? What use was that!
With his body brimming with evil qi, he regenerated endlessly—a form infinitely close to immortality.
‘Yet, against me like this……!’
This attrition war? Only a madman would choose it!
That was when the Emperor's thoughts reached there.
[Believing in…… Reverse Heaven…… Kraaaak!]
Plop, craaunch!
A gruesome rupture echoed, followed by scorching pain. No—like molten iron poured into his skull.
Soon……
Shwaaaaaaaa—!
Thick evil qi billowed in all directions. Violet mist fanned out like a demon's wings.
Thud, roll.
The Emperor's severed arms tumbled onto the ground.
[Kuhuh, kuwk……!]
Pain unlike any he'd felt in life.
Even for an Emperor who'd crossed ten thousand battlefields, when would he experience the torment of having both arms ripped off alive!
No, the Emperor wasn't even familiar with pain to begin with.
Because he had been so overwhelmingly superior. From a position none could touch, looking down on all.
But.
[Kuhk, kuhuhuhuhu……!]
Suppressing the mind-numbing pain with effort, the Emperor fixed his bloodshot eyes forward.
The searing agony tormented him. It drove him mad. But something tormented him more.
Crack, craaack.
His opponent had retreated, calmly sat on his haunches, and was stroking his own leg.
Then, their eyes met……
“…….”
Heh.
A grin.
Yes, that was it.
This pain, this absurd situation. This battle where nothing went his way.
All of it boiled his guts, but that smile was the greatest torment. No—that smile scraped at his pride. Its shredding was the worst pain.
[Reverse Heaven…… do you believe in Reverse Heaven?]
Crunsh, crunch.
The Emperor glared at Aster as he awaited his arms' regeneration.
But no reply came.
“…….”
Just, craaack. Crack. No bone fragments would knit, yet he kept caressing them.
The smile lingered. His upturned lip twitched at times, but he seemed utterly devoid of pain. A chilling sight.
His mouth opened soon after.
“That last one was Collision Formula. And this……”
<……!>
Pzzzzz!
Shimmering lights danced before his eyes. The Emperor hurled himself away without even waiting for his forearms to regrow.
“……is Annihilation.”
[You filthy cur!]
The Emperor rolled to a stop and immediately deployed a barrier.
Flaaash—! Kwadddd—!
Impacts hammered the barrier like a storm. Before the ferocious waves, the Emperor couldn't hide his shock.
‘Me……!’
Toying with him?
He dictated every battle to his whims.
Forcing close-quarters brawls, then striking with shocks when all focus converged.
His already boiling rage surged without end.
But the Emperor was helpless.
‘Victory……? That was decided from the start.’
Beast-like ferocity. Unbroken, but that was all.
The Emperor knew.
The bastard was dying even now.
‘No matter how much Reverse Heaven drives out the evil qi…… complete immunity is impossible.’
Wounds from strikes. Every bone, every scrap of flesh would seep with evil qi. Accumulating bit by bit, rotting him from inside.
Contrary to appearances, the Emperor had dominated Aster throughout.
But.
<…….>
Drip. Kwadddd!
Mana waves battered the barrier without respite.
Flaaash!
The Emperor watched the barrier waver under occasional blue lightning strikes.
That bastard…… abnormal.
Even the bravest should have broken long ago.
Power? Overwhelming. He endured well, but mana had limits, and it was barely that.
Numbers game? Nonexistent. The bastard yielded bones just to barely graze flesh, while he was near-immortal.
Yet.
[Yet…….]
The bastard wouldn't break. As if utterly convinced of victory.
That was why a massive question arose in the Emperor's mind.
[What in the world are you!]
A voice answered then.
“What am I?”
<……?>
Amid the swirling mana storm, he approached, taking the full brunt.
Pik! Pibibit!
Shwick!
His own doing, yet unable to block? His hair flew wildly in the aftermath, his body swaying and buckling.
Craaack!
Flesh finally split wide, blood fountains erupting.
Amid it all.
Thud.
The bastard placed a hand on the barrier.
<……!>
The Emperor's eyes bulged.
“Oh, this is Interference Formula. First time showing it like this, right?”
Strange waves spread from the hand across the entire barrier. Soon……
Sssslip.
The barrier faded powerlessly.
That was when evil qi swirled around the Emperor.
[You bastard…….]
Whiiiii—!
The vortex shredded the surroundings viciously. Aster strolled through it, step by step.
Limp, limp.
Bones crushed, yet walking on both feet. The Emperor wasn't even surprised anymore.
Just—
[……Just die already.]
His fists clenched tight. Veins bulged on the Emperor's forehead as evil qi crashed toward Aster like a tidal wave.
In his state of incomplete recovery, freely wielding evil qi drained considerable mental strength.
But.
Limp.
Aster didn't stop.
[Kuh, uh…….]
The Emperor's fists clenched again, but the limping steps merely slowed.
“……Kuhk!”
Spitting pitch-black blood, the steps didn't halt. Limping closer, one step at a time.
And when he reached arm's length.
“I'm…….”
Thud.
Aster slumped, placing a hand on the Emperor's shoulder. His forehead rested against it.
Even then, the Emperor didn't flinch. Seizing the hard-won chance, he focused his mind to burst the evil qi-bound Aster.
Then, a rasping whisper brushed the Emperor's ear.
“……I'm.”
What was he?
Aster pondered.
‘Troubleshooter?’
No.
‘Academy student?’
No.
‘Black-White Slums urchin?’
No.
‘Future great sage?’
No.
None defined him.
‘I am…….’
Once a Troubleshooter. The Decullan Family's dog, now a Jenion Academy student. Born a Black-White Slums urchin, destined to become a great sage.
But none truly defined him.
Then……
“I'm…….”
What?
Eyes half-closed. In his hazy mind, a blue sky appeared. Where was this? Who was he? Ah, a death ground, his grave. Where he'd die. But this path……
Yes.
The rightful path of freedom.
“I'm…….”
Cruuuunch—
Destro's pressure intensified. Amid it, Aster's mouth opened.
Vast blue sky. In his inner world, atop the mental heavens, a bird soared.
……No.
Not a bird.
“……a Wyvern.”
That instant.
Craaaaaaaaack—!
A massive rupture echoed through his mind.
A huge fissure spread in Aster's inner world. Starting as a tiny crack, it soon engulfed everything—an uncontrollable distortion!
“……Ah.”
Crunch, crunch.
Gurgle, gurgle.
The Emperor's strengthened evil qi.
Pitch-black dead blood flowed from nose and mouth, organs rotting from within.
Aster realized.
“……Emptied.”
Rustle, rustle.
The sturdy wall in his inner world was crumbling.