Chapter 226
Chapter 226
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 226
Chapter Title: The Reaper of the Silver Mirror Lake (5)
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Despite stepping forward with such confidence, Duncan struggled immensely.
“Ugh, h-heuk!”
Sring—! Thud, sriing—!
The dazzling blade sliced through the darkness repeatedly. The fan-shaped radiance sharpened into linear thrusts, traced broad arcs, and cleaved the ground like a flash of lightning.
——Kwarung—!!
Beams of light scattered in all directions, rendering the Night Shadow Cloak useless long ago. Duncan was utterly focused on blocking and dodging attacks. The ferocious assault from this top-tier Holy Knight made mere survival a grueling ordeal.
As the sweeping sword stroke ended, the glow enveloping the greatsword faded. But Reflectus immediately gripped the hilt and recharged it with light.
“Star that feasts upon the heavens! I, the star of the earth acting in your creator's stead, command thee: sharpen this blade with the fragments of truth echoed upon the waters!”
Tzzzzz, whiiing—!!
Starlight reflected off the ice converged in one spot, rising like a nebula and settling into the blade.
The ‘Stigmata’ was Decagram’s most powerful weapon. But it wasn’t their only one. Reflectus possessed not just the authority to steal and disrupt forms, but also exceedingly potent armaments.
The divine weapon, ‘Starlight’s Afterglow’.
A greatsword that amplified attacks using starlight reflected on the water’s surface as its power source. Cloaked in starlight, its blade was as broad as waves and as destructive as lightning, unleashing devastating sword auras. As long as stars shone in the sky and a lake lay on the ground, its power would never wane.
Moreover, its utility extended beyond mere attack enhancement. With a vigorous shake and thrust of the blade, the starlight shattered into fragments that shot forth like arrows.
Whistle, whiiistle—! Thunk, pummpumm!
“Hyaak, huuugh!!”
The arrows of light packed more punch than fireballs launched by magic. Caught in the barrage of radiant arrows, the cloaked merchant had no choice but to retreat in panic as the area was bombed relentlessly.
Even amid this, Duncan still mistook the Holy Knight for Yulia. To him, the situation felt no different from the worst marital spat of his life. No, even if possessed by a demon, how could his wife have grown this strong...
He parried arrows with his razor dagger, dodged sword strikes while channeling his divine form, barely hanging on—but it was clear he couldn’t last much longer. Step by step, pushed into a defensive retreat, Duncan finally stumbled and rolled toward the lakeshore just before plunging in.
Thud—!
“Agh, kaaaaah!!”
The glowing sword tip pierced his earlobe. His eyes trembled pitifully amid pain and confusion.
“Grrk, grrrk, grrk... W-Why are you doing this, Yulia...? Why target me...? Why come all the way to Ultana... Why attack me...”
“...”
A sinister sneer curled on the woman’s lips.
“Don’t delude yourself, servant of the fiend. From a grand strategic view, you and your family are mere lures transiting through the middle. Your family was bait to draw you out, and you—to lure that vile ‘Demon Slayer’.”
Did she think her prey was already caught? Reflectus saw no need to rush the kill. She elaborated on the background that had led her to hunt Duncan, with florid rhetoric.
“Do you know the true purpose of the ‘Holy War,’ servant?”
“...”
“Eradicating unbelievers, conquering cities, stripping the alliance of autonomy—those are mere illusions trapped in the prison of matter. Archbishop Erensko’s primary goal in launching the Holy War was...”
“...”
“...to draw out and execute Kadim: the ‘Demon Slayer’ who murdered his nephew, rampaged with demonic power, consorts with followers of the Forgotten God, and colludes with alliance leaders.”
Duncan’s face froze as if doused in ice water.
Reflectus, the ‘Star that Illuminates the Water’s Surface,’ had thrived as the ultimate spy in alliance territory thanks to his unique Stigmata, undetected all the while. He had gathered countless intelligence, uncovered the full truth behind the murder of the archbishop’s nephew Linton, tracked the culprit ‘Demon Slayer’s’ movements, and reported it all—his achievements.
Given the circumstances, Duncan knew the intimate details of why Archbishop Erensko had started the Holy War. And that slaying one fiend would earn greater rewards than conquering a hundred cities.
Thus, unlike other Holy Knights heading to the central front to conquer great cities, Reflectus had set out solely to hunt that one fiend. The problem was that the fiend’s whereabouts had become utterly elusive after leaving the village of Ultana.
So Reflectus devised a plan to lure the fiend using the family of his close ‘servant’ as bait.
“I orchestrated the evacuation plan within Delutana and drew your family here. I already knew from Ultana how dearly you cherished them. So I took your wife and son hostage and waited, expecting you and the fiend to come together naturally...”
“...”
“...So why did you come alone? Where’s Mr. Kadim? I wanted to thank him properly last time, along with our son...”
Duncan clenched his teeth. Repeating to himself that his wife was demon-possessed and mad, he absolutely refused to reveal Kadim’s whereabouts. But as his mental strength waned, he began to wonder if his wife was truly mad—or if he was.
Reflectus didn’t wait indefinitely. She withdrew the blade from his earlobe and extended her demonic claws.
“Well, it doesn’t matter if you don’t spill. Taking your reflection from the water’s surface will make killing that fiend easier than drowning a child...”
But just before Reflectus’s hand could touch him.
Duncan preempted her by ripping a pitch-black hole in the space behind her.
Whoooong—!
His diminutive frame was sucked inside and vanished. He reemerged from behind, swinging his short dagger at the Holy Knight disguised as his wife with blinding speed.
“Take a nap for a bit, dear!”
“...Gasp!”
Clang—clang!!
Reflectus barely blocked with the flat of her blade. Her eyes narrowed in shock at the unexpected ambush.
“You... This is...? That... lowly, irreverent divine spell of the Forgotten God?”
“Hoo, I finally showed off the secret skill my sky-high husband kept hidden... but your mouth is as foul as ever, Yulia.”
“Such an insolent heretic, overstepping his bounds...”
Lowly and irreverent it might be, but its effectiveness was unmatched. He had already proven its prowess by slaying an Inferno. Like a mole, Duncan bored holes everywhere, darting in and out, vanishing and reappearing to harass and ambush his foe.
Whiss—tle! Whoooong—! Whoooong—!
“Kgh, damn it...!”
Reflectus could no longer afford her previous nonchalance. The flickering afterimages appearing and disappearing at random made it hard to keep her wits. Desperately, she gathered maximum starlight into her blade, attempting to annihilate him with an area-of-effect devastation.
Yet somehow, the lakeshore had lost its starlight, shrouded in pitch blackness.
“...Hm?”
Clouds had blanketed the sky, hiding every star.
Without reflected starlight, ‘Starlight’s Afterglow’ was just a sturdy, sharp greatsword. The heavens themselves seemed to favor the merchant over the Holy Knight. Of course, enduring until the clouds rolled in had been possible only because Duncan had fought desperately...
Now the Stigmata was neutralized, and the divine weapon neutered. Elga’s star had lost its two mightiest arms, reduced to the level of any other Holy Knight.
Yet Decagram’s prestige was no empty boast.
“Damn it all, you mere illusory lump of flesh—!!!”
Reflectus shed Yulia’s form and assumed that of a burly man. Then he summoned his final weapon: Elga’s divine relic.
Fwooooosh—!!
Pure white mist swirled like a blizzard. Burning white fury flowed from his pupils to muscles, muscles to fists, fists along his veins into the blade.
“...I’ll specially divide your bones and flesh, then dump them in the water.”
His sword strikes then tore space asunder like the talons of a cutting gale.
———Fwoom, fwoom—! Boom, kwarung—!!
Savage slashes followed in succession. Night air wept as it was rent by wind, and earth tremors spread to the lake, cracking the ice. The devastating barrage ravaged the area so thoroughly that the absence of starlight was barely felt.
“Heuk! Huuugh, heuk!!”
Duncan’s instincts screamed. Lingering nearby like before would turn him into minced frozen meat. He opened a warp hole as far away as possible and fled.
But it was for naught; Reflectus leaped after him immediately.
Kwa—bang!
“Think that preserves your false image, you lowly phantom!!”
“Hyaak!”
Whoooong—kwarararak—!!
The sword strike plowed the ground, scattering the warp hole he’d painstakingly made. Fleeing through another offered only momentary respite. The enraged Arch Paladin pursued relentlessly, shaking the earth with brutal blows.
To make matters worse, the holy power in the ‘Silver Coin of the Fallen Kingdom’ was rapidly depleting. If he couldn’t even use warp holes while struggling this hard already... It was obvious he’d be slaughtered in seconds.
———Fwoooosh, fwoooosh—!!
“Heuk! Huuugh, huuuugh...”
But there was no counter. Icy sword winds seeped into his ribs, stiffening muscles and tendons. His pierced earlobe throbbed numbly, the frozen scab crackling like the whisper of the reaper.
Oh no, I, I don’t wanna die here... Don’t wanna go to hell...
The mental bastion Duncan had built crumbled. His greatest guide retreated, and the timid merchant peeked out.
In truth, coming here alone was arrogant folly from the start. He should have come with the young master... All that talk of life’s value, true struggle... growing further to return in glory... Just vain nonsense as he strutted about...
The frenzied onslaught drove Duncan toward the water’s edge. Approaching the lake would trap him beneath; holding ground on land meant being shredded by the blade... No escape in sight.
Just as he pondered diving into the lake voluntarily before his bones and flesh parted.
Duncan suddenly faced countless visages beneath the water.
Though the pitch-black night hid even starlight, he couldn’t mistake them. Amid the terrified noblewoman, steadfast soldiers, and warriors... Yulia’s tearful worry, and Densen clutching his fists, gazing at his father.
A cool breeze pierced his mind.
Only then did Duncan remember why he’d come here. Not to grow further or earn feats for a triumphant return.
He had come to protect his family.
“D-Don’t worry, Yulia, Densen! I’ll save you all soon...”
Fwoosh, thwump—!
“...Huuuugh, khek!”
Rough hands seized his collar. Reflectus hoisted Duncan up with one arm.
“Matter is mutable and uncertain. It always spouts empty promises born of weakness and ignorance. But light is immutable and absolute. Just as the archbishop will surely grant me lavish rewards for slaying the fiend you serve.”
“Kek, kehk...”
“Bid farewell to your false image, servant of the fiend. From now, you shall be reborn as a product of true light.”
In a final desperate act, Duncan opened a warp hole at the Holy Knight’s feet.
Whoooong—
Reflectus scoffed. Mockingly planting his foot on the hole’s edge, he shoved Duncan toward the water. The reflection on the surface split his lips in a grin, and claws reached to claim its place.
But just before Duncan was seized by his reflection.
———Kuwaaaaa—!!
A water pillar erupted from the hole without warning.
“...Guh!?”
Swept by the gushing pressure, Reflectus’s body soared into the air. He lost his grip on Duncan and tumbled far away, rolling across the ground.
Reflectus panicked utterly.
“W-What is this...? What manner of capricious twist of fate...?”
“Fuuu...”
Duncan finally caught his breath.
He’d been unsure if it would work, but the result was quite successful. No—better than expected. With clever use, he might even subdue this monstrous Holy Knight.
Without delay, he tested it immediately.
————Puwaaaaa—!!
Another water pillar burst from below. Smaller in scale, but with fiercer pressure.
“...Krgh!”
Reflectus crashed to the ground again. His utter bewilderment was plain; he couldn’t fathom his enemy’s trick.
And rightly so. Who could imagine it? Boring a massive warp hole beneath the lakebed and a tiny nozzle on the ground, then firing a water cannon with the pressure.
But this wasn’t enough.
Duncan narrowed the nozzle even smaller, maximizing output pressure. At last, inversely proportional to the shrunken diameter, the hydraulic force rivaled the heavens.
———————Pshuuuuuu—!!
He blasted the jet straight into the enemy’s eye.
“...Khaaaaa!!”
No matter how elite the Holy Knight, eyes couldn’t be tempered. Reflectus clutched his face and collapsed.
The perfect chance to finish the foe. The greatest guide didn’t miss the path to victory. Scraping his last holy power, he bored a warp hole and sprang up in the enemy’s face for the ambush.
“Die, you bastard!”
The infernal short dagger plunged into his throat.
Squelch, fwoooosh—!!
“Kheuk...”
With a dying groan, the ‘Star that Illuminates the Water’s Surface’ fell, burning.
Ironically, as his body turned to ash, a fierce gale pushed the clouds aside. Star clouds beyond peeked through the cracked ice. The ink-black Silver Mirror Lake sparkled with starlight once more.
Whiiiioooo...
At the winter lakeside where Elga’s star fell and heavenly stars rose, an eerie wind howled like the reaper’s whistle.
*
With the ‘Stigmata’ extinguished, those trapped as water shadows in the lake were freed. Duncan thought he could finally reunite with his family in peace.
He was wrong.
“Du-Densen!! Densennn!!”
“Daddyyy! Daaaaddy!!”
“Are you okay, Densen? Not hurt anywhere??”
“Yeah, I’m fine... But Dad, your ear...”
“Huh? Oh, n-no, it’s nothing. Doesn’t hurt at all.”
His son was fine, at least. The problem was his wife.
“Duncan!! H-How are you here...? What were those black holes...? What the hell happened!?”
“...Uh, huugh.”
Duncan backed away awkwardly. Having just endured a brutal “marital spat” (or so), he instinctively bristled at her sight. Yulia looked half understanding, half hurt that he couldn’t recognize her.
Thankfully, after one verification step, the issue resolved.
“Y-Yulia... Um, I bought this for you...”
Duncan pulled out the golden orb necklace. The relic Remillion had given him upon parting in the great forest. Yulia’s eyes widened at its obviously expensive gleam.
“W-What’s this, all of a sudden? Where’d you get it? How much!?”
“Oh, uh, not much... Just 20 million Luden...”
“You madman!!! What thief ripped you off!! With that money, we could buy millions of loaves of bread, hundreds of thousands of bowls, no—hundreds of houses for the whole neighborhood, enough for generations...”
“...Phew.”
Finally convinced it was his real wife, Duncan smiled in relief and pulled Yulia into a tight embrace.