Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: Promise (1)
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Vena slipped out of the auction house and immediately reverted to her original form.
Once she removed the mask as well, the suffocating feeling eased somewhat.
"Phew!"
The mask had been made with such a narrow width that it left marks on the sides of her face.
Such marks were the natural enemy of beauty...
Vena let out a short sigh and glanced around.
"Where on earth did Master go?"
After the incident at the auction house, Jamie had vanished somewhere with Siegfried.
It would have been nice if he'd left even a single word, but she hadn't heard anything. She wanted to go look for him, but how could she when she had no idea where he was?
If she wandered the streets aimlessly, she might miss him entirely and end up unable to find him at all.
So instead, she was heading back to their lodging. If he was there, he'd return eventually.
As she tried to push her worries aside, the image of that black-clad man she'd seen last lingered in her mind.
"He'll be fine, right?"
[Worrying suits you. He went to the auction as a guest from the start—what problem could arise between that monster and the kid?]
Phillion had a point.
If Jamie had been the one causing trouble, that would be one thing, but if the black-clad man was truly affiliated with the auction house, he was more likely protecting her master.
Unaware that her fears were unfolding far away, Vena nodded to herself, relieved.
"Guess I should go grab some food."
Pulling off that act she'd never tried before had left her way too tense.
On top of that, the ill-fitting dress still squeezed her stomach and chest uncomfortably.
She'd been thrilled at first to wear such a dress, but she could never do it twice.
"Kya aa aak!"
At that moment, a woman's scream echoed from not far away.
Vena flinched and looked toward the sound. It wasn't from too close by.
Screams came in varieties: the startled yelp, the terrified wail, the agonized howl.
The one she'd just heard was definitely the third kind.
She knew it all too well. Back in the Gav Academy days, she'd heard them every single day.
"I-Ignore it..."
Vena swallowed dryly and tried to resume walking toward the lodging, but...
"Kua aa aak!"
Another scream rang out, stopping her in her tracks.
This one was a man's.
What could they be doing to elicit such a scream filled with agony?
Should she go check? Yet she couldn't bring herself to head toward the source.
It was a vague, primal fear.
Meeting Jamie had made her much more cheerful, but she still carried the trauma from the Gav Academy. She'd overcome some of it, but only when Jamie was by her side.
'Ch-Check if the screams are real...'
Where on earth had her master gone?
As Vena hesitated and began inching toward the screams, Phillion spoke up.
[Elves.]
"...What?"
Vena's eyes widened at Phillion's out-of-the-blue remark.
[Can't you sense their elven aura?]
"An elven aura? Like, something like that exists?"
[Tch. No wonder you're so dull—you haven't lived in the forest.]
Phillion clicked his tongue in exasperation.
Elves and Valkyries were both children of the forest. Though different races, they could usually sense each other's presence.
Unfortunately, Vena had been away from the forest far too long. And with years of brainwashing, she'd lost most of her Valkyrie instincts.
She'd recovered some lately, but to Phillion, she was still far from it. The Valkyries he knew were fearless heroines of the woods.
[Both screams are from elves. Probably the slaves from the auction earlier.]
"Sh-Should we save them?"
[Do whatever. I couldn't care less about elves.]
Phillion dismissed it outright.
Even as fellow forest folk, his ego centered solely on Valkyries.
Elves were another race, so none of his concern.
"What should I do?"
Vena recalled the first "items" up for bid at the auction: the elven man and woman, bound head to toe in restraints that suppressed their power, not even allowed to show emotion on stage.
She'd seen plenty of slaves. During her time at Gav Academy, black sorcerers bought many for human experiments.
Horrific scenes. She'd grown up watching them every day. Hellish days.
One day, a heteroracial slave arrived at the academy.
That slave endured far crueler, more gruesome experiments than humans—neither living nor dying, until it finally perished.
What fate awaited elven slaves? Elves were the most beautiful race in the world. Humans with twisted desires had long hunted them.
No need to explain what came next.
'But...'
Could she act alone?
She'd always followed Jamie's lead and saw it as natural. Same now.
If she tried something on her own and messed up, it would only make things worse.
This was another of her traumas.
Even at the academy, she'd only cleaned up after others and done as told. And she couldn't even do that right, always getting yelled at.
Vena didn't mind if Jamie yelled at her. She heard it now and then, and it'd feel weird if he didn't. But she didn't want to disappoint him.
He might discard her as useless.
As Vena's face fell into gloom, Phillion sighed deeply.
[Does that kid really seem like the type to ditch you over something like that?]
Vena had no retort to Phillion's words.
Jamie, her master, wasn't the sort to cast someone aside for something trivial.
His temper was foul, but he always showed consideration.
He'd go on nightly walks with her to avoid Siegfried finding out, despite the hassle, and quietly prepared meals and snacks.
Jamie was prickly but truly kind. To Vena, he was more than a benefactor—he was her savior.
So, it was fine.
"Phillion, help me out."
[I'm your weapon. Do as you please.]
"Yeah."
With her resolve firm, Vena gripped the ring-form Phillion, which transformed into a hammer amid pink light. She clutched it tightly with both hands.
For four months inside Gremia, she'd trained under Phillion.
She couldn't yet match the level from her fight with Demon Baron Rueta, but at least now, she wouldn't disappoint Jamie.
"Cover me!"
[Easy enough.]
Golden butterfly wings unfurled from Vena's back.
Beautiful light particles flowed out, lifting her body into the air.
The All Might-empowered Dimensional Severing Sword sliced through Darius's sturdy aura armor, severing space itself.
It was impossible for someone who hadn't even reached Master level.
Yet one of the Three Divine Artifacts—the Stone, with its immense resistance to physical force—made the impossible possible.
Still, there were clear limits.
'Barely a scratch.'
Darius remained unscathed even amid the spatial shockwaves Siegfried unleashed.
No matter that the Dimensional Severing Sword was a space-cutting technique, Jamie's proficiency was too low.
It had only grazed the surface skin, nothing more.
Jamie bit his lower lip and unleashed Hundred Seas.
"This is..."
Darius's invisible eyes widened.
Jamie’s movements etched themselves clearly in his spatial perception. Mana flowed naturally along with him.
A movement all too familiar.
He'd experienced it several times before.
'Definitely Hundred Seas.'
Darius never forgot a technique he'd faced once. Not just because of his spatial perception ability. As a blind man unable to see, he felt, understood, and internalized through senses.
That process etched the memory indelibly into his mind.
Especially a footwork like Hundred Seas—impossible to forget even if he tried.
Mana gathered at the sword tip. Jamie Welton's position was now dominated.
Hundred Seas was a footwork that dominated space.
Invented by the previous Welton family head, Cheryl Welton, it was among the top footworks in existence.
Darius knew of it. And it wasn't just Hundred Seas.
'He used Dimensional Severing Sword.'
A sword art that wasn't merely a sword art.
A secret among secrets, passed only through Welton blood.
He'd actually faced not just Hundred Seas, but Dimensional Severing Sword several times before.
Compared to those encounters, this was child's play, but the feel was unmistakably Dimensional Severing Sword.
Even now—somehow, he'd cleaved through the aura. Here, only Siegfried's spatial power could pierce that thick aura.
But he'd done it, which meant—
"Welton blood, are you?"
Jamie didn't answer.
He didn't care if the enemy saw through his identity.
What mattered was the technique he'd unleash next.
He didn't expect to kill Darius. If he could just scratch him, make him flinch even briefly, that would suffice.
'All Might one more time.'
Last one.
All Might, like Perfect Cell, devoured an insane amount of mana.
[Welton-style Variant Technique]
[Hundred Seas]
'Hundred Seas - Pressure' concentrated mana at the toes, exploding the Hundred Seas mana flow at a single point—a magic spell.
The technique he was about to use differed: concentrating the mana flow not at the toes, but at the sword tip.
Jamie’s self-invented ultimate fusion of sword and magic.
[Soul Escape]
Zziiing!!
The mana flow sharpened to a point, piercing space.
"Impressive. Hundred Seas is already perfected as is."
Even a Master would be in danger if struck by Soul Escape.
Darius knew this but didn't panic. No—he was astonished. He'd marveled at how Jamie elevated the perfected footwork of Hundred Seas into new realms with his sword.
But magic aside, Jamie had only seriously trained in swordsmanship for just over four months. No way he'd fall to that.
"0.55. Your swordsmanship still has a long way to go. Keep at it."
He fluidly gripped the sword.
Dimensional Severing Sword's power coiled around it, but he ignored it. It couldn't do more than graze skin anyway.
"The fight ends here."
Siegfried didn't move.
Jamie glared at Darius with wide eyes.
Swordsmanship alone wasn't enough. He began gathering mana, ready to summon Leviathan if needed.
But before he could, Han and Siegfried sprang into action.
"Young master!"
"Kid!"
Both charged at full power, intent on killing Darius.
Darius smirked at the two presences behind him and lifted his right leg.
"I said the fight ends here."
Then he stomped down.
Kuwaaang!!
Gremia's ground began to crumble.
"Done."
Gremia was dismantling purely from physical force.
It wasn't destroyed. The artifact forming its shape would naturally restore per the owner's will.
But not right now.
The hostility from Darius vanished. In its place, a sudden 'familiarity' filled the emotional void.
Darius spoke.
"Who'd have thought I'd see my old friend's grandson here. Is this fate?"
Darius grinned.
"I'm well acquainted with your grandfather, Jamie Welton."
Jamie froze at the sudden mention of his grandfather, the previous Welton head.
"Is this meeting coincidence... or inevitability?"
"...What are you talking about?"
Jamie's expression twisted.