Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Leviathan (2)
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"Why is a part of me here?"
The grimoire Leviathan had been created during his time as Diablo Volpir by tearing out a portion of his own black mana.
In other words, it was a part of him.
He had torn it all apart in anticipation of a distant future and tossed it into an nameless sea late at night.
So that it could be of use if he ever returned.
Yet it had been guarding this repulsive egg, and was even in the process of being absorbed as nutrients.
"To think I forgot about something like this..."
Just like with the Authority, it seemed there were memories he no longer possessed.
And quite a few of them, at that.
The problem was that he still didn't know them.
Even though forgotten memories like this were resurfacing, his current memories felt utterly complete.
Perhaps there were no more, but ironically, the grimoire Leviathan was not the end.
He wasn't sure how many there were, but grimoires containing parts of himself were likely scattered across the world.
'That's why she said I'd know if I came here.'
Pyro must have read Diablo Volpir's traces here.
"That's why she entrusted it to me."
"Did you figure something out?"
As Jamie stood silently, Vena poked her head around and asked.
"Of course."
"What is it?"
"Later. This first."
The moment Vena tilted her head at his cryptic words,
the black mana covering the egg began to ripple from Jamie's outstretched hands.
Vena's eyes widened at the sudden sight.
"M-Master?"
"Return. To your master!"
As if obeying the command, 'Leviathan' began slowly flowing toward Jamie's hands.
That was when it happened.
"What the hell are you little shits doing?!"
Pure white light began pouring from the sky like raindrops.
Jamie glared wide-eyed and shouted.
"Zenith's holy power?!"
Why was Zenith-infused holy power suddenly falling from the sky?
He couldn't believe his eyes, but that wasn't the important thing right now.
"Vena! We have to block it!"
"Uwaaaah!"
Vena stomped her feet in panic before thrusting both hands upward.
"Sh-Shield!"
A thin barrier formed in midair.
The holy rain drummed against it.
"One won't be enough!"
"Shield! Shield! Shield!"
Unlike Jamie, who conjured ten shields in an instant, Vena struggled to generate them.
But they shattered one after another, unable to withstand the holy rain.
Fortunately, not a single drop fell above their heads.
"Mages?"
A woman hovering in the air muttered with one eye narrowed.
She looked down at the kid absorbing the black mana and the pink-haired girl looking dazed.
"This is a problem. You're doing something very troublesome."
"You. From the Zenith Church?"
"How did our little kid figure that out?"
She—Kanna—brushed her well-groomed blue hair behind her ear and approached them.
Jamie kept his eyes fixed on her and asked.
"Why is someone from the Zenith Church here? To destroy the demon egg?"
"Curious little kid, aren't you?"
"Or is a priestess trying to protect the demon egg?"
"But what can you do? This big sis has no intention of telling you."
As Kanna reached out, a weapon began to summon in her hand.
Vena tensed and stepped in front of Jamie. Her grip tightened on her pink hammer.
A hint of irritation flickered in Kanna's eyes at the sight.
"You've got two of my least favorite colors."
"L-Least favorite colors?"
"Pink hair and hammer. And a girl wielding a crude hammer like that?"
"...Isn't your weapon just as crude?"
Vena was dumbfounded by her words.
Compared to what Kanna held, her hammer seemed downright cute.
"What's wrong with it?"
Kanna stroked her hefty weapon affectionately.
A massive lump sat atop a plain handle, enough to make anyone's legs buckle just looking at it.
"Isn't it just the cutest little mace?"
Especially the sharp iron spikes embedded in the blunt metal head—they were far from cute.
Moreover, her mace was twice the size of others.
"It's drab gray and not even pretty. How is that cute?"
"Tsk tsk. Still a kid, huh? Whatever. You'll die here anyway—talking more just stresses me out."
"We'll be the ones taking down this old hag."
Kanna's expression hardened at Vena's sharp retort.
Jamie, behind her, was a bit stunned by Vena's uncharacteristic attitude.
"Old hag?"
"Yes. Old hag."
"Puhaha! Old hag? She called me an old hag! Puhahaha!"
Kanna burst into incredulous laughter.
Then she cut it off abruptly, her face turning serious as she unleashed a wave of murderous intent.
"I'll kill you first."
"Vena. Hold her off until I've fully absorbed it."
"I'll do what I can."
Vena, who usually panicked at such orders, seemed utterly reliable right now.
"I'm counting on you."
"Don't worry!"
With that, Vena charged forward.
Kanna's red lips curled upward in a vicious grin.
Two masses of metal clashed in midair.
"Hahahahaha! Is that all you've got?!"
Kanna swung her mace.
Vena gritted her teeth and swung her hammer to meet it head-on as best she could.
But the skill gap was clear.
The mace's weight was no joke. Each clash felt like it was tearing her hands apart.
'What kind of monstrous strength is this?'
Vena had gained confidence in her power after awakening as a Valkyrie.
Especially after entering the forest, she felt even stronger.
Yet she couldn't hold a candle to this blue-haired woman wildly flinging attacks at her.
Was it the aftermath of Teberon?
"Is this really all?"
Kanna wielded her mace like a feather.
It was nearly several dozen kilograms, but that weight meant nothing to her.
Boom! Boom!!
That nasty-colored hammer wasn't ordinary either, but the skill gap was too vast.
With her wealth of combat experience, Kanna had gauged the difference from the first clash.
"It'll take that kid a while to absorb it all. I can play with you and still have time."
"Kuh!"
Vena couldn't withstand the incoming mace and was sent flying back.
She rolled across the ground before springing up and gripping her hammer again. Sweat poured like rain. Stray hairs stuck to her face, irritating her.
'Still, I can't lose focus.'
With almost no combat experience, all Vena could do was endure somehow.
'I'd rather fight monsters...'
Monsters were easy to hit, so she'd thought she had talent for fighting.
"Why won't it land?"
"......"
"Scared?"
"I'm not scared!"
Vena kicked off the ground and charged at Kanna.
She raised her hammer high and brought it smashing down.
Bang!!
Kanna easily dodged with a backstep and smirked.
"See, I really don't like that pink hair."
A big attack always left an opening.
A veteran like Kanna wouldn't miss it.
She stepped forward naturally from her retreated leg and swung her mace at Vena's back.
"Guh!"
A suffocating impact started from her back and spread through her chest.
Vena braced herself with her hands on the ground.
That was a mistake.
As she turned her head, she saw sharp iron spikes flying toward her.
She didn't know what a hit from those would do.
'Not the head!'
Fortunately, her Valkyrie-awakened reflexes surpassed human limits.
She twisted her body away from the mace's path and raised her remaining arm to shield her face.
Dodging was impossible—minimize the damage first.
Counter after.
Thwack-!
"Kuhk!"
Her forearm folded in half.
The bone snapped cleanly.
Vena couldn't withstand the mace's force and crashed into a tree.
"Cough! Cough!"
She spat blood and looked at her dangling arm.
It was a strong hit, but her arm shouldn't have broken so easily.
'The shock from that bear hasn't fully healed.'
Teberon's two attacks had left her in tatters.
Jamie’s healing magic and Valkyrie regeneration had helped a lot, but some damage lingered.
'Still, it was bearable.'
It had already been broken once, so it broke again.
The woman's strength was formidable, but Vena's durability wasn't to be underestimated.
Then Kanna sneered at the struggling Vena.
"Aw. If your head had cracked instead, you wouldn't even feel the pain. That arm must hurt, huh?"
"Hoo, hoo, hoo."
Ignoring the taunt, Vena took deep breaths to suppress the pain as much as possible.
She didn't drop her hammer.
Vena bit her lower lip and stood.
"Fight with that arm?"
"I accepted the request."
"How touching."
Kanna sneered and walked toward her.
Her gait swayed playfully, like she was having fun.
"Don't worry. I'll send the kid off with you."
"You should be the one worrying."
"What?"
The moment Kanna tilted her head at the cryptic words,
"You, what...!"
All her senses inverted.
Right arm became left, right leg became left, front became back, back became front.
But it didn't last.
The inverted senses snapped back instantly.
The problem was that brief moment.
"Kuhk!"
The long handle bent.
Kanna felt her feet lift as she saw the hammer strike her abdomen.
"B-Black magic...!"
No matter how little talent she had, it was a curse spell honed over ten years.
Inducing a split-second illusion was easy.
Even easier against a careless opponent!
'Still, it was too short.'
She knew the foe was a priestess, but expected at least five seconds.
'As long as it landed once. But it won't work twice.'
With power that countered black magic, such tricks wouldn't work again.
So end it now.
"Dieee!"
Psssh-!
Air hissed from the hammer. Cracks formed along its lines, splitting apart.
The blue gem inside glowed.
Kabooom!!!
A massive explosion erupted where the hammer hit.
Vena was flung back by the shockwave.
Even she, who swung it, couldn't comprehend what happened.
Black smoke and flames billowed up.
The fire spread to the grass, rapidly growing.
"Wh-What was that just now?"
The scant mana in her body was sucked dry.
The hammer reverted to a ring.
It must have been the hammer's ability.
Incredible power.
Pushing aside her surprise, Vena looked to the explosion site.
"Did I get her?"
Hit by the hammer and fully engulfed in the blast.
She'd be dead for sure.
Nothing emanated from the roiling smoke.
Vena stared blankly before her lips twitched.
"I got her... I got her!"
Conviction surging, she began jumping and cheering.
She shouldn't have.
"You bitch!"
There was light.
A hand shot from the light and seized Vena's throat.
The light coalesced into a full human form, particles scattering like dust.
And there stood Kanna, charred black.
Her clothes burned away in places, nearly naked, she lifted Vena with a furious scowl.
"Guhk!"
"How dare you mar my beautiful body like this!"
She slammed Vena into the ground. The earth cratered, dirt piling up from the fissures.
Vena's eyes rolled back.
Kanna gripped her mace again.
"Filthy black sorcerer scum!"
She raised it to smash Vena's face.
That was when it happened.
A chilling aura emanated from behind.
She knew the demon egg was there.
'No way. The kid already?!'
She had no time for this wench.
Kanna tried to rush there, ignoring Vena.
"N-No...!"
A hand grabbed her ankle.
"What can a dying girl do?!"
Kanna tried to shake off Vena's hand, but the strengthening grip drew an involuntary scream.
"Aaak!"
Her ankle felt like it would snap.
How did a near-dead girl have such strength?
"Y-You bitch!"
Bashing her head would be quicker.
Decision made, Kanna gripped the mace with both hands.
Holy power gathered at its head.
And brought it down.
"...!"
A bone-chilling cold hit then.
The mace halted before Vena's face.
A shadow fell over her head.
It wasn't large.
She slowly looked up at the figure before her.
A young boy floating in midair gazed at her impassively and spoke.
Beyond the boy's purple-tinted pupils, an incomprehensible darkness writhed.
Kanna looked down again.
There, a gaping maw of darkness glared up at her.