Chapter 47
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Is It an Angel?
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Is it an angel?
I've seen something like that before.
The wing color and halo shape are different, though.
The wings were shaped like an angel's, but they were a dull gray.
And the ring floating above her head—the halo made of light—wasn't a normal circle. The front part was broken off, and a golden rectangle occupied that gap.
Everything except the star was dyed black, with faint mist rising hazily from it.
Countless chains bound her body and limbs tightly, restricting her movements.
"A guest who has come to my dream after so long. I welcome you warmly."
It was a voice with a mystical tone.
With her eyes closed, she alternated her gaze between Melissa and me before gesturing with her hand.
At that, the form of the maid beside us faded away smoothly.
"To reach this space, it must be because that desire of yours was so strong."
She spoke as if it didn't matter much.
"You two put on a truly splendid show. As payment, I shall grant you an ornament. But beyond that, I wished to meet and converse with you."
Melissa frowned at her words, so I spoke up instead.
"What exactly are you?"
To my simple and direct question, she shrugged her shoulders.
"I am Luna Basilyn Raphaelria."
"No, your name doesn't matter. What are you?"
Are you from the same trash-tier lineage as the librarians?
"Merely a prisoner."
She seemed unwilling to say more.
I couldn't find a reason to press further and fell silent, but Melissa muttered her name repeatedly, tilting her head.
"Raphaelria? That name rings a bell somewhere."
"So, what exactly was the point of what we did?"
"Nothing much. When you've been locked away for so long, sometimes you crave stimulating scenes like that. No need to worry. I have no intent or reason to harm you."
In other words, our entire act had been for her amusement.
"Normally, I wouldn't even bother with this conversation before sending you off. Once you leave this place, all memories vanish. Such talks should be meaningless by rights. But the circumstances are vastly different this time."
"Her speech pattern... why is it like that?"
Melissa whispered so she wouldn't hear. Her manner of speaking was indeed oddly awkward.
Did she learn to talk by imitating humans?
"Different? How so?"
"No normal monster like you could enter this space. This is a place reachable only through dreams by those who yearn. With that level of power, you couldn't possibly yearn. How did you get in?"
"Are you insane? Who are you calling a monster? Want to die?"
Melissa scowled fiercely and snapped on my behalf, but she paid it no mind.
Instead, she flapped a pair of gray wings similar in shade to Melissa's or my hair color.
The chains rattled as they were pulled taut.
"I merely spoke the truth. You possess power beyond what any human could have, yet you claim to be normal?"
"That doesn't matter. You're basically the boss of this place, right?"
"Boss? I'm not sure about that, but this space exists for me."
At those words, I immediately drew my sword.
"Hey, hey! You trying to kill her?"
"What choice do we have? If we leave her be, she'll swallow our whole mansion. I broke the barrier, but unless we eliminate the root cause, it'll just happen again."
Plugging it every time would be a nightmare.
At my words, she seemed to recall the incident's origin and shut her mouth.
"You did bring that box in the end... but let's talk first. She might be able to prevent it from happening again."
Listening to our conversation, she tilted her head.
"What are you talking about?"
"What do you mean? Your unidentified barrier nearly devoured our entire mansion, so we broke in to stop it."
Her closed eyes twitched at Melissa's curt retort.
"Incomprehensible. This place is disconnected from reality. Thus, neither I nor this space can affect the real world. You're lying to me now."
She seemed deeply offended, struggling against her chains with a clank.
Of course, Melissa had plenty to say in return and immediately flared up.
"The blue box! That damn blue box suddenly went berserk and opened, spreading a golden barrier around! We smashed it, and a rift appeared, so we came through!"
The girl froze at her words.
"Say that again. What did you just say?"
"What do you mean? The rift that popped out of that blasted blue box leads here!"
Melissa fumed, looking ready to draw her sword.
"Impossible. The prison sealing me cannot be undone by any means..."
Mid-sentence, her head snapped toward me.
Staring straight at me, she spoke in a trembling voice.
"Could it be... you opened the box?"
"No. I knew there was a life reaction inside, but the box went haywire on its own."
"Impossible. Unless the guardian maintaining the seal lost its mind... No, even if intact, the seal shouldn't waver."
She paused again mid-thought.
Then, gazing quietly at me, she asked,
"Did you do something near the box? Like magic, perhaps."
"I put up a barrier. As you can see, I know a bit of necromancy, so I covered it with death energy."
"Death energy? Ha... this is getting interesting."
She burst out laughing with a puff.
"They claimed it was perfect, but time revealed flaws in the barrier. They surely never anticipated a monster like you."
"So this wasn't your doing?"
"No. Bound like this, I can't wield any power."
She sprawled back on her jade throne, still chained.
"A flaw must have developed in the sealing box's structure. The guardian meant to protect the seal must have gone mad and abandoned its post."
In short, the blue box was the object sealing this girl, guarded and maintained by something called a "guardian."
But when I encased the box in a death energy barrier, that guardian flipped out, causing this mess.
"Hey. So you're the cause after all?"
Melissa poked my side cautiously.
I'd boasted back then that nothing would go wrong.
"Shut up. It's embarrassing enough."
"No, it's ridiculous. If the seal breaks that easily, it wasn't much of a seal to begin with."
Melissa shot back incredulously.
"Hardly. It was simply the presence of that handsome human over there as the variable."
"Wh-what? Handsome? With your eyes closed, you must not see straight."
She must have meant the Death Lord-level dominance in my necromantic mana.
In other words, without me, the box's seal wouldn't have broken.
"Then we shouldn't be chatting like this."
She smirked.
"What do you mean?"
"Putting it all together, I advise you to leave immediately."
Kwaaaaang!!!
With those words, the grand hall's wall exploded, revealing a massive something.
It was... a tiger-shaped beast clad in enormous armor.
But its size easily surpassed five meters.
"Hm? Divine Beast Barba? How is that thing here?"
It was a divine beast I'd seen often in the halls.
However, its appearance was twisted here and there, discolored to a murky hue.
"What the hell is that? Why's it so huge? Do you know what it is?!"
"Yeah. It's called Divine Beast Barba. It wields holy flame as its signature."
"Holy flame?"
"Yeah... Think of it as a fire that curses you on contact and never goes out."
A memory suddenly flashed back.
I'd once died in agonizing flames because holy flame clung to my body.
The girl on the throne let out an exclamation at my answer.
"Oh? You know of divine beasts? Surprising that humans and divine beasts have made contact so soon."
"I've never even heard of divine beasts."
"Then how does he know?"
"Leon's just weird like that."
Even in this situation, the girl remained utterly composed.
Yet the divine beast Barba was directing its greatest hostility at none other than her.
No, from what I saw, it wasn't composure—it was closer to resignation.
As if she didn't care whether she died or not.
"Barba is the guardian that sealed and watches over me."
-Kraaaaaargh!!
With a massive roar, it bared its blazing claws, and Melissa blankly stared before darting behind me.
"L-Leon! You can handle that thing too, right?!"
"Of course..."
Her face lit up at my response.
"No way. Be serious. Divine Beast Barba is a monster that could tear through five Sword Masters single-handedly."
Even if it held power to defeat a Sword Master, the size difference against something like that was insurmountable.
No matter how overflowing my aura, that gap was too vast.
"Then we're in deep trouble?"
"Forget it, let's bail."
I immediately scooped Melissa up.
Then I activated the aura within me.
My swordsmanship style suppressed power like charging it, then explosively accelerated upon release.
It'd strain me a bit, but that speed was necessary to escape it in our current state.
"Fun chat."
"You're leaving? Be careful. No matter how mad Barba is, it can't escape this space. It'll go for me first—use that chance to run."
She's no ordinary human, so her vitality should outlast ours.
She closed her eyes indifferently, rattling her chain-bound arms.
"You gonna be okay?"
She let out a hollow chuckle at my question.
"It won't kill me anyway—it's just here to watch. Not to kill."
"It's drunk on death energy right now and can't tell heaven from earth. Besides..."
I paused, then stared her straight in the eye—or where her eyes would be.
"You could actually die here. Am I wrong?"
"......"
Silence, as if I'd struck true, then she smiled faintly.
"Only regret is not sharing a drink. But it's been a life without regrets."
Whatever her true nature, I felt an odd sensation.
I didn't like seeing her so resigned.
But worrying about her now wasn't an option—we were in dire straits ourselves.
"W-wait! Leon?!"
"If that thing dies, the rift vanishes anyway. We bail like this."
I immediately detonated the circulating aura.
And rocketed away from the spot like a cannonball.