Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Broken
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“You shouldn't have touched the kid, you fucking bastard!!!!”
-Boom!
Fueled by rage, Ruin kicked off the ground so hard that the floor cracked, launching himself at the Black Knight.
Ruin, who had unleashed about half of his total Holy Power.
With a kick powered by his full strength, he closed the distance to the Black Knight in the blink of an eye and swung his sword.
-Clang!
“Urk...!”
However, the Black Knight reacted instantly to the full-force attack and blocked it.
He had already drawn the sword strapped to his back and was clashing blades with Ruin.
Ruin's eyes, blazing with fury, locked onto the red glow within the Black Knight's helmet.
'This fucking bastard...!'
Ruin believed that chosen powerhouses could treat others however they pleased, but children were always excluded from that "however."
Children were beings of infinite potential, pure and innocent, unaware of the world's harsh realities.
Yet the Black Knight before him was gripping the fragile arm of just such a pure being.
“Why did you do it! Why the fuck did you do it?!”
Even as a mighty Hero, the thought that he couldn't save a single child had long since stripped Ruin of his reason, leaving him to rage unchecked.
In response to Ruin's fury, a single phrase slipped from the Black Knight's mouth, like fuel tossed onto a fire.
“Let go of what you could not protect...”
“...What?”
“Humans are such incompetent beings... Release everything...!”
At his mad ramblings, Ruin immediately unleashed all of his Holy Power.
-Whumm...!
“!! Ahh, what manner of being are you...”
The Black Knight seemed startled for a moment upon seeing Ruin enveloped in golden light, but soon sighed in admiration.
“A being of utter futility...”
Yet the words from his mouth were the complete opposite.
“Futile? Let's see whose futile, you fucking punk. You beast-worse-than-beast murderer.”
“This too is the tragic fate of mortals...”
“I'm gonna fucking rip your limbs off one by one and grind you into meat paste. You ain't dying easy.”
-Boom!
Ruin kicked off the ground once more, hurtling toward the Black Knight like a cannonball.
-Clang!
The Black Knight's sword blocked his again.
But...
-Crack, clang!
Unlike before, the Black Knight's sword couldn't withstand Ruin's attack and shattered.
'You're done.'
Ruin was certain of his victory at the sight.
But in that instant.
-Grab.
“What?”
The Black Knight seized Ruin's blade with his other hand.
Then, he whispered softly.
“The Goddess grants strength to the lamb that rises.”
It was a prayer from holy rites, used to reinforce the body.
“What the...”
Ruin, who had been about to scoff at the Black Knight attempting holy rites...
-Whoosh...
“Fuck, what is this!!”
Seeing Holy Power descend upon the Black Knight's entire body, he reflexively cursed.
Seizing the opening, the Black Knight thrust his broken sword into Ruin's shoulder.
“Aaaagh!”
His blade pierced effortlessly through the Holy Power enveloping Ruin's body.
“You fucking bastard!”
Ruin desperately kicked at the Black Knight.
The Black Knight dodged his foot and retreated a step.
“For we mortals, pain is ever-present...”
The Black Knight muttered as he shook the blood from his broken sword.
“Huff... Huff... Fuck...”
The two stared at each other, maintaining some distance.
Unlike the Black Knight, whose demeanor hadn't changed since earlier, Ruin's mind was a whirlwind of chaos.
How could the Black Knight wield Holy Power?
Why hadn't his own Holy Power properly blocked the Black Knight's attack?
Why had the Goddess allowed this to happen?
'I don't get any of it.'
No matter how he racked his brain, Ruin found no answers.
Instead, the Black Knight provided one.
“Ahh, Goddess! Why do You aid me!!”
He had clearly recited the prayer himself, yet he gazed upward, questioning the Goddess as if demanding why She had granted him strength.
“Is this too an answer to faith! Faith, that damned faith?!”
Rage seemed to build within the Black Knight like a gradient, intensifying.
He turned his head back to Ruin.
Suddenly, his voice carried a tinge of melancholy once more.
“Ahh, this is all my fault... The fault of my faith...”
“...Your faith's fault how?”
“The Goddess embraces even the faith of sinners... How grave must my sins be...”
His words were utterly incomprehensible, impossible to predict, but Ruin was starting to grasp a thread—however thin.
“So because you believed, the Goddess gave you power?”
“Ahh, Goddess... Another mortal has understood. This too is another tragedy...”
“...Fuck, so you're saying! Just believing is enough for the Goddess to grant power? Even to a child-killing fuck like you?”
“Ahh, how tragic this is... This too is my fault...”
“No, fuck, that can't— Kugh!”
Excited by the Black Knight's words and trying to retort, Ruin couldn't continue, vomiting blood from the backlash of his Holy Power.
“Cough cough! Urk...! Fuck, fucking hell...”
His Holy Power flickered unstably with every cough.
The Black Knight slowly advanced toward Ruin.
“Ahh, what a tragic sight... Your faith is steadfast, yet shaken by my fault. My sins run deep...”
“Cough! Fuck off!”
Ruin quickly steadied himself and raised his sword.
“The Goddess permits sword and shield: the sword to cut evil, the shield to protect the weak...”
In that moment, the Black Knight gripped his broken sword with both hands.
“Ahh, sole being above the heavens. Though my sword is broken, in my heart burns a conviction firmer and sharper still.”
'That sounds familiar...'
“...That bastard Is.”
Seeing the Black Knight utter words eerily similar to what Is had said during their past spar, Ruin realized something was deeply wrong.
He lunged forward desperately, but the Black Knight had already thrust the broken sword toward his own solar plexus.
-Crunch!
The blade pierced through his armor.
In that instant, a blinding burst of golden light exploded from the wound.
-Flash!
“Ugh...!”
Ruin hesitated, his vision blocked.
Fortunately, the light faded quickly.
But...
“...This can't be real.”
Two massive black greatswords were now in the Black Knight's hands.
“That's... made of Holy Power.”
An image flashed in his mind: a Holy Knight who stood firm before the Hero, determined to teach him until the end, sword unwavering.
“You, someone like you shouldn't wield it better than that guy.”
Unlike that righteous Holy Knight's sword, which had vanished all too soon despite his unyielding conviction, the Black Knight before him had forged two terrifying greatswords capable of overwhelming anyone.
“If you, of all people, can wield such a technique...”
Does that mean both of us were wrong?
Ruin muttered it in a tiny voice.
And soon after...
-Slash!
His arm plummeted to the ground.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Whew! That was fun, right?”
“Yes, we were chatting so enjoyably that time flew by unnoticed.”
“Ahaha, yeah.”
As we talked, the sunset sky had turned pitch black, night fully upon us.
Ariana and I rose to leave, and Prelia followed us out of the mage tower to see us off.
“Too bad we can't have dinner together. Let's do it just the two of us next time.”
Prelia said this while subtly pressing against me.
Lib High Priest still hadn't returned from assisting Ruin, so Ariana and I had planned to have dinner with him to ensure he didn't cause any trouble.
At that moment, Ariana immediately wedged herself between Prelia and me.
“All three of us should eat together! Is thinks so too, right?”
“Hahaha... Yes, anytime is fine with me.”
We were about to exchange farewells when...
“Brother Is! Saintess!”
A voice called out from afar, searching for us.
“That voice...”
It was incredibly familiar to me.
A thin yet soft voice for a man...
“Lib High Priest!”
It was Lib High Priest.
I turned with a smile, thinking he had finally returned.
But...
“The Hero, the Hero!”
The urgency in his voice and the figure beside him turned my expression grave.
Because beside him was...
“The Hero has been defeated!”
Ruin, supported by Lib High Priest, his right arm missing entirely.
I hurriedly scooped Ariana into a princess carry and rushed to them.
“Hero...? What, what the hell hap—”
“He was attacked by a knight in black armor. I barely found the Hero, but by the time I arrived, his arm was already like this...”
Lib High Priest gave a rough explanation to the shocked Ariana.
Apparently, Ruin had encountered the Black Knight in a back alley during their fight, and his arm had been severed.
Fortunately, Lib High Priest had retrieved the severed arm intact, so Ariana could likely reattach it.
“Lay him down here.”
Lib High Priest carefully laid Ruin down.
Ariana positioned the severed arm neatly and immediately began reciting her prayer.
“Ugh, cough cough!”
“Kyaa?!”
Ruin coughed up blood in that instant.
It seemed like backlash from his Holy Power.
“This is...!”
Ariana's face grew more serious as she chanted fervently.
Meanwhile, Ruin wiped his mouth with a handkerchief from Lib High Priest and met my eyes.
“Cough! Hey... you, damn priest...”
Even on the brink of death, Ruin called out to me.
I knelt to face him.
“What is it, Hero?”
“Cough! Ha... I just wanna ask one thing, okay...?”
“Ask anything. If I can answer—”
“If all your efforts so far were wrong, cough cough! What would you do?”
“...Pardon?”
I thought it was another outburst at first, but...
“And I've realized my talent and convictions were wrong... What do I do...?”
His following words were laced with raw fear.
I removed my helmet to meet his gaze again.
“Please... tell me the right answer... Yeah?”
There sat not the Hero, but a fragile boy on the verge of breaking.