Chapter 94
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: I'll Kill Them All
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Anyone with a weak stomach would have hurled until their guts churned inside out.
Even I, who had witnessed countless miserable and gruesome scenes, had to steady my roiling stomach.
'Corpse chunks.'
No one would have scattered them on purpose.
These were traces of battle.
"Not people."
Ibu muttered.
I nodded.
Humans harness the forces of nature in various ways.
The methods vary, so do the forms and results.
Civilized folk exploit plants and animals scientifically, converting them into energy.
They farm, raise livestock, cut, pull, grind, mix. And kill in the process.
They don't give back; they just steal life.
What about the races of the Eahr continent?
They borrow nature's life force under the name of mana cultivation.
In that process, they never harm nature.
Even those ignorant of mana cultivation arts accumulate mana naturally. As long as they live and breathe.
Those who train their bodies to the limit instinctively wield mana, even without knowing magic.
The Ogre King did. So did I. What I used was more divine power and elixir essence than mana, but still.
...Assuming that.
'This isn't mana.'
No traces of mana could be found in the human limbs, flesh, and blood scattered across the grass.
"There was mana, but it's gone. Only sinister power remains."
Ibu investigated in his own way, and I did in mine.
Some corpses had exploded and splattered, but most shared similar traits.
'Clean cuts.'
The cross-sections suggested sword or blade wounds.
To confirm, I examined one corpse closely.
Not brute force, but sly strikes exploiting gaps.
'Sword. The entry is smooth.'
The knowledge I'd amassed in Eahr sharpened brilliantly upon meeting my Insight Ability.
Sword master.
This world teemed with exceptional warriors, making it impossible to pinpoint who.
Can't predict? Then look with your own eyes.
'I command thee—.'
"I command thee—."
I maximized Blue Eye.
My eyes stung like they were freezing over, but I had to endure.
Soon, the forest's memories of the past few days unfolded before me.
Humans.
No, they must have been human once.
Humans twisted into fiends pursued a single man.
A young man with golden hair tied back in a ponytail down to his waist.
'They went that way?'
I hurriedly stopped the replay and glared in the direction they'd vanished.
My hypersensitive hearing, sharp as thin ice, caught only the wind. They'd gone quite far—or...
'Vanished...'
Ibu narrowed his eyes and sniffed, his pointed ears twitching.
We, heading the same way, halted in unison as if by agreement.
"Boss."
"Yeah. Fresh traces."
"Look at that."
I moved to where Ibu pointed.
'An arm.'
Even without rewinding the forest's memories with Blue Eye, I knew.
Who had been here.
"Yuderg, right? Yuderg's over there, yeah? Tell me I'm right, Ibu."
Ibu's hand clutching my cloak trembled. Not from fear.
Ibu's eyes blazed red with rage.
I picked up the arm from the ground.
A clean white shirt soaked in blood, clinging tight.
Muscles packed seamlessly. Not thick arms to begin with.
Remnants of mana clung sorrowfully like a soul. Muscles swollen with mana.
Mana lingered in bones and veins like a faint halo.
"Yeah."
It was Yuderg's arm.
No need to check traces one by one anymore.
Senses, instincts, Insight Ability—I bolted in that direction.
Twigs whipped my cheeks, but it didn't hurt.
'The others lack this level of mana.'
Blue Eye confirmed it.
The other corpses and body parts bore traces of black magic.
Though time had passed since death and losing their master, a thread-thin wicked energy still seeped out.
"Ibu. Pick up the pace."
"Damn right!"
Does Ibu sense it too?
A cluster of faint mana signatures.
The aura all living beings should have—Ibu wouldn't miss it.
Dozens of figures rushed our way.
Good news.
'He's still alive.'
Good news doesn't come alone.
'Black magic users.'
Their mana levels matched ordinary humans.
Yet these foes moved at terrifying speeds without mana aid.
Through a dense forest of broadleaves, conifers, every kind of tree.
I dodged trees nimbly, focusing Blue Eye.
Finally, their silhouettes appeared far ahead. Like night vision.
A horde of wraiths prowling a dark lakeside under the bright moon.
'We're faster.'
Suddenly, Ibu surged past me.
Without slowing, he pulled back his axe laid sideways.
His flexible waist twisted like a corkscrew.
"Uraaaah—!"
Boom! Crash—.
Mighty trees, shrubs, weird trees, underbrush.
Trees blocking the path were sliced and shredded.
Plant corpses gathered in the storm's eye, tangling like weeds.
"Boss! Let's go!"
I swiftly followed Ibu through the wreckage-turned-ruins.
Rumble—.
The roar of falling debris echoed behind.
"Urachacha—! Chachacha!"
Ibu swung his axe like a man possessed.
"Get the fuck outta here—!"
I thought he just slept all the time, but Ibu wasn't dumb.
He'd melted Toolsep, melted more, bulking up his power like that.
"Uzaaaah—!"
Ibu even started spinning forward.
'Whirlwind... with an axe?'
Like something from a game video.
A barbarian warrior dual-wielding huge swords used that move.
Spinning to slash all around, whipping up a gale.
Ibu's was far rougher and flashier.
"Hiyaaaaah—!"
His kittenish voice didn't match the ferocity, but anyway.
'If I'd spammed that nonstop, Toolsep would've consumed me. Dragonkin are dragonkin. Different from human flesh and soul.'
His tormented cloak wrapped around his neck; his dress flared round like a concave bottle. A dancer's gown.
"Ajajach—! Chat! Chat!"
Ibu's body showed no peril.
His motions birthed a massive vortex, tearing the forest.
The vortex grew fiercer, uprooting trees, hurling rocks.
'Dragonkin, huh. Makes sense with the whirlwind.'
I advanced along the soaring dragon plume.
Staying close but out of Ibu's vortex reach.
Never slacking observation.
How long did we charge? Finally, I found what I wanted.
"Ibu! Stop!"
If Ibu didn't halt, Yuderg would be shredded and skyward too.
"Uh-uh...?"
Ibu staggered, slowing his spin.
Thud—! Whack—! Thump—!
He crashed into this tree, that one, then tumbled into the grass.
As a polite holy knight, I wanted to catch him, but Ibu faceplanted before I could.
"Uweeeek—!"
I ignored Ibu dry-heaving in the grass and rushed to Yuderg.
"Yuderg! You okay?!"
Yuderg lay on the ground.
Head barely propped on a tree, neck snapped corpse-like.
Reverse-gripped sword precious on his chest. Like a holy knight awaiting his end.
Breathing labored; each cough spewed blood.
I pulled his upper body back, resting it against the tree.
His bloodless face was corpse-pale.
Ah, he was always pale.
Body covered in wounds.
Couldn't touch recklessly.
'Why fight alone here?!'
Questions aplenty, but yelling at a barely-breathing guy was pointless.
'I command thee—.'
"I command thee—."
I lacked healing abilities.
No spells beyond freezing or cauterizing with fire.
But divine power could make my delusions reality.
This time too, I trusted inspiration and leaned on divine power.
No other choice.
'Ability, divinity, flow into this knight.'
Water is life, they say.
Learned human bodies are over 70% water.
More urgent to anchor Yuderg's fleeing soul than mind the fast-approaching foes.
I repelled chill and magma with elixir force.
Layered divine power atop.
Light left my hands, flowing like water.
Entered Yuderg's chest, spread through his body.
'As expected, abilities are needed for active healing.'
Blood from the severed arm stopped; coughing eased.
But wounds didn't heal.
Last-ditch save.
Best I could muster combining ability, elixir, divine power.
Yuderg slowly opened his eyes.
Fairy-tale prince stared up at me, half-corpse.
"Sire..."
"Good. You're conscious. Save words, focus on breathing."
I placed a hand on Yuderg's forehead.
A brief moment would suffice.
'I command thee—Starlight of Insight, eyes of bitter frost.'
"I command thee—Starlight of Insight, eyes of bitter frost."
⟨ Blue Eye ⟩
The past few days' memories etched in his body flowed like rapids.
I etched them swiftly into my retinas.
Yuderg's lips moved faintly.
"Flee, sire..."
"I'll kill them all."
"The child... Io..."
He squeezed his eyes shut.
My heart ached at his severed left arm.
I ignored it, trying to help him up.
"First, your body—."
Then.
Yuderg grabbed my collar.
Where'd this strength come from?
He pulled me close, lips to my ear.
I almost stopped him, then didn't.
Yuderg spoke clearly.
"Since you've come, we must change the plan."
"Survival first. No nonsense."
"Will you let Requiya and Fred die?"
That alone didn't reveal his thinking.
I furrowed my brow, sharpening my hearing.
Seemed Yuderg had a plan.
Time was tight; I wasn't fool enough to quibble details.
"They'll come to capture me."
They're almost here, you fool.
The situation sketched on my retinal canvas.
Inspired by Yuderg's words, sketched with my will, painted with Insight Ability's brush—a holy knight artist's masterpiece.
'Requiya and Fred captured already. Yuderg barely broke the encirclement, realized the birds were allies, knew I was watching, tried to signal somehow...'
Yuderg's memories overlaid.
Corrected wrong lines, repainted uneven colors.
'Never even met the black sorcerer or summoner—got jumped by minions?'
Damn idiots.
I'd nagged their ears raw: that demon's way stronger now.
"I don't know where Requiya and Fred were taken. So when they take me, note the location. Then—."
"Then?"
Ah!
In the rewound memory, Yuderg's lips muttered the same while fleeing.
— "Holy knight... Among them..."
Holy knight?
Among them?