Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Proof of Demorus Blood
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014
“Do I really have to take this?”
A substance he’d never seen before.
Not only that, but something that burrowed into human flesh.
‘This thing looks fucking ominous.’
It was only natural to worry about having to absorb such an ill-omened object into his body.
“What nonsense is that?”
“Just store it or something…”
“Absorb it.”
Arin was resolute.
“It’s the mark that proves you carry Demorus blood. It was the very evidence that let Bova Demorus declare himself as such, even if only to a select few.”
He’d heard about the ogre’s true identity from the cyclops.
—The ogre claimed to be Demorus.
And Sein himself had said,
—I am Sein Demorus.
He’d declared his name boldly upon entering the castle gates.
Ssshh.
A chill wind wrapped around them.
“If you refuse to take it.”
The aura emanating from Arin.
“Then I’ll have no choice but to dispose of you.”
“Fuck.”
Even Barbik was an absolute powerhouse he couldn’t hope to face right now.
And Arin was even more.
‘Barbik’s just a side dish compared to her.’
She was someone who could handle even Barbik with ease.
Defiance was only possible if you could bear the consequences.
“Haha. Just kidding, kidding.”
With those words, Sein quietly gazed at the black fragment.
‘I won’t die from this.’
Since his given role was heir to the underworld, this essential step on the path to becoming one had to be a perk tailored for him.
He was just being cautious.
But when necessary.
Ssslrp!
You had to take the plunge—that was a truth he’d learned across countless lives.
The moment he withdrew the dragon’s mana enveloping the black fragment, it seeped into his palm and was absorbed.
Thump!
No sooner had the black fragment melted away than the dragon heart began to throb wildly.
“Guh, guh!”
A pain he’d never felt in his life.
“Gaaahhh!”
It was agony from the dragon heart’s mana fusing with the black fragment and going berserk.
“…As expected.”
Arin’s voice came as if she’d anticipated this exact scenario.
“Fuuuuck!”
Sein screamed in torment and collapsed to his knees.
He strained with all his might to resist, but this pain was beyond what any human could endure.
His vision gradually blurred.
“Barbik. Now it’s time to decide your fate.”
In that haze, he heard Arin and Barbik facing off.
“An honor, witch.”
Kuuooo!
A mana surge that seemed to shake all of Borfeo erupted from Barbik’s body.
The armor she wore underwent ironclad transformation once.
Crack!
It wrapped around her in crimson iron plating once more, amplifying all her abilities several times over.
Demorus elites could choose a successor candidate whenever they wished.
But elites never selected candidates lightly.
“Barbik. Your flesh will be used where my will demands.”
“That too…”
Guardian and candidate.
Their fates were intertwined.
Even if they’d chosen Demorus blood, failing to protect it meant.
“An honor.”
They had no right to continue living.
Boom!
Barbik unleashed explosive power, swinging her massive sword forged of ironclad transformation.
The ability to turn not just her body but even weapons into ironclad meant her mastery had reached its peak.
But.
Shrrk!
White bones that had suddenly sprung forth, wrapping around Arin’s hand and arm.
And from within them emerged a black longsword that.
Slash—!
Sliced through it all.
“An honor…”
Barbik’s voice echoed.
“…it was.”
Her massive sword, her iron plating, her armor, her entire body.
Psssh!
Turned to black dust and scattered.
That was the power of Arin, the witch called a legion, the arbiter of fates.
“Well done, Barbik.”
*
*
*
“Argh! You fuck! Fuuuuck!”
Sein screamed and screamed.
“What the hell is this! Aaaagh!”
The searing pain from his heart spread throughout his body.
He lost and regained consciousness multiple times.
Far from subsiding, the agony only intensified.
It felt like bugs gnawing at his entire body, not just his skin but his organs and veins too.
“Rejection.”
In the maddening pain, Arin’s face appeared in his fading vision.
Her expression was serene, as if Sein’s suffering meant nothing to her.
No.
“Your dragon heart is rejecting the fragment of blessing.”
“...!”
As if she’d been waiting for this moment.
“Heh. Knew it.”
Sein laughed.
He’d known Arin was hiding something.
She’d appeared at too perfect a timing.
That alone.
“Were you… watching… me?”
Made him think she’d been observing him for a long time.
And even after meeting her, it was the same.
She kept hiding something.
He’d prodded her bit by bit to draw it out.
“Crazy… bitch…”
A dangerous existence.
That’s what Arin already was in Sein’s mind.
“You knew, didn’t you? And yet you accepted the blessing.”
“Guhk… kuh.”
But Sein had accepted it.
“Why didn’t you run?”
“…You thought I wouldn’t notice? That you’d planted a minion on me…”
“You knew that too.”
Sein gritted his teeth and glared at Arin.
“Cut the crap! You fucking bitch!”
He shouted.
“…There’s… guhk! There’s gotta be a way, right?”
But he could’ve escaped her grasp if he’d wanted.
Even if he couldn’t win in a fight, across hundreds, thousands of lives, Sein knew moves Arin wouldn’t.
Yet he’d stayed.
“Shut up and fix me quick!”
Because he knew she wouldn’t harm him.
Because he knew her curiosity about him wouldn’t let her kill him.
“Arin—!”
Sein yelled.
“Arin Segmore—!”
“...!”
Hearing her full name called, Arin’s eyes widened.
“You… knew that too?”
“How could I not… You were looking for me! Now that you’ve confirmed it, do something!”
At that moment, Arin’s palm touched Sein’s chest.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart, racing like a runaway locomotive.
Thump…. Thump…. Thump….
Began to slow.
The deathly energy flowing from Arin’s grasp was stopping his heart.
“Haa… haa…”
Finally, the agony subsided.
“You…”
Arin. Arin Segmore.
“You really are the one I’ve been searching for.”
The being she sought.
“You’re the Destroyer.”
The one who toppled the old empire.
The one who razed the warm, gentle Sanctuary.
The Final Sovereign.
“Destroyer, Sein Archibald.”
“Ptoo! Yeah… that’s me, you hag.”
Sein rose, spitting blood as he spoke.
*
*
*
Necromancer.
Far from common in Sanctuary.
The same went for Bon Spider.
And watching her wield Bon Spider made it clear.
‘Segmore.’
A single name.
But he couldn’t be certain.
In this world after so much time, information was scarce out in the boonies.
So he watched.
To see if she truly was who he thought.
If she was.
‘Why?’
Why seek him out?
And conviction came.
She wasn’t an enemy.
At least, not one pursuing some clear goal against him.
—I’m sure we have much to discuss. Let’s meet here again in a week.
That’s what Arin had said.
‘Fuck.’
Sein’s current state wasn’t normal, to put it mildly.
The dragon heart’s backlash against the blessing.
To halt the side effects, his heart had stopped.
“Ha. Insane.”
Right now, Sein was essentially a kind of undead.
Something he’d never done across countless lives.
Possible only because this was reality, not a game.
“…Boss!”
Derun spotted him from afar and came running, shouting.
He looked a mess, as if he’d been through fierce combat.
“What the hell happened to you?”
“Boss looks even worse.”
As Derun said, Sein’s state was truly horrific.
The swords he’d carried were all shattered, his clothes torn, his face covered in blood.
“Is that your blood, boss?”
Derun, usually so taciturn, asked directly.
“Nah.”
“Boss!”
The cyclops and his men, fresh from brutal battle.
“It’s the ogre’s.”
“...!”
Sein’s words froze the area.
From their appearances, the fight had been intense.
But.
He smirked.
They looked victorious.
And what Sein had just said.
“That means…”
“I split the ogre bastard in half and ripped out its heart.”
“…Pardon?”
“Just a figure of speech. The splitting was real.”
In other words, Sein had won too.
“Guhk!”
The cyclops squeezed shut his one remaining eye.
Tears welled up from it.
“Th-thank you! Boss! Thank you!”
The enemy who’d torn his men apart and gouged out his eye.
Yet too weak to even resist.
That foe was dead.
“You lot! We won!”
The cyclops couldn’t contain his excitement and shouted.
“We won—!”
“Woooaaah!”
The back alleys brightened little by little.
The battle had dragged on so long that dawn had fully passed.
“Where’s the fox bitch?”
“We tied her up.”
“Good work.”
They’d even captured Fox, the other back-alley boss.
“Many losses?”
“We all fought hard.”
Sein said.
You powerless idiots couldn’t do shit.
That’s why those idiots had proven themselves in battle.
“Take care of the dead, and the survivors too. We’re all family now.”
“Got it.”
Derun was reliable; he’d handle it.
“And…”
Sein started to say more.
But his world spun, strength draining from his body.
“Damn… take care of me too…”
With that, he lost consciousness.
Another changing of the guard in Borfeo’s back alleys.