Chapter 72: Whispers of the Love God (Part 11)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 72: Whispers of the Love God (Part 11)
"Good afternoon, Eluka. Have you eaten yet?"
"That roast whole lamb from last time was quite delicious."
Muen stood atop the writhing flesh, looking down at Eluka.
All killing intent was concealed, and every trace of malice discarded. Muen smiled faintly as he wiped the blood from his face. He looked like he was greeting an old friend, his eyes soft and gentle.
The sunlight was warm and pleasant. With his back to the light, he was shrouded in a holy corona.
"Ah..."
Eluka stared blankly at Muen. It was as if the smile at the corner of his mouth had smoothed away her rage. Her pale, lovely face grew peaceful once more.
"Mr. Muen, are you finally here to accept my love?"
"I will not accept your love," Muen said.
"Why? Is it... because my love isn't enough?"
Eluka’s eyes widened in confusion.
"But I’ve already given everything. My blood, my flesh, my soul... is all of that still not enough? I only want us to be together forever. I only want you all to accept my love. But why? Shifu was the same, and now you... why is no one willing?"
"Of course we aren't willing."
Muen lowered his gaze and spoke softly.
"Because what you have isn't love at all."
"Not love..."
Eluka whispered the words, and then her expression suddenly turned hideous, as if she had been dealt a supreme insult.
"Nonsense! Nonsense! This is love! This is love! Look, everyone has accepted my love, and look how happy they are!"
Around Eluka, those hundreds of faces began to howl again. Countless cries of "I love you" merged into a tidal wave of sound, drowning out everything else.
The limbs that the man had shattered at the very end regenerated once more. Like predatory sea anemones, they reached out to envelop Muen.
"Come, Mr. Muen. Let us be together forever. My love is infinite!" Eluka smiled, staring at Muen’s face with an expression of pure infatuation.
She looked like a young girl gazing at her lover.
But how could Muen ever be her lover?
Her lover should have been someone else entirely.
Furthermore, love can never be infinite.
Only the act of loving the one you truly cherish can be called love.
"As I thought, the naive hope of waking you up with words was impossible." Muen sighed softly.
He looked up, his expression turning cold.
He ignored the danger behind him, knowing that now that An had her hands free, she would absolutely protect his back.
Muen gripped his short blades and drove them violently into both sides of Eluka’s head.
"Aaaah!"
Eluka’s face contorted as she shrieked. It seemed to be the first time she had truly felt pain.
The monster’s massive body thrashed violently. The flesh beneath Muen’s feet writhed frantically, like waves tossed by a storm.
It wanted to throw Muen off.
"An!"
No further words were needed. A bridge of steel abruptly pierced through the monster’s flesh, coming to a rest beneath Muen’s feet.
With a solid footing, Muen took a deep breath and slashed down with his dual daggers!
Gaping wounds were carved into the sides of Eluka’s head. Within them, crimson flesh intertwined and reorganized, repairing the damage far faster than anywhere else on the body.
It was as if... she were hiding something.
"Looks like I found the right spot."
A smile played on Muen’s lips. He suddenly let go of his short blades and thrust both hands deep into the gruesome wounds.
The monster’s blood corroded his arms, but he seemed entirely oblivious, his hands constantly searching through the gore.
The monster roared, growing increasingly frantic, but every offensive was blocked by An, who gritted her teeth and fought desperately.
At this stage, she would never allow the Young Master to suffer even a scratch.
Finally, Muen’s fingers brushed against a hard object.
"No, no, no, no! Stop it! Stop it right now!"
The moment he touched the object, Eluka’s eyes filled with immense terror.
She screamed for Muen to stop, but reduced to nothing but a head, what could she possibly do?
She couldn't even pick up her beloved magic wand.
And the person who had always protected her had, not long ago, become just another one of those faces that could only say "I love you."
Muen’s smile grew more radiant, even as his eyes grew sadder.
"Finally, I’ve got you! You bastard Evil God!"
Muen ripped his hands out of the flesh.
Clutched in his palm was a statue.
It depicted a young girl embracing a heart, looking as though she wanted to crush it into her own chest.
Despite being pulled from the gore, the statue was untainted by a single drop of blood. Instead, it emitted a holy glimmer, creating an involuntary urge in others to kneel and worship.
This was it—the source of pollution!
Now, he only needed to destroy it, and everything would be over.
"An!"
Muen didn't even need to shout; An, who had been watching closely, was already prepared.
The moment Muen threw the statue into the air, the steel jungle surged forward like a runaway heavy truck.
A mass of steel swallowed the statue, twisting and squeezing it like a massive hydraulic press, over and over. Finally, blades spun, shredding the steel along with the statue into fine dust.
The metal solidified again under An’s control, but the fragments of the statue could not be restored. They were scattered by the whistling autumn wind, leaving not a single trace behind.
Truly, not even dregs remained.
"It’s over."
Seeing this, Muen finally let out a long sigh of relief.
It was finally over.
But as soon as his mind relaxed, the exhaustion accumulated in his body swept over him like a crashing wave.
He stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.
Fortunately, he managed to steady himself against the monster’s carcass.
"Disgusting."
Muen straightened up and wiped his hands in disgust, looking for a place to clean off the monster’s foul blood and slime. Then, he suddenly realized—
He was still wearing nothing but that damn beast-skin skirt.
"I’m impressed An managed to keep a straight face and not comment on this."
A legendary hero in a tiger-skin skirt... no matter how he thought about it, it felt wrong.
But presumably, no one cared.
After all, the only living people left here... were himself and An.
Muen glanced at Eluka’s head, her eyes now tightly shut, and at the faces that no longer cried out "I love you." He gave a bitter smile and turned, waving to An as she came jogging toward him from the distance. He was about to say something—
Then he froze.
Wait, something was wrong.
If the medium for the Evil God’s projected power was gone, why was the monster’s body still here?
This creature was clearly a malformed aberration stitched together by the Evil God’s power. Without that power to sustain it, it should have collapsed instantly.
Could it be...
"Don't come any closer!"
Muen screamed at An, then whipped his head back around.
The moment he turned, Muen heard the sound of a droplet falling.
A single drop of pure black liquid, appearing from nowhere, landed on Eluka’s forehead.
He was too late to stop it.
Eluka opened her eyes.
There were no whites, no pupils—only a void of pitch-black.