Chapter 190 – Descent

Ｒｅａｄ ｏｎ ＫａｔＲｅ​ａｄｉｎｇＣａｆｅ

It was an indescribable, bizarre sensation.

It felt like gears that had been misaligned were now clicking into place, one by one.

When the small gear turned.

The larger gear it was connected to also began to rotate.

In this way, dozens, hundreds of gears meshed and turned, setting the machine into motion.

Eugene felt as though he had become a massive mechanical device.

Click. 

As if a switch had been flipped, something deep within him slowly began to activate.

A hidden function, dormant and gathering dust until now, finally revealed itself to the world.

Eugene couldn’t even explain what it felt like.

He simply understood it intuitively.

‘…I can see it.’

Eugene’s pupils contracted sharply.

The demonic sword, traced a dark trajectory as it swung.

The slashes he had only been able to barely perceive by focusing his consciousness to its limits.

He had always been a step behind. No, two steps, three steps behind. 

The only reason he was still alive was Ereshkigal’s mercy, not because Eugene was exceptional. 

If she had wanted, she could have severed his head in just three swings.

One strike to knock away Eugene’s Scarlet Blade.

A second to shake off Frey’s interference.

And a third to take his life.

‘It’s clear. I can see it.’

But now.

Eugene’s gaze precisely followed the blade.

A diagonal slash aimed at his shoulder.

Not just tracking it with his eyes, he swung the Scarlet Blade to meet it.

Clang!

A clean, metallic sound rang out.

Unlike before, where he had clumsily shoved his blade into the path of the demonic sword, this time he had clearly seen and reacted to it. 

The two swords rebounded off each other and were immediately swung again with ferocity. 

Clang! Clang! Clang! 

The sound of clashing blades echoed continuously. Ereshkigal’s demonic sword was etched into Eugene’s blue eyes.

‘It’s not an illusion.’

Ereshkigal’s movements had slowed.

Not just hers, but everything around him had slowed.

The fragments of debris flying through the air. The strands of hair swaying. The scattering dust and dirt.

Everything, even the smallest details within Eugene’s field of vision, moved as if frozen in slow motion.

‘It’s not a hallucination.’

Sometimes, during training, there are moments when consciousness becomes so intensely focused that perception reaches its limit. 

At such times, Eugene often thought it felt like time was being forcibly stretched. A single moment felt like several seconds, and a few seconds felt like minutes. 

It was a trick made possible by extreme concentration, which stretched the perception of time.

But during those moments, Eugene himself also slowed down.

He could process a lot of information in an instant, but that was all.

It was merely the perception of time being stretched, so it was only natural.

‘It’s not that the world has slowed.’

It wasn’t that his perception of time had stretched.

Nor was it that his extreme concentration had split time into smaller fragments.

The cause was simple and clear, leading to the current result.

‘It’s because I’ve gotten faster’.

Eugene’s body had ‘accelerated’.

His cognitive abilities had ‘accelerated’.

The Scarlet Blade in his hands had ‘accelerated’.

And his supernatural ability, the manifestation of his will, had ‘accelerated’.

It wasn’t that Ereshkigal or the world had slowed down.

Only Eugene, who belonged to this world, had sped up.

Ereshkigal frowned at Eugene’s sudden change.

‘What’s this? His reaction speed is completely different from a few seconds ago. Is he keeping up with my speed?’

He couldn’t even keep up before, but now he’s pressuring me with speed. Ereshkigal quickly increased her pace. 

To counter Eugene’s accelerated Scarlet Blade, she began to reveal her true strength. 

As she did, Eugene’s offensive, which had barely gained the upper hand, crumbled helplessly.

Bang! Screech!

The sound of the demonic sword scraping against the Scarlet Blade echoed violently. 

Eugene gritted his teeth. 

His arms trembled. The veins on the back of his hands bulged as if they were about to burst. 

Crack. 

A dangerous sound came from his fingers.

“What trick are you using?”

He had gotten faster. His body, his reflexes, everything had explosively improved. It was as if he had become a completely different person, making leaps and bounds in an instant. Even Ereshkigal was momentarily stunned.

But that was all. Aside from being faster, nothing else had changed. His physical specs were still the same, and the strain on his body from the accelerated speed was increasing. 

Ereshkigal could see at a glance that Eugene’s body was rapidly breaking down. Blood vessels burst in his eyes. Blood spilled from his lips. It was the scream of a body unable to withstand its own speed.

“If all you’ve done is get faster…”

There’s nothing more to see.

It would be best to end this before he self-destructs.

He’s a boy my lord has taken a special interest in.

I won’t take his life, but I’ll cut off a limb or two.

Otherwise, he won’t stop.

The death energy imbued in the demonic sword surged. Eugene sensed something unusual, but instead of retreating, he took a step forward. 

Creating distance from a swordsman like her was meaningless, and he had no intention of running from the start.

Swish!

The demonic sword drew a straight line.

A few strands of hair were cut cleanly.

His uniform tore, and blood splattered.

“Oh?”

The Scarlet Blade twisted the trajectory of the demonic sword.

She had intended to sever his right arm again.

But it seemed he wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.

Then, let’s see if you can withstand this.

“Ugh!”

The dark sword energy raged like a choking grip.

Each strike was abnormally heavy.

He could barely keep up with the speed, but his entire body was being chipped away by the immense force.

Her frame was clearly petite.

Compared to Eugene, Ereshkigal seemed fragile.

But Eugene felt as though he was facing a giant.

A pressure as if a giant dozens of meters tall had been compressed to its limit bore down on his entire body.

Even using his flames as propulsion, his steps were forced backward rather than forward. With each step back, his options dwindled. 

He could see the trajectory of the demonic sword and block it, but the wind pressure and force pushed him back. 

If he gave up on blocking and tried to deflect, he’d end up with a new wound. Pieces of his uniform fell, mixed with flesh and blood.

‘Exquisite. He defends against strikes that could be fatal with precision.’

Ereshkigal was briefly impressed. Eugene’s handling was top-notch. He blocked what he could and let go of what he couldn’t. In the process, his skin was torn, and blood flowed, but none of the wounds were life-threatening. 

He judged and analyzed in an instant, responding decisively. 

Two weeks ago, he couldn’t do even half of this. A few minutes ago, he was far worse. What kind of miracle has he performed in such a short time?

“Huff, ha…”

Eugene took deep breaths. He inhaled even as he swung the Scarlet Blade. He swallowed his breath and exhaled. He repeated this process rhythmically. 

Meanwhile, his gaze chased the demonic sword, chased Ereshkigal, and even caught her subtle movements. 

Beep! 

A warning sound rang in his mind. Eugene judged the next strike.

‘Danger.’

I can’t block it. Even if I guard, the Scarlet Blade will be pushed back and slam into my shoulder. Eugene pivoted on his right foot, spinning halfway. 

He shoved the Scarlet Blade into the path of the demonic sword and forcibly twisted it. 

Screech! 

The blade narrowly grazed his shoulder. Drops of blood painted the air. He had narrowly overcome another crisis. The next one came immediately.

‘Danger. Danger. This is dangerous too. Danger. Danger. No, I can block this one. Danger…’

Every time the demonic sword swung, it left a massive scar on the ground.

Every time the Scarlet Blade shone with a vivid red light, the dark energy trembled.

Eugene’s blue eyes shone brighter than ever.

Based on the information he saw and the warning signals ringing in his head, Eugene made decisions in his accelerated state of thought.

His gaze chased ‘danger’. Eugene sensed the crisis.

It was a breathtaking sight. A mere student was engaging in a full-on battle with a Demonic Beast. 

Although Ereshkigal hadn’t been serious at first, that was slowly becoming a thing of the past. A delighted smile spread across Ereshkigal’s face, hidden behind her mask. 

As the smile deepened, her demonic sword grew even sharper.

Eugene was not an awakened one.

He was close to awakening, but only at the beginning.

Unlike Alice, he had not become ‘one close to a god’.

Yet, he was fighting a Demonic Beast.

He was standing toe-to-toe with a monster that far surpassed Named Monsters.

‘How fascinating. The more I see, the more captivating he becomes.’

She could feel why her lord was so interested in him. Ereshkigal’s instincts bared their sharp fangs. 

A desire for the strong. She found herself wanting to acknowledge this young, immature boy, this still-growing swordsman, as a true warrior.

If she wanted to kill him, now was the time.

She had to cut him down before he fully matured.

If he were allowed to grow completely, he would undoubtedly become a formidable enemy.

‘I’d like to make him a Knight of Death like me……but alas, it’s a pity. Your fate will be decided not by me, but by my lord. I won’t take your life.’

The tense battle came to an end in an instant.

A single moment decided the outcome of the fight.

The strike that had severed Eugene’s right arm in the underground exhibition hall that day.

That chilling slash unfolded once more from Ereshkigal’s fingertips.

Four Calamities, First Form: Chaos.

The demonic sword drew a crescent.

Darkness loomed under the sunlight.

The black moon was split diagonally.

Ssshh.

Eugene sensed the danger, accelerated, and countered.

But there was nothing he could do about the fundamental gap in their specs.

Eugene’s Scarlet Blade flew through the air.

Along with the right arm that had been holding it.

“Ugh!”

Eugene let out a choked groan as he was pushed back.

The wind pressure from the slash tore through him, forcing him backward.

“Eugene!”

Frey screamed with a voice that seemed to tear apart. Her crimson eyes blazed like fire. The heat she had been accumulating was now ready to be unleashed at her command.

It was no longer limited to her ‘eyes’.

The point of emission was determined by Frey’s will.

Having awakened and become ‘one close to a god’, she had overcome the limits of her ability.

“Take this, you bastard!”

Heat sources erupted around Frey. Dozens of heat rays targeted Ereshkigal, firing simultaneously.

Her ability had grown incomparably stronger after awakening. That was an advantage, but it also came with a drawback. 

The problem was that her firepower was too overwhelming. With Eugene and Ereshkigal clashing swords at close range, she couldn’t recklessly fire her heat rays.

If she wasn’t careful, Eugene could end up burning in her own heat rays. 

In fact, every time Frey fired her heat rays, it was Eugene who suffered, not Ereshkigal.

But with Eugene’s right arm severed, he was pushed back.

This meant she no longer had to worry about her allies getting caught in the crossfire.

Frey clenched her fists and unleashed a barrage of heat rays.

“It’s hot. Not bad.”

The heat rays were powerful enough to melt instantly solid metal and thick steel walls.

Even a high-rank monster wouldn’t last more than a few seconds. 

But a high-rank monster and a Demonic Beast were incomparable. Ereshkigal slashed through the onslaught of heat rays head-on. 

Each time her demonic sword drew a dark line, the red rays lost momentum and faded. 

Crack. 

Frey’s clenched fists trembled. Her nails dug into her palms.

“But this lukewarm heat won’t be enough to burn me.”

Ereshkigal lowered her demonic sword as she spoke.

“Give up. The fight is already over”

Frey alone couldn’t defeat Ereshkigal.

Eugene had lost his right arm, drastically reducing his combat ability.

Today’s battle ended here.

“I won’t make Lucia’s sacrifice that day meaningless. I’ll let you live. So—”

Ereshkigal didn’t finish her sentence.

Her gaze turned to Eugene.

She frowned at the strange behavior the boy was displaying.

He caught his severed right arm in midair with his left hand. That in itself wasn’t strange. He had lost his right arm before. It was reasonable to assume he was trying to reattach it.

But Eugene immediately pressed the severed arm against the wound. There was no way it would reattach like that. 

It was Ereshkigal herself who had cut it off. The death energy lingering on the severed surface prevented healing. Even a regenerator would struggle to reattach it, let alone Eugene, who wasn’t a regenerator──

“What?!”

“…Huh?”

Ereshkigal let out an involuntary, startled voice.

She wasn’t the only one startled.

Frey’s eyes also widened in shock.

Eugene’s ‘right hand’ moved. His fingers twitched as he swung the Scarlet Blade a couple of times. As if insisting that it had never been severed.

“…Yeah, now I’m sure.”

Exhaling a hot breath.

Eugene half-opened his cold blue eyes.

The first time he felt a sense of dissonance was two weeks ago.

During his battle with Ereshkigal in the underground exhibition hall.

But back then, he was too overwhelmed by the sense of loss and helplessness to process it.

Lucia’s sorrowful smile as she sacrificed herself consumed all his thoughts.

He hadn’t even properly recognized the faint sense of dissonance.

From the moment he watched Lucia disappear before his eyes.

Eugene’s time had stopped.

And now.

Facing the culprit who had taken Lucia away.

The frozen second hand began to move again.

Eugene yearned.

For a way to defeat the Knight of Death.

For a way to reclaim the one he had lost.

The means were not somewhere else.

They existed within him.

A hidden instinct deep within whispered.

‘Awaken.’

Realize your talent.

Confront your essence.

Break through the fragile shell surrounding you.

Reveal your brilliance to the world.

“Supernatural abilities are the power of the mind.”

The mind refers to willpower.

Willpower leads to thought.

And thought is contained within the self.

“I… I had been placing restrictions on myself without even realizing it.”

Because he hadn’t understood the true nature of his ability.

He had mistaken it for something else, misunderstood it.

His true ability had only shown glimpses of itself.

By believing it to be something else, he had imposed restrictions on himself.

A fence had formed, trapping him within.

If he had realized it. If he had become aware of the limits of his own consciousness.

The next step was to break the shell and step into the world.

It wasn’t just pyrokinesis.

His ability didn’t end with mere pyrokinesis.

【Borrowed Power】

He borrows power.

From supernaturals connected to him.

From those with whom he has formed bonds.

“Haa…”

The breath of creation mingled with the air.

At this very moment.

The moment he became aware of his true supernatural ability.

Eugene’s walls crumbled naturally.

A new ‘one close to a god’ was born.

Supernatural abilities are a blessing bestowed by the gods of the four seasons.

But was that blessing truly given equally to all?

If so, why do non-supernaturals exist, and why is there such a gap in talent among supernaturals?

Here stands a boy.

A supernatural favored by the gods.

The Devil Gods referred to such beings as:

The Chosen One

At Eugene’s fingertips.

Within his will.

A will that was his, yet not entirely his, took root.

“My supernatural ability.”

【Pyrokinesis】
【Super Regeneration】
【Acceleration】
【Danger Sense】
【Heat Ray】
【Hardening】

Power surged. His mind was clear. Clearer than ever before.

His chest heaved. His heart screamed. A hot pulse.

He slowly raised his right hand, gripping the Scarlet Blade. The tip of the sword pointed at Ereshkigal.

“Round two. Are you ready?”

“…Hah.”

Ereshkigal let out a hollow laugh.

She shrugged her shoulders, a wry smile on her face.

Then, abruptly, all movement stopped.

Kwoong. 

An explosive surge of death energy enveloped Ereshkigal. The surroundings rapidly dried up. 

Wherever her gaze fell, wherever her breath flowed, life withered and decayed.

In response, a faint golden light flowed from Eugene’s body. Like a star. Like the sun.

Ereshkigal, no longer hiding her presence, was the embodiment of death. A suffocating pressure. The end that instilled instinctive fear in all living beings. 

Yet, Eugene’s expression remained unchanged. He stepped forward with his right foot, bending his knee slightly.

I can do it.

If it’s me now, I can win.

There’s no objective evidence, just a subjective judgment.

But I don’t feel like I’ll lose at all.

‘With this power…’

I can save her.

I’m not the one rolling on the ground anymore.

I’ve finally come this far. I’ve gained power. The culprit who kidnapped her is right in front of me.

Just wait a little longer, Lucia.

I’m coming to save you now───

“How noisy.”

The voice was smooth, like a jade bead rolling.

The voice of a girl who couldn’t quite hide her youthful demeanor.

A voice all too familiar to Eugene.

But at first, he didn’t fully recognize it.

The atmosphere it carried was too different from the voice in his memory.

It was dry, stiff, and devoid of warmth or kindness.

“Perfect timing. Before I go to the 7th Division Captain, I wanted to test this new ‘vessel’.”

A girl walked through the ruins, stepping over the debris.

Lustrous golden hair, as if woven from threads of gold.

Pink eyes as beautiful and vibrant as cherry blossoms.

Familiar. So familiar that he could see her vividly even with his eyes closed.

Yet unfamiliar. As if she was a stranger he was seeing for the first time.

Who is she? Her face is similar, but she never smiled like that. She never had such cold eyes, nor did she radiate such ominous energy. Who are you? Just who…

“Lu… Lucia?”

Frey’s—no, Alice’s—voice trembled.

Only after hearing her voice did Eugene realize he could no longer ignore reality.

The girl stopped walking. She stroked her chin. Glancing sideways at Alice and Eugene, she fell into brief thought before smiling brightly.

“Alice! Eugene! You came to save me after all! Ehehe, I knew you would!”

Her eyes curved beautifully, as if genuinely delighted.

Clapping her hands together, she laughed cheerfully.

That figure, smiling so brightly, was the Lucia from their memories.

But the moment that smile turned into a sneer was only a matter of time.

“But you’re too late, aren’t you?”

Lucia smiled.

‘Devil God—no, the Devil, Belial’ smiled.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
There’s a reason why Lucia says that Eugene is the embodiment of absurdity.

It’s been a while since Lucia showed up!

Huh? That’s not Lucia, is it? That’s right!

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Power of friendship. 

I guess Lucia’s goal made sense in the end and isn’t just pointless romance…