Ch.142Hayato Subjugation Battle

Swoosh—

After the light that had enveloped the world disappeared, the sound of waves could be heard from all directions. Se-erin stood with her mouth agape at the scene before her. The power engine section of the train had vanished without a trace, and from where she stood in the train car, the blue seawater had completely evaporated.

Waves were rolling in. The refreshing sound coming from all directions began to fill the empty space.

Splash-!

The seawater that rushed into the void collided and shot high into the sky. Only then could Se-erin locate Hayato. He was sprawled on a wooden plank floating on the sea, with the entire right side of his upper body blown away.

“Th-that just now…”

“Se-erin, did you do that?”

Without answering the question, Se-erin leaped into the air. The mana that had filled her entire body was nearly depleted, but a faint breeze helped her remain airborne.

Whoosh-

Stepping on the wind, she descended onto the sea. Se-erin looked down at the fallen Hayato. There was no sound of breathing. It was eerily quiet around him.

Death.

Hayato was dead. It meant her revenge was successful. Looking down at Hayato’s corpse, Se-erin felt a faint sense of accomplishment and liberation. She had finally completed the revenge she had so desperately wanted.

Memories from when she left her homeland until now flashed by quickly. Se-erin laughed emptily without thinking. She had finally lifted a great burden from her heart.

“It’s over, Seiran.”

Speaking to her younger sister, Se-erin thrust the Hwarong Sword she held into Hayato’s corpse. Immediately, the corpse burst into flames and disappeared. All that remained in the empty space were faint ashes and a masterless katana rolling helplessly.

-Aren’t you going to check on your friends?

Her younger sister’s voice came through faintly. Only then did Se-erin seem to come to her senses and raised her head. She belatedly remembered that she had asked her friends to handle the powerful enemies while she came here.

Se-erin took hold of Hayato’s katana and immediately took flight.

‘Seiran, can you still fight?’

Though she asked the question in her mind, no answer came. Perhaps “couldn’t” would be the correct expression. Se-erin could sense that her sister’s presence was gradually fading.

As the divine power drained away, Seiran’s soul was returning to its original form. There was nothing Se-erin could do in this situation.

And so, before Seiran’s soul completely fell asleep.

A final voice was heard.

-See you later.

As soon as Se-erin climbed onto the skeletal remains of the train, she had to collapse to the floor. Her physical condition was terrible. The muscles throughout her body were microscopically torn, and her blood vessels were heated, generating endless heat.

Se-erin corrected her blurring vision and used the katana as a cane to stand up.

“Huff…”

It was then that she noticed some members, including Sephiroth, had disappeared. Se-erin looked around and asked a senior member who was nearby. He too was badly wounded and sitting on the floor.

“Where did the others go?”

“They rushed to the rear cars of the train, saying other members were fighting there.”

Se-erin looked toward the rear cars of the train as the senior member had said. Most of the cars had collapsed due to the aftermath of the battle, but some remaining walls blocked her view.

She couldn’t sense anything. That also meant her physical condition was at its worst. Se-erin slowly caught her breath and walked forward.

At the same time, she began to read the memories flowing from the katana in her hand.

‘Hayato, how long are you going to just play games? Now go outside and…’

‘Hayato, today at school too…’

Hayato had lived an extremely ordinary life. Or perhaps, it was far from ordinary. Since this was Se-erin’s first encounter with the memories of a reincarnator called a Japanese person, she couldn’t make a proper judgment.

Hayato’s memories continued. It felt like his life story was being conveyed in brief summaries rather than actual memories.

‘Please, please this sword…’

‘H-hey! Where am I supposed to deliver this…’

‘Boy! Draw that sword, the Muramasa!’

Hayato, who had been an ordinary boy, met a special connection. Because of that, he received a special sword and lived a special life. The memories flashed by quickly.

Hayato, who had accumulated karma by defeating monsters called yokai, eventually became tainted by the sword’s malevolent nature. Hayato didn’t even try to resist. As if it were his true nature.

The memories contained in the sword reached their end. It was around that time that Se-erin arrived at the battlefield. Waves of energy swirled from all directions, stirring up the broken debris of the train and seawater like a storm.

‘Hayato, was it? How did you cross over here?’

‘Let’s form an alliance. Everyone here is like you, people who crossed over from different dimensions. Don’t you want to return to your original dimension?’

‘Hayato. Can you help me? Something related to dragons…’

In the center of the battlefield, Theo wrapped in lightning, the golden Sephiroth, and an unknown boy were engaged in fierce combat.

Se-erin’s gaze fell upon Flora, who was sprawled on the ground. Judging by her clear breathing, her life didn’t seem to be in immediate danger. Se-erin dragged her trembling body over to Flora.

“Flora.”

I told you to trust me and go.

She didn’t wake up even when Se-erin carefully shook her body. Se-erin swallowed her words and laid Flora down in a safe place.

Rising to her feet again, Se-erin drew the katana, Muramasa, that she had been holding.

Shing-

As the clear blade emerged from the scabbard, Se-erin felt a strange power flowing through the sword. A power different from internal energy and mana, something alien.

Muramasa is a sword that accumulates karma. It absorbs the grudges of those it has cut and turns them into its own power. The karma that Hayato had accumulated was stored in the sword and transferred directly to Se-erin.

Se-erin took the Mabo stance, twisting her waist to the side. She held the scabbard with her left hand and the katana with her right, lowering her upper body and pulling the sword back.

At the same time, the Muramasa began to tremble. The strange vibration went beyond a simple tremor; it was as if the sword itself was screaming.

‘I don’t feel the malevolence.’

That was the only time Se-erin had intended to swing the Muramasa. She didn’t want to use it for long since it was a sword that negatively affected its owner’s mental state. However, the Muramasa’s reaction was strange.

Unlike in Hayato’s memories, even though she had drawn it from the scabbard to use it, she didn’t feel the malevolence invading her mind. While Se-erin was puzzled, an enormous amount of energy began to flow from the Muramasa.

For some reason, the Muramasa, which had hardly cooperated with Hayato, was now willing to lend all its power to her. Se-erin gladly accepted it.

‘Though I don’t know why…’

Right now, if she could land a blow on that reincarnator boy, that would be enough. Se-erin took a big step forward and swung the sword.

Screech-!

As the katana’s blade cut through the air, a ghastly slash covered the void.

Swoosh-!

In the midst of an intense exchange with the boy, Theo immediately reacted to the massive and ominous energy he felt behind him. Even though the attack wasn’t aimed at him, his body reflexively retreated.

“What the hell…!”

Crackle-!

The curse naturally slipped out. Sephiroth showed a similar reaction. He retreated further than necessary, trying to escape the range of the slash.

The boy’s reaction was a bit slower than the other two. The energy was familiar to him.

“This is…?”

The boy, who reacted belatedly, filled his small fist with massive internal energy and struck the air. With a booming sound, part of the screaming slash was dissipated.

Scrape-

The boy frowned. Despite his solid protective energy, the slash had penetrated it and cut the skin on the back of his hand. It was fortunate that the bone wasn’t damaged.

The boy quietly stared in the direction from which the slash had come. At the same time, he realized. The boy understood that Hayato, his comrade with whom he had been working, had been defeated.

The boy retreated with a leap. This was a fight where the losses outweighed the gains. He could kill the girl before him, the enemy who had killed his disciple, but it was difficult to make a move with the two people watching with fierce eyes.

Theo and Sephiroth.

Both were hiding their final cards. The boy instinctively understood that the hidden moves of the two Blue Wing knights were sufficiently threatening to him.

“I’ll withdraw for now.”

A bold declaration. After saying that, the boy retreated once more. Each step took him dozens of meters away. Although Sephiroth and Theo could have pursued, they deliberately chose not to.

And so, a brief silence descended as they faced each other. It was then that the boy’s figure began to disappear with a pillar of light. After looking up at the sky and stomping his right foot twice with a thud, the boy vanished.