Ch.447Chapter 447 – Bad Blood (3)

‘This is the worst.’

That was my first impression as I looked at Somnus, who was smiling at me, and the expressionless Idea.

Just when I’d barely managed to deal with Phobia, these two had barged in.

‘I knew there was a possibility they might show up, but…’

Still, I never thought they’d appear at this exact timing.

It wasn’t simply that I’d been careless or let my guard down.

Evgenia’s seal was a place undetectable by other gods.

Emiris was no exception, so it was obvious he wouldn’t be able to detect us entering the seal.

If we obtained the Philosopher’s Stone from such a place and came out, even if he was watching us with eyes wide open, we’d likely be a bit faster than him making a move.

I thought it would take at least a little time before he arrived.

And yet, here he was, right in front of us.

‘He said he detected Phobia and followed her.’

I clicked my tongue, mulling over Somnus’s words.

It seemed that when they couldn’t properly track us anymore, and then Phobia—who should have been dead—suddenly reappeared, they must have focused on her whereabouts.

I don’t know if they were planning to rejoin Phobia or use her.

But if they knew about Phobia’s obsession, they might have guessed she would find me like a ghost.

In conclusion, Phobia’s obsession had essentially summoned those two.

And to make matters worse, they had brought troops with them.

‘Valkyries, was it?’

The ten angels resembling Kara that I’d seen at the New Kingdom’s laboratory.

Each holding a different weapon—swords, spears, maces—they were staring at us with fierce expressions.

For now, they seemed to prioritize guarding Idea or Somnus and stayed by their side, but once the battle started, they’d charge at us without hesitation.

From my previous encounter, I knew they weren’t opponents to be taken lightly.

And now all ten of them were here.

‘And Phobia’s dolls are still around…’

Although Lizzy was leading the lizardmen to destroy them, many of Phobia’s dolls still remained.

No matter how many allies we gathered, we were at a numerical disadvantage.

With Idea and Somnus present, it was hard to believe we had a significant qualitative advantage either.

‘Damn it.’

Thinking about how difficult it would be to get out of this situation, I looked at Idea.

Among all my thoughts, I pointed at Idea’s body, which seemed to be the biggest variable, and asked:

“What exactly is that body?”

Whether he had modified himself or not, it was clearly a different body from before.

It was a question meant to distract from the sense of discomfort and crisis I felt from that body, and also to buy time to find a way out of this situation.

Of course, Idea had no obligation to answer my question, and he could have immediately attacked without preamble.

So I remained vigilant, not letting my guard down.

As I kept my guard up, Idea quietly opened his mouth.

“It’s the body of a hero.”

“A hero?”

“A body created using test subjects like you.”

Idea spoke quietly in a tone devoid of any emotion.

“A body created to fully utilize the power of a hero.”

After saying that, Idea quietly clenched his fist.

Just that simple action changed the air around us slightly.

As his magical power began to permeate the surroundings, Idea looked at me and said:

“I’ve told you before, Kay.”

Idea opened his fist and addressed me.

“To become complete, you must discard everything unnecessary. This is the answer.”

“…It seems I’ve misunderstood.”

When I first saw him, I thought Idea had modified his own body using himself as material.

But judging by his tone…

It seemed I had completely misjudged Idea.

“You said to become complete, one must discard everything unnecessary, but did you even discard your own body?”

I quietly asked the man who had abandoned even the body he was born with.

The answer came from a different direction.

“He is a true hero, test subject.”

Somnus looked at me mockingly and said:

“Unlike you, who can’t even discard what should be discarded.”

“There are things that should never be discarded.”

I quietly replied to Somnus’s words.

And Somnus, still looking down at me, said:

“There’s a saying that you must sacrifice the small for the greater good.”

“That doesn’t absolutely mean discarding the smaller side. The criteria for making that decision differs from person to person.”

What’s worthless to one side might be irreplaceable to another.

It wasn’t a logic that could be mechanically applied while casually speaking about it.

“I can’t agree with the statement that a hero must discard things simply because they’re a hero.”

I glared at Somnus and spoke quietly.

“At least the hero I know fought against the Demon Lord for the sake of the world. That title is given to someone who fought against great threats for the sake of those dear to them.”

That was my impression from what I’d heard about the hero’s deeds and from the battles with his shadow and his party members.

They fought as one, relying on each other and cherishing one another.

They must have valued and protected each other while fighting.

The hero must have cherished and protected such comrades, ultimately saving the world.

He couldn’t have been someone who easily discarded things.

If he had been such a person, his party members wouldn’t have been willing to sacrifice their bodies to protect the world until now.

“It’s not a title that should be given to someone who discards everything—their emotions, their body—like worn-out shoes.”

How could someone who doesn’t even value themselves value and save others?

Such a person couldn’t be called a hero.

My words seemed to displease Somnus, whose face stiffened slightly as he spoke:

“I’ll remember that as the foolish words of a young man.”

“I may not be good with words, but it seems my message was too difficult for your rigid mind to comprehend.”

I sneered at Somnus.

Seeing his face stiffen even more, I quietly said:

“Or perhaps you never had the capacity to understand in the first place?”

“That’s right.”

This time, Idea answered.

With an emotionless face, he raised his sword.

“It was never a matter that needed understanding in the first place.”

Pointing his sword at me, he said:

“You die here.”

‘Here he comes.’

Immediately after.

Idea’s body seemed to disappear for a moment before instantly appearing beside me.

My body reacted first, swinging the halberd, and Idea’s sword easily deflected it.

I quickly leaned back to avoid Idea’s sword, then dodged the next strike by creating distance.

I noticed my armor had been sliced where the sword had grazed me, and at that moment, Idea pulled his sword back.

As Idea did this, a ball of flame flew toward him.

“Get away from him!”

Beatrice extended her hand to support me.

I saw Idea cut through Beatrice’s attack with an expressionless face.

He had swung his sword to block the attack that was originally meant for me, and I watched as the sliced fireball spread out to both sides.

‘It didn’t vanish.’

Though it was an impressive sword that could even cut through magic, it seemed to lack the ability to absorb magical power like the Dragon Slayer I had used before.

If it could absorb magic like that sword, it would have vanished rather than being cut.

I had to assume there was no risk of my heart stopping just from a graze, unlike last time.

In other words, I could fight more aggressively.

I quickly changed my weapon to a shield and sword and charged at Idea.

Idea also rushed toward me.

Our battle began as I deflected Idea’s sword with my shield.

Idea’s sword strikes came in the blink of an eye, and I countered his attacks with my shield and sword, sometimes switching to an axe or mace.

While blocking attacks that could be fatal with even the slightest mistake, I kept up well, and when Idea showed a tiny opening, I struck his abdomen with my shield.

Unfortunately, since it was a hasty attack, it only pushed Idea back slightly.

‘But I managed to counterattack.’

Perhaps it was the accumulation of all our previous battles.

I had the intuition that I had reached a level where I wasn’t overwhelmingly outmatched by Idea anymore.

Or more precisely, it might be possible because Idea wasn’t completely accustomed to his new body yet.

But being able to fight on equal terms was enough.

As I felt slightly encouraged by this fact, I heard Idea mutter quietly:

“I’m not completely accustomed to this body yet. No, he’s gotten stronger.”

Idea raised his greatsword.

I also changed my weapon to a greatsword and struck down with all my might.

The two swords collided, and as we entered a test of strength, we spoke:

“I should have killed you last time.”

“You talk a lot for someone who failed to kill me.”

I looked at Idea’s face and sneered slightly as I spoke:

“You say you’ve discarded everything, but haven’t you actually failed to discard everything properly?”

Idea didn’t answer.

Instead, his eyebrow twitched slightly, and the force behind his sword increased.

‘Did I provoke him?’

Unlike before, Idea was clearly showing emotional changes.

Since it wasn’t his original body, he probably couldn’t properly hide his emotions.

With the certainty that he hadn’t fully adapted to his current body, I withstood Idea’s strength.

And when Idea applied more force, I quickly moved to the side and swung my greatsword horizontally, aiming for his abdomen.

Idea immediately pulled his body back to avoid the sword, and as I changed my weapon to a halberd, I deliberately spun my body once and threw the halberd.

Idea deflected the spinning halberd, and as I caught the rebounding halberd and charged forward, Somnus shouted:

“Valkyries, assist the hero!”

While staying put himself, Somnus was directing the Valkyries.

Eight of the ten Valkyries took to the sky and then charged toward me and Idea.

A Valkyrie holding a spear leaned her body back forcefully and then threw the spear at me.

As I looked at the spear, intending to deflect it…

A golden shield appeared in mid-air and deflected the spear.

Immediately, Somnus shouted with displeasure:

“You half-baked fake goddess…!”

“Lord Kay, we’ll handle them!”

Chris, who had unfurled golden wings, summoned another shield to block another Valkyrie’s attack.

Realizing that attacks would be difficult with Chris present, the Valkyries tried to disperse in different directions, but suddenly papers fluttered and formed ropes to bind them.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

When Sera, who had taken out a book, shouted, ropes of light extending from the papers pulled the Valkyries together and forcibly laid them on the ground.

The Valkyries who soon got up looked at Sera and Chris with hardened faces, and when a Valkyrie with a sword targeted Sera and charged, I saw Eve block the Valkyrie with her sword.

Then, she shouted:

“I’ll handle this one. Take care of the others!”

“Understood!”

Noah immediately ran to Eve’s side and drew his sword.

He instantly pulled a longsword from his staff and slashed at a Valkyrie, and I saw the Valkyrie get cut, unable to block in time due to Noah’s impressive speed and strength.

However, the wound began to heal immediately, causing Eve and Noah’s expressions to stiffen slightly.

Still, they didn’t falter and were about to fight when Phobia’s voice was heard:

“Don’t forget about me!!”

“You’re my opponent!”

Seeing an opportunity in our battle, Phobia, who had somehow freed herself, charged toward Eve.

Sia chased Phobia away, slashing at her with a sword.

Then Lizzy’s instructions were heard:

“My warriors and I will handle the puppet minions, so sis, take care of those winged humans!”

“I’m on it, White Dragon!!”

Immediately, Lizanis threw a halberd, hitting one Valkyrie, and charged at another.

As Eve and the others tied up the Valkyries’ feet, Somnus began gathering magical power.

Just as he was about to make a move, ice spikes suddenly erupted from the ground.

Somnus quickly dodged and muttered:

“Mad dog…”

“You’re mine, you bastard!!”

Beatrice swung her iron chains at Somnus, who was with two Valkyries, and the battle began.

The surroundings were soon filled with the sounds of combat.

It was literally a chaotic battle.

I briefly wondered whom I should help, but quickly shook my head.

“…If only you hadn’t shown up, this could have ended peacefully.”

I spoke to Idea, who was quietly observing the surroundings.

Idea also looked at me, slightly furrowing his brows, and said:

“If only it weren’t for you, all plans would have gone smoothly.”

It seemed the feelings we had for each other were mutual.

Soon, as I pointed my halberd at Idea, he held up his sword and quietly said:

“Now there’s no one to help you, Kay.”

“That’s rich coming from someone who just received help from Somnus.”

“His interference was not my doing.”

“Claiming you’re not on the same side while eating from the same plate—how convincing.”

We spoke to each other calmly while tensing every muscle in our bodies.

Thanks to the weakness that he wasn’t fully accustomed to his body yet, I had conditions that allowed me to keep up, but Idea was definitely not an opponent to be taken lightly.

As if to prove this, a stronger aura began to emanate from Idea’s body.

We had completely passed the stage of exchanging words.

Idea calmly said to me:

“Today, one of us dies.”

“Let’s see about that.”

With those words as a signal, Idea and I charged at each other.

The halberd and greatsword intertwined in mid-air.