Ch.8628. There Is No Next Time (3)

She utters astonishing words.

“What childish talk.”

“What?”

“If I were to be swayed by such words, I would never have prepared to stand against the world in the first place.”

There’s no wavering in his eyes.

“No…”

He’s serious, you madman.

Apart from my growing fury over various matters, I nearly lost my mind wondering how to deal with this injustice.

“Your intellect may be exceptional, but honing physical strength is an entirely different domain. What has made you like this?”

“……”

I’m tired of talking.

However.

“……”

I don’t yield an inch.

Not yielding is all I can manage.

The art of Grandeus.

Whether he understands our swordsmanship and sword techniques, or has encountered our fighting methods before, I’m not sure.

…It’s not easy.

He doesn’t lose his center, and he controls direction and angle to redirect force.

Even the mana at our point of contact leaves only faint traces, like embers of an extinguished fire.

I don’t know about his raw physical abilities, but they’re certainly not inferior to mine.

And.

If the Demon Lord spoke of compatibility, there’s probably a gap that can’t be overcome by mere skill.

I felt it when we clashed.

His power isn’t overwhelming.

Then?

“Kugh!”

Without even realizing the spear blade had detached, it stabs at my ankle.

I barely pull my foot away to dodge, but then it slices through the ground itself.

I strike down with my sword to counter it.

It’s a Battitaille, but unlike raising both hands upward, I swing outward, away from my body.

My bent wrist naturally tilts the sword, which barely deflects the spear blade as it threatens to gouge the ground.

A moment later and my leg or ankle would have been sliced, severed, or pierced.

But this was just the beginning.

He swings in a wide arc, then ignoring inertia, becomes like a point and rushes forward.

My eyes miss everything.

I’m responding purely on instinct, guesswork, and trained reflexes.

But it’s not enough.

Swoosh!

Before I even realize I’ve been cut, I feel a bitter pain.

Only then do I notice that not just my robe but my skin and leather have been sliced open.

The bleeding only occurs after I register the pain.

Despite moving so violently, I only noticed being cut long after it happened?

“Your body is in an unbalanced state. Your will and consciousness are ahead, but your body lags by at least one beat. This suggests you haven’t consistently trained your body over a long period.”

While I catch my breath, he gleams with white eyes as if appraising me.

“None of this makes sense.”

He points his pitch-black spear with one hand and asks.

“What method did you use to become like this? Perhaps you made a contract with a demon?”

“…Have you ever heard of a gold nugget that looks down on demons?”

“……”

Before I could realize it.

I was suddenly looking up at the sky.

“……?”

What the…?

I felt the hard ground against my back.

That’s not all.

The pitch-black spear is pointed at me.

With eerie black smoke rising from it, it was clearly no ordinary weapon.

In short, I had been forcibly laid flat by him.

And.

Without even realizing it had happened.

‘So this is… incompatibility.’

No matter how skilled I am.

If something comes at me with speed that transcends what I can perceive and handle…

…I have no answer.

Even the countless cavalry and relentless arrow showers I experienced in dreams.

At least there was some room to prepare.

But this felt like there was no preparation or countermeasure possible.

Literally, in relative agility, mobility, and dexterity… I was outmatched.

And not just slightly, but hopelessly.

“Any last words?”

“……”

Life is another hell.

Every moment of breathing has been hellish.

There must have been times when it wasn’t.

But now, have I been screaming in the fire pit for too long?

Nothing comes to mind.

“……”

Indeed.

Is this my death?

Should I accept this meekly?

“Speak.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I’m not talking to you, so shut your mouth.”

“……”

I don’t know why.

That man called the dull-witted commander, the pale man, Bargo Adedima.

The boy’s fierce rebuke.

He hesitated unconsciously.

“Am I destined to die here?”

Looking up at the sky, the void.

He asked.

To whom? Toward what?

“Why don’t you predict it with that brilliant wisdom of yours? Like the fool who didn’t even know Grandeus’s sword was a holy sword, go ahead and speak confidently this time too.”

“……”

Does this person see something I don’t?

Something invisible to us?

‘That sword of Grandeus, that Elbat is a holy sword.’

This is news to me.

Though he’s said to have wandered the demon realm slaughtering many demons with that sword.

How could I have guessed it was a holy sword?

From the beginning, the sword he held was surrounded by darkness deeper than pitch-black.

Even the faintest light.

When it touched that sword, it would be absorbed rather than reflected or illuminated.

That dark, depressing sword is a holy sword, the natural enemy of our kind?

“……”

That?

Now stuck in the ground.

Cracked, rusted, with layers of sand dust clinging to it.

Looking like it could break at any moment, like a rag in terrible condition, that? That thing?

“Perhaps I’ll regret this choice someday.”

The spear blade he was pointing slowly moves toward his neck.

“But I cannot make the same mistake as before…”

Just as the spear tip is about to press against Kariel’s neck.

He suddenly withdraws the spear shaft.

No, not withdrawn but swung.

“Kuhek!”

Something gets hit and is thrown away quickly.

“This damn bastard…”

It’s Venus.

“I told you… he’s my prey!”

“…Still with those mysterious physical abilities.”

Despite bleeding profusely, his fierce and explosive energy remains.

…It’s almost admirable.

“So you intend to stand in my way? If you want to die, why not jump off from there or stab your neck or heart with that sword?”

Aaaaargh!

A scream erupts from somewhere.

“And are you in any position to face me? What do you think my purpose is for coming here?”

“Go ahead and talk. I’ll listen.”

Among the onlookers watching the situation from a distance, screams of pain and regret erupt.

Though not visible, they seemed to be under attack as well.

“I intend to leave an irreversible mark on this place.”

The focal point of the remnants.

The final commander, Bargo, declared.

“Killing the child of Lueld means exactly that.”

“……”

“Don’t you want to kill him too?”

“I plan to defeat him, killing is a separate matter. You damn demon.”

“My, my.”

He points his spear at Kariel again.

Kariel thought about trying to get up, but knowing that if the other decided to strike, his body would be pierced instantly, he didn’t bother struggling.

Not out of cowardice, but because he sensed it wasn’t the right choice.

“Surprising. You’ll accept this unfair death without resistance?”

“Haa.”

He talks too much.

On and on.

On and on and on and on.

“It’s not that… I was just taking a little nap.”

“…What?”

“How much time has passed?”

He pushed away the spear blade.

“?”

How?

Bargo followed Kariel with puzzled eyes.

He was standing up, having moved quite far away.

“Cough!”

Though he tried to stand up as quickly as possible, he was too slow.

Despite escaping death.

As if suffering severe internal injuries, he staggered and vomited blood.

“……”

This feels like death.

Now I somewhat understand why the Demon Lord prevented me from struggling further in the dream.

My body had reached its limit.

It had been at its limit for a while.

From the beginning, this body wasn’t in a state to attempt anything.

The Demon Lord had delicately balanced it so I was just barely hanging on the edge of a cliff.

After acquiring Elbat, I now understand why he urged me to focus on building my body.

‘Was I dying?’

There isn’t just one reason for death.

The grudge choking my breath is a reason for death.

Forcibly dragging around an unstable body is also a reason for death.

…Well, the reasons could be endless.

Like the one before me, there might be someone who hates me for being someone’s child.

And there might be someone trying to eliminate me out of fear of my past that even I don’t know…

“How strange.”

Can a person.

Change like that in just a few seconds?

Bargo was perplexed and confused.

The subject, who had seemed fine, was suddenly coughing up blood and dying.

Yet somehow.

His energy and quality had completely changed from before.

‘But.’

What difference does it make?

Enough with the goodwill.

As he properly gripped his spear, Venus, sensing the situation, immediately launched himself forward.

But he was already gone from that spot.

Venus, who had slashed at empty air with his sword, immediately turned his gaze toward Kariel.

‘Like this!’

To endure humiliation like this?!

Both that damn bastard! And this damn bastard!

They’re all doing whatever they want?!

Kang!

A collision resounds like an explosion.

Simultaneously.

“Hmm?!”

Bargo’s body was suddenly thrown back.

As if he had been hit by a counterattack and barely managed to withdraw.

“…Ha.”

Kariel, who should have been on the receiving end, sighed instead.

Even as his nose bled and his bloodshot eyes seemed about to burst.

‘What did he just do?’

Venus suddenly felt uneasy.

Could that bastard, like Venus himself… deliberately draw out physical abilities?

Or did he learn it while fighting with him?

‘That’s impossible.’

I can’t accept such a thing.

Even if heaven forgives, I won’t forgive.

That unreasonableness, that unfairness.

…How dare he.

“Cough!”

But Kariel’s current condition looked very serious.

He kept coughing and vomiting blood.

“…Damn it.”

I missed a golden opportunity.

What might have been my first and last chance.

“Remarkable.”

Venus saw it.

The black blood flowing from Bargo’s arm.

In contrast to his pale skin, what flowed inside was pitch-black blood.

But that’s not the issue.

How did that kid, who had been overwhelmed, manage to land a hit?

That was the only question.

What would Venus himself have done?

There are several methods, but his physical condition wasn’t great either.

He had taken drugs when those two started fighting, but they didn’t show immediate effects.

“You were incredibly slow. Why? How were you able to counterattack?”

“……”

He’s gasping for breath.

Kariel was visibly irritated by the admiration and exclamation, as if he’d heard blasphemy.

“1891 times.”

“Hmm?”

“The number of times I died to you in my dreams.”

Actually, it might have been more.

Or less.

I don’t know exactly.

I just blurted it out.

The count could be off by hundreds, or less, but.

“This is why… I’m annoyed.”

Reality is always like this.

It never, ever goes the way I want it to.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, but I take it as meaning you resisted with all your might. I respect that, knight.”

“…Shut up.”

Don’t call me a knight in front of me.

Even that complaint was blocked by the blood and gastric juices tearing through his throat.

“Ueek—!”

“…You’ll die soon even if left alone. But that wouldn’t be honorable, so I’ll take your life to put you at ease.”

“How dare…”

It’s hard even to hold a sword now.

So precarious that even onlookers could tell.

“Don’t think about anything, just close your eyes peacefully.”

It had already reached the final moment.

As if the world had stopped, everything felt infinitely slow and sluggish.

This moment felt like it would never, ever end.

‘This is…’

When facing death, time slows down and you recall the past.

Ah, they call it a flashback.

But why?

…Still, nothing comes to mind.

Without anything coming to mind.

In this silent, frozen world.

I’ve been abandoned even by myself.

Nothing to reflect on, repent for, or regret.

Nothing comes to mind anymore.

‘There was…’

Something, wasn’t there?

I think there was something.

…Is this really the end?

……

“Huk!”

My legs gave out and I collapsed.

I reflexively tried to plant my sword, but missed and sat down.

……

But.

I didn’t die.

The sky was still hazy, but was the sun rising?

Yet the shadow cast was strangely clear.

“A little later and it would have been a disaster, wouldn’t it?”

…Despite the delicate and beautiful voice.

The barrier it created seemed unbreakable.

“And you are?”

Bargo widened his pale eyes in confusion.

What is this now?

A human woman.

Blue-eyed and blonde.

So delicate.

With a fragile build that looked like it would break if he just reached out and grabbed her.

Even among demons, he himself was considered fragile.

Yet the one before him seemed no different from himself.

Except for being female.

The physical difference between men and women is definite.

No matter how skillfully one handles mana, innate limitations have suppressed their potential in the form of constraints.

But.

What is this?

Why can’t I deal with her?

“Ashette. You crazy woman…!”

From over there, a voice called out a name, apparently someone familiar.

“That’s right. Ashette. Aseratte, Ases. Call me Endraigra or Endragon or Endraegon, use whatever surname you like. Yes. I’m talking to you. You.”

Though she recites it cutely as if singing a song.

The sword she grips is holding Bargo’s spear without the slightest error.

She was staring at the pale man before her as she spoke.

“Bargo Adedima. We’re meeting for the first time, right? The Last Commander?”

“You.”

I’ve heard of her.

The Salvation Knight Order.

Their second sword.

In their faction, those called saviors.

Self-proclaimed Salvation Knight Order.

But the woman before him merely used it as an identity, without particularly being attached or obsessed with it.

Above all, what made her famous wasn’t that she was royalty from a distant land.

That is, it wasn’t because she was of royal descent.

“The Demon of the Lake.”

“Has that reached all the way there? It’s an embarrassing nickname I try not to reveal.”

With a smiling face.

She pushes forward.

He’s pushed back.

He cannot resist.

…What trick is this?

It felt like an iron wall pushing with will.

The helplessness of wrestling with a giant race.

“Choose one of two options. Will you be captured quietly, or will you hand over that neck?”

“Do you think you can do that? Human?”

“You just called me a demon a moment ago.”

The moment he felt his body being pushed back.

“Hmm?!”

A storm of sword strikes whirled.

Bargo responded immediately and nimbly.

He blocked it, but.

The impact made his palm tingle.

“Beyond the rumors.”

The speed was remarkable.

And each sword strike carried heavy weight.

If he hadn’t defended properly, the spear would have been pushed back and his body sliced instead.

That was clearly her intention, and it wasn’t just once but multiple times, continuously. It was truly a storm recreated with a sword.

“You’re still blocking. Very impressive. My arm is getting a bit sore, shall we take a break?”

While saying this, she delivers the same consecutive attacks.

Thrusting while swinging, one becomes two, two becomes three and four.

It was like petals blooming as she wielded the blade.

“You block this too. More than expected…”

Clang!

He blocks it.

Even the dozens of slashes Bargo unleashes.

The pitch-black shadow divides into dozens of strands, but.

She responds instantly to even that, ultimately blocking the final decisive strike in one breath.

“I said my arm hurts. Let’s rest a bit, shall we?”

Her expression remains unchanged.

But her eyes are smiling.

As if she might hum a tune with delight, that smiling face.

It must be the madness born from battle.