Ch.96Chapter 96. This Isn’t Enough. Harder!

For the Demon Tribe, desire is a concept prioritized above all else.

Even if humans choose coexistence, it’s impossible to overcome innate limitations for that purpose.

‘Ah, I shouldn’t be doing this…’

Of course, if the one immersed had powerful strength like her lord, she could endure, but before her was an infinitely weaker being.

It was clear that without even considering the lower-ranking executives beneath her, if made to fight bare-handed against any common Demon Tribe member, they would die horribly.

The human race, trampled by the Demon Lord’s army until now, was such a weak and worthless existence.

‘I know this hurts Hyoseong, but even this side of him is so lovable.’

Yes, the only one who had freed her from that infinite shackle—where she could only realize her desires by reminiscing about past glory—was his existence.

Even if he were a weak human, even if he fell below livestock or insects, her feelings would remain unchanged.

This feeling that persists unchanged regardless of circumstances must surely be defined as love.

‘Such a lovable person is dancing to my tune at this moment.’

But even such feelings ultimately stem from selfishness, not altruism.

What stood before her was not an object of loyalty, but someone who could be called both the means and the end to fulfill her desires.

‘So just a little…’

Such feelings grew more intense the more she thought of her lord who wasn’t swayed by her performance.

How could she suppress this impulse when she yearned for a relationship with him?

‘Just a little. Just a tiny bit more…!’

“Merilyn.”

But the performance she continued while losing herself was only paused briefly.

Soon, hearing a voice from behind, Merilyn stopped playing and quickly turned around.

To her rival in love, and simultaneously the only one who could check her impulses.

“Ah, Irie?”

The coldness in that gaze felt much more severe than usual.

It was natural. Originally, they had agreed to adjust the level gradually and conduct training appropriate to his stage.

In such circumstances, acting on her own and trying to crush the seed before it grew—wouldn’t anyone who wanted his growth be angry?

“Aha~ I’m sorry. I just couldn’t help myself…”

Merilyn belatedly realized her mistake and suppressed her impulse.

Of course, if they fought again, she wouldn’t be defeated like last time, but even if she won such a fight, there would be absolutely nothing to gain.

If her impulses continued to be suppressed, a moment might come when she couldn’t endure, but she wasn’t yet at that point.

“It, it was just a joke. I wasn’t serious about it…”

“No, please continue.”

What came back to her as she tried to withdraw with that conclusion was—

The exact opposite of the expected scolding, an encouragement.

“What?”

“I said continue the previous performance. In fact, it would be better if the performance was more intense than now.”

At Irie’s continued words, Merilyn stared at her blankly.

Not stopping the performance but continuing it? Even more intensely?

‘What on earth… Wasn’t this woman in a position to protect Hyoseong?’

For a moment she wondered if Irie had lost her mind, but Irie’s gaze had already moved from her to him.

Her expression remained completely stern.

With that serious and sharp gaze…

As if showing that those emotions were aimed at him from the beginning, not herself.

“Urgh!!”

Receiving Irie’s gaze, he began to gradually raise himself from his seat, exhaling deeply.

The performance had stopped, but its aftereffects hadn’t yet faded.

The instinct awakened by it was still drawing in mana, trying to suppress his actions with full force.

“Ugh, haa, haa…!”

Nevertheless, using the spear shaft as a cane to raise himself from his seat was far beyond Merilyn’s expectations.

Normally, she thought he wouldn’t be able to endure this much and would collapse for a while.

‘Impossible. The opponent was once a candidate for the Four Heavenly Kings, even if corrupted.’

Although his fighting spirit disappeared after seeing the Demon Lord’s end, the desire for indolence would have built up his potential the more he was lazy.

Those remnants would remain to some extent even when processed into equipment, and the lost instinct would even draw out stronger power than before by mixing in her magic.

Yet to overcome such power with mental strength.

“Hyoseong, are you alright?”

“Yes, uh. I’m fine.”

Passing by her bewildered self, Irie approached him.

Answering her question quietly, he gripped the spear shaft tightly, still resisting the armor’s power that was suppressing him.

“At first I was surprised by the sudden heaviness, but thinking about it, I’ve endured much worse things.”

“You can’t say you’re fine, but you haven’t reached your limit yet… is that right?”

“Yes, rather, being pressed this hard is making me stubborn.”

Rapid breathing and a pale complexion.

His face was covered in cold sweat, and his legs depending on the spear shaft were even trembling.

“I wonder just how much the current me can endure…”

Yet the smile on his lips showed his determination to withstand even her uncontrolled sadism.

He clearly thought he might break it with his own hands, but now he was showing fighting spirit and aiming for more.

‘Not… breaking?’

Yes, at the moment when something even she hadn’t expected happened.

When confronted with that sight, Merilyn felt an emotion she had never experienced before stirring in her heart.

No, it was definitely an emotion she had felt in the past.

She had just forgotten it because too much time had passed.

But there definitely existed a moment when the person she desired needed her abilities.

‘That’s right, he’s not broken yet. Just from me pushing a little…’

Someone who enjoyed her performance, felt excitement from it, and wished to spend more time together…

She felt that a fragment of those glorious times she thought would never return was being modestly realized in this moment.

“Merilyn. Could you increase the tempo a little more?”

“…What?”

“I said it’s okay to make the performance stronger.”

“Ah, yes, a little… just a little, right?”

Feeling her heart swell, Merilyn directed her trembling fingers toward the lute strings.

Just a little bit allowed to her.

Just a tiny bit, just enough not to break him, let’s raise the tempo of the performance.

-Twang~!!

But such a thing was impossible.

Though accustomed to endurance, his body knew the pain of that endurance.

Wishing her desire would last even a little longer, she even affirmed the existence of her rival who would suppress her impulses.

But with permission granted to release such caution, how could restraint be possible?

“I’m sorry, Hyoseong. I’m aware that what I’m doing is wrong, but…”

Moreover, unlike her lord who felt nothing from her performance, he was being stimulated by it.

And yet he was somehow enduring, trying to make this moment’s pressure his strength.

“When you show me that you can stand up again from such a mess, how can I possibly restrain myself!!”

If he breaks in the end, that would be it.

But if he proves he can endure to the end, wouldn’t she be able to express her love toward him with peace of mind afterward?

-Trilling, twaaang!!

Faithful to such desire, she played with more emotion in this moment than ever before.

Faster and more intensely.

With the momentum to bury everything suppressing her in this moment.

Intoxicated by the bewitching melody that caused dizziness like never before.

“Argh, ugh!!!”

The pressure created by that performance began to shake a human’s mind with full force in this moment.

Though not specialized in force, his potential was worthy of the Demon Lord’s Army’s second-in-command, following the Demon Lord.

For an ordinary human, it wouldn’t allow any resistance, and their mind would ultimately be intoxicated by madness stronger than drugs, making them forget even the fear of death.

“Urgh… Aaaah!”

Nevertheless, he was enduring.

In this moment, he was trying to maintain his reason while suppressing his consciousness from being lost to her performance.

And if he maintained that determination, it would lead to an opportunity to control the vast power suppressing his body.

-Don’t… moooove…

Of course, the armor’s momentum was also growing, but unlike before, it had now reached a level where competition was possible.

-Anyway, no matter how hard you try, you’ll just end up like him. It’s all meaningless…

“Shut up, you lazy bastard!!!”

Yes, it’s not an unbeatable enemy.

It’s just a corpse of an enemy he’s already defeated once trying to grab him, yet determining it’s impossible before even starting is too pathetic, isn’t it?

“With all I have to do in life, what are you resting for… If you’re already dead, just quietly become my experience points, you damn bastard!”

With a shout born from that belief, he pressed down on the magic power emitted by the armor and tried to take a stance with the javelin in his hand.

-Kuguuuuuuu!

The tremor in the air just from standing.

Even though power that made the surrounding space tremble was crashing down on him in this moment, he didn’t fall.

Not falling but enduring, he tried to make the explosive power manifested in this moment his own.

“Uaaaaaaaaaah!!”

With that final shout, the spear tip was thrown with full force.

At that moment, the fierce magic power bursting from the armor was concentrated at the spear tip, eventually exerting a powerful forward thrust.

-Fwoooosh!

An air-splitting power unimaginable from a javelin.

Following it, the training dummy, the outer wall of the building behind it, and the ceiling.

-Kwagagagagaang!

The spear that tore through all of these and extended beyond crashed into a nearby mountain with a thunderous sound.

The practice spear couldn’t ultimately embed itself in the surface, but that was because the spear itself couldn’t withstand the current magic power and shattered midway.

If the spear could have fully withstood the power.

For instance, if it were made of a sturdy metal like “mythril” rather than wood or iron, a small landslide might have occurred at this moment’s attack, burying everything below it.

“Huff, huff…”

But the awareness that he almost caused such a disaster didn’t exist for him at this moment.

He had just given his all, and in the end, succeeded in releasing the power.

Although it wasn’t enough to say he controlled it, and he had focused only on resisting the power to release it, depleting all his strength.

Nevertheless, just by overcoming the suppression emitted by the equipment, he could be said to have secured the possibility of surpassing his limits.

“I, I did it. Really…”

Merilyn, who was watching from the side, also realized this.

A smile that she herself wasn’t aware of began to form on her lips as she watched his growth, resisting her sadism.

If he continued to maintain this kind of appearance, a belief began to gradually emerge that he could overcome it even if her impulses grew stronger.

“Good work, Merilyn.”

Just as she was about to immerse herself in this achievement.

Immediately after, Irie, announcing the end of the first training, passed by Merilyn and began to approach him who had collapsed.

Despite the fact that he had achieved an incredible feat impossible for a human, she spoke with a cold and serious voice, as if she had expected even this.

“And good work, Hyoseong. Let’s continue with the next training after you take a short rest and the elder returns.”

“Ah, yes… So this isn’t the end.”

“Yes, this is just the beginning.”

Her eyes looking at the exhausted him began to open drowsily, and gradually strength began to fill that gaze.

“The obstacles Hyoseong must overcome in the future cannot be overcome with just this much.”

An answer that seemed to consider even this as merely the beginning.

Hyoseong, who couldn’t properly listen to those words due to fatigue, had a blank expression, but even that was soon withdrawn as he felt the presence approaching the training ground.

“…It seems people have come looking for us after hearing the commotion. I’ll go explain to them for a moment.”

“Ah, yes. Please do.”

As Irie began to leave in place of him who had collapsed with exhaustion.

Merilyn, who had regained her senses belatedly, immediately followed her and called out to stop her.

“Wait a moment, Irie.”

“What is it, Merilyn?”

Swish, stopping in place and turning to look at her.

The coldness felt in those eyes was indeed showing a big difference from the emotional appearance she had shown until now.

Merilyn could vaguely guess the reason.

“You’re being affected by my power right now, aren’t you?”

“……”

“…So it is.”

Yes, even if it was for his sake, encouraging to this extent was discordant with her usual self.

Moreover, even being able to know what will happen in the future doesn’t apply to a capricious demon who can’t predict.

“You were aware that you might fail to control me, weren’t you?”

The reason she encouraged it might be because she too lost normal judgment due to her performance.

“…What exactly did you see in the future that makes you feel such urgency?”

What on earth will happen later?

Why did she push the one she loves so hard and encourage his growth?

“I’m sorry, but I’ll tell you about that later. Until the appointed time comes, it’s best to minimize variables.”

As if teaching that such speculation wasn’t entirely wrong, she didn’t deny her concern and simply left.

There was no confusion or awareness that she had gone out of control.

It was somewhat true that she was influenced by Merilyn’s performance, but even that couldn’t be said to have influenced her to the point of losing reason.

“…It’s not enough.”

She just made her remember what she had forgotten.

That she is the last successor of the Haven clan.

And that what she, who has inherited her clan’s will, should prioritize is saving this world that is heading toward destruction.

“This much isn’t enough, Hyoseong. With this much, you can’t defeat her.”

And what awaits later is him directly standing in the way of the dragon who has declared the extinction of humanity.

As it clearly involves a Transcendent, the result cannot be guaranteed right away.

Because it cannot be guaranteed, she can’t help but feel anxiety despite achieving results beyond her prophecy.

“So, you need to get stronger faster.”

“To prevent what Tashian is about to do at this excavation site…”

Everything is for the coexistence of love and mission.

The first obstacle to making him a savior will begin with eliminating the last dragon remaining in this world with his own hands.