Ch.9796. Proof (6)

# 96. Proof (6)

With those final words, he disappeared from the spot, taking her with him. Fenex stood frozen, helplessly watching her being dragged away.

“This is a joke, right…? This is a dream? Right? This is… a dream, right?”

Fenex tried to follow her vanishing figure, desperately denying reality.

He wanted to chase after him to get her back, feeling that if not now, he might never see her again.

But someone appeared before him.

It was definitely a face he had seen somewhere before.

“W-who are you? I need to go… I need to go right now…”

He was clearly a Mayin.

His enormous horns defied imagination, and his muscular physique, seemingly proving his warrior status, caught Fenex’s eye.

This person was blocking Fenex’s path, preventing him from moving forward.

“I… need to go… Please step aside…”

Fenex, for the first time in his life, even shed tears as he begged the man to move, but he remained unmoved, holding his position.

Only when she finally disappeared from sight did he finally speak.

“What could you have done if you had followed that human? What could you have done when you were too frightened by his aura to do anything just now?”

“That’s…”

Fenex wanted to refute those words, but he simply couldn’t.

What the man said was entirely reasonable—even if Fenex had followed her, there was nothing he could have done.

“I understand how you feel, because I’ve been there too. But with your current weakness, you’ll never reach her.”

“Then… what am I supposed to do?! What exactly am I supposed to do…”

Hearing that desperate cry, the Mayin gave Fenex a faint smile.

“Now is not the time. At the very least, you’ll need to rise to the position of Executor before you can take your revenge.”

“Executor… me?”

Executor.

It was a position as distant as the stars in the sky—the royal guard of King Bael and a rank only attainable by the strongest warriors of the Babylon Kingdom.

And it was a position far beyond Fenex’s reach.

“That’s impossible… me, an Executor…”

“You were willing to follow that man just now without even this level of determination? What a foolish young man.”

Hearing those words, Fenex asked the Mayin:

“If I become an Executor, can I really save my sister?”

“Of course, little one.”

“But who are you to tell me all this?”

The Mayin pointed to his own face and asked Fenex:

“I’m just curious… do you really not know who I am?”

“You do look familiar…”

“Have you perhaps heard of someone named Bael?”

***

After that.

With Bael’s full support, Fenex grew at a remarkable pace.

Throughout his life, Fenex did only what Bael commanded and desired.

All because he wanted to recover that Dark Elf he had admired since childhood.

However, the woman Fenex so desperately wanted to find no longer exists in this world.

And Fenex probably already knows this fact.

That he arrived far too late.

“Isn’t it too late? It’s been 150 years already?”

At the young age of not even 200, Fenex had become an Executor, praised as the “youngest Executor in history.”

But that was by demon standards. By human standards, 200 years was practically ancient history.

“The person I’m looking for is also a demon. They must still be alive, unlike humans.”

Even as Fenex kept realizing the truth, he deliberately denied reality.

His mind must be filled with thoughts that his beloved had already been killed by those inferior humans, but he was working hard to push those thoughts away.

“You certainly can hold onto hope…”

Unlike some others, the person he loved hadn’t died right before his eyes, so it seemed he could still cling to a sliver of hope.

Hope…

“Lingering attachment” would be a more fitting description than “hope” for his condition.

Hearing my muttering, Fenex glared alternately at her and me before speaking:

“Don’t talk as if you understand me. You… are different from me.”

“Yes, we are certainly different. But I can empathize with your feelings. I would have done the same in your situation.”

Indeed, if it had been me, I would have acted just as recklessly as Fenex is now.

“You’re quite good at making up convincing words, aren’t you?”

Clearly, Fenex wasn’t listening to me.

Still, he seemed to be focusing more and more on me.

“Enough talk. Die!”

With those words, Fenex began moving at a speed reminiscent of [Lightning Flash], and I was naturally at the end of that movement.

-Clang!!-

His speed was certainly lacking, but his strength was nearly on par with mine, so I could block his attack without much difficulty.

Of course, I could only defend—landing a meaningful hit was nearly impossible.

However, with that person hiding undetected nearby, it seemed entirely possible.

“I used to be confident in my speed, but now I’m having doubts.”

“It’s only natural that a human like you can’t keep up with me.”

Even as an Executor, he apparently couldn’t detect [Stealth].

I wasn’t sure exactly where Reina was, but it was almost certain she was somewhere near this place where Fenex and I were clashing.

‘I need to create even the slightest opening…’

At times like this, I regretted that Reina hadn’t trained much with her. If she had, we could have killed this guy more easily.

‘Nothing to be done about it…’

To create an opening, I deliberately approached Fenex, who found this situation strange.

“What’s this? You’ve finally decided to fight properly, I see.”

That was certainly true, and I swung my sword toward Fenex.

-Swish! Swish!-

Naturally, my sword didn’t even graze Fenex and continued to cut through empty air.

“Are you playing around? You don’t actually think I’d fall for such attacks, do you?”

“Of course not.”

Fenex was clearly looking down on me as I continued slashing at nothing, and I could feel it.

I decided to make my move against him.

-Swish!!-

I threw the sword I was holding toward Fenex.

But of course, there was no way Fenex would fall for such an attack, and indeed, he dodged the flying sword with ease.

Then, with a smug expression, he asked me:

“Have you lost your mind? I won’t fall for such shallow tricks!”

With my attack having failed, Fenex, judging this to be his opportunity, charged at me with frightening speed.

And now, with her at some distance, I couldn’t receive her help either.

‘Yes… that’s right, come out just like that…’

Fenex had finally fallen for my perfect provocation, and he plunged his magic-infused sword into my chest.

-Thunk!!-

An enormous amount of blood flowed from my completely pierced chest, and everyone seemed greatly shocked by the sight.

Fenex smiled with satisfaction at my condition.

“Didn’t I tell you? That you would die?”

Of course, despite such a severe wound, I was fine, and a status window soon appeared before my eyes.

[Desperate Survival: B]

[Activates when the user’s life force reaches 1.]

[Recovers 50% of lost life force.]

[The indomitable will to face death makes you stronger. (Damage taken is reduced by 30% for 1 hour.)]

[This skill has a cooldown of 72 hours after activation. (Current: 71 hours 59 minutes)]

When it activated against Reicle before, it only recovered 30% of my life force and increased defense and magic defense by a mere 10%.

But now it recovered 50% of my life force and reduced damage taken by 30% for a whole hour.

Thanks to this, I could maintain a composed expression even in this situation and hold Fenex in place.

“Who’s dying? Reina! Now’s the time.”

Realizing something was wrong, Fenex hurriedly tried to escape, but it was impossible.

“Where do you think you’re going after causing all this?”

With one hand, I gripped Fenex’s sword still embedded in my chest, and with the other, I grabbed his arm as he tried to flee.

Using both hands meant I couldn’t wield my greatsword, leaving me lacking in strength, but it was enough.

“Let go! Let go, I said..!”

“Shut up.”

Behind Fenex, Reina had already deactivated [Stealth] and was preparing for the final strike. She immediately activated both [Swift] and [Lightning Flash] simultaneously.

“Farewell. See you next time, if there is one.”

“Let… let go…”

Fenex wore a strange expression that seemed both terrified and somehow transcendent.

It was as if he had sensed the chilling killing intent behind him and anticipated his death.

I spoke to Fenex, who now seemed somewhat pitiful:

“Humans are stronger than you think. Perhaps even much stronger than your kind.”

As I finished speaking, a chilling sound of wind struck my ears.

And simultaneously, Reina’s sword emerged from Fenex’s chest, right where I was holding him.

-Thunk!!!