Ch.97The Crossroads Mountain Range. Crucis (5)

Pain.

A sensation now so familiar, like a shadow that always accompanies me.

Because I was young.

Because I was small.

Because I couldn’t do my work properly.

Because I stood in their way.

Because I slurped my noodles loudly.

Because I had no money for medicine.

Because I lacked money for clothes.

Because I couldn’t afford lodging.

Because they simply enjoyed tormenting me.

Thanks to countless “becauses,” I learned how to endure pain.

When everything around me wished for my oblivion, pain became the only sensation I could feel.

Is my soul bleeding? Or is it disfigured with countless scabs and scars…

Only the gods, the sun, and the moon will know how clean or dirty my soul is, as long as I live.

“Sir Victor!!!”

From far away, I hear my woman calling my name desperately.

And through my torn eardrums flow the thundering footsteps of yetis and the whistling sounds of arrows flying without pause.

I cannot see.

I cannot smell.

I have no sensation in my lower body.

Probably because my eyes are crushed, my nose is smashed, and my spine is severed.

And because terrible pain was weighing me down, I couldn’t move.

“Huh…uh…”

All my teeth were shattered into fragments in my gums and mouth, and my jaw was crushed so I couldn’t even swallow the saliva and blood flowing out.

And with an ice pick slowly melting in my stomach, I would soon die.

[No. You will survive.]

Who…?

Who’s speaking?

Simon? Raisha? Lucia? Kasia? Or other adventurers?

[As I am with you, no being can stand beside me, and no existence can challenge my radiance.]

Radiance.

The moment I “heard” that word, I felt the pain throughout my body vanish instantly.

[I am the father of all people, the foundation of civilization, and the center of the world.]

He was speaking to me.

The guardian deity of the ancient empire.

A sacred being above the heavens whom even the Four Great Gods cannot stand alongside.

Nariakira Saburo.

The Sun of Humanity.

[Having overcome countless pains, adversities, and trials, your body and soul have finally united as iron merges.]

Crack! Boom!

Like lightning striking followed by thunder, a power both alien yet utterly familiar began to enter my entire body.

“Augh…ah..ah…”

That power, rushing in like a flood, began healing my wounded body like a potion mixing with blood.

Fzzzzz….!

An electrifying sensation circulates throughout my body, suturing torn muscles, instantly dissolving and regenerating shattered bones, stopping the bleeding in my pierced abdomen, and restoring damaged organs.

Like lightning brings fire.

And like clouds bring rain.

I felt the sensation of my eyeballs regenerating and reconnecting to the optic nerves, and my nasal bridge rebuilding as the mucous membranes inside my nose shriveled against the freezing ice floor.

And I felt my missing teeth regenerating, and my half-blown-off jaw glowing blue as it recovered perfectly.

I experienced it all, like a prisoner strapped to an electric chair.

“Haaaa….”

I rose, bleeding.

The greatsword in my hand was now rippling with blue light, and my perfectly restored body used it to cleanly slice off the leg of a yeti that was about to crush Raisha.

Slash-!

*

The kneeling yeti accepted death without resistance.

It was already dying from successive wounds, so it chose to go peacefully.

As I pulled back my sword and threatened another healthy yeti, it became frightened by the aura rippling from my blade and hesitated to approach.

“You didn’t hit me, did you?”

Saying that, I activated my Accel skill and instantly cut off both the yeti’s legs, causing it to collapse to the ground before it could even scream.

Before the yeti could open its mouth, I cut its throat, and as a result, the path was completely blocked by the bodies of two yetis, making it difficult for even a single wolf to pass through.

“Good heavens! Victor!”

As I turned around, there stood Simon with an astonished expression, the elf sisters looking dumbfounded, and Raisha shedding tears.

I sheathed my sword and embraced Raisha as she rushed toward me, then collapsed onto the cold ice as my legs gave out.

Yet I felt neither cold nor pain, just a slight pressure as if sitting in a chair.

“Sir Victor..! Sir Victor…!”

Raisha was holding me and sobbing heavily, and I was afraid to forcibly remove her with my enhanced strength for fear of hurting her.

Fortunately, the elf sisters helped separate her, and Simon took the opportunity to help me stand.

“That light…. is it what I think it is?”

“Yes… I’ve awakened my Aura.”

I illuminated my blade with blue light again, and the fiercely glowing blue blade looked as if it could cleave even the sky.

For a moment, the entire Iron Walker party quietly observed their leader’s manifested Aura, until the concentration was broken by an amplification spell from a mage on higher ground.

“The yetis are retreating!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

As I extinguished my Aura and looked ahead, I saw dozens of yeti corpses piled up and the bodies of several adventurers crushed beyond recognition.

Those who were severely injured were being urgently fed potions by their companions, and seeing this, I checked the potions on my belt.

“…All shattered.”

“Well, after taking that kind of attack, they couldn’t possibly remain intact. Consider them sacrificed and forget about it. It’s a double celebration that you survived such injuries and awakened your Aura.”

I nodded with difficulty.

The subjugation was now over, and the White Giants, having lost their Frost Wolf pack and dozens of adult yetis, would not show themselves on this mountain path for at least ten years.

“We killed 2 yetis, right?”

“Actually, it was you who killed them rather than us… but yes, that’s right.”

Simon confirmed our kill count, and I nodded at his calculation.

And as cheers began to erupt signaling the end of the battle, I naturally lost consciousness.

*

Four hours later. Room 1031 at the inn.

“Oh, my aching body…”

I was suffering from severe muscle pain.

In truth, there was no pain, but as a counterbalance, an incredible sense of exhaustion was weighing down my entire body.

“Uuugh….”

“Don’t groan so much. Trying to get over being completely crushed without at least some moaning is practically thievery.”

“My love….”

Even as Simon was using magic to somewhat reduce my symptoms, Raisha was firmly holding my hand and rubbing her cheek against it.

Sob… Raisha’s soft cheeks are right next to me, but I can’t pinch them. Truly a miserable situation.

Knock knock knock.

“Who…?”

“I’ll go see.”

While I was groaning in bed, there was a sudden knock, and when Simon opened the door, a female adventurer stood there holding a small pouch.

“Is the one lying in bed the leader of Iron Walker?”

“…Yes, what of it?”

“Don’t be so suspicious. I heard about someone suffering from Aura awakening aftereffects and came to help. Take this first.”

“What is this…?”

Simon accepted the pouch.

From the rattling sound, it clearly contained something like beads.

“Medicine for Aura aftereffects. In your captain’s case, it’s particularly severe because of injury recovery on top of it… Without medicine, he’d probably be bedridden for about a week.”

“Ah… thank you. You didn’t have to go to such trouble…”

“It’s nothing. I’m just disposing of my extra medicine anyway. No need to be so grateful. Well then, goodbye.”

Clang!

And so our brief encounter ended, and Simon placed a round pill from the medicine pouch on his palm, closed his eyes, and quietly recited a spell.

Then, nodding slightly, he approached my bedside, lifted my head, and put one pill in my mouth.

Gulp!

“Ugh..”

“I’ve examined it. There’s nothing harmful. It’s made with natural tonics…. It certainly won’t hurt to take it.”

Saying that, he placed the medicine pouch back on the table and left the room.

Now only the two of us remained in the room, and Raisha turned off the lights and lay down under the covers with me.

“Sir Victor…”

“..Raisha..”

I never knew moving my mouth could be so difficult.

Well, considering my jaw was shattered, it’s a miracle I can speak at all, though I appear fine externally.

“I’ve awakened my Aura.. Raisha.”

“I know….”

“Don’t worry too much. I won’t die and leave you behind.”

When I said that, Raisha quietly kissed me.

Since I couldn’t move my tongue, it was less a kiss and more just pressing lips together, but it still improved my mood slightly, and Raisha hugged me tightly as she guided my hand to stroke her face.