Ch.9832. As If Awakening to Destiny (3)

# “How is this possible?!”

Even Bargo’s decisive counterattack.

Kariel responded to it.

As if time itself had stopped, in a world where everything stood still.

Only that much responded to his movement.

It wasn’t perfect, but what was certain was that his strike had been deflected.

As a result.

As if space itself had expanded and contracted.

It exploded.

Intense lightning burrowed into the earth.

And because the aftermath hadn’t fully dissipated, black lightning split into thousands of strands, mercilessly burning and scorching the area.

But that wasn’t the intended target.

Normally, all the electrical energy derived from it should have been discharged and radiated toward a single target.

‘What technique did he use?!’

Did he deflect this too?

It was utterly incomprehensible.

About twenty paces away from Kariel.

As if thrown aside, Bargo’s entire body appeared, dragging across the ground, emitting violent smoke as if burned by something.

From a distance, Kariel’s collapsed form was clearly visible.

Normally, he should have been reduced to dust, his form completely lost.

In fact, just seeing how the ground around Kariel was blackened beyond recognition, with the area sparking and seething as if boiling.

It proved that his effort was neither meaningless nor powerless.

But what about Kariel, the actual target?

‘It wouldn’t be strange if he died.’

Yet such beings.

Such existences that seemed to receive special treatment from the gods somehow survived even in a half-corpse state.

Among those called heroes and champions, how many had survived near-death?

Looking at it that way, that child must already be standing in that position.

If so, whether by cutting his throat, piercing his heart, or blasting him apart.

Somehow, he would need to confirm with his own eyes that the breath of life had been extinguished.

In the past, he had once pierced through his heart, but look. Hadn’t he survived perfectly fine?

‘Never again such a disgrace…’

Just as he was about to rise and rush toward Kariel.

He suddenly noticed that his feet wouldn’t move.

“…?”

The ground had frozen.

Somehow, white breath was rising.

Thanks to the heat emanating from his entire body, smoke was rising from his body like a burning log.

But somehow, it felt worse than before.

“Hmph!”

His stuck feet cracked with a snap.

More precisely, it was just the frozen ice chunks and frost breaking apart.

As he took a few steps forward, before his eyes.

This time, for some reason, an ice wall was erected.

“What?”

This was no ordinary occurrence.

Had an interferer appeared?

From where?

It.

Revealed itself from the ice wall.

Made of ice, in human form, it had a mystical appearance like an elemental spirit.

However.

…Right now, it was nothing more than an interferer.

Bargo thrust his spear without a moment’s hesitation and swirled it.

With that intense impact, even the girl reminiscent of an ice elemental.

And the massive ice wall behind her.

Like a wall built from freshly fallen snow.

It shattered and scattered hopelessly.

But.

The scattered pieces.

Ice fragments. Fine powder gathered together.

Forming a new shape.

“Hmm?!”

Suddenly.

An ice form in human shape grabbed his ankle and leg.

The moment it touched his hand, his leg began to freeze solid.

The ice form that regained its shape in midair threw itself at Bargo in the form of a woman.

But.

Even that was torn apart and scattered by an invisible slash and flash.

“What a petty trick.”

As Bargo struck down with his jet-black spear.

Red lightning swept the surroundings, raising fierce steam.

However.

Even the steam that endlessly rose into the air froze again, becoming a prison that bound him.

Just as Bargo was about to act.

Dozens of hands seized his entire body.

“!!”

His body began to freeze instantly.

But even that melted away by the electric current that enveloped him.

Bargo spun his spear like a windmill, scattering electricity, and barely managed to launch himself into the air.

But there, she was already waiting.

Hail formed instantaneously, becoming dozens of arrows that rained down on him.

As he deflected them all and soared again, before his eyes.

Something completely different from what had been far away.

Suddenly appeared.

Like the Snow Queen, as if a beautiful sculpture formed of ice.

Appearing abruptly in midair, she immediately grabbed Bargo’s neck.

Despite striking her with his spear shaft, her fragmented hands still managed to grasp his neck and chest.

“What are you trying to—!”

His words were cut short.

Regardless of his will, his body plummeted and crashed into the ground.

Bargo’s limbs were instantly frozen, unexpectedly binding him.

The woman’s ice form, sitting on his body as if to weigh him down, just stared at him with cold ice eyes.

Eventually, as even her form covered his body.

…Bargo was completely frozen.

His cold body, just as he was about to burst with rage.

Froze solid.

However, this doesn’t signify his end.

This is merely buying time.

In fact, proving this.

Through the frozen ice mass, red currents vibrated and flashed several times.

And instantly, the frozen body was released.

“Cough! Hack!”

But Bargo’s physical condition wasn’t normal either.

His heart had stopped momentarily, and tiny ice fragments had already entered his body, accumulating considerable damage inside.

Moreover, due to the technique he had deliberately used against Kariel, his magic and mental strength had only a small reserve left.

Even before that, he had to struggle to drive away the subordinates of the Demon Tree.

Damage from the holy sword? That wasn’t even a major issue.

But it was clear that he was exhausted too.

“…The promise holds true, right?”

Bargo asked toward the empty air, then stood up with a displeased expression, staggering.

“……”

Kariel was still lying there.

If now, he could easily finish him off.

But targeting that would leave no future.

He realized belatedly while facing the opponent.

This irrational phenomenon, the one who seemed to control it.

…Was probably a being akin to a calamity itself.

‘I don’t know why it’s here.’

Is it related to the sword after all?

The gaze watching this place, swayed by prophecy, wasn’t just his alone.

There were probably many.

If so, it wouldn’t be strange for such beings to be involved here and there.

…But interfering is another matter entirely.

“Ha.”

With a short sigh, Bargo looked around to see if any of his subordinates had been caught up in this.

Not a single thing remained intact.

The shabby stall buildings, or the signs that had been hung to mark specific places, had vanished without a trace.

He too, of course, had visited this place several times with his identity concealed.

Probably now.

‘I’ll never come here again.’

Even the subordinates of the Demon Tree were now growing cold like corpses, losing their form.

Like ashes from burnt logs scattered in the wind.

Just as they were, this place could never return to its original state.

Eventually, the sword of Grandeus was drawn.

Its identity was a holy sword.

And its owner was a boy from nowhere, but.

…It probably wouldn’t concern him much.

Later on, it might stand in his way, but.

Not right now.

“Then I shall withdraw. The next time we meet, it will be different from this time.”

Bargo declared toward the empty air.

He discharged red lightning and threw himself into the air.

His small body instantly stretched toward the distant sky.

Seeing this, he too was clearly a superhuman far beyond common sense.

“He’s, he’s gone?”

It all happened in an instant.

Before she could even realize it, Luirin thought her master and Leo had been caught in that man’s attack.

Even though she was some distance away, was she also within range?

She too lost consciousness for a moment due to the influence of the offensive.

Was that why?

As she barely tried to gather her senses, for some reason, the world was frozen white.

Not only that.

Luirin directly witnessed how all the means of that so-called Last Legion Commander were neutralized despite his tremendous efforts.

What on earth happened?

Step, step.

Amidst the confusion.

The sound of leather shoes stepping on frosted ground disturbed the silence.

“Huh?”

There was a girl walking with a cane.

A rough but durable white dress.

A brown shawl that wrapped from her shoulders down to her waist.

And even a scarf that seemed to be knitted from wool.

Sky-blue hair.

The girl with eyes whiter than that.

Was slowly walking toward this place.

Only.

“…?”

Huh?

Her legs…?

She was leaning on a cane, but her gait was clearly different from before.

At some point.

With the cane in her left hand.

She, Luines, was walking perfectly fine on both legs.

Why is my sister here?

Setting aside her doubts for a moment.

Luirin, who was looking around at the companions who were starting to wake up, immediately turned her gaze toward where Kariel was lying.

Only the ground around him was blackened.

As if the earth itself had died.

“Feels like I’ve been beaten up…”

“Leo? Are you alright?”

Luciri and Deike also belatedly compose themselves.

Leo too, though late, somehow managed to steady himself.

Looking around, Leo had bewildered eyes as if he were dreaming.

“Where is this?”

“Still half asleep? Where else would it be? So…”

Suddenly.

Luciri also looks around in wonder.

This scene with white snow, no, frost settled.

It evokes a feeling both familiar and extremely alien.

“Miss Luines?”

By now.

She had reached a few steps ahead.

The cane held in her left hand was suspended in the air without touching the ground.

Yet the girl who resembled the sky stood there comfortably, without any discomfort.

“Leo Tedeo. Leo from Tedeo Village. Right?”

“Huh? Well… I told you before… didn’t I?”

Leo still seemed dazed, unable to grasp the situation, but the quick-witted Luciri sensed something ominous and tried her best to grab Leo by the scruff and pull him up.

With eyes wide open, she fixed her gaze on Luines, monitoring her every move.

“How did the church girl get here?”

“……”

Deike also asked in wonder as he straightened his dropped hat.

But Luines just kept watching Leo without saying a word.

Then again.

She looked at Luirin, Deike, Luciri, Leo.

And again.

Looking at Kariel sprawled out to one side.

Eventually, she turned her gaze toward the holy sword.

That which was in Leo’s hand.

That which was emitting a soft white radiance though brilliant.

Just by looking at it, its nature seemed so clear that its identity could be easily guessed.

But what Luines wanted to confirm was.

…Its external form.

Just like when it was stuck in the ground, that appearance, that exact form.

It was now, like a snake that had shed its skin or a butterfly that had shed its cocoon.

Completely renewed.

No.

It must have originally been like that.

“You said you wanted to know from that sword where the demon lord you’re looking for is, and who it is?”

“……”

Why bring that up now?

“So, what did the sword say?”

“Well, I didn’t have time to ask…”

“……”

As if speaking to the sword, she quietly gazed at Leo who was sitting holding the sword.

Luines looked up at the sky.

“My name is Mines.”

“Pardon?”

“I have a younger brother named Lui. Though we’re blood relatives, due to foolish parents, we grew up not knowing we were siblings.”

Why such a confession all of a sudden?

The bewilderment was momentary.

Once again, Leo looked around.

This area that had turned white.

The frost-covered earth gave a beautiful impression in itself.

…But for Leo, this scene evoked an unbearably cold and cruel sentiment.

“Does the sword know the answer?”

He can hear the sword’s voice.

When she heard those words.

Luines, Mines felt a shock as if her heart had frozen.

Until now, no one had uttered such words.

There were those who wished it had been drawn.

Venus.

If it were him, he would have gladly accepted the irrationality she presented.

So, if he had drawn that.

Mines herself wouldn’t have hesitated so much.

When she heard that Leo was from Tedeo Village.

The reason her hand slipped unconsciously.

She had many thoughts.

When she visited that village, had he left?

But from what he said, that wasn’t the case.

He said the weather was particularly bad that day.

As a forest keeper, he was used to staying inside the forest.

Then he saw an injured bear and healed its wounds?

And then… he actually escorted the bear back to its habitat despite being human.

While taking care of the scattered cubs, he fell asleep in the cave.

…Anyone who heard would say it’s nonsense, a strange story not even found in fairy tales.

They would have given him a rebuke.

But that very day.

The day she visited Tedeo Village.

Shortly after they left.

He returned to the village.

Mines wasn’t mistaken.

Just.

The target they should have aimed for wasn’t present in the village.

Therefore, the contract wasn’t fulfilled.

And had been on hold until now.

…Without anyone telling her, she unconsciously realized.

Once again.

Destiny had arrived.

For instance, the enemy they wanted to kill.

The being who wanted to trample the sprouts out of fear.

…Was the hero to be newly born.

Yet there was confusion.

That small confusion was probably because of that person.

The boy named Riel.

A boy with dark and ominous prayers.

Fearful and pitiful.

She couldn’t understand.

Just by watching, it felt like everything was being pierced through.

It was terribly frightening to face him.

But perhaps, if it were him, he might draw that sword and end all her anguish.

She had such expectations.

…In the end.

Led by his hand, Leo came to draw the sword.

What kind of joke is this?

Is fate so cruel?

No. Is there no need to discuss fate here?

“Well, Pine says she doesn’t know about that.”

Pine? Is that the sword’s name?

The legend of Grandeus. The story. The fairy tale.

Then was that not the Elbat he was said to have held?

…Actually, it doesn’t matter.

She wasn’t interested from the beginning.

For Mines, that sword.

“It’s okay. I know.”

“What? How? Why bring this up now?”

“Leo.”

Leo, finally pulled up by Luciri.

All the companions had now begun to watch her, Mines, as if on guard.

“It’s about time you noticed, isn’t it?”

“……”

That’s right.

It’s not that Leo was oblivious.

He just didn’t want to acknowledge it.

That the woman before him…

“They say that when the Demon Lord of Wisdom invaded our world, he took all the legacies of the Great Demon Lord as spoils, except for one, right?”

Some were handed over to humanity by those who betrayed them and joined the human alliance, and all found their owners.

But some still had unclear whereabouts.

“I was unfortunate enough to qualify to inherit it, it seems.”

A cold wind carrying frost swirls.

Like fine jewel dust, sparkling dust wind spreads coldness along with white frost.

“And in the world, they call us this.”

Having inherited the legacy of the Great Demon Lord.

What else would they be if not Demon Lords?

But since they didn’t inherit the Demon Lord position in a normal and complete form.

Let’s call them this.

Lightly called Demon Lord. Quasi-Demon Lord. Successor of the Demon Lord.

To clearly designate them, the inheritors of the Great Demon Lord’s legacy.

“The Demon Lord you’ve been looking for is probably me.”

I’ve been looking for you too.

“I didn’t want to meet like this, though.”

Indeed.

“I am your enemy, Leo.”

And I’m sorry to say.

“Now, according to the contract, I must kill you. Can you accept this?”

“……”