Chapter 102 – Something That Tries to Swallow (1)  

“So what if what you’re holding has changed? Is your body even fine? It’s not, is it?”

Cariel’s condition was such that it wouldn’t be strange if he dropped dead at any moment.

There was no way he’d suddenly recovered out of nowhere.

Ases, furious to the point of madness, charged at him like a raging bull.

Cariel, surprisingly, greeted her attack without much reaction.

It’s not like she was in perfect shape either.

Just a while ago, she’d taken hits fighting Mines, and her accumulated injuries were showing.

Maybe that’s why, but her movements and force seemed weaker than before.

‘Anyway.’

That didn’t matter now.

Their swords traced completely different arcs, never even touching.

Yet somehow, Ases’s blade suddenly bent in and clung to his sword as if drawn in.

“?!”

It was as if space itself was bending, as if her sword was being pulled toward its target by some artificial force.

Even she couldn’t believe what was happening, though she saw it with her own eyes.

But she understood immediately.

‘So this is…’

This is the sense of unfairness others feel when fighting us.

How they say their sword gets sucked in, or their swings go astray.

At a certain level, you can control even the process of swinging your sword.

But that’s the ultimate trick of mastery, a kind of deception.

It just makes the opponent think that’s what’s happening.

Once the blades touch, though, it’s a different story.

From that point on, like magic, your opponent’s sword and even their body start to come under your control.

Try to resist, tense your muscles, channel mana into your body, and you get pulled in deeper.

‘The principle is…’

It’s a difference in how you use mana.

For example, by completely emptying the mana inside your body, you maximize the instinctive, natural urge to replenish it.

Then, depending on the situation, you can rapidly absorb mana from the surroundings, or even draw on someone else’s.

The downside is, compared to the explosive techniques that store mana for sudden bursts, this method is more limited.

Even reinforcing the body faces obstacles.

But by keeping yourself empty, if there’s plenty of mana nearby, you can refill quickly. Still, since there’s nothing in your body acting as a storage tank, your whole body ends up being used for it.

So in terms of circulation, it’s very advantageous.

You can absorb huge amounts of mana in an instant and manipulate both circulation and reverse flow to control bursts of power as you wish.

As long as the channel is open, it doesn’t matter if the river flows up or down.

‘But…’

This is different.

It’s the same, but the essence is different.

It’s like, the principle of things flowing downward?

Maybe something like that.

Why am I only realizing this now?

Everything is pulled downward.

Not just falling, but drawn in.

Suction? Gravity?

Something about it is different.

But also the same.

“What?!”

When her balance broke, just being pulled on caused her whole body to be dragged.

Ases’s upper body tilted forward powerlessly, and Cariel grabbed the other side of his sword.

He twisted and flipped his sword up and down as if to shake her off.

Caught in his blade, Ases either had to roll with the motion or let go, unless she wanted her wrist twisted 180 degrees.

Her choice was to let go.

She wasn’t the kind of stubborn knight who would stake her life on her weapon.

In truth, she could have followed through while holding on, but, 

‘That’s not the problem.’

This time it was just her sword, but she could have lost control of her whole body if she’d been slower to catch on.

If she’d been any slower, her whole body would’ve been thrown around.

Clang!

Her sword crashed onto the frost-covered ground with a heavy noise.

At the same time, 

“Enough.”

Sliding in as if gliding, or as if traversing space itself, 

Cariel slipped between Mines and Leo, who were about to clash, and swung his sword with one hand to knock away the holy sword.

With his other hand, he struck away Mines’s arm.

Just before that, his empty left hand brushed his belt, and he drew a small dagger.

Then, even the dagger was enveloped by that black darkness, and, he immediately threw it onto the ground at Mines’s feet.

“?!”

The moment the white frost wind was about to whip up, as soon as the dagger struck the earth, the frosty wind behaved like water rushing through a hole in a jar.

Everything Mines had unleashed began to be sucked into the darkness swirling around the dagger.

“Young Master Riel?! Why are you stopping me?!”

Leo’s objection was ignored as Cariel forced him back, gripping his sword with both hands and pressing him hard.

Resisting by force was impossible, but Leo’s sense of balance and responsiveness were so exceptional, he still managed to hold on tenaciously.

But only for a moment.

Thanks to a series of moves both familiar and somehow unfamiliar from Cariel, Leo lost his footing, ending up just as helpless as Ases, and had his holy sword taken.

In fact, his situation was even worse than Ases’s, 

Cariel gripped the sword with both hands, drove the hilt like a spear into Leo’s knee, and then immediately swung it up, striking his chin.

And that wasn’t all.

Even as he did it, he swept Leo’s legs, toppling him so that there was no way he could stay standing.

He landed on his rear, though his head didn’t hit the ground, a strangely skillful fall.

Was even that intentional?

“This is between us! Why are you interfering?!”

Even Mines had reached the point where confusion gave way to outright frustration.

Forced back by the dagger, Mines tried to activate her power again.

But this time, Cariel suddenly transformed the sword in his hand and hurled it.

“?!”

Mines quickly raised an ice barrier to defend herself.

Strangely, the weapon Cariel threw twisted through space and pierced straight through, running her through the abdomen in an instant.

“Kyah!”

Dragged down by the weapon, Mines was slammed halfway to the ground.

Only then did it become clear that the projectile was in the shape of a spear.

“……”

Cariel picked up the holy sword and stared at it for a moment, then walked toward where Leo had fallen.

“……”

He had changed completely.

Though he was still staggering with effort, his movements showed not a hint of hesitation, as if this state was already familiar to him.

Within seconds, a strange calm settled over the area once more.

Those watching in confusion could only watch as Cariel knelt halfway down and handed the holy sword to Leo, feeling a mix of anticipation, chills, and unease.

What are the two of them saying to each other?

Just as Ases hesitated, picking up her fallen sword,

Cariel withdrew from Leo and started walking toward Mines.

As he reached out, the dagger embedded in the ground flew to his hand as if it were alive.

He tucked it away somewhere at his belt, lower back, or thigh, and then, gazing down at Mines, who didn’t seem the least bit wounded despite being pierced in the abdomen, he met her resentful, gloomy, anxious, and despair-filled eyes.

He lowered himself again to meet her at eye level.

Ases hated her own powerlessness, being forced to watch that scene.

“Don’t do that.”

That damned meddling.

Please just stop….

What are you trying to do?

It can’t end like this.

‘This isn’t right.’

Who dares to twist someone else’s life as they please?

Who dares to change the course of another’s fate?

Those two were meant to fight, settle things once and for all, or at least postpone it until they faced off again one day.

That was how their destiny was supposed to end.

But something even greater had swallowed all of that whole.

Yes.

Just like the darkness he wielded.

That thing devoured and tried to swallow up everything in its path.

And now, even Cariel had become such an existence.

What do you even call something like this?

A joke of fate? Mockery? Deception?

Why does each step he takes feel so heavy, so slow?

Is this all just a futile struggle?

“Cough!”

She wondered why it was so hard to breathe, then realized blood was running from her nose.

But it wasn’t just flowing, the blood had clotted, completely blocking her nose.

Breathing through her mouth, she was overwhelmed by the stench of blood.

Shouldn’t it be the opposite? If your nose is blocked, why is the smell even stronger?

She couldn’t understand.

“You crazy woman. Why don’t you give it up already?”

Venus called out from nearby, picking a fight again.

“Haven’t you figured it out yet? Do you really think you can handle him in your condition?”

“…Must be nice, only picking fights you can win. Cowardly bastard.”

“Why does it always come to that… Haa.”

Even his sigh, tinged with frustration, seemed mocking now.

She had talent, but she was still starving.

She had all the skill in the world, but never actually got what she wanted.

Or maybe she had, at some point, but the hunger was never satisfied.

It just kept growing, endlessly.

The more she learned,

the hungrier and more exhausted she became.

Some people are born with understanding.

Some have to learn it.

Some have to suffer to realize it.

Some only understand after overcoming hardship.

The process may differ, but the realization is always the same, someone said that.

‘Ah.’

He said it.

Cariel.

I wanted that wisdom.

More than your valor, I wanted your utterly carefree way of thinking.

Even now, even at my age, I can never reach it.

What’s the difference between you and me?

I tried living like you, losing out, just to see if I’d understand.

As expected, I never gained a thing.

Every time, all I did was lose.

All of it was pointless, useless days.

But, is there really such a thing as a meaningful act in this world?

“Unfair.”

Ases muttered, whil the conversation between Cariel and Mines came to an end.

He pulled the black spear from her abdomen, and as if she’d never been pierced at all, she stood up, completely unscathed.

“……”

In that tension-filled silence, she gazed at Cariel with trembling eyes, then swept her gaze over Leo and the others.

“……”

Closing her eyes softly, she froze in place, like a new ice statue.

A gust of white frost wind swept through, and even that statue cracked and shattered, leaving behind only shattered ice and frost dust slowly filling the empty space.