Chapter 39 – Carpeng Subjugation (6)

I placed my hand on the girl’s trembling shoulder as she struggled to stay on her feet.

“That’s enough,” I said gently.

“No… no, it’s not… I have to kill it… Carpeng… I have to protect Rubia…” she mumbled, her mind half-gone.

What a stubborn girl.

“The rest is up to me. Go stay by the priestess’ side. She must be lonely, sitting there all by herself.”

With that, I gently tossed her backward. She landed on her rear and slid toward Rubia. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

Consider it payback for kicking me earlier, kid.

Ignoring the blank stare she gave me, I turned back to focus inward. I cleared my mind. I let go of the vengeance that had filled me for so long.

I replaced it with memories of the past. With my determination in the present. With hope for the future.

The headache faded. The trembling in my body stopped. Fear, despair, and darkness… All of it disappeared.

My mind became clear. My senses expanded.

I could feel every movement of Carpeng’s body. I could sense its breathing. Its pulse, its blood, its rage. I could feel everything.

I took a step forward. My body felt light. So light, in fact, that I found myself smiling. I hadn’t felt this way even when I reached platinum rank.

I took another step, my movement even lighter than before.

“Hah… I never realized it was this simple.”

[GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAA-!]

Carpeng’s roar was more vicious than before, shaking the air around me. But I wasn’t afraid.

I looked down at the sword in my hand. It was an old, worn sword. The blade was bent. Its edge dull, its teeth missing. The sword was rusted and corroded.

Anyone looking at it would probably laugh. But so what?

As long as I had a sword, I could cut. As long as I had the will, I could act.

And so, I swung it.

In a single strike, I severed five of its claws. I swung again. The blood energy scattered. I swung again. Its wrist was sliced through. Another swing. The bones were cut apart.

Carpeng’s blood energy whipped through the air, restoring its body. The bones, blood vessels, skin, and claws all regenerated.

But I kept moving forward.

Like the boy I once was, who had trudged through a freezing winter. Like the boy who braved the cold with nothing but his own body to protect his sister.

Fearlessly, I stepped forward and swung my sword again.

Not using any special ability. Just the basic swordsmanship I’d learned when I first picked up a sword. A simple adventurer’s swordsmanship.

I remembered my true essence. The strength I gained to protect everything dear to me. I recalled it and brought it back to life.

Silently, I swung the sword again. With a single strike, Carpeng’s wrist was severed.

A thick, dark liquid splattered onto the ground. The blood energy surged, wrapping around my body.

My flesh tore. My muscles ripped apart. My bones shattered.

But it didn’t hurt. In fact, the pain sharpened my mind, clearing my thoughts.

The energy surrounding my body wasn’t sharp or filled with vengeance. It was a radiant, warm energy. A warmth that reminded me of Lux. A warmth that burned with every last bit of life I had left.

That warmth moved my body.

I swung my sword again. The wrist that had just healed was severed once more. I stabbed and slashed. Carpeng’s right arm was cut off.

If Heinzel were here, he’d be pleased to see this.

I flicked my arm and brushed off the thick blood energy.

“Hah… so simple, really.”

The blood energy exploded in all directions. It surged toward Heinzel and the girl.

How ridiculous.

I swung the old, rusted sword, cutting through the blood energy. It felt so light.

I kept moving forward, slashing and stabbing. At times, I threw punches and blocked attacks with my body.

I moved toward Carpeng. I moved through the freezing cold of winter. I moved through the endless nightmare. I moved toward my past.

I slashed through Carpeng’s leg. It regenerated. I slashed through its arm. It regenerated. I split its belly, spilling its intestines. It regenerated. I destroyed its remaining left eye.

But it regenerated again.

The blood energy hovering in the air gathered around Carpeng. It pooled together, thick and concentrated. The blood energy reached its limit.

Then it lashed out. It fired. It exploded.

It was the most ferocious attack I had seen from Carpeng yet.

But if I stopped now, those behind me would be in danger. So I walked straight into the storm of death.

And swung my sword again.

My arm was torn off. It didn’t matter. I was wielding the sword with one hand anyway.

I swung again. Its leg was crushed beyond recognition. It didn’t matter. As long as I could see it, I could cut it.

I swung again. Its belly split open, spilling its insides. That girl, Noah, had endured a gut wound and kept fighting. I wouldn’t be outdone.

No need to eat anymore—I guess the bald guy who owes me a meal will be happy.

I swung the sword again. The blood energy scattered. I had cut through all of Carpeng’s blood energy.

But the blood energy scattered into the air reformed and was absorbed back into Carpeng’s body.

No matter how much I cut, it wasn’t enough. No matter how much I slashed, it wouldn’t end. I still couldn’t reach it.

Of course. How could I?

The thing I really wanted to cut wasn’t Carpeng. The thing I really wanted to cut was the world itself.

It was only natural that I couldn’t reach it. A mere human. A fragile, mortal human. Such a small, insignificant being. Trying to cut through the entire world.

How foolish. How arrogant.

I dared to stand on the earth with two legs. I dared to look up at the sky with two eyes.

And so, I lost my legs. And I lost my eyes.

But still. I had to keep going.

I still had one hand. I still had one leg. The tiny spark of life still burned within me. There was still something I wanted to protect.

And so, I lifted my sword. And swung it.

I thought of the freedom that had been denied. The brief taste of freedom had been so sweet, I chased after it. That was why I couldn’t be broken.

And so, I swung.

I thought of the freezing cold. The bitter chill that had numbed my bones had also woken my mind, keeping me alert and moving. That was why I kept moving forward.

And so, I swung.

I thought of the pain of hunger. But it wasn’t painful. I had never known what it was to be full. I didn’t know the satisfaction of a full stomach. That’s why I could endure it. That’s why I could feed my sister.

And so, I swung.

I thought of despair. The nausea that rose up from the bottomless pit of despair. I had experienced the lowest of the low. I had fallen into the deepest of abysses.

But I never wanted my sister to know that despair. I only wanted her to chase after hope. I wanted her to carry hope in her heart.

And so. I smiled. I found happiness. I found a dream.

I lifted my arm. And swung lightly.

Carpeng’s body. The blood energy. The sky. The landscape. The very earth itself.

A cut appeared across all of it.

From that cut, a gust of wind erupted. A snowstorm enveloped everything. A bitter winter descended.

Flowers withered. The trees, barren and lonely, shed everything. Snow fell, blanketing the ground and obscuring the world.

The death of life. The end of everything approached.

A lonely, desolate winter crushed all in its path.

But. Even so. Flowers bloomed.

White, pure flowers blossomed beautifully. Riding the wind. Treading on the snow. They bloomed.

Taking root in the rough, unforgiving soil. Strong and resilient, they scattered their seeds without hesitation.

They promised a future. They awaited the next season. And they announced a new beginning.

They didn’t cling to the past. They didn’t get entangled. They didn’t hold on to obsessions.

They moved forward. Toward the future. Toward the next day. Toward spring.

And so. Winter passed. And spring bloomed. Summer approached. Autumn followed.

And winter would return. But after that. Spring would surely come again.

I stood on broken legs. I straightened my trembling body. I raised my shaking arm.

And I brought forth spring. A warm spring. The spring when I found Hablon. The spring when I found hope. The spring when I became an adventurer. The spring when I was given my sword.

The spring when Lux smiled brightly. The spring of happiness.

I brought it forth.

“I’ve reached it. I’ve finally reached it.”

Like cherry blossoms falling from the trees. From the tip of my sword. A line was drawn across the world.

The thin line spread across everything, pushing back the scenery. It cut through the blinding sun. The sun that oversaw everything. The symbol of the goddess Lilith.

And for just a moment. It even cut through this world itself.

***

“Lu… Luchi…?”

Rubia’s voice, filled with sorrow, echoed through the air as she crawled toward Luchi.

“Lu… Luchi… Mister Luchi…!” she kept calling his name, her voice filled with desperation.

She dragged her broken body closer, her movements slow and pained. Finally, she reached him. She touched the raw, severed stump of his leg.

“Aah… is that you? Did you… did you see it?” Luchi’s lips curled into a faint smile.

“Why… why did you—”

“I killed Carpeng. I cut down the winter. I cut through my past and everything else. Even now… does my sword still look worthless to you?”

He was missing one arm. Both of his legs were gone. His insides were ruined. His bones were shattered.

Yet there he was, smiling, boasting.

Just stop. Stop talking. Please.

“I caught the big one, didn’t I? So… let’s say I won this, alright?” His smile faded, but his pride still shone in his words.

I nodded, knowing he couldn’t see me, but I nodded anyway.

“And here… take this and shoot it toward the sky,” he said, pulling a handful of small sticks from his pocket with his remaining arm.

“They’re all busted up, but they’ll still work. Go ahead and take them. Hurry… or my arm’s gonna fall off.”

With trembling hands, I took the ‘fireworks’ he had mentioned earlier.

Luchi gestured impatiently, urging me to shoot them into the sky.

I could feel his heartbeat. It was so weak. His life force was fading. Barely hanging on.

“Why… why did you protect me?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“It wasn’t about protecting you. I’m just… tired. Hurry… shoot the damn thing toward the sky. Before it’s too late… I want to see that scene… the one you talked about…”

I turned over and pointed the firework toward the sky. I lit the fuse.

The tiny spark at the end of the stick grew into a flame. With a faint hiss, the firework shot into the air.

It reached its peak. And with a deafening bang, it exploded into a bright, radiant display.

I couldn’t see the colors. I couldn’t see the light. But somehow… It was the most dazzling and beautiful thing I had ever seen.

“And this too… take it… and treasure it… It’s everything I have,” Luchi said weakly, handing me his sword.

His old, worn sword. A sword that looked as pitiful as ever.

But he spoke with joy in his voice, his tone light and cheerful, like I’d never heard before.

It was the happiest, brightest voice I had ever heard from him.

“It’s the sword my little sister gave me… the sword that cut down Carpeng… the sword that cut through the world itself. It touched this world once… so I’d say it’s worth something. You’ll—”

His final words were swallowed by the sound of the firework exploding in the sky.

I could no longer hear his heartbeat. I couldn’t hear his breath.

Everything… Was silent.

I let go of my greatsword. I held Luchi’s sword. The sword he left behind.

I raised it high. Toward the sky he had reached. Toward the world.

And I fired another firework.

I hoped. I prayed. That he could see it. That it would be beautiful.

I kept firing. Endlessly.