Chapter 94 – Because It Depends on the Other Side (2)

‘The world.’

It felt strange.

It seemed frozen, yet everything was vividly clear.

As if… everything I’d seen with my eyes had been a lie.

The world was infinitely vast and expansive.

And at the same time, unbearably cramped.

It was an indescribable sensation.

‘This is….’

A colossal bolt of lightning surged from him, as if it could shake the whole world.

Its color was red and brilliant.

It couldn’t be seen with the eyes.

But I could see it, and feel it.

The red lightning stretching from him began to branch out in every direction.

Like a web forming in the air, intricate and dense.

And it reached all the way to where I was.

As soon as I touched that thread, my whole body stung as if electrocuted.

At the same time, 

My empty body suddenly filled, brimming with power.

Normally, I shouldn’t have been able to move at all.

But using that power, I moved.

And, 

Faster than anyone else here.

The red lightning running through my body traveled from head to toe, then vanished into the ground through the soles of my feet.

The aftermath, the lingering shock, guided my movements.

Maybe because the process repeated a few times, the one who had been about to run me through was now seized by confusion.

Not just him.

Even the smallest force against the ground, the axis of the soles, the heels, the reversal of force through bone and muscle,  the beating of the heart, blood running through veins, all of it reaching down into my very bones.

No, it was the other way around.

From the very beginning, it all started there.

Soon, I could sense all the processes taking place in my head.

Electricity.

His red current ran through my body, and, as if replacing something that had been there before, new electricity was produced.

It was subtle, but it was definitely a real current.

Even this natural phenomenon unfolding inside me was nothing short of miraculous.

So complex, in so many forms.

Was this how we’d always moved?

We collided.

No, it was something else entirely.

It was being drawn in.

As if my body was reacting to the opponent’s body.

It just happened, automatically.

My mind was clouded, but maybe that was because I tried to understand it.

This wasn’t something to be understood, only accepted.

If I let my guard down even a little here, the whole balance would collapse.

…I could sense it.

* * *

“…How perplexing.”

Why was he responding to my every move?

Even those reactions, they were completely beyond Barugo’s expectations.

He knew those techniques well.

Not just mana control, but the method of manipulating mana to the point of overriding the opponent’s physical control, even neutralizing them.

He didn’t know the principle.

But those who’d faced this kind of person before, 

there was something they all had in common.

Everyone who’d faced Grandeus said the same thing.

It felt like being sucked in.

His successors and followers used similar methods.

But at this moment, the closest thing to that was right here.

‘I thought it would be enough not to let him touch me.’

Who wouldn’t know that?

But this reaction, that response, it proved that Grandeus couldn’t be overcome or resisted just by avoiding him.

That kind of naïve tactic would never work.

That technique.

Strictly speaking, it was a method designed for defense, not offense.

The terrifying thing was the moment it was used offensively.

The many battles with Grandeus taught a simple, direct lesson.

– Then all you have to do is use all your strength before you get touched.

– Just fight with pure, physical violence.

– Overwhelm them with brute force. And if that’s not enough, use a massive body to make their small frame useless.

For example, after channeling mana up to the point of contact, shoot your body like an arrow.

So that your launched body becomes like an arrow or a thrown rock.

With an attack based on inertia and kinetic energy, there was no need for mana or anything else.

Or just charge with a huge body that a small one could never resist.

A simple and clear conclusion.

But those who used these countermeasures immediately ran into the next wall.

‘That’s it.’

He hadn’t kept up with my speed.

It was the opposite.

Since there was distance, as long as he could move at my speed, it wouldn’t be hard to close the gap and overwhelm me.

And what made that possible, 

…he must have mastered a special technique that let him react as if he was touched, even without being touched.

“You truly are his successor.”

Even among the Relief Knights, no one had reached this level yet.

If he hadn’t known Grandeus, Barugo himself would have panicked and destroyed himself in this situation.

But Barugo knew Grandeus too well for that.

‘So, it’s impossible with just that.’

There may be a third wall, but there’s no way he’s reached it now.

That was an area no one but ‘him’ could reach.

No.

Even now, no one had caught up to this area.

He didn’t know the principle.

Or the method.

Where did it originate?

Where was its source?

‘The Black Star.’

Barugo had once received a lesson, if it could be called that, from Grandeus.

At the time, Grandeus said he would teach him, but that he wouldn’t understand.

And it turned out to be true.

“I pay my respects.”

In such a short time, he’d reached this point with a human body.

He was an enemy, the son of his nemesis.

If he had been an ally, he would have become a hero of their era.

“Sigh.”

With a heavy heart, he raised his pale left hand and gripped his chest.

Barugo steeled himself.

From the hand gripping the pitch-black spear, an intense light burst forth.

A crimson bolt of lightning spread in all directions, scattering a brilliant radiance.

Soon it merged with the black spear, oxidizing into a dark red glow.

The sight of brilliant light being swallowed by a small patch of darkness was utterly unnatural, completely abnormal.

But since it was obvious what each side was after, everyone watching kept shifting their gaze between those two points.

One was light, spreading as if it would devour the world, yet paradoxically, darkness sought to consume and force down everything.

If that was a catastrophe of tangled light and darkness, then the one at the center, was calm.

As if silence itself had fallen.

That area was peculiarly quiet and still.

‘It’s like…’

As if even space itself had melted into his presence.

Around Cariel, there was a unique, static silence.

* * *

-You really got the wrong opponent.

Even though you resolved the compatibility issue, the opponent always pushes back with a greater trial, a new wall.

……

His methods are simple.

Unlike the clumsy counters you’ve seen so far, this time he’s about to throw everything at you with full force.

The strength Cariel’s body can accept is extremely limited.

For example, the power his body can withstand.

If it exceeds that by too much, 

…he won’t even have the chance to turn it to his advantage; his body will break first.

In the past, his body was strong, but he lacked the skills or abilities to handle this.

Now it’s the opposite.

More than that, 

…with an opponent like this, even if his body were in perfect shape, could he really withstand it head-on?

Honestly, he couldn’t say.

‘If only I could use that.’

The thing he used against Elhermina, without knowing what he was doing at the time.

He’d realized then that was the direction he needed to pursue.

…but the Demon King had said it’s not something you can use at will, just because you want to.

That’s also why Elbart is needed, to fulfill those conditions.

So then, 

How did he manage to use it that time?

Back then, the Demon King had said:

– The opponent must have helped you. There’s nowhere in the world you’d get to face such overwhelming power without real hostility.

In other words, if he’d faced a hostile power of that level, it wouldn’t have been strange for him to die instantly.

But Elhermina’s power was overwhelming, yet deliberately held back from killing or even hurting him, 

…leaving Cariel just enough room to struggle.

But that was only because Cariel was who he was at the time.

– If you’d learned anything different, resisting that would have been impossible.

Again, a compatibility issue.

These so-called legacies of the Demon King, the powers he wielded in life, 

And Grandeus, who shattered, broke, and destroyed them head-on, had brought forth the Black Star for that very reason.

Supposedly, the Demon King himself even taught him a handful of ways to counter his own powers.

– If you can master it, that is.

But right now, he knew nothing about it.

…That was the reality.

The crimson lightning was soon swallowed by the darkness, transforming into a bizarre, dark flash, both shadowy and dazzling.

In that instant, the whole world was covered in black lightning.

‘That’s…’

It was clearly something different from what he’d done in the past.

But maybe it was modeled after it, trying to imitate its form.

Black currents stretched out in every direction, like tree branches reaching into the air.

Countless shapes were drawn in the void.

Like a tree thrusting out black branches for a moment.

It began to fill all of space.

No room to run, no space to retreat.

But his current body, there was no way to move or pull back anyway.

Even his reactions were nothing more than using the opponent’s force against them.

Same with his responses.

Right now, he was an empty corpse.

It was a wonder he hadn’t collapsed already.

‘My heart is still beating.’

Slowly.

Ever so slowly.

Blood flowed, senses dulled and faint.

But the world was accelerating, ever faster.

‘Death…’

Is coming.

Black lightning, turning into light, reached out with its branches.

-Let’s just pray now.

The Demon King was laughing.

Then, with an amused tone, 

If there’s one existence in this world that wouldn’t allow you to die, if there’s even one left, and if that existence is absurd, 

“?!”

The branches.

The black branches, clashing with new ones shooting up from underground,

Scattered.

Collapsed.

Overlapped.

“What?!”

From a crack on the surface, in an instant, branches shot out, then, not just branches but something like a giant pillar.

Something massive smashed through the ground, raising its head, its body.

-The grudge clinging to you wants something very clear.

But if I die?

-You won’t even be able to beg for help.

His whole body began to rot.

Spewing black, murky liquid.

Giant tree branches and vines, tangled and rotting, writhed and spread.

How could anyone even describe such a sight?

-I don’t really know. I only heard rumors that you somehow saved the World Tree, but even that’s left as a mystery. I can only guess.

But Barugo, didn’t he say he almost killed you there?

And didn’t he also say that it was as if the World Tree and elves saved you?

-Maybe some of that was nonsense, but just based on that, you can start to make a few guesses.

A karmic bond with the World Tree.

Limitless grace from the elves because of it.

Besides,

-most of your abilities line up more with elves than with humans.

That’s probably the World Tree’s influence.

And I think it all started with the aftermath of when you died once.

-Memory loss, your mana maladaptation, those are probably related to this too.

Well, it’s all just speculation.

But you can always figure out the facts step by step later, right?

-But what exactly is that grudge? I met with it quite a few times while you were asleep.

Of course, it just whined at me one-sidedly.

Every time, you were on the brink of death, weren’t you?

“……”

A seizure.

Is that what he meant?

The thing that burst up from the ground was a monster, plain and simple.

But even now, only half of it had emerged.

In some ways, it resembled an earth dragon or a land dragon.

But what made it up, scales, hide, everything was filthy, polluted.

…Above all, rotting branches and vines clung to it like tentacles, making it an extremely ominous and revolting sight.

-This makes it clear. That grudge is obsessed with you.

Why?

-Because it keeps begging to be saved. Take that at face value.

It’s a request you’ve heard over and over.

When it got desperate, it even seemed ready to strangle you to death…

-But it can’t actually kill you. So it pulled these strings to get something to happen.

Of all times, right when you were about to die.

-And as for its true identity, it’s nothing else.

It was born with the same destiny as the World Tree, but it stands on different ground, in a different world.

The World Tree and that thing, think of them as existing above and below, front and back, in a flat world.

But they can never actually share the same world.

-There’s something like a World Tree in the Demon Realm too. Over there, they call it the “Demon Realm Tree.”

And now, that thing, 

-is exerting its influence, even invading another world.

Even at the cost of serious sacrifice.

-The other side must be in chaos. This all just happened without their permission.

“…Is this even possible?”

Even in the confusion, the world I saw was still sluggish.

It was putting on airs.

-Nothing’s impossible. If it’s already happened, that means it’s possible, right? You or I just didn’t know. We never tried to see. Never bothered to consider it.

The Demon King said:

-There’s something else over there that absolutely refuses to let you die. If you do die… Hmm. Things could get interesting.

It looks like, to that thing, you’re its only hope.

-A world that destroyed its only hope. If you want an analogy… it’s like, if your savior, or your child, died in a country far away, could you forgive everyone from that country? The one and only being who could save it, or succeed it, got killed off by strangers on the other side of the world. Wow, this just got a lot more interesting.

The Demon King burst out laughing.

-You’re loved, you’re getting all this attention, aren’t you happy?

“……”

Even so, that giant beast raised its huge body, unleashing a monstrous, unfamiliar roar.

Grr, rrrr, rk!

-A path to life has opened in that place. Only after flinging open the gates of hell have our lives been released.

Watching the golden girl recite words and phrases he couldn’t understand,

Cariel held his breath.

Even though the air was murky, dark, heavy and suffocating, right now, he had to use it.

He naturally kept breathing, just as he always had.