Chapter 98 – As If Awakening Destiny (3)

‘How is this possible?!’

Even Barugo’s most devastating blow, 

Cariel countered it.

As if time itself had stopped, in a world where everything was frozen, 

That alone responded to his movement.

It wasn’t perfect, but one thing was certain: he had deflected Barugo’s attack.

As a result, 

Space itself seemed to swell and then contract.

It exploded.

Intense lightning tore into the earth.

And since even the aftermath didn’t fully dissipate, black lightning split into thousands of strands, scorching and burning the entire area without restraint.

But that wasn’t the intended target.

Normally, all the power released should have been directed at one person.

‘How did he manage this?!’

He even deflected this?

Barugo simply couldn’t comprehend it.

About twenty paces from Cariel.

Dragged along the ground and left sprawled out, Barugo’s entire body was giving off intense smoke, as if something had burned him.

From a distance, Cariel’s fallen figure was clearly visible, 

Normally, he should have been reduced to nothing but dust, without even a trace left.

Just the blackened, sparking ground around Cariel was enough proof that Barugo’s attack was neither meaningless nor weak.

But what about Cariel, the target?

‘It wouldn’t be surprising if he died.’

Even so, people like that, 

Those who seemed favored by the gods, somehow managed to survive, even as half-corpses.

Among those called heroes or champions, how many nearly died and yet survived?

Looking at it that way, that boy must already stand among them.

So, whether it means cutting off his head, stabbing his heart, or bursting him open, he would have to see with his own eyes that the life had truly ended.

He’d pierced his heart before, after all. But see, he still survived just fine.

‘Never again…’

As he began to get up and rush toward Cariel, he suddenly noticed his feet wouldn’t move.

“……?”

The ground was frozen.

At some point, white breath was rising from his mouth.

Though heat was billowing off his body like burning firewood, the smoke seemed even thicker than before.

“Ha!”

His stuck feet broke free with a cracking sound.

It was only the frozen ice and frost breaking apart.

But after taking a few steps, 

Suddenly, a wall of ice stood before him.

“What?”

At this point, something unusual was happening.

A meddler had appeared?

From where?

From the ice wall.

A human shape made of ice, mysterious as a spirit, emerged from it.

But now, 

…she was nothing but an obstacle.

Barugo, without a moment’s hesitation, stabbed his spear through and swept it around.

The shock shattered not only the girl, who resembled an ice spirit, 

But even the enormous ice wall behind her, 

Like a wall built from freshly fallen snow, it crumbled away meaninglessly.

But then, 

The scattered pieces.

Shards of ice and fine powder gathered together.

And formed a new shape.

“Mm?!”

Suddenly, 

A human figure made of ice gripped his ankles and legs.

As soon as its hand touched him, his legs froze over, growing ice-cold and stiff.

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

But even that, 

Was slashed and scattered by invisible blows and flashes of light.

“Pathetic tricks.”

Barugo slammed his jet-black spear down.

A red lightning swept the area as thick steam rose up.

But, 

Even the endless clouds of steam soaring into the air froze again, forming a prison of their own.

Just as Barugo tried to move, 

Dozens of hands seized his entire body.

“!!”

His body instantly froze solid.

But even that melted under the electricity coursing through him.

Barugo spun his spear like a windmill, scattering lightning, and barely managed to leap into the air.

But there, she was already waiting.

In an instant, dozens of hailstones formed into arrows and poured down on him.

He struck them all away and leapt again, but, 

Suddenly, something entirely different from what had been at a distance sprang out before his eyes.

Like a snow queen, a beautiful statue formed of ice appeared in midair.

She immediately seized Barugo’s neck.

Even though he struck her with his spear, the shattered hands still gripped his neck and chest.

“What do you think!”

He couldn’t finish.

Regardless of his will, his body crashed to the ground.

In a flash, his limbs and body were frozen and bound.

The woman’s form of ice pressed him down, gazing coldly at him with frigid eyes.

Finally, her form covered his body, 

…Barugo was completely frozen.

His flesh, on the verge of bursting in anger, froze solid.

But this did not mean his end.

It was only to buy time.

To prove it, 

Red lightning vibrated and exploded within the frozen block, 

And in an instant, his body broke free of the ice.

“Cough! Kuh!”

But Barugo’s body was far from normal.

His heart had stopped for a moment, and fine shards of ice had invaded, causing considerable internal damage.

On top of that, his mana and stamina were nearly depleted from using the technique targeting Cariel.

Before that, he had barely managed to drive the demon beast’s minion.

The damage from the holy sword? That was the least of his worries.

But it was clear he was exhausted.

“…You’ll keep your promise, right?

Barugo, casting a glance at the sky, staggered to his feet with a dissatisfied expression.

“…….”

Cariel was still lying there, unmoving.

He could easily finish things now.

But if he aimed for that, there would be no next time.

He realized, belatedly, while facing his opponent, 

The one orchestrating these unreasonable phenomena…

…was likely a disaster in and of herself.

‘No idea why she’s here.’

Was it related to the sword after all?

The gaze observing this place, swayed by prophecy, surely wasn’t just his own.

There were likely several.

If so, it wouldn’t be strange for a few beings like this to show up.

…But getting involved was another matter.

“Hah.”

Barugo let out a brief sigh.

Just in case any subordinates had gotten caught up in this, he looked around.

Nothing remained intact.

The shabby stalls and the marked spots, the signposts showing where things had been, every trace was utterly gone.

He too had visited this place several times, hiding his identity.

Now, he thought, 

‘I’ll never come here again.’

Even the demon beast’s minion was now so cold it lost all form, like a corpse.

Like ashes from burned wood scattered by the wind.

Just as that was gone, this place could never return to its former self.

At last, Grandeus’s sword had been drawn.

Its true form was the holy sword.

Its owner was a boy he had never seen or heard of before.

…Most likely, it had nothing to do with him.

Perhaps, someday, that boy would stand in his way.

But not yet.

“Then I’ll withdraw. Next time we meet, it won’t be like this.”

Barugo declared to the sky.

He released red lightning, launching himself into the air.

His small body shot off instantly toward the distant sky.

By this alone, it was clear he was a superhuman far beyond common sense.

“He… he’s gone?”

It all happened in an instant.

Without even realizing it, Luillin thought her teacher or Leo had been caught in the attack.

Even though she’d been some distance away, maybe she was still within range.

She, too, lost consciousness in the aftermath.

Maybe that’s why, as she struggled to regain her senses, she found the world around her frozen white.

That wasn’t all.

Luillin saw firsthand how even the famed last corps commander’s impressive techniques were all rendered powerless.

What on earth just happened?

Step, step.

As the confusion subsided,

The sound of leather shoes crunching on the frostbitten ground broke the silence.

“Huh?”

There was a girl walking with a cane.

A rough but sturdy white dress.

A brown shawl draped over her shoulders to her waist.

And a scarf that looked like it was made of wool.

Sky-blue hair.

And even whiter eyes.

Slowly, the girl walked toward them.

But, 

“……?”

Huh?

Her legs…?

She was holding a cane, but walking completely differently than before.

At some point,

With the cane in her left hand,

She was walking normally on her own two legs, Luines.

Why is my sister here?

For a moment, suspicion flickered.

Looking around as each person began to wake, Luillin immediately turned to where Cariel was lying.

Only the ground around him was charred black.

It was as if the earth itself had died.

“It feels like we all just got beaten up…”

“Leo? Are you okay?”

Luciri and Deik, too, slowly gathered themselves.

Leo, of course, even if a bit late, managed to steady himself.

Looking around, Leo’s eyes were dazed, as if he were still dreaming.

“Where is this?”

“Are you still half asleep? Where else would it be? It’s…”

Suddenly,

Luciri, too, glanced around in confusion.

The world, blanketed in white snow, no, frost, stirred a feeling that was both familiar and eerily foreign.

“Luines?”

Before anyone knew it,

She was standing only a few steps away.

The cane in her left hand hung in the air, not touching the ground.

Yet the sky-colored girl stood there without the slightest discomfort.

“Leo Tedeo. Leo of Tedeo Village. That’s right, isn’t it?”

“Uh? Well… you told me that last time, didn’t you?”

Leo still looked completely lost, but Luciri, sensing something ominous, grabbed his collar and tried to help him up.

Her eyes fixed on Luines, monitoring her every move.

“How did the church girl get here?”

“…….”

Deik, adjusting his fallen hat, also asked curiously.

But Luines only kept her gaze on Leo.

Then once more,

She looked at Luillin, Deik, Luciri, Leo.

And then again,

At Cariel lying off to the side.

Finally, she turned her attention to the holy sword.

To the sword held in Leo’s hand, 

Brilliant, yet now emitting a soft white glow.

Just by looking at it, its identity was plain as day.

But what Luines wanted to confirm was, 

…its outward appearance.

The way it looked, just as when it was buried in the ground.

Now, like a snake shedding its skin or a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, 

It was completely renewed.

No.

Perhaps it was always like this.

“You said you wanted to know where the Demon King you’re searching for is, or who she is, from that sword, didn’t you?”

“…….”

Why bring that up now?

“So, what did the sword say?”

“Uh, I… I didn’t have time to ask….”

“…….”

As if speaking to the sword, she sat before Leo, gazing up at the sky.

“My name is Mines.”

“Eh?”

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

Why such a sudden confession?

The thought was fleeting.

Then, once more, Leo glanced around.

This whole area, turned pure white.

The frost-covered earth inspired a sense of beauty in itself, 

…but to Leo, this sight felt colder and crueler than anything.

“Does the sword know the answer?”

He could hear the sword’s voice.

When he said that, 

Luines, Mines, felt a shock like her heart was freezing.

Until now, no one had ever spoken such words.

There was even someone who would have preferred if the sword had been drawn.

Venus.

He would have gladly accepted any unreasonable demand he put forward.

If only he had drawn it instead.

Then even Mines herself wouldn’t have hesitated this much.

The fact that it was Leo, and that he was from Tedeo Village, 

That was why her hand had slipped without thinking.

Her thoughts grew more complicated.

When she had visited the village, was he away at the time?

But hearing him speak, that wasn’t the case.

He said the weather had been particularly bad that day.

As a forest keeper, he’d spent his time deep in the woods.

That day, he said he found a wounded bear and healed its wounds.

And… despite being a person, he even accompanied the bear back to its den.

After that, he cared for the scattered cubs, and eventually dozed off in the cave.

…Anyone would call that a ridiculous story, something you’d only hear in a fairy tale.

Anyone else would have chided him for it.

But it was that very day, 

The day Mines visited Tedeo Village.

Shortly after she and her group left, 

He returned to the village.

Mines hadn’t been mistaken.

Simply, 

The target she needed wasn’t in the village at that moment.

That was why the contract hadn’t been fulfilled, 

And why everything had been on hold until now.

No one told her, but she realized it instinctively.

Once more,

Destiny had arrived.

The enemy they sought to destroy,

The being they wished to trample in their fear, 

…was the newly-born champion.

Yet there was confusion.

That small uncertainty, surely it was because of him.

Riel, that boy.

A child carrying dark, unsettling prayers.

Both frightening and pitiable.

He was unfathomable.

Just watching him made it feel like he could see right through her.

It was terrifying to face him, 

But perhaps, if it were him, he might draw the sword and put an end to all her anguish.

She’d even held on to that hope.

…In the end,

With his guidance, Leo drew the sword.

What kind of trick of fate was this?

Is destiny always this cruel?

Or is there no point in speaking of destiny here?

“Uh, Fine says she doesn’t know anything about that.”

Fine? Is that the sword’s name?

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

Then, was that not the Elbart he held?

…Not that it mattered.

She’d never cared about that.

To Mines, that sword, 

“It’s all right. I know the answer.”

“Huh? How? Why now?”

“Leo.”

Urged by Luciri, Leo finally managed to get to his feet.

By now, everyone in the group was watching her, Mines, warily.

“Isn’t it about time you realized?”

“…….”

She was right.

It wasn’t that Leo lacked intuition.

He just didn’t want to admit it.

That the girl in front of him…

“When the Demon King of Wisdom invaded our world, they took all the Great Demon King’s relics as spoils, except for one.”

Some of those relics were handed to humanity by traitors who joined the alliance, and all found their rightful owners.

But some were still unaccounted for.

“Unfortunately, it seems I qualified to inherit one of them.”

A biting wind whirled with frost.

Like a cloud of sparkling jewel dust, the wind and frost spread cold through the air.

“And this is what the world calls us.”

As inheritors of the Great Demon King’s legacy.

What else could they be but Demon Kings?

Yet, since none had inherited the title in its true and complete form, 

They were called by lighter names:

Demon King, quasi-Demon King, Demon King’s successor.

Or, to be precise, inheritors of the Great Demon King’s legacy.

“The Demon King you were searching for, that’s probably me.”

And of course, I was searching for you, too.

“This wasn’t the kind of meeting I wanted.”

That’s right.

“I’m your enemy, Leo.”

And as sorry as I am, 

“Now, according to the contract, I have to kill you. Are you willing to accept that?”