episode_0045

Red magic power. Beneath the full moon, red magic power began to rise again. The Queen’s final legacy.

Screech….

Had it seen the true worth of the magic power hidden within the giant wolf’s magic power? The chimera, which had just moments ago scoffed at it as nothing, now cringed and recoiled.

But perhaps the characters inscribed on its arm didn’t want it to do so. Even though the black chains had almost melted, unable to hold it, the characters glowed, unfolding a different spell. Was it being trained to face him again?

After rolling its head on the ground for a while, it soon stood upright again, emitting black magic power, and stared at Brownie.

Was it incapable of discerning right from wrong? It was now drooling thick saliva, which it hadn’t done before, and muttering something.

Kill… kill… kill…

With a barely audible metallic clang, perhaps Brownie intended to give it a reward. With a clang that echoed through the earth of the [Garden], Brownie charged at the chimera.

Screech!!!

Then, as if it had been waiting, the chimera raised a hand, and countless weapons began to appear in the empty air, just as the black chains had appeared. Rusty swords, spears with dulled blades, arrows with no tips, just wooden shafts. However, the magic power contained within those weapons was not something to be taken lightly, despite their appearance.

Brownie briefly looked down at the spell. At the person who had met their end, pierced by the chains melted by his magic power. Their body was already dyed black, appearing no different from the ashes around them.

The black chains were still faintly glimmering, as if to absorb the magic power between the bones of the deceased, desperate to sustain their own existence.

Indeed, is this a similar method to the spell cast by those black robes earlier?

Brownie looked at the small chain embedded in his own body. Black spots filled the area around the wound, but the spots repeatedly grew larger and smaller, as if to say it was impossible to advance further.

The giant wolf standing under the full moon could tell. That thin threads of magic power were organically connected to everything inscribed with this pattern. The magic power absorbed by the small chain was entering the chimera before him and the newly summoned weapons, as if they were one body.

Had it also absorbed a bit of Brownie’s magic power? The weapons were already beginning to turn dark red.

Screech!!!

The weapons must have all been prepared by now. The chimera pointed at the wolf with a long finger, and soon all the weapons floating in the air began to charge towards the wolf.

Charging and summoning, charging and summoning. It was truly an onslaught of weapons, no different from a torrential downpour. From the ground, chains identical to the ones from before shot out, binding his two arms and legs, and the weapons, sharpened by magic power, began to pierce Brownie’s body shallowly.

Scr-screech…!

Baring a horrifying number of teeth, it thought it had seized victory once more. And of course it did. It thought so even more strongly because its own body was gradually recovering from the magic power that gnawed at its opponent.

When the wounds it had sustained from the wolf earlier healed without a trace, and when the dust kicked up by the weapons obscured its sight, The chimera smiled broadly and ceased its assault.

Scr-screech…!

Slowly, it crept closer to the wolf, waiting for the dust to clear.

At that moment,

G-gasp… screech…!

A giant hand burst through the dust and seized the chimera’s neck. The being, from which only the hand emerged, disregarded the small weapons embedded in its arm draining magic power and choked the chimera’s neck, as if it would never let go.

A red light. Within the dust, which was finally beginning to clear, the chimera saw a red light. A red light, like the sun they had so greatly feared.

Bang!

Under the fist wreathed in red magic power, the chimera’s decaying body could no longer endure, and half of its abdomen was slammed far into the forest.

But perhaps it wanted to live, or perhaps it was merely the will of the characters inscribed on its arm. The weapons embedded in Brownie’s body absorbed magic power and sent it to the chimera.

Soon, the chimera’s body recovered, but what good was that? A beast was already waiting at its door.

Bang!

This time, it was the head. With its skull completely crushed, the chimera collapsed without a sound, as if it had finally died, but the characters still began to glow.

At that sight, Brownie grinned and whispered into the chimera’s ear. “Do you think I can’t pull out these weapons? I’m doing this to give you advice as your senior in life. You know? You can’t learn this even if you pay for it.”

Bang!

With a swish, the chimera’s decaying flesh regenerated.

Bang!

Again, its flesh regenerated. Perhaps its vocal cords were now too damaged to make a sound. It simply hung limp, accepting only pain.

“Don’t act up when you’re so weak.”

With that, Brownie threw the rag-like chimera to the ground. Its arm, too, emitted light, trying to heal, but perhaps the dominion of the countless souls within the chimera was now greater. It soon ripped off its left arm with its right, then tore off the remaining left arm with its own teeth.

Only then could the chimera’s body turn to dust and vanish.

Now, only the giant wolf stood beneath the full moon. Normally, it would have been time to release its power and return to a small dog, but the beast’s primal instinct told it otherwise. That this state was still useful. Under the full moon. Let’s enjoy it a little. Brownie decided to simply enjoy the full moon to shake off that ominous feeling.

As he sat in the clearing, The sound of killer whales, a roar of killer whales incomparable to before, echoed from within the World Tree.

***

Waves, deep blue waves, filled the World Tree. The waves, appearing even more mysterious under the white moonlight, simply lay there, as if they were not mere waves, and as if it wasn’t their turn yet.

It hurts… it hurts… it hurts!!!

Those things, charging with strange metallic clangs, soon began to be torn to shreds. Did the waves tear them? Just as the chimera thought that, the killer whales hidden within the waves began to rampage.

The hidden Faust merely said nothing. Surely, her prediction must have been accurate. She couldn’t help but be astonished. What kind of illogical skill was this?

‘It’s clearly swordplay… but where’s the sword…?’

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, and her thoughts paused for a moment.

No magic power was felt at all. Rather, what was felt was sword energy. Killer whales baring their teeth and tearing apart chimeras bit by bit couldn’t possibly appear suddenly from thin air. They must be manifestations of swordplay,

‘Could it be… invisible swords..? And what if those swords are being wielded not by magic power, but by some other means…?’

Faust looked at a man whose hands were moving this way and that by the broken wall. Summoning weapons from thin air was obtained at the cost of countless human lives. The chimera’s manufacturing and application techniques were also obtained at the cost of countless living beings’ lives. If so, how many experiments must that invisible sword and swordplay have cost?

Faust’s peculiar thought process, which activated when confronted with something utterly incomprehensible, was working very well.

‘Eyes… Could such a skill really come at the cost of eyes…?’ Faust turned to look at him, whose eyes were closed, and thought that.

‘If merely discarding one’s eyes is the cost, then I too…’ For a moment, Faust thought that, captivated by the incredibly beautiful technique.

In that moment of admiration, she almost let go of the thread connected to the World Tree, which controlled her mother. One by one, the chimeras fell, giving up their flesh.

With madness-filled eyes, she tugged strongly at the thread connecting her to the World Tree. It might run wild. It might no longer listen to the words of the Demonic Cult. But those things were all within the scope of Faust’s predictions.

She, that mad scientist within the World Tree, wanted to observe that blind man further. She grew curious about how he would truly overcome this potentially rampaging World Tree, and she wanted to study it.

Gradually, she made the World Tree exert more power. Perhaps it was thanks to her making the [garment] quite sturdy. Soon, wooden golems began to emerge from the walls of the World Tree.

Faust, that small girl, quietly pleaded with the blind man whose hands were moving. Please don’t die, show her something more. Show her an unpredictable range. An emotion surpassing the hatred for her killed chimeras bloomed within her.