episode_0069

The man who was the Knight King of the forgotten ancient kingdom of Azimbalda, Bergentorix.

The Witch of Snowlight, Swanwhite, a heretic of the Dark Elf race with white skin.

The strongest Great Warrior of the Werewolf tribe, Logdai, the Predatory Wolf of Greed.

Lastly, the enormous salamander beast Peluda, who had settled in rivers, lakes, and canyons, causing immense harm before being defeated and fleeing from Richard.

These were the strong individuals of an era, who had united and fought against Richard, the Great Founding Emperor, even before the Sephiroth Empire was established.

A thousand years ago, they were defeated, leaving only infamy in history. Now, after countless years, they were rampaging through the empire founded by their archenemy.

Of course, they hadn’t perfectly returned from death, nor had they returned with all the power they possessed in life.

They were a type of shadow and phantom, recreated by Antikrea, who handled spirits, from residual thoughts that had remained in Maugenburg Forest with only faint traces.

And now….

“Oh my~♡ These empire guys are all so weak these days, aren’t they? I worried for nothing!”

For about twenty minutes… a time that could be considered long or short, the attack squad was completely overwhelmed by Antikrea’s Four Heavenly Kings.

Antikrea observed the battle unfolding with her subordinates with an excited gaze.

She found her competent subordinates quite endearing.

[Just because I don’t have a head doesn’t mean I lack all five senses. Besides, can’t I speak? Hahaha..! A thousand years have passed, but my sword hasn’t lost its keenness.]

The headless knight, Bergentorix, whose principles of speech, sword-wielding, and movement were unknown, spoke with a hearty voice.

In his lifetime, Bergentorix was one of the pinnacles of swordsmen of his era, having mastered countless sword arts, and was a formidable rival to Richard, the Great Founding Emperor.

Nicknamed the ‘Sword Art Collector,’ he was a psycho with a peculiar habit of challenging and killing his masters after learning their sword arts.

The insane acts, performed under the guise of surpassing the learned sword art by killing the one who taught it, were also the driving force that led him to the supreme realm.

Therefore, his sword art was fast, slow, nimble, heavy, and could switch from straightforward to elegant in an instant.

[A crude imitation, roughly copying Richard’s sword art. Are they his descendants? How terribly weak they’ve become… Well, I too have become crude since being revived, so it’s a mutual situation, I suppose.]

Neither Leon nor Skada could land a proper blow on the ‘shadow’ of the peerless swordsman who fought their distant ancestor, and were simply kneeling.

Skada, at least, hadn’t completely lost her mind, but Leon, disgracefully, had even slightly lost consciousness.

In fact, at the beginning of the duel, Leon had been in good spirits, riding his characteristic relaxed flow and pushing his opponent back, but….

[Compared to the cunning and flawless Richard, this is pathetic. Isn’t checking the terrain and traps a fundamental basic in a fight? Especially when fighting in someone else’s territory… I’d like to shake my head, but it’s sad that I don’t have one. Hahaha…!!!]

While riding his flow, he aimed for a slight opening shown by his opponent, but instead fell into Antikrea’s leg-binding trap, which had been planted in the forest beforehand, and subsequently took a major attack.

He barely managed to twist his body, avoiding a piercing blow to the heart, but collapsed with a pale face and abundant bleeding from his abdomen.

“You idiot, how can you faint from something like a headless knight? This guy, who just steps on traps, is supposed to be a rival for the imperial throne. And I can’t even kill him.”

Skada was grinding her teeth and scolding Leon, but she herself was in a state of immense perplexity.

Of course, she had been caught in the earlier explosion, but despite Rosalie’s buffs and healing largely offsetting the damage, she couldn’t launch a proper counterattack.

“Damn it. My body feels chilly. I’ve only been cut and stabbed in a few places… Is this some kind of poison?”

Skada, though fuming, was only barely maintaining consciousness and not in a physical state to continue fighting.

She bit her lip, looking around.

It wasn’t just the imperial family members who were getting badly beaten.

[Human magic is utterly trivial. Even if mountains crumble and seas dry up after more ages pass, that won’t change….]

There was a woman who, despite being pure-blooded Dark Elf, was born with skin as white as snow, leading her to be called a disgrace to her race and a target for extermination.

However, when she, who had fled to preserve her life, returned to the Dark Elf forest after completing her growth, the Dark Elves had no choice but to welcome their new master.

Swanwhite, the Queen of the Dark Elves, who could bring winter to a burning desert, and was one of the few ice mages in history.

Like a master of magic, she easily defeated both Marisa, a human child who seemed quite talented, and Fermia, a pathetic human woman whose growth seemed to have ended long ago.

Freezing human magic, along with its base incantations, to render it completely inoperable was a kind of hobby she specialized in in her lifetime.

She was the witch who first used ‘Dispelling,’ but this fact was largely forgotten.

Had she known her achievements were buried, she would likely have cried sadly.

“…..I feel a wall. It makes me realize that I’ve been a frog in a well all this time [a proverb about someone with a limited perspective].”

Marisa maintained her calm, polite speech even after being severely beaten, but the situation was not favorable.

All she managed was barely avoiding fatal injuries thanks to the barrier Rosalie had wrapped around her like a blessing, and most importantly, her body, having taken the attacks, wouldn’t move, as if frozen solid.

“So this is what it means for joints to creak. Ha… What a predicament at this youthful age…”

Joints aside, her mana heart was temporarily frozen, so she couldn’t generate mana at all.

“…Ugh… This is why… I didn’t want to come to this attack squad or whatever…!”

Meanwhile, watching Fermia whine like a child, all he could do was sigh deeply.

*I did almost all the fighting, though… Ha… Are we all going to die here? I hope only Leon dies and the rest survive.*

As he made a silly thought and barely managed to get up, he saw Professor Rudis, Garett, and Professor Rudis’s assistant, whose lives were threatened by the werewolf.

They were fighting, forming a fairly sturdy defensive line, but neither their attacks nor defenses were properly effective against the powerful and cruel werewolf great warrior.

[How utterly boring. Humans these days are all so weak… Wouldn’t I just get sick if I ate these guys? Teeth and claws are wasted on things that aren’t even worth eating. You cowardly human brats..!]

As Logdai the werewolf roared, filled with rage and resentment, his opponents, consumed by the roar, screamed in pain and collapsed.

It was as if something had passed through them, leaving them unable to resist and falling.

This was a tricky maneuver, unique to spirit masters, that was greatly struggling Leone’s attack squad, composed of humans who were considered quite skilled.

As Antikrea’s subordinates reborn through spirit magic, their power was significantly weaker than in life, but they gained a new attack method using spirits, called Spirit Arts.

They could now manipulate spirits that drain vitality through contact, which are otherwise invisible to anyone but a spirit medium, as if they were their own limbs. This was equally infused into Bergentorix’s sword art and Swanwhite’s magic.

The spirits were constantly leaving invisible follow-up blows like scars on their opponents during the offense and defense, thus continuously wearing down the attack squad’s mental strength, stamina, and durability.

If Rosalie’s divine power hadn’t continuously neutralized the damage from the spirit-based follow-up attacks, everyone would have died and fallen long ago.

Thus, Antikrea, who had become a maestro of the battlefield thanks to her excellent subordinates, was incredibly excited!

“Hmm~ This feels so good. Alright, is it all over now? Wait… where’s Peluda…?”

Antikrea, who had been watching the battlefield with satisfaction, suddenly realized that one of her large subordinates was missing.

Peluda, the king of giant salamander beasts. Her adorable pet, which she had even named ‘Dragon-doodle’ in her heart.

*The link with Peluda is broken? What is this…?*

Antikrea was surprised by the fact she had briefly missed and looked around, rummaging through her memories.

The one who had taken Peluda, who was full of spiritual power and spewing corrosive poison, causing damage in all directions when the fight began, and dragged him somewhere else was none other than…

“Ugh. This disgusting stuff. Is salamander blood normally this sticky? Hmm?? Wait, what? Why are you all knocked out? You’re kidding, right? It’s only been twenty minutes since the fight started…?”

Ras Etgard returned to the battlefield, covered in salamander blood and chunks of flesh.

Meanwhile, his genuinely dumbfounded expression was a key, yet not key, detail.

*

When the fight first began, I was looking for a suitable target to ‘put my spoon on’ [a Korean idiom meaning to join in or take a share], and seeing a salamander brat spewing poison and breathing fire like crazy onto the battlefield, I decided to target it.

Its length was roughly 15 meters? It was impressively large and had a good sense of intimidation.

I quickly leaped towards its head, then landed an incredibly hard thwack on its forehead!

**Thwack-!!!** I struck it so it made that sound.

For reference, I hit it roughly two thousand five hundred eighty-four times harder than I thwacked our adorable Pisces. With the intention of crushing its skull.

[Roooooar…!!!!]

The creature wailed like an idiot, but surprisingly, instead of a soft salamander head, it had a hard head, so it didn’t seem to have taken much damage.

Well, it was a good thing regardless.

Apart from not wanting to give Leon any inspiration regarding the ‘Inner World,’ I needed to solidly build up the ‘basics’ to prevent the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art from running wild.

This thing, whether a lizard or a salamander, would be an excellent sparring partner and source of experience.

“Hey, you salamander brat. Are you annoyed? Come on, follow me, hehe. Is it a lizard, not a salamander?”

[I’ll melt you alive…!]

The creature, thoroughly enraged, chased after me, who was fleeing comically yet very quickly on all fours, into a heavily wooded corner.

I really liked how the chaotic multi-sided battlefield instantly turned into a one-on-one man’s battlefield.

This was not just for my personal training, but also for ‘our team,’ who were currently fighting hand-in-hand.

After all, removing such a large, rampaging creature that couldn’t even distinguish friend from foe from the battlefield would reduce chaos.

Even so, I had held a small expectation that at least one of the three prominent Leone individuals would take down one of them.

[Grrr. You think you can take me alone? Haha… Did I look laughable? Of course. Aren’t humans arrogant creatures..!]

The creature, roaring mightily and spewing poison everywhere, did look a bit pitiful.

“Snap out of it, buddy. Without anyone to cover you, what’s a salamander brat going to do? But why are you speaking human words so well, it’s unsettling?”

Most unfortunately for the creature… its opponent just happened to be a bad match.

The other guys fighting over there, like the headless knight or the werewolf, would be much trickier for me than this one.

After all, you could get hurt if cut by a sword, or pierced/bitten to death by claws or teeth.

But look at this poor salamander.

Being a salamander, it has no teeth or claws. Its main attack methods are poison and flames. If you really want to add more, then body slams and tail whips?

But coincidentally, I’m a flame human, so I’m immune to most poisons, and its second weapon, fire, doesn’t work on me either.

My flames melt poison without a trace, and the flames generated through combat are the easiest element for me to seize ownership of.

[Neither poison nor flames… Why aren’t they working? What are you?!]

I melted the poison, and subtly changed the flames it spat out into my own possession, tossing them as daily sustenance to the little ones in my Inner World.

*Oh yeah! It’s a bountiful harvest!*

It was almost as if I could visualize the little ones excitedly shouting in my head, as if dancing around a campfire.

When its attacks had no effect, the extremely agitated salamander spewed ominous eye-beams, firing fear, and at the same time stomped its feet, trying to cause an earthquake, but it was just a salamander’s parlor trick.

*Yum yum… The flame tastes a bit fishy. Anyway, Master. Calmly, based on your pre-regression memories. Leave the desperation of a do-or-die battle to Raksha, and entrust the gradual accumulation of power to me.*

In my mind, Myeong began solemnly giving advice while munching on the salamander’s flames.

This was very valuable advice, so I followed it from head to toe.

If I were to ignite and consume it with the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art, that wouldn’t be bad either.

Raksha, who had shed all her destructive power and crossed over like embers with the regression, wouldn’t lack firepower to take down a mere salamander like this.

However, in this life, I absolutely had to experience fighting in a way that slowly built up from weakness, reflecting on my battles as if reviewing a grand strategy game.

Because I had to compensate for every single one of my shortcomings from before regression, surpass my past self, and grab ‘The End’ by the collar and beat it.

*Ras. When you practice your forms, you have a tendency to be too hasty and reckless. Hmph… Yes, the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art does grow under such tendencies, but…*

Semele’s worried advice from the past flashed through my mind.

*But even if it goes in one ear and out the other, remember my words to pay attention to defense and evasion. A fight can be ended by impatiently setting it ablaze and burning everything, like you, but the posture of slowly piecing together clues and elegantly grappling is also important.*

*Aish. Master can do the elegant stuff. My head is a fiery pit, so I can’t do that. You’ll attach my arm back if it gets cut off, right? As long as my neck doesn’t get severed. I’m going to die soon anyway… Ouch!*

*Never again speak of dying rudely in front of me. You must live as my slave forever. Yes. After all, don’t I exist? I can simply supplement the elegant and detailed fighting… Since you are mine, I’ll always be by your side anyway.*

Semele from before the regression couldn’t keep her promise and died before me, and now in this returned past—this changed situation—she is still not by my side.

But if the memories I shared with her remain within me and continue to guide me, then for now, that is enough.

*Always step as if to deceive with your footwork. When you shoot forth like an arrow and surge, hide subtlety within. Even if you show subtlety, pay attention to bold off-beats within it. You are too straightforward, meaning you should consider things other than just speed.*

He deployed a slow yet certain and highly stable set of forms and rhythm against the easygoing salamander: dodging with one step, blocking with the second, and attacking with the third.

Dodging and blocking, which Ras before regression, who wielded destructive demonic arts and the Inner World, would never have done.

The offensive-only flames, which only bit, clawed, and pierced, setting teeth and claws regardless of whether arms were severed or stomachs were punctured, were put to rest for a moment.

**Whoosh-**

The intensity and density of the flames he conjured were also calmly adjusted to his current physical condition, briefly releasing the high heat that had been eating away at him.

[Kueeeeek..!]

As if creating cracks in a fortress wall, I instilled leisure and the aesthetic of returning to my somewhat hasty and unhurried footwork.

As my vision widened, I could see all the traps the salamander brat was slyly setting while pretending to be beaten, and all the magic traps Antikrea had scattered around.

Pretending to be fooled, I would step into its trap, then immediately retract my foot with a springy sensation, as if stepping on a turtle’s shell floating on water.

Making the creature focus all its attention solely on activating its traps.

At the same time, steadily yet swiftly, I tore open and burned the creature’s vital points while it was defenseless.

[Squeak!]

Additionally, I learned one more piece of common knowledge from today’s fight.

That a giant salamander makes a strange, startling ‘Squeak!’ sound as its dying scream.

Being covered in dark red, sticky blood was extremely unpleasant, but the fact that I had fought calmly and won, unlike usual, was encouraging.

*Yes, Ras… That’s how it should be done. You are very commendable. My beloved hunting dog…*

Semele seemed to be praising me after a long time.

*Hey..! You should be grateful to me, not some woman! You’re a pervert with something wrong with you.*

Meanwhile, I casually ignored Myeong’s protesting words in my head.

As always, a man’s protests are generally worthless anyway.

Having successfully finished the fight, I rejoined the children’s battlefield with a very light heart.

Honestly, since I’d eliminated the troublesome poison-spewing salamander from the battlefield, I thought at least one of the three remaining ‘teammates’ would have been taken down through good cooperation, right?

Hmm…?

“Ugh. This disgusting stuff. Is salamander blood normally this sticky? Hmm?? Wait, what? Why are you all knocked out? You’re kidding, right? It’s only been twenty minutes since the fight started…?”

However, our proud teammates, both in the front and rear lines, were struggling and in crisis.

“Ras. Are you okay? I couldn’t pay attention to you because I was busy coordinating the party. I’m sorry… Anyway, they seem to be much trickier opponents than I thought. I don’t have the energy to fight directly…”

First off, Rosalie-nim, as I expected, wasn’t in any major crisis in this situation.

She, as I expected, was focused on her role as a healer, ensuring her teammates weren’t harmed, rather than directly intervening in the fight.

If it had been her during her Saintess days, she could have massacred opponents of that caliber by herself…

For reference, I fought and killed a hero who had entered the Inner World in my life before regression, so I can estimate Rosalie-nim’s strength during her Saintess days to some extent.

Since Rosalie-nim had captured the Demon King, it meant she possessed at least the same level of strength as the hero I had killed.

*As expected, does she not yet possess the strength to earn the title of ‘Saintess’? She’s strong and excellent enough, but not at the level shown by someone who has reached the Inner World.*

What exactly was the catalyst for Rosalie-nim’s sudden awakening?

Gathering my thoughts, I decided to think that it was good to see the pathetic figures of those who had collapsed anyway.

I particularly liked the sight of Leon lying there, groaning and pale-faced.

Of course, seeing Marisa groaning and lying there made my heart ache a bit… but that was something I could repay starting now.

With half refreshing feeling, half pity, I quickly sent a telepathic message to Rosalie-nim.

[Teacher-nim, you can take your time caring for Leon and Skada, just keeping them alive. They’re imperial family, so they’re tough. Our delicate Marisa first..!]

[Hmm…? Is that so? Indeed, imperial family members are tough… So the less tough people first… Wait! But ‘our’ Marisa…? That’s quite interesting..?!]

Oops..!

Rosalie-nim, puffing out her cheeks and giving a slightly sulky look, was cute, but since the situation was urgent, I decided to dote on her plenty later.

“Dragon-doodle..!!!!”

Meanwhile, I confidently raised my middle finger at the detestable child who was pretending to grieve the salamander’s death.

“Yeah. Your salamander died when I beat it. Now I don’t need to hold back anymore; I’ll show you what it means to go all out.”

Raksha, who had been excluded from the fight, was grumbling tremendously within my body, and besides that kid, there was also a high-ranking demon roaming around the city.

Moreover, with Leon still out of it, there was absolutely nothing holding me back.

With my body sufficiently warmed up, I unleashed the Nine Heavens Destruction Flame Art.

“I’ll have to avenge Dragon-doodle. Kids, just kill them.”

Antikrea glared at me with glinting eyes, but of course, she wasn’t scary.

Because the only child I was afraid of in this world was our Rinaldo.