Chapter 130: Ouroboros (4) |
TL/Editor: Rungir
Schedule: none
Illustrations: none
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Diral.
Among the demonkind, he was quite the anomaly.
Born in the demon realm, he lacked the inherent hatred and murderous intent towards all other life forms that his peers were expected to possess.
It was as if a crucial component, absolutely essential for his kind, was missing from him.
Therefore, he felt no obligation to bring about the end of this world.
This was the sole driving force behind his actions.
The very reason Diral volunteered to infiltrate the empire was out of sheer curiosity, and his attachment to the Third Prince, Enoch, was purely because he seemed interesting.
Even after Enoch's death, Diral did not join Omareum but headed to Ouroboros for the same reason.
"Damn it...!"
Yet, there was one more thing Diral held in high regard.
His own life.
It might seem obvious, but to pursue interesting and amusing endeavors, one had to first stay alive.
Thus, Diral was willing to abandon anything to survive, including his essence, which was nearly synonymous with the demon realm itself.
"To think that witch would track me down here."
As he rapidly distanced himself from the central headquarters of Ouroboros, Diral muttered with a nauseated tone.
The woman with red eyes.
She was the main reason he had to leave the imperial city.
During a previous battle with that monstrous woman, Diral had sustained critical injuries and needed considerable time to recover.
Since then, haunted by the anxiety that she might still be pursuing him, he had not returned to the imperial city, instead fleeing to an Ouroboros branch and living as inconspicuously as possible.
But, as if by some cruel twist of fate, he encountered her again through an unbelievable coincidence.
'And it seemed she was connected to Zion Agnes, too.'
No, it wasn't just a connection; it appeared as if the woman with red eyes was following Zion Agnes.
This thought quickly assembled into a puzzle in Diral's mind.
'Yeah, honestly, it would have been impossible for Zion Agnes alone to do those things.'
Although he had almost severed ties with the demon realm and couldn't know the details, the information Diral had gathered was enough to understand how improbable the achievements of Zion Agnes were.
However, if the woman with red eyes was under Zion Agnes, the story changed.
Had the attack on him back in the imperial city been ordered by Zion Agnes?
'No.'
Diral shook his head to dismiss the thought.
It was a baseless leap of logic, and more importantly, he needed to focus on escaping as quickly as possible.
Even though the central headquarters was now just a speck in the distance, Diral did not slow down.
His fear of the woman with red eyes indirectly demonstrated just how profound it was.
'I need to go into hiding after getting out of the capital this time.'
And laying low for a few months should be enough to be safe.
Ssshhhh-
Diral's form swiftly passed through the crowd filling the streets due to the founding festival, reaching the outskirts in an instant.
'This should be far enough.'
Only after the gate leading out of the capital came into view did the demon start to slow down, accompanied by a faint sense of relief in his eyes.
'If I go through the gate, I'll attract attention and waste time.'
With that thought, Diral was about to leap over the nearby wall when a chilling voice reached his ears.
"Slowing down, are we?"
Diral's body stiffened as if struck by lightning.
Slowly turning towards the source of the voice, his eyes widened in horror at the sight of a woman approaching with a red smile.
"Feeling relieved now?"
It was Liushina Bloodwalker.
"How did you..."
Staring at her in disbelief, the demon voiced his confusion.
His speed had been fast, yes, but Diral had also made sure to erase all traces of himself while fleeing.
Yet, he couldn't fathom how she managed to follow him.
"How did I follow you? I followed your scent. You give off a distinct, repulsive odor."
The witch said, laughing deeper while tapping her nose.
In fact, Liushina had been mindful of Diral's potential to flee from the moment she first saw him.
Thus, she had tampered with his body right at the start of their clash, ensuring she could track him down immediately if he ran.
Thanks to that, she could have caught up with him much sooner, but Liushina chose not to reveal herself until they reached the outskirts.
There was only one reason for this.
'It would be troublesome if a battle broke out in a crowded place.'
Truthfully, Liushina couldn't care less if bystanders got caught up in the fight.
However, she remembered Zion's warning not to cause a commotion in crowded places.
She already anticipated being scolded for acting on her own after wrapping up this matter, so she didn't want to add more reasons to be reprimanded.
"You wretched creature!"
Crackkkkkkkk!
With a disgusted expression, Diral immediately conjured hundreds of claws in mid-air and launched them towards Liushina without waiting to see if they hit, then turned and fled at an insane speed.
From the start, there was no intention in his mind to fight that monster.
'He's clearly avoiding places crowded with humans.'
With quick thinking, Diral immediately headed back towards the heart of the capital, where the founding festival was in full swing.
However,
"The fact that I've revealed myself in front of you means."
Thud!
His body halted abruptly at the low voice coming from behind.
It wasn't Diral's choice to stop.
Numerous blood vessels, tightly stretched and connected to his entire body, had immobilized him.
"Ah!"
A scream, almost like a groan, escaped the demon's lips.
"All preparations are already complete."
As the witch finished speaking, a moment later, a space perfectly isolated formed around Diral, and his vision began to fill with a crimson despair.
"..."
What in the world had happened?
Sharin couldn't comprehend the events unfolding before her eyes.
A dot.
It was just a dot.
A black dot, smaller than a fingernail.
The moment her swords made of rain touched it, they vanished without a trace.
It was a scene so unbelievable, even seeing it with her own eyes.
If they had been slashed or shattered, it would have been understandable.
But the term 'erased' seemed more fitting for what had just happened.
As if they had never existed in the first place.
'Such power exists?'
Her mind began to reel in confusion.
As Sharin stood there dazed,
"If you just stand there..."
Swoosh-
Zion appeared out of nowhere, without any warning.
"You're going to die."
The ominous darkness of Eclaxia fell towards Sharin's head without a moment's delay.
Managing to regain her senses, Sharin quickly lifted her sword to block the attack.
Clanggggg!
The clash of their swords sent shockwaves sweeping through the surroundings.
Normally, Zion would have retracted his sword and followed up with another attack, but not this time.
Zion's eyes curved slightly with a smirk.
The moment Sharin felt a chill at that smile, Pffft!
The dark energy on the Annihilation Sword explosively amplified, engulfing the mana blades surrounding her sword.
Simultaneously, Zion's sword began to slowly penetrate through the blade.
"What the...!"
Stunned by the scene she couldn't understand no matter how many times she saw it, Sharin quickly detached her sword and sprang back.
Swooshhh!
At the same time, her chain sword gently curved, creating hundreds of afterimages as it moved to dominate the space.
"It won't work."
But before the sword strikes could be completed, Zion had already reached her, cutting off her breathing and the flow of her sword, swinging Eclaxia.
"Damn it!"
Sharin grimaced, forcibly pulling back her extended sword to defend against the attack.
Contact with that darkness would inevitably damage the sword blade, but it was impossible to take the hit with her body instead.
But then, the Eclipse Double Layer.
This time, it wasn't just simple damage.
Crackkkk!
The blow, amplified by the partial eclipse, overlapped once more, perfectly splitting Sharin's chain sword and continuing to slash deeply into her side.
"Aaaaah!"
A terrifying scream erupted from Sharin due to the excruciating pain.
Zion, showing no intention of waiting for her scream to end, slashed Eclaxia vertically once again.
Even as her mind became foggy from the pain, Sharin somehow managed to lift her bisected sword to block.
Of course, it was impossible to completely block Zion's sword strike with that.
Boommm!
With an explosion sound akin to dozens of shells going off at once, Sharin's form began to plummet straight down through the floor to the first level.
Before her body even hit the bottom, whoosh!
Although late in action, Eclaxia, already on the first floor, generated countless black flashes of light.
Was it because she was one of the commanders of Ouroboros?
"Urgh!"
In mid-air, Sharin desperately twisted her body to avoid fatal blows.
Crash!
Yet, unable to manage a proper landing, her form crashed disgracefully onto the ground.
As if intending to finish her off before she could regain her posture, Zion launched a series of relentless attacks.
And thus, a one-sided battle ensued.
'How did...'
Despair began to dawn on Sharin's face along with rapidly increasing injuries.
When had the tide turned so drastically against her?
Was it when the rain of swords she created was erased without a trace?
Or perhaps, the battle was already decided the moment her heart first wavered.
Crackkk!
With that, fear surged from deep within her.
Humans feel fear towards things they cannot understand.
Sharin felt such fear from Zion's darkness, which erased everything.
'I'm really going to die if this goes on.'
Sharin knew.
Defeat was certain, and there was no chance of turning the tide anymore.
The hatred and murderous intent she initially harbored towards Zion had long vanished the moment the myriad swords were erased.
All that filled her now was fear and the instinct to survive.
'I must escape from here somehow!'
Crack!
With that thought, she sacrificed an arm to widen the gap between her and Zion, then pulled out an earring emitting a bright blue light from her bosom.
This time, she placed all her bets on a fragment of the Frost Queen's power she had obtained.
As if staking everything on it, all the mana within her body began to flow into the earring.
Whoosh!
In response, the earring began to emit an overwhelming chill along with a brilliant white light.
'First, I'll detonate this to buy some time and then immediately...'
However, Sharin's thoughts were abruptly cut off.
Ssshhhk!
With a sharp slicing sound ringing in her ears, the wrist holding the earring was severed entirely.
"…Huh?"
Sharin May stared dumbfounded at her own hand falling to the ground.
Her eyes were filled with confusion, unable to comprehend the situation.
Surely Zion Agnes was far away...
Then, suddenly, pfft!
A dark sword pierced through her chest.
"Ah…"
With a dazed voice, Sharin looked at the sword with a vacant expression.
In front of her, Zion appeared like a mirage, smiling.
All the while, another figure of Zion could be seen far in her line of sight.
Dark Stream Divergence.
Having reached the fourth rank and amplified by the partial eclipse, the Dark Stream Divergence perfectly replicated his presence, deceiving her eyes completely.
"Cough!"
Sharin spat out bright red blood.
Along with it, the light of life rapidly faded from her eyes.
Where did it all start to go wrong?
Perhaps the outcome had been predetermined since their first encounter at the auction house.
Her death was merely delayed because she hadn't found this man until now.
"Is this enough?"
Zion asked quietly, looking at Sharin.
What was he talking about?
"…?"
Sharin's face, even in the throes of death, was filled with questions.
Zion's soft voice continued in her ears.
"I'm talking about the proof of qualification I mentioned before."
The proof of qualification to possess the Breath of the Frost Queen.
Zion was asking about the answer to the question she had posed on the day they first met.
Sharin's lips moved as if trying to say something.
But no words came out before she completely stopped breathing.
"…"
Zion looked at Sharin, who had met her end, for a moment before turning away without any lingering attachment.
Her answer wasn't that important, after all.
Zion's qualification wasn't something that could be decided by others.
"Your Highness Zion!"
The earring of the Frost Queen that fell to the ground and the approaching figures of the Twilight Swordsmen began to enter Zion's field of view.
The long night of the founding festival was coming to an end.
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