Book 2: Chapter 365
“You got here pretty quick.”
Peran looked over his shoulder.
Standing there was Hector surrounded by a group of maids.
“I got lucky. She fully understood how serious the situation was. Thanks to that, our conversation was able to progress quickly.”
“You’re being too humble. It wouldn’t have been possible without your eloquence and ability to think on your feet. If I had gone instead, I wouldn’t have been able to convince her in such a short time.”
“…”
Persuade.
A bitter smile spread across Peran’s lips.
He hadn’t done anything noble enough to be described as such.
As soon as he stepped out of the portal to the Ispania Mountains, he’d shouted at the top of his voice.
“Diablo brought Lucid back to life! We need your help! Please help us!”
He hadn’t even been certain about the information.
Of course, he knew that the undead he’d seen had Deukid in its hands, and its skill with the sword should be comparable to or higher than Snow, but he wasn’t sure if it was Lucid or not.
In other words, it was a gamble.
In all honesty, he didn’t have any idea what Anastasia, who had appeared after a while, thought.
This was because her cold gaze and emotionless expression hadn’t changed from the start.
It seemed that she believed Peran’s words, but right before he used Warp again, she spoke.
‘If you are lying, I will separate your flesh from your bones.’
“To be honest, the hardest part was getting out of the city without Diablo noticing. If he had noticed, he would have interfered with the spell.”
However, despite the tension, Peran was able to successfully leave Yuterdam without any hindrance. He’d thought he’d just been lucky, but that wasn’t actually the case.
“From the start, Diablo was more focused on Lady Iris’ power than the movement of mana.”
“…indeed.”
Hector gave a slow nod.
His gaze turned from Anastasia, who was currently locked in combat with Lucid, to Asilla, who had rolled to the side like a piece of junk.
With a deep sigh, he said.
“My angels, may I ask you to retrieve her?”
“We will obey Master’s orders.”
The maids politely bowed their heads to Hector before going to collect Asilla, who had been disassembled in a miserable manner. Seeing this unbearable scene, Peran couldn’t help but say.
“…is she still alive?”
“Asilla’s core is in her brain. As long as her core is intact, her body parts can be replaced at any time… Well. In a way, this state is worse than dying for her. It’s fortunate that she’s still alive. Asilla did a great job.”
“…”
Hearing those words, Peran couldn’t help but feel that the relationship between Asilla and Hector wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
He was curious, but now was not the time for that.
Peran’s gaze turned to the city.
* * *
Anastasia was not in this city. No. She wasn’t even anywhere close to here. She was one of the few that Diablo kept a close eye on, so he was certain of that.
This meant that someone had brought her here.
[I made a mistake.]
Diablo murmured.
[I was too focused on Iris. Warp is a fairly high level spell, but I didn’t notice it.]
A Wizard who had not joined him. At the same time, an Archmage capable of warping back and forth in a short enough span of time that he didn’t notice.
At this point, there was only one such person that Diablo was aware of.
[Peran Jun.]
Things were definitely becoming annoying. Diablo admitted this fact without hesitation.
It was regrettable that he hadn’t managed to kill Iris with his surprise attack. If he’d killed her, then he could have treated Anastasia, who had appeared here, as a bonus.
[Anastasia.]
Diablo slowly opened his mouth.
[I don’t intend to fight you. What I want from them has nothing to do with you, and if you let me get it, I will leave without causing any more trouble.]
“You seem to be mistaken about something. From the moment you transformed Lucid into an undead, there was no longer any chance for a conversation between us.”
A laugh involuntarily rolled out at those words.
When Anastasia glared at him, Diablo spoke again.
[Pardon me. I was just a bit confused by your words. Seeing someone express anger over me reviving someone from 4,000 years ago is quite humorous.]
The tone of Diablo, who laughed out loud for a while, suddenly changed.
[But what’s even funnier is the fact that you called the Sword King your friend. Battle Golem Anastasia, have you still not understood your identity? You are not Schweiser.]
“Shut up.”
Diablo had touched Anastasia’s reverse scale.
No, instead of touching it, it was more like he stabbed it with a knife.
Her turquoise eyes rippled with rage.
Her small fists clenched with a frightening sound and she began to stride towards Diablo as though she intended to smash his white bones.
But after she took a few steps, the sound of an explosion was heard from the rubble of a building in the distance. As the dust cleared, Lucid’s armour was revealed once again.
There wasn’t even a single scratch on the pitch black armour.
A wave of death energy rippled out from his body. Anastasia’s expression hardened.
‘He’s coming.’
She was forced to turn her attention from Diablo to Lucid.
The black knight, who was more than a few metres away, narrowed the distance in an instant.
There was no sound, and even his presence became faint. So the only thing she could rely on was her eyes.
She could track his movements. So it was possible for her to respond.
Anastasia crossed her arms before covering them in a thick layer of mana. And in the same instant, Lucid struck with Deukid.
Clang!
There was a loud sound similar to colliding metal.
Anastasia sank. Neither her knees nor her back were bent. She was still standing straight.
However, Lucid’s strength was so ridiculous that he forced her into the ground.
‘What… this power…’
She did all she could to withstand it.
Anastasia’s arms trembled as if they would collapse. She had to find some way to counterattack or get out of that position, but she didn’t have the chance.
Lucid pressed his sword down with one hand.
‘This isn’t Lucid’s fighting style.’
His style consisted of sword techniques and sword skills. This way of swinging his sword around like a club was something that a sane Lucid would never do.
…Her muscles were gradually approaching their limit.
If she continued to endure this, her entire body would be crushed like a tomato.
‘…I, too, didn’t spend the last 10 years in vain.’
Suddenly, Anastasia clenched her teeth. Two tentacles sprouted out of her back. In truth, they were more like metal tails than tentacles.
Clack!
The tentacles wrapped tightly around Deukid and began pushing it away with great force.
At last, Lucid’s momentum was broken. Without any hesitation, he withdrew his sword and took a few steps.
During this time, Anastasia retrieved a blue gem from her bag, stuck it into her mouth, and clenched her teeth. (TL: Isn’t she naked?)
Crunch.
This was a solid gem, but it was no match for the teeth of Anastasia, a golem. She chewed the gem like a piece of candy before swallowing it.
Slowly, an icy colour began swirling around her iris.
“Hup.”
After taking a deep breath.
[Ahhh!]
She shot a storm of ice out of her mouth.
The powerful storm ripped through the surroundings as it rushed towards her opponent. She knew that his armour’s defence was formidable, but she was certain that this would cause some damage.
That was the moment Anastasia was waiting for.
Lucid, who quietly watched as the ice storm approached him, suddenly stabbed Deukid into the ground.
Fwoosh!
At that same time, black fog began to seep out from the ground. It was like the fog was alive. The fog seemed to move on its own, gathering together and forming a semi-circle that enveloped Lucid.
Pak pak pak!
At last, the approaching ice storm slammed into the black fog. But like heavy rain hitting a rock, there was only a loud sound; it failed to break through.
‘That was an ice storm created with the finest aquamarine.’
And yet, it was still not enough to break through Lucid’s defen—
Anastasia cut her thought short as she threw herself back. This was because she caught sight of bone spears pouring down from the sky like arrows.
Puk puk puk!
The bone spears pierced the spot she’d just been standing in. Immediately after, the dirt began to take a purple hue before melting directly.
Those bone spears didn’t just have simple physical power. With that kind of corrosive ability, her body would have melted like a candle if she hadn’t noticed them in time.
Piht—
Another attack followed that one. A beam of dark red light.
The moment she saw this attack, her spine went cold.
This single dark red beam of light was far more dangerous that Lucid’s hand to hand attacks and those bones spears combined.
Anastasia quickly turned her head to avoid it, but she was too slow, allowing the beam to brush past her cheek.
‘My body…’
It couldn’t move.
Her entire body creaked as if it was straining under great pressure.
Anastasia immediately understood the reason.
‘Diablo… has he finally crossed over the threshold of true 9 stars?’
Absolute line.
Absolute, a power which was higher than mana, had struck Anastasia’s body.
This caused the mana in her body, which was constantly circulating, to freeze.
It was like having the blood in your body stop moving. Of course, if such a thing happened to a human, they would die in seconds, but, fortunately, Anastasia was a golem.
‘No. This isn’t fortunate at all!’
In front of Lucid, not to mention tens of seconds, even a 1 second opening was lethal.
Boom!
She saw him charge toward her with explosive momentum. Every step he took shook the ground beneath them.
In the blink of an eye, Lucid appeared in front of her, Deukid outstretched. It was a simple stab, but the power behind it was unimaginable.
It was a stab that should be dodged at all costs, even if it was at the expense of her mana.
Just before the blade pierced her throat, Anastasia’s vision went black.
Taht!
And when the darkness lifted, she was looking at an entirely different scene.
“Ah…?”
What just happened?
“You let your guard down, Anastasia.”
The moment she heard that voice, Anastasia understood the situation.
“…Iris.”
Without her realising, Iris had appeared behind her.
She’d teleported her with her power.
…To be rescued by this woman.
It didn’t leave a pleasant aftertaste so it was not easy to thank her.
Anastasia opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally turning to look at Lucid.
“…do you know who that guy is?”
“The Sword King Lucid. The most noble and reliable shield that always protected us.”
“He has now become the sword that threatens our lives.”
Iris chuckled at those words.
“That’s a different feeling. It makes me a bit sad.”
She probably didn’t actually find it funny since her expression remained solemn, so she probably said that as a way to lighten the mood.
Anastasia also joined in.
“Who’s missing?”
“We don’t have anyone else to talk about old memories with, do we?”
“Hmph. I’m not sure. That beast might also be alive somewhere.”
At that moment, an unexpected voice interfered with their conversation.
[You’re wrong.]
It was the dry, cracked voice that literally belonged to a dead person.
But Iris and Anastasia could only make horrified expressions as they turned to look at him.
“Lucid?”
“You… were you conscious—”
[You are all wrong about one thing.]
Lucid interrupted them in a calm voice.
“…we were wrong about something?”
“What do you mean by that?”
[It’s not just one person that should be here.]
“Isn’t it only Kasajin?”
“What the hell are you talking about? No. More than that, are you still acting like a servant of that undead despite having an ego?”
[…]
Lucid raised his sword once again. It was as if to answer them with his attitude.
…As though he was saying that conversation was no longer necessary.
He had always been a guy like that.
A stubborn, noble man with strict convictions.
Iris and Anastasia bit their lips at the same time.
* * *
…Warmth.
That was the first sensation Lukas felt upon waking up.
His mind was a mess. Two things, the memories of Kasajin and his last memories, jumbled together in his head, giving him a headache.
Lukas slowly untangled the mess.
‘…it’s warm.’
Soft and warm. It was to the extent that he didn’t want to move. He just wanted to stay like this.
But he couldn’t. Knowing this, Lukas forcibly opened his eyes and woke up.
At that moment, he felt a familiar sensation, like a blanket wrapped around him.
But after moving slightly and blinking a few times, he realised what was wrapped around him.
It was not a blanket, but a giant Phoenix wrapped around his body.
“…Nix.”
The Phoenix, Nix, lowered her head to look at Lukas.
…The flames of the Phoenix race were mysterious.
It was literally the greatest threat to those they were hostile towards, but for those they accepted, it was as warm as a hearth. In addition, it had the effect of regenerating and healing injuries.
Nix was probably the only reason he was still alive after taking that cut to the back.
“Thanks.”
Nix’s feathers ruffled slightly, but she avoided making eye contact.
But he now understood.
It wasn’t because she hated him.
Lukas got up from the bed of feathers.
“…”
And immediately felt vertigo.
Although his wound had healed, his blood hadn’t been replenished. So, in a way, he was still injured.
It didn’t feel like there had been many days recently when he hadn’t been injured.
“…don’t go.”
He looked back.
Nix, who had returned to her human form, was looking at him with a complicated expression.
“You are very hurt.”
“I know.”
“You won’t be much help if you go there.”
“That might be true.”
“It’s safer here.”
“You’re right.”
Lukas didn’t deny anything Nix said.
The more Nix spoke, the more confident she was that this man wouldn’t listen to her.
“…if you go this time, you might really die.”
After a while, Lukas looked away from Nix. Then he started walking.
“…”
Nix clenched her fists as she looked at his back.
“Huff. Huff…”
Before he could even go far, Lukas was already out of breath. He felt dizzy and nauseous, but he held it in because he felt like he would collapse if he allowed himself to vomit.
For a moment, he couldn’t help but wonder.
Had he ever been so physically and mentally exhausted?
He felt like this was much harder than when he fought the Demigods in the past when he lived as ‘Frey Blake’, and when he was saving universes.
“Huhu.”
Somehow, a chuckle managed to escape his lips.
This was because Kasajin’s words popped into his mind at that moment.
Right. He was right. Perhaps he really was a masochist.
Tuk.
After taking a few more steps, he tripped over a stone and fell onto his face.
He wasn’t sure if he’d eaten any dirt or not, but there was a bad taste in his mouth.
For some reason, this reminded him of the night with heavy rain back at the Westroad Academy.
He’d fallen then too. And he’d wanted to just give up on everything,
‘…it’s much better now.’
As he had this thought, Lukas forced himself to his feet.
It was at this moment that something caught his eye.
It was black box. A smooth box made out of some kind of material that he couldn’t identify. It hadn’t been there before… but he thought that it might have fallen out of his pocket. Was it because he just fell?
But that thought still made him suspicious. Lukas didn’t remember having a box like this.
Nevertheless, after a while, those thoughts faded.
“…”
Lukas’ expression changed as he observed the box.