Chapter 174: Showdown (1)
In a space that was dark on all sides I bent down and petted Sheddie at my feet.
“That was a little close.”
“Keryung!”
Out of Aizel’s line of sight, through the gap where she hung her head guiltily, I barely managed to switch places with Sheddie.
I’ve gotten pretty good at manipulating Sheddie.
[ …Protective?]
Sierra, who was floating in midair, over me, asked as I cupped Sheddie’s chin.
Aizel shoved me into the demon chasm.
If I had fallen, it would have taken me a while to get out and I would have lost time with no way of knowing if Aizel would survive.
“Perhaps she did…she decided it would be safer for me to stay on the other side.”
But Sierra and I knew she hadn’t meant to hurt me.
Her intentions were plain to see now, and the Aizel from earlier hadn’t hidden her expression at all.
Well, I guessed it, but I didn’t expect her to actually shove me.
Regardless of the situation, Sierra wasn’t happy.
She’d just heard a confession.
I was in the ground but I could feel the stirrings of the other party, Aizel.
‘Heading for the forest.’
It was a good choice.
The land near the Demon Chasm was barren, with not a blade of grass in sight.
The terrain is not suited for a lone combatant.
Hiding in the shadows, I walked in the opposite direction from where Aizel was headed.
Again, there was a forest at the end of this path.
Luckily, Albed had sent me the demons so I had a general idea of where they were coming from.
I deliberately acted how Aizel desired and gave her the result she wanted since that way she would have been reassured that I was safe…
I wonder how long it will be before Aizel, waiting for Murka in the quiet of the forest, realizes that something is amiss.
I don’t know, but it will buy me time to deal with Murka.
[Apprentice.]
“Yes, Master.”
[My oath to you, my contract with you…]
Just before the final battle Sierra, who had blocked my path, stroked my cheek and asked in a concerned voice.
“…If I don’t die, there’s no reason to worry, but if I do, well, I don’t know about that, of course I’ll have to come back to life…”
[ …]
I glanced at Sierra and smiled.
“Well, if it’s broken, we’ll just have to sign another contract, so don’t worry about it too much, and by then… Maybe we’ll understand each other better than we did before, now that we’ve both been dead once.”
[…phew.]
Sierra smiles faintly at my cheerfulness.
[…I suppose my futile worries got the better of me, with a trusty apprentice who promises to defy death…]
“…”
I give Sierra a leisurely smile, then quickly pull up my status window .
I was level 50 and I had 9 skill points left.
Actually, it’s been a while since I reached level 50 but it hasn’t been going up since then because there’s a barrier after level 50 that needs to be broken.
It’s like changing jobs.
I needed an ‘awakening’ to reach a higher level…but I’ve been busy lately and haven’t had a chance to prepare for the Awakening.
I was a little disappointed that there was no experience to be gained from killing Murka, but that wasn’t an immediate concern.
To kill Murka or not to kill Murka.
Faced with such a stark choice, I decided that I needed to utilize my full power, more precisely the Reverse Heaven.
I used 4 points to open Chapter 2 and 6 points to open Chapter 3 of Reverse Heaven.
Well, now that I had invested eight points and I reached level seven, it worked out.
I invested the remaining skill point in Psychic Sense and it reached level 6.
‘I wonder if there’s anything that’s immediately obvious…’
I’ll definitely feel it in battle.
I’m ready to go.
Aizel was taken care of and all that remained was Murka.
I wonder what he’ll come up with.
‘This is the second round, so I’m feeling fresh.’
Game 2.
I could tell from Aizel’s demeanor this time.
I had a feeling, but I was trying to ignore it.
It wasn’t good news for me.
Now it was an undeniable fact.
At the same time, I had a question.
Why did the old me fail?
I couldn’t save Aizel.
Did I save her, but I died and she chose to regress.
I stepped forward, toward the future, with questions that only Aizel knew the answers to.
‘Anyway…’
There was no such thing as failing twice.
***
Murka and Albed were still chasing after Aizel.
“Looks like we’re in position, she’s in the forest on the other side of the Demonic Chasm.”
Albed reported, studying the map.
“…”
The voice jolted Murka out of his reverie and he opened his eyes to look at Albed.
Albed pushed up his glasses and continued.
“I’m sure they’ve prepared some trap spells, but I’m sure we’ll be able to take care of that with the help of those ‘guys’.”
Albed led the way through the darkened forest, his eyes taking in the demons under his control.
There were fifty demons and most of them were red-horned, with only a few black-horned demons visible.
They were of low quality, but they would be a good horse to throw into the trap field.
Albed thought.
He wondered if it would be too much of an investment to capture a single Aizel, but he figured it would be a good enough number for her mysterious helpers.
Meanwhile, the demons under Albed’s control, assembled in the middle of the night without knowing what awaited them, were making small talk among familiar faces they hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Oh, Smektar. What’s with the armor?”
One of the demons asked as he walked out of the forest, a hulking fiend wearing a stunning suit of armor that was flawless.
“Hmph, I just bought it this time.”
“Nice.”
“Do you know where this is from?”
The big guy snorted and chuckled.
“Where? Wait a minute… Let me guess.”
The demon, who was usually interested in martial arts, examined the hulk’s armor.
“Red Beard Workshop or Black Legs Workshop?”
The demon tries calling out the names of the studios, but the big man shakes his head, keeping his grin on his face as if it were a pleasant sound.
Then.
“Blue Moon Workshop.”
The correct answer appears.
Immediately, the big man shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth.
“Correct! Blue Moon Workshop…Hmph.”
“Yes, this imprint is… It’s a unique engraving that can only be found on armor made by the Blue Moon Workshop.”
The correct answerer stroked the engraving on the armor as he spoke.
The demon who didn’t answer correctly turns to him and questions him.
“…But who are you?”
“Me?”
Before long, the correct answer emerged from among the demons, but it was a face they had never seen before.
“…Was this one of the guys under Mr. Albed?”
The man’s jet-black hair was slicked back, and his eyes were covered in pure white bandages.
“Yes, who are you?!”
The big man, who had finally recognized him, was furious.
“Are you even blinder than him…?”
The demon rubbed his chin and let another question slip out.
“Well, I’m just a passing blind man, but…”
The blind man draws a knife from his belt.
“…It looks like this is a new piece of armor, but perhaps I should test it to see if it’s of good quality.”
“You have no fear, have you lost your mind?”
Immediately, the demon drew the sword from his belt and held it to the blind man’s throat, but the larger demon stopped him.
“Well, I was just about to give you a test.”
The hulking demon held the blind man’s red sword to his eye.
‘That thin blade will be no match for me’, he thought.
“It is, isn’t it?”
“Hmph. I won’t cut you alive.”
The big man held out his stomach for a slash, as if inviting him to take a shot.
The blind man’s arm, which was holding the sword in a reverse grip, moved. It was a normal speed, not too fast, not too slow.
However,
-Thud!
The sound of thick, hard metal being gently sliced away was heard as the light of the sword pierced through the demon’s proudly displayed armor, carving thin lines into its body.
-Clang!!!
The demon’s black blood splashes against the moon in the sky.
Soon, the hulking demon is split in half, along with its armor.
At the unbelievable sight, the demon’s arm that was holding the sword up to the blind man trembled violently, and the blind man casually clicked his tongue and patted the demon’s trembling shoulder.
“Tsk, he must have been scammed, it was a cheap imitation.”
His voice echoed through the forest as the gazes of dozens of demons, who had been busy chatting amongst themselves, immediately focused on him.
“Who are you!!!”
The demons, who had just seen one of their own sliced in half, raised their voices, wary of him.
This was also reflected in the eyes of Albed and Murka, who were following behind them on horseback.
“…”
Murka was struck by the fact that he hadn’t noticed his approach at all.
“Blind…?”
It was the same for Albed.
The blind man slowly lowered his arm toward where Albed and Murka were, sending them a polite greeting as the demons turned their sharp eyes toward him.
“As I said… I’m just an ordinary blind man passing through.”
He then drops the crystal shard from his arm to the ground.
The crystal shard soaks into the ground, and in an instant, a crystal circle envelops the forest.
“Divine power…”
Murka’s eyes narrowed as he watched the circle unfold without moving.
The blind man’s voice came from the other side once more.
“I’m not trying to stop you, I just…don’t want the commotion in here to get out of hand.”
The blind man adjusted the bandage over his eye and said, “I hope not.”
There was a strange tension in the forest as night fell and the flames of the final battle were already burning.
Zetto slowly scanned the faces of the demons around him.
‘Dozens of Albed’s minions…No sign of Echis… Did they bring the drakkir with them?’
The numbers were large, but not overwhelming and there was no sign of any variation.
It was the kind of force he’d expected.
In that moment, Zetto thought.
‘If I do this right…’
Maybe he wouldn’t die.