I swear. I will become the guardian of the Nine Worlds. I will do my utmost to protect everyone.
The Prophet and I locked eyes.
Once, our eyes had the same color. Now, they were different.
We had both experienced different times and had finally changed. The emotions and goals reflected in our eyes were no longer the same.
You and I were now different people. Though our eyes met for only a moment, I could tell immediately.
“…” “…”
Surprisingly, there was no overwhelming turmoil.
I had been worried that, with how much Pingchang had fallen recently, I might end up weeping, saying, “I can’t kill another version of myself, boo-hoo…” But instead, my heart grew cold and indifferent.
‘I am not Kang Jinsu; I am Clara.’
And so, I found it remarkably easy to oppose him. In fact, because we were somewhat similar, anger erupted within me all the more swiftly.
Because he was another version of me, It was so easy to hate him.
No, it wasn’t even hot hatred.
It was merely a sense of duty, like finding a pest that needed exterminating. A dull, gray malice boiled up inside me.
‘Because of you… because of you…!’
Everyone was in danger. The correct path to rescue my seniors had vanished.
The fact that this cancerous entity, trying to ruin everything I loved, was another version of ‘me’ was so repulsive I could hardly stand it.
It felt like seeing a cockroach mimic my voice as it scuttled around my home. I couldn’t bear the existence of it.
‘Here, I must…!’
In the midst of our fall, I blasted ether from my feet like a rocket.
Boom—!!
Pink energy burst forth, altering the direction of my fall. I easily closed the distance to the rapidly approaching green yew tree.
I drove my greatsword into the tree, twisting my body to prevent Anna from getting hurt, which only increased the destructive force.
Scrrrrrape—!!
‘Damn…!’
Though I crudely jammed the greatsword into the tree, it was difficult to halt the speed of my fall immediately.
The force threatened to split the tree in two. I scraped down the tree's surface for tens of meters before finally coming to a stop.
Anna, who had been held in my arms, poked her head out and muttered.
“Where did that wolf’s head come from?” “…”
Its appearance had been so far beyond expectation that I hadn’t connected the dots yet. But the only beast god the Prophet wielded, apart from the dragon, was the [Wolf Who Desires Vengeance].
“First the serpent, then the eagle… and now the wolf.” “…Right. Which means the more it’s wounded, the stronger it becomes.”
Anna nodded, understanding immediately. One good thing about cults was that their members read the doctrines so often that they instantly recognized mythological references.
In fact, while that guy’s power was straightforward—‘the more it’s hit, the stronger it becomes’—it was far simpler compared to the snake’s ability to ‘impart knowledge.’
The loser had brought a power that was a perfect match for his own character.
“Up we go.”
Anna slipped out of my grasp and landed gracefully.
As expected of a [Unique Ether] wielder, She quickly and stably regained her posture. But as she looked up, her expression turned disheartened.
“It’s going to be tough to climb back up.” “…Yeah.”
We readied ourselves and looked up at where we had fallen from.
“…” “…”
The top of the ladder of trees that had reached the sky was now far away. The place where the Prophet had shattered the tree trunk with the wolf’s jaws was well over a hundred meters above us.
Even stopping where we had was only possible by exerting immense pressure on the platform. The greatsword that Rota had created for me was deeply embedded in the tree.
‘I won’t be able to use it anymore.’
The condition of the tree ladder created by [Yggdrasil] wasn’t great either.
It had been hastily woven together, An ether skill made just for climbing.
The green ether-formed trees made unstable sounds. The trees were already thin for their height and began swaying like bamboo.
Rumble—
Anna tapped the ground with her booted foot and shook her head. She was calm even in the midst of the shaking.
“At this rate, it’ll collapse soon. We should just climb again…”
That’s when it happened.
My rainbow-colored vision flickered, sending a warning.
I saw a black robe standing behind us. It was directly behind Anna. The vision ended with the image of a hand reaching out toward her.
That bastard.
‘This loser is really testing my patience…!’
I rushed behind Anna, prepared to land a punch on the Prophet’s face as soon as he appeared. Pink ether coiled around my fist like a spiral heart.
Sssssst—!!
There wasn’t time to prepare a full [Pink Lemon Sorbet], but a quick minor copy would do the job.
Whoooosh—!
Sensing the attack, Anna was startled.
“…Which way?! Clara, what are you doing?!” “Stay still—☆”
The rainbow-colored vision slowly faded as a black crack formed. As expected, the Prophet’s figure appeared in that exact spot.
Swoosh—!
His form seemed to be wrapped in shadows. It looked like his robe had some sort of space-warping magic attached. If that was the case, this bastard would definitely appear behind us.
‘When he disappears, I’ll strike from behind—!’
If he dodges, I’ll prepare a second attack from behind. If he takes the hit, I’ll mount him and smash his skull in.
His actions were predictable, so I could easily plan several moves ahead.
I watched the Prophet slowly reach out toward Anna in slow motion. But I had already aimed at his face several seconds before.
My punch, starting from the past, predicted the present. My fist, wrapped in a spiral of pink ether, flew toward the Prophet.
Boom—!!!
My punch landed squarely on the Prophet’s face. The sound of the impact reverberated through the air, delivering undeniable physical force.
The Prophet’s mouth opened, And the air was forced out of his lungs in pain.
“Ugh—!”
I could see his face contort as bones and flesh crunched together. I felt the rough texture of his stubble against my knuckles.
It was disgusting.
“…?!”
Even as the Prophet took the punch, he stared at me with wide eyes, shocked by my preemptive strike. His mouth gaped as he frantically fluttered his robe.
Whatever it was, if it wasn’t just for show, the fluttering of his robe seemed to be his condition for activating the wolf’s head.
‘Did he have wolf’s head stew or something?’
I instinctively twisted the Prophet’s arm and yanked him toward me. The sudden force caused his arm to bend backward, the muscles around his shoulder blade twisting and tearing.
Crack—
“Kuhh…!”
The sickening sound of his shoulder dislocating echoed. From a distance, it might have looked like two lovers about to kiss. But there was no more effective way to restrain someone.
So, we could now look each other directly in the eyes, closer than ever before. The emotion in the Prophet’s eyes was one of bewilderment.
“Yep♪ That’s a no—☆” “You…?! This ‘Clara’ is like this…?! How on earth did you develop like this?!”
With love and friendship.
“Oh dear~ Do you have time to talk?☆ A girl’s anger is scary, you know☆” “Kuh…?!” “You haven’t even shaved, your nails are dirty… and your hair is a mess—☆ I don’t like adults like you—☆”
The fact that I used to look like this disgusted me.
‘…I suppose he would feel disgusted seeing how much I’ve changed too.’
My speech had become strange. I’d swapped out the cast of characters. Even my tastes had changed to all things pink.
Does he know that ‘I’ am ‘me’?
“…”
Judging by his expression, he didn’t seem to know. He was just frozen in shock at the drastically changed appearance of ‘Clara.’
‘In that case, die without knowing.’
Crack—
I tightened my grip, And the arm I had seized snapped in three places. Blood vessels burst, and bruises bloomed under the skin.
Crunch—
At this point, an ordinary person would have been sobbing uncontrollably, their vision blurred by tears and snot. But I knew from experience that this was not the case.
The Prophet bit his lower lip and stared at me with bloodshot eyes. With unwavering resolve, he analyzed me with his sharp gaze.
“…”
Upon closer inspection, his healing speed was similar to that of the academy’s high school girls. Given that he had zero chance of being a high school girl, he must have received some external power boost.
‘In that case, let’s knock him out before he can use it.’
No matter what he was planning, hitting him would solve the problem.
I slammed him down to the ground. The force of the impact echoed like an explosion.
Boom—!
If he were an ordinary person, He would have been reduced to a bloody pulp. But the Prophet withstood the sheer physical force.
‘So, you’ve been through something too.’
But that doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve been meaning to kill you for quite some time now.
Boom!
The impact felt similar to that of a <Ratatosk> cultist. The more
I hit him, the more I felt like I was discovering this guy’s weaknesses.
I climbed on top of the Prophet, pinning him down, and started pounding my fists into him. I swung with all my might, beyond the limits of reason, driven by the single-minded desire to smash his head.
From the outside, all that would be visible would be the afterimages of my fists.
Thwack, thwack, thwack—!
To Anna, it would probably look like I had pinned down the Prophet in a matter of seconds and was beating him senseless. I could sense her, startled, aiming her bow from behind.
But that didn’t matter anymore.
I’m going to kill him.
Just kill him.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Die.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
With each punch, his skin peeled away, With each punch, his bones crumbled, With each punch, blood splattered.
Die.
Disappear.
Vanish from my world.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“Huff… huff…!” “…”
The Prophet’s face had turned into something that resembled a red, blood-soaked dough, but I felt like he might suddenly regenerate, so I kept pounding him, having lost all sense of reason.
With each punch, a burst of blood splattered onto my face.
‘Please!’
Smash!
‘Don’t do anything!’
Smash!
‘Just die!!’
Smash!
At that moment, I heard Anna’s voice behind me.
“Clara—!!” [You crazy bastard!! You came to save me, but you’re getting beaten up?!]
Above us, the dragonfly had already recovered from its wounds and was diving at us. Anna’s arrows tried to intercept it, but it was descending too fast for her to stop.
In that instant, I managed to form a small [Pink Lemon Sorbet] on my fist.
Vroooom—!!
Die…!
Boom! Boom!
I struck his already mangled face with the crude, drill-like force of the rotating ether, grinding it to the point where there was no form left.
Die—!
Don’t interfere with me anymore!!
[Kraaah!! Damn—!!]
And then, the dragonfly’s main body crashed down on us.
Boom—!!
The giant dragonfly slammed into us with a body slam. Dust exploded everywhere, and the already unstable tree trunk shook violently.
We were sent plummeting to the ground.
Even as we fell, I continued to clutch the Prophet by the throat, raining down punches on him endlessly. Though his body was now barely recognizable as human, my instincts screamed that he was still a threat.
I didn’t even bother to brace for the impact of the fall. I was completely focused on killing the Prophet.
As soon as the fall ended, my vision rapidly turned black.
Boom—!!
The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was the dust billowing up in front of me.
… … …
I staggered to my feet in the now-silent battlefield.
Seconds? Minutes? I had no idea how much time had passed.
“…” “…”
And in front of me… He was still standing.
‘Stubborn bastard.’
The Prophet stood there, as if his shattered limbs had been stitched back together with black thread, looking less and less human.
With his torn mouth hanging open, he spoke in a raspy voice.
“…Clara.” “Why are you trying to be friendly—☆” “You’ve grown… stronger than I ever imagined.” “What do you know about me☆ How dare you judge—♪” “…A character raised by a possessor.” “…”
You know nothing.
But a possessor?
Who?
‘Don’t tell me…’
A chilling realization crept over me.