Chapter 166. Oasis (3)
A conversation with Ugo surfaced in Caron's mind.
It had been on a sunlit day. After completing their training to prepare for the Halo Rebellion, Ugo had lain
on the ground, gazing at the sky as he spoke.
"I'll die after you, Commander. And then I'll carry your coffin across the continent. You've never even had the chance to travel properly, have you? All I have left is strength, so just leave it to me."
His voice had been flat, devoid of emotion. That was just how Ugo had always been; he never displayed much emotion and always stood silently at the back. And yet, he had a habit of dropping the strangest remarks out of nowhere, making him an odd and amusing character.
At the same time, he was one of the knights who had chosen to stay in the Imperial Palace, prepared to die alongside his Commander.
After meeting Kerra, Caron had spent a great deal of time thinking about what he would say when he finally reunited with the others. Unlike Kerra, who had learned the truth from the World Tree, Ugo and Beatrice wouldn't have known that Caron had been reincarnated. He had looked forward to surprising them, teasing them even.
But at this moment, he realized how foolish that hope had been. Life could be cruel sometimes. Just like now.
"...Ugo," Caron called out his name as he tightened his grip on Guillotine.
He had no idea where to begin. Something roiled inside him, rising like a tide. Even he himself wasn't sure if it was anger, or sorrow. But one thing was certain.
"I'm sorry I came too late," Caron said.
It was guilt. Beneath the tangled mess of emotions, guilt sat heavy and unmoving.
The comrade who had once stood steadfast at his back in his past life...
Creak.
...now stood before him, unable to find rest.
"Truly... I am sorry." Caron forced out the words and raised his blade. There was nothing else he could say.
Ugo had been alive just six months ago. Caron knew the details from Halo. Kerra, Ugo, and Beatrice had all vanished from surveillance around that time. Caron wondered what had happened since then.
Hisssss...
A dense, malevolent aura of dark mana began seeping from the Death Knight. The moment it touched the stone floor, the ground blackened as if rotting away.
The sight jolted Caron back to reality. He muttered, "...Right. This isn't the time to get lost in thought."
Now wasn't the time to question why Ugo had become a Death Knight.
Whoosh!
Caron unleashed his mana at full force, showing the power of his seven seas. His vast, endless ocean surged outward, rapidly swallowing everything around him.
Kerra had said that Ugo was also at 8-Star. Caron wondered if Ugo was also standing at the pinnacle of 8-Star like Kerra.
Ugo's hair was stark white. His skin, tainted by dark mana, had turned an ashen hue, yet the wrinkles on his face remained, unhidden. Perhaps, like Halo, he had chosen to let himself appear aged.
There was no way to determine his true strength without clashing blades. But knowing that he had reached 8-Star alone was already enough to make this fight daunting for Caron.
Even so, his purpose remained simple and clear. He had to grant Ugo peace. Nothing else mattered.
"Let's see what you've got," Caron said, forcing a weary smile as he beckoned Ugo forward with a flick of his fingers.
Fwoosh!
As if Ugo had been waiting for Caron to finish preparing, in the blink of an eye, he closed the distance and swung his blade.
If I meet him head-on, I'll lose, Caron thought.
Ugo's first attack was a straightforward vertical slash. The trajectory was easy to read, but the technique within was anything but simple.
Crack.
The massive sword devoured everything in its path. Its powerful suction force pinned Caron in place, rendering him unable to move.
Pluto. Caron swiftly activated Pluto's ability.
Sssshhh.
Caron sank into the ground in an instant, then erupted from Ugo's shadow a heartbeat later.
Boom!
Ugo's blade slammed into the spot where Caron had been, shattering the ground with an explosive sound.
The sheer volume of the blast was deafening, but Caron paid it no mind as he swung Guillotine.
Thud.
Caron's blade stabbed toward Ugo's right chest, but Ugo twisted his body with beast-like reflexes, deflecting the attack with his shoulder guard.
Caron didn't falter. Immediately, he poured mana into his sword.
Crunch.
A storm of mana churned inside Ugo's body. Oceanwolf Sword Arts Form 6: Maelstrom tore into Ugo's flesh, which was harder than iron. The lion-headed shoulder guard warped under the force of the attack.
If Ugo were still a human, he would have writhed in agony. But as a Death Knight, he barely reacted.
Crack.
Ugo grabbed hold of Guillotine, his grip like an iron vice, and drove a powerful kick toward Caron's abdomen.
There was no time for Caron to dodge. Not even Pluto could save him now.
Crunch.
The brutal impact crushed Caron's armor.
"Ugh!" Blood spurted from his lips as Guillotine slipped from his grasp.
The force of the blow sent Caron hurtling into the air, but Ugo didn't stop there.
Screech!
With an ear-splitting metallic screech, he wrenched his bastard sword free from the ground and lunged toward Caron.
A black moon formed at the tip of his blade, then a crescent slash, vast as a full moon, erupted forth. It devoured all light in its path, and Ugo concealed himself behind his blade.
It was Imperial Sword Form 6: Moonlight.
Ugo's moon was just like him: A single, immense crescent that completely hid his massive frame as it rushed toward Caron.
Caron stared at the approaching moon and smirked. He thought, You stubborn fool. You haven't changed a bit.
He had faced this attack countless times in his previous life.
Every swordsman wielded Moonlight differently, but they all followed the same principle—hiding behind the crescent to strike at their opponent's throat.
Some conjured multiple moons, but Ugo had always forged just one. No matter how many times Caron pointed out his simplicity, Ugo had never changed his stance.
A memory of words Ugo had once spoken surfaced.
"The moon is beautiful because there is only one."
Though this moon was now blackened by dark mana, it was far greater than the one Ugo had crafted over fifty years ago. His entire life, his struggles, his battles—it was all reflected in that crescent.
Ugo had always been steadfast. And with that unwavering resolve, he didn't change himself.
Instead, he changed his opponent. That was Ugo's sword.
Caron lifted his head, his gaze tracking Ugo's movements. Finding him wasn't difficult—not when Guillotine was still embedded in his body.
Ugo was hiding on the lower right side of the moon. Just as it had been fifty years ago, that was where he was.
"Pluto, I'm counting on you," Caron said.
Meow!
Pluto conjured a small foothold in midair, and Caron immediately stepped onto it. Then, with all his might, he kicked off toward the spot where Ugo lay in wait.
Whoosh.
A dark blue flash streaked toward the black moon.
That moon itself was a blade, capable of slicing through anything it touched. But Caron, his body wrapped in mana, leaped toward it without hesitation.
No matter how sharp the crescent was, there was one place within it that remained safe.
Ugo's hiding spot, Caron thought.
It was the place where Ugo lurked, waiting for the perfect moment to end his opponent's life in a single stroke. That was the only sanctuary.
Without a hint of doubt, Caron stretched out his body toward the lower right of the moon. This wasn't a matter of trusting his own judgment. It was a matter of trusting Ugo's steadfast nature.
And that trust was rewarded.
There it is, Caron thought as he stepped onto another foothold summoned by Pluto and twisted his body.
Fwoosh!
Caron narrowly avoided Ugo's bastard sword as it came slicing toward his neck. That precise evasive maneuver created the smallest of openings.
"Owner!" Guillotine called out.
Caron seized the moment, reclaiming Guillotine from where it had been lodged in Ugo's shoulder.
Thud.
"Ha," Caron exhaled softly as he landed on the ground.
A thin trickle of blood slid down his neck. Perhaps it was from the sheer force of the sword's wind pressure.
Fortunately, it wasn't a deep wound.
"Owner, listen carefully, and don't be alarmed," Guillotine's voice echoed in his mind.
"Speak fast. We don't have time," Caron said.
A moment later, Guillotine delivered a shocking revelation.
"That human... He's still alive," Guillotine said.
"...What?" Caron asked.
"He's slowly dying, but he's clinging onto life!" Guillotine said.
What Guillotine had brought him was hope.
***
It felt like a long dream. Ugo couldn't tell if it was a nightmare or a pleasant dream.
Since he couldn't quite remember the details, he decided to believe it had been a good dream.
"—Up."
Ugo heard a voice. He realized that someone was calling for him to wake up.
He tried to open his eyes, but no matter how much he struggled, the darkness wouldn't lift. It was as if someone had spilled thick black ink over his vision.
"Get up... I said get up, you dumb bastard!"
Ugo heard the voice again. At least his hearing seemed to be intact.
A voice echoed persistently in his ears—young, yet strangely familiar. The owner of that voice was panting heavily, gasping for breath.
Ugo wondered what could possibly be so exhausting. Not knowing anything only made the frustration worse.
Ah, Ugo thought. His memories were a jumbled mess. He had no idea where he was or why he was here. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was swinging a sword.
My body won't move the way I want it to, Ugo thought. He felt powerless. It felt as if he was trapped in his own body, yet it no longer belonged to him.
A relentless, murderous intent weighed down on his mind. It was an overwhelming urge to kill the enemy in front of him that consumed his entire being.
Thud.
Ugo felt a blade pierce his flesh. Pain flared from his right thigh, spreading like fire.
I'm fighting again, he thought. Most of his fragmented memories were of battles. He couldn't even tell if they were from a distant past or something recent.
Thud.
A blade stabbed into him again. This time, it was in his left forearm.
He didn't know who his opponent was, but one thing was certain. They were deliberately avoiding his vital points.
Why? Ugo wondered. It was confusing.
The precise, non-lethal strikes, and—
"You clueless idiot! I'm seriously about to die! Okay?! I'm sorry I was late! It's my fault! Just snap out of it already!" someone called out. That desperate voice pleaded with everything it had.
Ugo suddenly realized something was surging into him through the sword.
It was mana. A foreign yet strangely familiar mana was coursing through his entire body at a rapid pace.
After a while, little by little, Ugo's pitch-black vision began to clear. And through the haze, he saw a young man.
One glance was enough to tell the latter was gravely injured. His right shoulder was so torn open that his bone was visible. And yet, despite his wounds, he kept charging forward. There was something utterly desperate about the way he fought.
...Why? Ugo wondered what was driving this young man to such extremes.
"You bastard, you're already awake, aren't you?! You're just pretending not to be! Damn it, Kerra was like this too! And now you?! Why the hell is everyone so determined to make my life miserable?! I took good care of you, didn't I?!" the young man screamed furiously.
Even with his body battered and broken, he stubbornly drove his sword forward. Each time that dark blue blade stabbed into Ugo, new wounds appeared on the young man as well.
But Ugo noticed something. Every time that sword struck him, his own control was gradually returning. The haze clouding his mind was lifting. And as it did, a sense of familiarity washed over him. He felt a strange but undeniable relief at the sight of the young man before him.
It was a face he had never seen before. But Ugo knew with absolute certainty—
This was the person he had been waiting for all this time.
So, with great effort, he forced out a hoarse whisper.
"Com... mander...?" Ugo asked. His voice, unused for so long, was cracked and broken.
He barely managed to say a single word, but that was enough.
"Yes, it's me, you bastard," Caron said.
Bloodied and battered, he managed a weary smile as he met Ugo's gaze.