Chapter 101

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on February 8, 2025

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“It’s not that the prophecy went astray. Look. The Demon King and the Warrior, don’t they both still exist over there just fine?”

Rupert, who had been peeking at the scene through the Spirit Demon’s eyes from within the dark stone chamber, trembled.

His snake-like, eerie eyes were bloodshot to an extreme degree.

Eventually…

The Black Star has been resurrected.

At first, he was thought to become the successor of Grandeous as a being who was both Demon King and Warrior.

But everything went completely off predictions.

When the clueless boy pulled out the sword, it was filled with despair.

And when Carriel fell into a near-death state, that despair only deepened.

But why is Elbat radiating light like a Sacred Sword?

Isn’t that thing absolutely a Sacred Sword?

Where did it all go wrong?

Prophecies and examples can’t possibly be incorrect.

Though doubts surged up,

the results ultimately exceeded expectations, yielding even more fruitful outcomes than hoped for.

“The question is why he intervened so one-sidedly in that fight.”

Uthserph, who had similarly borrowed a perspective to observe the scene, offered another opinion.

“What was that guy thinking when he stepped in to stop their battle? And… I’m suspicious if this will truly end like this.”

“What are you trying to say, Uthserph?”

“…Nothing much. Just that if our intervention is delayed, things might go awry. That’s all I wanted to say.”

Setting aside the re-emergence of the Black Star for now,

wasn’t the owner of this power almost dead just moments ago?

Still, if his condition suddenly improved, isn’t that strange?

Maybe…

This is like the last flare of a torch before dying out.

That’s what Uthserph hinted at with his unease.

Though his partner was chasing prophecies and glimpses, losing some grasp on reality,

Uthserph himself was different.

Within the Relief Knights, the only one who truly faced reality was Uthserph himself.

====

Who said it?

Miracles begin with the powerful first step and are completed with the final step taken when you’re about to give up.

The sight of the great calamity, which seemed ready to consume and overturn the world, vanishing in an instant,

instilled an indescribable sense of awe in everyone who witnessed it.

However, the next thing that arose was doubt, suspicion, and questions.

Why did he stop it? Why did he block it?

Isn’t this like trying to prevent something significant?

If he had leaned toward either side and used the miraculous power he just displayed against the opponent,

whether Warrior or Demon King, one of them would undoubtedly have met their end.

But he interfered and twisted the development where both could perish or one suffer a devastating defeat.

“Ca-ri-el!”

Because the sight was so hateful.

Here was someone who couldn’t be forgiven.

Every emotion swirled in the steps approaching Carriel, who had collapsed but still stood upright despite staggering.

Though her composed face had become disheveled from the chaos, her blonde hair and piercing eyes still clearly revealed her presence.

Through those clear eyes…

What she held was unmistakable resentment mixed with unerasable hatred—a chaotic mix.

Walking forward with a sword in hand, anyone would see how precarious and intensely hostile her aura was.

“If you were pretending, I wouldn’t say anything, but you’re real, aren’t you? Living like this, your life won’t last long.”

Though the tone sounded worried,

why was she approaching him, gripping the sword with both hands while crouched down?

As if she were about to strike immediately.

With anger and sorrow,

she raised her sword high.

Beneath it, Carriel faintly looked up at Aiseus with dim eyes.

“So does it matter if I die now? Since I’ll end up dying pointlessly somewhere anyway, it’s fine if you take my last breath, right?”

The desire in his blue eyes was tinged with incomprehensible madness.

What should this be called?

While we don’t know what emotions, thoughts, or resolutions led to this decision,

it’s certain that she wasn’t in her right mind either.

“You crazy bitch!”

Had Venus been just a little late, the nearly dead man would have definitely turned into a corpse.

Thanks to Venus knocking away Aiseus’ sword and pushing her aside, fortunately, Carriel remained unharmed.

“When will you fix your habit of getting angry for no reason?”

“What do you mean? Do you want to die? Why are you picking a fight with me? This is between me and Carriel! Why are you interfering?!”

“Shut up. Did you think I’d agree with every tantrum thrown by a crazy woman? Even bratty kids aren’t this bad.”

“Hey, why are you talking like that? After all these years of me teaching and guiding you, are you planning to repay kindness with enmity?”

“…So then, when will you stop ignoring someone trying to kill innocents unnecessarily? Was that repaying kindness?”

“Hey?! That doesn’t suit you! Aren’t you the type who enjoys killing people like me? Why are you pretending to be good all of a sudden? Aren’t you the hypocrite here?”

“You’re impossible to reason with.”

Suddenly preparing themselves as if they were about to fight each other, Aiseus and Venus.

“What… is going on here?”

Luciri, clutching her abdomen and coughing while holding the potion given by Louilin, caught her breath.

What’s happening?

Why is Leo standing so dumbfounded?

That damn witch? Demon King?

Anyway, that damn woman—why does she look so flustered?

In the direction of their gazes, someone who had quietly fallen nearby lay grasping a sword.

“Did you see what happened?”

“I just woke up too.”

Not only that, Deyk’s condition was also critical, and she had just handed him a potion.

At least he was conscious, though unable to move properly due to injuries to his lower body.

Instead, it seemed he had observed the entire situation while holding onto consciousness.

Deyk stumbled closer, sat down near them, and muttered self-deprecatingly with a bewildered expression.

“I don’t know what I saw either.”

The sky split open, and light filled the world, yet a storm raged as if it could swallow it all.

And at the moment of collision—or rather, immediately after—the black pillar rose, and everything that had been shaking and breaking the world vanished instantly.

How do you even explain this?

Calling it a miracle feels strange.

Calling it divine seems astronomical.

No, is this even correct?

“Hey, why are those weirdos from the Relief Knights suddenly fighting?”

Luciri, leaning her neck on Louilin’s knee and stomach, asked this question while watching the two wildly fighting after barely managing to sit up.

Even now, their combat style was far from normal warriors or gladiators.

Their unique techniques might allow for such differences,

but perhaps because both use similar special methods, their fights are intense yet peculiar.

They clash violently, but when locked together, it looks like swords, hands, legs, and bodies intertwine alternately, quite unusual.

It almost looks like wrestling while standing if they weren’t wielding swords.

However, the skill disparity was evident.

“Kuh!”

Venus, having dropped her sword first, was sprawled on the ground.

“To come clinging to someone who’s my senior, mentor, and teacher goes against proper order, you ungrateful brat.”

“…”

“At least try using the strength you had when you drank milk as a kid. Can you really do nothing better with that sturdy body of yours? With that attitude, how will you ever have kids?”

“…You crazy bitch.”

“Your language skills are low-grade too. You’re stuck at this level because of the words you can manage. You idiot.”

“Crazy bitch. Are you in any position to say that when you hang around with kids?”

“There you go again.”

However, the winner was already decided.

Even though Venus didn’t seem injured, she struggled to maintain her balance, likely hit somewhere vital.

Mocking him, Aiseus headed back toward Carriel with her sword.

Yet strangely…

“Have you regained your senses?”

Though swaying, Carriel was somehow standing on his own.

Perfect timing.

Had it been a few seconds later, she would have surely decapitated him.

“Didn’t I tell you long ago? To live selfishly. Not altruistically. Don’t tie yourself to devotion.”

“…Did I?”

“Don’t pretend you forgot. I can tell by looking at your eyes. You remember, don’t you? With that sharp mind, there’s no way you could forget. Yeah, that’s right! Who knows what’s in your heart? You’ve always been confusing since you were young, so what now?”

Apparently, Aiseus was still overestimating Carriel.

This overestimation probably wasn’t hers alone.

Everyone who dealt with him must have done the same…

Still unclear even now.

“…I don’t understand what your complaint is.”

“I told you! Stop doing good deeds for others!”

“Why are you so involved and angry about it?”

“What am I supposed to do about being angry?!”

She vented her anger like a moody girl, yet her intentions and purposes were very impure and unclear.

Something is definitely off.

Since ancient times, geniuses have often existed in realms that common sense can’t easily judge.

This falls into that category, probably.

This isn’t something easily understood by simply peeking into her memories.

Actually, if you tried to understand, it wouldn’t be difficult.

Only…

Even if you understand and empathize,

accepting and following it is another matter entirely.

“If I want to do this as myself, what’s the problem with that?”

“…Still the tyrant’s logic. As long as you’re fine, others’ thoughts and feelings don’t matter, right?”

“Why does it lead to that?”

“Carriel! Look! Those two stupidly standing there! One just pulled out the Sacred Sword! The other is determined to walk the bloody path as a Demon King! What have you done now? You’ve shoved mud water into both of their mouths! Right now, you’ve turned the new myth they were writing into nothing with your massive presence. Does that make any sense to you? What do you even see human history as?”

“…Still spouting incomprehensible nonsense.”

The original topic had long deviated, and the point of her anger had shifted again.

“You crazy bitch is spewing nonsense again.”

Though Venus finally managed to steady herself, she still appeared barely able to stand.

Nevertheless, her fighting spirit remained undiminished.

Is this an immortal? Or does he have monstrous tenacity?

Even Carriel had to acknowledge this point.

Ultimately, it’s due to his innate physical prowess and the strong willpower that developed it.

“Hey?! You two! Are you ending it here?! There was a reason for you to fight each other to the death, wasn’t there? Now you’re just letting it go? That’s unacceptable!”

At Aiseus’ shout, Minette and Leo snapped out of their panic.

Perhaps to them, the miraculous result Carriel had just created was beyond imagination.

However, the battle wasn’t over yet.

“…”

What a pointless act.

Carriel frowned.

“How can you understand the feelings of a warrior who lost the battlefield of a lifetime?”

“…Yeah. You’re definitely selfish.”

Judging others’ situations based on your own whims, seeing things as you wish, crushing everything underfoot,

and ultimately insisting on creating your own stage.

What made this woman so monster-like?

“In that case, I’ll also live a little selfishly as you suggested.”

The two swords in Carriel’s hands…

But at some point,

they merged into one.

“…What is that?”

Venus saw it.

A sword, yet not quite a sword.

Like something that no light could penetrate, as if made purely from the essence of pitch blackness.

And when it took the shape of a sword,

Venus finally realized.

Elbat wasn’t the Sacred Sword stuck there earlier.

It was… this.

Right, this thing in his hand.

Equal to what Grandeous once wielded.

But it’s different from Grandeous’.

For unknown reasons.

Venus felt this was somehow more fitting.

There was no specific reason,

but he, who had watched it closely all along,

couldn’t help but accept it instinctively.