Chapter 275

Sivar, with his purple eyes gleaming. Luna had seen this scene not just in dreams but in reality.

There was that time when she treated the document like a candy and fed it to Sivar. At that moment, Sivar did indeed have those purple eyes for a fleeting moment.

At first, I thought I might have seen it wrong, but Rod also felt an ominous presence and drew his sword.

Back then, I felt nothing at all, oblivious to it, but now, that’s completely different.

The sense of dread was so overwhelming that it barely needed description.

Thud—

Sivar took a single step forward. Just one step, yet it felt as if a mountain was closing in on me.

Unconsciously, Luna took a step back, startled. Rather than being afraid of Sivar, I should have been worrying about Duke.

As that thought crossed my mind, my gaze automatically shifted toward Duke. With his fluffy appearance, it was hard to read his expression.

But the way he was trembling slightly indicated that he too was feeling similar pressure.

‘What… what happens now?’

I had no clue how Sivar would react. Honestly, it would be better if he just went berserk like last time.

It’s like the calm before the storm; no, it’s worse than that—it’s a disaster waiting to happen.

Would that disaster come for me, or would it head for Duke? As Luna was deep in thought, she heard—

“Th-the brilliance of life will—!”

Duke seemed to snap back to reality and spoke. I couldn’t understand what he was saying because the language was different.

However, judging by the bright aura surrounding him, it was definitely a divine spell.

As soon as Luna saw it, she gasped and rushed to stop it. The situation was already perilous.

What Duke was about to do was akin to crushing the hand of someone hanging off a cliff. The problem was that the one doing the crushing was Sivar.

It was as if Sivar’s very life depended on it, and yet he was about to commit madness.

“I will punish you!”

Boom!

Luna tried to intervene, but she was already too late. Words travel faster than actions.

As soon as Duke finished his incantation, a pillar of blinding light descended upon Sivar’s head.

Unlike a simple binding spell, this seemed to be an offensive spell, as the pillar was literally crashing down.

“S-Sivar!”

Luna rushed toward the pillar in a panic, but Sivar was nowhere to be seen—completely crushed by the pillar, perhaps.

Instead, it seemed as though her hand passed right through it.

Zzap!

“Ah! Hot!”

But that was as far as it went; as soon as Luna reached in, the pain hit her like a lightning bolt. She stared at the pillar with a shocked expression.

If an ordinary person felt that much pain, how much more would Sivar suffer?

‘Is Sivar… really going to die?’

Luna’s once pale face turned an unhealthy shade of blue. The idea of Sivar dying was unimaginable.

He always came back from every injury, regenerating perfectly. But this time, he had taken a direct hit from the pillar of light.

Why was this happening? In a daze, she heard a cry ringing in her ears.

“Oh, Gaia! Thank you for allowing me to smite that demon!!”

“…”

Was it because of Duke? Yes, Duke indeed committed this act.

However, Duke’s certainty stemmed from… his earlier slip of the tongue.

He had just casually mentioned how Sivar was a demon, and Duke had heard that.

After hearing it, he had attacked without hesitation. Luna clenched her lips tight.

‘…This isn’t right.’

There had been several moments of hesitation acknowledging that Sivar was a demon’s descendant. It was something to contemplate for the future.

But dying like this was unacceptable. Dying simply because he was a demon’s descendant was too unfair.

Sivar was good. It was wrong for a good person to die solely because of their lineage.

Luna glared at Duke, who was grinning with glee. One thing was certain.

Duke was in the wrong; he was a person who committed evil deeds with misguided beliefs.

‘He might still be alive. I need to extinguish that light pillar.’

Divine spells are known to dissipate if the caster’s concentration wavers. Otherwise, they would faint.

But focusing on breaking his concentration was the priority right now. Luna gripped her sword tightly, displaying her hostility.

Just as she prepared to charge at Duke with a mindset entirely different from before—

Zzap! Zzap!

A loud noise echoed from the light pillar, reaching Luna’s ears. She hesitated, looking at the pillar.

“Huh…?”

Something was slowly emerging from the light pillar. It looked like a hand, but the sight was truly horrifying.

The skin was peeled back, revealing raw, bloody flesh, and in several spots, bone was visible.

Even people who had been burned alive didn’t look this bad. It was as if they had been doused in acid.

Slither—Slither—

The more astonishing thing was the recovery ability. As soon as it emerged from the light pillar, that gruesome hand swiftly regenerated.

Initially, the divine power of Gaia rendered Sivar’s regeneration meaningless. It had slowed down to a crawl.

But that was no longer the case. For reasons unknown, his regeneration was much faster than before.

“Ugaah.”

Before long, Sivar’s face started to emerge. His hair was burnt away, and his face was as disfigured as his hands.

At first, he looked as horrid as any corpse that had decayed beyond recognition. But even that did not last long; everything was regenerating.

Eventually, Sivar’s whole body emerged from the light pillar, rapidly recovering. Luna stared in disbelief.

“S-Sivar? Are you okay?”

“Yeah… I’m fine…”

Like a mechanic fitting parts, Sivar lifted his dislocated jaw with his hands.

Then, he glared at Duke with those purple eyes shining. Duke flinched and stepped back.

“Oh, Life! This demon—”

Duke had barely begun to recite the divine spell again when—

Ping!

“—to… To die!!”

Sivar picked up a rock from the ground and hurled it at Duke. Miraculously, the stone lodged perfectly in Duke’s mouth.

His teeth shattered, leaving him unable to chant any more spells. Immediately, Sivar charged at Duke.

Thud!

Was his body still not fully recovered? As Sivar ran, he stumbled and fell flat on his face.

It was a somewhat comical scene, but considering his state, that thought was misplaced.

He had only just begun to recover, so walking was still tough. But he crawled toward Duke with sheer determination.

“L-Light… Gack! Hack!”

Duke spat out shattered teeth and rock from his mouth. His throat was probably severely hurt, given he was clutching it.

He was well aware that Sivar was coming for him. But his body simply wouldn’t respond.

That purple gaze. He was completely dominated by those eyes, his will overshadowed, like prey before a predator.

“Hey.”

“Uhhh…!”

Finally, Sivar stood before Duke. Steam was rising from his body as a sign of recovery.

Duke could barely even take a step back, staring in fear. His trembling eyes contrasted starkly with Sivar’s mineral-like gaze.

“It hurts.”

Sivar said and then—

Crack!!

Sivar’s fist slammed into Duke’s cheek. Luna watched that entire scene unfold.

But something felt off. Normally, a punch wouldn’t sound like that; it should have made more of a thud.

The sound just now was less like a punch hitting flesh and more like something tearing apart. Luna approached, half curious, half afraid.

Duke lay on the ground, trembling, while Sivar stared at him with an impassive expression.

Then, when Luna checked Duke’s face lying defeated on the ground—

“Ugh…!”

She gasped in horror. She’d seen animal carcasses countless times.

But she had never laid eyes on a human corpse. Especially not one in such a grotesque state.

Of course, Duke wasn’t dead. He was in a state barely distinguishable from death.

“Cough… Cough…”

His jaw was completely ripped apart. His mouth gaped wide open, flesh torn back to reveal bone.

The wound started from the cheek where Sivar had punched him. If left untreated like this, death was certain.

But Sivar didn’t seem satisfied with just that. He lifted his leg and came crashing down.

Crunch!

“Aaaahhh!!!”

Sivar’s foot pulverized Duke’s shin. The sound of bones breaking was accompanied by a painful scream.

With a shattered jaw and leg, survival in the wilderness would be impossible. Not even Gaia’s divine power could help him now.

Considering what Duke had done, this could even be called “mercy,” except for the blatant brutality.

Swish—

Sivar lifted his foot once more. This time, it was aimed at Duke’s head.

Luna gasped in shock and urgently called out his name.

“S-Sivar…!”

Just before that leg was about to come down, Sivar halted immediately upon hearing her call. He turned his head, gazing at her.

His face unreadable, those purple eyes remained unchanged.

“Why?”

“Could you… could you stop there? He’s barely hanging on for life…”

Luna’s voice trembled as she pleaded. In truth, Duke deserved the worst.

If it weren’t for Sivar, she’d have closed her eyes and ignored him. But that was the problem; it was Sivar.

Doing something like this for the first time made her anxious. She feared that if Sivar got too comfortable with harming others, it might lead to a real massacre, just like in her dreams. That future must be avoided at all costs.

“Hmm…”

Perhaps Sivar considered Luna’s words to have merit. He lowered his foot and looked down at Duke.

He seemed to retain an odd strength, even as he foamed at the mouth, clinging to consciousness stubbornly. Quite resilient, indeed.

Usually, people with such resolve survive tenaciously in the wilderness. After a moment’s contemplation, he finally spoke.

“No.”

“What…?”

Snap!

Before Luna could even process her shock, Sivar’s foot came crashing down. Duke’s head caved in like a can.

Duke’s body trembled violently before suddenly falling silent. His head had been completely reduced to mush.

Luna could hardly believe it; this was Sivar’s first act of murder—something she had never wanted to witness. She could only stare in amazement at how he crossed that line.

“S-Sivar…”

Thud!

Before Luna could call his name fully, Sivar’s body collapsed backward.

Luna was startled and tried to catch him, but perhaps he was too heavy; she fell after him.

Then she checked Sivar’s face.

“Ugh…”

“…”

Sivar lay there, eyes closed, peacefully asleep—just as pure as ever.

Luna looked at that face, then turned to glare at Duke. Could it truly be Sivar who had turned Duke into that?

“This… this isn’t good…”

Her voice quivered. It felt like she had failed to prevent something terrible from happening.

But was it really Sivar’s fault? No, it wasn’t. The one who was truly wrong had always been Duke.

But if such experiences were to repeat themselves… it was extremely dangerous, for both Sivar and others.

“…”

Luna found herself deep in thought. How could she navigate this situation?

She needed to hide Sivar’s identity as a demon as much as possible and make sure that, if uncovered, it didn’t end in this kind of resolution.

It was literally a high-stakes tug-of-war. Sivar and Luna were in the same boat, so she couldn’t abandon him.

‘…Ah. That’s it.’

An idea came to her—a way to downplay Sivar’s identity as a demon.

If she could use his reputation as a wild man appropriately, perhaps people wouldn’t see Sivar as a demon but rather more as a wild person.

But for that, she would need considerable ‘persuasion’ skills. Yet, Luna was not confident in her abilities.

‘No, if anything, I can use this…’

Luna fiddled with her lips. Since she lacked confidence, she would need to think it through before she spoke.

Only one thing mattered: treating Sivar as a wild man, not as a demon.

Let’s spread the word to treat him as a complete wild man instead of a demon.

Just as she firmly resolved this in her heart, a message appeared in Luna’s view.

[Faith is increasing!]

“…?”

A message flashed in front of her.

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