Chapter 312

Chapter 312

It didn’t take long for the battle to end. Abel wiped the blood from his sword and spoke.
“When. Are you ready to give up hope?”
No answer came. Only Ronan, who had confronted him to the very end, spat out a curdled stream of blood and made a vague attempt to answer.
“Kerrrrrrrrrrrrr!”
His whole body ached like it was on fire, and the bare flesh beneath his torn clothing bore the marks of Abel’s sword, slashes and stabs.
The wound, dripping with blood, showed no sign of healing. The sword had indeed turned the Savior into a half-wit. Abel winced as he showed me the gash in his side.
“Still, I admire you. Any deeper and it would have been dangerous. I knew you were good, but I didn’t realize it was this good.”
Ronan gritted his teeth. He should have ended it then. He could have driven his blade into the heart of the Bald King if he hadn’t wasted his strength in battle.
“Damn, if only I had time to recover.
It sucked, but there was no turning back time. Ronan muttered an expletive under his breath and gestured disparagingly.
“Fuck you.”
“Hahaha, you’re my nephew, that’s how it should be.”
“Get away from them–whoa, get away from them.”
Ronan snarled, pointing the tip of his sword at him. At Abel’s feet lay the gravely wounded Zaifa and Nabiroze.
The two swordsmen lunged at Abel as the fight began, but were cut down. Zaifa lay unconscious and stunned. Barely raising her head, Nabiroze spoke.
“Lo—an. Run away—.”
Ronan’s lips twisted as he turned to face her. The sight of his bloodied master being trampled by his foe was too much for him to bear with his eyes open… Shit! Ronan shot out a blast of sword energy, knocking Abel back.
“Get your dirty paws off me!”
“Roughness.”
Abel smirked and turned on his heel. Somehow, he’d managed to save his master’s honor, but that didn’t make things any better.
Aside from the two swordsmen, there were countless other powerful people lying around. A series of moans and screams dazed the listener.
[croak—croak—croak–!}
Not far away, Orse writhed in agony. His side, back to his true form, was deeply embedded with a spear carved from his own bone.
Not far away lay the head of the Shadow Archduke. Its fanged mouth slowly snapped open.
[Val—Zach—.】
It was a wonder he was still alive. The shredded bodies were scattered in all directions. I would have followed my brother long ago if I didn’t have seven essences that could revive the dead.
Among the fallen were Navarro and the Dragon King. Despite enduring intense burns, they fought on, but were ultimately defeated. When the first large-scale attack came, their position in the sky proved fatal.
“Lo, Ronan—.”
Asel cried out as he watched the confrontation from afar, his unconscious friends strewn about behind him, including Schlieffen, Marja, and Braum.
“Tsk—tsk—tsk.”
“Hey, here’s some medicine, I don’t want you all to die—huh?”
Iril, relatively unharmed, was running around, tending to the wounded. Adeshan groaned from a gash on his shoulder.
“Damn—.”
They were all huddled together. A hemispherical star, raised by Asher, guarded the five thousand or so men.
It was a force that Adeshan, realizing the odds were stacked against him, had hastily retreated. She shook her head, and a grimace escaped her lips.
“I’m sorry—if only I had been more competent—.”
“Well, don’t say that—.”
Asel shook her head. No one could blame her for trying her best.
In fact, Abel could have torn the veil right then and there if he wanted to, but he didn’t. He didn’t do it out of mercy, but because he wanted to see the despair on their faces for as long as possible.
Everyone on the battlefield knew it, but it sucked that no one could rebel. Having absorbed all the power of the giants, Abel was far more powerful than Ronan had expected.
He, too, had been wounded in the ensuing battle, but all but Ronan’s had healed quickly. Abel, who had suddenly turned his head, spoke with admiration in his voice.
“Ah. You’re the one who surprised me the most today. Alibrihe.”
He didn’t answer, and in the corner of his vision, one by one, limb after limb fell off, Alibrihe gasping for air.
“You—evil bastard—.”
Reduced to rags, Alibrihe’s condition was second only to the Shadow Archduke’s. Right beside him, a dimensional rift gaped open. Abel, staring at the rift, chuckled to himself.
“I never thought I’d create another sealstone identical to the one that trapped Navarordze—I’ll admit it was risky. A moment too late, and we would have been trapped.”
He breathed a sincere sigh of relief. Alibrihe had been so stealthy in her approach that she’d almost been sealed away.
The second sealstone, created from the leftover materials, had the ability to send those swallowed by the first to an isolated dimension. All for naught now, of course.
“I’ll take my time deciding who to put in there. You may rest now.”
“Wait—crack!”
Alibrihe started to say something, but then coughed up blood. The soldiers, all but the remnants of Adeshan’s retreat, lay gravely wounded on the ground. A pure white miasma was growing over their bodies.
“I didn’t mean to kill you now. How weak of me.”
Abel clicked his tongue in pity at the sight; indeed, he had wounded them in such a measured way that they did not die. Apparently, his weakened body could not overcome the injuries.
All the azirang that had escaped from the corpses were being absorbed into Abel’s body. Ronan knew instinctively that these were the souls of those killed by Abel.
‘Son of a bitch. You really have become a giant.’
Crunch. Ronan’s grip on the hilt of his sword made a crunching sound. It seemed more fitting to kill or be killed than to continue to watch this.
“Maybe it’s just a one-time thing.
I realized that if I could find an opening, I might be able to beat him. I had to catch him off guard first. After a moment of silence, Ronan spoke up.
“Come in…let’s see—.”
“Hmm?”
“What the heck is your grand plan–let’s hear it.”
Abel raised an eyebrow at Ronan’s question. He wasn’t really curious about the question at all, but he needed to buy time. He glanced up at the white night sky and nodded.
“Well, there’s still time, so let’s do it.”
I’ve decided to be especially kind, as everyone will soon find out. Abel sheathed his sword.
“Actually, there’s not much to explain. My purpose is to evolve the inhabitants of this star into higher beings.”
“Higher dimensional beings—?”
“Yes. The giants you’ve been slaying are the top predators that roam the universe, hunting planets. They annihilate the life on the stars they target, absorbing their souls to fuel their power.”
Ronan frowned at Abel’s words. Hearing it again, it didn’t make sense. He blurted it out, his attention focused on healing his wounds.
“What kind of asshole–do you seriously think it’s better to live like that?”
“You will never know how pathetic we are now. How pathetic we are now. We’re just a bunch of stars in the sky, and we can’t eat each other.”
Abel’s face hardened for a moment. He remembered his days with the Savior, the mushroom clouds that had risen through the atmosphere, the number of civilizations that had been lost in the blink of an eye.
“Then why did you stab the giants in the back?”
『To take control of our personalities. Before, we were mere prey, but now that I have their source, we will be the masterminds of this collective of souls. We will be eternal, never dying, never growing old, ruling the universe.”
“White as a runny nose and bald.”
“I’m sure we’ll build something cooler than that, since the soul body’s form can be molded at will.”
Abel said he didn’t want to be bald either, so he cut it off. He twirled his sword playfully, then looked back at Iriel.
“In truth, you could have had a much better ending. If you had left her alone, she could have at least ended her days with a happy dream. I don’t understand why you chose to take advantage of the mercy you’ve shown her.”
“What a fucking asshole. Is that mercy?”
『What’s the word for it? Well, don’t worry too much about it, though. All but you will be gone before you even realize it—.』
Suddenly, Abel dragged his tail. Shimmering mana began to radiate around his body, and he looked up at the sky as he finished.
“Anyway, it’s time to call it a day.”
Ronan’s brow creased. If ever there was going to be a surprise, it would be now. In a split second, Ronan leapt off the ground and fired a sword shot, aiming for Abel’s throat. A short metallic sound rang out.
“—Nimi.”
Ronan twisted his lips. Two blades clashed together before his eyes. It was a desperate strike, but it was too easily parried.
“Off the Rails. Did you think I didn’t realize you were stalling?”
“Shut up!”
Abel mocked, for he had already seen through Ronan’s plan. Ronan, fueled by evil, swung sword after sword, but they were all blocked.
“Forget it. You’ve already lost.”
Abel laughed out loud. Despair crossed the faces of the survivors as they watched. Abel was about to finish the job when he realized he had the upper hand. Suddenly, Adeshan, clutching his wound, jerked to his feet.
“Ronan, now!”
A cracked cry rang out. At the same time, a blast of shadowy mana from her struck Abel. A mind-controlling force enveloped him.
“Foolishness. You think that’s going to work now?”
But Abel was unfazed. In fact, none of Adeshan’s powers had any effect on him now. Closing his eyes, Abel tried to activate his mental barrier. An uncontrollable dizziness shook his head.
“K-billion!”
Abel felt nauseous. It felt like he’d been hit by a powerful shockwave. Ronan raised an eyebrow, surprised at the violent reaction.
“What is it?”
“Which, which bastard—!”
Abel jumped up and looked around. His eyes darted about, searching for the culprit, and then they stopped at a point. Beyond the curtain Asher had erected, Iriel stared back at him.
“Yes, Iril—!”
“Don’t bully my, my brother!”
Iriel cried out pleadingly. Her sunset-colored eyes glowed with a fiery light. He hadn’t realized it, but his powers were manifesting. The most powerful of the Savior’s powers, the power of wish fulfillment, was assaulting Abel.
“Kwak—kwak—!”
For the first time, bewilderment crossed Abel’s face. He hadn’t expected to be hit with two kinds of psychic abilities at once.
Not that there wasn’t a countermeasure, of course, for the power emanating from the source was more than enough to handle it. Clutching his forehead, Abel let out a short gasp.
“Hahab!”
The mental veil unfurled. The women’s consciousness that had been eroding his mind bounced wildly. Blood gushed from Adeshan’s nose and mouth.
“Crikey—!”
“Kaaaaaak!”
With a lone scream, Iril stumbled backward. Adeshan barely caught her. An angry groan escaped Abel’s mouth.
“You fucking bitches—!”
Abel staggered back, clutching his forehead. Ronan instinctively knew this was his last chance. Abel laughed hysterically as he lunged again.
“You think this is going to make a difference!”
Abel twisted his body and delivered a hard blow. Ronan, pushed back by the force, bounced like a siege weight. The faces of those clinging to their last hope hardened. Abel shouted.
“That’s it. I’ll kill you all!”
Suddenly, Abel’s body glowed brightly. The space around him began to warp with the absurdly powerful mana.
“Well, that’s—!”
“We’re all going to die.”
People instinctively recognized that it was the same technology that had destroyed a third of the stars. It was the moment when the two words “death” appeared in everyone’s minds.
A burst of scarlet light erupted from the direction Ronan the Terrible had flown.
“Hmm?!”
Abel turned his head at the sensation of being tugged by something. Ronan was still flying. His body was heading toward the dimensional rift that Alibrihe had opened.
“You’re kidding!”
“You’re an asshole, don’t you get it?”
Abel gasped. Ronan raised the corner of his mouth. He wasn’t about to let this last chance slip away. Using Abel’s strength to his advantage, he was in front of the rift in no time.
“Come here!”
Ronan shouted and grabbed the hilt of his sword. The sunset glow that enveloped Abel’s body grew brighter. His body, which was barely holding on, was dragged as if by a hook.
“How dare you!”
Abel strained his legs. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop being dragged. Ronan’s Auror was much stronger than he had been against the King of the Giants.
Abel reversed his grip on the hilt and plunged the sword into the ground. Kagagak! A long line cut across the ground and began to brake. It was a moment of relief that this would hold. Ronan, nearing the crack, cried out.
“Asel! Push!”
“What?”
“There’s no way you have that much mana left, and you’re going to float that fenugreek off his back!”
Abel turned his head with an ominous premonition. Suddenly, the starry-eyed Asher was staring back at him, muttering in a voice that sounded as if he might burst into tears at any moment.
“Ha, but—if you go in there, Ronan will—!”
“Don’t think about the aftermath! Do you want to get fucked?!”
Ronan urged him impatiently. Realizing he had no other choice, Arcel clenched his fists. Squeezing back the tears that had been building up, he stretched out his arms.
“Hey, Invisible Hand!”
“Wait—!”
Abel’s face hardened. An invisible force pushed hard against his back. Barely holding on, he was flung into the air and dragged back.
“Gotcha. You asshole.”
Ronan laughed. The dimensional rift had already swallowed him halfway. Once off balance, Abel was dragged under Ronan’s nose in the blink of an eye. He had no time to react. Poof! Ronan’s waiting sword pierced his sternum.
“Kaboom!”
This time the wound was deep. Blue blood spurted from Abel’s mouth. The two men’s overlapping bodies fell through the dimensional rift. In the amorphous, tumbling world, Ronan glared into Abel’s eyes and snarled.
“I will kill you, I will kill you.”