Chapter 102. I’m Off After Reeeally Having Fun
“Ah, aah…….”
At the corrupt sagi (邪氣) of Destrow—the impurity held by that existence itself—Oberon groaned.
[Saennim! Close your eyes and cover your ears!]
Smack!
At the monstrous slap that snapped his head sideways, Oberon barely managed to come to his senses.
He immediately closed his eyes and covered his ears.
A world filled only with darkness—and silence.
‘How…….’
An unbearable question surged up in his head.
‘……How did senior fight something like that…….’
He definitely saw something, but he couldn’t remember it at all.
How should he put it? They said when a mental shock is too great, the brain erases the memory to protect itself—like that.
The scenery around him was clear, but only the place where Destrow was seemed covered in hazy fog.
It wouldn’t come to mind.
Just witnessing it like this was enough to make his mind go numb—so how had senior faced that existence?
Did he not know fear? No—he must. As long as one is human, how could one not feel fear before that thing?
As Oberon sat half-panicked—
Sasasak—
A clear, refreshing magical power flowed into his body and steadied his mind and spirit.
[You must not go mad, boy. If you go mad, I will have no face to show Lord Muspellun.]
Consideration that was deeply self-centered.
A terrifying surge of sagi (邪氣) crashed in right then.
Gwoooohhhhh—!
<Did I not…… ask youuu! Where, where are you goingggg—!>
With Destrow’s enraged scream, sagi flooded over them like a bursting tidal wave.
[……Damn it!]
Ching!
Facing that catastrophic calamity, Shine drew her sword, and the Archduchess stepped forward.
“Adorable dead one. Your spirit is fine, but one does not block a wave with a blade.”
Jjeojeojeojeok—
Ice curtains rose from all sides. The ice formed a dome the moment it surged up, enclosing the group.
It had cut off the overflowing sagi (邪氣).
Then came the shockwave that slammed into them!
Kku-woong—!
As the waves of sagi battered the ice wall, the Archduchess lifted her eyes to the ceiling with her usual languid gaze.
“This is not good.”
A bleak remark for someone who had blocked it so well.
“Truly…… is this a dangerous situation?”
Even while speaking of danger, her eyes were languid, not the slightest sense of urgency to be found.
Yet her assessment was the truth without a shred of exaggeration.
‘The affinity is terrible.’
The reason Aster had been able to withstand Destrow was partly thanks to the Fire Seal (火印), but also because of the purity of his magical power—and its form.
Thunder God (雷神). Lightning of magical power. It was made of pure magical power, yet the phenomenon itself took the form of lightning that burned everything.
But the Archduchess’s magic was ice (氷). Not as bad as water-aspected power, but still the worst possible matchup—sagi could seep into it easily.
And that wasn’t all.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
<Give it to me. Yeokcheon, give me Yeokcheon—!>
Destrow struck the ice wall like a raging beast. Each blow, each blow was difficult even for the Archduchess to endure.
Pajijik, jjeojeok!
She restored the wall each time, but how long it would hold was unknown.
‘Then, what should I do?’
The Archduchess’s sharp gaze swept around.
Slipping away alone would be simple. The problem was that there wasn’t only one body to take with her.
A dead one (亡者) could be abandoned, but it would be best to take the impudent disciple and Oberon.
But there was no way to take both.
Meaning, she would have to throw one of the two away……
[Blue-eyed brat.]
“Why, dead one?”
[You can’t…… run away with both of them.]
Shine read the Archduchess’s intentions immediately from her eyes.
A cold reason concealed beneath languid eyes. The Archduchess was weighing it.
Between Aster and Oberon, which one to save—and which choice benefited her more.
“A perceptive dead one, are you?”
[Tsk. Then it can’t be helped.]
Pajijik—!
Right after that, Shine’s body changed.
“Ho.”
Not a two-meter giant, but returning to a build of around 160 cm—Shine’s original size.
As the Archduchess watched that change with curiosity, Shine glanced toward one spot.
[Truly…… you’re a troublesome bastard.]
Aster, tossed beside Oberon.
Not knowing the situation, sleeping soundly. Oberon said his insides were a mess, yet judging by the rise and fall of his breathing, he was more comfortable than anyone.
She wanted nothing more than to stomp his solar plexus—
<Do you not hear my command! I am the Emperor! All the world is mine, and yet! Aaaah—!>
—but the madman who called himself Emperor was more urgent.
- Saennim.
- ……Death Knight-nim. Are you alright?
- It’s time.
- …….
Oberon didn’t answer.
But only for a moment.
- ……Understood.
Oberon replied reluctantly. Shine nodded, satisfied.
- How long?
- Overclock…… I can do it right away.
Originally, it required some time to concentrate, but not always.
In the first place, it could be triggered as an instant activation, but Oberon had held back because that would bring backlash to him as well.
But in this situation, what did backlash matter?
- Then…….
With her eyes closed, Shine gauged Destrow’s presence.
‘…….’
Just sensing it was nauseating.
‘Vile bastard…… you fought something like this alone?’
Even she, a Death Knight, was shaking like this—so how had that vile bastard endured?
When Shine had fully grasped Destrow’s presence as it hammered the wall without pause—
“If you do not know what you intend, you should hurry. I cannot hold much longer.”
[……How long?]
“From now…… four seconds.”
She was insane. To say something so urgent with such calm composure. Was that why she was his senior—truly, there was no telling which of them had the worse mind.
Still, Shine didn’t snap at her.
She simply—
[Sufficient.]
Sar-ack, chak!
She sheathed the drawn sword and planted her stepping foot forward.
- Now.
Up to the signal to Oberon was 1 second.
Jjeojeok. Jjeok! Jjeojeojeok—!
“Kugh.”
The ice wall shook helplessly under Destrow’s fierce assault. Even for the Archduchess, enduring it was difficult; blood ran in a thin line from between her clenched lips.
Up to here was 2 seconds.
And after that—
Urk!
As Oberon spat up a mouthful of bright blood—
[…….]
Shine took one step forward.
Hwaak—!
A new horizon granted by Oberon’s Overclock. Within it, Shine released the limiter.
Tuk.
The sound of something snapping in her mind.
No stray thoughts. Only—
Transcendence (超越)
Unlike before, a horizon flung fully open. She only focused on that distant world.
This was between 2 and 3 seconds.
But—
Kkwajik, kkwajijijijik—
Was it too much after all?
A cracking sound spread inside Shine.
It wasn’t a physical shock. If anything……
A soul. The sound of a vessel shattering. The price for forcing open a complete horizon not permitted to a dead one.
Staggering—
Just as 3 seconds were about to end……
Jjeojeong—!
At last, the ice wall collapsed.
Jjeojeok—through the cracked gaps, sagi (邪氣) seeped in, creeping closer. Then—grab.
A colorless hand forced its way in. And in the gap, an eye appeared.
‘……This is not good.’
The Archduchess wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
Unlike her, who had suffered no small internal injury forcing herself to block sagi (邪氣) in a bad matchup, Destrow’s momentum only grew more violent.
And so—
Sseumulseumul—
As the sagi that squeezed through the gaps tried to swallow the group, the Archduchess’s eyes fixed on Shine.
As if she couldn’t even see the current situation, Shine stood like a statue, gripping her sword.
Quiet.
But then—
A chill.
Goosebumps rose along the Archduchess’s forearm.
She didn’t know why. Simply…… yes. An overwhelming pressure that invoked instinctive fear just by looking.
Surprise spread through the Archduchess’s languid eyes.
At last, 4 seconds.
No—4 seconds, minus a sliver of a moment.
When Destrow’s sagi had surged right up to their noses—
Shine drew her sword.
Tsuuuuuuu—
In time that flowed unbearably slow, Shine’s sword was far too slow.
Yet within that, thought worked faster than anything.
- You’re free. Go find your rest, already.
A self that had wandered endlessly in darkness. That voice yanked the mind that had been sinking into haze straight back up to the surface.
‘That little bastard.’
It hadn’t been so long since their first meeting.
- Is that so. Then enjoy your freedom to the fullest, and let’s each go our own way.
- I’ve eaten my fill.
- ……You’re really Shine von Lehmann, that lunatic?
- This is a pretty good Artifact. Even if it’s subjugation, it’s not telling you to become a slave. I can even give you the right to refuse orders, you know?
Fragments of memory brushed past her mind. For the most part, he had no manners and was annoying. And how brazen his mouth was.
- Parasite.
To think someone would dare call Shine von Lehmann a parasite.
‘Truly, a bastard I couldn’t even swallow down with satisfaction.’
She’d intended to smash his skull someday. Beat him until he cried, then when he begged through tears, rest a little—then hit him again.
But—
‘Consider yourself lucky, you vile bastard.’
Shine’s sword advanced without end toward its destination.
‘It’s not because of you. Of course not.’
What about that thing was lovable? Would she risk even the erasure of her existence to help? Only a madwoman would do that.
This was, so to speak…… yes.
‘He said he’s an Emperor.’
Destrow did. With his own mouth, he said he was the Emperor. Maybe he was out of his mind and it wasn’t worth believing, but……
‘This is my specialty too. A veteran.’
Having cut once, could she not cut twice? And in this place, the only one who could cut him was her.
The realm of Transcendence. A will granted only to those who had reached that realm.
The only thing that could strike Destrow’s existence—his near-immortal body—was that.
Shine had realized that fact as well.
‘Now…… I can cut him.’
That was why.
And so……
Tsuuuuuuung—
In endlessly slow time, the sword that kept advancing reached its destined endpoint.
But the result could not be known.
‘A life this body saved—go smear shit on the wall with it, you vile bastard.’
Wajangchang—!
That was as far as Shine’s consciousness went.
Still, before her consciousness vanished completely, Shine screamed with everything she had.
Inside her heart, so the world itself would shake loose.
“Thanks to you, I haaAAAaaAAD sooooOOO much fun!”
Death Knight Shine von Lehmann.
Her end was rather…… no, quite…… nothing but pleasantly satisfying.
