Chapter 171: Resolve to Die, Reason to Live (8)
“Mother.”
“…Abel?”
‘No, that’s not right.’
I couldn’t tell why I recalled Abel from looking at that strange yet familiar face. The man had no time to resolve my curiosity, and hurriedly slashed down with the sword in his hands.
I clenched my eyes shut in response, surprised by the sword being swung right above me.
Slash-
But what the man’s sword had cut was not me, but Somnifer’s web wrapped around my arm.
[…What?]
I could hear Somnifer’s flustered voice.
At the same time, the painful memories that rushed into my head ebbed away. The man glared at Somnifer with rage on his face, then turned his head.
Michael, who was rolling on the ground, had picked himself up. Wiping blood from his lips, he stumbled towards us.
‘Who in the world is this?’
Though I was caught off-guard, I had no time to idly stay curious. I immediately ran towards Deborah, who was in my field of vision. Oddly, Abel was nowhere to be seen.
‘Is that really Abel?’
As I was stepping towards Deborah with nervous steps, Somnifer’s attack chased me a few times but I ignored it.
It was thanks to the man warding off and cutting down the sharp webs being shot out.
“P-Priestess Deborah. Are you alright?”
Deborah, who couldn’t hold herself together, forced her eyes open and nodded. I hugged Deborah as I looked at the man fighting against Michael.
[What in the world?]
Somnifer’s sharp voice acted as a signal and Michael charged at the man. It wasn’t like one’s physical strength would suddenly get enhanced just because Somnifer controlled their mind.
Michael’s body, an average Grand priest who couldn’t even use magic, was easily blocked by the man.
‘It is Abel.’
I was convinced after seeing him block Michael with his forearm and not his sword even in a situation like this, not wanting to injure Michael.
And this familiarity I could sense increased the clearer my mind got. I wasn’t the one to not notice.
“Enough…please stop!” the man, Abel, shouted with his face distorted.
It wasn’t merely his height and build being different, he was fully grown – all the way to the state of ‘Duke Louvremont’ who appeared with style at the beginning of
Abel pushed Michael away with his forearm, which was blocking Michael. Michael stumbled back a few steps.
[Shoot…!]
Somnifer shouted, taken aback.
“Ugh…”
At the same time, Michael grabbed at his head with pain in his expression, curling up.
That must be because of Somnifer who kept stimulating Michael’s painful memories.
Somnifer, seemingly not yet fully recovered, was enhancing its power in order to fight against Abel.
“Abel!”
I shouted to draw Abel’s attention and pointed at Somnifer.
“There is only one way to undo the Grand priest’s mind control! You must slay that magical beast!”
Holding back Michael changing once more, Abel looked at Somnifer.
He seemed to know what to do, but could not make any moves hastily. It had to be so. He must be worried that Michael may come to attack me while he fights against Somnifer.
‘Then what should I do? Should I make a run for it?’
To think I really couldn’t do anything but run away… I felt sick from my powerlessness.
“I’m sorry!”
At that moment, Abel pushed Michael once again and made him fall over. Trying to avoid Michael getting up from rolling on the ground, Abel raised his sword as he pinned him Michael’s chest with his foot.
Seeing how he was aiming his sword at his thigh instead of his neck or heart, he must be thinking of wounding him severely enough for him to be unable to chase after me.
Not too bad an idea — I thought.
Until Deborah in my arms suddenly held up a gleaming dagger and ran between the two of them.
“What…”
“No!”
As if she had been waiting, Deborah raised the dagger, aiming at Michael’s neck as he lay subdued.
In an instant, I realized what she was intending to do. I ran quickly and shoved Deborah’s body almost embracing her, her dagger mislanded, ripping Michael’s clothes by the chest and sliding off.
“Ah.”
Abel drew his breath, surprised.
As expected. On Michael’s chest where the clothes ripped off was a black Nexus.
‘You fool!’
Though I did assume something like this would happen, he must have asked Deborah to kill him.
“Childe! No! I have to break that!”
Deborah was morbidly persistent. Even though she probably knew that humans would die when their Nexus gets shattered. I couldn’t even imagine how Michael must have pleaded with her.
It’s a good thing that he only requested with his words.
If I didn’t seal away his ability to brainwash…
I couldn’t even bear to imagine.
“No, Abel,” I said as I held onto Deborah who was squirming with the dagger in her hand.
“If she does that, he might actually die.”
“…”
“For good.”
Abel opened his eyes wide in surprise at the word I added. He must have understood what I said; that Michael would perish for good without reincarnating like other souls
“Agh!”
Next, Abel cut at Michael’s thigh without hesitation, creating quite a deep wound. It was just enough for him to be a threat to me.
“Stay away.”
Abel spoke firmly and charged at Somnifer at once.
[K-killing me wouldn’t change the fact that Ignis will perish either! Ignis’ soul is currently connected to me!]
There was fear in its voice. Though Abel had grown, there was no way Somnifer would show such a weak side of itself.
It seemed that the magical beast’s instinct had kicked in: instinctive sense of difference in power, fear of the stronger being.
Abel halted at Somnifer’s words and I shouted.
“No! It doesn’t matter!”
[Shut your mouth!]
Somnifer’s words were not lies. A human who has their soul connected with Somnifer was one with Somnifer.
But if it would be a different story for Michael. No, not just him, but me too. After all, we are unable to die no matter how much we suffer before we kill our designated targets.
[Ahhgh!]
Deciding to take my word for it, Abel did not hesitate any longer and charged, cutting off one of Somnifer’s legs in a blink of an eye.
A dreadful scream rang through the forest.
Somnifer’s giant body tilted and the spiderwebs spewed from its mouth. The webs were aimed at Abel, but they couldn’t reach him. He was agile as if he was using some kind of ability, and his reflexes were closer to be a beast’s rather than a human’s.
Abel was exactly as in the book
I was certain of it. It wasn’t just his body that had grown up, but all his level of skills had become close to Abel ‘of the future.’
[Kaghhh!]
Once, two… as more the legs were cut off, Somnifer collapsed, unable to maintain balance.
The webs that chased Abel quite well at first also soon lost their aim and was pierced through thin air.
Abel stepped on Somnifer’s tilted body, climbing up deftly.
[N-no…]
The moment Abel’s face was reflected on the nine translucent, grotesque eyes…
[Aghhhh!]
His sword pierced through Somnifer’s head.
Somnifer’s scream, which was even more hair raising than before, filled the forest.
The voice was mixed with millions of voices of pain. They were the voices of numerous humans Somnifer had controlled by devouring their memories.
Though Somnifer collapsed, Abel didn’t stop.
He moved the sword that was already struck in its head to rip apart the innards, looing fr something.
He was looking for the ‘core’.
The sword driven deeply into Somnifer’s head swished a few times inside the neck that connects to the body.
“Ah.”
Something seemed to have got caught on the tip of the sword.
Seeming to have found the core, Abel turned to look at me with slight hesitation in his eyes.
If Somnifer perishes, Michael would be in extreme pain. But he would not die.
I crawled slowly and embraced Michael’s head, while he was almost losing his mind from the pain in his thighs.
Then I eyed Abel.
He gave one big nod and smashed down on Somnifer’s core from high.
Clank-!
With the sound of the core being cracked, all the ‘illusions’ surrounding us collapsed.
The endless forest before our eyes started shattering into pieces and disappearing.
***
“Hagh! Ah…”
Though I knew it was bound to occur, Michael writhed in pain much more than I’d expected.
How could I not know?
I tried to kill myself dozens of times before I killed Abel, so that I could not kill him.
There was not a single painless way of killing myself among the thousands of things I tried.
Suffering through pain enough to kill any average human and not dying in the end would be more painful.
“It’s alright, it’s alright.”
I cried as I hugged Michael’s face tighter. Michael continued to struggle through the pain of having his mind be broken into pieces and ultimately dying.
Soon his body went limp and a big shadow was cast over me.
Raising my head slowly, I saw was Abel.
To be precise…
Abel from the future who grew up to look exactly like Hades.
“M-mother. Has the Grand priest…”
“It’s fine. He’s not dead,” I replied and looked up at him in a daze.
I could tell for sure that it was Abel, but I didn’t know how he grew up so suddenly.
Unlike me in shock, Abel himself didn’t seem to even realize that he had become a fully grown man.
Looking into Michael sprawled in my bosom, Abel looked worried. As I was about to ask him what had happened,
“Abel, how in the world did you…”
I could hear surprised voices behind my back.
“My lord?!”
“M-me days… Wot trickery could dis be? Why are ye here Ye Grace?!”