novelraw Chapter 105 : Chapter 105
Chapter 105 : Chapter 105
Chapter 105: Light (4)
The demon's dark arts.
Magic. The same pressure as before. But this time, not the head, but the whole body.
The form of a holeless full-body armor.
Her thoughts were cut off intermittently.
The reason being that her brain was being destroyed repeatedly.
Magic. This holeless full-body armor that had consumed her is a magic that traps the target and attacks the inside.
It is not armor, but a torture device.
Clank, clank. Every time she recovered and her brain woke up, and her ears were pierced, she heard such sounds.
It is the sound of thick and sharp nails popping out from the inside.
They were piercing Seria's entire body every time she recovered.
When pierced, they would go in, and when she recovered, the nails would shoot out again.
However, Seria realized that Laan did not wish for her death.
She didn't know how many times her thoughts had been cut off and how many times she had recovered, but she was still clearly alive.
If her divine power, this light, does not run out, she will be.
"Ugh."
Her jaw wouldn't open.
The armor, no, this torture device, tightly envelops Seria's appearance. It was impossible to articulate. Thump. Even that was pierced by the shooting nails.
"Ugh."
But every time Seria recovered, she let something out of her mouth.
Harad and Ellen noticed that it was not a groan or a scream.
"Ugh."
It was unintelligible, but it was clearly a recommendation.
Seria still wants Harad to run away. She wants Ellen to protect such a Harad.
The reason being that she knows Harad as a civilian.
"What do you want to do?"
"I feel uneasy."
Even at this moment, Seria was on the verge of death and recovering.
Harad also nodded. Seria was indeed worthy of being called a saint. If she doesn't resent Harad even after coming out of this, then surely.
"People are kind... I guess they're kind."
Ellen changed her words with a complicated expression.
He realized without difficulty that she was watching Harad's expression.
Even if people are kind, to Harad, Seria was a murderer.
And a murderer to the extent of being nicknamed the Guillotine.
Emotionally, he wanted her to die, and rationally, it was right to save her.
Since Seria was an exceptional priest.
But he didn't have much hope.
Because that's how it was in his past life. The Seria of the past life must have lived as the Guillotine.
Harad has never heard that name. It must mean that she too is ultimately of the Church.
"We've caught the Inquisitor!"
The skeleton man shouted.
It was to boost the morale of his allies.
Seria is not an Inquisitor, but she has enough divine power to be mistaken for one.
Such an existence is a very threatening one to the Liberation Tower.
The skeleton man knew well how to neutralize such a priest. He is an experienced one.
The holeless armor. That must be the man's full power. While maintaining that, other magic is impossible.
'As expected, 4th Rank.'
He must be a 4th Rank who is still incapable of Projection.
Thus, the answer to magic comes easily.
"The Inquisitor! We've caught a demon!"
"Shut up, I'm thinking."
Harad threw a glance at the skeleton man.
That gaze was cold, and yet stronger than anything. The skeleton man flinched without realizing it.
"I am a person who tries not to have prejudices. And the moniker Guillotine is not a prejudice."
"……."
When Ellen had blown up Seria's head once, Harad had not been surprised.
To him, Seria was someone who could die.
The reason he had been with Seria until now was to broaden Ellen's horizons and give her a stimulus.
The Church is an entity that must be used.
A tool can be discarded at any time.
But whether to discard it or not, it is not Harad who chooses.
"Don't mind me."
Harad stared at Ellen.
This regression was for her.
"Don't do anything you'll regret. That's all you have to do."
The skeleton man silently swung his arm in a long arc.
It was a signal. Soon after, countless spells fell. The wind, instead of increasing their speed, was sharpened and became a part of them.
Unlike before, there is no Seria's umbrella.
But there is a more powerful sword. Jet black. Ellen's Aura, paler than that, raged through the valley.
The scene was more like a storm passing through than a sword being swung. It was so intense that the jet black sword path did not disappear for a long time.
Their spells, no longer magic but the dregs of what used to be magic, scattered among the traces.
In that violent sword path, the armor that imprisoned Seria survived.
There were numerous sword marks all over its body, but it was not pierced. No, if you look closely, there was a part where Seria was slightly exposed.
It was her eyes. Seria's closed eyelids could be seen beyond the armor that was thinly torn horizontally.
Ellen had a surprised expression.
"Torture, and an Origin suitable for use on a single person. It has to have that much strength."
The armor's durability was great enough to withstand Ellen's sword.
The reason being that it is 4th Rank. Even if Projection is impossible, that Rank can never be underestimated.
Thump, thump. The sound of Seria being pierced inside the armor now echoed intermittently. It was proof that the skeleton man's magic was diminishing. Although it was not cut through, there was a clear effect.
"I'll try again."
Still, Ellen's pride was hurt.
She seemed to be planning on using her full strength this time.
If she used her full strength, that armor would surely be shattered. Ellen, and Harad too, had that conviction.
The reason the armor survived was not just because the armor was sturdy.
It was because Ellen's sword strike was swung indiscriminately to intercept the barrage of spells.
"No. Just leave it."
Harad restrained such an Ellen.
Inside the armor, Seria was not moving.
Her two eyes, thinly exposed by Ellen's slash, were still closed.
Her breathing was regular. Her heart was still beating.
Regardless of Seria's will, divine power was restoring her. It was just that her mind, unable to overcome the continuous pain, had momentarily shut down.
Divine power does not interfere with the mind. The faith that cries out for demons and desires martyrdom is not forced, but voluntary.
"It will end faster that way."
Harad raised his gaze.
It is day, but the sun is not visible. The blizzard on the great plain was the second most severe after the Boundary.
The harsh blizzard subsided.
The brutal wind was gently released. The countless snows instantly turned into vapor, and the view cleared up.
In that cleared view, something jet black floated up.
* * *
Otherworld.
In heaven, one does not hide their Origin.
Because the Origin is both talent and class.
No matter how humble one's birth... no. There are no humble births in heaven.
On the other hand, the more noble the Origin, the more noble the mage who possesses it is recognized.
That is why it is heaven.
The continent is hell.
In hell, one must not have an Origin.
It must be hidden, and the only ones with whom it can be shared are the compatriots born together in hell.
Even among such compatriots, a line had to be drawn at times.
To reduce the damage. The death of a compatriot always leads to the death of another compatriot.
The Church. The master of that hell obtains the Origin of another compatriot from a compatriot.
The information of an Origin is more fatal than one might think.
That is why the precious secret of an Origin had to be protected.
However, there is a moment when such a precious and dangerous Origin is revealed to the world.
Manifestation. That great state was so.
A great mage knows how to reveal their Origin to the world.
An indescribably enviable dignity.
It is a wonder that is remote in hell, and unfolds preciously even in heaven.
However, that wonder reveals its prominence from before.
Projection.
The state of projecting the shadow of one's Origin onto the world implies the Origin.
There are times when that implication is particularly distinct.
The more noble the Origin, the more special its shadow must be.
The shadow of the Origin.
The pupils of the skeleton man looking up at it dilated.
It was very black, and huge.
An eerie light flowed from the border of the sphere, which was larger than the width of the valley.
His exposed face was stinging and dry.
It felt like it would crumble into sand if he touched it. His eyes were so dry they felt hardened. Perhaps they were melting. But the skeleton man did not take his eyes off it.
Through the light, a crimson flame flickered its tongue.
The flame was mocking his compatriots. At least, that's what the skeleton man felt. Because his compatriots, except for him... had melted away.
Do people melt if they get close to the sun?
It was a meaningless question. Because there has never been such a person. The skeleton man's face, who was thinking, hardened.
He, his intuition as a mage, had defined that as the sun.
That the shadow of the sun is illuminating the world.
It was a shock like being thrown into the middle of the sea. The vastness of that sea was the size of that Origin.
The sun. The skeleton man did not dare to fathom that great vagueness.
But... he could get out.
Since the shadow of the sun is shining down on the skeleton man, and his compatriots.
"Why...!"
His dry throat cracked.
The skeleton man's voice spurted blood.
The sun, the vessel of that Origin was Harad.
Harad was a mage. That fact was not important at all now.
"Why the demon!"
Just like the Church, mages also called the Church a demon.
Since the continent is hell, and the one who made hell is the Church.
Bloody tears flowed from the eyes of the skeleton man glaring at Harad.
It was the resentment of a human unintentionally born in hell.
"I understand. And I respect it."
That resentment, Harad understood.
But he does not sympathize.
He recalled the Elaine of his past life.
The reason she killed the three Apostles, the Inquisitor, and a not insignificant number of priests and paladins was not because she hated the Church. It was not because Harad hated them either.
It was because they had touched the North.
"It's just different."
That Elaine is no longer here.
The regressed Harad had to represent her.
He had to unfold the ideology of the future Elaine from the past.
At the center of that ideology is the North.
The North that Seria did not touch, and the Liberation Tower's Rebellion faction did.
"Why would a mage... a mage!"
"A person... a person, that is."
In the North.
Slightly better people should live.
The shadow of the a shed Crimson Flames.
An even more intense light shone down on the great plain.
"O Laan..."
Under that light.
Seria muttered as if sleep-talking.
* * *
We are but mere children, but do not fear because you are a child.
Laan bestows light, and he shall be the light that illuminates the child and the child's path.
If you walk along the light, at the end of it, Laan will welcome the child...
Therefore, O Laan.
"Please do not take away the light..."
"Unfortunately, the one who saved you was not the light."
"……?"
At the voice she suddenly heard, Seria's eyes opened wide. Harad was sitting nearby. It was the snowy ground.
Her face was cold and stinging. The snowstorm was hitting her. Its intensity was stronger than before. It was the blizzard she had faced while walking on the great plain.
"You woke up earlier than I thought. Is it thanks to divine power? Or your lacking faith?"
"……What happened?"
Seria asked in a stiff tone.
Her memory is pitch black.
Because she had been trapped in the darkness of the armor. But the end was surely...
"There's nothing much to it."
Harad turned his gaze.
At the end of it was Ellen.
Ellen was kicking. It seemed like she had kicked lightly, but a huge ice chunk shattered into pieces.
That was the reason why the valley had disappeared and the blizzard had become stronger.
"Ellen finished it all, and as you can see, she's cleaning up. The great plain is Serzila's front yard."
The artificial valley damages the scenery of the front yard.
Ellen was a person who couldn't bear to see the North in a broken state.
"……Ellen, all by herself?"
"All by herself. For a Serzila, that is enough. Even if she is from a branch family."
It was not an absurd statement.
Is there a reason why the continent refers to the North separately?
Serzila was such a name.
Although placed below, the Imperial Family could not subjugate it, and although the sun and moon illuminate the continent, they could not drive out the severe cold of the North.
"And, in fact, who else is there besides Ellen."
Harad shrugged.
He was a civilian.
"About sixteen demons, it's an easy task for Ellen. Just like she smashed your head several times."
Seria looked around.
All that was visible was the snow and the ice debris left by Ellen.
"The corpses on the great plain don't last long. Food is so scarce."
The mages had become food for the beasts.
"If you're really suspicious, try digging up the snowy ground. There will be bloodstains left by Ellen."
"……I don't suspect. You are my saviors."
She wanted to, but Seria couldn't.
That was the proper thing to do.
"You know your manners."
Harad laughed lowly.
Seria stared at such a Harad.
"What are you doing?"
Until Ellen returned, for the whole time.
"Seria is captivated, by my face."
"As expected of Miss Harad."
"Why did it become like that?"
"You were held by me just now."