novelraw Chapter 180 : Chapter 180
Chapter 180 : Chapter 180
Chapter 180: King (3)
There is a lot of iron in the world, but no two irons are identical.
The concept might be the same, but no two things are the same.
Each is unique.
The same goes for Origin.
There might be Origins of the same concept, but there are no identical Origins in the world.
Each possesses a different vagueness.
That vagueness was soon the Mage’s individuality.
Precisely, it is the individuality of the Origin, the main body.
A Mage’s capability depends on that individuality.
Magic is a tool to implement the vagueness allowed by the Origin into the world.
That is why the Origin became the talent.
The innate Origin determines the Mage’s limit.
Meteorite.
It is the fastest, heaviest, and hardest substance.
It is such an Origin, and magic.
At least Kandenkel’s meteorite was like that.
However, someone’s meteorite might be superior to a real meteorite.
Another’s meteorite might be inferior.
Even if the Origin is the same meteorite, each is different.
Because all kinds of meteorites exist in the world.
However, there are exceptions.
The Sun and the Moon are like that.
Because humans know only one of each.
What would happen if the real sun came closer?
No one in the world knows that fact.
Because it has never happened, and it cannot happen.
But…… what if the Origin called the Sun manifests?
The Otherworld knows that.
Because the Sun is a unique Origin in the world.
Therefore, that vagueness is recorded.
They cannot see the color and form of the manifested Sun.
Not for some banal reason like eyes melting.
Because they are already dead.
However, as recorded by a few geniuses, it is truly crueler than the sun in the sky.
All directions boiled. Instantly.
Kandenkel was in the middle of it. The sun receded. No, the sun didn't recede, but he sank deep.
The ground disappeared looking up at the sky.
Only the deeply sunken ground survived. Even that couldn't be called ground. The floor boiled instantly, and rocks surged like water. Magma flowed, wetting Kandenkel’s feet.
With a single pulse, the earth twisted as if wrinkled.
Somewhere rose into the air, and the area where the forest stood hardened like glass and then broke.
Kandenkel intuitively sensed the Mages of Meteoric Iron had died. What about the Witch and the bugs? He didn't know. He had no time to grasp that far.
Breath was choked. His miraculously only-parched lips quivered. No sound came out. The world became close to a vacuum.
A wind that shouldn't blow blew. It was the solar wind. Fiercer than a typhoon, it shook Kandenkel’s Mindscape. The meteorite structuring the giant twisted.
Exposed like that, the edge of the giant boiled momentarily and disappeared.
The cross-section turned into glass and split. Flames covered the giant, and the whole world.
Hell.
Witnessing the pillar of fire dropped by the sun, Kandenkel’s lips quivered again.
The hell where the Otherworld is said to go.
In that hell, Mages will regret in the fire for eons.
The Church wailed like that.
Kandenkel thought he seemed to be in that hell.
But that is a virtual concept.
Nothing more than an illusion made up by humans.
As evidence, Kandenkel was alive.
He witnessed the color and form of the manifested Sun, and he exists within the phenomenon caused by it.
He is personally experiencing that old record of the Otherworld.
That was the fruit of the life of the Mage named Kandenkel. The immense amount of magic power accumulated over a long time, that vagueness is clashing with the vagueness of the Origin's superiority.
“Are you even alive?”
A voice came out.
The atmosphere that fled from the sun returned.
The Sun has no sin.
If there is a sin, it was the life of the vessel named Harad.
The vagueness of the Mage named Harad was lacking.
He was young and lazy in predation.
“I deny the prophecy.”
But Kandenkel couldn't look down on Harad.
“Even if it's fake, a King is a King.”
Rank is an absolute staircase.
Its width expands infinitely as one climbs.
That gap, that King forcibly narrowed.
He used everything he had as a stepping stone to stand face to face with the King of Meteoric Iron.
As evidence, Harad, holding his heart, was smiling.
Meaning, he is alive.
The vessel is not broken. That Mage was not eaten by the Origin.
This is clear Manifestation.
“I acknowledge you as a King.”
If that isn't a King, then who could become a King?
“Try to live.”
Harad recited.
It was a voice that seemed about to extinguish, but Kandenkel heard it clearly.
Not asking to fight or kill, but to live.
It was arrogance befitting a King.
“Fake.”
And desperation unbecoming of a King.
Harad’s heart. The forcibly torn hole grew larger. It is spreading as if the whole heart will soon become a hole.
But the sun doesn't get hotter or closer. Instead, it is getting weaker. The broken vacuum was proof.
However, it is still threatening.
At this rate, he dies. But amidst the disappearing meteorite, Kandenkel laughed.
It was respect and mockery for Harad.
“Resent your fate.”
Whether Kandenkel denies the prophecy or not, it is meaningless.
The prophecy will be realized.
Kandenkel realized why he exists here.
Today is the day the King of prophecy is born.
“Self-destruction it is.”
BOOM! The twisted giant exploded.
The fragments rained down in all directions, boiling and disappearing simultaneously.
Kandenkel was not among them.
He was already underground. In the ground ground down to the limit, digging through the melting and flowing rags, he burrowed underground.
Harad dies here, by himself.
That is the guy's fate. The Moon divined so.
So deep, deeper.
Until the still immature sun burns itself.
Kandenkel just needs to stay alive until then.
That was his role.
When the sun disappears, and he comes up to the cooled world again, the Moon will shine brightly on Kandenkel…….
THUD! Kandenkel’s hand was blocked.
The soft crust suddenly became hard.
“Already?”
Wrong.
The crust didn't cool down.
It should always be soft in front of Kandenkel.
There was pitch-black darkness before his eyes. Shadow. It was blocking Kandenkel’s magic.
“Pathetic.”
The shadow whispered.
“How dare you!”
In the tunnel barely passable for one person, a meteorite the size of a house was shot.
However, the tunnel remained intact.
The shadow blocking the front was the same.
Because the meteorite was eaten by the shadow.
That phenomenon…… Kandenkel couldn't understand.
But he realized. The manifested Sun made that shadow even darker.
“Star!”
In the world, there are stars that shine by themselves and stars that do not.
The stars of the Otherworld are the latter.
They shine only when the Sun exists.
“Predator dies by a stronger predator.”
A star was shining darkly before his eyes.
“That is providence.”
The shadow dragged Kandenkel up to the surface.
He couldn't resist.
When Kandenkel realized he was caught, the manifested Sun was already floating before him.
“How daaaaaaare you!”
A terrible sound came from his entire body.
It was the sound of the immense magic power Kandenkel had accumulated evaporating. The sun wasn't visible. Kandenkel intuitively sensed he was seeing death.
-FIZZ.
It was then that noise suddenly intervened in the world.
The world became silent.
Kandenkel realized his vision returned.
Death stopped.
-Excellent.
Because that voice is praising and encroaching on the Sun.
Something white and black was settling on the world.
Under it, the sun lost its color. Icicles formed on the blackened sun. Frost formed in hell.
“Blargh!”
The shadow that held Kandenkel vomited blood and fled.
This time, the shadow spat out people.
The Sword Master and Serzila wench, the Embers and the Sun's Divine Beast, and the skinny Mage.
Behind them, Harad, holding his heart, retched.
-Kandenkel.
CRACKLE!
The frozen sun shattered and scattered.
“Moon.”
Kandenkel revered.
* * *
The Tower of Meteoric Iron.
Discovered this land 8 years earlier than in the past life.
What made it different?
‘Me.’
And what I have.
‘Voice.’
In front of the Shrine.
Only Harad heard that voice.
Not an auditory hallucination.
Harad had already intuitively sensed it was magic.
……I shouldn't have ignored that intuition.
Just because the Crystal Ball was helpful once, I shouldn't have been arrogant that judgment would be my share whatever it blabbers in the future.
‘……Moon.’
The Moon has mostly existed.
I should have listened to Manoa’s words more carefully.
-Hehehe.
Someone laughed.
It must be the Moon’s Crystal Ball.
Harad felt that sound was ecstatic.
That was the root cause.
‘No.’
The real culprit was Harad.
Because he didn't break that thing long ago, Meteoric Iron came here.
Through that, the Moon saw what Harad saw and heard what he heard.
Like that, it guided Kandenkel and broke the manifested Sun.
‘How is it?’
Self-blame ends here. What can I do? Harad tried to observe his body but failed. He could only think.
‘Kandenkel.’
Is he dead?
Harad didn't know. He had been in pitch-black darkness for quite some time. Nothing visible, nothing felt.
‘Must be alive.’
Even if dead, I had to assume he lived.
‘The Moon?’
What happened?
The Moon’s voice was no longer heard.
However, Harad was still alive.
It means it's not doing anything further.
It must mean this is the limit.
The Moon is in the Otherworld, implementing magic across space from far away.
‘Hurry.’
Perhaps the Moon needed time.
I had to be faster than that time.
Must destroy that Crystal Ball quickly and oppose Kandenkel.
Way to oppose?
That's not something to think about now.
First, the body had to wake up.
‘Hurry.’
Wimar came to mind.
Right, Harad was praying right now.
And it worked.
Senses awakened. Distant pain raged through his entire body.
“Hurry.”
Someone whispered.
It was Jis. Senses were awakening from where the voice was heard.
Harad intuitively sensed the Moon’s Crystal Ball was working.
Vision returned. A tattered world welcomed Harad. It was snowing in hell.
Something mixed in the snow.
Evidence that Manoa’s Manifestation broke. Fragments of dream were fluttering.
Beyond that, he saw Manoa crawling, bleeding from every hole in her body.
‘My fault.’
Because he manifested the Sun but couldn't control it.
I must take responsibility.
“Uh.”
The weight supporting his back disappeared.
Jis collapsed on the ground. Harad intuitively sensed the effect of the Moon’s Crystal Ball ended here.
In his lowered gaze, a hand was visible.
There is no heart in that hand. The heart went into the chest.
……The heart returned to its place was empty.
There is not even a handful of strength. Harad collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.
Kandenkel was approaching.
“Commendable.”
The guy smiled hideously.
There were no features on that face.
‘Weakened.’
How much?
Harad was astounded by that gap.
‘Tower Master, King indeed.’
The meteorite implemented next to Kandenkel wriggled.
It was slowly inflating its size. That presence, clear Manifestation.
“Did you run away?”
Why does he have spare energy?
Harad was certain. Kandenkel didn't confront the manifested Sun. While attempting to flee, he must have realized the Moon’s interference and returned.
“Cruel fate.”
Kandenkel sneered.
However, leisure was no longer felt.
It was obvious he was afraid.
He approached cautiously, intending to kill surely.
‘No more intervention from the Moon.’
So, not yet.
If I can move, there are things I can do.
‘Can I move?’
Only eyes move. No magic power. Manoa is crawling, but that was all. Jis doesn't move. Balbebron is unconscious. What remains?
“Ellen.”
Ellen stood in front of Harad.
Holding a sword imbued with barely a thread of Aura.
* * *
He once asked if she could manifest.
‘Possible, I suppose.’
Back then, Harad answered like that.
Harad just proved that.
Furthermore, why he hadn't done so until now.
‘If you guys cut him, we win. If you can't, I die.’
She thought it was just his usual slyness.
Even while saying so, she thought Harad would have prepared something.
She was right.
Only, what Harad prepared was tearing his chest and pulling out his heart.
……Did he want to do it as Harad?
‘I will trust you.’
So Harad leaned on Ellen.
And…… Ellen failed spectacularly.
‘Failure.’
Harad’s voice echoed in her head.
The gaze looking down quietly flickered before her eyes.
There is no disappointment in those eyes.
Is there really none?
If really none, why?
‘Because he didn't even expect?’
No, Harad definitely expected.
Only, Ellen failed to live up to it.
“Embers.”
Harad said from behind.
His gaze is not looking at Ellen.
Pointing at the Embers Jis vomited out.
“The Embers.”
Harad chose the Embers, not Ellen.
Because she already failed.
So Harad intends to absorb the Embers and fight directly.
“……I don't want to.”
She hated that.
Because she knew those Embers were Harad’s greed.
He could have absorbed the Embers anytime.
But Harad pulled out and tore his heart instead.
He coveted this village that much.
“Have to, to live.”
Harad took off his mask and said.
It means it's urgent. Also means he doesn't trust Ellen.
……Ellen said she would move this village Harad coveted.
Confidently.
“…….”
So she had to do so this time too.
Speak confidently, and kill Kandenkel.
“You were a King too.”
Kandenkel.
Is looking only at the fallen Harad.
Like that, slowly and surely narrowing the distance.
As if the standing Ellen is out of consideration.
……That helplessness.
Ellen’s mind turned white.
He said he would get angry for her enough to make her embarrassed.
He told her never to shed blood.
‘Who am I?’
Ellen is just standing.
The remaining Aura is thin as a thread.
With something like this, can I cut him?
Even when it was thickest, I couldn't cut him.
‘My Innate Strength.’
Thud.
Kandenkel walked slowly. Entered Ellen’s range.
If swinging, now is the time.
Now when Kandenkel is conscious only of Harad.
“Embers!”
Harad shouted as if vomiting.
Just like Kandenkel, Harad is not conscious of Ellen either.
……Because she is weak.
Dying is not scary.
But Harad dying is scary.
I can swing the sword and fight.
But what if Harad dies because of that choice?
“…….”
Blood flowed from her bitten lip.
Harad is right. Not the time to be stubborn.
Whatever the hell he wants.
Harad said repeatedly, but Ellen actually knows how rational he is.
Now is the time to sacrifice.
Only if the Embers are sacrificed, Harad lives.
Ellen turned her gaze to the Embers.
It was then that she met eyes with Manoa, who was like a bloody lump. The fluttering snow, and something touched Ellen’s forehead and melted.
It was then that her whitened mind was stained black.
“Sacrifice.”
The stain spoke.
Ellen thought she spoke.
“Ridiculous.”
Wrong.
Clearly muttered with Ellen’s mouth, but it wasn't Ellen’s voice.
But a known voice.
The voice of Grand Duke Elaine, heard only in dreams.
“Didn't I say?”
That Grand Duke mocked Ellen’s choice.
“Harad is mine.”
……Ellen’s vision turned pitch black.
Like jet-black.
* * *
“Shabby.”
In that jet-black darkness.
“My dear.”
Grand Duke Elaine looked down at Harad.