novelraw Chapter 77 : Chapter 77
Chapter 77 : Chapter 77
Chapter 77: A Flowering Bone (5)
No. Monika must not come here.
Panting for breath, Fleur thought. It was difficult to move because she had exhausted her strength. The limit of what she could do was to kneel on one knee, cling to Monika’s hand, and survey her surroundings.
“Don’t lecture me about my skin, Sir Alberge.”
The tide of the battle was being reshaped.
Deserick, who had retreated far back, reorganized his troops. He was still intact even after cutting down most of the dead. The remaining forces emerged from Deserick’s shadow and formed a horizontal line, assuming a battle stance. Fix bayonets, fix bayonets, fix bayonets. While the dead muttered mechanically,
“Hello, Monika. We meet again. I’m Osmond Epanoui.”
“Yes, well……. Hello…….”
“Sorry. You were scared last time, weren’t you? I couldn’t help it. Lady Fleur ordered me. To wait for you.”
Fleur’s forces were also reorganized.
Alberge, Osmond, and Monika. The three of them stood at the front. The individual combat power of each would be superior to Deserick’s troops. Alberge was experienced, Osmond had a natural sense, and in Monika’s case, she could wield Aura.
The problem was the total number of troops. Most of Fleur’s dead had been lost. The moment the body revived by resuscitation is crushed, the soul of the dead departs for the Underworld once more. Above all, Fleur’s condition was not good.
‘At this rate…….’
It wouldn’t be strange if she lost consciousness right now.
A monstrous sound bloomed from within Fleur’s body. The sound of bones creaking and organs twisting. The mutation accompanied by pain was becoming more and more active.
‘At best, my limit is providing rear support.’
Her divine power was also almost depleted.
Her limit was to cast low-level spells.
“You stay back, Fleur.”
Monika looked down at Fleur.
“We’ll take care of the rest.”
“……I don’t want to.”
Fleur raised her head.
“You’re the one who should step back, Monika. This is my fight. Even you won’t be allowed to interfere…….”
“I didn’t come to interfere, I came to save you.”
“I!”
Fleur’s brow furrowed.
After calming her surging voice, Fleur lowered her head.
“……I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Give me a break. Is it okay for you to get hurt?”
Monika let out a sigh.
She hardened her expression and glared straight ahead.
Fleur’s hand, which had been holding onto the prosthetic arm, slipped. With her back to the gasping Fleur, Monika observed the skin-peeled Deserick. What a madman. Had he modified his entire body? In a way, Deserick himself seemed like a monster.
[Are you my daughter’s friend?]
Suddenly, Deserick asked Monika.
Monika did not answer. She kept her mouth shut and tilted her gaze. She observed the soldiers guarding Deserick.
[What I just saw was undoubtedly Aura. As a father, I am delighted. Fleur has made a good friend. Although I am concerned about her disability…….]
Ptooey.
Monika spat.
She rested the guard of her greatsword on her shoulder.
Alberge said to Monika.
“I think I get the gist of it.”
Deserick’s soldiers were nothing but puppets.
Unlike Fleur’s forces, which had resolved to take revenge of their own volition, they were only moving according to Deserick’s orders. In other words, Deserick himself was the hive mind that controlled the swarm, and if Deserick died, the soldiers would also cease to function.
“Is Monika strong?”
Osmond asked Monika.
“……I’m not so sure about that.”
“You broke the ceiling just a moment ago. And you were fine even after falling from the sky. Isn’t that strong enough?”
I can’t let this turn into a war of attrition.
Listening to Fleur’s breathing, Monika thought. She had to end the battle quickly and then check on Fleur. Above all, it was difficult to guess what tricks Deserick might have left. As time passed, the situation would become more disadvantageous.
‘I have to break through in one go.’
Monika gripped her greatsword properly.
As the stalk of grass made of Aura shimmered before her eyes,
she placed Deserick beyond her blade. Unless she cut down Deserick, everything would be for naught.
“Can I escort Monika?”
Osmond held two artifacts, one in each hand.
Aha! A burst of laughter, as if having a seizure. Behind his mask, Osmond smiled. Inwardly, he judged based on instinct. The Aura Blade that had cut through the banquet hall along with the ceiling. He had to use that to cut down Deserick.
Looking back at Fleur’s forces, Alberge said.
The moment they approached, Deserick would deploy a shield. Although he couldn’t compare to Fleur, Deserick could also cast a large amount of divine magic. The only power that could pierce the shield and cut Deserick in two was Aura. Alberge also agreed with Osmond’s opinion.
“They say we should do that, Fleur?”
Monika looked back at Fleur.
It wasn’t difficult to figure out Osmond and Alberge’s intentions. Monika would cross through the soldiers and approach Deserick, then release her Aura Blade to cut him down in one go. The roles of the three were assigned, and only Fleur remained silent, biting her lower lip.
“What will you do?”
“I will…….”
“Will you protect me?”
Fleur’s eyes trembled.
She knew there was only one way. Monika’s Aura would be the stepping stone to turn the tide. She also knew what she could do. In the first place, when CIAR was attacked by the warships…….
“You don’t have to worry…….”
Yes, that’s right.
She had definitely said that.
“……I will protect you.”
No matter what happened,
she thought she had to protect that child.
“Then it’s decided. I’ll leave my body in your hands.”
Monika prepared.
She lowered her body and concentrated Aura in her lower body.
While a green stalk of grass wrapped around Monika’s legs,
‘Interesting.’
Deserick narrowed his eyes.
Who was that girl? Why did she stand at the center of the battle?
Was it something like divine punishment? Was it a fate that fell from the sky like a thunderbolt? It didn’t matter either way. It was enough to be drunk with excitement. Aura was a power not often seen. He was glad to be able to witness it. To revere the unknown was a human’s duty, a task worthy of both faith and inquiry.
[Friend of Fleur, I haven’t introduced myself, have I.]
Only Deserick had been unaware.
That the humanity he had remaining was absent.
[I am Deserick de Saint-Pierre. Fleur’s father. It is regrettable to meet you like this. But please understand.]
Fleur, and you, and everyone else──,
Thank you. I thank you very much. You must all be the trials given by the Main Gods.
Faith is always tested.
Inquiry always faces difficult problems.
As one who inquires into faith, I give you all infinite applause for your existence.
[So please answer me.]
At the same time as Deserick asked,
[All of you except Fleur, what are your names?]
──Kwoong!
Monika released her Aura.
She threw herself like a cannonball and grabbed the hilt of her sword.
There was no value in answering the question. The names of those gathered here were Deserick’s indictment.
Alberge’s shout brushed past Monika’s ear.
The sound of footsteps shook Monika’s heart. She clenched her teeth as if to grab hold of her pounding heart. Soldiers rushing from beyond the torn wind. One of them, leaping towards Monika, drew back its sword, but,
‘Cut!’
Monika stepped forward with her right foot.
She supported herself with her left foot, then swung the greatsword with the momentum of her body, and,
──Crunch!
at the same time as she cut the soldier in half at the torso,
‘I can’t stop.’
Liquefied mana covered the corners of her eyes.
She pushed it away with the back of her hand and sprinted.
She wasn’t running with her body. She was advancing with her sword strikes. Piercing through the streams of wind, she moved with her entire body as a blade. Thud. After Monika took one down,
──Kwa-gak!
Fleur’s forces cut down five.
If the path on foot was blocked, it was only right to open a path with the sword. Osmond, who had reached the front, wrapped his blade in a biting wind. He had five artifacts stuck at his feet. They were flame and frost, explosive and barrier. He intended to test each spell.
“Which one will be the most efficient?”
Aha!
Mixed with the sound of laughter, fragments of skin bloomed.
Monika dug through them. She pierced through the scattered remains of the soldiers. The grass stalk of Aura entwined on the greatsword drew a trajectory. After leaping and scattering particles that glittered green,
the moment Monika stepped on the soldier’s shoulder,
<……the eyeballs of the migratory birds fall.>
Deserick’s incantation was completed quickly.
‘The Omen for Harvest’ was activated. The pure white cannons formed next to Deserick aimed at Monika in a group, and,
──Kwaang!
the moment the cannonballs made of divine power surged,
<……the eternal banner!>
Fleur’s incantation was also completed.
Shields scattered and surrounded Monika. Thud, thud, thud! The trajectory of the cannonballs was blocked by the shields, and,
Tuk.
Monika pushed off.
She pierced through the air and measured the instant.
Deserick’s whisper could be heard. Fleur’s shout could be heard. The two voices formed an incantation and seemed to pull time back and forth. Infinitely slowly, Monika’s five senses slowly perceived her surroundings.
Squeeze! Therefore, she put strength into the hilt.
Break through in a single strike. For the blade is the hand of a clock.
She brushed past a bundle of wooden bars. She pushed through ice fragments.
The grass stalk shook and the leaves rustled. Amidst the profusion of nameless spells, the Aura that formed Monika’s greatsword concentrated on the blade.
Aura Blade. She honed her mind and poured it into the hilt. She had even put the beat of her heart into the greatsword. The blade, which held a radiant light as if in response. The moment the green wave tilted towards Deserick,
a shield began to envelop Deserick.
It was absurd. It was enough to cut through it, shield and all.
Therefore, silence.
The color of verdure covered the four directions, and,
a sliver of sound.
A sword strike forming a straight line.
The verdure split and a strong wind bloomed.
[To me…….]
A pile of rubble rushed from the front, a snowstorm from the back.
The pile of rubble was pushed by the Aura Blade, the snowstorm by the wind.
[To me, like this…….]
Deserick retreated.
But there was only a cliff. The wall of the banquet hall crumbled, and only a cliff lurked behind Deserick.
[To push me back like this…….]
Deserick was alive.
He was just mostly destroyed. Not bone but iron was broken, not blood but liquefied mana flowed, but,
[……Who are you.]
his vision was intact.
Thanks to that, he saw. The girl standing before him was whole. The girl who was approaching him after thrusting her greatsword into the floor. Who was she? Who on earth was that girl? Taking steps back, Deserick wondered.
[You are…….]
Deserick’s arm fumbled in the air.
The girl also extended her arm. No, she aimed a bullet. The cover of the prosthetic arm opened and a gun barrel was revealed.
[Who…….]
Kwaang!
The fired magic bullet shattered Deserick.
Yet he was still alive. His upper body was mostly destroyed, but he wasn’t dead. Deserick quickly chanted an incantation, and,
[……Who are you.]
It didn’t work.
Something like pollen flew from the girl’s prosthetic arm.
Was the spell nullified? Deserick’s eyes, made of magic stones, wavered.
[Please tell me. Who on earth are you.]
“I am…….”
The girl, Monika, hardened her gaze.
Words flashed through her mind. Victim, disabled, war orphan. Nouns created by the breath of others, so to speak. Monika brandished her prosthetic arm as if to shake them off. Clang. The blade was revealed. Not through the voice of others, but through her own voice, she identified herself.
“──The Knight of Sarrifis.”
Sarrifis, Sarrifis, Sarrifis.
Deserick’s whisper echoed, and,
[──What on earth is that?]
Heh.
The question was aimed with a quick laugh.
Was it a person’s name, or a place name? Deserick briefly thought about it. It was a trivial question to have before death, but it was so unfamiliar that he couldn’t help but be curious.
In the first place, that was the only thing to be curious about. Since death was inevitable, why regret life? Faith had contributed and inquiry had been repeated. Deserick had no lingering attachments. Without even knowing that it was a human desire.
“Ha, haha…….”
Monika also laughed. Her firmly set expression scattered. A hollow laugh shook from within her blankly opened mouth. Kill him. That man must be killed. The moment she resolved to move her blade,
“Don’t do it, Monika.”
Crunch.
A rapier pierced Deserick’s neck.
“This man is my share.”
Swish.
Deserick’s head, cut off and rolling down.
“It’s me, not you. The one who can dirty their hands is…….”
Thud.
Beyond the collapsing Deserick, Fleur was standing.
Monika did not breathe. She had forgotten even to exhale. She blankly looked around and was stunned. The soldiers who had lost their master had all fallen, and the corpses of the fully dressed nobles were also numerous. Even Deserick’s corpse was nothing special. It was just a corpse.
Hoo…….
Monika finally exhaled.
As her breath scattered, so did her heart. The corpse of the man who had destroyed her homeland was before her eyes. Deserick seemed to be at ease even in death. What should she have done? How could she have punished this man painfully? Monika thought she didn't know. The strength she had put into her body was draining away.
“……Let’s go.”
She just raised her head.
It was not in Monika’s nature to question death.
She just held out her hand. Towards Fleur, who was standing before her.
Because Deserick was dead, and Fleur was alive.
“Let’s go back, Fleur.”
“No.”
Fleur smiled.
The white, puffy dress had long since become shabby. The wind, stained with snow, shook the hem of Fleur’s dress.
It was not just her clothes that had become filthy. Fleur’s body was also contaminated. How much longer could she endure? Fleur thought she didn’t know. Her consciousness was becoming hazy.
“I can’t go, Monika.”
She couldn’t see Monika anymore.
She couldn’t see her black, shiny hair, her sharp amber eyes, or her expression, strained as if pressing down on letters. It was because she was seeing through radiant heat, not visible light. Fleur’s vision had been reorganized into that of a monster.
“Didn’t you hear from Professor Argento? I can’t go back alive. I started this with that resolve.”
“I heard the gist of it, and I came pretending not to know.”
Monika took a step.
One step, closer to Fleur.
“I……, I alone think there’s a possibility. No, it’s fine if there isn’t. I believe so. Maybe it’s because I’m stupid, but…….”
Fleur, look at me.
I’m alive like this too.
How do you think I’m alive?
Monika asked that.
“There was no such thing as a possibility.”
Monika’s voice gradually faded.
And so it became clear. A woman’s laughter, as if mocking the heavens. Like stairs leading to pitch-black darkness, like the attic of a crushed castle, like a swarm of insects digging into a rat hole. The sound of such an incomprehensible woman’s laughter could be heard.
“The possibility of me surviving among the people of Sarrifis, too…….”
Who are you?
Fleur asked in her heart.
“The possibility of surviving in an orphanage with one arm lost, too…….”
What are you going to do to me?
Fleur asked in her heart.
“The possibility of surviving alone in a corner of the slums, too…….”
Are you going to hurt Monika?
Fleur asked in her heart.
“Not a single possibility existed.”
“So you can survive too.”
“I alone believe so. There must be a way.”
“Let’s not give up on life, Fleur.”
──Everything of Monika’s?
Ah, I see. Extending her arm, Fleur thought. I want Monika. After eating all her flesh, I want to sleep embracing her bones. I want to chew and chew on her until my jaw breaks and keep her. I want to kill the child who says she will save me with my own hands and be with her forever.
“What is everyone doing.”
Let’s have Monika Lohengrin.
Let’s kill Monika Lohengrin and have the death of that child.
“Our plan is not over.”
No, that’s wrong. It shouldn’t be like that.
Fleur grabbed Monika’s arm.
She placed Monika in the center of her fading self.
Why? With this child, I keep repeating my mistakes. Every method I came up with for Monika’s sake must have been wrong, and the content of every conversation we had for a moment must have been at odds, but for some reason, in the end, I resort to the ugliest and most selfish means.
No, no, no.
I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
Why is the side of me I showed you always,
demanding, jealous, self-righteous,
and riddled with the greed of a person facing death?
“Deserick’s death has been confirmed. So we will proceed to the next stage.”
Monika’s eyes twitched.
She stared blankly ahead. Fleur was smiling. She was crying. As a monster, she held onto Monika’s body, and as a human, she didn’t let go of Monika.
“It’s your turn, Osmond Epanoui.”
Fleur’s smile and tears were telling.
Telling Monika a very small fact. But she couldn’t put it into words as her last will. What was conveyed to Monika was mere joy and sorrow. Joyfully and sorrowfully, Fleur, neither monster nor human, shouted.
I’m glad you survived.
I’m sad I can’t see you.
“──Kill me right now!”
Crack.
A blade pierced Fleur’s heart.
“Fleur……, no.”
Monika’s voice echoed in vain.
“──No, no, no!”
Thud.
Fleur’s body collapsing.
She was like a flower. A flower that bloomed ephemerally, layered and delicate, large or small, softly blooming. White and blue, but a red that spread calmly like opening leaves. Not withering, not rotting, but simply dying, all things attached to such a flower stalk that had been observing the sky spread out above its head, breathing small, small breaths.
What a pity.
Amidst her fading vision,
Fleur thought as she drew her last breath,
If only I could have told you, one more time, one more word.
Fleur lamented as she let out her last breath.
All my true feelings, it feels like I can tell you now.