Inheriting the Novel

Chapter 69 : Calamity of Dreams (3)

Calamity of Dreams (3)

Everything that he had seen just a moment ago vanished in an instant.

The human who had been looking at him in terror.

The weak human who had recklessly attacked him, unaware of their own limitations.

Even the audacious girl whose hair he had been gripping with his right hand—she was nowhere to be seen.

"What is this?"

Margal had no idea what was happening.

'Could it be... that girl's power?'

The half-demonkin girl who had touched his arm at the very end.

Margal hadn't felt any particular strength from her, but to think she possessed such an odd ability.

'I did sense the power of a succubus. That means there's a high chance her ability is dream-related.'

Margal grinned in amusement and lazily surveyed the snow-white space.

If this was a world created by that half-demon girl, he was certain he could forcibly shatter it with his own strength.

"Audacity isn't always bad. Not that I plan on showing any mercy, of course."

He figured he ought to educate her—teach her what she had dared to do by tearing her limbs apart.

It was with that thought that Margal began slowly gathering his magic power.

"Hey."

"......!"

A voice suddenly pierced his ear, and Margal leapt back in surprise.

'I... didn't sense anything at all.'

The fact that someone had approached so close without him detecting any presence shook him.

Margal took a shallow breath and looked at the person who had just called him.

"A human...?"

It was a beautiful woman with shining blonde hair and golden eyes.

Her beauty was so breathtaking that even he, a demonkin, briefly lost himself in her gaze.

She stood with her arms crossed, staring at him with displeasure.

She looked at him—The Count of Crimson Flames—as if she was merely dealing with an annoying child.

"Who are you?"

No ordinary human could approach him from behind so completely unnoticed.

That fact alone made it clear this woman was no ordinary human.

And yet... somehow... her appearance was familiar.

'I've definitely heard about her... somewhere...'

The moment Margal got that far in his thoughts, the woman's tightly shut red lips parted.

"Five."

"What?"

"I'm going to count to five, starting now."

The woman tilted her head, looking genuinely annoyed, and glared at Margal with eyes full of loathing.

"Crawl."

Her low, but distinct, voice rang in Margal's ears.

"Crawl with your head to the ground. Kneel, recite your sins, and beg for forgiveness."

She slowly pointed her finger at herself.

"If you do, I'll at least end it for you in one blow."

For a moment, Margal thought he had misheard her.

Crawl? Beg for forgiveness while crawling?

'Me? The one called the Count of Crimson Flames?'

Any tension he had felt at first disappeared as if it had never existed.

In its place, came burning rage.

He didn't know who this woman was.

But as a top-ranked demonkin and someone who had risen to the rank of count, no one had ever dared to treat him with such contempt.

"I'll tear you apart and kill you."

Scarlet flames erupted across Margal's entire body.

His red hair flared like fire, sweeping out like a lion's mane.

BOOOOM!

The power now surging from his body far surpassed anything he had used a moment ago in Nabez.

"Die!"

The white space trembled as Margal, transformed into living crimson flame, thrust forth a fist wrapped in scorching fire.

BOOOOOM!

An explosive force unlike any he'd ever unleashed—a blast strong enough to turn an entire city to dust was focused on this slight woman.

"......!"

But Margal saw it.

The emotion flickering in her eyes as she watched his fist.

It was 'annoyance'.

BOOOOM!

'Huh?'

Margal couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened.

Why was he flying through the air now?

Why did he then crash into the ground and tumble across the floor?

And why couldn't his body move?

"Didn't you say being weak is a crime?"

The woman slowly walked toward Margal, who was lying on the floor, flinching.

"Well, you've committed quite the grave sin. Against me."

At her dry words, Margal felt fear for the very first time. In his entire life, he'd only ever felt such terror once before.

'Demon king... Lord.'

The sovereign of all demonkin, king of the demonkin.

It was the same fear he'd felt when witnessing the power of the Demon King.

'No, impossible.'

A mere human with power on the level of the Demon King?

It couldn't be. It had to be an illusion.

It must be.

"What... what technique did you just use against me?"

The technique that had so easily deflected his attack just now.

It had to be something impressive.

Otherwise, how could he have been so simply—

"I just hit you, that's all."

"... What?"

"At my level, the form really doesn't mean much, but... I guess I just hit a little hard?"

He thought it was impossible.

He hadn't considered she was going all-out. Yet it wasn't even a technique—she'd just thrown a strong punch at him.

Was there a greater humiliation for a demonkin?

"That's why I told you to just crawl, nicely."

If he'd just listened, maybe he wouldn't have had to feel this humiliation and despair.

That was what the woman seemed to be saying as she slowly approached Margal and raised her foot high.

As if she meant to trample the fallen man.

Staring up blankly, Margal suddenly remembered the name of a woman.

'No way...'

Hundreds of years ago, there had been one who drove countless demonkin into terror.

Wherever she appeared, demonkin avoided the area no matter what.

And if, by chance, they met her eyes, they would crawl on the ground to avoid her gaze.

Her name was...

"Gran... cesia."

CRACK.

That was the last will of Margal, Count of Crimson Flames and top-rank demonkin.

* * *

Blue light fired and shattered the ground with every blast, thunderous booms echoing all around.

Zenon, befitting an advanced-rank demonkin, possessed terrifying power.

But no matter how powerful an attack, it meant nothing if it didn't land.

Sior, using Solaris, was able to dodge every assault with ease.

"Damn it!"

With every passing moment, Sior's power grew stronger, and Solaris allowed him to dodge attacks by slipping through space.

Their teamwork was overwhelming.

In the midst of this continuous battle, Sior's strength only grew.

"Right! Right!"

However, I simply observed, watching their fight unfold.

All I did was circle around, wait for Genova to resonate and reveal Solaris's location, and pass that information to Zenon.

That was the only thing I was doing at the moment.

"Are you just going to stand there talking instead of fighting?!"

"Ah, I'm just a weak human, so it's hard for me to throw myself into a fight like this."

"Damn it! If only I could claim that sword..."

Gritting his teeth, he chased after Sior.

But Sior kept slipping into cracks in space, reappearing unexpectedly to attack.

"Why isn't he attacking you?!"

Zenon shouted, brushing off Sior's assault as if annoyed.

All I did was shrug my shoulders in response—no answer.

'There is a reason, though.'

No need to explain it to Zenon.

'Anyway...'

I glanced down at my right hand.

It felt strange, now that what was always there was suddenly gone.

If Grancesia were here, she'd probably be calling me scam artist again.

'I wonder if she's doing well.'

Honestly, I wasn't too worried.

Given the right conditions, Maria's ability was truly 'broken'.

'Her power changed when succubus and human blood were mixed, right?'

Succubi originally have the ability to enter other people's dreams.

Yet Maria, born as a half-demonkin, developed a unique power unlike any other succubus.

She could 'link two people's dreams'.

That was Maria's other succubus ability.

'Usually, it's not all that useful...'

It had its different applications for sure, but in most cases, it was a bit ambiguous in its utility.

However, given certain conditions...

For example, if one of those two people was the 'strongest monster on earth'...

This ability could become the most powerful, unparalleled power.

'Too bad I can't get it for myself.'

Since it wasn't a power made by my father's 'profile', it wasn't listed in Maria's profile window.

'If only I could use it... I could shove all the troublesome folks her way.'

Thinking of the strongest monster on earth, I suppressed my envy and refocused on the battle before my eyes.

"Hey, left! No, right!"

"Say it clearly!"

CLANG!

Zenon's long spikes, protruding from the back of his hand, and Solaris collided in midair, sending shivers down my spine at the sound.

'The fight will end soon.'

After a few exchanges, Zenon began to repel Sior's attacks more and more easily.

Even with surprise attacks, repetition made him adapt.

"Right above! Strike!"

"Graaagh!"

Zenon used all his strength to pierce Sior as he emerged from a tear in space.

CRASH!

With a sound like shattering glass, Sior's body broke apart and scattered.

All that remained was the Sword of Boundary Solaris lying on the ground.

"H-ha... ha..."

Zenon let out an exhausted laugh, looking at Sior's scattered, ice-like fragments.

No doubt he was happy—after all that struggle, he'd finally brought him down.

Clap, clap.

"Congratulations. The sword's yours now."

"Kuh, kuhaha. How arrogant."

Zenon's face twisted at my sarcastic applause.

"You're no longer needed. I'll kill you next."

Grinning with pleasure, he reached out for the fallen Solaris.

I watched silently, then finally spoke.

"Hey, Zenon."

"What? Even if you beg for your life now, it's too late."

"Funny, I was about to say the same to you."

"What...ugh?!"

The moment Zenon grabbed Solaris, a sharp ice pillar shot up, piercing his chest.

"I'm sure he was shattered just now...?"

He stared in shock at the ice piercing his chest and at the newly appeared Sior.

He must have thought Sior was truly dead, with his body so thoroughly destroyed.

But I knew.

It was impossible to kill the current Sior.

"Don't think you can kill me this easily!"

Zenon smashed the ice pillar in his chest and swung his arm at Sior.

No—he tried to swing.

But before he could, another Sior appeared from the left and pierced his body again.

"What is this...?"

"Oh, that was just a clone we took down. Sorry, I forgot to mention it in advance."

A calamity is a being with the power to destroy the world.

Even without her full strength, there's no way a mere demonkin could defeat her.

"Still, thanks—we managed to weaken him a bit more thanks to you. Good job."

The one Zenon destroyed earlier was the strongest of Sior's many clones.

The more power he imbued into the clone, the more he lost himself, so his true strength must have dropped substantially now.

I gave Zenon a cheery smile, then quietly withdrew.

"Y-you bastard...!"

Zenon, eyes bloodshot with rage, lunged at me, but Sior's clones blocked his way one after another.

Already fatally wounded, he couldn't defend himself against the attacks from all sides, and his entire body was skewered by razor-sharp ice.

Immediately after, one of Sior's clones picked up Solaris and beheaded him.

'That takes care of the demonkin.'

As if nothing had happened, I walked out of the royal castle. Sior didn't stop me.

'Even if he's become a calamity, his core is still a sword's guardian.'

Just as the statue protecting Sword of Man Genova once had, Sior was originally the guardian of the Sword of Boundary Solaris.

In the original story, he was deeply reluctant to attack Fabian—as expected, likely because he was the owner of the Seven Swords Under Heaven.

That must be why he didn't attack me, either.

'Now there's just one left.'

I'd eliminated the demonkin, who could have been a wild card.

Now all that remained was the core of this incident—

To bring down the Calamity of Dreams.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Sior isn't the Calamity of Dreams?

What?

I'm confused....

【「(°ヘ°)?】