novelraw Chapter 172: Childhood Friend - Nuts
Chapter 172: Childhood Friend - Nuts
172. Childhood Friend - Nuts
"How is Lena doing?"
Rev took a moment to catch his breath. Instead of answering, he nodded and gestured for them to move.
Leo de Yeriel followed Rev without a word. The sun was almost set, and it was time to return to the royal palace, but that no longer mattered.
The two headed to a nearby restaurant in front of the palace. It was late, so they couldn't go inside, but they started talking outside.
"You don't need to worry about Lena."
"...That's a relief."
Leo sighed in relief. Feeling less guilty, he brushed his bangs aside and gazed into the distance before asking.
"Then what about me? No, more importantly, are you... Minseo?"
Rev pondered, rolling his eyes upward as he thought before answering."No."
Although it was a denial, it wasn't a confident one. Two months had passed since the childhood friend scenario began, and Rev knew that traces of Minseo still lingered.
But he couldn't definitively claim to be Minseo.
Realizing he had asked a pointless question, Leo de Yeriel leaned against the wall and slid down. He patted the ground beside him, gesturing for Rev to sit, and began to speak.
"Well... Anyway, it's good to see you. We haven't even properly introduced ourselves yet."
The two young men, sitting on the ground, shook hands. Despite being strangers, they knew each other very well.
"So, can you tell me what happened to me? And how Lena lived?"
Leo asked. Lacking eloquence, Rev slowly recounted the past as it was.
"You... died."
+ + +
Despite being prepared, Leo's legs trembled as he entered the royal palace. He announced his return to the captain of the royal guards and followed the chief attendant to an audience with the king. During this time, he fidgeted with his sword sheath, almost to the point of appearing nervous.
How fickle the human heart is.
Determined to help Minseo and leave something behind in this iteration, he had resolved to himself, "It's not too late yet. Run away." and "Why do I have to go this far?" ─ Treacherous thoughts gnawed at his resolve.
Leo endured. He believed his choice was not wrong and that it would certainly be of help one day.
The vast palace felt narrow.
It seemed like he had only taken a few steps from the captain's office, yet he had already passed the 'Hall of the Sky' and ascended the 'Emperor's Ascent.'
At the top of the Emperor's Ascent was a spacious lobby. So lavishly adorned with gold that it looked gilded, the lobby was resplendent. In its center was the main door to the king's private chambers.
"Sir Noel requests an audience."
The door, engraved with reliefs, opened to the sides. Despite expecting it, Leo was awestruck.
Red. Bright red.
With his ability to discern divine power, Leo saw it. From the throne where the king sat, the walls, floor, and ceiling were covered with densely inscribed red symbols.
And the king sitting on the throne was... not an apostle.
It was Ashin (Child God) itself.
[ Achievement: King 3/7 ]
"Gasp."
Leo inhaled sharply upon facing the king with blond hair and golden eyes.
Outwardly, the king seemed kind, but internally, a tetragonal black-red divine power raged. Leo felt an inexplicable fear.
"Leave."
The king ordered the chief attendant to dismiss them. With a boom, the doors closed, leaving Leo and the king alone.
"It's good to see you again."
Karoman de Tatalia, no, the ancient 'beast' smiled. Crunch- He grabbed a handful of almonds and welcomed Leo with open arms.
"Come here. I have waited so long... yet you return in another's embrace. You wretched one. Breaking our promise again."
Leo did not approach.
Instead, he knelt politely at the foot of the throne.
"I greet the wise ruler."
"...Yes, you probably don't remember me. There's no one here, so let's be honest. Why has Barbatos' apostle come to me?"
- Click.
The king rose from the throne and stepped down the stairs. With each step, Leo thought he saw hoofed feet covered in scales.
Blinking, the hooves disappeared.
"Lord Barbatos has sent me to ask."
Leo spoke, struggling not to look at the approaching terror, desperately throwing out any question to get something.
"Why does Lord Astroth remain silent? It has been 16 years since you ascended to the supreme position. Why do you insist on staying in the palace and not moving? If there is any difficulty, Lord Barbatos is willing to help."
"Barbatos, how naive."
Karoman de Tatalia looked down on him. But as if to show that Leo had the right to ask, he granted a brief favor.
"Tell him not to underestimate the humans appointed by the chief deity. They are intricately intertwined and occasionally unique."
The king extended his hand.
Specifically, he reached out his left hand, aiming for Leo's right hand, which bore Barbatos' mark. Leo, bowing his head, pretended not to notice and continued with his questions.
"So you moved the princess? Did you intend to cause a rift by targeting the Swordmaster's son?"
Apparently, he hadn't piqued the king's interest. As the king leaned down to grab his right hand, Leo hastily continued.
"In that case, did you also plan to target the son of Marquis Tatian?"
"Hmm?"
The king, kneeling on one knee before Leo, showed a hint of surprise. This unknown Ashin kid was quite something. ─ He thought, wrinkling his nose.
"Yes. That guy is somewhat troublesome."
A unique human. Astroth disliked Marquis Tatian.
How many people in the world had pleased him? But Marquis Tatian was one of the few who had annoyed Astroth throughout his long history.
Sixteen years ago. On the day of his coronation, enduring the scorching holy water poured over his head, Marquis Benar Tatian approached. Perhaps liking that the king had killed his two brothers to take the throne, he constantly hovered around.
Whenever the king attempted anything, the marquis would uncannily sense it and request an audience, annoyingly feigning ignorance as if he knew everything.
- "The crown suits you well."
Except for the lack of the chief deity's blessing, his appearance was identical.
- "The weather has grown cold. Please accept my humble gift."
It was the day right after sneaking out of the royal palace to find a place to set up the altar to gather divine power.
An expression of great interest.
The king, irritated by the marquis’s expression that seemed to say he was dying to know what he was thinking and planning, used what little divine power he had to cast fear upon the marquis.
But it failed. Although he succeeded in penetrating the blessed items the marquis wore, the marquis showed no signs of change. He was an abnormal human devoid of fear.
‘Damn chief deity.’
Astroth realized that the filthy chief deity had ‘interfered’ once again. He had been holed up in the palace, quietly biding his time, and finally, today had come.
Duke Astroth grabbed Leo's hand. He intended to erase the worthless trumpet mark and reclaim his first love, his first contract holder who had returned after thousands of years through the blood of the royal family.
But then,
“This... this...!!”
Astroth jumped to his feet.
He shook off Leo’s hand and shouted in anger.
“You filthy thing! You’ve become a toy of the deity!”
Barbatos was not the problem. His true name had changed, and his first love, who had returned as a completely different person, already had an owner.
[ Player: Minseo ]
He could not possess him. Astroth, unable to contain his rising anger, stomped his foot as Leo drew his sword.
- Swish.
The sword swung like a flash. Leo felt sure he had cut off both of the king’s legs, but the king dispersed like mist. He had never been there in the first place and now appeared behind him, opening the door and shouting.
“Traitor! Kill this scoundrel!”
“Your Majesty? What is...?!”
The palace guards, seeing Leo with his drawn sword, were shocked and blocked him. The guard, who had been somewhat distant with Leo, shouted for the chief attendant to call for reinforcements and drew his sword.
“That is not the king! It’s an evil god!”
- Clang!
“What nonsense! This madman... I knew something was wrong when I heard you barged into the prince’s room! And with the princess too!”
- Clang!
Realizing words wouldn’t work, Leo tightened his grip on his sword.
The king was disappearing with a face full of resentment, occasionally looking back, and Leo had no choice but to follow.
“Ugh...”
[ Quest: Duelist 976/1000 - Your {Swordsmanship} ability has increased by one Level. ]
After exchanging about a dozen blows, Leo's sword pierced the heart of the palace guard. Without a moment to relish the sight of blood soaking into the guard's blue uniform, Leo hurriedly ran.
He noticed that the number in the quest had increased by one compared to what he remembered from the previous childhood friend scenario, but he brushed it off, thinking Leo Dexter must have killed someone and exited the lobby.
“Sir Noel! What are you doing!”
Palace guards and knights were flocking to the Hall of the Sky beneath the Emperor’s Ascent. Captain Hamlet of the Royal Guard questioned him with a perplexed expression.
Next to him was the knight who had been Leo’s mentor, making Leo feel even more desolate.
Feeling bone-chilling loneliness, he looked around. The king was already on the opposite side, ascending the Prince's Staircase. Perhaps lingering with regrets, the king briefly gazed at Leo before entering the prince’s office.
“Sir Noel! Drop your sword immediately! If you are still a knight, act honorably...”
“There’s no need for that!”
The Swordmaster appeared. Apparently still with the prince after the ball, Count Herman Forte burst out of the office the king had entered and shouted.
- Thud!
Count Forte jumped off the balcony. Roughly pushing through the gathered palace guards, he strode up the Emperor’s Ascent.
Thinking it might be for the best, Leo raised his sword. Approaching the stairs to gain higher ground, he reminded himself of his grudge against the count.
This bastard killed my brother. He also killed Leo Dexter and Lena Ainar.
Honestly, there was no hope, but it would be good to confront him at least once for future revenge...
- Clang!
The count’s sword was drawn ‘without any warning.’ Leo didn’t even realize if the count had kicked off the stairs or what, but in an instant, he was upon him, delivering a powerful strike.
Barely managing to block the sword, Leo slid back.
He recalled the attack that had struck the old Leo Dexter during guard duty. Even with Lena Ainar’s help, his nose had bled, and his lips had split.
‘He seems to prefer attacking like this in the first strike... whoa!’
The count’s sword stabbed forward. It barely missed his waist, and Leo realized this was no time for analysis.
- Clang!
“Ugh!”
The Swordmaster’s body spun. Maintaining the thrusting position, he rotated and brought his sword down on Leo. This is really...
‘Unfair!’
How could someone so blatantly commit to a spin? Thanks to the scenario reward, Leo, now skilled in swordsmanship, gritted his teeth at the brazen attack.
A large movement like a spin comes with a price. There’s a risk of being struck in the back of the head, so one should only exploit that temporal advantage when the opponent cannot react.
But that hadn’t been the case just now. Even if his posture had been disturbed to avoid the thrust, it wasn’t a situation where he could afford to spin.
Count Herman Forte had arrogantly employed his ‘swordsmanship that hides its precursors.’ Recognizing his preparation to spin his body immediately after the thrust, one couldn’t dismiss it as mere arrogance...
The Swordmaster seemed surprised. But he glared at Leo with terrifying eyes,
His sword blazed white. Apparently intending to finish the fight quickly, he swung his sword again without waiting for the aura blade to form.
Leo steeled himself.
Before seeing it, he couldn't predict where the attack would come from. Because it was impossible to anticipate where or how the attack would come, he had to defend at a half-beat disadvantage.
The Swordmaster’s attack was a horizontal slash. Leo barely managed to raise his sword to block it, and seeing the aura blade get stopped by Leo’s sword (a bound item), Count Herman Forte looked as if he had swallowed an apple whole.
As his mouth started to open slightly, Leo seized the opportunity.
Holding the sword handle in a reverse grip, he stepped forward, lifting the intersecting swords.
As the sword tip naturally turned toward the Swordmaster while rotating around the count’s sword, he thrust powerfully.
Got him! But at the same time, he missed the mark.
The sword grazed the count’s thigh instead of the initially aimed abdomen. Still, it went in deep enough to cut through two finger joints.
This should be a fatal wound...
‘Huh?’
At that moment, the palace tilted. The palace was spinning rapidly.
Am I falling? He briefly thought, but felt nothing under him.
- Splat!
Seeing the ceiling, Leo realized he had indeed fallen. No, that’s not quite right. Only his ‘upper half’ had fallen.
From his right shoulder to his left waist, he had been cut. The Swordmaster had focused on killing Leo rather than evading, and the aura blade had cleanly sliced through Leo’s body.
Lying on the floor, Leo de Yeriel saw his two legs still standing. His heart, still beating, kept him alive for a moment longer.
But only briefly. Leo’s vision blurred, and as he heard someone shouting, “The count is injured! Call a priest immediately!” a message appeared.
[ Leo has died. ]
It was a futile death.
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