novelraw Chapter 173 : Chapter 173
Chapter 173 : Chapter 173
Chapter 173
The Fairy Forest, located in the depths of Elvenheim.
Before Yggdrasil, considered the most sacred place even there, the swords of three superhumans crossed.
“Grotesquery. Truly a bizarre being.”
Ashirian, who had deflected Killian's sword, quietly commented.
The being that had corrupted Yggdrasil and driven the former king mad.
Even with only a fraction of its power compared to over 200 years ago, it was handling the body of a superhuman as if it were its own.
“Fortunately, it seems it hasn't taken away his skill with the sword.”
Rundel, who had taken a position behind Killian, said.
He became certain after exchanging a few blows.
“Compared to the swordsmanship Killian Eurasia originally uses, this doesn't even reach 30 percent.”
The being before them exuded the aura of one who had mastered 7-stars, but its technical skill with the sword was not enough to be called a Sword Master.
Kwaang.
Rundel, who struck away Aether, moved to the side.
Killian's red eyes followed his path.
Kwang!
Rundel defended against the subsequent attack without difficulty.
“For someone with clouded eyes, he's quick to read movements.”
Despite his words, Rundel's expression was not good.
The turbid mana surging from Killian's body, and the Radiance emanating from it.
‘An unpleasant power.’
The thing to be wary of wasn't the swinging sword, but the Radiance that tried to cling to you the moment of contact.
‘The bastard is deliberately aiming for the moment of contact.’
Just as it did to Yggdrasil, it would probably imprint a curse on its opponent through some method the moment it touched them.
“Be careful. You must not let it touch you.”
“I am also aware.”
Sword energy shot out along the trajectory of the sword Ashirian swung.
However, Killian's Aether absorbed the 7-star mana without difficulty.
[Queen of the Elves.]
Killian's head tilted, and his mouth twisted.
[You're not as great as I thought.]
“Insolent thing. Your arrogant tongue is no different from the original owner's.”
The provocations of a fool are obvious in their method, Ashirian commented.
Just then.
Killian, who had stopped at a distance from them, lowered his sword.
“What do you think you're doing?”
[The exploration is complete.]
He added that what dwelled in his body was not just ‘Exploration.’
[Queen of the Elves, Ashirian de Silvana. You are incomplete.]
“Hoh.”
Ashirian gestured with her chin as if to tell him to say more.
[An incomplete superhuman who wields the power of 8-stars only when synchronized with Yggdrasil.]
This time, his gaze turned to Rundel.
[Rundel Hoeirun. You are a complete 8-star. But for some reason, you are hiding your power.]
After a brief pause, Killian continued.
[In this body, I cannot defeat you.]
“Exploration… no, did you say several curses have fused? Now that I look, you have some interesting aspects to you.”
[However.]
Killian's gaze shifted toward Yggdrasil and Hazard, who lay beneath it.
[What about this one?]
A smirk.
The corners of his mouth went up.
[Ashirian de Silvana. You cherish this one, don't you.]
“……”
[Drop your sword. Otherwise, I will kill this one.]
“It's an obvious trick.”
Rundel warned.
“I have made a promise on my honor as Queen.”
She had said she would protect him no matter what happened while he was synchronized with Yggdrasil.
“Protecting Killian Eurasia alone is sufficient.”
“Should not one who is Queen know how to embrace his familiar as well?”
“There is no need to take the risk…”
Clatter.
The sword Ashirian released touched the ground.
“Your Majesty!”
Paying no mind to Rundel's reaction, Ashirian approached Killian.
Killian's red eyes half-opened.
“To think a mere curse would try to use its head. It seems I've lived long enough to see everything.”
A distance where a sword's thrust would reach.
Ashirian stopped in front of Killian.
Aether was raised.
[Let's finish the exploration.]
“By whose permission?”
Grab.
Ashirian's hand shot out first and seized Killian's arm.
“This is Elvenheim. Without my permission, no one…”
Tzzzzzz.
Green mana bloomed from her body and enveloped Killian's.
“…can speak of life and death.”
Kugugugugu.
The Haki, fused with mana, churned through Killian's body.
[You….]
Killian, pouring blood from all over his body, staggered.
Ashirian grabbed his hair and bent his head back.
“I had to cut down my own father because of you.”
An angry glare, unlike any she had shown before.
“I said I would not lay a hand on Killian Eurasia, but you are a different story.”
Squeeze.
With one hand on Aether and the other on Killian's neck, she suppressed him and strengthened her mana.
“A piece of a Grotesquery, you said?”
Where you came from.
For what reason you parasitize to prolong your life.
“I will find out myself.”
Ssssss.
Yggdrasil responded to her mana.
Her intention was to use her 8-star power to analyze the Grotesquery.
She closed her eyes and focused on controlling her mana.
“Ashirian, stop!”
Rundel belatedly tried to stop her, but Ashirian's face was already contorted in pain.
It was because, as her synchronization with Yggdrasil deepened, the curse was flowing into her mana and body.
“This is nothing.”
Ashirian continued to strengthen her mana with bloodshot eyes.
Drrrrrrrrr.
The Haki she emitted tore through Killian's body.
The Grotesquery let out a sound that was impossible to tell if it was a scream or a laugh.
‘This is dangerous. At this rate, she'll be consumed by the curse like the former king.’
Ashirian had already made contact with the Grotesquery and begun synchronizing with Yggdrasil.
Even if she managed to destroy the curse and uncover its origin.
‘There's no way there wouldn't be aftereffects.’
The elven race no longer had any royalty.
If she died, chaos would befall Elvenheim.
In that case, what Rundel had to do now was clear.
‘I have no choice but to cut down Killian Eurasia.’
It was the moment he raised his sword and took his stance.
“Stop, Rundel!”
Ashirian reached out her hand to stop him.
“Your Majesty! At this rate…”
“It is a promise. Do you intend to make a fool of me?”
“……”
Rundel shook his head.
“To me, the Queen is more precious.”
“……”
It was a moment when a strange emotion flickered across Ashirian's face.
“Carpe Illusion.”
Green mana soared from Rundel's sword.
An amount of mana that seemed to be double that of Killian's and Ashirian's enveloped them.
“Ashvatthama.”
The Radiance that had been clinging to Ashirian's body turned towards him.
‘An unpleasant energy.’
He could feel the Queen's resolve, who had intended to find out about the Grotesquery even if it meant taking in such an unpleasant energy herself.
He could vividly feel the curse trying to consume his body.
‘Do I have no choice but to offer up Carpe Illusion and seal it for now?’
His Carpe Illusion was another Divine Tree created by mimicking Yggdrasil.
Although he would have to give his body to the Grotesquery, he would be able to stop its encroachment on the Queen.
The moment Carpe Illusion was completed, darkness flooded his vision.
‘It's not just one.’
Several curses aimed for his body in the darkness.
‘This is troublesome.’
Just then.
A single ray of Divine Power illuminated the darkness.
“Well done, Hazard.”
[Yong-yong.]
When he opened his eyes at the familiar voice, he saw Killian Eurasia and Hazard.
“An 8-star, indeed.”
A look filled with absolute trust.
“Did you come to save me?”
“No.”
“…?”
“I got caught too.”
At Rundel’s troubled reply.
“Ah.”
Killian’s face hardened.
***
Killian and Rundel took a moment to share what had happened inside and out.
“You manifested Yggdrasil with Carpe Illusion?”
Rundel's tone was the same as usual, but his eyes held clear surprise.
“I told you I did.”
“Astonishing. To manifest a Divine Tree, you would have needed a fitting Mind Image.”
At his words, Killian smiled bitterly to himself.
‘I fulfilled that condition when I cut down Silvana.’
As he couldn't bring himself to say that.
“I only imitated it. It's not perfect enough to be called complete.”
He just vaguely glossed it over.
“Even so, it's a great achievement. With this, you've taken another step closer to 8-stars.”
“The Grotesquery is the priority. That thing took over my body outside?”
“Cutting it down didn't seem difficult, but subduing it wasn't easy.”
Rundel held up his hand.
His skin was discolored, turning black.
“Just touching the Radiance it emits causes the curse to encroach. There's a limit to protecting the body with mana.”
“……”
Killian knew more about the Grotesquery's Radiance than anyone.
‘Even the 9-star Edan couldn't handle its curse. Of course, that was when it was in a state that could be called its main body.’
He had said that the thing was now handling not only the Curse of Exploration but also the other curses Killian had absorbed.
It would not have been easy to subdue, even for an 8-star.
“By the way…”
Rundel, who was looking at Killian, sensed something from Hazard.
A power that was faint at first but gradually became clearer.
“It's Divine Power. I felt it faintly before, but now I can sense a powerful Divine Power, as if facing a temple priest.”
[Yooo-hoong.]
Hazard approached Rundel with an innocent face.
Then he stuck out his tongue and licked Rundel's hand.
Lick. Lick.
As saliva coated the skin, the wound healed in an instant.
“This is the healing power of a high-ranking priest.”
“Well, this guy also, through a turn of events.”
At this rate, it seemed Rundel would notice what happened with Silvana, so he needed to change the subject.
“It's my fault.”
The curses he had previously absorbed with Aether.
They had become entangled and created the current situation.
It was something that happened because Killian couldn't control the curses.
Outside, the Queen was facing Killian's body alone.
She wouldn't be defeated on her own, but as time passed, their side was at a disadvantage.
“Her Majesty the Queen will not cut you down.”
“Right.”
Ashirian de Silvana had strong pride.
That was how much she knew to cherish honor.
“I was complacent as a Guardian.”
The Queen's feelings about the piece of the Grotesquery she harbored.
Rundel blamed himself, saying he should have recognized the anger in a corner of her heart as a Guardian.
“About that.”
“……”
“I have a good idea.”
“…?”
“We lure the curse into your body.”
Killian continued.
Killian's Carpe Illusion, ‘Yggdrasil.’
Rundel's Carpe Illusion, ‘Ashvatthama,’ which was modeled after Yggdrasil.
“If we synchronize the two Carpe Illusions, we can draw the bastard here. It would surely do so.”
“Are you insane?”
Rundel shot Killian a surprised look.
If that happened, the piece of the Grotesquery would use his body.
“And you and Hazard will have to face me.”
Killian had never once defeated Rundel.
“There isn't a suitable alternative, is there? At this rate, the Queen will be swallowed up too, right? After that, it will spread to all of Elvenheim.”
The incapacitation of an 8-star knight, the Queen, and a Guardian.
Even without an invasion from the Empire, it was a good situation to discuss the ruin of the elven race.
“……”
Rundel, after thinking for a moment, finally made a decision.
“I won't be able to use all of my power, but you will have to risk your life.”
“Of course.”
“You already know this, but be careful of the curses. The fused curses are on a different level from what you've faced.”
Killian nodded at Rundel's warning to be careful of the Radiance, then stood up and distanced himself from him.
“Let's begin.”
The two, facing each other, scattered their mana.
“Carpe Illusion.”
“Carpe Illusion.”
Drrrrr. Drrrr.
Two Divine Trees, manifested from green mana, grew.
The moment the branches of the Divine Trees intertwined as if to bind each other.
Saaaaaaaa.
Contamination suddenly began.
Rundel's body trembled, and his vision blurred.
He deliberately did not resist and calmly accepted the curse.
“It's coming.”
Saaaaaa.
Radiance flickered from his body, which had been steeped in the curse.
His eyes, which had opened to reveal red irises, became hazy.
After the short synchronization ended, he looked around as if to assess the situation.
Rundel's gaze fell on Killian and Hazard.
[So you've devoured a god.]
A bizarre power was laced in Rundel's voice.
“Two pieces of a Transcendent. Looks like I'll be doing some proper sword work today.”
Raising his sword, Killian steadied his breathing.
His opponent was a fusion of curses that had taken over an 8-star's body. He could not afford to display a petty competitive spirit.
“Let's begin, Hazard.”