novelraw Chapter 158 : Traces of the Stars (3)
Chapter 158 : Traces of the Stars (3)
Traces of the Stars (3)
Benadic did not know of Alencia's existence.
To be precise, he had seen her once in the dungeon, but he had not realized at all that her power was that of the 'Saintess'.
'She definitely wasn't this strong back then.'
He had simply thought she possessed some ability to move quickly or a magic spell like teleportation.
He never guessed it was the manifestation of authority.
'Then why has she been staying hidden this whole time?'
There had been plenty of opportunities to fight.
Why now, of all times?
Had she really just been hiding until now only to suddenly attack?
'No way.'
Suddenly, Benadic realized the meaning behind the 'thank you' Park Jung-woo had said.
A Saintess could always gather her power through something at the root of her authority.
Just as Estella's origin had been such.
The Saintess before him wielded the power of lightning, so she would have gathered her strength through lightning.
"Damn!!"
He tried to kick Alencia away, the one who had trampled on his body.
But Alencia would never be hit by such a slow attack.
Blue afterimages of lightning swirled and scattered along the arc swept by her fist.
Kwaaang!!
"!!"
The view changed in an instant.
Benadic realized he was being kicked into the air by Alencia's foot.
And, at the end of his flight, he saw Park Jung-woo waiting.
"Perfect."
Park Jung-woo slammed Benadic's body down as if he were a volleyball with his palm.
This time, sending him back in the direction of Alencia.
'What the—'
Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!!
From Alencia to Park Jung-woo, from Park Jung-woo back to Alencia.
Benadic was beaten mercilessly, bouncing between the two.
This was not a battle.
It was one-sided violence.
For them, it wasn't even a fight—it was 'play'.
That was all he amounted to.
After wandering so long as a spirit, gathering strength, and longing for an origin—this was the end he reached?
'The vessel—the vessel is completed!'
Even as he was battered back and forth between Park Jung-woo and Alencia, Benadic's body remained without a scratch.
Even if it was a copy, the body was almost identical to a saint's.
But as he was continually struck, the ever-increasing pain was proof that the body was still only an imitation.
He would die.
He could not even put up resistance.
He couldn't catch up to Alencia's overwhelming speed, nor could he even begin to fathom the extent of Park Jung-woo's power.
It was humiliating.
If only he had the bracelet, he could have absorbed its authority and resisted this absurdity with true authority, not mere holy arts.
"You looked like you'd be something impressive, but you're weaker than I thought, huh?"
As Alencia kicked Benadic away like a ball, Benadic ceased his thoughts. Escaping this place or gathering strength to reclaim his authority no longer mattered.
These bastards, I will kill them here no matter what.
"Uaaaaahhh!!"
With Benadic's roar, the storm that had shrouded the island instantly dispersed.
The huge mass of light—plasma—that had been gathered in the sky also vanished.
All the energy that he had spread out to block off intruders and, in the end, destroy the island, was concentrated back into Benadic's body.
"Yeah, I should have done this from the start."
Just like when he slaughtered the heretics who had pursued him.
"Even if I lose the vessel, I will kill you all right here."
The power of origin coursed through his entire body, shining radiantly.
Golden flames that burned his jet-black body engulfed him, flaring even brighter where his eyelids would be.
Kagagak!!
No sooner had Benadic spoken than Alencia's fist smashed into his face, but as if completely unfazed, the blow rebounded with only sparks of fire scattering away. Unlike earlier when he was sent flying by a single strike, this time Benadic didn't take even a single step back, tracking Alencia, who had become lightning, with his eyes.
There was no way a normal human could follow Alencia, who was moving at at least supersonic speed.
'I wish...'
That's why Benadic prayed.
'For enough speed to catch that Saintess.'
Fwoosh—the golden flame that had been burning Benadic's left arm scattered.
The sigil on his arm lost its light completely, all holy power vanishing.
"Huh?"
Alencia was flustered.
For Benadic, who hadn't been able to catch up to her at all before, suddenly accelerated dramatically and reached for her throat.
Crackle!!
It was by a hair's breadth. The hand aiming to seize Alencia's throat split the air, its electrical wave burning through the forest.
"I wish. I wish. I wish!!"
The flame on his right arm. The flame on his legs. All the golden holy power burning his body disappeared.
Each time, the wish he made was granted, devouring the life and soul he had gathered until now.
All that remained was the flame consuming his eyes.
His body now retained only darkness, bit by bit collapsing.
Perhaps his soul was collapsing as well.
"Even if I lose the vessel..."
Black lightning chased blue lightning.
Alencia swung the dagger she'd picked up earlier at the rapidly approaching Benadic.
Kang! Kangkangkang!!
'Can he really make anything happen just by wishing for it?'
What kind of absurd, broken authority was that?
Her opponent was definitely catching up to her speed now.
The flying sparks of electricity and afterimages showed how many times their attacks had collided in midair.
The dagger blade that Alencia wielded was turning red-hot from the tremendous speed.
'If only I'd been able to charge a bit more...'
Like when I took down Titan.
If she'd had such massive energy, she really might have moved "as lightning" and overwhelmed Benadic. But with her current reserves, she couldn't fully shake him off.
"This way!"
At Park Jung-woo's shout, Alencia's feet moved.
At the same moment, Benadic glanced momentarily at Park Jung-woo and then chased after her.
Kwakwakwakwaang!!
After the two sped past, the delayed shockwave tore up and scorched the ground.
Already, the island's forest was half-burned and destroyed, unrecognizable from before.
"My wish will kill you!!"
All the souls and life he had gathered.
This miracle made by sacrificing even his own future.
Crunch!!
"Ahh!!"
At last, Benadic's hand gripped Alencia's throat and slammed her to the ground.
Then, as she'd done to him earlier, he kicked the fallen Alencia with all his might.
Kwaaaang!!
Like a fired shell, Alencia was sent flying, and Park Jung-woo caught her.
The force slid him several meters back, finally stopping when his back slammed into a giant tree.
As Park Jung-woo received Alencia, Benadic seized that opening—when Park Jung-woo's arms were occupied—and closed in instantly.
Black lightning traced a circle, his hand shooting for Park Jung-woo's right eye.
As it closed the final distance, Park Jung-woo made no attempt to dodge and instead headbutted Benadic's hand.
In that instant, Benadic saw, just for a moment, a red aura spread when his hand and the opponent collided.
Crack!!
"!!"
Benadic, pain shooting through the hand that had struck Park Jung-woo's forehead, quickly jerked his body back.
'What was that?'
Looking at his hand, it wasn't broken.
His body was falling apart, but it was still that of a saint, imitation or not.
"What in the world are you harboring in there?"
When their bodies collided, he had glimpsed something red inside.
It was neither magic power nor holy power—some other kind of strength.
It was similar to demonic energy, but not quite the same.
"You're asking, even though you know who I fought?"
Park Jung-woo smirked, gently laying Alencia by his side.
"Don't tell me, that's..."
"What you're thinking is correct."
The Demon King's power.
The authority from the other heart lodged in Park Jung-woo's own chest.
"You said you'd kill me with the power of wishes?"
Unless the real Estella were present, that was truly impossible.
Park Jung-woo would not be defeated by some imitation of Estella's authority.
"Well, it's not like you would know. You belong to the era after the Demon King died."
He didn't know what kind of power that being possessed.
"I don't know. I couldn't have known."
All records about the Demon King had been destroyed, erased.
As if no information about him should remain, humanity's remaining fear made that possible.
All that was left was the belief the Demon King would never revive.
"A Demon King—that which stands above all values."
The values of every era built and nurtured by civilization and the world.
The one capable of erasing history, possessing the strength to trample upon values.
"And so, he can kill a saint."
Benadic felt fear toward the figure before him.
The countless miracles gathered in his body told him he could fight, but his feet would not move.
If the Demon King stood above all values, how could this man have killed him?
"It wasn't actually anything grand or elaborate."
Almost as if reading Benadic's thoughts, Park Jung-woo took a step forward and spoke.
"I was simply stronger."
He had reached for the Demon King's heart.
"Estella's malice had become great enough to rip through his flesh."
A millennium's worth of Estella's malice, her wish.
It wasn't just Estella's, but humanity's malice, too.
That malice alone, with the desire to kill him, transcended even values and miracles to slay the Demon King.
"And the heart of that being is now within me."
"That's impossible... No mere human could control such power!"
"I already told you."
Park Jung-woo clenched his fist.
"I was stronger."
Others may not have seen it, but Benadic could.
A red aura was gathered around Park Jung-woo's heart, spreading throughout his whole body.
"You may not know, but I haven't even had this heart for a year yet."
His previously dark eyes gradually turned red with his power.
This change had never occurred with Park Jung-woo before, a sign that his body was gradually adapting to the heart.
"So I'm still not good at controlling its power."
Even if Benadic's body was a copy, it was still a saint's.
Therefore, there were two ways to kill him.
Either tear his authority apart with Alencia's authority, or—
Completely annihilate him with the Demon King's power.
'I would have liked to settle it with the former if possible.'
But this wasn't so bad either.
He might be drawing the demonization closer, but it was a power that could serve as a warning.
'Watch closely, Damian.'
See who your enemy is.
And what kind of power that enemy possesses.
"No—!!"
The moment Benadic shouted something—
Park Jung-woo's fist shot forward.
***
Mikhail simply could not believe what he was seeing.
'That— That's supposed to be human power?'
He had been holding his breath, watching for the chance to kill Benadic.
Pathetically, Benadic had possessed power far out of his own reach.
But Park Jung-woo and Alencia were beating Benadic absolutely one-sidedly.
They moved so quickly, he couldn't even see how they fought.
Then, as Benadic squeezed out his final strength to try something, it ended in a single blow.
Perfectly obliterated in one strike.
The sight before him was proof.
The island had been split in half.
The sea was even temporarily parted, and seawater rained down from the sky.
If an S-rank mage unleashed large-scale magic, the destruction might look like this.
But this man, with a single punch, showed such power.
If that punch had been aimed toward Taean, a great disaster would surely have occurred.
That kind of power.
It was far too great a power for a single human to have, and Mikhail couldn't bring himself to step forward.
"Did they send me to kill a monster like that?"
Were they insane?
How was he supposed to fight something like that?
"I quite agree—how could you possibly fight them?"
"......!!"
As he mumbled to himself, startled by the voice from behind, Mikhail spun around in alarm.
There weren't many who could get behind him without him noticing.
"Ah, what? Ivan Hunt? Where have you been all this time?"
Fortunately, the man behind him was someone familiar.
Ivan Hunt.
Known as the worst mage in human history.
"Mikhail, you're decent, but you're really not up to S-rank standards."
"...... What?"
Irritated by Ivan's sudden provocation, Mikhail frowned.
"Ha, are you going to start stratifying S-ranks again? Maybe you should act your age. If I were your age—"
Slice.
Mikhail suddenly felt as if his vision was spinning.
'What the... why is my body...?'
In the brief moments of consciousness he had left, he watched his own body collapse, bleeding.
That was Mikhail's last memory.
"You asked where I was?"
Looking down at the headless corpse, Ivan wiped the blood from his face.
"I was preparing to kill the lot of you under the Saintess's orders."
The Saintess he had met was noble, beautiful, with a strong mind.
But she was never merciful.
Especially to her enemies.
"You really did keep a fearsome person by your side."
Ivan laughed softly, looking toward Park Jung-woo, who was cleaning up the situation, and Shin Ah-yeon, who was cautiously approaching him.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
The worst mage an ally?
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