novelraw Chapter 177
Chapter 177
Impelium stayed silent for a moment.
But soon, he quite noticeably changed the subject.
“Anyway, I broke the law of no-killing, and because of that, I was punished under the revised law and lost the power of a Hero.”
“……”
“In other words, I could no longer use fame as strength. Even though I had already given up my greatest wish.”
“……”
“Of course, I became endlessly weaker, and Velosian killed me. My immense fame was completely stolen.”
There was no need to ask who took it.
“Velosian handed your fame to Adin. That’s how Adin became the Celestial God.”
“Heh. Only a tiny fraction, though. Like a bucket of water taken from the sea.” “Just how great was your fame at your peak?”
“In any case, the law Velosian modified is still in effect. If you kill Kaeld…”
I will be punished too.
I will lose the ability to use fame as power.
In Impelium’s words, I would lose the power of a Hero.
A horrifying future.
“Well, your party members aren’t bound by that restriction. If necessary, you could consider killing Kaeld through their hands.”
“……”
“But with their current strength, they can’t handle Kaeld empowered by Velosian. Neril could probably deal a serious blow, but in the end, she won’t be able to take his head.”
Tap, tap.
I realized I had been shaking my leg.
Holding it still, I asked,
“What’s your suggestion?”
“Change the order. Kill Velosian first.”
“……”
“Then the laws he altered will all revert to their original state. He is currently putting all his power into preventing that restoration.”
“So, if I kill him, the force maintaining the altered laws disappears, and the law demanding no-killing returns to normal?”
Impelium nodded.
I scratched my head furiously again.
“Damn it. You could have told me this sooner.”
“Be thankful it’s not too late.”
“Yeah, well… I guess I am.”
True, there were more than a few times I would have been in serious danger without Impelium.
Complaining now would just be shameless.
“I shouldn’t have snapped. Sorry.”
“Don’t mention it. So what will you do now?”
“What else? I will do as you said, change the order.”
“Hmm. Even though I suggested it, letting Kaeld roam freely is still dangerous.”
That was true.
If I avoided him now, what would Kaeld do?
With his fame fading day by day, he might go into a frenzy.
Maybe he would threaten to wipe out an entire territory just to draw me out.
Given the power Velosian granted him, it wouldn’t even be hard.
‘No other choice.’
I steeled my resolve.
Seeing my expression, Impelium smiled.
I said,
“First, I will imprison him.”
Until his execution day.
The next day.
I shared my conversation with Impelium with the party.
Lisel asked,
“Was dinner served?”
“Serad was asleep. And seriously, is that what matters right now?”
“Well… a little?”
“Anyway, you all get the gist, right? We have switched plans, from execution to imprisonment.”
Offense cut in.
“You mean to confine him in your own created space.”
“Yeah.”
“Even Idria couldn’t escape the one you made, but… will it work on Kaeld? I can’t quite gauge how strong he is now.”
“It’s not like I used my full strength to create the space that trapped Idria.”
Everyone’s eyes widened.
I shrugged.
“Back then, I was pouring everything into making the black hole. I couldn’t devote myself fully to tearing space apart.”
“Well, given the situation, that makes sense.”
“This time, I will devote all my power to create that space. No matter how strong Kaeld is, he won’t be able to escape.”
They all nodded.
I stretched lazily.
“Anyway, let’s have breakfast.”
“No!”
Xenia suddenly shouted.
We couldn’t help but be startled.
Adwin’s voice trembled.
“Noona, you’re not sick, are you?”
“It’s Agril.”
“……!”
Indeed, as she said, Agril was descending rapidly from the sky.
“I told him beforehand to keep scouting.”
“You mean…”
“Yes. Kaeld is here.”
So fast.
Whoosh..!
Agril landed on the ground.
Except for Neril and me, the others climbed onto his back as planned.
Xenia said,
“We will eat two lunches instead, Mr. Mide.”
“Sure.”
“It will be over before then, right?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Please be careful. You too, Neril.”
I nodded, and Neril smiled faintly.
That was enough of an answer for Xenia, who then gave Agril the signal.
With Mime’s help, they soon became dots vanishing beyond the sky.
Neril twirled a strand of hair around her finger.
“Not nervous?”
“Not really. You’re here.”
“Hehe. You always know what to say.”
“So do you.”
We quietly smiled at each other.
And about three minutes later.
Kuwa-kwak-kwang!
A deafening roar shook the ground.
The vibration was strong enough to make my body tremble.
It wasn’t from some grand attack.
Kaeld was simply running.
Kicking up clouds of dust that darkened the sky.
Tap. Tap.
Kaeld Wake.
The man who could be called my worst nemesis before and after regression glared at me with blood-shot eyes.
Shing.
I drew my sword and rested it on my shoulder.
“Yo. You came?”
“Mide…”
“You know, there was something I swore I would tell you the next time we met.”
He just stared silently.
I said,
“You’re annoyingly persistent.”
Kaeld’s usual sly grin was gone.
In its place were urgency and agitation.
He said,
“It was the most extravagant invitation in the world.”
“Did you like it?”
“Heh. Maybe a little.”
Shing.
He drew his sword and took a stance.
“Thanks to it, I figured out how to overcome this obstacle.”
“You’re planning to ask Velosian to transfer my fame, aren’t you?”
“……!”
“But that would require killing me first. Think you can manage that?”
Fwoooosh.
The wind blew.
And from within that wind, Kaeld answered.
“From what you just said, sounds like you even know that I got power from Velosian?”
“Yeah. And I also know that thanks to that, he ended up trapped in the special room.”
“Heh. Trapped? No, he passed out.”
“What?”
“He overused his power or something. Knocked right out. Sleeping like a baby.”
Velosian must have been something of a benefactor to Kaeld… though, knowing Kaeld, he wasn’t the type to feel gratitude.
“After finishing his little ritual, Velosian told me this: he passed on about ten percent of his true power.”
“Ten percent? What can you even do with that?”
“For example, this!”
Kaeld’s arm moved.
Even from nearly two hundred meters away, his sword wind came slicing toward us.
‘Quick Sword?’
One of his signature techniques. I had seen it before, back when we first fought on Agril’s back.
But the power now was on a completely different level.
Just a graze from that would probably cut straight through bone.
I swung my own sword immediately.
I struck down each gust Kaeld unleashed.
Kaang! Kaang!
After nearly half a minute of continuous slashes, his Quick Sword finally stopped.
Then I remembered, Neril was right behind me.
Without turning, I asked, “Neril. You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good.”
“But the surroundings look like a mess.”
At that, I darted my eyes around.
‘What the…!’
Except for where Neril and I stood, the entire field had been overturned.
The reed field that marked the starting point was gone without a trace.
[It’s worse in the back. Ah, don’t turn around.]
‘I’m not dumb enough to take my eyes off the enemy.’
[It’s barely recognizable as the same place anymore. This is worse than when you had that lung-capacity showdown with Idria.]
Just from one technique?
I swallowed hard.
Then.
“Heh, heh… hahahahaha!”
Kaeld suddenly covered his face with one hand and burst out laughing like a lunatic.
“So it’s true! Just as I thought!”
“What is?”
“I hadn’t used Velosian’s power properly until now, so I didn’t realize… but I have gotten absurdly strong!”
“But you didn’t manage to kill us.”
“That’s why I will do it properly this time.”
Whoosh.
He threw his sword aside.
Honestly, it wasn’t even in one piece anymore, his own power had shattered it.
I must have looked puzzled, because Kaeld spoke again.
“Heh. I don’t need weapons anymore. I finally understand, that’s not how Velosian’s power is meant to be used.”
“…?”
“This is how it’s used!”
Crack. Crack.
His bones began to twist at grotesque angles!
Not just his limbs, his spine bent backward ninety degrees.
A posture that should have killed him instantly.
But unfortunately, Kaeld was still alive.
“Ugh… Aaaaghhh!”
He screamed in agony, but his face wore a wide, manic grin.
Whatever he was doing, it couldn’t be good.
I raised my sword. “Neril!”
“Y-yeah!”
In a flash, she formed her seals.
My Light Attack and her Transcendent Disintegration shot toward Kaeld simultaneously.
Boom!
1.2 million Fame—Light Attack
720,000 Fame—Transcendent Disintegration.
Combined, the sheer force made Kaeld’s earlier Quick Sword look like a child’s tantrum.
But I didn’t let my guard down.
“Pour everything you have got into it!”
“Got it!”
Instead of closing in, we bombarded him from afar.
The ground collapsed and melted.
The air itself began to vanish.
Dust clouds rose thick, obscuring Kaeld completely.
Yet despite the relentless assault, a chill ran down my neck.
Trail’s voice echoed in my head.
[You should just imprison him already.]
‘Yeah. You’re right.’
—Drag into space!
Crackle.
I tore open a spatial rift right beside where Kaeld had been.
“Neril, I just opened the space.”
“…”
“I made sure it won’t pull us in, but I can’t stop it from sucking in the air. Like I told you before, he will start suffocating soon.”
“…”
“So hurry and use your…. Neril?”
Her expression froze.
She trembled slightly, lifting her head.
My gaze followed hers.
“…!”
The rift was definitely working, dust and debris were being sucked in.
And that’s when I saw it.
“Heh.”
Kaeld, or what was once Kaeld, was standing there.
“W-what the hell is that…?”
He was easily twenty or thirty meters tall.
His once-broken back now stood perfectly straight.
Two horns extended from his head.
His mouth had stretched into a snout lined with hundreds of arm-thick fangs.
His muscles were grotesquely swollen, and ragged fur now covered his whole body.
Neril summed it up in one word.
“A monster…”
She was right. Kaeld was unmistakably a monster now.
‘Well… that means I can kill him, right? The hero’s rule only forbids killing people.’
[You can still joke after seeing that?]
‘What? It actually suits him.’
[Unbelievable.]
Step.
Kaeld took a single step toward us.
Just that and it felt like the ground rose beneath my feet.
“The pull isn’t affecting him at all. His movements are too natural.”
“…We should just cancel it. No point wasting energy.”
“Yeah.”
I released the spatial pull.
Swish.
Kaeld stopped walking.
We just glared at each other.
Neril whispered, “You said even Idria got dragged in by that, right?”
“Yeah. Looks like Kaeld is way stronger than she was, maybe even stronger than me.”
“…And you’re still that calm?”
“Feels like I will be fine. Even now, I can’t imagine losing to him.”
She lowered her voice.
“I believe that too. You will never lose to Kaeld. Not that I think you would lose to anyone else, either.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you’re the real hero, and he is the fake. Just like how Idria, no matter how high she soared, couldn’t match Velosian, you and Kaeld are the same.”
“…”
“What’s really shocking is that this is only ten percent of Velosian’s power.”
That made even me tense up.
To think even one-tenth of Velosian’s true power could produce this.
Then.
“Surprised, are you?”
The monsterized Kaeld spoke.
I shrugged.
“Not really. I was just lost in thought for a second.”
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