EP.247 The Person Before the Words
An angel's explosion is a sacrifice. It is a purifying light that drives away all that is wicked. The exploding light gnawed away at Tir's darkness and delivered the final blow toward the vampire's darkness.
At that moment, the regressor intervened. She hastily shook Cheon-aeng and sliced the surrounding area in a circle just before the light exploded.
Heavenly Sword Qi, Cheon-gyeong.
The clusters of light that should have stretched out in all directions were blocked by something and bounced back. The light bouncing around in the space the regressor had sliced squeezed through the only remaining gap and shot up. The pillar of light, unable to invade anywhere else, emptily returned to the sky from which it came.
The clusters of light flicker like afterimages. Tir swallowed it with his darkness and scowled deeply as if he had eaten something tasteless.
[Even down to your actions. You're exactly like the angels. Is the nation called the Military Nation protected by angels?]
"They aren't angels. To be precise, it's something the Military Nation made by imitating angels."
The regressor answered as she sheathed Cheon-aeng.
[Imitated and made angels? Is that possible?]
"As you know, angels are ascended beings summoned by the priests of Seonghwangcheong by offering something as a sacrifice. But the Military Nation's angels are a bit different."
In the previous turn, the regressor had faced all of the Military Nation's Six Generals. Among them, the most troublesome existence was Cheon-tong, who was mystery itself. Having been wiped out along with the Resistance without finding a countermeasure, she had visited Seonghwangcheong to unravel the secret.
Seonghwangcheong, which had preserved and observed all kinds of mysteries for two thousand years, provided the answer to her question.
"They extremely suppressed other faiths and made the existence of soldiers the followers of the Military Nation. After that, they were forged solely with the will of protecting the nation and guarding. Perhaps an artificial spirit, or an artificial guardian angel."
[An artificial guardian angel.]
"Yes. Even the existence of angels, they dismantled and disassembled their principles one by one, and then artificially reproduced them in the Military Nation. Of course, since they are guardian angels, their range of activity is limited. They can only block existences that conceptually invade. That's why they appeared for the first time just now."
The places where battles had taken place in the Military Nation so far were the meta-conveyor belt, or the land outside of it. The Military Nation was not being attacked. Therefore, the sortie conditions for Eimeder were not met.
But now, crossing right through the middle of the Inner Circle. Eimeder descended as a guardian angel protecting the Military Nation. To protect the Six General, Gwabyeong.
"Cheon-tong, Eimeder is a term that refers to those angels in general. Or perhaps some existence that became the original of those angels. Actually, I haven't seen their main body so I don't know, but if we attack the headquarters, it will be settled somehow."
[Is it an existence unrelated to Seonghwangcheong?]
"I can't be 100% sure, but Seonghwangcheong is probably unrelated. Otherwise, the Military Nation wouldn't tax the Church of the Heavenly God."
[Oh-ho.]
Convinced, Tir murmured as he looked at the traces of the angel's disappearance.
[I feel complicated. The fact that the angels Seonghwangcheong is so proud of are actually trifling things that can be copied as much as one wants is highly pleasing. But with it actually acting up right before my eyes, it's annoying.]
"Well. Still, with me who has Cheon-aeng and your darkness, we can easily defeat them. There's no need to worry too much."
[Even so, they will continue to appear from now on. Angels are such existences.]
Tir is a legendary existence who waged war against Seonghwangcheong for hundreds of years. However, the battle between Seonghwangcheong and the vampires inevitably resulted in a back-and-forth offensive and defensive battle because their strengths and weaknesses were too distinct.
To the vampires, who had to advance as much as possible at night, the angels that grabbed their ankles from the very rear and then detonated the light of sacrifice to vanish were an annoying existence beyond disgust, to the point of being terrifying.
[Moreover, this is a bit more powerful and annoying than the angels I saw before. It is comparable even to the Archangels summoned by the Saintess.]
"To that extent? I've never fought an angel, so I don't know well."
[You don't know angels? Well, Shaei, you may look like you've been through all sorts of battles, but you're still young. You might not know angels... Wait.]
In the middle of their conversation, Tir, who sensed something, whipped his body around. His red gaze pierced through the darkness, taking in what was happening beyond the darkness.
[Huh?]
Right after Historia fell from her horse, the princess who had been riding the white horse was exposed alone. However, she didn't particularly feel a sense of crisis even though she was alone.
The ability to dodge hostility. Depending on the situation, it was a power close to invincibility. She does not fall into danger.
Unless a natural disaster like a landslide strikes or a runaway carriage rushes in.
The princess was safe from the hostility of other humans, humanity's greatest enemy.
Perhaps that was why. Even during the battle, the princess stopped at a position that was too complacent.
*Hihihihihiing!*
Selfi lifted her front legs as if she had been stung by something. It was a dangerous movement enough to make the princess riding on top teeter. The princess tried to soothe her, thinking Selfi was startled by the darkness of the Progenitor Tirkankaya.
However, the moment Selfi's hind legs slumped down and her eye level plummeted downwards. The princess intuitively felt that something was wrong.
The princess was dragged out into the world. She couldn't come to her senses from the shock. In addition to the physical shock, the mental shock also shook her.
Selfi's warm and cozy body is soft. The princess's legs, pinned under the white horse, didn't move. Hot blood flows out in the darkness. The white mane sinks into red.
She couldn't come to her senses from the suddenly changed situation. However, her reason calmly presented an answer to explain this situation.
'Ah, Selfi died.'
The princess recognized the situation half a beat late. Someone had attacked, and Selfi reached death before she could even scream. She was still alive, but it was a life that would be cut off soon.
Beasts are stronger than normal humans. But that is only possible when the opponent is a 'normal' human.
"Grandiomor Princess? I have no personal feelings toward you. But you must die."
The opponent was not a normal human.
The Six General, Gwabyeong Maximilian. He had moved as if running away, and then came back taking advantage of the gap when the darkness swallowed the surroundings.
The princess, now alone with the Six General, asked stupidly.
"Pardon, eh?"
"It seems the King of Dogs is confused. To take his eyes off for a moment from a mere princess of a ruined nation. Well, she is of royal bloodline, so that can happen. Aren't they the bloodline of the five traitors who assassinated the Human King and stole his authority?"
"Yes, yes."
"The symbol that the Human King is not needed. The arrogance that humans can be represented even without a king. The stubbornness that their own bloodline will be great forever. All of you who bear that must disappear... for the Human King to truly return, isn't that right?"
Maximilian explained quickly to the princess and nodded to himself.
"You understand? As expected, you're wise. At least worthy of being a descendant who inherited the blood of a monarch."
The princess didn't really understand the current situation. Pinned under Selfi's body, she only answered reflexively to the Six General's questions.
Maximilian concluded like a clerk who had finished a report.
"Then I will kill you."
Maximilian thrust a sword with a rotating saw blade. The power that could even shred steel dug into the princess's soft skin and approached to seek what was inside her flesh. Only with the crisis of death right before her eyes did the princess finally realize her situation.
'Huh, am I, dying?'
The princess with the ability to dodge hostility had always grown up within good will. One could say she had flowers blooming in her head, but the one who possessed the power to safely create the most beautiful flowerbed in her mind in this world was Erien Grandiomor.
Innate composure, kindness that can be possessed because she is not hurt. The Grandiomor royal family survived the longest even with such an unsightly ability.
However, Gwabyeong, who had entrusted a part of his thoughts to gears... is a human who can kill people without any hostility.
*Hihiing...*
The dying horse swung its front legs in a last struggle. It was a pitiful loyalty. With a thud, the flesh was sliced off, and the front leg torn off under the saw-blade sword scattered wildly. The saw-blade sword stained with Selfi's blood reached the princess's head.
There is no beautiful death that leaves an intact corpse. A death where the blade digs into the chest or cleanly cuts the neck to cause blood loss is like a luxury.
The princess will die. The rampaging saw blade will crush her head, spilling all the bodily fluids inside. She will die a profane death.
It was then.
*Crack.*
Maximilian's arm was twisted outward.
At the moment of desperate crisis, Xyati's black magic was activated, and his arm was twisted again at a bizarre angle. The saw blade was twisted outward.
"Y-You damn. Noise."
Maximilian gritted his teeth in a stiff, chopped-off voice. He whipped his gaze around. There was Xyati's left hand, now dyed black up to her middle finger.
Groaning from the aftermath of her injury, Xyati slowly raised her prosthetic right hand and grabbed the remaining fingers. Even though only her thumb and index finger were left, her expression was still full of defiance.
"...Don't move, Six General. There are still two left."
"A mere Noise. To wish to survive after hindering me twice."
"I'm not afraid of death. Rather, I wish you'd kill me? Why don't you try?"
Sneering, Maximilian realigned his broken arm. It was the same as before, but his arm wasn't a structure that had any problems just because it was broken. He lifted the saw-blade sword with his perfectly fine arm.
Xyati glared at him, panting.
'He doesn't care even if his arm is broken. At this point, I don't even think it's cowardly or unfair. What a monster...'
But Xyati still had one last resort left. The final contract that is newly renewed when all sacrifices are consumed.
The final spell that forces the same fatality on the opponent if her neck is broken at the cost of her life. Xyati confronted Maximilian, ready to use it if necessary.
"Do you think you're the only one who knows black magic? How arrogant. Not even having the power or qualifications for it, that attitude of not acknowledging your own worthlessness. It's sickening."
"I'm glad you know. I was going to explain it to you if you didn't."
"Yes. Do you think I'll die just because you break my neck with black magic?"
Xyati flinched as her final spell was seen through. As if he expected it, Maximilian spat out a sneer full of contempt.
"This is absurd."
Maximilian stood still and turned a gear somewhere. Click, click, click. A different meshing was heard.
Maximilian's neck was twisted to an angle that shouldn't be broken.
Clearly, a normal human would die just by having their neck reach that position. The neck is a passage connecting the head and the body, and a vital point.
But to Maximilian, it is not a vital point.
"Worthless. The belief that death is scary and that it has value. The death of a worthless thing is bound to be worthless, but acting like you can match me with some scrap of knowledge you picked up somewhere... is truly preposterous."
It is possible to break his neck with black magic. But he won't die. Maximilian, who has modified a part of his body, does not meet death in a normal way.
Just as Xyati was enveloped in fear and helplessness, Maximilian slowly returned his neck to its original position.
"Now, with that wretched power... try to achieve what you desire."
Maximilian took a step toward the princess and briefly added.
"Though it will be impossible."
Powerless. The single sword Xyati had honed her entire life was endlessly powerless before the out-of-standard monster called the Six General.
But she couldn't stop just because she felt despair. Whether she lives or dies. She had to move, driven to the edge.
Because otherwise, the princess would die....
And, there would be no meaning to Xyati surviving until now.
Xyati, gripping the index finger of her left hand, watched Maximilian's movements with extreme tension.
Xyati couldn't break her finger in advance before Maximilian moved. Having realized the fact that she couldn't inflict damage on her opponent, her black magic was nothing more than a hindrance to his actions. If she used black magic in advance, the opponent would easily return his arm and kill the princess.
Therefore, to protect the princess, Xyati had to aim for right after Maximilian moved.
['...That's what you're thinking. The thoughts of worthless things are too easy to read. That's why it's boring and monotonous.']
Maximilian didn't move. Instead, his weapon moved as if it were alive on its own.
*Click.* A gear in one corner moved. The structural body connecting the left arm and the saw blade, slides between them and extends the body.
A complex harmony that only Maximilian could understand occurred, and the machinery moved according to their own formula. The saw blade extended long without any outward warning.
"Erien!"
Xyati hastily grabbed her index finger, but the black magic didn't work.
Black magic is an act of forcing the same thing to happen to the same thing. If you break a finger, you can break something thin, long, and jointed.
In other words, it can only break that.
Maximilian's saw blade didn't resemble a finger. That complex structural body wasn't thin and long, nor was it clear what the joints were. Therefore, Xyati's black magic was in vain.
But it wasn't meaningless.
Because I arrived thanks to Xyati buying time.
"Well, I don't know what I can do by coming here."
It's the same as Xyati, I guess. Just blocking one attack or so.
I lamented my powerlessness anew and thrust a skewer into the joint of his saw-blade sword. A noise interrupted the precisely meshed gears.
*Grind.* The movement of the gears stopped at the sudden intrusion of a foreign substance.
"Hmm? To approach without a sign. Progenitor... no. Is it you?"
"Yes. It's me."
Tir's darkness fills the surroundings and is gradually spreading. Hiding in it and approaching, I succeeded in causing a slight functional impairment to Maximilian's saw blade with a surprise attack.
Thanks to that, the princess kept her life once more. Phew, super save.
"Excuse me for a moment. Then I'll be leaving."
Having succeeded in one attack, I pulled out the skewer without any lingering attachment and threw my body backward.
The opponent is the Six General, a monster that can tear me apart with pure strength even without gears. If I hesitate even for a moment, my body will be torn to shreds.
As I ran away at full speed, Maximilian's voice came from behind me.
"You covered yourself in darkness and hid your presence! You slipped right into the Progenitor's presence! Your skills are remarkable!"
"Thank you for looking kindly upon it. Then I'll be off."
"If it's you, you didn't just touch it! Let's see, let's check what you did!"
Maximilian swung the saw-blade sword widely. The saw-blade sword instantly grew about twice its length and tried to tear my back apart.
The speed was no joke. I was running at full power, but the saw blade was already within reach. What was even more surprising was that Maximilian hadn't moved an inch from his spot.
Phew, thank goodness.
That the opponent used gears.
"Oops, I'm caught."
However, the moment it tried to grow longer than that, the saw-blade sword jerked greatly and the gears spun violently in vain. Maximilian smiled.
In the meantime, having succeeded in running far away, I opened my tightly clenched hand. Pitter-patter, the gears I had just pulled out scattered down.
"You drop your things well. Please be careful from now on. Each piece of trash like this has a bad effect on the environment, you know."
The weakness of gears. If they fall out, they can always be replaced, but until they are replaced, they cannot function.
If they don't mesh, they can't transmit power. No matter how strong it is, if it spins in vain, it's just a poorly performing fan. I aimed for that point and attempted to pickpocket the gears, and I finally succeeded.
Of course, there is a prerequisite that you must understand the structure to pickpocket valuable gears.
"To grasp the structure of my gears in that short moment! How did you know?"
I knew it by mind-reading. There was a gear blueprint inside Maximilian's head, so I just picked and took only the really important gears from there.
I made a rough excuse as always.
"The automatic carriage, its structure collapsed when hit from below to above. I used what I learned from there on your weapon. Pushing from the inside to the outside."
The automatic carriage is formed by the meshing of gears, and because of its structure, it is weak against upward impacts from below.
It was the same for Maximilian's weapon.
It is strong against external impacts, but originally, Maximilian's gears were weapons made on the premise of being easy to assemble and easy to disassemble. If force is applied from the inside to the outside, they come out easily.
I grasped that structure, bent the tip of the skewer, and pulled out the gears. Thanks to that, I attacked the Six General and am still alive and talking like this.
Well, there probably won't be a second chance. But hey, it's something.
"Are you saying you understood that in an instant! Amazing! Truly, a different kind of talent!"
Maximilian praised extravagantly, spitting saliva. It was quite a different attitude from when he was interrupted by Xyati.
"Aren't you angry?"
"Why would I be angry? The intuition that grasped it, the driving force that immediately realized what was understood. And the decisiveness that doesn't doubt the fact that you'll pull it off! You definitely have the qualifications! No! Even if you don't have the qualifications as the Human King! You have the qualifications to succeed me!"
Interrupted, Maximilian laughed loudly as if he was even more satisfied. He really laughs too easily.
I rolled the dropped gears back to his feet. The gears that reached his feet automatically crawled up his body and disappeared into his cloak.
At the same time, a pillar of light shot up. Tir and the regressor had finished off the angel.
I'm alive now. I regained my composure and spoke calmly.
"They say people who cling are ugly. Shall we slowly make a beautiful parting now? The darkness is the same as being inside Tir's body. If you keep staying here, you'll be in danger too, you know?"
"Certainly, that's true."
Maximilian simply accepted it and stepped back. Because of the darkness filling the surroundings, his body looked blurry even though he was only a few steps away.
"I think there's still some leeway, but I'll retreat as a sign of respect for you. For you, who might be the Human King."
"Come on. You're overly praising me as a king when I don't even pay taxes. I don't know who you are exactly, but if the Human King is here, shouldn't you be a bit more polite?"
"Hahaha! You're still a candidate, aren't you! When it's narrowed down to a single person, I'll show you all the remaining respect!"
His roaring laughter soon disappeared beyond the darkness. After waiting until I couldn't hear his thoughts, I let the strength out of my whole body and muttered.
"This place is tough."