7. Transcendence>
“Sian? What’s that?”
Steel, seeing Sian—who had said he would bring up a gift from beneath the roots—come back up carrying a bizarre golden blade, asked with a puzzled look. In Duke Rorval’s hand, too, was a strangely shaped silver spear. Steel couldn’t feel any particularly unusual aura from them, but he guessed those objects were probably no ordinary things. This was Sian, who didn’t use even the mighty treasure Karnain because he said it was of no use. Yet now Sian was gripping that weapon tightly in his hand. It meant that, even if the armament in his hand seemed to give off nothing at all, it was a weapon Sian needed.
“Well… apparently it’s a gift. Haa……”
“Hm?”
When a heavy sigh flowed from Sian’s mouth, Steel looked at him in surprise. He said he had received a gift, but his younger brother’s expression was close to anger.
“Did something happen?”
“Well… nothing much… Please stay here. I’ll be going somewhere for a bit. Please look after Nitzmatan here.”
If Rorval harbored ill will, Sian couldn’t protect Steel right now anyway. And judging from Rorval’s attitude, he did not seem to have much interest in Steel, so Sian decided to leave Steel here for the time being and go. Once the conversation was over, Sian glanced at Rorval, and Rorval, without losing his customary smile, kicked off the ground and soared upward. Then Sian left Steel standing there with a dumbfounded expression and flew after him.
☆ ☆ ☆
“You made the right choice. Keeping him at your side would only have weighed on your mind. He would only get in the way.”
“……
Where are we flying to now?”
Sian asked bluntly as he watched Rorval streak toward the peninsula. They had already flown a considerable distance, but Rorval was still springing forward with his whole body.
Rorval answered with a smile.
“We may not be on the level of the Sun God and the War God from long ago, but if we fight, the surroundings will be destroyed. We need a fitting battlefield, do we not? It would be better to fight where there are no humans.”
“You care a great deal for humans.”
Sian said. Rorval smiled and replied.
“They are pitiable beings. If god-blooded ones like us do not look after them, who will? If only an alpha is born among humankind… they will be able to regain their former glory.”
“Huh… I’m just planning to go back to where I originally lived.”
Rorval smiled at that.
“Well, that is fine too. If you win. Huhuhu.”
“……”
Sian scowled hard as he looked at Rorval’s unpleasant smile.
After running for quite some time, Rorval reached the end of the peninsula and leapt straight out over the sea. Anyone watching might have taken him for someone intent on suicide, but Rorval lightly kicked off the surface of the water once and went flying smoothly over the ocean.
“Hm?”
“Follow me.”
“Isn’t this far enough?”
“Well… still, safer is better, is it not?”
“Tch… I suppose… This much would be cutting it close……”
Back when he fought someone on Nekra’s level, a mountain range had been blown away, so this time, if they fought poorly, an even wider area might be destroyed. Since there did not seem to be any particular malice or trap, Sian launched himself after him. From how Rorval had treated him so far, he simply did not look like someone desperate to trade blows with him. But the fighting spirit overflowing from his entire body made Sian realize his words were not false.
‘Ah… damn it… I really hate fighting someone on my level…….’
Beating up the weak wasn’t to his taste either, but now that he was being forced to fight like this, an expression Ragaofe had taught him last time came to mind.
‘Did he say it felt like it would give him cancer… Huhu…….’
The sea between the peninsula and the continent was filled with an incredibly dense fog. Sian spread out his senses and scanned in every direction, but whether because of some effect of this fog, he could only examine a few kilometers around him.
‘Could I get one good shot at the back of his head…….’
Since he had no desire to play fair with someone who was itching to kill him, he considered using the fog to attempt an ambush somehow, but he soon gave up. If Rorval were the sort to fall for something like that, Sian would not be so tense in the first place.
Rorval, flying ahead, was even humming to himself as if he were enjoying this immensely. As he flew, he suddenly spoke.
“The fog is terribly thick, is it not? The fog here is always maintained this dense.”
“Have you crossed it before?”
“A few times. Though, of course, I nearly died… Crossing itself is not so difficult. One only has to avoid the fish-men. And those creatures have set activity cycles, so if you avoid those times, you can cross.”
“……”
“I learned that as well by sacrificing quite a number of Murakans and Swarms.”
Long ago, Duke Rorval had been terribly curious about what in the world lay beyond the peninsula, for things to crawl down this way without end. That was why he had commanded Murakans and Swarms to open a path, intending to cross over to the continent. The creatures attacked nearly every day, but there were definitely periods when they came in sparsely and slowly.
The dukes beneath him tried to dissuade him, but at the time, Duke Rorval had been unable to advance his plan to become a god even a single step because of the creatures crossing over, and he was already irritated beyond endurance.
Leaving behind the dukes who had no words to answer, Duke Rorval drove in countless Murakans and Swarms, used Aksarai’s authority to find gaps, and in the end, succeeded in discovering a route to this place and a safe time to cross.
“Ha… Those were vigorous days.”
“……”
“Well… I was only about three thousand years old then.”
“Is this that route?”
Though his mood was sour, Sian, having grown curious, asked quietly. If they were going to fight anyway, he wanted to learn as much as he could.
At the question, Duke Rorval shook his head.
“No. And in truth, this is not a safe time either. Back then, it was because I was weak, but now, even if we cross recklessly, no one can stop us, so why go through all that trouble? Look down below.”
At those words, Sian nodded. When he expanded his senses a little, he saw countless objects beneath the sea scattering in every direction in a panic. Those were probably the fish-men Rorval had mentioned. Not only fish-men, but countless Harijans in the water were also thrashing their tails madly and fleeing in all directions. Since Rorval was erupting with his aura without concealing it, some had even fainted and floated up to the surface.
“Well… putting that aside… did you succeed in crossing?”
“Of course. That is why I am leading you there with such confidence. Though I could not stay long, naturally. I merely set foot on that continent and had to return at once. With my strength, it was dangerous, you see. But the sight I saw there was… truly magnificent. I had always wanted to come again at least once, and now here I am. Huhu……”
“……”
“If I win, I intend to tour this continent at leisure. If you win, you should have a look around as well.”
“……”
Sian had absolutely no intention of coming to such a suspicious continent, so he ignored Rorval’s words. But he was curious about what lay beyond this fog, so he quickly flew after Rorval. After they went a little farther, the fog began to slowly clear. And Sian immediately understood what Rorval had meant by magnificent.
“It’s enormous……”
“Impressive, is it not? Hehe. If it were not hidden by fog and clouds… it seems like a view that everyone on the entire continent would be able to see.”
The seaside they reached after the fog cleared. There was nothing there. But Sian instantly realized what scenery it was that Rorval had wanted to see again.
Far in the distance, in the very center of the continent, stood a colossal mountain. No matter how tall an ordinary mountain was, it should have remained beneath the clouds, yet this incomparably vast mountain range, made up of dozens, hundreds of peaks, pierced through the clouds and soared high into the sky. The clouds also seemed to have an effect similar to the fog, and though Sian wanted to pierce through above them and look around, he could not see through them at all.
It felt as if the continent itself were part of one enormous mountain. The bizarre continent they had arrived on had no flatlands; from the shoreline, it rose slowly upward, upward without end. It was not steep, but even at a glance the continent seemed quite vast, and since it kept rising continuously, the mountain’s height could only be immense. In fact, beyond a certain point, it was hidden by clouds and could not even be seen. It looked as though a mountain that had originally existed here had its lower half submerged in the sea and its upper half buried in clouds.
At the same time, Sian realized the source of the dense fog. From the tops of the relatively lower peaks visible beneath the clouds, mist and billowing clouds were constantly rising. It was not happening from just one peak. From hundreds, thousands of peaks, fog, clouds, and smoke were being endlessly emitted.
It was a sight that made no sense by common sense. But seeing the scene undeniably unfolding before his eyes, Sian unconsciously let out a remark.
“Huh… what kind of neighborhood is this?”
“Who knows. Information on this place does not come up very well. I took a brief look when I came here before… and it seems the giants and the other races were holed up in corners of those mountains before coming down. Once the fight is over, I intend to take my time looking around.”
Perhaps unable to contain the power he had newly obtained, Rorval was exuding confidence from his entire body. The problem was that his power truly was at a level where he could afford to do so.
“That won’t happen, so don’t worry. I hope that later, when you’re traveling, you run into someone like Krona.”
“Huhuhu… Well, with my ability, how could such a thing happen? At any rate, I believe this should be suitable as a place for us to fight. I merely wanted to show you this place once as well. It is not bad to see a place like this before you die, is it?”
“Those are odd last words.”
With those words as the last, Sian gripped his sword and prepared to fight. A ferocious killing intent was already rising from his opponent. A tingling killing intent that stimulated his entire body.
Considering how Rorval had been kindly explaining things and treating him like a neighborly uncle until now, the shift in attitude was absurd. But Sian was not flustered, because he had already anticipated it. If anything, it was strange that Rorval had not shown this sort of attitude until now. After all, the man had been saying over and over since earlier that he would kill him.
‘Come to think of it… this is the first time in my life I’ve fought one-on-one against someone around my level…….’
All the crises he had faced until now had come from joint attacks by those weaker than him, or from some strange shell. This was the first time in his life he would be facing a powerhouse on the same level as himself. Compared to Duke Rorval, who had accumulated countless real battles, it could, in a way, be called a disadvantageous condition.
But Sian trusted his own body and mind. Even now, inside his head, both conscious and unconscious thoughts were constantly shouting at him how to move, and his entire body was responding to them, ready to swing the blade at any moment.
His mind ceaselessly drew the path the blade should flow along, and his body was prepared to faithfully follow it. And at a level difficult to compare with before.
Sian had always trusted this ability of his, which was almost like a supernatural power, if nothing else. Every opponent until now had been powerful enough to drive him to the brink of death, and had indeed driven Sian to the brink of death, but his ability had always led him to victory and guided him to the next realm.
This time as well, his ability would lead him to victory.
The moment his resolve was set, Sian erupted with the power of his entire body and swung the Sun God’s blade in his hand along the exact trajectory his mind drew.
☆ ☆ ☆
“It has begun.”
Ragaofe murmured as he watched the enormous flashes bursting out from beyond the horizon in the far distance. The sea at the end of the peninsula was always so thick with fog that nothing could be seen, but today, a somewhat different scene was unfolding. The fog that had blocked the view beyond like a wall was being pushed away in places by massive shock waves, and the silver and golden flashes forcing their way through the gaps were revealing their presence without the slightest filter. Since only the light flashed while the sound was swallowed by the fog and vanished entirely, an even more bizarre spectacle was created.
Conrad, who had been staring with a sickened expression at the sight, as if a new sun were rising in the east, looked at Ragaophe’s face and asked.
“Do you know what’s about to happen?”
“Yes. I told you earlier, did I not? The plan is incomplete……”
“Mm… you did.”
Earlier, she had said that something was lacking with only what had come out of the core. When Conrad looked at her curiously, Ragaophe answered.
“With the preparations we made, we could only bring Lord Lorval up to Beta 4. We could not break through the most important final wall.”
“Mm… I saw that… And?”
“But… with Mr. Sian here, he can become an Alpha.”
Then Ragaophe explained the final stage.
“Huh… So you’re saying if the two of them beat each other half to death, an Alpha will pop into existence? That’s incredibly strange……”
Conrad looked fascinated by the trait he was hearing of for the first time, and Ragaophe said with a smile,
“That is right. The one who returns will likely… possess the qualifications to become a new god.”
“Or they both die.”
“……
Well, that could happen too.”
Ragaophe nodded as if in agreement. The path to becoming an Alpha could not possibly be so simple. If everything went according to plan, how convenient would life be?
Ragaophe gazed beyond the horizon, her eyes filled with anticipation as she wondered who would come back through that mist.
☆ ☆ ☆
Sian dodged the silver spear that skimmed just beneath his nose and, following the line, swung the golden sword. He had no idea what had been ground down and forged into the sword in his hand, but each time he swung it, the earth and space split apart with a crack. One of the mountain peaks nearby had long since been ground away by the sword wind in the middle of their battle. The giants who had lived below and the merfolk of the sea were fleeing in every direction, terrified by the sudden catastrophe. Since Sian and Lorval were fighting right in the middle of the entrance to the peninsula, they could not even cross over to the peninsula side. They could only run deeper into the continent.
As he watched the continent being destroyed at a rapid pace, a stray thought suddenly occurred to Sian.
‘Well… at least no one’s going to invade through this route anymore…….’
This was a place where the traces of a battle between beings on the verge of becoming Alpha remained. Humans might be one thing, but monsters with sharply developed senses would not even think of approaching this place for the next several centuries. Even aside from the lingering energy, the continent was now disappearing and an immensely deep sea was forming, so it would be impossible for land creatures to swim across it. Unless they had a clear purpose, perhaps.
But Sian quickly cut off his idle thoughts. This was no time to be paying attention to such things. His opponent was truly not someone to take lightly this time. He had thought Murakan had been the greatest crisis of his life, but this was even more serious.
‘More importantly… what in the world is he doing…….’
Sian was slightly overwhelmed as he watched the staggering variety of supernatural abilities pouring out from his opponent. As far as he knew, Dukes were supposed to emerge with one ability per tree, but the Lorval before his eyes was wielding hundreds of different abilities in dazzling variety.
Needless to say, their power was not weak in the slightest. After avoiding the silver spear, Sian swung the golden sword and deflected the blue beam flying toward him. The deflected blue beam shot down into the pit, where seawater was already rushing in after the land had been reduced to powder, and struck the water that had been surging like a tidal wave to fill the crater.
Craaaack!
Not only the seawater it struck, but everything within a radius of dozens of kilometers froze solid around the point of impact. But it did not matter much. It was all melted away by the green beam that was deflected immediately afterward.
‘Hah… So this is the power of being Aksarai’s Connector… This is too much…….’
It seemed as though he could draw upon every kind of supernatural ability that existed in the world. In truth, Sian had been somewhat confident when he followed him here. Because he was now vaguely beginning to understand. Even at the same level, he would win. Fundamentally, it was not a matter of realm, but of talent. Because he had grown stronger so quickly, no one had been able to keep up with him, but even against those of the same class, Sian had always won. To him, it had always been clear how he should move and how he should strike.
But Lorval was truly no easy opponent. When his realm had been lower than Sian’s, Sian could crush him overwhelmingly, but now that they had reached the same realm, the ability known as Aksarai’s Connector seemed truly extraordinary. He was even freely using the ability Nekra had once displayed, folding time and space. Of course, the difference in level was beyond comparison. He handled the abilities with far greater intensity and speed than Nekra had. The type seemed somewhat different, but the fact that the effect was even more ominous did not benefit Sian in the slightest.
Sian swung his sword and split apart the strange red wave that came in while instantly distorting all the dimensions around him, then grumbled inwardly.
‘Tch… My opponent is that flashy, and all I know is how to swing a sword…….’
Frustrated, Sian muttered the meaningless complaint to himself. His opponent’s miracles were endlessly dazzling, but that did not mean he was unskilled in martial arts. The fierce spear thrusts mixed in among the various abilities were aimed precisely at Sian’s head. A blow that brushed past just beneath his ear flew behind him and created a deep hole whose end was impossible to see.
Following the lines visible before his eyes, Sian dodged this way and that while swinging the golden sword in every direction. If his opponent had been easy, the lines would have shown him a perfect path to victory, but unfortunately, the lines forcing him to move along them were not showing him such an easy road.
If he wanted to turn aside his opponent’s attack and thrust, he had to block with the arm not holding the sword.
If he wanted to cut off his enemy’s head, he had to be prepared to lose his own.
If he wanted to shatter his opponent’s left hand, his own right hand might be smashed as well.
Countless paths were visible, and each of those paths was perfect, but at the same time, they demanded sacrifice.
‘Phew… It’s never easy, is it…….’
It was not a simple thought. As proof, the two people relentlessly exchanging blows were being reduced to ragged states in an instant. The land and sea below had long since melted together, shattered, and vanished without a trace. If they had clashed on that peninsula earlier, Kiculus would undoubtedly have been uprooted.
But as the battle grew fiercer, Sian gradually felt the change taking place within himself. It was a tremendous change that was remaking everything inside him, as if all the walls he had overcome until now had been preparation for this.
Feeling the change within, Sian could vaguely understand Lorval’s desire to become a god. If this change taking place inside him was completed… even if he did not become omnipotent, he would surely at least gain the qualifications to become a god. Like Crona, who had once blown away an entire empire, or like the ancient war god who had destroyed half of a perfectly intact continent, though Sian had not seen it with his own eyes. Their power, even as seen by Betas like themselves, had surely been enough to be called divine.
The fight was gradually intensifying. Sian could tell at once what Lorval was thinking. If they slowed down a little and worked through the fight with room to spare, perhaps both of them would be able to survive. But they would absolutely not become Alpha. The change occurring within them did not desire such a lukewarm attitude or environment. It wanted an extreme environment and absolute transformation, one in which they could not survive unless everything inside them was completely replaced. And for that… the battle had to become far more intense and even more dangerous than it was now. The same change was probably taking place inside Lorval’s body as well. That was why he was driving him even harder. Both Sian and Lorval, reading the changes within themselves, had realized it. Even if the battle grew fierce enough that one of them died, whether they could ascend to Alpha was still uncertain.
Sian, too, was slowly beginning to desire it. If one of the two had to die anyway, then the one who survived had to be him. And Sian had become curious as well. Once this change occurring inside him was complete… what kind of being would he become?
Sian cleared away his distracting thoughts and began pressing his opponent fiercely. No matter how dazzling his opponent’s abilities were, no matter how high his realm, no matter how powerful his weapon, there was no reason to be pushed back. He had lived until now believing in nothing but his sword, so it was enough if he was good with the sword alone. This time, too, the martial strength he had built up would lead him down the path to victory.
“Grah!”
Sian swung the golden sword with the force to split the incoming silver spear in two.
☆ ☆ ☆
Wooooong.
Steel sprang to her feet at the sudden, massive resonance that rang out.
“This is……”
A tremendous wave was ringing out from the fierce battlefield beyond. As if blessing the birth of a new being, a vast and solemn jet-black wave resounded, and it could be felt clearly even here in Kiculus, more than dozens of kilometers away. No, not only in Kiculus. That enormous wave continued spreading far beyond. Perhaps every sensitive being had felt it.
At the same time, Steel narrowed her eyes when she saw all the nearby Dukes collapse.
“Huh? What is this?”
They were beings she had grown somewhat attached to while training, so from Steel’s perspective, there was no choice but to be bewildered when they collapsed like that.
But her question was soon answered by Ragaophe, who was approaching from far away. With an inscrutable smile on her face, Ragaophe was coming with Conrad.
“Congratulations. It seems Mr. Sian has won.”
“Hm? Do you know what this phenomenon is?”
At that, Ragaophe nodded.
“Of course I do. Originally, bound beings who have received a seal all die along with the Divine Blood the moment that Divine Blood dies. The fact that the Dukes are collapsing now means… Mr. Sian has won. The source of that enormous wave must be Mr. Sian as well.”
Steel’s expression bloomed brightly at those words, but soon she asked back with a look of incomprehension.
“Then leaving Conrad aside… how are you alive?”
It made sense that Conrad, who had not received a seal, had not died. The problem was Ragaophe. Until now, Steel had thought Ragaophe was maintaining her lifespan by receiving Divine Blood. If the beings who received seals died when the master of the Divine Blood died, then Ragaophe should have died too, but Ragaophe was standing there perfectly fine. There was no way the owner of Ragaophe’s seal was someone else. As far as Steel knew, Lorval was definitely the last Divine Blood.
“Well… I will explain in a little while. More importantly, should you not go out to meet Mr. Sian?”
“Mm……”
“Please go. I will remain here and inspect the core.”
Something felt off to Steel, but Ragaophe was right, so she hastily launched herself toward the source of the massive wave that was still ringing out. Even if Sian had won, there was a high possibility that his body was not in a normal state, so she had to hurry.
☆ ☆ ☆
Looking at Lorval, who wore an immensely relieved expression even as he died, Sian made a subtle face. Thinking about it, it seemed that man had not particularly cared whether he became Alpha or whether Sian became Alpha. Moreover, his final words bothered Sian greatly.
“This really doesn’t sit right with me……”
To forget that feeling, Sian observed the changes taking place within himself.
“Wow……”
Sian let out an exclamation as he looked at his body, which was continuing to transform.
At the moment he was reborn as a new being, perhaps as a reward for that, his battered body regenerated. Even now, his body was being newly reconstructed, and the wave that flowed out during that process stretched outward, making the entire world ring thunderously. And yet it was nothing more than a leftover remnant from reconstructing his body.
But Sian had no time to pay attention to that. The change taking place inside him was even more astonishing.
Until now, he had changed the world by “moving his body as he thought.” Even when his realm rose, even when he broke through walls, the process he went through was always the same. Whether it was a miracle, a supernatural ability, or martial arts, he moved the inside of his body and affected the world outside.
But not anymore.
And he realized it. Why one could ascend from Gran-Bander to La-Bander in a single step, while to rise from La-Bander to a realm beyond that required passing through several walls called Beta.
Now he understood. No matter how mighty a being was, the scope of that change was not something one could endure all at once. Breaking through this wall had not simply meant crossing one wall. The internal changes that had accumulated as he crossed wall after wall until now had surged out as if bursting forth, violently replacing everything inside his body.
On top of that, he had picked up two weapons. Since they were weapons used by those who called themselves gods, and were called gods by others, calling them divine-grade weapons would not be an exaggeration. After crossing the wall, he could understand it even more clearly. A moment ago, he had been using these weapons like mere toys. The spear and sword, forged from materials into which all sorts of Alphas had been crammed, were not armaments that someone of only about Beta level could use to draw out their true power.
He had been wondering where to store the sword and spear, when they suddenly blurred and began to disassemble. The disassembled gold and silver powder was absorbed into Sian’s body. When he thought of the weapons again, the sword and spear appeared in both his hands with a snap.
“Huh… They even have a function like this……”
Sian put the weapons that had vanished and reappeared back into his body. The most important thing lay elsewhere.
“Uahahahaha! I can see the path again! Uha! Uha! I can get stronger without going through this goddamn hardship!”
Sian writhed with joy and danced in delight. The “path to becoming stronger,” which had no longer been visible after he hit the wall at seventeen, had begun to appear again. If there was one thing Sian had felt while suffering through this ordeal, it was that no matter how strong one seemed to have become, the continent was vast, and strong bastards were scattered everywhere. After he hit the wall, he had thought there was no one stronger than him. But now he had no idea how many times he had nearly died.
Miss Steel’s words had been right a hundred times over. When there was a chance to become stronger, he should not have let pride get in the way and should have grown stronger. If he lazed around, he might end up facing death even at the hands of someone he could have easily beaten down. The responsibility of the weak all fell upon the weak themselves.
Even right now, three beings stronger than him passed through his mind. Krona. Dragona. Liona. Judging by his rotten luck, he never knew when or how he might get entangled with them. At the very least, he needed to become strong enough to beat those three bastards down, wrap them up, and eat them. Whether that was possible or not, he did not know.
“I should work a bit harder once I get back… But still… Wow… Even like this, I still can’t beat Krona……?”
Even though it was hard to believe there was anything impossible with this power, he could not defeat Krona. Because he had reached this realm, he knew. He knew that the time he had slapped Krona across the cheek and run away had been truly lucky. If Krona had not let his guard down, and if Krona had not been unfamiliar with such an experience, Sian would not have had even the slightest chance. The difference between the limit of what he could command and the limit of what Krona could command was clear.
“Phew… Thank goodness for spatial movement.”
If he had to become strong enough to break straight through the forbidden land head-on and return, he truly had no idea when he would be able to go back. And he was grateful to that unidentified race said to be blocking the forbidden land as well. If they had not been there, Krona and the Dragonas would not have bothered fighting in that cramped place; they would have surged out and swept across the entire continent.
“Heuheuhihoo… Shall I head back…….”
If he could become stronger through training, then all he had to do was return and train. He did not know when he would catch up, but would he not catch up someday?
Letting out a bizarre laugh, Sian began lightly running across the sea. The shallow sea that had connected the peninsula to the strange cloud continent had now become almost like the deep ocean. But since he could run over the water, there was no problem.
As he flew onward, he caught Steel’s presence approaching from far away. Sian lightly flew over and stood before her.
“Over here.”
“Sian! What happened?”
“Keuheuheu. I won.”
She had been worried that something might have happened when the enormous waves had finally ceased, but fortunately, there seemed to be no problem. If anything, Sian’s face looked far more intact than before he left.
“Huh… What on earth happened?”
“I’ll tell you on the way.”
Once Steel was relieved to know that Sian was unharmed, she asked how things had gone, and Sian, wanting to get home even a moment sooner, threw himself toward Kiculus as he carried on the conversation.
“So that happened. Then have you completely crossed the wall now?”
“Yes. There are no more walls blocking me now. Phew… Thinking of how I got stronger through all that near-death suffering… Heuhyu… I never knew being able to get stronger through training was something to be so grateful for… From now on, I’ll live with a heart full of gratitude.”
“Anyway… I can see it over there.”
“Let’s hurry. I have very important business with Mr. Ragaofe.”
As Kiculus, Lorval drew closer, all the damned hardships he had gone through began flashing through his mind like a lantern before death.
Starting with being caught in Apental, then completely plunging in and coming to this bizarre world, being attacked by Murakan, and then Duke Lorval becoming stronger and attacking him. Thinking about it, Ragaofe had been involved in every single one of them without exception.
Sian, who had flown there while grinding his teeth, arrived at Lorval and expanded his senses. The vast space of Lorval, which had once been bustling, was now far emptier than before. Not a single member of the Lorval family, who had filled the inside of Kiculus, remained.
Swarm, Murakan, the dukes of Lorval, even Lorval himself—all of them had now vanished.
“This is why you have to be careful who you mess with.”
Steel let out a remark as if in admiration.
“Ahem! Miss Steel, what are you saying… If someone heard that, they’d think I’d done all of it… It’s true they disappeared because of me, but I acted in self-defense.”
“Well, that’s true. Anyway… Doesn’t this mean they’ll come charging straight through from that peninsula?”
When Steel asked, Sian shook his head.
“Well… At least for several hundred years, that won’t happen. That peninsula was completely destroyed… and any bastards who can read auras won’t even dare to cross.”
Just as lowly animals would not approach a place where a beast had marked its territory, the monsters who saw the traces there would not cross it unless they had lost their minds, so Sian spoke confidently.
“For now, then, it’s a happy ending.”
“Phew… It really was a long journey. I hope lots of nephews and nieces have been born. Children are rare in our house… but since I have three sisters-in-law, surely a few should have been born, right?”
Steel nodded as she spoke, and Sian also smiled brightly with an expectant expression. He had truly suffered a great deal, but now everything was over. All that remained was to return to his dear home, the La-Sian Continent.
But as Sian swept through Kiculus with his senses, his expression gradually hardened.
“What is it, Sian? What’s wrong?”
“…
There’s no one here, in this Kiculus.”
“What? Both Ragaofe and Con-Rad?”
“…
At least, that’s how it feels to me.”
Now that he had become an Alpha and his senses had grown even sharper, there was no way mere Con-Rad and Ragaofe could hide their presences from Sian. With his expression stiff, Sian searched every corner and before long reached Kiculus’s core.
The core, which must have been pushed terribly hard to make Lorval into a duke, gave off an empty feeling like a hollow old tree. But Sian could feel it. A spatial movement had just been used, centered on that core. Magic formations were drawn here and there around the core. Thinking he might find traces, he searched through the marks where space had been split, but like ripples fading away, they had already vanished without a trace.
“…
Don’t tell me that bastard Ragaofe ran away?”
Steel looked dumbfounded.
Sian wore an expression of incomprehension. It was true that he had a lot built up, but he had not been planning to chase him down and kill him, so he could not understand why Ragaofe had fled in such a panic. Of course, he would have beaten him.
As Sian stared blankly at the core, he noticed something like a small bead lying on the ground.
Wondering what it was, he reached out and picked it up. Since he could feel a tiny flow of energy inside it, Sian lightly sent his own energy along that flow.
Zuuuuung!
With a strange sound, an image suddenly appeared.
“…
Mr. Ragaofe…….”
“Where are you?”
Why did you leave in such a hurry?”
Ragaofe was so detestable that Sian felt he could die from it, but chasing after Ragaofe, whose whereabouts he did not even know, would be exhausting, so Sian decided he would pay him back when they met later. Right now, he was too tired and wanted to go home first.
Looking at Sian, Ragaofe smiled and spoke.
Why are there so many things you didn’t tell me?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
At that, Ragaofe smiled and said,
At Ragaofe’s words, which became harder to understand the more he listened, Sian stared at him with a strange expression.