NOVEL NEXT chapter 93 - The Power of Love! (1)
One thing was certain.
It wasn’t for nothing that they’d said the last day would be “the most dangerous.”
“…Wow, that’s dizzying.”
Carlyle tilted his head back to look at the sky and murmured the words.
It was as if a black storm had gathered high above. The only difference from a normal storm was that the ‘malice’ pooling there was anything but ordinary.
Hero, every time I look at that thing, the same thought comes to mind.
[...The work of demons?]
The work of demons.
He could feel it—a bizarre, undeniable sense that there had # Nоvеlight # been some sort of interference.
No matter how many times similar phenomena might occur, there was no way something like that could appear naturally.
“…”
And somehow…
He felt it all the more keenly—that the interference of demons seemed to increase in proportion to his own movements.
Lately, it was as if every time he tried to do something, some sort of obstruction came in response.
It wasn’t just the Hero they were targeting anymore—it was as if he, too, had been marked as a priority.
I wonder what they’re up to in this cycle…
Even if he hadn’t met them face to face yet, the fact remained: somewhere, they were plotting.
They were so consistently vile that, in a twisted way, it was almost something you could trust.
So principled in their depravity that, in their spare time, they could create something like that.
“…Don’t look at it for long. Damn it. You can feel it pressing down on you just being near it.”
“It’s blocking an entire side of my vision. How are we supposed to fight like this?”
As she said, the black ill omen staining the sky was spreading a massive debuff over the area.
Just looking at it was like having poison poured into your eyes. The sensation was like having your skull split open, a malignant whisper seeping into your ears.
It felt as if someone were endlessly whispering horrific things directly into your mind.
If you stared and listened long enough, it wouldn’t be strange to go mad.
It was bad enough that the magical beasts exposed to it went berserk—but the greater danger was how much it weakened the subjugation forces.
Then just don’t listen to it.
From Carlyle’s perspective, even if such a thing existed, you could just ignore it.
After all, having someone constantly whispering directly into his head was nothing new—not when the Holy Sword had been there all this time.
“…”
“…”
And then there were the dragon sisters, staring at him like he was some sort of freak.
“How can… you look at something like that and be fine?”
“Pardon?”
“Even we’d be affected if we looked at it too long. For a human, it would be worse.”
As beings born of mana, their mental resilience was naturally far greater than a human’s.
Yet even they had to worry about their minds being tainted by staring at that thing too long—while this man spoke as if it were nothing more than a mild headache.
It wasn’t that he didn’t feel pain—he simply acted like this level of pain was nothing.
“I’m used to it.”
“…What?”
Her baffled reply was all he got, but Carlyle honestly had nothing else to say.
Being exposed to demonic power and enduring mental assaults wasn’t exactly new for him—it was practically routine by now.
More importantly—
“We’re the ones who have to erase that thing, and you’re already spooked? How’s that going to work?”
“…No, no, if it’s just smashing it with force, we can do that somehow.”
Shiona brushed back her hair and spoke with a troubled look.
“…What we’ve been doing the past few days, right?”
Carlyle sighed in reply.
“We just have to do that.”
“…Uh, are you serious right now?”
Breaking something that terrifying… with perverted antics.
“…”
“…”
Leona and Shiona both flushed faintly, their legs shifting restlessly.
Good grief.
…Good grief.
That was the only reaction that came to mind, but the truth was there really wasn’t any other method.
“I’ve made preparations.”
And the moment Carlyle produced the ‘item,’ every gaze around him turned on him as if they were looking at a lunatic.
Half of those looks said: What on earth are you planning to do with that?
The other half: You realize what that means and you’re actually going to do it here?
“First, we’ll use this…”
Carlyle’s gaze swept over the dragon sisters’ faces.
The movement carried a heavy air of resignation—Will this be enough to satisfy you two?
“…”
“…”
And looking at their faces, there wasn’t really any need for an answer.
…Bunch of damn perverts.
That was his honest impression.
***
“Creepy, isn’t it.”
Gray Chasefield looked up at the sky and muttered absentmindedly.
“They call it the black omen, but I just don’t like how black it is.”
“…The Imperial Administration sent out an official warning. If you live near the Forhaven March, don’t look at it for too long.”
“Well, sure—it does put you in a bad mood when you look at it.”
“…”
…According to the official warning, staring at it for too long could cause mental derangement, blindness, memory loss, and other side effects—but apparently for someone like the Hero, it was just “unpleasant.”
In any case—
“…Milady, is it really okay for us to be here?”
“What about it?”
“Well, we came without telling Carlyle…”
Vespa spoke awkwardly, glancing around nervously.
The area was unusually noisy—not surprising, given that Death March, one of the Empire’s most infamous disasters, was underway.
With something like that hanging in the sky, keeping things quiet would be impossible.
But whether it was right for unapproved personnel like them to just stroll in here was… morally debatable.
Then again—look at who they had with them.
The one person with more philosophical opinions on ethics and morality than anyone else—the so-called Guardian of Humanity.
“If I want to do it, who’s going to stop me?”
“…”
“If they don’t like it, tell them to come at me.”
Thus spoke, in flawless logic, the one who in theory was supposed to serve as humanity’s shield against its enemies.
Sorry, everyone.
Vespa silently apologized on her behalf to people she didn’t even know, rubbing her face.
The truth was, Vespa had followed her in part because she wanted to see Carlyle too.
That made her an accomplice, which left a heavy weight of guilt on her chest…
Fortunately, that gloomy feeling didn’t have to last long.
It didn’t take much effort to find out where Carlyle was.
—…
—…!
With a sound like blaring trumpets, a massive black whale glided through the sky.
The sight was so familiar that Vespa let out a soft murmur of admiration.
“It’s Kkamang!”
“…You’re really going to call it that?”
“Well, that’s what Carlyle decided to call him.”
“You’d believe him if he told you the sun rises in the west…”
Gray muttered something under her breath, but didn’t add anything more—
Or rather, she didn’t have the chance to.
Because the sight before them was too shocking.
“…Hey.”
“Yes, milady.”
“I just want to confirm in case I’m seeing things wrong.”
“…Yes, milady.”
It was practically impossible for Gray to misinterpret something she saw—but even so, Vespa didn’t bother to correct her.
Because she, too, could hardly believe what she was seeing.
Carlyle was drifting above the darkened sky.
With so many troops out on high alert, the sight of someone flying through alone was eye-catching to say the least—but neither Vespa nor Gray would think much of that on its own.
Given Carlyle’s track record, it wasn’t even that remarkable anymore.
However—
“He’s riding a dragon, isn’t he.”
“Yes, it seems so.”
And there was the first major problem.
Dragons never allowed anyone to ride on their backs. Once, it had been to display the dignity of rulers; now, even as members of society, the custom remained strong.
Even setting aside Shiona, who had served under Felix as a superior, Leona had been the arrogant sort to say “For a mere human…” upon first meeting Carlyle.
Yet here he was.
And not only riding—
“…He’s flying with two dragons on leashes?”
“…Looks… that way…”
“…”
Carlyle was airborne, each foot resting casually on a different dragon’s back, with a leash affixed to each of them.
It was—how to put it…
Perhaps the best comparison was that it looked like he was walking a pair of pets.
A blatant display that he was above them.
And even that would’ve been strange enough on its own—
But the dragons’ reactions were even stranger.
“…I don’t know all that much about dragons,” Gray said, her voice unusually uncertain,
“But do they normally… enjoy that kind of thing?”
“…”
“If they’re female, is that something they all like?”
Vespa didn’t know much about dragons either—but one thing she could answer for certain:
“I don’t think so…”
“Then why do their eyes look so glazed over?”
“…”
“Anyone who saw them would think they’d been drugged. What’s with them?”
…How should I know that, milady.