chapter 22
4. Shall we reconcile?
4. Shall we reconcile
The feeling of galloping on horseback with an upside down. The world spins round and round
“…Suck!”
As soon as I opened my eyes, I turned over and threw up. It was so dizzy that I couldn’t stand it without regurgitation.
But the ordeal had just begun.
Chuck.
I came to my senses as cold water poured down the back of my head out of nowhere. Did you pass out for a moment? Why? It was only when I raised my head in dismay that I could understand the situation at least roughly.
“…You seem to have come to your senses.”
It was because I could see Gared’s face right in front of me. Excluding the strange warriors lined up behind him, he never thought that things would go smoothly.
‘The surroundings are dark.’
I looked around, but I couldn’t figure out anything other than that this was a pub somewhere. It was obviously a place he had never been to.
Not far away, Id, Cynthia, and even Makia had collapsed. They didn’t seem to have come to their senses yet.
“Uh huh, where are you looking?”
At that time, the ruthless killing sprang up.
It’s not the commonly-used term for murder, it’s the premonition that occurs before committing an insidious thing with magical power. All the magical powers that must have existed inside the bar were sharpened as if they were only aiming at me. It was brutal enough to be an idiot for not feeling it.
At the source, hidden in the darkness, eyes glistening like snakes were looking down at me.
“As expected, everyone from Eros has a smooth face. f*ck you.”
It was a cynical tone. But it didn’t feel light. I don’t know how he released his magic, but it didn’t seem like he went through the legal process like Orien did.
It was just a gut feeling.
The man in front of you is dangerous.
Gared prostrated himself.
“Senior Clay, next instructions.”
“Hmm? Oh yeah. But suddenly I have a question.”
A man called Clay walked out of the darkness. A ghastly metal sound grew as he got closer. He was holding a large longsword in one hand.
It was thrown at me.
Chang-Geurang!
“Pick it up somewhere. Are you using a knife? I don’t know how great it is that Eros or something like that would be able to beat people from fantasy and fighting games. Ah, you must have an opponent to see your skills, right?”
Clay tapped Gared on the back.
“Hey, stick with that bastard.”
“…..Yes, I understand.”
Gared nodded and raised a sword somewhere.
“Wake up.”
He looked down at me with a soulless expression. In a way, he seemed to have lost his soul.
“What are you doing not waking up soon?”
“…..Yes.”
I also decided to throw away the pretense. If I acted recklessly like this, I think I would have been prepared to blow off one or two of my limbs.
I had to wake up in order to protect myself, and also to protect the people who were not yet aware.
“Eup.”
The world still spins around, but I woke up, holding back my nausea. After holding a long sword for the first time in a long time, the weight is quite different from that of a wooden sword. As I was holding something like this, I remembered the past of wandering around the Demon Continent, and I was confused.
In my head, the screams of that day echo like tinnitus.
A really terrible feeling, as if my heart would explode any second.
“Now, are you both ready? Kihihi, let’s see your skills!”
Clay lowered his arm.
At the same time, Red grabbed his longsword and kicked it upright. A standard stabbing posture that can pierce through my body at any time with a point where the center of gravity is concentrated. In front of an enemy who charged like a bull, I carefully traced my old memories.
How to fight in the worst situation with a body that has already been torn apart.
“Whoa… “
So, that’s how I did it.
Kang!
Gared’s eyes widened for a moment when he was bounced from below with the first move.
“…I already knew it was that much!”
Immediately, the left hand also joined in and stabbed the longsword. The tip of the sword was pointed at my head. It was really about to kill me.
It’s hard to block.
As soon as I made up my mind, I rolled to the side. I wonder if I would have had more strength left in my body, but now, with this and that bad news overlapping, just standing still was enough.
Still, the reason why I had to go along with Gared’s offensive was because those who would still be watching this futile fight didn’t know why they kidnapped me and my acquaintances. I couldn’t predict what kind of unsavory thing would happen if I didn’t comply with their demands.
There are so many things I still don’t know about Academia.
Kang, Kang!
While calmly blocking Gared’s sword, in my head I struggled to figure out what those Clays and unknown seniors were aiming for.
It was then.
A ghastly voice pierced my ears.
“Heh heh, look at him. Look at the eyeballs rolling. What would you think?”
Clay, who had been watching Gared and my workshop all along, was smiling ominously.
“I need to clear my head, huh?”
He gestured to someone hiding in the darkness of the tavern. And before long, waves of strange magical power touched his skin.
I instinctively felt it. It is something that must be avoided and, if done well, can be avoided somehow.
“Don’t run away!”
But, of course, at that timing, Gared put a lot of pressure on me. I was stuck in that range and barely managed to block it.
I don’t know if they were aiming for it, but those three sabotage work perfectly meshed like gears. You can’t stop the magic from completing. Can not avoid…
‘No.’
Coming.
I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impending shock.
“…..”
However, no matter how much time passed, the pain did not come.
It was different from what I expected. Despite being hit defenselessly by the magic emitted by the wizard hiding in the darkness, nothing happened…
“… Huh?”
At that moment, tears flowed from my eyes. It was an unstoppable phenomenon, just like a glass naturally overflowing and water droplets flowing.
Clay opened his eyes wide and burst into laughter.
“Oh? Pooh! Hey! Me, me, crying baby! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! What kind of memory did you touch, you trash?”
“I’m telling you, my sorcery isn’t about touching memories, it’s just a little bit of that person’s trauma… “
I can’t hear conversations. Ears are closed
The wooden planks on the tavern floor stand up and dance, and the bottles on the tables sway like seafood. In the midst of the illusions of cunning clowns in human masks surrounding me and laughing, a great sword like a mountain suddenly tore through all the illusions and tried to cut me in half.
“———————————————————————————”
I used arrogance and blocked it vertically. It was a movement close to instinct. Finally, Gared, who brought out my best, seemed to feel a bit of victory in the taste of his hand, and then, with a faint smile on his lips, he switched the offensive even more fiercely.
And then a series of crises began.
“Keuk, keuuk!”
Unlike before, a lot of useless sparks started to fly in the air. It was because I just blocked everything because I couldn’t tell what to block and what to avoid. The more I did, the faster my stamina was consumed.
The damn fantasy was fortunately short-lived, but the sorcerer stuck right next to Clay started conjuring magic again. It was obvious that it would be disturbing several times.
‘I’m dizzy.’
I am confused whether I am standing on the ground, clinging to the wall, or even lying on the floor.
Twirling.
The whole world revolves around me. The greatsword dances and aims at my neck.
“Let’s go one more time!”
At the same time as Clay’s excited cry, the magic exploded again. There was still no shock, but even so, my body staggered greatly.
The hallucinations were worse than before.
Suddenly, the floor was transformed into the cursed soil of the Demon Continent, and through the rotten soil, the skin of the fetus, which the demons liked to plant, was peeped out. Something was growing there.
The memory associated with it made me nauseous.
“Stop… stop… “
I stopped swinging my sword and covered my mouth at the disgusting energy that surged up from within.
Whether or not, Clay’s delightful commentary never stops.
“Now, now, magic continues to be perfected?”
Again, hallucinations are overlaid.
This time it was the moment he joined the party.
The culprit behind everything and the first rift that drove the expedition to the brink of extinction. The demon of demons who tormented me more than anyone else, despite my lack of practical force.
“Are you still fine….”
The demon was holding a greatsword and looking down at me with a slightly fed up expression.
Unlike me, who ruined his appearance by mercenary work and running through all sorts of mud during his brightest days, he had a good-looking and kind impression, like a nobleman from a certain family. Everyone liked him and followed him as a spiritual guide. Maybe even me
“Stop giving up now. Why don’t you let go of the sword?”
The moment I saw that face that wouldn’t hurt to eat it.
“…..Huh.”
A ember was lit in my heart, which had been wet with successive nightmares and sadness.