Chapter 31: Returnees Do Not Return (3)
‘Come to think of it, it's really strange.’
──Kkwaak.
Monika gripped her hand tightly. Her hand, made of flesh, and her prosthetic arm, made from the corpse of a monster. What Monika held in her two hands was not something like a rope. It was a hilt as thick as a person's calf.
‘To think that I, who was a janitor, am holding such a huge sword.’
A blade made of pure silver. Monika's face was reflected on its surface. Amber eyes sparkling between her stirring black hair. To think I can make such a clear expression. Monika thought with a hollow smile. To think I've been living with a face like a shriveled king oyster mushroom, and now…….
<I will now assist you.>
Suddenly, Alberge, who had been standing beside Monika, opened his mouth.
In the center of his fleshless, hazy skull, Alberge's reddish-black glint of light scanned Monika.
<Your flesh is truly fine. I would like to pinch it.>
“Are you crazy? What are you talking about.”
<Pardon me.>
Alberge nodded his head.
<It's been a long time since I've been just bones. I've developed a habit of appraising the flesh of the living.>
“……You're out of your mind. You must be like your master.”
Monika let out a sigh. She turned her back and met Fleur's gaze. Fleur, who had been playfully swinging her rapier, waved her hand. To be so bright in a situation like this. She must be crazy. Monika clicked her tongue.
Fleur had no talent for handling a sword. Even Monika, who had only been learning swordsmanship for a short time, could tell. That was why she had asked for rear support. The rapier was just a decoration. Fleur's true value would be revealed through divine magic.
‘It's still strange.’
Monika looked straight ahead.
The plan had been relayed. Now, all that was left was to gauge the moment to move.
The young lady of the family that had destroyed her hometown was behind her. A knight with only bones was also standing beside her.
Before her eyes was an orphan. A boy who was also a war orphan. While Dante's blade was being swung coolly, the professors were just anxiously blocking his attacks.
‘It's all strange things. Ever since I met Teacher Abel…….’
Monika's eyes gently closed.
Suddenly, Abel's words came to mind.
‘The world is unreasonable, and at the same time, cruel.’
──Kwaang!
The earth shook. A warship that had surrounded CIAR must have fired a cannonball. Monika maintained her stance.
‘To live is a continuous process of saving oneself from the world.’
The old and gaunt, yet long hilt of his teacher's sword.
Abel had said, sharing it.
‘Are you ready, Monika Lohengrin.’
I've never thought of saving anyone.
Monika thought, holding her breath.
The people I wanted to save are all dead, and I just believed I was saved because of them. A life of worrying about meals, dividing up my salary, and offering tribute to an outlaw's organization. I thought there was nothing to be saved from in that.
No. There was something that absolutely had to be saved.
‘Let us save you from now on.’
I want to live.
I don't want to worry about meals. I wish I had a decent amount of property. I don't want to be scared of some outlaw, and so I want to live.
No, it's different. I want to live well.
I don't want to turn a blind eye to people in trouble. I don't want to give up on helping because I have nothing. Yes, so I want to live a decent life. Like that, so I am now……,
──Ah, so that's what it was.
Monika opened her eyes.
‘I am trying to save Dante senior, and at the same time…….’
Powerless, foolish, and cynical.
And so, shabby,
‘I guess I want to save myself.’
The green Aura, beginning to circulate within her body.
Realizing that, Monika shouted.
“──Here I come!”
Koong, and.
Alberge moved forward. His body, with only bones left, supported his heavy armor. Dante's blade, whirling without context. Alberge's footprint, digging into the ground to counter it. At the same moment dust spread,
- What?
- Who is it!
- ……A s, skeleton?
The professors' widened gazes.
Alberge's glint of light became clear. The blade of his claymore drew an arc from below, and his heavy armor clanked, scattering a metallic sound.
──Chaeng!
Clashing blades.
The metallic sound tore through the air, and,
<Uooooot!>
Alberge let out a battle cry. He put strength into his hilt and pushed back Dante's blade. Dante's right arm, extending backwards. At the moment the misshapen flesh that wrapped around it writhed,
<What are you doing, you lumps of flesh! Aim for the sword!>
Alberge shouted.
A sword. What does that mean……. A question crossed the professors' expressions. They instinctively rolled their eyes and stared at Dante's sword. Dante's hand, covered in a gelatinous skin. The blood-soaked blade connected to it. What on earth is that old sword…….
“Everyone, why are you standing there blankly?”
Fleur was now among the professors. Is there no chance to use my sword? After letting out a sigh, looking at her rapier, Fleur held out her empty hand towards Dante.
<Press down on the lips. The language will disappear. Fold the heart. The desire will stop.>
A magic circle formed in Fleur's hand.
The cast had begun. The fifth chapter of the Mother God Theory, the mid-rank divine magic ‘Silence for Mother Earth’. A chain woven from divine power shot out from the magic circle.
<Stop your steps.>
Chwarak!
Fleur waved her hand. The chain of divine power that had extended in all directions wrapped around Dante's body, and his right arm was stuffed in the empty air.
<A place without footprints, it is in our mother's embrace.>
Kkwaak!
As the cast was completed, strength entered the chain.
Geugeuk, geugeuk! Dante's right side let out a pained sound. He twisted his body, grinding his hideous teeth. It was a matter of time before the chain broke. Cracks began to form on its surface.
“Hurry! Please help me.”
Fleur said, looking back at the professors.
“Please follow my instructions. We're going to separate Dante senior and the sword.”
Fleur relayed Monika's plan in a quick tone. To have the professor of the Department of Swordsmanship hold Dante's upper body. To have the professor of the Department of Spearmanship seal Dante's lower body. She asked the professor of the Department of Elemental Studies for a binding spell, and Alberge stood facing Dante, maintaining his battle stance.
“──Now, Monika!”
And so, Fleur shouted,
“Huup!”
Monika inhaled. The outer wall of a nearby building. She ran up it. Her body tilting. Monika concentrated Aura towards the tips of her toes.
A green stalk of grass, beginning to bloom at her feet. Amber eyes, flashing towards the front. At the same time……,
‘I must not hesitate.’
──Kwaang!
The Aura was released along with her exhale.
The outer wall collapsed and Monika's body shot up. Just running wasn't enough. She needed a speed that could put strength into her blade. Monika's whole body, which had gained momentum, was fired like a cannonball.
‘There's only one chance.’
Monika's brow contorted with pain. A sharp pain that shook her lower body. It must be because her bones were crushed. It was something she had expected. Because she had endured with her legs the Aura that should have been released through a weapon.
‘If my guess is right…….’
Amidst her whirling black hair,
Dante's sword was captured in Monika's vision.
Wrong. It's not Dante's sword. That is Felix Christian's sword. I have to tear that sword away. What's wrong is not Dante. A group of warships surrounding CIAR. If Felix's speech echoed from there, the culprit of all this must be Dante's teacher.
‘Separate them by force.’
Monika put all her strength into the great sword.
The misshapen flesh that wrapped around Dante's right hand. There was no time to leisurely carve it out. She had no choice but to push with mass. She had to blow it away along with Felix's sword. Monika judged so.
‘I, it's important not to be greedy.’
Numeros Formal Swordsmanship, 3rd Section, ‘Full Bloom’.
A technique of gliding and cutting down.
Monika recalled Dante's advice.
‘When you're gliding, you get……, excited. So you move m, more than necessary.’
And so, Monika, reflected in Dante's unfocused eyes.
She extended her great sword with a moment in between, and,
──Kaaaang!
A metallic sound that shook Felix's sword.
‘Not yet!’
Monika's eyes, sharpening.
Tuduk, and. The sound of Dante's body crumbling was heard.
There was no time to turn around and check. Felix's sword, torn away along with the hideous flesh. The thing that had been floating in the air suddenly stopped, and then, with the hilt as its axis, it spewed out skin. As if trying to reconstruct a body.
“Please!”
Monika aimed her prosthetic arm at Felix's sword.
The cannon barrel, opening. After sticking the great sword into the ground, and holding the hilt with her left hand to maintain her posture,
“Break!”
──Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
She poured out magic bullets.
The dirt powder swirled into a gust of wind. The skin, steeped in a gelatinous substance, rained down, and reddish-black blood settled on Monika's black hair.
Heok, heok…….
Monika leaned her weight against the guard of the great sword. She didn't even have the strength to stand. She stared straight ahead, hanging limply. Pulsseok, and. Felix's sword, stained with torn skin, was stuck in the ground. It looked shabby, as if it had returned to being an old sword.
‘Is it over now.’
Monika's body, crumbling downwards.
Someone's touch supported her.
“……Teacher?”
Monika's gaze widened.
She asked in a small voice.
“Teacher……, Abel?”
A face, captured in her hazy vision.
It was not Abel's. It was completed in the form of a woman as her focus returned.
“You did well, Miss Lohengrin. I came at the request of Professor Argento.”
“……Vice President.”
Konstanze laid Monika on her lap.
The professors were supporting Dante from a distance, and Fleur was casting a healing spell on Monika.
“Monika is really reckless. Her shinbones are all crushed.”
This was Fleur's words.
<Still, it's a relief. The elasticity of her flesh is unharmed.>
This was Alberge's words.
- That was a great judgment, brat. What is that prosthetic arm made of? Anyway, good. You're not a talent to be in the Department of Theology.
- I'm sorry, Vice President. We delayed the situation…….
- Good heavens, if you were coming, why didn't you come sooner. I almost killed a student.
This was the professors' words.
The descending voices grew smaller and smaller. While her consciousness was fading, Monika gripped Konstanze's collar.
“Um, Dante senior is……”
“You don't have to worry about young Marchisio. Your judgment was correct. Now that the sword has been removed, he'll be able to regain his health soon.”
“……That's a relief.”
What a relief.
At the moment a smile took root on Monika's face,
“You don't have to worry about the safety of CIAR either.”
Konstanze, who had been tilting her head towards Monika, said,
“The evacuation is complete with you all. We will now begin our counterattack.”
Konstanze, who had been collecting Felix's sword, said.
“I'm sorry I'm late. So I'll promise you. I will not tolerate a single casualty.”
Konstanze, who was staring at the outside of the barrier, said,
“So, Miss Lohengrin, you can rest now.”
Konstanze, who had come running with her magic staff in hand, said.
‘……What?’
Monika blinked her eyes with a blank expression.
Three or four Konstanzes were looking down at Monika. Was she seeing a hallucination? A Konstanze with a gentle expression. A Konstanze with a resolute expression. A Konstanze with a tired expression. A soft smile spread across the lips of such Konstanzes.
“I often told you, didn't I, Miss Lohengrin.”
Konstanze's voice whispered in layers.
“──That even a hundred bodies wouldn't be enough.”
* * *
“Professor Argento.”
At Konstanze's call, Abel looked back.
“Miss Lohengrin's safety has been secured. It seems it's your turn to step up now.”
Konstanze held out a crystal ball. Monika's face was captured inside the crystal ball. Had she lost consciousness due to her exhausted stamina? A faint sense of relief spread across Abel's complexion.
‘She did better than I expected.’
Now that the situation had become urgent, he had no time to join Monika. Dozens of crystal balls were floating around Abel. A bundle of crystal balls, broadcasting the entire area of CIAR. He had to check on the status of the students, faculty, and the non-combatant staff, and prepare for a possible raid.
That was why he had sent Konstanze. The monster mobilized for Felix's sword was Exemplar's Keratin. Fortunately, it was a breed that could be separated by external force, but he had not expected Monika to subdue the cursed artifact herself.
“As I explained……, my body is divided into one main body and 99 clones.”
Konstanze said, waving her magic staff.
The crystal balls, scattering into a flurry of light. They were stored inside Konstanze's magic staff.
“It's the result of a Private Spell I created to obtain the title of a sage. It is a magic that only I can use in the entire world.”
A mage who had reached the 6th rank would ponder a private spell.
Because it was a sage's accomplishment to create a spell that only they could use. Universally, a sage meant a mage who had achieved the 6th rank or higher, but there were not a few who were ridiculed for not being able to complete a private spell.
‘The Endless Puppet Show’.
A spell that created a clone close to a replica human.
That was the identity of the private spell that Konstanze had achieved.
“4 clones went to Miss Lohengrin, and 67 clones checked the evacuation status. The remaining clones are maintaining the barrier with the professors, but……, it's not enough. I, the main body, have to help.”
Professor Argento.
Are you really……, going to subdue them alone?
At such a question from Konstanze, Abel nodded his head.
“You don't have to worry.”
Abel's head turned to the sky.
The rooftop of the main building of Cia-Harphe Academy.
Abel was standing on the highest point of the floating island.
“Please concentrate on defense with the other professors. The remnants of the 2nd Prince may have already entered CIAR. As in the case of Felix Christian.”
──Kwaang!
An explosion that fired like a greeting.
A scratch spread across the barrier surrounding the floating island.
“And I ask you.”
Abel kept a close eye on the group of warships.
All but one were old. The operating sound of the propellers was old, and the iron walls that sealed the outer surface of the ships were rusted. They were decommissioned warships in the first place. Ships that had not been used since the Mirror War. The one and only state-of-the-art ship, gliding low among them, must be the command ship.
“Please release the barrier in 30 minutes. It will only be for a moment. I need a gap to enter the command ship.”
“You, surely……”
Konstanze's gaze narrowed.
“Are you going to jump off? From the floating island?”
“That is correct.”
Is there a problem?
When Abel asked, Konstanze replied with a sigh.
It was the first time she had seen a Sword Saint in action with her own eyes. That's why she couldn't understand. Was he planning to break them down one by one, starting with the command ship? And more than that, jumping off. It was an absurd thought. For Konstanze, she couldn't grasp Abel's intention.
But she had no choice but to trust him.
The remnants of the 2nd Prince were ignoring the request for negotiations. They did not respond to the proposal from CIAR, nor to the continuous communication from the Capital Defense Air Force. The cannonballs fired at intervals felt like a taunt. It seemed they were waiting for the impatient Capital Defense Air Force to make a preemptive strike.
The moment they attack,
as if to launch an all-out attack on CIAR and bring it down.
As if not aiming for a specific gain, but to recreate a battlefield where children die.
“……I'll go and support the barrier.”
Konstanze's voice sank.
“And I apologize. You were right, Professor Argento. The location of CIAR is truly inefficient. I shouldn't have been careless as the Vice President.”
“You don't have to apologize.”
Abel turned his back on Konstanze.
It was not a problem where responsibility could be discussed with an individual's carelessness. And above all, it was a matter of consequence. Reassurance and carelessness fundamentally point to the same state, but as an event beyond the scope of prediction occurs, it is a law that it is divided into positive and negative.
The future cannot be predicted.
Abel did not blame anyone.
Because he knew the future, at least vaguely,
he had just hoped that everyone would be at ease for now.
“I will protect it.”
Abel said, taking a step.
“I would have told you during the interview. That I came from another world to do so.”
“No, that's……”
Konstanze mumbled her lips. To think he would make a joke even in a situation like this. What a sincere bluffer. Thinking so, she adjusted her glasses.
There was no need for long words. I ask you to do well, and. After requesting in a calm tone, Konstanze retreated. Konstanze's footsteps, lingering by Abel's ear. At the moment he was finally left alone on the rooftop of the main building, Abel stood facing the railing, gripping the hilt of his beloved sword.
Between his faintly stirring silver-gray hair,
what was on Abel's expression was none other than peace.
‘How comforting.’
The warships, aiming their cannon barrels from all sides. How many adversaries must be lurking inside them. They are a group of madmen who wish for the continuation of war, and Abel was a madman buried in salvation. While located at opposite extremes, there was a point where they connected.
To wander like a beast in search of a blood-spattered place,
and a disposition to end up reaching out a hand to the wounded.
The only difference was whether to kill or save, but finding the meaning of life in conflict was the same.
“──Well now. It's damn high, isn't it?”
However, the one who was more mad was Abel.
“Do you remember? When we were young, you and I snuck into the magic tower. It feels like looking down at the ground from the rooftop there.”
A voice heard from beside Abel. It was the cheerful voice of a mage. A man with mischievous eyes was standing beside Abel.
No, in truth, no one was standing there.
The reason why Abel had not been swayed by the Tremblay who had feigned to be Ion Blanche. It was not just because of the strength of his mind, or the density of his divine power. It was because he had been living, willingly deluded.
“That's right. It feels really similar to back then.”
To the hallucination induced by himself.
To the form of the comrades he had lost in a distant time.
“It's been a while, Leon Baibars.”
And so, Abel smiled.
It was an endlessly boyish smile.
“Don't be a damn fool, Abel. You damn bastard.”
Leon stood side by side with Abel.
The cloak covering his body was scorched, and his face was covered in burns. His simple reddish-brown hair was covered in ash. It was the last sight of Leon that Abel had seen.
Abel could not stare at such a Leon. He just looked at a distant place. Leon was also the same. He was just staring at a distant place, as in the past.
“Crybaby Abel, you were scared. To look down at the ground from the magic tower. You said the whole world looked so small, and that's why you were scared. Because until you were young, you were a coward.”
“That's right.”
Abel obediently admitted.
“Back then, there were so many things I was scared of. The chirping of insects, gaunt tree branches, the wrinkled face of the village chief. They were all things I was scared of.”
“I was about to die from disbelief. Because a guy like you had become a Holy Knight. Crybaby Abel is suddenly going around wringing the necks of monsters? I thought I'd live to see the day.”
“It was thanks to the village chief. When our hometown was attacked by monsters, he threw himself to protect me, who was slow on my feet. He was covering me until his breath stopped. So I decided. That one day, I too would become an adult like that.”
“You foolish fellow.”
Leon let out a sigh.
Then he bit his lower lip.
“When I heard the news that you had been chosen by the Holy Sword……, I was relieved, and at the same time, I agonized.”
A Hero……,
Hero Abel Argento…….
Well, it's not bad. Because he's a very upright guy.
A fellow like him is worthy of shouldering the weight of the world.
Thinking so, on the one hand……, and.
Leon added in a small voice.
“I was so……, so very worried, you damn bastard.”
What if your uprightness becomes a mad obsession.
What if it brings regret, what if it is never rewarded in the end.
What can I do for you.
Abel Argento. To serve a guy like you as a Hero?
Go to hell. You were my close friend before you were a Hero.
To be born in the same village as me, and to wait for the day we would die while badmouthing each other when we got old. That should have been our end.
So answer me.
Answer my question, Abel.
“You……”
Why are you still alive.
Why do you remain in the same form.
At such a question from Leon, Abel shook his head.
“You're wrong, Leon.”
Abel stood on the railing.
He drew his beloved sword and looked back at Leon.
“Leon Baibars. My precious friend.”
The time he had asked of Konstanze was approaching.
The barrier would soon be dismantled. He had to move without delay.
So, after a brief silence, Abel opened his mouth to his friend, who was nothing more than a hallucination.
“I remember. The days I spent with you.”
But that is meaningless. It has become meaningless.
I have died and been born again several times, and our childhood spent in our hometown is nothing more than a distant past. It's like an old book on a shabby bookshelf. It's just a list of old records. I've changed too much. I'm not consistent at all.
Abel whispered so.
“Because……, I don't feel anything anymore.”
Death is common.
Losing a comrade, and even losing a close friend, is like that.
The long passage of time had cooled Abel's emotions. At the same time, it had hardened them. If it were in his younger days, he would have been flustered. In this place right now, among the warships surrounding CIAR, he would have been desperately trying to come up with a countermeasure with a desperate expression. He would surely have been more human.
He could no longer do so. It must be because he had faced the Demon King countless times. A commotion of this level felt like a gentle breeze. Peaceful times had become uncomfortable, and he could only live in the midst of disaster. Joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure had been dull for a long time. Without weakness or strength, only a silent mission remained for Abel.
“And yet, Leon.”
Nevertheless,
without forgetting you, without forgetting everyone who was with me,
offering eternal mourning to the dead, and infinite blessings to the survivors,
protecting and protecting and protecting the world,
so that a young Hero like I once was would not despair.
Or saving and saving and saving the world,
so that somewhere in this countless world, I might be able to pass by you, who are living a new life.
If that is my only wish,
if I, who prolong my life by wishing for disaster, wish for the end of disaster,
if I, who cannot mix with peace, sincerely wish for peace,
“Such a me is……”
My friend,
what on earth is such a me.
Abel directed his question to Leon.
There was no answer. Leon was just staring at Abel. In the first place, it wasn't that he wanted an answer. Abel already knew.
“A mere madman.”
Abel's expression scattered.
“……My precious friend.”
The gently curved smile was gone, and only a gaze that had settled indifferently was left.
The translucent curtain that had been covering the floating island dispersed. A boundary formed on the round surface, and it began to scatter into pieces like a scale raising its sharp edge. The barrier that had been defending CIAR was dismantled.
‘That's right.’
Abel tilted his body.
He jumped in with his back to the ground.
‘Returnees do not return.’
An endless fall.
He fell alone, pushing through the strong wind. The weight of the empty air was cold, and the floating island became so distant as to be trivial. The warships surrounding it were just fading like a lump of iron. The hugely gathered dark clouds were blocking the end of the sky.
‘Even after the disaster is over, I will dream a dream stained with death, and even in the midst of peace, I will be wary alone.’
Abel extended his worn beloved sword.
He concentrated the Aura in his body towards the tip of the sword. A belief that had long surpassed the category of a human wrapped around the blade. A margin-white Aura as empty as to be indistinguishable from the sky. It began to tear at Abel's skin.
‘So I wish.’
Tuduk, tuk…….
A drop of blood, landing on Abel's face.
It had leaked out from the hand gripping the hilt.
A wound began to open as if eating up his whole body. It was because his body could not withstand Abel's Aura. Not an external wound, but an internal wound. The sword marks that had burst out from inside his body were densely embroidered, and at the moment his fluttering formal coat was dyed red,
‘I wish so that I will not wish.’
A countless sword strike,
‘All the battlefields of this world.’
It decorated the heavens.
.
.
.
──Koong!
And so, the steel skin that made up the command ship.
Abel's footprint, stamped on its surface.
Abel brushed back his hair. He glanced at the blood on his hand, then roughly shook it off and looked back.
“Now, from now on……”
A faint smile took root on Abel's lips.
“……Let's save the world.”
The group of warships that had been surrounding all sides.
They were drenched in flames and were shattering to pieces.
The color of the silently gliding floating island stood out,
and beyond the torn dark clouds, a distant sunlight shone down.
It was finally clear.