Destiny (2)
Chapter 34
“Simone!! Simone!! Simone!!”
As soon as Simone arrived at the basement, she was met with Pietro’s screams.
Without properly checking on the children inside the iron cages, Simone headed straight to the deepest part of the dungeon.
Pietro kept shouting while violently shaking his chains.
“How dare you do this to your own father!!”
“You still seem lively. Looks like you’ll have to hang there for another week.”
Though there were many ways to extract a confession, most are more effective when the target’s willpower is weakened.
Thus, Simone and the mages continuously tortured Pietro until his mental strength dropped to an appropriate level.
Simone clicked her tongue while grabbing a flat-ended iron rod.
It began to heat up naturally in the fire, glowing red.
“Do you still feel fine?”
As Simone giggled and lifted the iron rod, Ray discreetly pushed off from the ground on the opposite side of the cell.
Crrreak!
The dark spirit contracted with Simone reacted to Ray.
The shapeless creature with no discernible eyes opened its mouth wide and approached.
Seeing the churning black mass, Ray felt deep disgust.
‘Damn spirits.’
Even in his previous life, Ray often felt unpleasant towards the spirits in novels.
Beings free from death.
Nothing about them seemed tragic, everything was like a game, yet they were annoyingly picky when lending their power.
Even though they were fictional beings in a novel, he didn’t like them. Now, they were real.
Tzuzuk
Ray infused mana into his sword and axe.
Since it’s impossible to kill a spirit anyway, he planned to slice through it and head straight for Simone’s neck.
POW!
Weapons imbued with sword aura pierced into the dark spirit.
The sensation of tearing flesh traveled through his fingertips.
Between the cracks of the embedded weapons, something black poured out from the spirit.
“…?”
Ray, who had originally intended to strike Simone without hesitation, stopped in his tracks.
The emotions of the spirit flowed back to its master.
Overwhelming confusion and fear overwhelmed the spirit handler.
Simone turned pale and collapsed on the spot.
“Gurgh…! Khak! Kheugh…!”
“?”
The dark spirit writhed in the darkness.
It flailed its tentacle-like limbs in a desperate attempt to escape from Ray.
Ray pondered for a moment.
The reason why spirits can’t be killed, except in extreme cases, is because what appears in reality is just an illusion; the main body resides in another dimension.
Or maybe the main body stays in A-Space while only a part of it manifests in reality.
While these theories might sound far-fetched, the gist is this:
The immortality of spirits is ultimately related to space.
And Harshia School’s Spatial Blade Sword Aura distorts space.
“Speak up.”
Given the situation, Ray tried his best to hold back, but he couldn’t help blurting out the line that had been circling in his head.
“Does a spirit bleed?”
[Kruhuhuhag…! Har, Harshii…!]
A sinister smile spread across Ray’s face as his sword and axe bisected the dark spirit.
CHUNK!!
Leaving behind the mysterious black substance flowing from the spirit, Ray approached Simone.
He would’ve liked to torture this fire-attribute bastard with some fire-based torment, but since the steward was watching, he restrained himself.
“Old man, is there anything you want to ask?”
“…Elves, the whereabouts of the elves.”
“Simone, where did you take the elves?”
“Eh, huh? Huhuhk! Elves?”
“Yeah, where are the elves?”
Due to the reverse flow of fear, Simone, unable to regain his senses, croaked out a response.
“Our hideout, gurgk!”
“Where is the hideout?”
“Khak! Gurgh!”
“Where’s the hideout?”
“To, the east where the river splits…!”
“How many Dark Wizards are there?”
“Mo, I don’t know! Gurgkk.”
Having gathered the necessary information,
With no more time to spare, Ray plunged his sword into Simone’s chest and covered his mouth.
Simone’s scream echoed within Ray’s grasp.
“Kruk…”
Simone’s trembling body went limp after a brief struggle.
Stepping back, Ray looked at Pietro.
What good would come from explaining that his son had been killed?
He simply greeted him nonchalantly.
“I’ll take my leave now. It would be nice to meet again.”
“…Set me free.”
“I don’t have the means to rescue you too, old man.”
“That’s not it. There’s a shelter inside the Manor. We could hold out for a few hours. I’ll serve as bait.”
This meant that once Simone’s murder was discovered, Pietro would draw attention to buy time.
After giving Pietro a brief look, Ray swung his sword.
The chain binding Pietro’s arms fell away.
“Khh!”
Pietro, who hadn’t stepped on solid ground for so long, wobbled on shaky legs and leaned against the wall.
Exiting the iron cage, Pietro glanced at his son before turning his distorted face away.
“I’ll guide you to the back door.”
“Understood.”
The back door would attract less attention than the main entrance.
Ray walked ahead and peeked outside the basement.
There was still no sign of movement within the Manor.
It seemed that most of the staff had been cleared out during the process of discrediting Pietro.
Despite occasionally stumbling, Pietro walked ahead with his back straight.
Maximizing his senses, Ray scanned the surroundings while saying,
“This isn’t a demand.”
“…?”
“If you’re planning to end your life, I suggest you take your time. Your assistance will be needed to stabilize the Count’s territory.”
“…My son’s sins run too deep. Even I must live to atone for them.”
“That’s fortunate. Having a goal in life is a good thing. I’ll make sure to speak well of you to the Count so you can be rescued sooner.”
“You… are truly… incomprehensible.”
Insane speech patterns and the ability to instantly slay two dark spirits at knight-level strength.
And upon exiting the underground, an appearance far too young.
Pietro felt as if he’d been possessed by a ghost.
There were countless questions piling up, yet Pietro maintained silence.
Knowing too much unnecessary information would only increase the likelihood of it leaking to the Dark Wizard.
Pietro and Ray should remain mutually unknown to each other.
“We’ve arrived.”
They reached the back door.
After confirming there was no one around beyond the door, Ray opened it.
Kiieek
Two shadows loomed over Ray’s head.
Without looking up, Ray grabbed the hilt of his sword.
Even with his senses maximized, he detected no presence.
Yet shadows of people hovered above his head.
Realizing the situation was dire, Ray drew his sword.
A thin voice rang out.
“Nephew? Is that you, nephew?”
“?
The sword in motion halted.
*
The woman came to Dinor to fulfill her agreement with Ulte.
Ulte had instructed her to visit the Manor and meet the steward Pietro.
Finding the Manor wasn’t difficult, but there was no attendant at the main gate.
No signs of life.
Not wanting to shout and risk getting no response, she circled the large building to find another entrance.
“Is this…?”
At the back of the Manor, she found a small side door.
Just then, two presences were approaching from this direction.
The woman stood quietly waiting.
Then a fully-armored man heading toward the Manor’s main gate noticed her and approached.
“Good day, fair lady. What brings you here?”
“I’m here.”
“?’
“To meet someone.”
“Aha. I also have business here. Our schedules align.”
The man pointed toward the direction the presences were coming from.
“They’re coming to greet us.”
Kiieek
The door opened.
Peering through the half-opened gap, the woman spotted Ray and exclaimed in surprise.
“Nephew? Is that you, nephew?”
“?
Stopping mid-draw, Ray looked at the woman standing to his right.
A moment of silence passed before the armored man stepped back with a friendly smile.
“It seems you know each other. Since you arrived first, please attend to your business.”
Recalling recent memories, Ray barely managed to piece together who she was.
The woman he had encountered at his father’s grave. The voice and silhouette matched.
“Ah, could it be Tombstone?”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“My name isn’t Tombstone. It’s Saria.”
“Is that so.”
Ray nodded cautiously.
“Then how exactly are we related… for you to call me nephew?”
“Father’s younger sister. That’s me.”
“Uh, um.”
Ray scratched the back of his head.
“There are only three people I can call father.”
Biological father.
Legal father on the registry.
Lastly, Jimy, who runs the orphanage and is registered as Ray’s godfather.
“Which one of the three are you…? Though based on the context, I can guess.”
“Evan.”
The name of Ray’s legal father on the registry.
Ray gave a slight bow.
“Hello, Aunt. This is our first proper meeting.”
Ray didn’t fully trust Saria’s words.
However, given the situation, he was quite cautious.
Why was his aunt here and who was the man standing beside her?
“What brings you here?”
“I asked. On behalf of Ulte.”
The man who had stepped back earlier hurried forward.
“Ulte…? An acquaintance of the Lord?”
Looking at Pietro’s exposed skin, marked with burn scars everywhere, Saria tilted her head.
“He told me to meet Pietro. Could you be him?”
“I am the steward of the Gardi Count’s household, Pietro.”
“He said to ask you about Titi. If there’s any issue, he requested you resolve it.”
“Titi… But more importantly, is the Lord safe? Or perhaps…!!”
“Hold on.”
Interrupting Pietro, Ray pointed at the man listening intently nearby.
“Aunt, this gentleman isn’t with you, is he?”
“No.”
“Then, may I ask what brings you here?”
In response to Ray’s question, the man answered straightforwardly.
“I came upon hearing news of Simone’s death. Though I haven’t confirmed it with my own eyes.”
Pushing Pietro behind him, Ray’s hand moved toward his sword hilt. The man’s smile deepened.
“I’m not quite sure of the mechanism, but apparently special magic was implanted by mage friends that alerts when the heart stops beating.”
The man’s hand disappeared from his waist. Ray instinctively knew he was too late as he drew his sword.
“Did you all kill him?”
Zzzeeeeng—!!!
A flash erupted right before Ray’s nose.
The searing heat scorched his cheek, and the shockwave rattled his eardrums.
Regaining his balance, Ray forced his eyes open.
The man who had swung his sword was already several dozen meters away.
“Hmm.”
The man shook off his singed cloak regretfully.
“I thought you were a swordsman based on your skill in concealing your presence.”
The blue shield surrounding Saria, formed in an octahedral pattern, was cracking and sparking from the impact of the man’s attack.
“Wasting time posing gave him the distance he wanted. If the Lord saw this, he’d surely have something to say.”
The sword aura condensed like threads on the man’s sword.
Dozens of sword aura strands shot up simultaneously, entwining, rotating, repelling each other, and emitting blinding light.
Sword Energy. The hallmark of an expert surpassing the conventional limits.
To top it off, three robed mages appeared, forming a battle formation around the man.
Witnessing the swirling, unpleasant mana, Ray was certain.
Dark Wizards.
‘Because of my amateurish sympathy, I dug my own grave.’
While Ray hadn’t anticipated the enemies moving immediately after Simone’s death, he knew assassinating Simone carried greater risks than simply fleeing.
Still, he ended up killing Simone due to the pitiful sight of the children being consumed by the dark spirit.
‘Seeing that he commands a graduate as a subordinate, it seems a major player like Locust or someone of similar stature is involved in this matter.’
Gathering useful information is good, but with this much firepower, he’d likely lose his head before even resisting.
In a life-or-death situation, the only ones he could rely on were blood relatives.
Though Ray and Saria weren’t actually related by blood, Ray stared at her with steely determination.
“Could you possibly help out your cute nephew?”
“Who are these guys?”
Lying on the ground, struggling to maintain his posture, Pietro interjected.
“They took Titi.”
At that moment, Saria’s expression changed.
“…That won’t do.”
BOOM!!
Taking advantage of Saria’s momentary distraction, the man stomped the ground and explosively accelerated.
Ray almost lost sight of the man’s movement and chased after the fading afterimage with bloodshot eyes.
‘If Saria really is my aunt, she shouldn’t be that old.’
Can she handle a graduate-level opponent?
Holding his sword tightly, Ray remained highly alert as Saria pushed him back.
Facing the graduate, instead of retreating, Saria stepped forward.
“Halo Maneuver.”
[60-second overload for Halo. Bombing preparation.]
The concealment veil peeled away, revealing a golden artifact in the form of a 1-meter diameter torus glowing brightly.
From the center of the spinning Halo in mid-air, intense emerald green light burst forth.
“Bombardment.”
Dozens of disk-shaped beams of light erupted from the Halo and rained down toward the ground.
Upon seeing the descending green disks, the dark wizards abandoned their offensive spells and hastily erected shields.
BOOOOOM!!!
With a thunderous roar, the earth was torn apart.
Though impressive, the explosion failed to stop the graduate, who continued advancing calmly through the bombardment.
“Light of Annihilation.”
This time, a silver weapon split vertically appeared beside Saria.
“Pierce the enemy.”
The tip of the silver weapon glowed crimson before firing a red beam forward.
The ground along the beam’s trajectory instantly incinerated.
CHHHHAAACK!!
The man trusted his armor’s durability and used his arm to protect his upper body.
However, even the expensive armor reinforced with mana melted instantly upon contact with the superheated beam.
“Hmph. Are you some rich kid from a Magic Tower owner’s family or something?”
Each artifact wielded by Saria rivals high-level magic in power.
Artifacts of such grade are usually impossible to export from decent Magic Towers.
Yet she not only possessed several but also charged recklessly like a swordsman.
The man was impressed for various reasons.
“Looks like a princess out for a stroll. Worrisome enough to cause future problems.”
ZING!!
The man planted his feet firmly on the ground and swung his sword.
A brilliant sword energy was discharged forward.
SAHHHHHAAAAAKK!!
The superheated heat ray colliding with the sword energy split into dozens of streams, whipping around wildly.
As the surroundings transformed into a sea of flames, the emitted sword energy clashed with the blue shield.
BOOOOOMMM!!!
Though the defense succeeded, the shield, now cracked in various places, sparked profusely.
In that instant, the man revealed himself between the dissipating flames.
Swinging his sword enveloped in sword energy horizontally,
KRAKRAKRAK!!
The shield shattered.
The octahedral artifact responsible for the shield flashed warnings to its owner.
Engaging in close combat with a swordsman is a situation that mages must always avoid.
However.
Only when the man successfully closed the distance to the point where their swords could touch did he suddenly stiffen.
It was only after facing Saria directly that the man realized.
Saria hadn’t utilized even a single speck of mana until now.
Meaning, all the power displayed by the artifacts so far came purely from their autonomous output.
The man had judged Saria to be a mage.
Refined core mana is extremely unsuitable for activating artifacts.
But if the user’s mana wasn’t required for activation in the first place…
All assumptions became meaningless.
“Hercules, reveal yourself.”
A massive sword responsible for the concealment field around Saria’s artifacts materialized in mid-air.
Saria grasped the greatsword.
Dozens of highly compressed sword energies converged, covering the greatsword.
The man hastily recalled the sword he had swung horizontally to cut through the shield.
But Saria was faster.
BOOOOOM!!!!
“Grgh…!!”
The man retreated to a distance after barely countering Saria’s sword strike.
His shoulder was slashed by the sword energy. Though it wasn’t completely severed, blood spurted out like a fountain.
Looking at the artifacts guarding Saria, the man voiced his doubts.
“Not even the Emperor’s direct guard is armed this lavishly. Did you raid one of the Three Great Magic Towers whole?”
“Found them, in a dungeon.”
Saria’s face momentarily darkened.
“Trapped for nearly ten years.”
