Chapter 251

Chapter 251

Gentle and not angry—without being told specifically, I knew exactly where Elpride was heading.

The towering flames against the dark night sky seemed to indicate how and where she was moving.

Furthermore, the people screaming in terror, the fire brigades and guards rushing around frantically with buckets of water, they seemed to be guiding me towards Elpride’s location.

“Fire Brigade—put out the flames! Extinguish the fire! Pour your magic!”

“d*mn, this isn’t just any fire. It’s a flame ignited by mana!”

“It’s spreading towards the city center! We have to stop that spread!”

Ssshhhh…

A water jet spewing from the tip of a staff. Even in a place without water, they could create such a torrent. These water-magic mages must have reached a high level of expertise.

Thanks to their efforts, the flames that had risen were gradually being extinguished.

Indeed, it seemed that the infrastructure and preparedness here, in the neighborhood where the elite reside, were properly implemented.

If this had been the Western Gate, with its wooden shacks all bunched together, the guards and fire brigades would have arrived too late, and it would have been completely consumed by the flames by then.

In that case, Luna’s shop would have burned as well, and we would have ended up homeless.

Thinking about that possibility made me feel dizzy. Maybe it was from the excess of toxic smoke I had inhaled.

The important thing was that Elpride appeared to be heading towards the city center.

Why the city center?

As I had mentioned several times before, in the city center, there are many facilities that manage the city’s functions, including administrative offices, shrines responsible for spiritual life, and various guilds.

If Elpride, in her rage, is burning everything and heading towards the city center, I fear her goal might be to incinerate the entire city, rendering it paralyzed.

If the city center burns because of Elpride?

Phew, forgetful me. I can’t even imagine what kind of blame is coming my way.

With worry, rage, and a mix of complex emotions, my belly and legs felt as if they were floating.

“More water here!”

“Everyone, evacuate!”

“O Lord Jupiter—”

The burning flames and the voices of people in the night sky all mingled, losing their reality. And amidst all that, I continued to run, feeling like a lost soul in one of Van Gogh’s paintings.

All I could do was keep running, again and again.

When I finally reached the city center, I managed to spot Elpride’s back.

She was still running full speed like me, but most of her clothes and slippers had burned, leaving her looking like a vagrant.

Hiss, hiss.

Each step she took unleashed more flames beneath her.

Leaving fire in her footsteps rather than mere footprints—today, for the first time, I learned Elpride had such a powerful technique. Honestly, I didn’t really want to know.

Because of this, I, who was chasing her closely, was suffering greatly from the flames.

To make matters worse, it was a hot summer night. With flames raging all around, sweat poured down my forehead like rain, stinging my eyes and causing great discomfort.

“Hey! Elpride! Stop! Dammit, stop!”

“…”

Upon hearing my shout, Elpride’s shoulders trembled slightly, though it might have been my imagination. Ultimately, she ignored me, continuing straight ahead and throwing herself into a wide, familiar structure.

That place was the Shrine of Venus.

Elpride entered the shrine, her burning body in tow.

Is she planning to burn down the shrine?

In this world, there may be nothing more blasphemous and terrible than destroying a shrine.

If Elpride were to destroy the Venus Shrine, we’d be in a situation beyond all comprehension. We must stop her.

“Ugh!”

Pushing my legs to the fastest speed possible, I could still feel the distance between us remaining stubbornly unchanged.

In fact, she was drawing further away. Was her body not creaking as before? Could the World Tree’s seal be restoring her condition?

Is she boosted by the fire blazing at her feet?

I don’t know.

In the end, as I failed to catch her, I had no choice but to watch Elpride set the Venus Shrine gardens ablaze.

Hiss, Crackling, Crack—.

The park where Luna and I often dated, with its grass, flowers, and animals, became consumed by a dry and merciless firestorm, sending sparks flying into the air.

Elpride even jumped into an artificial pond nearby.

Sssshhhhh…

It seemed like her flames would be extinguished, but instead, the water from the pond quickly vaporized, releasing immense steam.

Approaching the pond, I shouted.

“Hey! Stop! Put out the fire, now! Are you really going to burn everything down? I’ll count it as my loss, okay! Please put it out! Dammit, you’re going to ruin it all!”

“…”

At that moment, Elpride turned her gaze towards me. Her red eyes sparkled like burning rubies, but ironically, she wasn’t angry; instead, tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Not stopping—everything will burn—everything will be gone. Hurry, you too—”

Crackling, crackling.

Her body, looking as if doused in kerosene, became completely engulfed in flames, disappearing from sight. As a sharp scream echoed from somewhere, it struck me as odd.

Is Elpride harming herself to the extent of burning herself?

I wondered if perhaps Elpride wasn’t in control of the flames themselves. Maybe she had lost control of her magic or power, leading her to the sanctuary of this continent to search for salvation.

Crackling, crackling—flaming columns grew so massive that her form became completely obscured, their width and height increasing, promising destruction to everything in their wake.

No matter what had happened, the only solution now was to stop her.

But how?

A stuntman specially coated might have a chance, but I had no viable way to stop Elpride, whose flames could evaporate a pond.

“Meteor!”

As a precaution, I threw nearby rocks into the flames, but they vanished before even reaching the fiery column.

If rocks can vaporize, this fire is more dangerous than I had imagined. Perhaps this has gone too far?

d*mn it. If I get too close, I might turn into a literal hot mess.

What can I do?

Swish.

As I hesitated, a subtle sound from behind caught my attention. Turning back, I saw a man standing there, his arms crossed, staring coldly at the flames.

He was shorter than me by a head, slender and sleek in a gray robe, giving off the impression of a finely honed needle rather than a frail figure.

His name must have been Daltor of the Radiant Light.

Daltor said,

“The flames of destruction are spiraling out of control. If this continues, the end is inevitable. This city is doomed.”

“What?”

I thought about the city of Sodomora. It was initially a strange, stinky, and noisy place. However, over time, I had built many things here, formed relationships with many people, and, unknowingly, I had grown attached to this chaotic city.

I had built my own hut, set up fences, and even tended a small garden.

Thinking about how all of this might become nothing but piles of ash made me angry.

“What’s going on? You’ll burn and d*e, you savage.”

Seeing me step closer toward the fire, Daltor clicked his tongue disdainfully.

But I couldn’t stand idly by and watch the city burn, so I merely adjusted my breathing and continued forward.

Crackling.

The flames roaring toward my face felt like they could scorch everything from my skin to my internal organs.

Yet, oddly enough, it wasn’t unbearable. Although I tire easily from heat and humidity, I’ve never fallen ill from it.

As the son of the Health Center, the hot springs and searing heat were already familiar territory.

I may sweat in the heat, but my skin’s resistance to high temperatures is as good as any woman who handles boiling pots with bare hands at a cafeteria.

Swish.

Proving just that, my hand cut through the flames as I moved forward.

“Huh? Withstanding the flames of destruction? Never seen anything like it. Resisting the Flames of Twilight, huh? Incredible—”

“Shut up. I’m concentrating. Just right now.”

My lungs burned, and my leather clothing stuck to my body. The center of this fiery column must be far hotter; even I might not survive.

“Lord Nox—”

“Cannot use ‘Armor of Night’—too bright.”

“d*mn it.”

No response.

But maybe there’s a way.

I regulated my breathing through my parched throat and mouth.

The heat I inhaled spread through my whole body, reaching the tips of my fingers and toes. Ironically, the external heat seemed to enhance my perception of my physical spatial presence.

In this inferno, paradoxically, I vividly realized the very existence of “me.”

Gurgling, gurgling.

Instead of the searing heat or the choking fumes from the fire, what permeated my body was an odd ache in my lower abdomen—a feeling to which I had grown somewhat accustomed through repeated meditation.

“Hmm.”

It felt like the heat absorbed through my breathing combined with the rushing bl**d throughout my body.

“Calm that fire within her? Reinforce her body with qi to withstand the heat? Unbelievable. It’s not possible to harness your breathing that way.”

Behind me, Daltor expressed disbelief, certain that no one could achieve such a feat.

“Even so, it’s not possible to endure this heat. Don’t go further. Your soul will be obliterated, savage.”

Plod.

I took one step forward.

My vision blurred from the heat. Perhaps my eyes could no longer endure it. But I continued.

Plod.

Then all sounds disappeared. Perhaps the roaring heat had deafened me, or I had entered an inner depth of consciousness.

With sight and sound lost, my awareness plummeted further inward.

A salmon swimming upstream against a scorching current of flames—that’s what I felt like right now.

Salmon swim upstream.

Likewise, I was swimming forward straight into the flames without turning my back.

It was a mere intuition, but I felt that overcoming this situation would enable me to become a new me, one level deeper.

Do salmon feel the same way?

Could that be the reason they challenge the seemingly impossible, swimming upstream?

Of course, their motive is simple—they seek a mate and a place to lay eggs, burning themselves in the process. They wouldn’t philosophize grand notions or pursue abstract truths.

Simply to spread the seed and life.

But that simplicity makes it essential, doesn’t it?

The most important things are the most fundamental and straightforward.

Life reproduces life, its cycle maintaining the world. This is the purest instinct and rule, surpassing all doctrines.

In the evolution of d*ath and rebirth, parallel paths of demise and renewal converge to create the world, leading to a better existence.

Evolution, indeed.

Perhaps unable to endure the heat, irrelevant thoughts tangled ruthlessly in my mind, creating a complex web.

Incoherent ideas, forcefully linked together, paradoxically refreshed my thoughts like carbonated soda on the mind.

For the first time, I experienced a strange sensation, as if energy surged from my lower abdomen through my entire body. It was both fascinating and a feeling I could do without right now.

Actually, I was just moving forward to say one thing to her.

All the eloquent metaphors aside, they don’t matter now.

I moved through the flames with my bare hands to say just one thing to Elpride.

Only my hands cut through the empty air. In this place where sight and sound were meaningless, Elpride eluded my grasp as if she were a mirage.

She must be close.

Just one more step ahead of me.

Yet despite every ounce of strength I exerted, the final step wouldn’t come. Beyond this wall of heat, Elpride was there.

I wasn’t entirely certain, but I knew that much for sure.

So, hoping that she could hear me, I said aloud. If my hands couldn’t touch her, maybe my voice could.

Perhaps this could be the end for both of us.

“Elpride—.”

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