76 – S2. Resentment Brushing Past the Stars -7
Tara glared at Isarak with eyes that seemed to burn with anger. For her, there was one last thing she wanted to ask. Something she could not fathom.
“Why, Isarak… Why would you do such a thing to Abraham, to your own father?”
“Why? What are you talking about?”
“To kill your own family… How can you unhesitatingly commit such a horrendous act, mocking their deaths?”
Isarak spoke like a tyrant.
From Noble mtl dot com
“You don’t need to be bound by such a trivial concept as family, Tara.”
“…What?”
“Was it ten years, or maybe twenty?”
“……”
“Even if he’s lucky, Abraham would have died within thirty years. Trapped in the confines of human flesh. Buried in the ground, his flesh decomposing shortly, leaving only bones to decay. After a hundred years, the corpse turns to dust, vanishing without a trace, and no one remembers his name.”
Her pupils moved as if traveling through long, endless ages. Humans live a life of less than a hundred years, and what they leave behind fades away. As the units of time increase, human struggles become worthless and meaningless.
“Why bother striving and lamenting for things that will eventually disappear? In the end, there’s only one truly great being left in the universe.”
The demise of everything foreseen after tens or hundreds of billions of years.
So, for one who serves the malevolent spirit that has accompanied the universe and history, everything seemed worthless in shades of gray.
“Why get so worked up about a relationship that’s ultimately just a worthless family of dust?”
“Isarak!”
“Even if you value family, Tara, there’s no need for you to be angry. Your father’s soul will forever be with him. Until the end of this universe. It will last for a long time. It was regrettable that I had to bring suffering to your father, but… I even feel a sense of pride.”
Having witnessed a foreign body in the night sky and delved into it deeply, the wicked saint folded her hands on her chest and devoutly spoke.
“Because it was the right thing to do.”
The girl, who was chosen by chance, who gained power by chance, soon to become not a saint, reflected on Abraham and the past. After recalling the old man’s laughter and the attitude of a life that cared for someone until the last moment.
Clutching two fists tightly, she declared,
“If you don’t understand the value of what you’ve given up… I’ll pound it into your skull!!”
With Tara’s shout, the battle began.
—–
“I saw traces of him from the stars. Even with the insignificant human brain, it couldn’t fully capture his traces. But I feel connected to him.”
Crack. Snap.
Space trembled with an uneasy sound, fissures forming behind Isarak as they shattered open. Through the gap, something translucent flowed out, spherical in shape.
Woooooo-
Its mere presence warped time and space, disintegrating into dust. A tiny fraction of malevolence. Three bubbles the size of a person, traversing dimensions.
They bobbed around Isarak, who basked in starlight, introducing herself,
“I am Isarak, the Twilight Maiden of the Order of Silver.”
“—Attack!”
“⋯⋯!!”
Tara instinctively leaped away. The seemingly dull bubbles shot forth, swiftly erasing the ground where Tara had stood.
The edges of the smooth pit gleamed. If such thick ground could be erased so smoothly, one could vanish from the world without even a scream.
Bennett swallowed dryly. If he failed even once in parrying, that would be his fate.
“We offer sacrifice. So that he may find some joy!”
As Isarak exclaimed, her followers drew sacrificial daggers from their robes. Killing and being killed, gathering their strength for their own maiden.
“You seem to underestimate the maiden…”
Tara extended her holy emblem, channeling sacred power. A golden radiance shimmered around her.
“It’s the power received through good fortune. Yes. However, being called a saint just because of that, and being accepted as one, you need to understand the significance of it.”
Borrowing magic from the goddess. That’s what it is.
‘Wuhwa’ refers to a technique where one imbues their soul with their beliefs, manifesting a special magic emitted by the transformed soul. Then, the ‘special magic’ received from the gods in the first place is──
The ability to use the goddess’s wuhwa.
“Inheriting Wuhwa – 『Gear: Perpetuity』!”
Click. Click. Kwoong.
A gigantic gear appeared behind Tala, producing a sound as if interlocking and rotating. And a symbol appeared above the heads of everyone except the fanatics.
“What’s this⋯⋯?!”
“It doesn’t matter, just offer the sacrifice quickly!”
Upon Isarak’s command, the fanatics stabbed the citizens with daggers, but the daggers only left scratched wounds as if blocked by tough skin. And even those wounds were enveloped in a golden light and healed.
“The knife won’t go in!”
“We need to offer the sacrifice⋯⋯!”
Unlimited healing and protection affecting all allies within the range, including the citizens, to prevent the fanatics’ sacrifices. What Tala brought out as a solution was the power to keep all the offerings alive.
“Wide-range healing, increase in resistance⋯⋯ Is that it?”
[It seems sacrificing won’t be easy. However, the power to carve through Isarak’s space cannot be stopped.]
“That’s enough. Now it’s our turn⋯⋯!”
Bennet quickly closed the distance towards Isarak, while Niole shot magic from behind to restrain Isarak.
“vir, C’thls, I’n-!”
Squelch, ssslaaash-!
With a sinister incantation, a twisted, bright red spiral spear shot towards Isarak. Isarak clenched his fingers, moving the foaming substance around him forward.
The spiral window swallowed by foam disappeared as if evaporating.
[An attack…!]
“A foam that carves through space, a means of attack and defense…!”
Oooong-!
Foam flew towards Vernet. He had to change direction due to the threatening restraint that erased the ground, as he was trying to close the distance with a charge.
There were three summoned foams around Isarak. She was using two for defense and one for offense.
The projectiles were swallowed, the approach was restrained, and even if they managed to approach, they would die with just one proper hit.
To break through the enemy’s defense, they had to create even the slightest opening.
“V’ine, N’ihl…”
Chyajajak!
Several walls made of bone and flesh rose around Isarak. The field of vision was blocked, and Vernet and Niole couldn’t be spotted.
“If I erase this little spell with their power, it’ll be over…!”
Isarak rotated the two foams clockwise. The walls that touched the foam disappeared as if erased by an eraser, opening up the blocked field of vision. In that brief moment, Vernet dashed out of the square.
Two foams were used to remove obstacles, and there was one foam waiting around Isarak. It shot directly at Vernet.
Oooong-!
Watching the approaching foam that distorted space, Vernet calmly took a breath.
It was a much stronger form compared to the average fanatic’s spell. The difficulty of parrying and the risk of failure would be much higher. But he had to succeed. That way, he could deliver a fatal blow with his sword.
Entering a state of extreme concentration, everything appeared in slow motion.
As the air was swallowed by the foam, creating an empty space, a sucking wind blew. He could feel a few strands of hair fluttering towards the foam.
If there was one thing that made her foam superior to the average fanatic’s spell from the opponent’s perspective, it was that it had a fairly clear outline. Unlike the translucent space-distorting spell of an average fanatic, it looked pitch black as it carved through space.
Calculating the trajectory, he carefully placed the blade diagonally on the surface of the foam.
Bones surged in response to Bennett’s movement, conveying Neo’s message. 27, 49, 6. A numerical sequence signaling the correct position and timing of the parry.
Up close, focusing revealed the powerful force harbored by the foam, making the skin tingle upon contact. A conviction that everything would be erased just by touching it. A sensation akin to thrusting one’s head into the jaws of a dragon.
Maintaining tension but not succumbing to panic.
“『Spatial Expansion』.”
Magic was thrust into the seams of space. For a moment, the trajectory of the foam seemed to deviate as calculated.
Squelch, squelch.
The spatial expansion magic couldn’t withstand the output and screamed. It hadn’t twisted the trajectory enough yet. If pushed in like this, even if he didn’t die, his right arm would cleanly be severed.
Then.
“『The Hound Guarding the Goddess』…!”
Tara’s magic filled the somewhat lacking durability. The form of a dog’s head perched on Bennett’s blade. It confronted the foam and pushed it back. A tremendous weight, like pushing a mountain, was felt.
Biting down on it, holding breath, exerting all strength to repel the longsword.
Slishh!
With a strange noise, the foam shot up into the sky. Simultaneously, Tara’s magic shattered, and golden particles scattered.
Beyond that, the figure of Isaraku, wide-eyed, was visible. Never could he have imagined that the authority of the great being he served would be repelled by a mere human.
Completely defenseless.
Swish!
“Fall into hell!”
Bennett’s blade cut through Isaraku diagonally from shoulder to hip.
“……”
However, there was also the sensation of Bear’s attack. I didn’t feel any resistance at my fingertips, as if it had passed through empty space.
Swung-!
As Venet attempted to strike Evilak once again, an intangible shockwave erupted, sending him flying.