145. Death Knight’s Past
145.
From noble mtl dot com
As always, a familiar smell crossed my nose.
Every time I wake up, the surroundings are full of smells.
The smell of blood, the smell of rotting corpses, the smell of burning flesh, and so on.
It was inevitable. Where he wakes up has always been a battlefield. Or, just before a war breaks out, a situation where death just happens.
Everything is a similar situation. An idyllic scene of slaughter, full of blood and flesh.
That was his hometown. Because of this, the situation was very familiar to him.
There are corpses and dying creatures everywhere, and competitors running next to them find their prey and call for joy. Before long, another competitor hiding in the pile of corpses emerged and, with a shriek, shattered his corpse’s skull in one bite.
Where are they alone? To prey on them, other contenders prowl among the corpses. Other competitors roam the air to catch and eat them.
Eat each other and strengthen each other’s vitality.
Ironically, the scene of death is the place where life moves most strongly.
It’s the usual sight, but he couldn’t breathe skillfully. Death, life, and the smell of blood made me vomit when I inhaled the moment. The only thing familiar is the smell. It wasn’t a scene.
Who else died this time?
He thought so and moved his body little by little. It’s a sight I’ve never gotten used to, no matter how many times I’ve seen it. Even though he got tired of it, the thick blood that still feels terrifying is always unfamiliar. No, hundreds of times. Or thousands of times. Because it wasn’t that important.
Having finished the accident, he finished adjusting to the situation. He opens his eyes and opens his ears. It was as expected. Bodies and flesh abound. Death was everywhere.
…… Not everywhere.
Yes, but not everywhere. Because I can smell the blood. Because it can kill someone. Because you can be afraid of death.
Because the heart is beating.
Because he is, now, alive.
In the space of extinction full of death, he insists on existence. Asserting his claim to himself, and defeating his lingering slumber, he glanced down. The Overmind we talked about yesterday was split in half and dead.
Long silver hair. A rather skinny body. It was a male transcendent with somewhat opposite characteristics. Because he had a large body and developed muscles. Of course, the Transcendence wasn’t such a problem with its rather weak physical abilities. That magic was the main organ.
…… Unfortunately, compared to other transcendental bodies, it wasn’t that special. Because of this, he was attacked by other competitors. The other competitors were able to cast much more powerful magic compared to him.
There was still a sizzling smell coming from the pierced abdomen, burning strongly with magical power.
‘…… What was his name?’
I’m sure he said something, but I can’t remember.
At that time, he insisted on solidifying his existence once again. I felt quite hungry. He grabbed his hungry stomach. He held onto the boat for a moment, not knowing what to do. In an instant, his gaze landed on one place. Realizing where his own gaze had landed, he flinched at his body.
He was looking at the body of the dead Overmind. He looked around his head as if someone were looking. There were no people watching. It was natural. He was preoccupied with devouring the corpses around him.
However, if they eat all of the corpses soon, they might focus on this one. Not just the corpse, but even himself.
He soon realized what he had to do.
He slowly picked up the body. He barely picked up the corpse with trembling hands and carefully opened his mouth.
Before long, his mouth closed.
The corpse of the friend I talked to yesterday had a burning taste. Every bite of flesh, every drink of blood. The conversation I had with him spilled over.
‘Call me Bernus.’
‘Vernus?’
‘That is my name.’
‘…… A name?’
…… It was a lie. He knew the name of his dead friend. It was just something he didn’t want to remember. The fact that the person you talked to might be confronted with his corpse the next day. It was just something he didn’t want to see.
Tears flowed over my friend’s corpse.
I didn’t want to describe the taste of my friend’s corpse wet with my own tears.
As his own tears fell on the corpse, his memories trickled down.
I smelled blood.
It wasn’t unusual, so he didn’t know why he woke up. He got up from sleeping curled up, and the moment he turned his head, he heard a roar that shook the ground.
“─────── !”
He looked around, startling at his body.
In the distance, groups of light and heat were celebrating. There seemed to be no rules for celebrations. Randomly, they spread out, and each time they reached out, they scarred the earth, creating a grand valley and burning the air to release a blazing haze. The air itself seemed to boil. Beneath the bizarre and splendid festival, a group of people could be seen wandering around.
He soon realized that it was an Overmind like himself. In fact, the expression ‘I got it’ was a bit ambiguous. Because there is only the Transcendental Body in the first place.
At the same time, he could see what those Overminds were doing, as it was something he himself had been doing a lot.
Once again, the light and heat boiled over. Colorful enthusiasm was scattered in all directions. The Overminds were moving to the other side. They were running away
But soon their efforts were in vain.
One of the scattering lights and heat brushed the place where they were fleeing. There was nothing in the place that passed. Only this sizzling smell of burning meat, which could be felt from afar, suggested that there was something alive. He frowned. If he had been there, he would surely have died.
And that soon turned into confidence.
-Toukwaaaaang – !
It was an instant. Enthusiasm filled with immeasurable magic power hit the place where he was.
‘……… !!!’
“Heo Eok… ! Omg…… !!”
He quickly and forcefully twisted his body, looking at the hill he had just sat on. The hill was shapeless. Only the sizzling plain exists. If he hadn’t flung himself off the hill as he nearly fell, he’d surely end up on the hill too.
The air was hot. The space itself was burning and heating up. He felt a sizzle coming from the air. The air seemed to be screaming.
He quickly turned his head. The battle of heat and light was still going on on the other side. He was still far from where he was. What he’s just been hit with is just that one of the things he accidentally missed during the battle of light and heat just flew this way unluckily.
As if to prove it, a storm of magical power, made up of light and heat incomparable to the one that struck the place where he was, was rushing and devouring the space.
-Quooooo…… !
It could lead to his own death, but he couldn’t help but stare at the overwhelming sight.
“You’re behaving wildly.”
The unfamiliar voice startled him. A voice came from the hill behind him, on the other side of the hill that had now turned into a plain. When he turned his head, there stood a man with long silver hair and a slightly skinny body. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the man.
Am I the antagonist? Are you trying to eat yourself? No, no. If he had tried to prey, he would have already ambushed himself when he fell off the hill.
As he was thinking about it, the man opened his mouth again.
“Why are the rulers so impatient that they can’t fight?”
“…… You will die if you don’t fight.”
At that, the silver-haired man kicked and burst into laughter.
“That’s what I don’t understand. Why do you keep repeating the tragedy of killing your own people?”
At the man’s words, he slightly frowned. Are you kidding yourself right now?
“Because you can’t become strong unless you eat each other and absorb their strength.”
It was then.
-Kuuuuu…… !!!!
A bizarre sound shook the space. The man and he looked at the source of the sound at the same time. Up there, high, high, infinite space. It was Shenzhen. As if the space had been divided in half, I could see things that were not supposed to be mixed together as if twisted.
Chaos and order were in motion.
The source of the world. The immense power that drives the world. It’s enough to make your hamstrings tingle just by moving. So profound, that even the rulers and their challengers briefly weakened the battle. As the sources moved, mana surged like crazy due to the influence.
The man and he forgot the conversation they had just had, and watched the sources move.
“…… It looks like something is being made.”
He focused a little more on the man’s words. As he said, chaos and order were created and something was being born. It had been randomly twisted before it began to take on a certain shape. It was a fairly familiar shape.
“It’s the moon.”
At his words, the man nodded his head.
“How many times is this?”
“It is the 37th month.”
“Has it already happened? When the sun first rose, there were more suns than moons, but now it is just the opposite.”
Looking at the 37th moon rising in the sky, slowly taking shape, he nodded slowly. Behind the rising moon, innumerable starlights flashed.
Continuing to appreciate it, he slowly reached out his hand. He could feel the magical power that rose when the moon was formed was being absorbed into his body. He could feel his muscles exploding.
But it was still lacking. In the center of that battle, the rulers and their challengers who are deciding between life and death. It is still not enough to catch up with them. Even if you become stronger, if you go there, you will be torn apart by the magic rays they emit.
I glanced at the man and saw that he was doing the same. The man who met his eyes kicked and laughed. He frowned.
“Why are you making fun of me again?”
From noble mtl dot com
“They’re making fun of you?”
“Didn’t you just ask why we die and kill each other? It’s because it’s not enough to absorb the power that occurs when chaos and order form each other like now. Killing each other and absorbing the other’s power is the most efficient way to become stronger.”
The man smiled. He didn’t like that laugh.
“Yes, I am well aware of this fact. But that’s why I don’t understand. Just don’t kill each other and live while absorbing the power created when chaos and order arise. What are you doing…… Do I have to live a bloody life?”
“I don’t understand what you don’t understand. The strong rule over everything. Isn’t that simple logic?”
At that, the man burst into laughter. He growled wildly right away.
“What is funny?”
“Ah, I thought you were no different from those guys. Do you want to be in the ruling class too?”
“Isn’t that obvious? The life of hiding and running is disgusting. If possible, it would be better to become a ruler and live while commanding a wide area.”
He still couldn’t stop growling. He slowly stepped onto the hill where the man was standing. The man I saw up close was much smaller than I thought. At most, he was afraid to come to his chest.
“Oh, so you want me to be the beginning of your grand ambitions?”
“If you keep saying it that way, I might consider that idea. One twist of the neck and you won’t be able to talk like that anymore.”
As if surprised, the man said with an exaggerated expression.
“What a wonderful ambition. But I also have no intention of dying peacefully. The way to tell if ambition is a delusion is simple. All you have to do is fire a beam of magic power. To your heart.”
Horsepower? Hearing this, his eyes began to twinkle.
“Was it the one that specialized in the use of magical power?”
“Ah, yes. I can’t compare it to the rulers fighting over there. If it had been that powerful, I would have participated in that battle too. You do the opposite of me…… It seems to be the type that specializes in the body. He’s also incredibly tall. The muscles are great too. Hey, because people like us have significantly weaker physical abilities than you.”
Looking at the man tapping his chest with his finger, he frowned again. But the man just smiled and smiled.
“This is also a fate, but it is Tong Seong-myeong. My name is Bernus.”
“…… Bernus?”
An incomprehensible light shone in his eyes. He couldn’t understand what the man was talking about.
“Yes, that is my name.”
“…… What is your name?”
He put on an even more incomprehensible expression.
“I built it.”
The expression on his face, which I finally understood, was absurd.
“Crazy! Did you name it? If the rulers find out, they’ll kill you right away! Only rulers can have names! Don’t you know that too?!”
However, the man’s reaction was tepid.
“Who is it?”
“…… What?”
“That’s what the rulers decided on their own. To further expand their influence. Chaos and Order didn’t give the world such laws, so I don’t see why I should follow them. I decide my name i like my name because I decided It means ‘peaceful’.”
“…… I know the meaning of language. It’s a meaning that really doesn’t suit the current situation.”
“Ah, that’s because I, like you, have my own ambitions.”
He frowned and tilted his head.
“Ambition?”
“Yes.”
As he said that, the man laughed out loud. It was a sincere smile that hadn’t been seen before, without any twirling or exaggeration.
“I want to create a peaceful era. A world where each other doesn’t kill each other. I’m tired of hiding and running around like you. I don’t want to do that anymore. But I don’t want to smell bloody like those rulers.”
“…… You’re crazy.”
“Originally, you have to be crazy to have ambition.”
Hearing the man’s chuckle, he sighed.
“Why don’t you join us in this grand plan? You said you hate running away. Magic wave and physical wave. I think it’s a good combination that can make up for each other’s weaknesses.”
“What nonsense… ….”
“It’s not nonsense.”
The man’s laughter stopped. The man slowly met his eyes. The man’s eyes had a seriousness like Shenzhen.
“I really will make it. A peaceful era in which each other does not kill each other, and such a bloody smell will not always linger in the future.”
He said nothing. No, he couldn’t say anything. No one will be able to say anything about its greatness.
“… ….”
Fortunately and unfortunately, his silence did not last long. Bernus smiled and began to speak his words.
“Oh, yes. I will give a name to Kim who has been with me. Let’s see, since you are the one who protects me, the starting point of this grand ambition… Yes, the meaning of ‘keeper’ would be good. Then your name…….”
–
Closing his memories, he swallowed the tears.
Vernus’s ambition hadn’t even begun. The moment Bernus finished speaking, enthusiasm ran through Bernus’ torso. It was an accidental miss that he almost had. It was a truly futile and futile death. He wasn’t killed for the purpose of stealing his power from someone.
Sacrifice due to just an accidental, accidental attack.
It was the end of an unreasonable, unreasonable, powerless man.
He blinked and saw the laughing corpse of Bernus. The last words he said lingered in my memory.
‘Guardian’ would be better. Then your name…….
“My name is.”
Zerpied Rim Sedvaigal
“Did you say that we will create a peaceful era? An era where such a bloody smell will not linger in the future.”
He looked around slowly. The wind blew. The wind barely stirred the grass that had risen in the barren land. It was a wind that felt like blood would ooze out of it if it brushed against his cheek.
A roar was heard in the distance, driven by the bloody wind. It was the sound of the rulers and their challengers fighting to the death. He gazed at it calmly.
“…… Certainly, I don’t like it.”
He looked at his friend’s smile once more.
“Vernus. Even though I couldn’t protect you, I will be able to protect yours.”
So he,
Zerpied Lim Sedbaigal started to stand up.
It is going to get emotional