40 – The Moon is Beautiful
Chepesu, who crashed to the ground, wondered what was going on.
He knew that every minute and every second was precious in this urgent situation, but he couldn’t easily find an answer to the phenomenon unfolding before his eyes.
A length about the size of a person’s body was formed, crudely rubbing against the ground. While I fell and looked up at the night sky, the burdened white knight was looking down at me with a determined expression.
He was a vampire count, known for his power even among the demons. He was full of pride in his own strength. There was no point in discussing the inability to perceive the enemy’s movements.
Then why?
In a calm moment of contemplation, he realized the answer.
Ah, I mistakenly thought that I was lost in thought. In fact, he admits that it was something he didn’t want to think about, and he quickly raises his guard against the enemy in front of him.
Chepesu quickly turned around. There, the Umin people, who were determined to find the black-haired boy and the gray-haired girl, were moving busily.
He devises the best response with a cool head.
Swish!
Chepesu spread his cape like wings and took flight. He didn’t have time to aim. If he just mercilessly unleashed a wide-ranging attack, he could effectively tie their feet.
“Behold, holy knight!”
From the outstretched, ominous double-edged wings, the figure of a monstrous creature emerged.
The vampire’s loyal companion, the extermination bat. It was the apex predator of the food chain, a monster of the demon army that moved in swarms.
“If we don’t stop them, they’ll be wiped out!”
Fooduck!
Kkiik, kkiik. Simultaneously with the eerie wailing, the demonic forces were unleashed upon the human world. Without hesitation, Harte leaped towards the crowd, finding her way through those seeking her life.
At that moment.
Harte’s eyes, devoid of emotion, flashed with a fierce intensity. Subsequently, the moonlit white longsword reflected that gaze.
Carduk, shyaak!
Pure swordsmanship devoid of divine or magical elements. The culmination of training was like a myriad of blooming flowers scattered by the wind, tearing through the golden statues with countless and dazzling sword strikes.
“Say it again.”
Harte slammed into the ground. The distance covered in an instant on a straight line. Chepeshu was within the striking points, connecting the dots.
“Who ordered the assassination?”
“Groan!”
Desperately, Chepeshu thrust a sharp intent.
But it was a mistake made by one who underestimated the opponent’s abilities.
Harte instantly diverted the trajectory of the descending sword, cutting off the roots of the intent – severing the forearm into a lump.
“Kahak…! You…?!”
Indeed, Chepeshu was a seasoned demon. Using his remaining arm, he blocked the opponent’s hand and, assuming a mounted position, threatened Harte with his wings.
Kagagagak!
“If you won’t fall… then I’ll take you with me at least!”
An attack from the extradimensional space without the need for preparatory movements.
Like carving shadows, the jet-black needles of the abyss descended in a relentless onslaught. Each attack, with deadly reach, caused fatal injuries. However, Harte ignored all the damage, clenching her fist with the remaining hand.
“So, what?”
The emotionless question flowed out emptily, and then Harthe’s fist exploded.
Quang!
As a recoil, the surrounding area’s floor sank and distorted. Harthe struck with all his might, pouring his sincerity into it. The aftermath was so immense that the attention of the people who were searching for Glen and Echo was drawn to the battlefield.
“This can’t be real…”
Chepecheu murmured, his jaw shattered and twisted.
From Harthe’s body, which had turned into a hedgehog, the black needles pulled themselves out. And as if time were reversing, the wounds began to heal. Harthe’s body was being perfectly restored.
Chepecheu’s onslaught never ceased for a moment. The merciless rain of needles was still ongoing. It was just that Harthe’s self-recovery ability far surpassed Chepecheu’s concentrated barrage.
“You…! You used divinity, well…!!!”
“…Ahahahaha.”
Harthe deduced one ridiculous point from Chepecheu’s dialogue.
“So even the Demon King’s right-hand man is no different from here. Even if you’re the closest to the Demon King, you’ve never seen divinity properly.”
“…What?”
Papapapak!
The assault continued even as he opened his mouth. Harthe, who silently endured the concentrated barrage, explained gracefully.
“It’s just a characteristic possessed by the owner of the baptismal name. It’s not divinity, it’s simply a function as a living being. It’s like how we naturally walk on two legs…”
“This…monster…!”
Chalak!
As if the cloak had gained consciousness, it moved freely. Eventually, the cloak, which had melted into the ground, spread around Chepecheu like a shadow.
Swoosh!
Chepecheu’s figure sank into the ground. It seemed as if a deep pond had suddenly formed on the solid ground.
Following, it flew up, revealing the figure of Chefeshu, who had moved a short distance by itself, from the shadow.
“Cough!”
Chefeshu painfully coughed up blood.
It wasn’t the time to save face. It was a fight that had turned in their favor from the moment they failed to recognize the gap.
If the astonishing healing ability was a function as a living being, then this side also had its function as a living being. Something that they didn’t have and I did. It was the ability to freely navigate the air.
No matter how monstrous it might seem, if it reached a high altitude, it would be impossible to catch up.
“Even though the descendants of Fragment and Baschhill are right in front…!”
It was more regrettable than losing an arm.
Still, if you lose your life, everything comes to an end. To him, who calculated priorities calmly, came the sentence of Harte’s execution.
“In the name of the giver and the Holy Spirit─.”
“What…?!”
For a moment, Chefeshu hesitated. He desperately focused his ears on the ground, opening his eyes to the extreme. When Harte’s proclamation was completed, his face turned pale.
“…… The Chains of Light!!!”
“This, this bastard…!!! He’s crossing the line beyond expectation!!!”
Chefeshu raged furiously.
Now that the way to capture had disappeared, the clinging aura became sacred. How ignorant can one be? Surely, unless they desire the destruction of the world…!
Chefeshu, who lost the initiative.
The moment he gradually shook his head after realizing the abnormality.
‘… Huh?’
Nothing… happened.
The manifestation of divinity doesn’t show any sign of even the implied chains of light arriving.
Only then does Chepeshu realize.
“You deceived me, you…!?”
“I told you.”
In the span of a few moments, Harte gathers enough power, leaping forward. He signaled the end of the battle, brandishing his ivory-colored blade.
“I will expose your vile nature.”
The closest aide to the demon king.
The one who would become the vampire count chose a pitiful escape. After occupying advantageous positions, he paved his own path to decay.
“aaargh!”
Harte’s blade cuts through Chepeshu’s torso. It was a clean, straight trajectory from the forehead to the waist.
Swish!
Harte’s face is reflected in Chepeshu’s vacant eyes.
The last memory engraved in the man’s mind, marking the end of a long era.
Until the moment the corpse turns to dust and scatters, Chepeshu’s lips murmured.
“Oh… my lord… you must wait… until this human ages and returns to the earth… the task… for a while…”
…
…
Harte coldly stares at the vanished spot where Chepeshu left without a trace. While Chepeshu’s night may have ended, the night of the capital had yet to reach its conclusion.
“The child known as Glen and the fragments…”
At least he wouldn’t be caught by anyone. Because Glenn was now at a level where he could mockingly toy with his opponents.
Harte moved forward, sending her family a measure of trust.
◇
In response to his belief, Glenn struck Echo and demonstrated the results of his training.
Although he was still a young boy, Glenn had long surpassed the level where he could be caught by an ordinary person without any martial arts skills. But Glenn’s feet never stopped.
“Haa… Haa…”
“Kahak…”
The vampire who used to be Chepeche’s subordinate followed closely behind Glenn, breathing heavily.
The vampire was also breathing heavily. He was already on the verge of death due to Harte’s strike. However, he somehow held onto his sanity to keep up with the child.
Objectively speaking, his physical condition was so chaotic that he had to chase after the kids who were called novices with all his might.
“Glenn, are you okay?!”
“Haa… Hwuk… Of course…! We’re almost at the Duke’s place. If the Duke is there, we can take care of these demons in an instant…!”
Glenn tried to reassure Echo with hopeful words. And to some extent, it was a clear truth.
But reality crushed Glenn’s hope into two paths.
First, currently, Cardi Luminel was closer to the palace than the Duke’s place as he was in charge of the capital’s security,
Second, his concentration, separate from his physical stamina, was completely exhausted.
Thump!
At that moment, when the Duke’s entrance appeared in his pupils from a distance, Glenn’s foot stumbled on the unusually raised ground.
His stamina was already at its limit. He lacked the strength to maintain his balance, and he had little energy to correct his posture.
Therefore, it was inevitable that Echo’s new sound echoed and spread.
“Ugh!”
“Ahh!”
Echo’s head spun around in distress. It wasn’t difficult to grasp Glen’s situation.
So, Echo cautiously felt his way along the ground, searching for Glen’s location.
“Ugh… Ugh… Finally caught you, you brats. Even if it’s just a face-to-face meeting with our deceased captain.”
“Oh…!”
Glen tightly shut his eyes.
It was pathetic that it had come to this, even after Harte had bought them some time. They had reached a point where they had to give up everything.
It was when that sense of despair tightly enveloped Glen.
“Director…!”
Despair was chased away from Glen’s mind by his own thoughts. It was because the words I had timidly left with Harte suddenly intruded into my head.
[Whatever the Duke can do, you can do it too.]
[If that’s the case… I can also help others like the Director does? Just like how the Director saved me.]
I instinctively realized.
That this was the moment I had wished for.
The turning point of destiny, where the question of whether to fulfill or not fulfill the vague hope of that time was right now…!
“Echo!”
Crash!
Glen pushed the ground with all his remaining strength and ran towards them with a battered and broken face.
It felt like time had stopped.
Glen embraced Echo with a humble sense of omnipotence. Then, feeling the sensation of muscles tearing, he continuously moved his legs.
“Where to!”
The pursuer shouted.
The cloak of the almost powerless vampire transformed into lines on the surface, extending in length. Like a whip, the cloak, reshaped in form, caught Glen’s ankles and dragged him.
“Ah…!”
At once, Echo groaned in a strange sense of buoyancy.
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With the power of foreseeing the future, Glen threw Echo with all his might towards the main gate of the aristocrat’s mansion.
“Sorry… Echo.”
They bid farewell in the slowly flowing time.
That’s how it ended.
At least, using the tricks learned from the nobleman, he managed to save one person.
Would the respected headmaster praise such a deed?
It was when Glen firmly closed his eyes.
In the sluggish world, the echoing sound of footsteps reached him.
Those footsteps were dignified and confident.
However, somehow familiar.
As Glen fell backward, the sensation of his clothing rudely crumpling in that area struck.
“If you’re going to save, take responsibility and save perfectly.”
Clank! Thud.
What was heard was the sound of metal scraping the ground and the cloak being severed lifelessly.
However, what captivated Glen’s consciousness more than anything else was…
“Deputy Chief!?”
It was none other than the voice of Elphesia.
“Hmph.”
Crash!
Elphesia, gripping the hem of Glen’s back, ruthlessly threw it with one hand.
The place where she threw it was, of course, the main gate of the mansion.
It was the location just before the echo landed on the ground.
Amidst the chaotic situation, Glen rearranged his consciousness and determined what needed to be done.
“Echo!”
He reaches out his arms.
He somehow catches Echo, who had already fallen knee-high.
Bending his knees and lowering his posture, he takes responsibility for the choice.
The result of that responsibility…
Thud!
“Ouch!”
“Ugh…”
Messy as it was, it was a success.
In the end, Glen protected Echo using his body as a cushion. Thanks to that, the two people, with zero distance between them, exchanged body warmth.
One side was warm, and the other was cold.
However, Glen and Echo had no time for shame there.
“Echo… you…?”
Echo opened her eyes. The shock from the collision hadn’t completely disappeared, causing her eyelids to flutter in surprise.
“Glen…!”
Gleaming golden irises sparkled vividly, solely capturing Glen. To Glen’s perception, it felt like the bright full moon was nestled in Echo’s eyes.
Certainly, Glen was amazed by Echo’s eyes, witnessing them for the first time. Yet, it did not compare to the admiration Echo felt.
“Beautiful…”
Echo murmured unconsciously.
The form of such a beautiful heart was a sight she had never seen before. In the breathtaking scenery witnessed for the first time in her life, Echo lost consciousness.
A cool breeze blowing on a midnight night. Warmth emanating from the voice. Body temperature rising due to the exchanged collision. All of it intricately woven together formed a beautiful masterpiece that Echo’s eyes recognized as her heart.
Life had been concluded to be like a barren land. Echo, who had foreseen a desolate and parched life akin to a barren and cracked land, was shocked.
From such a land, a small and precious sprout had grown.
From a life that was like the barren land, she sprouted into greenness, and she named it.
It was her first love.