Chapter 61
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Chapter 61
"After experiencing the Nodule in White Raven Gorge last time, I did some research and found something. The Nodule has something called a Starting Point...."
Like she had with Baraha Islaf, she explained simply what she'd read in the books. Yurien de Harden Kirie listened quietly with his eyes lowered. Even after her explanation ended, he remained silent for a while.
"Um, Lord?"
"...I understand. That Starting Point must be inside there. It's a hypothesis worth testing."
He answered slowly, then turned his body and headed straight into the Shelter. Echinacea Loaz followed him.
[Why is he so angry?]
The Demonic Sword muttered as if something was strange.
I wasn't sure. Something felt off. It was curious that he was angry, I felt sorry wondering if he was worried about her injury, and I was puzzled why he was so upset. She simply watched Yurien de Harden Kirie's back as he destroyed the Shelter's door, then asked.
"Lord. Are you angry with me?"
I wanted to know why he was angry. At her question, his back stiffened. Without turning to face her, he paused for a moment, then answered in a low voice.
"I am not angry with you. ...I apologize."
It was an apology she hadn't expected. He didn't give her a chance to ask further, completely removing the door and stepping inside. In the corner of the Shelter where Shay had been huddled, there was definitely something like a groove.
"Is that it?"
"Yes, probably."
At Echinacea Loaz's response, Yurien de Harden Kirie lifted Rangiosa. Watching him point Rangiosa toward the Starting Point, she felt an ominous premonition. It had been too easy. Could the Nodule really be escaped so simply? Suddenly, she wanted to stop him. But Rangiosa was already piercing into the Starting Point.
The white blade pierced through the groove in empty space. At the same moment, the entire space vibrated.
Echinacea Loaz felt a chill. A premonition similar to when she first pierced the Starting Point in the Nodule of White Raven Gorge, when all the demons howled and looked at her. She instinctively reached her arm toward Yurien de Harden Kirie. As she pulled his forearm, he too sensed something and retreated backward.
A pillar-like thing crashed through the roof with a bang, embedding itself where he had stepped back.
Echinacea Loaz and Yurien de Harden Kirie had no time to exchange words before they bolted out of the Shelter. The moment they exited, that enormous pillar-like thing swung around and completely destroyed the Shelter.
Outside was a sea of fire. Flame-like leaves had all fallen, revealing the sky clearly. Everywhere there had been oil, crimson fire flickered. There was barely anywhere to step. Acrid, stale air filled the surroundings. Echinacea Loaz turned her head to identify what had struck down the Shelter.
"Good heavens."
[Absurdly massive. Is that like a commander or something?]
It was a colossal giant with one arm as thick as a tree trunk. Its body wasn't made of mud like the others, but of a black metallic substance similar to the trees around it.
The black giant that had completely destroyed the Shelter turned its head and looked down at him and her. Its hollow eye sockets were eerie. The giant held an enormous rope noose in its other hand. It swung the noose down at them like cracking a whip.
Before Echinacea Loaz could react, Yurien de Harden Kirie wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled back sharply. A rope as thick as a human torso crashed down where they had been standing, gouging the earth and scattering sparks.
Yurien de Harden Kirie set her down and stepped away immediately.
"Echinacea Loaz, I'm counting on you over there."
Yurien de Harden Kirie quickly surveyed the surroundings and pointed to one side. Echinacea Loaz turned to look where he was pointing. Beyond the flames, dozens of mud giants were converging. The giants seemed to be rushing toward Yurien de Harden Kirie, who had touched the Starting Point, but on their path lay the location where the injured villagers were lying.
"Not many of them have people inside. If you wound them and see blood, there's a person inside, so be careful. There are roughly ten residents total, and I've rescued four of them."
He explained quickly, having already gathered this information while rescuing the residents before. Echinacea Loaz reflexively nodded and gripped Amethyst.
Yurien de Harden Kirie smiled faintly at that, then picked up Rangiosa and moved far away from her. The black giant aimed at him and brought down its fist. He dodged it with clean movements and infused mana into Rangiosa.
Having seen that much, Echinacea Loaz drew Amethyst and ran toward the converging mud giants. Before questioning what was happening, resolving the crisis took priority.
With flames all around, she risked setting her voluminous dress ablaze if she wasn't careful. She gathered her dress hem in her left hand and crossed between the rising flames.
The moment she reached the first giant, she cut its waist appropriately. No blood came out. She confirmed this while dodging the fist crashing down toward her head. She immediately spun and cut again. This time deeper, cutting diagonally upward to pierce through its solar plexus.
She felt something hard as stone catch on the blade and then shatter. It was the core that most regenerative demons commonly possessed. Echinacea Loaz stepped aside to avoid the collapsing mud giant. As Yurien de Harden Kirie had said, there was no person visible inside it.
'Indeed, there are more giants than residents. There must be more actual demons than people-turned-demons.'
Since Yurien de Harden Kirie had taught her the distinction method, she had nothing to worry about. Echinacea Loaz's eyes changed. She began moving like she was flying through the flames, swinging her sword. Sparks inevitably scattered onto her dress hem, catching fire and extinguishing repeatedly.
[Boring. I want to fight too. Me too!]
Before cutting down a giant, she always made a shallow cut on its waist first. This time, blood flowed. Echinacea Loaz stepped on the giant's thigh and leaped up, using its shoulder as a springboard to flip backward. As she fell, she cut a long line down its spine.
[Tch, I wish this Amethyst or whatever would just snap. Break! Break!]
Amethyst was sturdy and sharp.
Through the cracks in the fractured mud, a human's nape briefly came into view. She seized it with her left hand—the one not holding the sword—and wrenched the human free with all her strength. Mud sprayed like a fountain.
[How annoying. Why not just kill them? Doesn't your hand hurt?]
She hurled the extracted human toward the other residents. The burns on her compressed left hand throbbed intensely, but such pain was bearable. Once the human was removed, she dodged the collapsing giant and rushed toward the next one.
[I don't understand why you go out of your way to suffer. If you just killed them by accident, my bloodlust would be satisfied and everything would be fine. Master, won't you use me? I've only killed one before, and my thirst for blood still isn't quenched!]
As she carved through the giants amid the scorching flames, sweat dripped steadily. Echinacea wiped the perspiration trailing down her jaw with the back of her hand and glanced at her condition.
An ordinary person would have been covered in burns, but because she subtly used mana to shield her skin, only her clothes were singed in places. Her makeup seemed intact, so her face should be fine. She'd have to sneak a mirror check before returning to Yurien. With such thoughts, she spoke tersely.
"Be quiet, Demonic Sword."
[I'm dying of boredom, and you won't even let me talk?]
"I'm busy, so—"
Mid-sentence, Echinacea leaped straight up. A lasso swung by the giants swept past where she'd been standing. The surrounding flames caught the rope, transforming it into a burning cord. Echinacea landed directly on the giant's shoulder.
"I said be quiet."
[What's so busy about this? Hundreds of regenerating demons without cores would be different.]
"There are people mixed in, and I can't use blade energy. Yurien is over there."
Perched on its shoulder, she swung her sword downward. Confirming no blood flowed, she leaped down and cleaved the giant in half. Mud poured out like water.
[Whatever. Ugh, I'm bored.]
She seized another giant, extracted the person trapped inside, and hurled them away. The dozens of giants were rapidly dwindling. Once their numbers fell to something countable, the giants seemed to recognize her as a threat and charged at her instead. That was far more convenient than catching those trying to slip past her. She could simply dispatch them as they came.
With some breathing room, Echinacea glanced beyond the flames. Yurien was fighting the black giant. The creature was so massive that Yurien appeared no larger than its palm. With such a size difference, even a master would struggle to land effective blows, yet each time the white blade flashed, long wounds opened across the giant's body. This was thanks to Rangiosa amplifying mana, magnifying the blade energy Yurien unleashed to the level of a greatsword.
Yurien was the one pressing the advantage. Faster than the giant, he engaged it without difficulty. The problem was that the black giant's wounds sealed the moment they formed. Finding the core seemed challenging. Just as Echinacea's sensing range had narrowed earlier, the flow of mana from this giant was hard to detect. It seemed to be made of a material like wooden pillars.
Likely, she'd have to pierce its entire body methodically to find the core. Indeed, Yurien was systematically cutting through the giant's frame. Of course, with the Demonic Sword's abilities, Echinacea immediately knew where the core was. She wanted to tell him, but if asked how she knew, she had no answer prepared.
[Hey, behind, behind!]
"I know."
Echinacea pivoted and swung her sword in one motion. The blade precisely severed both arms of the giant descending toward her. Wound, check for blood, pierce the solar plexus if no blood flows. The repetitive task proceeded swiftly. As she wielded her sword, her thoughts turned to the Nodule.
'Comparing the White Raven Gorge incident with just now... it seems I need to thoroughly clear the Nodule Interior before touching the Starting Point.'
Once she escaped, she'd need to learn more about the Nodule. Since she and Yurien were trying to change the present differently from their erased time, they were certain to encounter the Nodule again.
'After all that suffering to turn back time, and now if I want to change anything, it's the Nodule.'
Frustration welled up, and her sword strikes grew rougher. The unlucky giant caught in her path collapsed nearly bisected. Echinacea sidestepped a mud chunk and moved toward the next one when a sudden question struck her.
If the Nodule only manifested as a backlash from Lakia Giosa against Kairosgiosa when significant changes were about to occur, why hadn't the Nodule appeared when the original massacre didn't happen? The massacres she'd committed as the demon of the Demonic Sword, like the one at the Loaz Estate.
'Is there some rule, or is Lakia Giosa just acting on a whim?'
Considering that Kairosgiosa, the same divine blade, had possessed consciousness, perhaps Lakia Giosa, also possessing consciousness, was moving of her own accord.
Either way, it was something to ponder. If she could predict whether the Nodule would manifest when she acted differently from the past, she could prepare in advance. Though somehow, she doubted things would proceed so conveniently.
'I'll investigate once we're out. Nicole is a mage, so maybe she knows something.'
Leisurely dispatching the few remaining giants, Echinacea glanced back briefly to check Yurien's condition. The moment she turned, her pupils dilated. Beyond the flames undulating like a serpent's tongue, she saw blood spray.
Every sight entered her vision in extreme slowness. The black giant's hand descending in a strike, the red blood scattering along its trajectory, and the source of that blood was—
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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