Chapter 102: Something Trying to Swallow Me Whole

“So what if what you’re holding has changed? Does that mean your body is back to normal? It isn’t, is it?”

Kariel’s physical condition was such that it wouldn’t be strange if he died this very moment.

There was no way it had suddenly improved now.

As Ases threw herself at him like a buffalo driven to a frenzy, Kariel met her with an unexpectedly calm reaction.

Was her own body even in normal condition?

Until a moment ago, she had been facing Mines, and the accumulated damage from various attacks had taken its toll.

Perhaps that was why, but her movements and momentum felt slightly lacking compared to before.

‘Anyway.’

That wasn’t the important part.

Their swords were tracing different trajectories that should never have met.

Yet, before she knew it, Ases’s sword curved as if it were sticking to the surface of his blade.

“?!”

How could a sword move as if space itself were being artificially warped, as if it were lunging toward the target?

Even as she saw it with her own eyes, she found the situation hard to believe.

Yet, at the same time, she understood immediately.

‘Is this….’

Is this the absurdity others feel when facing us?

The feeling that the sword is being sucked in, that it’s being swung strangely against one’s intention.

Once a certain level is reached, it becomes possible to control even the process of swinging the sword.

Strictly speaking, that is a kind of deception born from the extreme limit of technique.

It merely makes the opponent perceive it as such.

However, the moment the blades actually touch, it is a different story.

From that point on, it truly becomes like magic; the opponent’s control over their sword and body begins to falter.

If one tries to resist by tensing up, squeezing their muscles, and pouring in Mana to operate it…

They are only sucked deeper into the mire.

‘The principle is….’

A difference in how Mana is utilized.

For example, by completely emptying the Mana within the body, one maximizes the instinctive, natural principle and process of wanting to fill it.

Then, depending on the desired timing, one absorbs Mana from nature or absorbs and applies another’s Mana.

The downside, compared to other Mana operation methods that store Mana to exert explosive power, is that what one can do is limited in many ways.

One encounters obstacles even in strengthening the physical body.

However, because the body is kept empty, it is possible to refill it rapidly as long as there is abundant Mana in the surroundings. But since there is nothing specifically serving as a Mana Reservoir within the body, the entire body ends up being used for that purpose.

Therefore, it possesses a very advantageous strength in terms of operation and circulation.

One can rapidly absorb massive amounts of Mana and intentionally manage circulation and reverse-circulation at any time, controlling instantaneous firepower without particular restriction.

For instance, as long as the riverbed is properly carved out.

It doesn’t matter whether the river water flows upward or downward.

‘But.’

This is different.

It is similar, but the essence is different.

For example, this is….

The logic of flowing from top to bottom? The principle?

It is likely the same.

Why did I only notice this obvious thing now?

Everything is sucked downward.

Not falling.

But being sucked in.

Suction? Gravity?

Something is different.

And yet, it is the same.

“Hup?!”

Once her center of gravity collapsed, her body was easily pulled just by a tug.

The moment Ases’s upper body tilted helplessly, Kariel caught his blade against hers.

Then, as if shaking something off, he flipped the sword vertically.

Consequently, Ases, who had been pulled along with her sword caught in between, had to either roll and turn along with him—unless she wanted her wrist to be snapped 180 degrees—or let go of her sword.

Her choice here was to let go of the sword.

She was neither a stuffy knight nor some lunatic who staked her life on a weapon.

In truth, if she had wanted to, following through while holding the sword wouldn’t have been entirely impossible.

‘That’s not the problem.’

Just now it was only a sword, but if she had been careless, she could have lost control of her entire body.

If her realization had been a moment slower, her whole torso would have been swung around.

Clang!

The dropped sword made a loud noise befitting its weight as it fell onto the frost-covered ground.

Along with that.

“Stop.”

As if sliding, or perhaps riding through space.

Kariel dove into the gap between Mines and Leo just as they were about to collide, immediately swinging his sword with one hand to strike the Holy Sword.

With his other hand, he knocked Mines’s arm away.

Just before that, his empty left hand had swept across his waist, pulling out a small dagger.

Furthermore, a black darkness enveloped the dagger once more.

Kariel immediately threw it onto the ground where Mines was standing.

“?!”

The moment a white frost wind was about to howl.

The frost wind was suddenly sucked into the darkness of the dagger embedded in the ground, as if a hole had been punched into a jar of water.

Every result she had unleashed began to be sucked into the darkness dwelling within the dagger.

“Lord Riel?! Why are you stopping me?!”

Ignoring Leo’s questioning protest with his actions.

Kariel, gripping his sword with both hands again, pushed Leo back, shaking him as if he were a toy.

Although resisting with raw strength was impossible, the boy named Leo held his ground tenaciously, possessing absurd balance and responsiveness.

But even that was brief.

Thanks to Kariel performing a series of movements that were familiar yet somehow unfamiliar, Leo also lost his balance and, much like Ases, was helplessly stripped of the Holy Sword by Kariel’s trickery.

No, the situation for him was even worse than for Ases….

For a moment, Kariel, gripping the blade with both hands, used the grip and pommel to strike Leo’s knee like a short spear, then immediately swung upward to smash into his jaw.

And that wasn’t all.

In the process, he had managed to advance and trip him, pulling him down so that no matter how one looked at it, it was impossible for him to remain standing.

It was quite exquisite that he landed on his backside without the back of his head hitting the ground.

Did he even control that?

“This is a matter between us! Why are you interfering?!”

Mines had also reached a stage where her confusion turned into open frustration.

Mines finally pulled herself away from the dagger and tried to activate her Divine Authority again.

But this time, Kariel suddenly transformed the sword in his hand and threw it.

“?!”

Mines quickly erected an ice wall to respond.

Strangely, the sword Kariel threw seemed to warp space, piercing right through the wall and instantly impaling Mines in the abdomen.

“Kyaaa!”

Mines was dragged down by the projectile, ending up half-lying on the ground.

Only then could it be seen that the projectile had taken the form of a spear.

“…….”

Kariel, having kicked up the Holy Sword and holding it in his hand, stared at it intently before walking toward the direction where Leo had fallen.

“…….”

He had changed. Too much.

He was still staggering and struggling, but in the way he moved—as if he were accustomed to such a state—there was no hesitation.

In less than ten seconds, silence descended upon the area once more.

Those who had been watching, unsure of how things were unfolding, felt a simultaneous mixture of unknown anticipation, chills, and anxiety as they saw Kariel half-kneel to hand the Holy Sword back to Leo.

What conversation were the two having?

By the time Ases hesitated and then picked up her fallen sword.

Kariel had stepped away from Leo and was now walking toward Mines.

As he reached out his hand while walking, the dagger embedded in the ground was sucked into his palm as if it were a living creature.

He settled it back into his waist? Behind his back? His thigh?

After placing it somewhere, he approached Mines, who—despite being impaled in the abdomen—did not seem to have suffered a fatal wound. He looked down into her eyes, which were heavy with resentment, melancholy, anxiety, and despair.

He lowered his lower body again to meet her eyes.

Ases.

She hated herself for being so powerless that she had to simply watch this scene.

“I told you not to do that.”

That damn meddling.

Please, just….

What are you trying to do?

It shouldn’t end like this.

‘This isn’t right.’

Who dares to manipulate another person’s life as they please?

Who dares to distort the trajectory of another’s life?

Those two were destined to fight and fight again until a conclusion was reached, or even if delayed, to eventually settle it.

That was how it should have ended.

But a greater fate had swallowed it all.

Yes.

Just like that darkness he wields.

That thing is something that absorbs and swallows everything to an eerie degree.

And now, even Kariel has become such a being.

How on earth should I describe this?

A prank of fate? A mockery? A deception?

Tramp, tramp. Why are these steps toward them so slow and heavy?

Is this a futile struggle?

“Cough!”

She wondered why it was so hard to breathe, only to find blood flowing from her nose.

And it wasn’t just flowing.

Some of it had clotted, blocking her nose.

As she breathed through her mouth, the smell of blood vibrated strangely.

Shouldn’t it be the opposite? My nose is blocked, so why is the smell so strong?

She didn’t understand.

“Crazy bitch. Why don’t you stop struggling now?”

Venus started picking a fight again from a short distance away.

“Isn’t it about time you realized? Do you really think you can face that in your current state?”

“…Must be nice to only pick fights you can win. You dirty, petty bastard.”

“Why does your conclusion always end up like… sigh.”

Even that expression of complexity as he sighed looked like nothing more than a deception to her now.

She had talent, yet she was still hungry.

She possessed many skills, but nothing she actually wanted ever came into her hands.

No, there were things she wanted and had obtained.

But the thirst was never quenched.

It only grew, without end.

The more she learned.

The hungrier and more exhausted she became than when she knew nothing.

Some say they knew from birth.

Some say they had to learn to know.

Some say they only knew after experiencing hardship.

And some say they only knew after overcoming a trial.

Though the processes differ, the realization is the same—who was it that said that?

‘Ah.’

He did.

Kariel.

I wanted that wisdom.

More than your gallantry.

I wanted that carefree way of thinking.

Because even now.

Even at this age, those are things I simply cannot reach.

What is the difference between you and me?

I thought I might find out if I lived taking losses like you do, so I tried.

And as expected.

I gained nothing.

I only lost every time.

It was all meaningless, useless days.

But then.

Is there such a thing as a ‘useful act’ in this world?

“It’s irrational.”

While Ases murmured this.

The conversation between Kariel and Mines was also coming to an end.

As he retrieved the black spear from her abdomen, she stood up perfectly fine, as if she had never been stabbed or pierced.

“…….”

In the silence thick with tension.

She looked at Kariel with trembling eyes.

Then she took in Leo and the others one last time.

“…….”

With her eyes closed softly.

She froze exactly as she was.

As if a new ice statue had been created.

A white frost wind whipped up in a sudden gust.

And then, even that statue cracked and shattered.

Soon, only fragmented shards of ice and frost dust remained, faintly filling the void.