Chapter 59 - Toward the Sky (2)

Leaving the exhausted Justia behind him, Cade nocked an arrow to his bowstring once more.

SWOOSH!

Along with the flying arrow, his fingertips burst open.

Red drops of blood were already clinging to the drawn bowstring, but Cade did not stop pulling the bow.

Because he had to create even the slightest opening for Gregory.

Having lost the blond boy, the women turned their direction and lunged at Gregory.

Standing outside the barrier that Justia had struck up with all her might, he had to take on the malice lingering in the church entirely on his own.

"How nice it would've been if I were this popular with women normally!"

But Gregory was the most solid of the Bayezid Family knights, and matching that solidity, he advanced step by step with an unwavering stance.

The black grasps of the women failed to leave even a single scratch on his brown aura.

"I've seen way too much fucked up shit today. Including your mug."

Even amidst the women's interference, Gregory held his sword, imbued with Justia's blessing, high.

In any case, as long as he struck down with this, it would all be over.

He only hoped that the blond boy he had sent away managed to save the children.

"Grinning right to the end, huh."

"Do it."

Facing Gregory's bison-like strike, the false priest sprawled on the floor replied with a faint smile.

"Because I am someone whose end cannot come by death."

"... Let's see if you can still spout that nonsense with your head blown off."

Finding Gregory's words amusing, the false priest began to laugh out loud.

The man's laughter echoed, mingling with the cries of the women.

"Yeah! Keep laughing all the way to hell!"

Gregory's sword, shining with the blessing, swung down fiercely.

SLASH!

The laughing man's neck was severed by the unhesitating swing and rolled down below the altar.

----!

As the man who was the source of the curse fell silent, the weeping women's movements also stopped at the same time.

To break an army, you must kill its commander.

Gregory's gamble of a judgment had succeeded.

Watching the man's head roll down, Gregory let out a long sigh and collapsed onto the altar stairs.

"Goddamn it, today's been really rough..."

Having exhausted all his strength for that single strike, Gregory pulled out the liquor bottle from his coat with trembling hands.

Just for today, it would be fine to drink until he was totally wasted.

Because Gregory had carried a lot of weight for this victory.

Thinking of the many things he would have to take responsibility for when returning to Soara, Gregory swigged from the bottle.

With that strike, the knights had won, and they deserved to savor the moment of victory.

Until the fallen head opened its mouth.

"Come to think of it, it seems wine was missing from today's mass."

"... What?"

The party, who had been exchanging exhausted smiles, was panicked by the sudden voice.

"If it wouldn't be an intrusion, could you spare a sip of wine for me as well?"

The party froze in place at the voice coming from somewhere.

The neck of the priest they had just severed.

It was his voice, flowing from the mouth rolling around below the altar.

"Sir... Gregory!"

In a bizarre situation where no one could easily speak, Cade stood up, his eyes widening.

Because he saw something slowly rising behind Gregory's back.

Cade hurriedly rummaged through his quiver, but his hand grasped only emptiness.

The figure slowly standing up behind Gregory's back.

He had no head.

"A Dullahan..."

Justia looked at the man making eye contact with her with astonished eyes.

The pale face of the man who had rolled under the altar was smiling as it looked at her.

"I've grown quite attached to it after wearing this face for a few years."

A corpse rising without a head, and a head speaking without a body.

Justia's eyes trembled as she watched the grotesque sight.

The headless knight, Dullahan.

A knight free from death.

"It seems everyone is gathered now."

The disembodied head looked toward the sky.

And the headless body raised both arms high.

Without them noticing, it was raining outside.

* * *

CRASH!

Heavy rain and frighteningly striking thunder.

With thick smoke beneath his feet and writhing dark clouds overhead, the boy clung to the slippery ornaments of the bell tower and crawled toward the sky.

To tear away the symbol holding onto the breath of the children trapped up there.

"Urgh!"

Losing his footing for a moment, Vlad's feet flailed in the empty air.

But Vlad gritted his teeth and held on.

Stepping down again and reaching out his hand.

Taking the falling rain and fierce wind with his whole body, the boy clenched his jaw and reached his arms toward that high place.

The boy was an unqualified person, but he still crawled toward the sky to do what he had to do.

'If there's no one else, I'll do it.'

'If no one else will do it, I'll do it.'

'Because I want to.'

"Just a little more..."

Having reached right below the symbol before he knew it, Vlad reached out his hand with the last of his strength.

If he just straightened his knees once.

If he just extended the hand gripping the wall, it was a position he could reach.

But the world did not let the boy grasp the star floating in the sky.

Grabbing that single thing was just that difficult.

["Dodge!"]

"..."

Even without the voice's warning, there was a sinister momentum he could feel.

Hurriedly twisting his body and leaping into the air, Vlad's mouth fell wide open as he saw the sight unfolding before his eyes.

DONG---

The bell, sharply severed as if a line had been drawn through it, let out a final death throe and plummeted downward.

Along with the collapsing bell tower.

CRASH!

Like thunder falling from the sky, the highest part of the church was crumbling down.

"Damn it!"

Plummeting to the ground to avoid the collapsing bell tower, the boy quickly threw his body backward, dodging the bouncing debris.

Because he fell from a high place, he should have suffered a massive impact, but the white snake's protection shielded the boy.

Narrowly escaping the danger zone, Vlad quickly drew his unadorned sword.

Because a perfectly fine building couldn't have just collapsed on its own.

"Excellent. Even to my eyes, that was a wonderful landing."

Amidst the swirling dust, someone began to clap toward Vlad.

Hearing a familiar voice he had heard somewhere before, Vlad gritted his teeth.

"You son of a bitch."

Before long, he saw someone holding the ominous symbol that had been atop the bell tower.

"I knew you weren't human."

The headless man applauding Vlad as if mocking him.

However, instead of being astonished at the sight of the man before him, the boy raised his sword.

He was where he needed to be, but there was a task he failed to accomplish by just a handspan.

"Hand it over."

"..."

But the headless man no longer replied to Vlad's words.

He simply tried to mount the horse that had approached at some point, emitting a deep blue glow from its eyes.

A headless man.

A skeletal horse.

Their figures were like death itself.

"I said, hand it over!"

But the boy did not hesitate to lunge at them.

Charging at a speed that brought unpredictability, Vlad thrust his unadorned sword toward the headless man.

CLAAANG!

It was a movement like a thunderbolt, but the headless man merely raised his sword to block the boy's strike as if it were nothing.

Instead, he twisted his sword at an incomprehensible angle, pressuring the boy.

"..."

["He's twisting his joints bizarrely. Don't predict the angles!"]

The headless man struck at the boy with movements that were only possible because he was not alive.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Even so, Vlad was blocking his strikes with all his might.

Because even if he couldn't predict them, he could see them.

The boy's innate kinetic vision made it possible.

The counterattacks he learned from Jager were exploding forth.

"Haaah!"

If you are where you must be, do it.

If you stand in the moment when you must act, do it.

For the great knight, the Swordmaster, has permitted it.

"..."

Seeing the boy, who had been retreating pathetically just a moment ago, suddenly take up a stance to charge, the headless knight gripped his sword with both hands.

Because he realized that he had to fight in earnest to shake off the boy before him.

"Do not lunge so recklessly. There's no telling when my goodwill toward a kindred spirit might fade."

"Why the hell am I your kindred spirit!"

"... I am not talking to you."

Though the headless knight spouted incomprehensible words, the boy only moved forward to do what he had to do.

"Aren't you too slow?"

"..."

He was swinging his sword relentlessly, but the headless man's movements were already vastly exceeding the boy's speed.

As an attack came in too fast to deflect with a counter, Vlad unconsciously thrust his shoulder toward it.

["Vla...!"]

Even the voice shouted in astonishment at the boy's judgment, but soon shut its mouth at the sight that followed.

SCREEECH!

Sparks flew as sword and armor met.

The headless man's sword and the boy's armor clashed, subtly twisting the angle.

It was the armor technique he had seen from the woman with green eyes.

"Hah!"

It was a technique that could only be executed with solid plate armor, but the brilliantly glowing protection of the white snake made it possible.

The Bayezid leather armor screamed at the boy's movement, which forced an impermissible impact upon it.

"..."

Even the headless man paused for a moment, surprised by the boy's struggle.

The essence of a one-hit kill comes from unpredictability.

The boy's talent—learning just by watching and feeling just by hearing—was undoubtedly enough to shake up the solidified battlefield with unpredictability.

"Raaagh!"

Pure white light began to flow from Vlad's closed left eye.

On the horizon where you and I meet, I become us.

The boy's world, which was still continuously expanding, needed to be filled, and he began to draw it from the World of voices he was touching directly.

The voice permitted it.

The World of voices was a world of deep colors.

A world filled with raging storms and thunderstorms.

A bolt of lightning, thicker than the thunder striking down right now, began to extend from the unadorned sword.

"I told you to leave the kids alone!"

He couldn't do it atop the tower just now, but the current boy could take that one step he had wanted so much.

Along with the sound of breaking the shell that had surrounded him.

CRASH!

The essence of the one-hit kill passed down by the voice was perfectly recreated from the boy's hands just now.

A white thunderbolt struck down from the boy's sword.

* * *

In front of the church building, filled only with the sound of the pouring rain.

"Urrggh..."

Having burned his entire body to deliver that strike, Vlad was so exhausted he couldn't even wipe away the thin drool flowing from his mouth.

He had done his best, but he couldn't do it.

The thunderbolt-like strike, delivered with the resolve of certain death, stopped before the headless knight's sword.

The boy had certainly moved forward, but to one who was already far ahead, it was merely a feeble step.

The world was a harsh place for those who struggled to follow behind.

"I was going easy on you because you're a kindred spirit..."

Faint black smoke began to rise from the headless knight's sword.

Perhaps the boy had succeeded after all.

For he had created a crack called anger in the world of the headless one, who had always worn a relaxed smile.

"Gah!"

Along with the headless man's anger, the curse-laden sword slammed into the boy's body.

Vlad, who was merely staggering after exhausting all his strength, was helplessly sent flying out like a kite with a snapped string.

CRASH! BOOM!

Crashing through a nearby wall, Vlad rolled endlessly.

The white snake's protection emitted its final light and shielded the boy, but this was the end.

Rain was falling.

The boy had crawled toward the sky to catch a star, but ultimately plummeted.

Not every attempt could yield a result.

"... I should take care of this before I go."

Pausing as he was about to mount his horse, the headless knight soon drew his sword and approached Vlad.

The boy possessed an extraordinary potential.

The entity housed within his eye also seemed to have a subtle difference from what he had thought.

Leaving such unpredictable potential unchecked would leave an itch on the back of his neck.

The knight of blue moonlight had highly valued that potential and spared the boy, but the headless knight was intending to nip it in the bud beforehand.

The two worlds had diametrically opposed attitudes toward that which shines.

"You should have known when to stop."

The blond-haired boy collapsed without a twitch in the pouring rain.

Yet, the fact that he was somehow still gripping his sword only solidified the headless man's resolve.

He had to kill this brat here.

No matter if he harbored a kindred spirit like himself.

Raindrops flowing down from the cursed sword were wetting Vlad's face.

Amidst the pouring rain, the headless man's sword stabbed toward Vlad's heart.

SCREEECH!

"..."

In that moment, Vlad's unconscious hand moved, twisting the headless man's sword away.

"This is..."

A final struggle?

While the headless man panicked at the sight of a hand moving on its own despite the boy clearly being unconscious...

["Didn't this kid tell you earlier not to touch the children?"]

There was the sight of the boy staggering to his feet.

The boy stood up leaning on the unadorned sword.

No, it wasn't the boy, but *he* who was standing up with one eye closed.

["So let's have the adults go at it for a change."]

Pure white lightning was fluctuating in the left eye he had open.

A small star dredged out of the darkness.

'I do not know who I am.'

'But I know that I have something I must do.'

'The memories of my existence have long since faded, but the duty to protect remains deeply engraved in my soul.'

'I have existed for that alone.'

* * *

Up to the first clash, it was a duel; from the second, it became rage, and from then on...

["You're telling me you ran amok acting like you were something special with this pathetic level of skill?!"]

It was nothing but violence.

Amidst the pinnacle of violence swinging relentlessly, the headless man could only panic greatly and stumble backward.

It seemed he had forgotten for a moment.

The headless man, who had lived by feeding on the deaths of others, had forgotten that the moment might come when he, too, would be devoured by someone else.

CRASH! BOOM! CRASH!

Seeing the flashes of light distinctly raging through the unadorned sword, the headless one dragged out an emotion he hadn't remembered for a truly long time.

"... Who are you?"

Fear.

With his priest's robes bursting apart right now, and the spectral horse sent flying far away, he feared that their states would soon become his own.

["I have nothing to say to a piece of trash that sucks the blood of the young."]

A violently raging rainstorm was passing through the voice's left eye.

It was a merciless thunderstorm.

["So just die."]

For a moment, the world turned white.

At least, that was how the headless knight felt.

'Here it comes.'

'A white monster.'

'Baring its fierce fangs.'

'It's coming to eat me.'

A fierce beast made of white lightning was lunging straight at the headless knight.

At a speed that made it seem like even the falling raindrops couldn't wet him.

'Left?! Or?'

Even in that split second, the headless knight hesitated dozens of times and flinched.

The voice's footsteps contained dozens of possibilities.

The problem was that his own ruin was etched into every single one of those possibilities.

It was like a violently approaching fate.

'Right!'

The headless knight reacted with all his might to the voice's movements that could burst out anywhere, but all that returned was a chill coming from behind his back.

["Was this really all you had when you were spouting nonsense about being too slow?"]

"..."

The fierce beast had approached before he knew it, blowing a grim breath onto the headless man's back.

'How dare a piece of trash like you mock the potential I cherish.'

KABOOM!

"Gaaah!"

The voice struck down the headless man mercilessly with a sword filled with rage.

Struck with such force that he didn't just smash into the ground but bounced right back out, the headless knight screamed unconsciously, but this wasn't the end.

CRASH! CRASH!

Slashed dozens of times while suspended in midair, the headless man flailed in a terror worse than death.

"Kuhuk!"

Free from death and having even rejected pain, the headless man was now unable to gather his senses against the voice's attacks, which seemed to tear at his soul rather than his flesh.

How could such a being exist in this world?

The headless man could only flail his hands as he faced the voice, a being that defied comparison to any enemy he had faced thus far.

["Hand it over!"]

Exhaling a breath, the white beast stormed toward the headless man, who was sprawling pathetically in the rain-soaked mud.

["I said, hand it over right now!"]

"Huaaaagh!"

Spitting out the exact same words the boy had spoken a moment ago, the voice mercilessly battered the headless man.

Every time the sword and fist swung, dried fragments chipped off the headless one and scattered weakly.

CRACK!

"Gaaaagh!"

Twisting with the sword and smashing with fists, the voice searched for the children's breath within the headless man's embrace.

A weak world is bound to be devoured, yes.

But the children are innocent.

Children should not yet be driven into such cold-blooded rules.

["Here it is."]

And so, the voice finally managed to grab hold of the children's breath that was being sucked into the darkness.

With a small sigh, the voice tenderly grasped the children's breath, which was still sparkling.

The presence of the children, though small, felt heavy.

To nurture this small sparkle they were holding now, two worlds had to shed blood and tears.

Feeling the weight carved by a father and a mother, the voice struck the headless knight's chest once more.

"Guh-ugh!"

On a rainy night. The knight who did not know his own name dragged a star out of the headless man's darkness just like that.

["Let's end this now."]

The voice carefully tucked that star into the boy's embrace and grabbed the unadorned sword once again.

Because there was still work left to do.

["I used to remember how to kill bastards like you in the past, but it seems I've forgotten now."]

"..."

The headless man reproached his own mistake as he watched the voice slowly approaching him.

He had thought they were a kindred spirit, but they were not.

They were clearly someone who had escaped death just like him, yet the energy they possessed was boundlessly pure.

["I may not remember, but it's not like there is no method at all."]

The white lightning starting from the voice's fingertips brightly illuminated the unadorned sword.

["If I rip off all your limbs and tear you to shreds, it'll be no different from being dead."]

The victor on top, the loser at the bottom.

The winner decides everything.

And today, you will be torn apart here.

Hearing the merciless end decided by the voice, the headless man stumbled backward and desperately reached out his hand.

It was a gesture that resembled a scream.

"Lamashtu... Lord Lamashtu!"

Unable to call upon God, the headless man had no choice but to call upon the name of his master, and so he staggered and called out someone's name.

["...!"]

Although the voice did not remember, it could feel it.

That the wretched thing before him was calling for someone's help.

CRRRACK!

["... Damn it."]

However, the boy's body began to scream that it could hold on no longer.

The boy's body and world had certainly grown, but any more than this was impossible now.

Rather, he should praise it for holding him in for this long.

"Over here!"

While the voice paused for a moment, the headless man reached both hands toward the sky as if wishing for salvation.

But in reality, the salvation he wished for began from the ground, not the sky.

As if a hole had been punctured, a pitch-black shadow slowly opened its mouth and began pulling down the headless man and the spectral horse.

"Lord Lamashtu? Lord Lamashtu!"

Looking down at his increasingly shriveling hands, the headless man let out a sorrowful shriek, but his master was already retracting his immortality from him.

["Lamashtu."]

Rolling the familiar resonance around in his mouth, the voice watched the final moments of the crumbling man.

Things that have served their usefulness are bound to fade away eventually.

Whether it was meant as punishment or to leave no evidence behind, the headless man was shriveling up just like that.

"No!"

Death was returning to the earth.

Heeding the call of its master.

The final thing he left in the world was but a single, futile scream.

However, the voice, the only being to hear that scream, had no intention whatsoever of remembering the man's end.

The voice began to perform the last movement he had saved within the boy's limits.

["Return to where you belong."]

CLAAANG!

Amidst the final death throes screamed by death itself, the voice struck the impure symbol with the last movement he had saved up.

The sparkling breath of the children spread upward from the tip of the unadorned sword.

Fading death and blooming life.

The sight the voice saw in the village where the rain had stopped was life and death itself.

Standing on the boundary between the two, he merely swallowed the entire spectacle inwardly without a word.

The fog was settling down.

* * *

The village inn, still devoid of guests.

In that quiet place, there was a man bustling about alone.

He was also the one who had secretly returned to the dead-silent church and gathered the knights who had been sprawled out like corpses.

"Captain. How's your body now?"

"... It still feels like shit."

Vlad let out a small sigh as he looked at Got, who was watching him.

It was because he felt utterly frustrated at his own state of struggling to even lift a spoon.

"Still, count yourself lucky it's only that bad. When I first carried you in, I thought you were a torn rag."

"..."

Vlad held his tongue, struggling to stir the soup he was holding.

He had something to do after eating this, so it would be better to save even a little bit of energy.

"I've got other knights to look after, you see. Get some rest."

"Yeah."

With those words, Got walked out the door of Vlad's room.

Confirming that Got had gone far enough away, Vlad began to converse out loud with the voice.

Perhaps because he had overexerted himself too much, he could no longer communicate through his inner thoughts.

The voice had told him that they would probably have to do this for a while.

"Still, I'm glad everyone survived."

["Indeed. That's the most important thing."]

All the knights who had faced the headless one had suffered injuries big and small, but they still managed to preserve their lives.

It was because the barrier Justia had struck up tenaciously held out and protected the knights, and Vlad's quick actions had drawn the headless one out of the church.

However, in the end, it was likely because of the voice that they were able to survive.

The knights probably thought there were only the four of them that night, but there was actually one more hidden member.

It was a secret known only to the boy and the voice.

"Thank you."

["... Yeah."]

The boy was still not used to honestly expressing his inner feelings, but he spoke with his best effort for this moment at least.

Knowing his circumstances, the voice merely closed its eyes within the boy without saying another word.

In the room where only the boy was present, the only sound echoing was the clinking of a bowl and a spoon.

* * *

Having finished his meal, Vlad stood up from his seat to finish what he had to do, despite his uncomfortable body.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

"Sir Knight, thank you so much!"

The parents, who had cried while hugging their children whose breathing had been growing faint that night, did not spare their gratitude when they saw the boy taking difficult steps.

To them, he was probably someone they wanted to praise more than any hero.

Seeing them, the boy did not give any particular response.

He merely rubbed his nose at the ticklish emotion that welled up for no reason.

And he also had something he needed to finish up.

"Do not approach any further."

"I am from Soara. A holy knight named Justia will know me."

"... Wait."

Vlad stood in front of the half-collapsed church, waiting through the holy knight's inspection.

The holy knights that Justia had called in arrived a bit late, but they were still handling the aftermath properly.

Their appearance as they confirmed and investigated the curse that had spread from the church definitely reassured the village people.

"You may enter."

Receiving permission from the unnamed holy knight, Vlad carefully walked into the interior of the church.

Along with the sound of creaking floors, the church, which was still full of traces from that day, gave off a dreary atmosphere even though it was daytime.

If there hadn't been holy knights moving busily all over the place, Vlad would have walked around with his sword drawn.

"Lady Justia."

"... What brings you here, Vlad?"

Peeking around to look for the woman with green eyes, Vlad found Justia, who was holding a Bible-like book beneath the impure symbol.

"Could I go down to the basement? There's someone I need to find."

"Sir Gregory has already checked on the women reported missing from Soara."

The investigation team that set out from Soara had originally come here to find the missing women.

Although things had escalated along the way, Gregory had not forgotten his mission.

"There's someone I want to find personally."

"... I'll go with you."

And it was the same for the boy as well.

He had someone he needed to find.

Guessing his circumstances, Justia closed the book she had been examining for a long time.

Opening the fire-scorched door, the two walked down the stairs leading to the basement.

The shallow basement had a little light shining in through small holes punctured in the wall.

"There might still be remnants of the curse remaining."

Going down into the basement accompanied by Justia's consideration, Vlad frowned at the stench of blood wafting from the place.

"May I uncover them?"

"As long as you receive my blessing when you are done."

Catching on that Justia's words meant permission, Vlad carefully removed the straw mats strewn about and began to look for someone.

"..."

The agonizing faces of the women were there.

Carefully uncovering them, praying for their souls, and covering them back up.

Searching through the lined-up corpses one by one, Vlad eventually let out a small sigh.

Though dirtied, familiar brown hair was there.

"I will step out for a moment."

Noticing that the person Vlad was looking for was here, Justia gave him space.

The empty basement.

In that place where only a small amount of light shone, Vlad silently looked down at Anna.

"Life's really a piece of shit, isn't it?"

The woman who had been beaten by a worthless man and handed an egg to the boy, asking him to protect her, was lying there.

With black tear streaks that she couldn't bring herself to wipe away.

Looking at that sight, the boy felt a sense of sorrow that preceded anger.

If his sword's edge had been just a bit sharper, if he had been just a bit stronger, perhaps she wouldn't be lying on this cold floor right now.

The boy, who could not be satisfied despite having done his best, swallowed his bitter saliva and opened his mouth.

"... In your next life, be born as something other than a whore."

Vlad raised his hand and closed the front of the woman's clothes, which were left wide open just like that day.

Hoping that his touch just now would make her feel even the slightest bit warmer.

Only the carefully arranged woman remained in the spot the boy had left.

Unlike the other women, that woman had no black tear streaks.

And slipped onto her hand, bathed in the small light shining through the crack, was a single flower ring with a blossom on it.