Chapter 144 - A Great Legacy (1)

THUMP!

Ligar Vagos opened his eyes to a heartbeat reverberating through his head.

It was dark around him. His body would not move, and he could feel sticky mucus against his skin, as though he were curled up in amniotic fluid.

'So, I ended up using even this...'

He felt no regret over the expense. Had the blow pierced his head instead of his heart, even he would surely have died on the spot.

There was only one thing he wanted to know.

How had things come to this?

For some reason, a conversation with an old companion came to mind. It had taken place before he forsook the bonds of family and burdened himself with a terrible curse.

["Want to know why you keep losing money? You only ever call, betting just enough to stay in the game. Even when it's time to make your move."]

Of course, a card game was not a fight. And the words themselves did not quite fit his current situation.

But the underlying point was similar.

He had failed to settle the game before all five cards came together to form a complete hand.

THUMP!

Simply put, he had lacked resolve.

One concession after another had brought him here. He had given them time because of the object he had spent nearly a year searching for. He had been forced to use Draconic Tongue.

Yet these tenacious bastards had refused to give up. He had swung the Dragonslayer Sword again and again, prepared to spend at least a year recuperating, but they had clung stubbornly to life.

And now even Second Heart had been used.

THUMP!

Ligar Vagos finally admitted it.

He had come to this because he had underestimated his enemies. Because he had not staked everything on fighting them as worthy opponents.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

His regenerated heart beat faster, and light returned. Shaking off the mucus clinging to his body, he rose to his feet.

"..."

He could see the barbarian down the passage.

The man was already walking toward him. With a hole in his lung. With crimson blood streaming from his mouth. Without so much as leaning on the dwarf warrior beside him.

Step by laborious step, he approached.

With only one goal.

To kill his enemy.

His hand slipped away from the dagger he had been gripping at his waist.

He reconsidered his assessment.

His heart, afflicted by the curse when he used Draconic Tongue, had recovered somewhat. The curse's lingering effects remained, but his physical capabilities had returned to a certain degree, and he could use his Abilities again.

This would never have happened if not for the dragonkin trait of having the source of their power in their hearts.

'I certainly didn't expect this much.'

Even he had not foreseen this. After all, this was the first time Second Heart had actually been used.

A happy miscalculation, perhaps?

It had improved his odds considerably.

Another footstep.

Of course, their Soul Exhaustion seemed to have ended as well, but that changed nothing.

All he had to do was take out the dwarf warrior. Even that barbarian could not stop him alone with injuries like those.

So he had thought.

At least, until he met the man's eyes.

'It's like looking at an immortal.'

Instead of the dagger, he gripped his Arc longsword.

The curse lingering in his heart sent excruciating pain crashing over him the moment he took hold of it. He had a feeling that using it any further might cost him the use of one arm forever. No, he was certain of it.

But...

'If I'm going to kill that insufferable bastard, I'll have to be prepared to pay.'

He would give up an arm.

To kill his enemy.

To survive.

"Come, barbarian."

He was now prepared to throw everything away.

* * *

I stagger forward.

The dwarf is beside me. Behind us, Misha has stayed back, after stubbornly insisting she would fight too.

"You made the right choice."

The dwarf makes it sound as though I left her behind out of concern for her, but that isn't the only reason.

Rotmiller still hasn't woken up. Someone needs to stay behind to throw me a potion if he comes to, even for a moment.

"So, that's the bastard who did that to Dwalki..."

"Hikurod, swallow your anger. If you die, we're all finished."

"... I will."

The dwarf forces down the emotions burning inside him.

He knows it too. He knows just how important his task is right now.

I take another step, closing the distance.

Soon we're close enough to make out each other's expressions. There's no need for a lengthy exchange.

"Come, barbarian."

Apparently still not tired of it, the bastard is staring at us with his Arc longsword in hand again.

Goddamn it, what the hell are its conditions, that he can keep pulling it out whenever he needs it? A curse rises in my throat, but there's no time to spit it out.

He darts forward, charging first when we don't come to him.

And what's this now?

He's nowhere near as fast as he was at the start, but he's moving faster than when I last saw him. In other words, his body has recovered considerably too.

Why? I'd been sure those injuries weren't something he'd recover from quickly.

Unexpected variables keep cropping up right from the start.

SLASH!

A shield is sliced apart like tofu. It belongs to the dwarf standing in front of me.

I drive the bastard back with a thrust of my mace-turned-short-spear, then hand over my raitinium shield without hesitation.

"Use this."

My shield isn't in perfect condition either, but I figure it's better than a steel buckler.

KRRK!

His next attack bites deep into the shield. [Emergency Restoration] repairs it at once, but with Soul Exhaustion only just over, the dwarf won't be able to keep using it.

'Nothing is going according to plan.'

The bastard woke up earlier than expected. And it wasn't just his heart that recovered, either.

He's even using skills he couldn't use before.

「Ligar Vagos has cast [Advanced Acceleration].」

The blade flashes across the space between us as though defying the laws of physics. The dwarf chooses to dodge rather than block, but he's too far from safety.

So I sacrifice my left arm. It doesn't have a shield anymore anyway.

'Flesh Explosion.'

The hand I reach toward him explodes, spraying dozens of chunks of flesh.

But he doesn't back off.

SSSSSSS!

Even as he groans under a coating of acidic blood, he follows through with his swing and cuts deep into the dwarf's thigh.

THWACK!

Even then, the dwarf slams his warhammer into the bastard's jaw.

It must have hurt, because his body stiffens. I immediately leap forward, grab his shoulder, and roll with him.

Then...

'Flesh Explosion.'

I shove my already useless left arm into his open maw and blow it up again.

"Kaaagh!"

He shoves me away with a hideous scream.

Then, just as he drives his sword into my neck—

CRASH!

A glass bottle smashes against the back of my head, spilling its contents.

「Your body regenerates very rapidly due to the Recovery (Top-tier) effect.」

That pain. It's a top-tier potion.

No, more importantly, Rotmiller survived too.

Shaking off the stray thought flashing through my mind, I step back.

SHLUK!

The sword slides out of my pierced neck, leaving me dizzy.

And this fucker won't let even that fleeting opening pass.

"D-die!"

The sword pierces my abdomen in an instant and churns through my guts.

Carrying on the dwarf's resolve, I step forward instead and thrust my short spear.

He springs back, hastily pulling his sword free to put distance between us. I use [Gigantification] without hesitation.

Where the fuck do you think you're running?

"Kagh!"

Impaled through the shoulder, he spews a fountain of blood from his mouth.

But has this bastard come prepared for a fight to mutual annihilation too?

He also steps forward instead, swinging his sword again.

It's already too late to dodge. I grab the blade with my fucked-up arm.

My exposed finger bones go flying, and I feel the blade catch on my wrist bone before it stops.

「Your character's HP is at or below 20%.」

「All resistance and tolerance stats increase due to the Passive Skill [Hero's Path].」

The synergy between [Iron Leather] and [Hero's Path].

I lift the short spear lodged in his shoulder and wrench it this way and that. He endures it and puts more strength into his sword hand.

A contest of strength begins.

Unfortunately, he's the winner.

「Ligar Vagos has cast [Holy Blade].」

His sword begins radiating white light, then slices diagonally through my arm all the way to the elbow.

THUD.

My enlarged arm hits the ground. I press the severed stump, gushing acidic blood, against his face.

SSSSSS!

"KAAAAAGH!!"

You bastard, you don't even have Pain Tolerance.

How dare you try to tough it out—

「Your character has insufficient Magic Power.」

「[Gigantification] has ended.」

Already low on Magic Power, I shrink back to normal in less than a few seconds. His feet, which had been dangling in the air, touch the ground again.

But did I underestimate his resolve?

He lunges, thrusting his sword once more instead of retreating.

'Goddamn it.'

Does this eighth-floor explorer have no fucking pride?

Why is he so good at fighting dirty?

My head is about to be skewered, so I twist aside and hastily retreat.

As a bonus, I lose my short spear. No, the skewer that used to be my mace.

To make matters worse, my body stops regenerating.

'I'm fucked.'

Even a top-tier potion has its limits.

It's not as though I drank it. It was only splashed over me.

With my arm getting hacked off and my organs torn to pieces, it can barely maintain the status quo, much less replenish my blood.

And in the midst of all that—

"I... wi'...!"

He charges.

It's truly hopeless.

The worst-case scenario is already crystal clear in my mind.

Unavoidable death.

But so what?

I have no intention whatsoever of resigning myself to it.

I keep my eyes wide open, watching his sword until the very last instant.

Then, as he closes in, I roll sideways.

Whether it leaves me defenseless against the next attack or not, it's the best choice I have right now.

THUD.

I roll across the floor and use the momentum to get back to my feet.

His Arc longsword looms huge before my eyes.

That's when it happens.

"...!"

He goes flying backward, as though an invisible force has seized him by the scruff of his neck.

What the hell just happened?

When I raise my head to find the answer—

"Y-you old bashtard! Wha' are you doing?!"

I see an old man in black priestly robes in the distance.

* * *

He closed his eyes and covered his ears.

Even so, it came through clearly.

How desperately they were fighting.

["So, you're not running away?"]

["Protect Dwalki!!"]

At first, watching them had been an ordeal. He had thought their meaningless resistance would only breed greater despair and suffering.

But when had that changed?

"Why on earth do they..."

As their desperate struggle continued, Ludwig found himself asking question after question.

["This belongs to us."]

Why did they refuse to submit?

["Waaah! Dwalki! Don't die! Please, okay? Nyah!"]

Because they turned away from the inevitable outcome and clung to false hope?

No. If that were so, then how—

["Can you... win?"]

["Don't worry. I'll bring everyone back alive. I promise."]

How could they still move forward with such radiance?

The answer was truly simple.

They were strong.

Unlike him, who had lacked the courage to bear a sacrifice.

"..."

Ludwig knew it too.

No matter how long he waited, the day he longed for would never come. That hopeful future, where he returned to the city with his grandson, had never existed in the first place.

He had merely lacked the courage to accept it.

"The star that rises at dusk shall guide my way."

Ludwig briefly traced a holy sign.

When he opened his eyes, they no longer trembled with fear. He simply looked straight ahead.

His conviction burned fiercer than ever.

"I shall follow your will."

Leatlas, goddess of the stars.

One of the three gods who presided over adventure and the bonds between people.

As someone who had once served and followed her, how could he dismiss this as coincidence?

That people harboring such radiant light had appeared before him, a man who had abandoned courage, was a final act of grace bestowed upon a wayward servant.

And so...

"Even if I may never be embraced in your arms."

The old man looked into empty space and cried out.

"Carui, I offer myself to you."

At his words, the capricious evil god laughed delightedly.

Though he could hardly be unaware of what Ludwig intended to do.

As though this were the very moment he had been waiting for.

["What do you desire?"]

"Send me there."

["Your grandson will not be saved."]

His heart flinched at those words.

But he cast off his weakness. He also discarded the excuse that it was already too late to undo everything.