Chapter 103: Despair
“Alfred, Are you deeply moved?”
“Huh?”
“The history of your royal family could be rephrased as a history of battles against the servants [Ragments] born from my miasma. In other words, the one standing before you now…the [Night Witch] is the archenemy of you royals, is she not?”
The Night Witch.
Indeed, she was the existence that had once brought calamity to this world.
Indeed, she was the root that had engraved the still rampant miasma onto the world.
“—-So what?”
“Oh?”
“Unfortunately, I’ve been quite the irresponsible royal for a long time. The royal family’s history, the royals’ archenemy, and all that nonsense—I couldn’t care less. I fight for myself. I fight to take back someone precious to me. That’s it.”
“………..I see.”
To the Night Witch, I was an enemy. Yet, she closed her eyelids before her foe.
“I’ve felt it since the first time I saw you…you resemble him.”
“Who?”
“Berg Leuville—the founding king of the Leuville Kingdom.”
The founding king, one of the heroes who had defeated the Night Witch, was also known as the strongest monarch in history—a true legend unknown to none.
“He said the same thing, you know. ‘I fight for myself.’ You’re a spitting image of him, inside and out.”
She seemed to be reminiscing about the past. At least, that’s how it looked to me. But my skin, my very senses, perceived something completely different.
“…It’s maddening. Seeing you who resembles that man makes my hatred and anger well up.”
As her eyelids opened, dark magic power and miasma pressure burst forth, causing the surroundings to vibrate…no, that’s not it.
“Every time I see your face, the past humiliation seems to resurface. This is my heart…loathing and rage.”
The immense magic power and miasma itself seemed to be distorting and creaking the space…!
“I’m sorry, Alfred. You are not that man. I know that. But…I just can’t seem to help myself. I had originally intended to toy with you a bit, but I’ll stop. If you resemble him that much, then I might as well take out my frustrations on you.”
The dark magic power the Night Witch unleashed—its dense, black radiance was being emitted from the ring on her finger.
“The [Chaos Ring], huh?”
“That’s right. Last time, I was defeated by the [Royal Garment Ring] you royals possess—that magic that wraps you in the power of spirits. It was splendid. I acknowledge that power. That’s precisely why I decided to use the same power.”
So that’s why she stole it from my brother Leo, along with his arm.
“The first one I had Lucille mimic was the [Forbidden Curse Ring], but no matter what I tried, it didn’t work out. And then, based on the [Royal Garment Ring] I stole, I created this [Chaos Ring].”
Miasma in quantities incomparable to Nenel’s time. More than anything, the immense magic power sealed within Charl’s body was raging like a storm. Just standing there was enough to accumulate fatigue.
“The [Chaos Ring] houses a demon instead of a spirit…but what resides within my [Chaos Ring] is not a demon.”
“Hah. If it’s not a demon, then it’s an even worse monster, huh?”
“A demon or monster might have been better.”
Darkness overflowed from the ring…it’s coming. Something that wasn’t a demon or monster was coming from her [Chaos Ring].
“Devour the radiance—-[Black Mud Holy Maiden]!”
“What………..!?”
Darkness overflowed.
A blackness that enveloped my vision. Black. Black. Black. Black. Black.
An overwhelmingly powerful black light that gave the illusion of the world being engulfed in darkness.
And at the center of that violent blackness, clad in what seemed to be spirit garments, stood a jet-black holy maiden.
“That’s Claudia!”
“The Holy Maiden Claudia…that’s what you humans call her, isn’t it?”
What’s going on? The Holy Maiden Claudia was one of the heroes who had stood against the Night Witch alongside the founding kings. So why was she residing as a power source within her [Chaos Ring]?
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“Shall we begin, Alfred?”
“…………!”
There was no time to think. I had to focus on the fight against her…!
“That’s right, focus.”
A voice from behind.
“—-!”
Faster than I could process, I reflexively moved, deflecting the staff swung at my back with my twin blades.
“Good reaction.”
“Don’t underestimate me!”
I swung my blades in retaliation, unleashing a flurry of strikes at the full speed of [Arsène].
But the Night Witch nonchalantly received them, the clash of black against black creating trails of light that sparked across the hall.
“…Why do you stand here, obstructing me?”
“How many times do I have to say it?”
The blades I swung—the reason hadn’t changed one bit since I came here.
“I’m fighting for myself! To take Charl back!”
I advanced further, my speed enhanced by [Sublimation – Transcendence] making my body move even faster than the tempo I had shown before, rapidly closing the distance with the Night Witch. I held nothing back, unleashing my full power upon her.
“That’s precisely why I ask.”
The flash of my blade was blocked by the staff she wielded. I wasn’t surprised. I didn’t think she’d be finished off by something like this. My body continued to deliver the next strike, the next flurry of attacks.
“Charlotte has been consumed by the miasma. There is no way to save her anymore. The person you seek to take back no longer exists. It’s futile. Meaningless.”
“Whether it’s meaningless or not is for me to decide!”
The Night Witch’s power, the unknown ability of that [Claudia] [Chaos Ring]…her weapon was a staff.
In modern times, staves are more often auxiliary tools used by those with little magic power or those unsure of their control. In that case, many would specialize in magic and be unskilled in close combat…but seeing how she easily fended off my twin-bladed onslaught, she didn’t seem to be a typical magic specialist either.
“It’s a shame. Truly a shame, Alfred. You are one of the detestable royals. You resemble that man. I had intended to toy with you as a means to vent my frustrations, but…fighting you is quite pleasant.”
The Night Witch swung her staff. Just that alone sent a shockwave akin to a dragon’s tail lashing out, forcibly blowing my body back. [Arsène] was never suited for such contests of brute force to begin with. Speed, high attack count, and magic theft were its strengths, but even accounting for that, her sheer might was formidable.
“I was starting to think I should spare you.”
“…………!”
Black spheres floated around the Night Witch—too numerous to count. Each of them was likely a magic projectile raining down like a torrential downpour.
“Kuh……ugh……!?”
Fast. Too fast. Even with my twin blades, it was all I could do to evade and deflect them.
“……So what!”
That was no excuse. I tracked the trajectory of each one. Saw them. Evaded them. But not just that.
Learn them. Their velocities. Their timings. Their patterns. And accumulate that as experience in this very moment, and grow!
“Oh. You’ve started adapting, have you?”
“I’ll go even further than that!”
“Then I shall await you there.”
I accelerated through the gaps in the barrage, closing in on her guard and swinging my twin blades faster than I could process—but still, the Night Witch reacted, deflecting the trajectory of my blades with her staff.
([Claudia]…this [Chaos Ring]’s ability isn’t just increased speed, is it…!)
“You have that look of wanting to know my power.”
“Will you tell me if I ask?”
“I might tell you.”
The Night Witch distanced herself, lightly twirling her staff as magic power flickered around it, a sign of an impending spell.
“If you know the difference in our strength, perhaps you’ll give up?”
“Keep talking.”
I stayed on guard, taking a stance. My [Arsène]’s power was magic theft.
While the exact magic she would use was unknown, I just had to steal whatever came my way.
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