Chapter 383: The Treasured Item

The sky collapsed and fell to the ground.

Caria’s swing was so spectacular that it seemed like the sky had fallen apart. It looked like the roof had shattered and the sky had been snapped. Then, the dark scarlet sword was raised and swung at the command of her silver eyes.

…You’ll suffer in agony.

The magical devilish being Drigman. That strong attack was aimed not only at its body, but also at its feet. It traced the trajectory exactly as I had anticipated.

Because of the original text, Drigman wouldn’t meet his death as long as his feet were attached to the earth. The earth reinforced his power and prolonged his life. He would definitely survive even if he turned into a lump of meat.

Immortality. There were a few demonic beings who had that characteristic, but Drigman was special even among them.

The immortality that other demonic beings possessed was only a pseudo-immortality. They would die if they lost their source magic. In other words, rather than immortality, it was better to describe it as a ferocious regenerative ability.

But Drigman’s immortality was different. He had no limits. If I had to define it, the earth itself was his limit. His immortality would only end with the death of all the earth. There was no way I could accept such a thing.

For me, what was troubling was that the brutal regenerative ability didn’t have any other weakness. Without that ability, Drigman still had superhuman strength and technical tactics that far surpassed that of humans.

He possessed an almighty power besides that brutal regeneration. That’s why he was given the title of “Controller”.

Therefore, the only way to kill Drigman was to separate him from the earth and push his body into the sky in order to finish the job in one breath. We’d be killed if we couldn’t achieve it.

I shall kill him here. I’d definitely kill him. There was no doubt that the enemy’s fighting strength was much higher than mine. But I met that disparity quite often. What determined victory or defeat was not the difference in military strength.

It was a difference in the amount of information that determined victory or defeat. Therefore, even with this tiny piece of information, I believed that we could win against the magical devilish being.

The dark scarlet sword flashed beautifully through the air, and then pierced the ground with a powerful momentum. In an instant, the earth itself shattered into pieces as if it had been struck by a gigantic body.

Unparalleled strength. That’s exactly the image of a shattered earth that I had in my mind. What else could I say? I couldn’t express it well even if I tried to find the right words.

The stone floor was destroyed and torn apart. The earth bowed down as it made a large hole. It was not a metaphor. Caria’s blow actually gouged out the floor.

After all, this was the place where soldiers frequented. Naturally, it was built through a sewage that met the soldiers’ needs.

You’d find an underground passage if you broke just one stone slab. I knew it well. That’s the place I used to step foot in many times as a servant.

Its pillars were destroyed, and the ground lost its support. The magical devilish being’s feet would inevitably leave the ground. I could see it with my own eyes.

A definite chance of victory.

All that was left to do was for the body to stay away from the earth and be destroyed by Filaret’s magic… that was the original assumption. So I told them what they had to do in order to accomplish that feat.

The moment I tried to raise my voice to give a signal, Drigman’s face caught my eye. That alone made me feel like something creepy crawled down my spine.

His eyes were still staring coldly at his surroundings. No agitation, no astonishment. How could he stay so calm?

Before my doubts consolidated, the enemy clenched his palm. A faint glow that I had seen before appeared in my field of vision. A blessing light used by elves and fairies.

Then, a short moment later, it happened.

The moment the magical devilish being clenched his palm, the earth that was supposed to had been crushed let out a roar. The earth’s crust trembled as if it had forgotten its shattered state, and the surrounding area swelled up. It was so strong that it swallowed part of the underground passage.

One after another, the earth crust raised and revealed itself, dancing wildly at the power of Drigman’s palm.

What was that?

Impossible. I was not exaggerating. I was speechless and astounded. Caria’s strong attack was outside of common sense, but this was completely outside of reason.

…In front of that monster, the earth distorted completely, and the soldiers burst into flames.

The words I heard from the old man’s adjutant were ringing in my ears at this moment. I couldn’t figure out what they meant, but I guessed “this” was “what” they meant. They made me understand at the worst time.

As if the earth wasn’t satisfied with just raising, new trees began to sprout and transformed into gigantic trees in the blink of an eye.

With the sharpness of spears, the trees’ branches pierced Caria’s defenseless limbs floating in the air. Her silver eyes widened at the sudden pain, and I saw fresh blood falling to the ground.

A difference in the amount of information. I underestimated the power of someone I didn’t know much about.

It tasted bad. It was the worst. My lungs were compressing, and my internal organs were twisting. I felt a heavy stone forming at the bottom of my viscera. Failure…that word ran through my mind.

What would I do? What should I do?

What now? I completely lowered myself to the ground. I had no longer any other plan. Besides, the demonic beings and magical beasts would soon regain their freedom.

The picture I had originally painted got stained. I could call it a cruel fate.

My brain groaned with intense self-loathing. I even gritted my own teeth. Ah, I was going to die at this rate. I lost the bet. Then, I had no choice but to die. But even if I had to die, I didn’t desire a meaningless death.

Was that all I got?

My eyes flickered as I bit my lips. The black mist had cleared, and I could see what was ahead. Wait a minute. He wanted me to give his treasure back. What was his treasure? What was he talking about? Was it something related to Altius?

Something that I had. Something that was related to Altius. Treasure…A magic tool.

I had a sudden idea. In my thoughts, the ring split into two pieces came to my mind.

…It was once called a mystery and a miracle. Something that even controlled people’s will.

Reflexively, I put my hand on my pocket. I reached out to the magic tool that people were afraid to even touch. What kind of situation would it cause if it were to fit it into that monster’s finger? I didn’t even want to imagine it. It would be great if I was overthinking it, but I had a hunch that my fears were real.

With unsteady fingertips, I tried to feel what was supposed to be in my pocket.

Something cold crawled down my spine. Only one of the two pieces was found in my pocket. My eyes twitched and my chest burned with anxiety. At the same time, I heard a voice.

「…You broke it? That’s unbelievable. 」

When I looked up, one half of the ring was now in that monster’s hand. Did it fall when I was thrown into the air earlier? That didn’t matter. I just knew that the worst thing was now in his hands.

Saliva went back down my throat without a sound. That monster crawled his gaze around and sighed.

Then, he took a step closer. He spoke to me after I stood up.

「You probably have the other half. It will be a good idea to give it back. I won’t annihilate you if you do that. There are plenty of things I want to talk to you about.」

His power pressured me to say something, but at the same time, it forced me to say nothing. I didn’t know if his words were true or not. However, his voice was completely different from the voice emitted by humans.

With just those words, I felt like my soul was being grabbed by his oppressive power.

With trembling fingertips, I slowly put my hand into my pocket again. I could see the black mist gradually retreating.

I grabbed the remaining half of the ominous ring and took it out while breathing heavily. As always, seeing that ring made me feel nauseous.

It was now extremely hot. Ah, I see. I wondered why it was reacting so vigorously before. It was reacting to its creator.

I saw the magical devilish being’s eyes open slightly in front of the ring. I grabbed the ring and…

…I put it into my mouth and swallowed it down whole.

My cheeks lifted and my mouth opened.

「It’s too bad. As you can see…it’s already gone. Find someone else. Find someone who will follow your words.」

The magical devilish being’s arm elevated, and his palm opened. His eyes appeared calm, but agitation and anger burned in his eyes. Oh, that’s good. He didn’t lose all of his emotions as a magical devilish being.

For an instant, that monster’s eyes just gazed at my silhouette. He raised his arm to grab my skull, thinking only of killing me. Nothing else was in his sight.

I waited for this moment. In the corners of my eyes, I could see a strand of white hair swaying in the air.

…A white beam of light pierced Drigman’s body.

At the same time, I rejoiced at the appearance of this accomplice who became my newly found opportunity.

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