Chapter 511: One With The Past

Silver hair swayed like claws scraping through the air. The dark scarlet sword traced lines in accordance with the silver’s will. Each swing was packed with destruction.

If spirits were givers and dragons were takers, then giants were destroyers. To put it in extreme terms, there was nothing in this world that those giants couldn’t destroy upon showing their true worth.

A sound of iron clashing against iron echoed.

Each time the demonic legs and the dark scarlet sword meshed with one another, there was a high probably that Rabel’s demonic legs would break if she didn’t take a step back. Gradually, Rabel began to retreat. The silver hair took a step forward, not wanting to let her escape.

At this time, Caria Burdnick had been planning to destroy Gear Rabel. Yes, Rabel was the one who turned Lugis into a demon and kidnapped her compatriot, Filaret La Volgograd.

Above all, she was a magical devilish being. In other words, she was an enemy of the human race, and that alone was reason to kill her.

The moment the blades flicked back, and the distance opened up, Caria placed her left hand at the end of the handle and lightly placed her right hand on it. Holding the blade horizontally, she pointed the tip at Rabel and held it close to her face.

It was a refined stance designed to stab and kill an enemy in one breath, but the sword’s sheer size made it feel distorted and strange.

Rabel responded, raising her demonic legs high in the air. It was as if she was going to cut Caria in half from the tip of her hair to her toes.

They were close to each other. One more step and death would come.

Her amber eyes were now fixed only on Caria. Judging from their presence, Lugis and Agathos were probably going to face Vrilligant.

That was surely correct. Rabel was very good at buying time. But she had to kill Caria as quickly as possible now that things had come to this point. Rabel’s blade glittered as she repaired her arm.

…Each strike was aimed at the other’s life. Both were aware that even a single breath could be fatal.

Caria made her move as the air was about to be crushed by tension and pressure.

With her silver hair fluttering, Caria stepped hard onto the ground with her right leg. In this situation, every ounce of time was precious.

Her horizontally held black sword was thrust out like a bull’s horn. To Rabel, the sharpened thrust looked like a single deadly point heading towards her life.

The destructive power of a giant and the honed martial arts of mankind. Caria had those two things that were originally incompatible. She was completely dangerous in the eyes of demonic beings.

Which was why Rabel realized that Caria had to be killed right here and now.

A flash of black ray approached before her eyes along with the sound of piercing the wind. If it continued like this, it would surely pierce Rabel’s brain stem, killing her body. It was no longer a premonition, but a certainty. There was no way that her raised demonic legs could keep up with the speed of Caria’s thrust.

But Rabel didn’t even budge a finger. She could see her fate ahead. Fate was always on Rabel’s side.

…Unlocking the Original Text “Clockwork Fate”.

The gears clanged heavily. The Fate…twisted and straightened. Everything ended in the moment she closed her eyes, and the world had changed the next time she opened them.

Rabel heard the sound of the air being slammed into her. The tip of the black ray that was meant to pierce her skull ended up just tearing her ear.

Rabel could see Caria’s shock at this outcome. But there was no time to waste.

「Punishment is necessary for crime. I shall eliminate you immediately. 」

Like a guillotine, Rabel’s demonic legs were swung down on Caria, who had entered her range.

There was a dull sound of iron slicing through the air. It was a swing intended to cut Caria in half.

In an instant, Caria reflexively trapped her right arm between the skull and the blade. It was an instinctive move, but in the end it saved Caria’s life.

Caria heard the sound of bones shattering. Half of her right arm was torn off, and her bones were showing. And her skull wasn’t intact either. Blood was dripping down, obscuring her brilliant silver eyes.

It was only natural. Though she had lost her right arm, all she could do was shift the trajectory. She managed to turn a fatal wound into a serious one. If she was a normal human, then she would have died long ago.

They were in close contact with each other, entangled in a bloodied battle. Caria muttered covered in blood.

「Crime and punishment? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you don’t seem suited to be an executioner. 」

An executioner must end an execution with one swing. And Rabel failed to accomplished that action.

Caria sharpened her canines by staying in close contact with her enemy. She bit Rabel’s neck. It felt hard, not like meat, but there was nothing to fear. Caria ate it, sobbing at the bitterness that spread in her mouth.

That desperate desire to win wasn’t brought about solely by her animosity towards Rabel. It was simply anger at her own incompetence.

Caria reminisced about her stumble against the Controller Drigman in the Gharast Capital of Arche. Even this time, despite being by Lugis’ side, she was unable to stop him from falling into danger.

…Could she really say that she was fulfilling her role as Lugis’ shield?

Night after night, those thoughts of remorse ate away Caria’s self-esteem. Lugis was already more than strong enough. He had begun his path as a hero.

So she too had to fulfill her role in a way that was worthy of him. No matter how unsightly it could become.

With her canines still biting into the enemy’s neck, Caria grasped her healthy left hand. She threw out her dangling right arm and rotated her hips. Then, as if treating her arm as a weapon, she swung it in one motion. The fist itself became a lump of iron and pierced through the air.

Her fist’s trajectory fluctuated for a moment, but it still slammed into Rabel’s cheek.

But Rabel didn’t ignore that attack. Like Caria, she raised her arm and shook off her fist.

There was a moment of impact, and with the sound of bones creaking, their bodies separated, and both of them once again took up their weapons. Caria raised her dark scarlet sword high with her left arm, while Rabel prepared to thrust with her demonic legs.

The overflowing fighting spirit could be felt in their breaths.

So, what was that phenomenon? Caria wondered. For some reason, the death-defying thrust disappeared just before it pierced the enemy.

It couldn’t be that Rabel had simply dodged that thrust. Caria was confident that her skill wasn’t unpolished. Besides, Caria had seen the tip of the sword just before it pierced Rabel’s forehead.

But that was shifted. It all happened in the blink of an eye. It even felt like the events didn’t make sense.

The only thing that could explain that anomaly was probably Rabel’s Original Text. Caria concluded that Rabel used some kind of power.

It seemed that Rabel could shift the trajectory of an approaching object. However, it couldn’t be done at a wide range. If that was the case, then there was an easier way to subdue the enemy without having to pull them into her stomach.

Gripping the handle of the dark scarlet sword tightly with her left hand, Caria spread her legs and touched the ground tightly.

Rabel spoke in the meantime. Her amber eyes shone brightly as she exposed her grey internal body.

「…There’s just one thing I want to ask you. Answer immediately. 」

Maybe Rabel was just trying to buy time. But time was important to her opponent. So Caria took a step closer, breathing calmly.

「For example, what if you had lost your memory and committed a crime at that time? What if you killed someone you loved? What if you did something that can’t be undone? I want an answer immediately. 」

It didn’t seem like Rabel was playing with words to stir up a moment of confusion. It seemed like she really wanted to ask Caria that question.

To be honest, Caria didn’t know what it meant. But there was only one answer.

Caria licked the blood off her face with her tongue and then she opened her lips.

「…I don’t know. I might suffer. And I might despair. But even so, I can’t stop loving. That much I know. 」

I’m a foolish woman, after all. Caria didn’t say those last words but thought them.

With just her left arm, Caria raised the dark scarlet sword high into the air. She bent her arm and twisted her waist. It was originally meant to fight Vrilligant, but it would be pointless if she was defeated by Rabel.

「I won’t go easy on you. The name of my ancestor won’t allow it…Unlocking the Original Text, “The Giant Myth’s Flimslat”. 」

Before Rabel’s very eyes, the ancient giant let out a loud exhale while raising its hammer.

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