Chapter 277: Rinella’s Destiny is Her Own (70)

A fierce blizzard painted the world in monochrome.

The swirling snowflakes filled the view with shades of grey. Objects, each with their unique hues, were now overlaid with pure white snow.

In that black-and-white world, the man's golden pupils seemed like will-o'-wisps.

His black hair and pale skin formed a striking contrast. Despite his extremely tired appearance, his burning eyes had a strange and captivating allure.

At a glance, he appeared to be a person hiding countless stories.

He seemed to be in his mid-to-late twenties.

There wasn’t much difference between us, appearance wise.It was just his unique aura that made him seem much older.

In a voice that was devoid of emotion but also somewhat weary, he asked,

"Are you satisfied now? Is this what you get for stubbornly having your own way?"

"...No."

It was a peculiar feeling.

The moment I faced him, a whirlwind of complex emotions surged within me.

A desire to compete and a sense of defeat.

Pity and compassion.

And then anger and stubbornness.

I exhaled that unprecedented vortex in a breath.

Before long, snow piled up on my head and shoulders. So much that it would fall off in clumps whenever I turned my head or exhaled.

Amidst the blizzard, the conversation continued.

"I'm not dead yet."

“It's just ‘not yet,’ literally.”

At my stubborn words, the man only let out a scoff.

Even his cold sneer barely concealed his disdain.

"If you keep going like this, you'll die... No, even if you died right now, it wouldn’t be strange."

"Is that why you showed up?"

At my question, the golden eyes that had been looking straight ahead glanced at me.

No matter how many times I looked, I couldn't discern his true intentions behind those eyes.

Instead of panting, I clenched my teeth and asked,

"...To mock me, and then like always, step onto the stage and miraculously solve everything?"

"Unfortunately, that's impossible."

With those words, the man silently directed his gaze forward again.

The colossal figure, towering several metres high, exuded an overwhelming presence.

Even the fierce blizzard couldn't conceal its enormous shadow.

After staring at the monster for a long time, he exhaled a puff of white breath.

The world where time had seemingly stopped remained cold.

"Thanks to someone summoning me on a whim... Of course, even if that hadn't happened, dealing with the Underling of the Evil God is out of the question. It's beyond what I can interfere with."

This was something I had already anticipated.

I hadn't expected his help from the start.

After being summoned last time, hadn't he kindly informed me it was 'impossible'?

I wasn't an entirely unreasonable person either.

However, I was in the midst of paying the price for ignoring his advice. Seeing his face at this particular moment made me feel uncomfortable.

Even so, I hadn't failed yet.

To prove that I hadn't given up, I took a deep breath.

“Then why did you show up? You haven’t shown your face even once until now... So why now?”

"Because there's someone fervently prying into other people's memories."

Huuu, he exhaled a white breath that dispersed like smoke.

He spoke without even sparing me a glance.

"...You never know what could happen, kiddo. Stealing techniques from the future isn't a cure-all. It always comes with a price."

Now it was my turn to be silent.

I vaguely sensed it.

Every time my skills grew at an abnormal rate, every time I skillfully used techniques I had never learned, I felt it.

My body and mind were gradually slipping out of my control.

Some days, I would find myself wielding a blade in a fit of passion.

Other days, I would recite information I had never known.

Bit by bit, I became burdened with things I couldn't handle.

Isn't even the formidable wall standing before me now proof of that?

The Underling of the Evil God stood there as if by fate.

To turn my hometown and its many remaining residents into ashes.

Furthermore, in order to peek into the man's memories, my conscious and unconscious needed to merge.

Because of this, my body had long been in shambles.

I had no idea how much effort it would take to heal again.

My silence grew longer, and the man took it as a tacit agreement.

"...Even if it’s now, run away."

He said it as if stating an obvious fact.

The battlefield was strewn with numerous charred corpses. No, there were probably even more beyond the battlefield.

And surely there were still people crying out for help.

The man surely knew this, yet he remained silent.

He just stared at me.

I let out a brief sneer and finally took a step forward.

Even taking a single step was incredibly difficult.

I almost collapsed again as my knees buckled.

Seeing my pathetic state, the man asked,

"...Why go to such lengths?"

"Because a great knight never lies."

It was a response I gave without even looking back.

Then, taking another step, I stumbled and fell to my knees on the ground.

A sharp pain shot up through my bones.

I no longer had any strength left in my legs.

So I gripped my sword tighter and forced myself to stand again.

"...I made that promise to Ned."

The man didn't respond to my answer for a while.

It was only after some time had passed that he burst out laughing with a snort, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

The man's questioning continued.

"All because of a childhood boast?"

"...And what have you saved?"

I retorted provocatively.

With that single remark, his demeanour immediately turned cold.

It was what I had expected.

So I raised my voice even more.

"By abandoning one thing after another, what exactly do you have left? Did the world become peaceful after all that?"

"...Kiddo."

I could feel the man slowly starting to rise.

But now, I didn’t even have the strength to turn and look behind me.

I just took another step forward.

"You’ll regret it, you can’t hold onto everything... Even if you get lucky a few times, there will come a day when you will lose something precious."

Once again, I took another step.

"Are you confident you won't give in even then? Even if you regret, cry, and beg, it will never come back... I'm asking if you have the resolve for that."

It was a warning akin to a prophecy.

It was the truth the man had confirmed through the trials of many years.

Perhaps a day would come when I couldn't escape that fate.

Honestly, I wasn't confident.

But I took another step.

Blood-red footprints stained the snowy ground.

"You're still just a novice. You hadn’t yet grasped the concepts of Shackle and Liberation, the core teaching of the Sword Circle, nor the secrets of the Dragonblood Script..."

"Then I have to."

I replied in a weary voice.

As I glanced back at the man, my eyes hadn't yet fully mirrored his.

"...If that's what it takes."

He glared at me again without saying anything.

When I turned to face forward and tried to take another step.

At that moment, the man who had not moved at all showed a change in attitude.

He strode over and grabbed my shoulder.

His grip was so fierce that I nearly screamed.

When I looked back in surprise, his golden eyes were ablaze.

"Fine..."

Fueled with hatred, resentment, regret and despair.

"If you want it that much, I'll show you."

A blinding light surged, turning my vision white.

Countless memories broke through the dam of my mind and flooded in.

"...Watch closely. This is your only chance."

And so, my world began to drown.

**

As the man staggered to his feet.

Lightning and fierce winds were raging across the battlefield.

An all out attack on the Corpse Giant had commenced.