Book 2: 329

Book 2: Chapter 329

Lukas wondered if his current crisis was really one that could not have been avoided, or if he’d secretly intended for this to happen.

Wasn’t it just a convenient excuse?

He couldn’t kill Nix. So he was the one who would end up dying by her hand.

...If that was the case.

Then his actions were nothing more than disgusting, hypocritical justification wrapped up as self-sacrifice. (TL: deja vu anyone?)

‘No.’

Self-disgust filled his mind.

What the hell was he doing by giving up?

He still had a lot of work to do. There was still a lot of information he needed to obtain, and people he needed to meet.

No, more than that.

He didn’t want to hurt Nix more than he already had.

If she kills him now, and if in the future she were to understand exactly what she had done, she would never be able to live with herself.

Lukas opened his eyes again.

His eyelids, which he thought he’d never open again, were forcibly lifted until they were half open. That alone was proof of how desperate his struggle was.

He saw Nix, who was still approaching him at a slow pace.

First of all, he needed to stop her approach.

“...in the Ispania Mountains.”

No matter what happened, he had to say it.

His mind moved as he spoke.

“Do you remember? That is where you met Frey Blake for the first time.”

“...I don’t know such a person.”

“I saved you there, and you saved me. And we joined forces to defeat the Lord of the Mountain.”

“I told you I don’t know you.”

“Our victory was injury filled. But your condition was worse than mine so I had no choice but to leave you in the mountains while looking forward to the day I met you again... Have you really forgotten everything?”

“...Shut up. Be quiet. Don’t say any more.”

Nix shouted as though she was having a fit.

“Something like that, something like that...!”

Fire erupted around her.

“I already said I don’t know!”

Whoosh!

The wave of flames surged towards Lukas.

He couldn’t avoid it. And he had no way of stopping it.

...He was foolish. It had taken him much too long to realise.

In the end, Lukas’ voice was unable to reach Nix.

...

Lukas couldn’t say anything.

Instead, he could only stare with half lidded eyes, an open mouth, and a blank expression.

The man continued.

“I haven’t forgotten.”

“—”

—Those words.

Lukas’ mind was blank.

Although he was near death, with tears in his eyes, he felt something rise up in his throat.

It wasn’t blood. It was something hotter than that. His mixed emotions stopped just below his adams apple.

Lukas couldn’t open his mouth.

He felt that, if he did, he would release a very strange, pathetic sound.

“I didn’t forget.”

The words he muttered.

They were the words Lukas wanted to hear the most.

They were the hope that prevented him from giving up even as he wandered and struggled with despair.

‘...this is it.’

Even if it wasn’t perfect, even if it wasn’t who he really was.

He’d just wanted one person to remember him, to remember the path he walked, with a sad expression.

And there was one.

“What are you doing here?”

Nix, who had come to her senses, growled. Once again, flames erupted around her.

“Piss off. Don’t get in my way. That guy...”

“You’re wrong.”

He cut Nix off with a simple utterance.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s you, not me, who’s getting in the way, Monster Queen. This time, I managed to find clues about a man I have been looking for for a very long time. I will not forgive anyone who gets in my way.”

“So what if you can’t forgive me?”

The man sighed.

“...I’m not in a good mood right now. A lot of things have happened these past few days.”

“...”

“So what? It’s simple.”

Fwoosh!

The man’s white robe billowed as his mana became a visible cloud around him.

“I will just have to let my anger out on you.”

The man, Peran, smiled.

(TL: A lot of you guys have been complaining about the pacing, which I think might feel slower because I split the longer chapters(usually into 2 parts). Would you guys prefer me to continue splitting the longer chapters or posting each chapter at original length? Naturally, this would mean that instead of daily releases some chapters might take two days to complete.)