TUK 28

Chapter 28

Life doesn’t flow according to one’s plans. Just looking at the ashen expanse before me proved that.

For a moment, I thought I could reach that place by reversing the waves of monsters with my temporarily enhanced physical abilities.

“Too far.”

Bang! Bang!!

Even dodging the trolls’ indiscriminate attacks made it nearly impossible to advance.

Still, my mind and body weren’t weak enough to give up.

Thud-thud!

I pushed past the trolls’ barriers, closing the distance to the ashen expanse. The problem was that the space, which had seemed almost reachable, suddenly shrank.

Grrr!! Keng! Keng!!

The void was filled again by the Frostfang Wolves and the Lycanthropes. And so, I had to engage in another grueling game of cat and mouse with them.

Amid all this, as the light in my sight dimmed, my enhanced abilities faded, and I had to face thoughts of death.

I narrowly avoided the bite of a Frostfang Wolf that had seemed easier to dodge. Even as I was torn apart by Lycanthrope strikes and thrown to the ground by their kicks, I stubbornly got back up.

I focused solely on evasion and moving forward.

I trusted my judgment: the answer lay with the Empire’s shadow lingering in the ashen space. I put my will to reach that place into every fiber of my being and pressed onward.

Thud-thud—!!

Again, I encountered a troll. The ashen space had shrunk more than before, but that confirmed one thing:

“The Black Mage isn’t there.”

If the Black Mage had been present, they would have prepared another scheme. Yet the ashen space merely shrank, as if afraid of approach. If the Black Mage had been there, the corpses of monsters around Sion’s disciples would have been revived, but that didn’t happen.

Only the ashen space contracted, and monsters filled the shrinking gaps to block my path—this was the conclusion I reached.

So I pressed forward, until I could step into the ashen space. And I would eliminate whatever—or whoever—was emitting the ash, still unknown.

“It’s not like there’s no way!”

Pah-hah!!

I moved again. Dodging the attacks of trolls swinging broken branches, I closed the distance with the shadow unit.

Fifty steps.

Thirty steps.

Each time, monsters filled the shrinking ashen space, but I didn’t stop.

I was close enough to see the expression of unease and fear on the figure ahead. A little more, and I could step into the untouched ashen space.

“At this distance…”

I focused on Emilio. He was shouting something, and the surrounding soldiers were protecting him. I noticed he was clutching something tightly in his hand.

“That’s it.”

I became certain of one of the hypotheses I had formed while closing the distance. And I judged that this was the optimal moment to act.

Bang!!

I leapt into the air, dodging a troll’s kick. Another troll raised its fist vertically and slammed down toward me.

Thud!!

I let go of my sword and shielded my face, taking the blow. Though a defensive move, it was useless.

Crack!!

I slammed into the ground. A crater formed, the earth screaming around me. I was buried beneath it. My defense had been futile. My arms flopped under the ground—I was sure they were crushed. The same for my face, drenched in blood, my eyes gone, replaced by darkness. My chest armor dented, the bones protecting my heart crushed, the heart itself likely shattered.

Death was certain. A short, brutal death marked by a thud and a bang.

Yet death did not claim me.

“It felt like my consciousness cut off for a moment.”

Even if ignored by death, it was still death. A blink’s worth of death, but the pain endured…

“Would it feel like this if a tiny vampire were crushed in your palm?”

The inescapable pressure breaking my bones, the sudden burst of blood pressure crushing front and back—pain mingled with a strange thrill. Perhaps it was even ecstasy. My consciousness had no choice but to dissipate in the face of such unbearable agony.

Even now, my awakened consciousness still vividly feels that pain. Perhaps that’s why the noises in the dark felt even more chilling.

Grind… rumble…

The first sense to register after awakening was hearing. I realized the sounds came from my body attempting to restore itself. Initially, I thought it might be the monsters chewing and tearing my body, but…

Gugugugu…

The sound of the ground beneath me gradually faded. The monsters were heading toward Sion’s disciples. That meant the shadow possessing the ash item had extended its protective range.

“Half a gamble, but it worked.”

I had imagined being eaten by the monsters, but seeing the shadows’ panicked and fearful expressions, the probability seemed low. Their revenge instincts against Sion’s disciples were still there. By feigning death, I expected the monsters to be sent at Sion’s disciples immediately. Hence, I embraced death.

“Ultimately…”

I relied on death—or rather, death’s avoidance. The best way to overcome this situation was to use my immortality.

Thus, this was a deliberate death. Could I call it self-determined? A wrong choice? Perhaps that’s why my revived body didn’t feel any enhanced abilities yet—I wasn’t sure.

But…

To not die. To live as an immortal. If this power—blessing or curse—could save Sion’s disciples fighting waves of monsters, the allied forces camped somewhere waiting for border recon, and the ordinary lives of everyone in the Azrion Kingdom…

“I gladly will.”

I would rise again. I would use death’s avoidance. Someday, I would become an undying knight.

Flash—.

My eyes, once filled with darkness, returned to focus, the pupils black as the sclera’s shadows receded.

Swish—.

I rose like someone who had just woken. The sun, though past noon, illuminated the area well. I picked up the sword I had dropped; the blade was battered, but it had lasted long for a supply-grade longsword. I turned toward the Empire’s shadows.

“Gh… ghoul?!”
“This can’t be… he should’ve died by the trolls…”
“Mo… monster…”
“Mi. Madness… is his body immortal?!”

Seventy-eight shadow unit members gawked as I rose casually. Time seemed to freeze for a moment. Then, seeing me pick up my weapon calmly, the words spilled out. Emilio, holding a relic and attempting to lead his men, had the same reaction.

“D-damn, what… what’s going on?!”

No one could have survived those attacks, much less unscathed.

“Could it be… him?!”

Emilio shouted at me, realizing who I was:

“You!! The one who died with his heart pierced by Gerard, who died disguised as our soldier at the Trevor River, it’s you!!”

Ah, now I understand. Black hair, black eyes, that familiar face… not twins, but the same person.

“Another reason for you to die.”

I quietly spoke to Emilio, who had recognized me. The shadows didn’t hear; it wasn’t meant for them.

“Kill them all!! Tear them to pieces!!”

Emilio stepped back, ordering his men. The shadows advanced to surround me. Their protective range had widened.

Clomp—.

I didn’t flinch. I knew the wide area created by the ash originated from whatever Emilio was holding.

Bang!

I simply moved forward.

“Damn it!! Kill him!!”

The shadows rushed to block me. Encirclement abandoned—they aimed for Emilio. If I stopped him, they’d lose.

Thud! Slash! Swish!!

But my judgment was irrelevant. Before they could strike, my sword cut into the shadows. Blood spurted with each strike.

“Now! Press forward!!”
“Ughhh!!”

I advanced, cutting down shadows. Some tried to attack from behind.

Thud! Slash!

I stabbed one in the neck, slicing sideways, though not completely; my blade even broke against the bone.

“Krh! Die!!”

Another rejoiced at my broken blade, attempting to stab me with a dagger. I grabbed the wrist mid-air and—

Crack!!

“Un… unbelievable?!”

The shadow had to drop the dagger. I thrust it into their neck with my other hand.

Pshhh!!

Blood spurted. No time to enjoy it.

Pah-hah!

Emilio remained my target. I ran, cutting down every obstacle. Though my enhancements were gone, my resurrected body was enough. None could stop me.

“We… we were… this weak?”

Fear caused one to speak, realizing their comrades had changed.

“Ah…”

A near-death revelation: what they believed to be a relic, a power to control monsters in Emilio’s hand, had weakened them so.

They didn’t know I had been reborn, my accumulated fatigue gone, white-lighted will coursing through me.

“D-damn it!!”

Emilio panicked as I approached.

Crek. Crek.

He tried to flee while spinning the relic’s gold decoration, hoping to summon monsters closer. But he would die before his monsters arrived.

“Ughhh! Never! I won’t lose!!”

He tripped and fell.

Clang!

He tried to stand, clutching the relic, but my boot slammed down on him.

“Ah! No! I can’t die like this!!”

He wanted to survive, at any cost—even betraying his country.

“Spare me! I have important information! Marquis Arjen is leading troops here! If you let me live, I’ll lead the monsters there…!”

He couldn’t finish before the dagger in my hand reached his neck.

….

I paused as he writhed, watching his neck melt.

Thump—.

Emilio’s melted neck separated from his body. The reason for this sudden effect was unclear.

“Shadow… the Oath?”

The shadow unit who witnessed it muttered, hinting at the cause. But now wasn’t the time to ponder it.

Click—.

I quickly took the relic Emilio had held to the end, confirming the black liquid and blade fragments in its golden oval decoration.

At that moment—

Whooshhh!!!

My vision turned to darkness.