< 313. The sunset is beautiful at sunset. >
#313
『Kahak!』
Abel, who had been pierced through the chest by a sword, vomited blood. A dimensional rift swallowed the two men. The constant falling began with the feeling that my insides were bursting.
『Oh my, this is ruined…!』
Abel gritted his teeth. The scenery of the battlefield disappeared everywhere, and an amorphous space covered the surroundings. The crack they entered was already so far away that it could not be seen.
It was an isolation dimension that Alibrihe put a lot of effort into creating. It was enough to imprison Navarre d’Oje, so if things continued like this, he would be imprisoned here forever.
Abel was in the midst of trying to find a solution. Kwasik! Ronan suddenly lunged at his face and hung down, biting the back of his neck.
『Huh?!』
“Keuuu!”
It was an incomprehensible behavior. It was like a trained hunting dog sinking its fangs deep into its teeth and not letting go. Abel raised his fist and started punching him in the face.
『What are you doing that is so obscene!』
“Ugh! Ugh!”
『I can’t let go right now!』
My fists were numb, perhaps because I received the power of giants. There was the sound of the cheekbones and nose bones breaking, but Ronan did not relax his jaw. Abel, unable to bear it any longer, raised his sword.
“···Shit!”
Now, rather than dealing with Ronan, I had to escape from this space. He drew strength from the source and swung his sword at his feet. Sigh! The trembling space was torn apart and a new dimensional crack appeared.
‘That’s it.’
Ronan’s eyes widened. A cool wind was blowing from beyond the crack. It was a passage that led to another dimension.
‘The seal was useless anyway.’
It was an astonishing force. Who would have thought that they would tear apart the space as they please. The two people who fell were naturally swallowed by the crack. bang! The two people who fell landed on the white sandy beach.
“Ugh!”
『Wow!』
Because the height was so high, the impact was significant. The fine sand was all stained an eerie white color. The sound of waves crashing was heard somewhere.
‘here is···?’
Ronan, who happened to look around, raised his eyebrows. If the end of the world existed, it would look like this. They were standing on a beach. Beyond the pure white sandy beach, the blood-red sea was flowing.
There was no sign of life in the crimson water. The cloudless sky was brilliant with stars. A celestial body dozens of times clearer than the night sky I always looked up at showed me that this was a completely different world.
‘It looks somewhat familiar.’
Ronan narrowed his eyes. In some ways, it had a similar impression to Nebula Clage’s headquarters. At that time, Abel, who came to her senses, burst into anger.
『This guy, how long do you plan on sticking around!』
Abel reversed his sword and tried to stab Ronan. This had to be avoided. Only then did Ronan lift his mouth from the nape of his neck, twisting the hilt of his sword and pulling his body back. Sigh! Blue blood spurted out from where the sword body was pulled out.
『Ugh…』
Abel’s face distorted. Her wounds weren’t fatal, but they were pretty deep. Just as he could inflict damage on Ronan, Ronan could also inflict significant damage on him.
『···I almost got into big trouble. Alibrihe, that traitor will surely be killed painfully.』
But regardless of that, Abel was relieved. From his perspective, it was a bigger crisis that he almost got trapped in the containment dimension than Ronan, who could be put away at any time. Ronan, who had landed on her lot, opened her mouth.
“If you can… hehe, try it.”
The corners of his mouth were covered in blue blood. Abel twisted his mouth. He turned his sword around as if to shake it off and asked a question.
『I can’t understand it at all. Why are you so upset? Do you really think there’s still hope left for you?』
“Looking at you fluttering, I guess you’re not confident. “Did your balls shrivel as a side effect of absorbing the power?”
“her.”
Abel sighed at the childish provocation. It was almost pathetic to see him not be able to understand the topic. Although the two girls got in the way and got hit, there was an unbridgeable gap between them in the first place.
Ronan’s legs, which were shaking right now, were proof of that. The guy had already reached his limit a long time ago.
He was showing off with all his might, but his body had no intention of keeping up with it. Suddenly, Abel lowered his sword and opened his mouth to her.
『I will tell you how foolish you are. My nephew. Do you know where this is?』
“take no interest.”
『Don’t do that, just listen. This is the star that the giants once swept away.』
“···what?”
Ronan frowned. Abel, seeing that his attention was focused, continued speaking.
『I noticed it as soon as I touched the ground. These are the characteristics of the planet that was attacked by them. You lose all life and become a pale, bloodless corpse. All living things that once roamed the stars have become souls and are living here.』
Abel patted his chest. Ronan didn’t answer. Anyway, maybe that’s why it felt familiar to me, a planet that had been attacked by giants.
“So what are you going to do?”
『This is truly great power. Because the intelligent beings of this planet have once and for all broken the cycle of destruction from which they will never be able to escape. Nephew, look over there.』
Suddenly, Abel raised his sword and pointed at the night sky. In the direction where the sword raised its head, countless stars were dancing.
It was a moment when Ronan was wondering what he was looking at. A white, thin ray of light shot out from the tip of Abel’s sword. A beam of light extending deep into the night sky was pointing to a bluish dot.
『Can you see it? That is the star we live on.』
“what?”
『The world that seems infinitely large is just dust when seen from a distance. Don’t you think it’s really pathetic? When people live trapped in such dust, they cannot understand each other and are trying to kill each other…』
Abel clicked his tongue. I could feel his hatred in his twisted eyebrows. Hatred of the foolishness of destroying the most shining thing, deposited like a stratum.
『What you are trying so hard to protect is just a speck of dust. If you leave even that alone, you will definitely destroy yourself. But if you give up your attachment to mortality even now, you. No, we can protect all the visible halo of light now.』
“Yumma, they don’t usually say they protect it.”
“no. It’s about protecting it. From the fate of self-destruction.』
Abel said firmly. He lowered his sword and looked back at Ronan.
『So give up now. I promise, I will finish it without any pain. Don’t waste your little remaining life protecting something insignificant.』
Life was shining in his serious eyes. Ronan didn’t answer.
His sunset-colored gaze still remained on the planet he had lived on. It was definitely as Abel said. It was small and insignificant. It would be a shame to call it dust.
Ronan, who had been silent, opened his mouth.
“Yeah… it’s definitely not a big deal like you said.”
『I guess I finally realized it…』
“To be honest, it was heavy. Everyone praises me as a hero, the dawn of an empire, etc., but I’m just a swordsman. “Save the world… damn it, if you think about it now, it’s a ridiculous order.”
Ronan laughed. Memories of her past were passing through her mind like flashes of light. Abel tilted his head at the unexpected answer.
『···Why are you suddenly saying that?』
“But, I think I can do this. I can keep at least one of those. ”
Suddenly, Ronan slowly raised his arm. He placed a star between the index and middle fingers of his outstretched right hand. The faint blue light was beautiful.
“It’s only big enough to fit in one hand.”
Ronan grinned and clenched his fist as if he was trying to catch a star. The mother star, hidden by her hand, disappeared her traces. Abel, realizing that her persuasion had not worked at all, clenched her fist.
『···It seems my brain was worse than I thought.』
“Do it if you can.”
Ronan lowered his gaze and glared at Abel. The momentum was pretty good, but that was it. Abel smiled bitterly.
『Poor nephew, I will send you to your brother right away.』
The moment Ronan failed to kill him with one hit, his luck ran out. He had no intention of showing any more mercy. After a short mourning, Abel rushed to the ground.
Kwaaang-! As soon as the sand he was standing on exploded, his figure disappeared.
‘As expected, it’s slow.’
Abel laughed. He was the only one who maintained the original speed in a time that seemed to have stopped and slowed down.
The foam of the waves and the sea breeze that tangled my hair had all stopped. Ronan was making some semblance of movement, but he was just at the stage of raising his sword and taking a stance.
『Don’t complain too much. Because everyone will live within me anyway.』
Abel, muttering to himself, delivered a slash. The blade, which fell in a wide arc, was about to touch Ronan’s neck. Kaaaaang-! A sudden metallic sound rang out in the frozen time.
『What!』
“You… wow, you thought I was slow.”
Abel’s eyes widened. Ronan raised one corner of her mouth. Before he knew it, his sword, which had risen, was flailing around, interlocked with his own sword.
“how.”
It was impossible. It was a moment when he was embarrassed and showed his vulnerability. Ronan, who adjusted his posture, immediately launched a counterattack. bang! He pushed Abel away and fired a barrage of sword strikes.
『Pfft…!』
Ronan was already moving at the same speed as him. Abel responded urgently. Kagagak! Invisible slashes intersected and hundreds of sparks flew into the air.
『You bastard, what tricks did you use!』
Abel shouted, but Ronan silently swung his sword. It was the moment when the increasingly violent fighting reached its peak. Kaaaang-! The two people were thrown out with a loud noise and landed on the floor.
Abel’s face was quite serious, unlike before. After she caught her breath, Ronan opened her mouth.
“Whoa…my prediction was right, as expected.”
“what?”
“It was very sweet. “Your baby’s blood.”
Ronan chuckled. Abel soon realized what she meant and was astonished. Ronan had suddenly bitten the back of her neck to suck her blood.
『No way, you are cursed…』
“Okay… now it seems like all the chaff that was stuck at the bottom is gone. “Thanks to you.”
That’s why he didn’t open his mouth even though his nose was broken. In order to even slightly increase the odds of winning, it was necessary to completely extinguish the curse remaining in the body.
Since he healed himself by drinking the blood of the previous giant king, the strategy was to promote healing by drinking the blood of Abel, who was now no different from the giant king. Fortunately, it was successful, and now it was time to settle the score.
“I’ll finish it this once. “Not twice.”
Ronan took a deep breath and grabbed the hilt of the sword with both hands. Thanks to regaining some of my energy, I felt like I could try the secret technique I was planning to use against the King of Giants. Abel, seeing his arrogant behavior, growled.
『Seeing how much you talk, I guess the time of death is approaching. Well, you know that nothing will change, right?
Judging by the fact that he had lost control of his facial expressions, he seemed quite angry. Actually, Abel was right. Even though all the curses had been melted away and the skill itself had reached a boiling point, the condition of the body was not very good.
‘If I had known this would happen, I would have at least kissed you.’
Ronan suddenly remembered Adeshan’s face and twisted his lips. Why do I now remember the unfortunate saying that when it’s time to die, a loved one appears in a ghostly light?
If you lose, you die. Even if you win, you die. Still, I fight because I cannot back down. Abel, who was thinking about something about her, took the same stance as Ronan.
“good. Let me hang out. I’ll finish it this once.』
“Thank you for that.”
Ronan laughed. When the two people closed their mouths, the sound of waves was loud. Ronan and Abel stood facing each other and raised their swords.
『Then, let’s meet as one.』
Abel said. As I concentrated, time stretched out. At the same time, both figures disappeared from sight. grasp! Two explosions occurred on a quiet sandbank.
The two rushed towards each other. But they couldn’t see each other. All I could instinctively feel was that the other person existed and was getting closer.
Before long, a moment crossed. There was no metallic sound. Time began to flow as it should, and the two people who had disappeared appeared. It was the moment when the stationary waves collapsed.
Blood poured out of Ronan’s mouth.
“···Kuhuh.”
Ronan stumbled. I ended up getting cut in the stomach. The blood gushing out from the affected area was unrealistically red. Abel’s laughter came from behind her.
“haha. Look at that.』
My vision was becoming blurry. It was the moment when Abel looked back at her with a winning smile. Ronan corrected her posture and spoke in a cracked voice.
“You… are the setting sun.”
“what?”
“I’m afraid of losing, so I pull the light of the world… that’s why I planned this crazy thing. “I am afraid that the people I gave my heart to will perish… so that it will remain forever in the most beautiful burning moment…”
What on earth are you talking about?
Abel asked, but there was no answer. Before Ronan’s hazy eyes, the memory of watching the sunset from the Hill of the Four Seasons with Adeshan was replaying. After catching his breath, he continued speaking.
“Don’t be such a slut. Let the sun go down. After the night passes, the morning always comes. Sunsets are beautiful because there are other times in people’s lives…”
Abel narrowed his eyes at the inexplicable sound. He was about to deliver the finishing blow after deciding that it was nonsense right before his death. Sigh! A blue line was drawn over Abel’s neck.
『······!』
An eerie sensation that came late ran through my whole body. She was completely unaware that the blade had touched her. She had already been cut when she had just competed.
“you.”
In fact, there wasn’t much difference if it was a secret technique. I just did what I was most confident in. The simple act of pulling out a knife and cutting it faster than anyone else.
Tuk. Abel’s head slipped along the cross section and fell to the floor.
“therefore···.”
Ronan trailed off. Phew! Blood surged like a fountain and soaked the sand. He let out a low murmur as he dropped his sword.
“Enough. Abel.”
