Chapter 25: Guardian of the Blue Holy Tree 4
――――You will die by thirty.
Setanta's first memory was of his father's words.
The next memory is of his own words, in which he asked back, "Why, Father?".
His father, Leroy, replied to Setanta, "It is the curse of the Demon King".
The curse of the Demon King――.
It is said that all men of the Lou family, the Hero of Light, will not live long because of the curse.
So before they die, all their plans are brought forward. By the time he is five years old, he is holding a sword, by the time he is eight years old, he is in his first battle, and by the time he is twelve years old, he is already a combat expert who can hunt many demons by himself. He literally lived and died on the battlefield. That was the destiny of the men in the Lou Family.
Even if he could escape from the battlefield, he could not escape his fate.
Even if he did not fight, he would not live to thirty.
He would die early anyway.
Even if he shrinks back in his house, the footsteps of the Grim Reaper come closer and closer with each passing day.
There have been confirmed cases of people dying as small holy trees even though they are not over 20, so when you think about it, one would get terrified that one may only have 10 years and a little more to live.
According to the Lou family tradition, facing death is the beginning of life.
As the men live their days momentarily, they ponder the meaning of their birth.
What was I born for?
What will I accomplish in my short life?
What is my value――
When one has a tentative answer to the question of what the meaning of one's birth is, death is no longer a horror. Death is not cold despair. It is not "nothingness," where there is nothing. The death of Lou the hero is a cornerstone. After Lou's death, the history of the people will be spun. Peace and tranquility will sprout.
The ashes of the blue holy tree will be scattered, and the world of people will open up.
When a man dies, Setanta thought, he will become a small tree of life―― the very cornerstone.
"I will fight too."
Setanta is a fool.
He doesn't understand the human reason.
But it was simple for the foolish Setanta that all he had to do was fight.
Die fighting a dragon.
Die in a duel fighting for a woman.
Die defending the holy tree.
All deaths are equal, and after Setanta dies, future generations of recorders will value Setanta's life.
They will record Setanta's worth.
And that record, for better or worse, becomes the cornerstone.
――Look directly at death.
――Yes, Lancelot sensei.
――Don't be afraid, move forward.
――Yes sensei.
――Even if you die, fight.
――Yes sensei.
――Protect your friends. protect humans
――Yes.
――Be the guardian of the Blue Holy Tree.
"――――――――"
Blue blessing envelops his body.
It is said that when a person dies, they return to the holy tree.
With his whole body skewered and smashed to the ground, Setanta saw his father, Leroy, and his teacher, Lancelot as he faced death.
Sensei.
I'll fight.
Protect until the end.
With a jerk, Setanta's body rises to its feet.
Like a puppet, he is pulled up at the foot of the holy tree.
――Fight.
"Yeah."
――Stand up, you protect.
"Ah, ahh, ah."
Setanta reaches out to the tree, which stretches into the sky.
In the illusion, his Father, his teacher, and the children bring down their clear blue hands.
He held on to it and rise to the surface.
Carry everyone's wishes and stand up again.
“Ah, aaaahhhhh, aaaaaaahhhhhh, aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!”
Light envelops his body.
The light compensates for the missing flesh.
He thought that this light was the crystal of human wishes.
――Stand up, hero.
Setanta put his hand, which had changed into a beast's claw, on the trunk of the holy tree.
There's an enemy.
Top.
――Kill it.
Setanta's body creaked and he leaped into the air at once.
× × ×
At the top of the mountain of the holy tree, there was a blue holy tree protruding from a large hole in the mountain and countless fields of flowers phosphorescent blue-white from the particles of the holy tree.
He doesn't know what these flowers are called.
The petals are white.
The light is blue, bathed in the light of the holy tree.
It blooms innumerably, swaying in the wind that blew over the top.
"――――"
Setanta jumped out of the big hole at once and landed in the flower garden with the big blue tree behind him.
"――Oh. I should have killed you twice."
Setanta's face was half-covered with a thunderous blue pattern running toward his temples.
With his golden hair phosphorescing blue and his originally blue eyes shining even bluer, Setanta stared at the powerful enemy in front of him.
Demon.
A nobleman who calls himself Godfred Salvatori.
"..., ...!"
He leaps.
Setanta is a beast.
With both hands and feet on the ground, he rushed at the man in front of him while kicking the white flowers.
"ᛉ ᚲ ᛊ”
The man's arms rise.
The words spun are ancient.
Setanta has no idea what they mean.
However, someone in the blue particles whispered [Northern Flame Wall].
Setanta's right arm, which he swung down to smash the man, however, twisted unnaturally without touching him. The man slashed his wrist, and at the same time, flames erupted from Setanta's entire body.
"Ah, aaahh!?"
"Northern Flame Wall."
The surrounding space is distorted to deflect the attack, or fold the entire space and make it disappear.
At the same time, set any nearby enemies on fire.
(Damn it!)
He rolls like a beast and extinguishes the fire.
Setanta moves at a distance of at least 30 meters away and moves around the man with all four limbs attached to the flower garden to hide.
(Because of that barrier, I can't get close! Then I'll kill him without getting close!)
Setanta ran out. He makes a circle on the ground and makes a holy seal.
He tied the holy mark of a spear.
He throws the spear at the timing when the preliminary movements are the least during the movement of the sprinting limbs. While moving around at high speed, the man accurately deployed his shield and diverted the direction of the attack, the [God's Spear], that flew in at an irregular tempo.
(Damn, no good! Then it's sink or swim!)
"Gauu!"
Diving into the flower garden.
The enemy had just dealt with the [God's Spear] thrown by Setanta.
Now, he can get into his chest.
Accelerating at once, he swung his claws under the man's feet.
"――――!?"
But, as if he had predicted the future, he avoided it with graceful and light steps.
At the same time, the [Arrow of light] that had been deployed sewn Setanta to the ground.
"Gyauuuuuu!"
――fight!
――Stand up!
"Gah... gaaaahhhhhh!"
Pain.
His heart is in tatters.
His lungs collapsed and he can't breathe.
But he got up.
Overcoming the fear of death.
Feeding off the pain, Setanta bared his fangs.
"ᛁ ᚾ ᚦ”
Coldly.
An ancient spell spun calmly.
Instantly, pale blue chains attacked Setanta from all directions as he was trying to escape the [Arrows of light] while they tear his flesh off.
It tangled around Setanta's neck, shoulders, legs―― and the moment it became entangled, it turned into countless thorns and turned his body into a bloody mess.
He howls in pain.
His throat is hoarse from screaming so much.
"Winter Chain."
Cools the surrounding air and creates pale blue chains. As the chains entangle the target, thorns sprout from them, injuring and freezing the captive at the same time.
Those who are hit by this attack experience unbearable pain.
Setanta, bound by chains, was pierced all over by the [Arrows of light] that poured down mercilessly, and was finally obliterated.
Still, the word to fight rings out.
His dead body was forcibly revived, and his body repaired by the blue light stood up again.
"Ah, gya, gya, ah, gah"
Setanta stood up as if he were a puppet getting up with a jerk.
From where he stood up, another [Arrow of light] flew at him.
This time, however, the arrow of light did not penetrate Setanta's body, but dissipated, leaving only a shock that resonated in the core of his body.
(What!? ……I see! This blue light body!)
It had happened before, during extracurricular activity.
Negating the enemy's magic attack――.
A branch of the holy tree grows from Setanta's glowing arm.
As if to fast-forward the opening of a bud, a bud begins to grow from the branch, a white flower from the bud, and then the flower falls off and green leaves begin to grow.
"Hoh? Interesting."
How about this? The man mutters.
Ahead.
The man extends his hands.
Setanta's eyes widen.
Behind the man.
The dark night sky.
There was a small universe.
Many rune stones were floating in the air.
Several arrows of light twinkled like the harbingers of a meteor.
Setanta tried to take evasive action,
And then,
"Ah……"
Setanta was hit by a tremendous impact, as if he were being bombarded by gunpowder thrown from the sky.
Setanta was cut, rolled over, caught in the explosion, his body smashed to pieces, and finally thrown to the center of the gouged earth like a ragdoll.
“Gue, ogoo……. ――――!”
Even though he's pissed off, he notice it instinctively.
His body is not regenerating.
No, it is regenerating.
But it has clearly slowed down.
His heart is pounding.
Setanta's instinctive fear makes him slam his hands down hard, and he rolls out of the gouged earth to where the white flowers have grown.
Then his broken body was instantly replaced by light.
"Haa, haa, haa."
The beast's instinct tells him.
Now, at this moment.
The enemy in front of him has made him aware of information that should not be known――.
(I can't win.)
Setanta looked at the demon who was giving him a curious look.
Can't win.
This is not an enemy he can take on alone.
They bond with their friends with strong trust, each of them is prepared to die, and they use all their attacks, and in the end, there remains hope that is enough to put a thread in the eye of a needle.
The demon in front of him is probably such an enemy.
(I can't win.)
He can never win by himself...
"...No."
"Hmm?"
"...It's not!"
"Hoh."
"Don't give up, me!"
He brought the fighting spirit into his eyes.
Kill your weak self.
He looks at death and sees the value beyond it.
Setanta smiled maniacally.
"You... I'm going to kill you!"
× × ×
(The distance is fifty. The enemy is over there, across the gouged ground. His muscles creaked. His eyes move to the right.
After a second, he circles the hollowed ground from the right and approaches me at once.)
"ᛁ ᚾ ᚦ”
The spell he casts is [Winter Chain].
Decreases the surrounding temperature at once, creates a pale blue chain, and captures the enemy.
At the same time, his right hand generates [Arrow of Light].
(He jumps and swings his right arm down over my head. However, I saw this earlier. It was blocked by the [Northern Flame Wall], and his wrist was cut off along with the space. At the same time, his body burst into flames, and Setanta's body quickly extinguishes the flames. Since he ignores the pain and jumps in, I take three steps backward and attack with [Arrow of Light] and then [Winter Chain]. However, it is dodged. It should be able to keep a distance, so follow-up with another [Arrow of Light]. Even if it misses, it will kill the ground together with the white flower.)
It takes less than a second.
Christo reads Setanta's movements accurately, moves his body precisely according to the solution he has prepared, and counterattacks with a magic attack.
Setanta was hit with [Arrows of light] all over his body and was sent flying to the gouged ground. There, a follow-up [Arrow of light] pierces his body, and he dies again.
"Gua... not... y-yet! More...! Holy tree! More, give me more!"
His body regenerates.
Christo deploys the [Northern Flaming Wall in advance and prepares for his next move.
Setanta threw the [God's Spear] while running around Christo, and immediately after finishing the last throw, he dived into the flower garden.
(I saw that earlier.)
"Gugyaaaaa!?"
Ahead of the surprise attack from under his feet, he shoots through the flower garden.
The ground was gouged out and his head was blown off.
Setanta died again.
(As if he is a homunculus built for battle)
Setanta's movements seemed animalistic and random, but in fact, he was attacking with a precision that had been cultivated through blood-soaked battles.
It's true that there are moments when he moves irregularly, but the trajectories and angles of his arms, which he must have swung many times, were realized with a great deal of repeatability.
It is a killing technique created by man to kill his enemies rationally, efficiently, and quickly.
This is certainly no match for an ordinary demon―― He thinks so again.
However, it was too incompatible with Christo.
As much as he tried to shake it many times and traced the same trajectory over and over so that he could kill with the minimum amount of movement, the technique of doing the same movement was ingrained in his body.
This was fatal to Christo.
"Gaaaahhh!"
(I also saw that attack earlier. I will step back here and use [Winter Chain]. If he retreats, I will skewer him with the [Arrow of Light], and if he stays, I will slash his arm with [Northern Flaming Wall])
Setanta can revive as many times as he wants.
However, his killing skills are not limitless.
If he is able to systematically put together and understand how to deal with an attack, it is over.
The same offense and defense will not work on Cristo.
It is memorized and recorded.
Every time they fought back and forth, Setanta couldn't get close to Christo, and he was just being beaten.
(He's a brave warrior. At first, I thought he was just a barbarian, but this man deserves respect.)
Seeing the way he stood up no matter how many times he was crushed, Christo also sensed what Setanta was carrying. This is how he had fought all his life.
"Hand, over......! Power, give me moree! Holy tree......! Gaaaahhhh! Uraaaaaaaaahhhh!"
Blue light blazes from the crawling Setanta.
It is as if his hair is on fire.
His face is as clear as crystal, and his eyes are clearly glowing blue.
His hands and feet are many times larger than his original muscles.
A giant god of blue light――.
"Uraaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"
Setanta stands up and howls at the sky.
A blast of blue particles flew up.
With the blue holy tree at his back, his fists clenched, his fangs peeling, he howled, reminiscent of the legendary Lou, the hero of light.
"Wonderful."
Christo muttered as he held his tie, which was disheveled.
In that case, if he didn't respond to that, it would be disrespectful.
"Majestic sea monster
Eating each other and crushing each other
Bones shatter, arrowheads become arrowheads, and they gather at the red branch of the red edges."
Chanting.
The rune magic formula of raining down a thousand magic spears is deployed.
ᛇ ᚦ ᛏ ᚺ.
Corresponding rune stones are released into the void from both of Christo's hands.
The four types of runes emitted red phosphorescence under the blue holy tree, forming a square formation in the night sky.
Christo continues his chanting as he dodges Setanta's attack.
"The magic spear, it will pierce all armies.
Spread the thorns and block the sky
Wrap it, surround it, sweep it away."
"Damn it! I won't let you!"
Setanta's attacks did not hit.
The distance is fifty meters away, and the [Arrow of Ligh] is always aiming at him.
Deflecting the flying [God's Spear] with the [Northern Flame Wall", Christo released a red branch into the sky as a catalyst.
"Rain of death, red thorns.
Stand in the shallows and shoot at the heart."
Christo stretched out his hands.
The empty square glows red.
"Rain down, demon spear of red branches!"
In an instant, the earth burst.
Countless red throwing spears fell from the square.
Unlike the [Arrows of light], they had a considerable mass, and because it is Christo's magic, they bombarded the white flower fields, each one bombarding Setanta.
Not even Setanta's scream was left behind.
The center of the flower field on the mountain of the holy tree―― the area where Christo and Setanta were fighting was literally blown apart, and countless white petals scattered and dug into the black soil.
The powerful bombardment, as if they were plowing the field, had pierced Setanta's body and obliterated him into pieces.
"――――More, more..."
He thought that even the stain of blood might have been absorbed by the soil, but blue particles gathered in the area where Setanta had been and reconstructed his body.
But this time things were clearly different.
"Mo... re..."
His body glowed, and his legs.
From the ankles down, which were probably sucking up blue particles from the ground, they looked like tree roots, rooting into the black soil that had been dug up.
In addition, the branches of the blue holy tree that had grown from his arms had grown larger, and his hands had become complete branches.
His limbs became trees.
This means he cannot fight.
Christo narrowed his eyes in front of the half-monster Trent-like Setanta.
(Hmm, I see)
"... !? Are you, going to, ran away?"
With a hoarse voice, Setanta asked Christo, who suddenly turned his back.
"My job is to hold you back. I've already done that."
Setanta can't come after him anymore.
Or rather, he can't fight with that.
In the first place, Christo doesn't even know if he can leave it as it is.
If he keeps killing this man so much that his mind collapses from the pain and he stops thinking, he could [kill] him, but that would be too much work.
"W-wait..."
"I won't wait. It pains me that I can't finish you off, but I have no choice."
Christo's eyes caught a glimpse of Pierre's men bringing out a huge coffin from the great hole in the holy tree. Gilsanas and his men seemed to be out of sight, but that coffin must have sealed the original holy sword. It means that tonight's work is complete.
"If you can survive in that state, then live for the sake of those you hold dear."
"......!"
"Well then. ――You were a great warrior. I admire you."
Wait, wait there, fight me――!
Ignoring Setanta's shouts, he starts to walk away.
From the hole in the holy tree, he could see Pierre and the others, who were covered in blood and wounded. From the expressions on their faces, it seemed that they had just barely made it.
"Pierre."
"Christo. Thank you for your hard work."
Pierre, in white armor, spoke and was supported by the brown-skinned man
A large amount of blood spilled from the mouth part of the helmet.
“It looks like you were badly beaten. But how can you escape from the [Demon Burial]?"
"Never mind that, let's get the hell out of here."
The young man with ragged hair―― Luciano, said so.
The dog-eared young man standing next to him had lost his left arm and was covered in blood.
"Calling the big bats. I spent a lot of money and time training them so that they would not be frightened by the light of the holy tree."
The brown-skinned young man tells Christo, pushing on Pierre's shoulder.
“What about the enemy? What about the [Demon burial"
"Alive. Or rather, I was badly beaten. If [Dragon Slayer] participated, it might have been bad."
"Did they follow you?"
When Christo asked, Pierre and the others nodded.
They seem to be following them.
If so, he will withdraw immediately.
"Pierre.-sama"
"Thank you for your hard work. Have you recovered the sword?"
"In there."
Pierre's subordinates―― the ones in charge of retrieving the holy sword pointed to a huge coffin.
It was quite large.
It was so large that it could accommodate one large Setanta.
(If it were a human being's physical strength, it would take five or six people to lift it up. Does this contain a holy sword that is said to have been wielded by an ancient hero?)
He would like to open the lid and take a look, but――even at this distance...... Christo felt a great sense of loathing. If he looks at it directly, he'll probably go insane. He had a hunch.
"By the way, where are Gilsanas and the others?"
"They are resting in the vaults."
One of the retrievers smiled brightly. “They looked tired to death, so let's leave them alone for a while.”
"I see. It was hard work."
"Yes."
After that, Christo and the others glided away from the mountain of the holy tree, holding onto the legs of the big bat that the brown-skinned man had called.
× × ×
By dawn, they had encountered the people from the D'Alessio territory, and finished handing over the coffin.
By that time, everyone except Christo was exhausted.
"Ah, I'm tired."
Pierre, who had taken off his white helmet, randomly took off his equipment and fell down in the grass beside the highway. His attendants cleared it away.
From the direction of the road in the direction of the royal capital, several carriages of what appeared to be newspaper merchants were approaching us.
“We will talk about the reward at a later date.”
"Is that ok?"
"I don't mind. You'll pay me properly, right? After you hear the official statement from the kingdom and confirm the nature of my work, you will give me something that matches it. I'm telling you, if you offer me something that is not comparable with my work, or if you refuse to pay me."
"What will happen?"
"Well, I'll take all of your souls."
"Soul?"
"What, it's a metaphor."
Christo smiled and tapped Pierre on the shoulder.
Pierre stared straight back at Christo's face and opened his mouth.
"Aren't you going to ask which faction I belong to?"
“I don't know if you would tell me the truth if I asked you. I don't want to get into trouble again because of the information you've given me."
"I see."
"I wonder how long the academy will be closed."
"Until next month."
The brown-skinned man answers. “Next month, we are picking up those who failed the exam, and the policy is solidifying in the direction of supplementing the students.”
“There will be no extracurricular activities for a while. Instead, we'll probably have to make do with competitions and other events."
"Hmm."
"Christopher Soderholm."
When Pierre calls Christo by his full name, he holds Christo's hand as if to wrap it in his cold hand. Luciano clicked his tongue slightly.
“Meeting you was a good one. I would be very happy if we could continue to be friends."
"Same here."
"You're going to the royal capital, and I'm going to the holy tree mountain for coverage, so the carriages will separate. Since this will be goodbye for a while, is there anything you want to ask me now?"
"No, not really."
If anything, it was not so much what he wanted to hear, but rather a wish that he would not be involved anymore. For the time being, he would like to enjoy training the captured familiar and live with Melvina.
Pierre smiled as his sharp canine teeth slipped from his lips.
holy molly, this novel should have a tag about Setana's transformation
ReplyDeleteTftc
ReplyDelete