Chapter 349: Bread and Dagger (47)
At some point during the beginning of his charge, dozens of light bombs had formed in the sky.
And then poured down like a rain of stars.
They shattered and splintered, splattering blood.
There was no way those light bombs pounding against his body wouldn’t hurt. With his berserk state now gone, the Demonic Human had to be feeling pain far worse than anything he’d experienced so far.
Even so, the Snow Leopard’s fierce charge showed no signs of stopping.
I held my breath, waiting for the moment he would slam into me like a battering ram.
And right before his full-powered charge reached me—
I spun with a whirl, as if I were a frictionless sphere sliding over ice.
Following along the Snow Leopard’s trajectory, I naturally slipped behind him.
It was a technique I’d learned from Gilford, and the very same one I’d used to kill him.
Secret Technique, Revolving Counter
And that was the end.
Squelch! My sword pierced straight through his neck.
His seemingly unstoppable charge finally came to a halt at that moment. Maybe, on some instinctive level, he sensed death approaching and knew he had to stop here.
His ragged breaths scattered into white wisps.
With blood bubbling in his throat, the Demonic Human let out a raspy laugh.
“Kh-khuh... kughk, keck! S-Splendid. You’ve given me such a brazenly magnificent end... so I shall give you some bread in return.”
I stared at him, puzzled.
He had bloodshot eyes and was looking behind him with a broad grin.
That was far from an expression of displaying genuine gratitude toward me.
No, his expression looked more like he was delighted to deliver a final blow against the humans he so despised.
He opened his mouth—Beeeh—revealing a grotesque eyeball inside. This was that so-called ‘blessing,’ the one that demanded its user’s life to unleash a spell of fearsome power.
With a crackling sound, a translucent circle began to spread outward around it.
Unable to hold back any longer, he burst into laughter.
“What do you think is my final wish?”
Damn it. I silently cursed and hastily withdrew my sword. After all, even if I left the Demonic Human like this, he was already a dead man walking.
I tried to slip out of the hemispherical barrier that had begun to form around us as quickly as possible.
“Krgh, ugh...!”
If only I hadn’t heard that muffled groan.
My eyes urgently darted toward the source. There lay Senior Neris, still bound by the shadow-like thing, writhing on the ground.
The hemispherical barrier’s hue grew darker by the moment.
The moment its brightness faded completely, the spell would be complete.
I rushed over to Senior Neris. Along the way, I found the hatchet I’d dropped earlier and, in a frenzy, began to hack at the shadows holding her.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew as though I were striking metal. Witnessing this, the Demonic Human broke into a hysterical cackle.
“Mmff, mmff!”
It seemed Senior Neris also realized that something was off about the situation on the battlefield.
The only fortunate thing was that, as I kept hacking and hacking, the shadow binding her did eventually give way. It seemed that it could be destroyed with enough aura-infused force.
First, I cut through the part wrapped around her neck.
“Hff, mmph? Urgh?!”
Next, I freed her shoulders, her waist and her mouth, leaving only her ankles still bound.
Senior Neris was in terrible shape.
The pressure must have been more than anyone could imagine; her arms and legs had already snapped. If I’d left her like that any longer, even her ribs might have been crushed.
She’d been right to protect only her vital organs with mana.
And so, just as I finally manage to destroy that remaining shadow—
The hemispherical barrier had already grown oppressively dark. I hoisted her onto my back and sprinted with all I had, but there was simply not enough time.
With each step I took, the surroundings grew darker.
And soon, even the faint traces of light seeping through the barrier began to fade. Escape seemed beyond reach no matter how desperately I ran.
In that case, there was only one option left.
I positioned myself to throw Senior Neris. Naturally, she was the one who panicked at that.
“S-Sir Ian! What on earth are you—?!”
“Then should we both just die?”
I was already on edge, so my voice came out rough and curt.
She stammered, failing to give a proper response.
Not that I cared. I never planned on listening to her opinion anyway.
With all my might, I hurled Senior Neris outside the hemispherical barrier.
I then immediately dashed forward with all my might once again, but the outcome was just as I’d expected.
The moment her body barely went past it,
My own body slammed into the barrier with a thud and I collapsed. Gritting my teeth, I struck the barrier again with my hatchet, but it didn’t budge.
“...it’s useless.”
My fierce gaze turned to the snow leopard Demonic Human.
He lay there, barely alive, clinging to his faint breathing.
Anger surged inside me as I marched over to him.
“This barrier blocks anyone inside from escaping. You’ve seen how powerful it is by now, haven’t you?”
“What the hell have you done...?!”
Even as I growled those words, the Demonic Human just let out a faint chuckle and smiled.
In a weak, fading voice, he spoke.
“I can sense them... those who’ve realized something’s wrong and are rushing here to save you. How many of them are you planning to drag with you to the grave?”
His words snapped me out of my rage.
Now that I focused, I could sense people approaching this place. Among them were presences I knew well.
This barrier blocked anyone inside from going out.
Which meant it wouldn’t stop anyone outside from coming in.
A startled shout burst from my throat.
“Don’t come in!”
At that, the presences outside flinched and froze.
What if I told them outright that I might die here?
I could practically see the faces of certain women who wouldn’t hesitate to charge in. So, I had no choice but to offer a clumsy excuse.
“I-I still have things left to do, so... don’t worry about me and just wait there!”
“Keh keh keh...“
Hearing my feeble lie, the Demonic Human let out a hearty laugh.
He seemed more amused than I would have ever expected.
“How lovely. We were like that too... relying on each other, sacrificing one another, living with the mindset of gnawing into our own flesh to survive. So, tell me, how does it feel to willingly offer yourself up as a sacrifice?”
“It’s fucking awful.”
His laughter grew even louder.
The barrier gradually began to tremble. It was obvious that the end was near.
I’d already given up and slumped to the ground. I shouted a few more times just to be safe, worried my companions might try to rush in.
The Snow Leopard murmured his final words like a dying testament.
“Looking back, we didn’t really want to accept that ‘blessing.’”
“...Then you should have just refused it.”
“Our lives were too harsh to allow that. Honestly, I didn’t want to die... I was just too afraid to keep on living. A life more terrifying than death—I can’t pass that kind of fate onto my kin, can I?”
I almost scoffed, but stopped myself.
He was going to die anyway.
It cost me nothing to listen to the ramblings of a dying man. Ridiculous as it was, I decided to humor his last words.
“And you believe this will make life better for your remaining kin?”
“I don’t know. But we had hit rock bottom. Driven into a corner, we were desperate enough to try anything, and that’s how we ended up here...”
I let out a heavy sigh.
I could sense a hint of regret in his tone. Come to think of it, wasn’t Venetta like this too?
Cornered and driven into a dead end.
I honestly still didn’t fully understand what that meant.
“What’s the state of the elves these days? I’ve heard a cult has been spreading among them.”
“C-Cult, you say?”
The demonic human hummed thoughtfully.
“That might be true. But we never really had any other choice...”
“Even now?”
“Now, even more so.”
His ragged breathing was proof that he was at death’s doorstep.
The faint tremors of the barrier grew more frequent. While there was a commotion outside, it was clear that this spell was about to be unleashed first.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
The Demonic Human let out one final wail.
“Ohh, my poor young kin! Even they have been forced to devour that foul flesh—what a cruel fate!”
Right until the end, he only worried about his kin.
But, wasn’t he the same guy who’d just so mercilessly tossed them at me? I wanted to scoff again, but I sensed something strange just then.
Someone was trying to leap inside the barrier.
Startled, I raised my voice again.
“Stop! Don’t come in! How many times do I have to—?!”
But the person who rushed inside the barrier was so unexpected that I was left speechless.
It was a petite elf girl.
It was Aviang.
She cried out desperately.
“Y-Young kin?! Th-Then what about my younger sibling?! Did my sibling have to eat that accursed flesh, too?!”
Her eyes were bloodshot, and it was clear she’d lost her composure.
Now that I thought about it, I’d heard something during the time I interrogated her,
Aviang had said she wanted to protect her younger sibling from the cult. Wasn’t that why she’d be living hidden in human society and sending funds every month?”?”
Of course, the young elf’s weak voice wasn’t enough to stimulate the ears of the dying Demonic Human.
His eyes grew dim, and he left me with his final words.
“Thanks for humoring my laments, young human... Let me repay you by revealing my wish to you.”
The barrier began to shake violently.
The ground shattered with a deafening crack, and debris started floating upward. I, too, defying gravity, began to float.
Only then did Aviang come to her senses, darting her gaze around in panic.
But it was already too late.
I could hear people pounding on the barrier from outside, but by now, the spell had already been completed.
One by one, my senses began to shut down.
Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch.
Before I knew it, I was alone in absolute darkness. The only thing lingering in my mind was the dead elf’s final testament.
“I long to return to my Kin’s embrace. Even now, at this very moment.”
And with that, my consciousness was washed away in pure white.