Chapter 5 – The Heavenly Emperor And The Ice Emperor, Part 5
He felt like a wall was being taken down. But it must be something that should not be lost. It was something that existed as the last protection for human beings to be human.
Still, once he saw the scene in front of him, it was nearly impossible to suppress the urge that welled up from the bottom of his gut.
Hatred turns to anger. Anger turns into sadness. Sadness turns into laughter.
After going around and around like that, what lies ahead is nothingness. However, human emotions are strange things and do not necessarily disappear. They remain somewhere. They are forever smoldering in a place that he’s not even aware of.
They come out of nowhere. They produce results that are so large that even he himself is surprised. Reason disappears and becomes a beast while instincts are laid bare.
――People call it the urge to kill.
“Wise brother…?”
Hugin was aware of the unusual murderous intent radiating from Hiro.
“…How long do you intend to remain unresponsive?”
Said a female knight who was near Hugin.
She suddenly appeared and sent Hugin’s subordinates to the underworld in the blink of an eye.
Hugin knew that it would be impossible for her to defeat the female knight with her own abilities after she had shown her spearmanship to such an extent. That is why there are things that cannot be understood.
“Hey, you! Don’t come any closer!”
Hugin held up her bow and pointed the arrowhead at the female knight. She did not want her to provoke Hiro any further. However, she ignored Hugin and stepped closer to Hiro.
“I am Haran Skaaha de Felzen. I shall ask you your name, who are you?”
Of course, Hiro made no response. He was just staring at Liz with his empty eyes.
“Hey, I told you to stop!”
Hugin clicked her tongue. She cursed her in her mind for not listening to her. How could she be so capable and yet be so oblivious to Hiro’s condition?
Hugin’s feelings were not conveyed to her, and the female knight glared at Hiro with a wave of swelling anger.
“I’ve given up my self-respect to fight this war, and I’ve finally come to the point where I can take my revenge, and you stand in my way and won’t even tell me your name!”
The sound of an irritated voice rang out in the surrounding area. However, Hiro did not turn around.
“Fuh, don’t make fun of me!”
Skaaha, who had lost her nerve, picked up her spear and jumped at Hiro.
“Hey, don’t you dare touch my wise brother!”
Sensing the attack, Hugin fired her arrows, but they were all knocked away.
“If you are to challenge the Five Emperors of the Spirit Sword ― the Ice Emperor, you should be prepared to die.”
Skaaha warned Hugin.
“…Five Emperors of the Spirit Sword, you say?”
Hugin had heard a bit of the Five Emperors of the Spirit Sword from Hiro. Hiro advised her to run for her life if she encountered them. That’s when Hugin suddenly realized something.
Perhaps the Ice Emperor had slowed down her ability to deal with danger.
“It’s a disgrace for a knight to attack from behind, but there’s no need to hold back when it comes to those who don’t know the etiquette.”
After kicking the ground, Skaaha jumped. The spear dropped from the top to the bottom ― as if to thrust directly into the ground. If it were a normal person, they would not be able to avoid it, and its power would blow their body away. However, the hem of the “Black Princess Camellia” not only flipped and bounced off the tip of the spear but also, frighteningly, sharpened and struck back strongly.
“Tch, what the heck is that?”
Skaaha turned around and succeeded in avoiding it by sacrificing a slight of her cheek skin. Still, before she had time to adjust her stance, the black spear was released. Skaaha jumped back with a bloody face. Despite this, she still managed to avoid the black spear that was closing in on her with paper margin, and even though she jumped backward, the rain of attacks never stopped.
“What a strange cloak you have――!”
If you’re intimidated, you die; if you’re hesitant, you die; if you’re afraid, you die. So a battle of defense unfolds, not even tolerating a single blinking of the eye.
Skaaha, who continues to handle the black spear that is released at a tremendous speed without delay, is also like a monster. Skaaha repelled the black spear strike in front of her heart and landed on the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
“Hah, hah… hah, what’s that?”
As Skaaha, who is repeatedly breathing, looked up…
“W-when did you…”
Hiro stood in front of her. In the blink of an eye, the distance between them was reduced at an alarming rate. But strangely enough, neither of them showed any signs of attacking.
Skaaha was glaring at Hiro, her mouth twisted in bitterness.
Hugin was a warrior herself. She knew why Skaaha had stopped moving.
――It’s because of the black eyes.
“I see… That’s the Heavenly Spirit Eye, huh?”
As someone who devotes her life to martial arts, this is a kind of extreme. It is a realm that only a handful of people who have spent their entire lives training can reach.
The ability to see breathing particles, to catch the moving air, to realize everything.
“How much power do you have in such a small body…? Are you really a human being?”
When Skaaha muttered with a touch of sorrow, Hiro painted his lips with an eerie smile.
Silence ― No, in the oppressive feeling of being forced to be silent, Hiro announces his name in a voice without intonation.
“Hiro Rei Schwartz von Grantz…”
He raises his right hand and touches the eye patch that covers the left half of his face.
The atmosphere is unbearable and bursts as the hegemony swell. A huge amount of power presses down on the surroundings. Malice and murderous intent mixed together and began to create a unique and distorted space.
In the midst of this, Hiro spun words that seemed to melt into the darkness.
――That’s the name of the person who will kill you.
Immediately after that, the black, stagnant Heavenly Emperor swung with all his might. Skaaha was able to catch the slash that was unleashed at close range, but the impact was so great that the ground caved in.
“Guh!?”
Next, Hiro’s right leg flew from the edge of Skaaha’s vision. Skaaha raised her left arm to catch the blow, but she could not withstand the fierce blow and blow away like dredging dust.
“Not bad… now it’s my turn.”
As soon as she landed on the ground, she kicked the earth and counterattacked when she came face to face with Hiro. The tip of her spear was precise and ruthlessly aimed at the vital point, but Hiro deftly flicked it all away.
For some reason, Skaaha never stopped smiling, even though her attacks were all blocked.
“Hmph, let me show you my power!”
Skaaha’s voice was high-pitched and calm, clear as the wind.
The “blessings” of the “Ice Emperor” ― “Special Attack.” The clouds were rapidly swallowing up the stars in the sky, and a storm of tyranny was sweeping across the sky.
“The Ice Emperor told me that you are the user of the Heavenly Emperor.”
An ice spear, which could even change the weather, was created in the atmosphere and covered the sky. As a result, the temperature began to drop drastically.
The unusual change in the environment caused everyone on the ground to stop and look at the sky.
“Then there’s no need to take it easy! Ice Emperor, stab the entire thing to death!”
As Skaaha swung her arms down, a torrential rain of ice spears rained down on the land. A cloud of white smoke enveloped the area, shattering the ground and causing the earth to shudder as it tried to engulf Hiro.
However, Hiro only looked at the scene as if it was someone else’s problem and did not make any pretense of running away.
”Wise brother! Please run away!”
Hugin’s scream rang out as the clouds turned the sky black. But it was pointless. The area where Hiro had been was already filled with disorderly ice spears.
Hugin collapsed in shock on the spot, but Skaaha let out a sigh of admiration.
“He’s not dead yet. But I’m surprised. That Special Attack doesn’t work.”
As the wind blew away the white smoke, clearing the vision and dispersing a cold air that would freeze the lungs if breathed in, Hiro appeared horrifyingly unharmed. It was as if a hole had been left in the ground around him, and not a single ice spear existed.
“…..I see. Is that the Black Princess Camellia?”
Skaaha distanced herself from Hiro while catching her breath.
“Even so, that’s a tremendous power. How deep have you reached…? No, how can you stay sane when you use the conflicting powers of the Heavenly Emperor and the Black Princess Camellia?”
As usual, Hiro does not respond to Skaaha’s soliloquy, nor does he move a muscle.
The only thing he does is look straight at Skaaha. Skaaha shivered as if she had felt a chill in her body as if she had felt a strange presence that seemed to be chasing her everywhere.
“And there’s something else. I thought it might be the Heavenly Spirit Eye, but unfortunately, the Ice Emperor denied it. So what are you really?”
“…..”
As before, Hiro did not answer anything. Skaaha shrugged her shoulders in resignation and readied the Ice Emperor.
“Then let’s hear it directly from your body. Do not think that the Black Princess Camellia can prevent this.”
Cold air began to flow from the blue spear. The gray smoke fell to the ground and dyed the world.
“There is nothing that the Ice Emperor cannot pierce.”
――Divine Piercing.
An explosion of high energy. The ice spear from Skaaha flew towards Hiro like a bolt of lightning.
However, Hiro skillfully manipulated the Black Princess Camellia to block the ice spear, and the black cloak spread its jaws and swallowed the ice spear. Skaaha was appalled and stared at him in disbelief.
“It’s merely a disguise ― in fact, the one above your head is the real one.”
She smiled and pointed to the sky.
When Hiro looked up above him, he saw that the Ice Emperor was heading straight for him, emitting a powerful sonic wave that froze the air where it had passed. The Black Princess Camellia was still digesting the ice spear, so Hiro, now defenseless, tried to take evasive action.
“Unfortunately, your feet are frozen due to the “Special Attack”… It is impossible to escape.”
Said Skaaha gaspingly. She had used too much energy, and her beautiful face showed signs of fatigue. Still, she let out a ragged breath and pointed her fist at Hiro.
“It’s my victory.”
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