NOVEL NEXT Chapter 142
On the hill, at the entrance of a quaint and tidy home.
A young girl with silver hair and blue eyes reaches out with her delicate hands to grab a man.
– “Don’t go…”
– “Hmm! Hmm! I guess Dad needs to be here, right?”
– “Honey! They say the crops have been seriously damaged lately… Everyone in the village is leaving, you can’t just stay behind.”
– “Ahem, that’s true, but…”
– “Really… Where did Aria inherit this clinginess from?”
– “Dunno…”
The woman who looks like a mother lifts the whiny little girl, making her face her father.
– “Aria, it’s okay. Dad will be back soon.”
The man gently caresses the girl’s cheek as he speaks.
– “Honey, isn’t this kind of nice? She’s so cute; we can just keep her with us forever.”
– “You really… Is that your idea? When Aria grows up, she’ll see everything.”
– “……”
– “…What’s with the silence? You can’t be saying I’m not enough for you…?”
– “No…! Both of you are too precious to me…”
– “…Me too.”
– Hug.
The three of them embrace one another.
It was warm.
Warm enough to recall even now.
And this, is the last memory of family that Aria remembers.
…
Pew pew pew!
Scarlet arrows target only Markosias.
– “Oh no!”
– “Papa-Papwaanng!”
– “■■■■■■■!”
Markosias soars into the sky momentarily, writhing, but cannot escape the arrows of fate.
In fact, Aria was trying hard to ignore it.
What she felt from the red light leading to Markosias is…
Great Demon Andras.
The object of Aria’s hatred.
The scent of that entity, which holds the grudge of revenge, lingered heavily, as if it had no intention of hiding its identity.
‘Lev-san… really… Andras…?’
As her mind swirls in confusion.
– “Kill Lev Denec.”
– “!!!!”
The command from Markosias fell.
– Swoosh.
With that one line, Aria’s delicate body slowly moves.
‘…!’
She somewhat anticipated that her body would be used.
But still, she thought she was just the one responsible for healing magic, having consumed all her sacred power.
Thus, she never expected to receive a direct command to kill someone.
She thought it would end with her being sacrificed in some horrific event.
‘Of all times…!’
Since she had cast surveillance magic on Lev, it was certain she could reach him even with her eyes closed.
As Aria, who didn’t look well, suddenly started to leave,
Edwin and Yeriel grabbed her.
“Aria?”
“Aria, where are you going…!”
– Fwhoosh!
– Bam bam bam!
– “What are you doing? Haha!”
Of course, Markosias prevented them from approaching Aria.
‘Edwin-san, Yeriel-san!’
Her voice wouldn’t come out. Her body moved on its own.
And just as if to tie all this together, Markosias’s inner thoughts were conveyed to Aria.
– “Kugh…! Kyaa! This familiar scent of magic… has my friend, Andras’s power really lodged into him…?”
“!!!”
– “The Great Demon Andras is dead.”
– “I killed him.”
– “I inherited his powers.”
In that moment, Aria recalled when Lev mentioned Andras.
To maintain his relationship with Yeriel, he seemed to entirely push her away, trying to sever all feelings.
‘What if that was all… true…?’
Finally, one possibility that Aria had ignored opened up.
If he really did kill Andras and had become stronger by inheriting his power,
And based on that power, if he was hunting demons…
Perhaps this situation could be understood.
But, it was too late.
The voice of a Markosias consumed by madness struck hard in Aria’s mind.
– “Ah! So, it was true!! Jinn had forgotten. You must have wanted to kill Andras too, right? He is the enemy who took your parents!”
As he said, she was now on her way to… kill Lev Denec.
– “Hahaha! But what will you do~~?!”
Markosias seemed to have found a good source of dark magic and began to taunt Aria.
– “Cugh. That… that man you love, he is the one who killed Andras. To you, he must be more than a benefactor… and you will repay him with death; what a lovely picture!”
‘…N-no. No.’
She wanted to deny the demon’s whisper and this action.
But she could do nothing.
Because Aria’s mouth and body no longer moved.
– “Aria!!!!”
The shouts of Edwin and Mellisa from behind grew distant.
– “Good, good, you’re doing well! Don’t lose your sanity. Just see and hear it clearly! You will kill Lev Denec yourself! Hehe!”
Only Markosias’s urging forced her to move.
*
Ding.
[Markosias (Human, Angel) – HP : 0%]
[Markosias (Demon Beast) – HP : 19%]
‘Is it impossible anymore…’
Even while standing still, her hands shook uncontrollably, and her field of view narrowed to a pea-sized size.
There was no strength left in her body.
Perhaps she wouldn’t even have the strength to pull the trigger.
‘Ugh… it really is tough…’
[Overload]
[*Player’s stress level: Extreme]
[*Your actions are restricted]
Through dual casting, repeating Tarchangelization and Demonization.
Extreme pain surged with the climbing erosion level.
This was forcibly stuffed into the Gray Ashen Bolt and fired.
And under the balance of hell, a forced recovery.
It felt like someone next to me was forcing my recovery to endlessly use a technique that consumes stamina to attack.
‘I’m not a graphic piece of junk…’
Carrying out this complicated calculation felt like a real pain.
“…Kugh…!”
It’s okay.
“I’m almost there…”
While torturing Caeran, I had redefined the position of my soul’s well through the dimensional gate of Markosias’s five legions connected to the magic tower.
‘Not yet, I can’t use Windkill yet…’
Edwin, Yeriel, and Aria could finish off the 19%.
‘Well, there’s Violet too… I must take Markosias with me.’
I reluctantly pulled my heavy body against a rock to sit.
Is the dilapidated house shriveling? It really hurts.
‘Maybe it’s because it’s in the demon territory; even the air feels awful…’
While I was gasping for breath.
Thud.
The silver-haired girl I had been waiting for arrived.
…
Thud.
Thud.
‘Ah… ahhh… what am I…’
Aria slowly approached Lev, gripping a dagger with both hands.
Even if her grip was off,
What she held was a magic sword.
It would have enough power to kill a boy who had drained all his strength.
‘Lev-sensei.’
Was it a twist of fate that the gods watched her despair?
Aria’s tightly closed mouth struggled to open.
“A, no…!”
As Aria approached him,
Lev smiled lightly as if he had been waiting.
As if he had accepted his death, like someone with a deadline, seeing him so composed,
Tears flowed down from Aria’s eyes in an endless stream.
‘A, no. Run…!’
Aria’s mouth gaped open.
But Lev, whether he understood Aria’s anxious heart or not, simply patted her head.
“How unfortunate. It suited you so well as Clarisse Beremo.”
“…Ah…”
“Aria. Bluebell.”
He gently and softly called Aria’s name.
She wanted to respond, but pain struck her.
‘Kugh… I must hold on…!’
– “Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.”
‘How can I kill Lev-sensei…’
“Ugh!”
Aria shrank her body to refuse the order from his followers.
“Ugh…ugh!”
– Crack!
Slowly, the pain from resisting began to engulf her body.
At that moment, Lev gently lifted Aria’s body and embraced her.
“It’s okay. Aria.”
“!”
Holding her tightly, he patted her back.
In that moment, all the pain felt like it vanished, and comfort enveloped her.
‘No… please. Don’t go…!’
After Andras’s assault,
The shape of her father’s mouth that she had seen from afar was also…
– “Aria, it’s okay.”
Even the last words felt like this.
– “Kill! Kill! What are you doing! Kill! Kill! Don’t hesitate, just kill! Right now!”
“Hah… hah…!”
As Markosias’s relentless commands continued, her violently shaking hand came to a stop.
“Th… Maaan…! No…!”
As the magic sword was pointed at Lev’s abdomen,
– Slide!
He tightly grasped Aria’s hand.
‘Lev-sensei?’
And then…
– Puff!
…
‘A… aa?’
A chilling sound, the sound of flesh being torn.
The signal indicating the blade had reached somewhere it shouldn’t, was transmitted simultaneously to Aria and Lev’s hands.
– ……
After that, there was silence for a while.
If one were to say it was, Markosias’s cackling laughter decorated the aftermath.
But Aria heard nothing.
‘L-Lev-sensei…’
Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she couldn’t voice her cries.
– Cough!
Lev coughed up blood.
It was the expected result.
Even though it was a small magic sword, it had sunk so deep, so visibly into his abdomen, that the blade had become completely obscured.
“A… aa… ah…”
Aria gathered her facial muscles that were trying to move on their own,
‘T-The healing… So, um, I have to remove this blade first…’
She thought and thought.
First, she needed to pull her hand away.
She had practiced healing magic to the point of memorizing it while sleeping back at Clarisse.
She was keenly aware that she was slightly late,
‘But I can do this. Aria…’
She was a healer.
Healing was what she does.
Even if it meant giving her life to chant the spell, she thought she might just save him.
– Tremble…
A thread of hope moved the girl.
Despite being harshly unresponsive until now, her body seemed to finally listen.
But…
– Swoosh!
– !
Lev was still smiling, holding Aria’s hand tightly.
“Lev-sensei… You… this can’t be… I-I will really die…?”
She could no longer hold back.
Her expression, which had always been blank, switched to sorrow, and she began shaking her head wildly.
“This can’t be. This can’t be true… right?”
“Aria.”
Lev’s eyes were half-closed.
It seemed he no longer had the strength to spew blood, and he spoke with a whisper as he struggled.
“I’m sorry…”
“What are you sorry for…! I-I can’t… I’m here. Hic…! Lev-sensei! What I’m trying to do is… hic… not…!”
She had to speak, but it felt like her cries were about to burst forth.
“I know.”
He replied warmly.
The more he did, the more Aria’s heart ached.
– “Is Lev-sensei a good person?”
– “… Lev-sensei is… the worst.”
– “You really are bad…! You’re mean!”
– “Lev-sensei is… the one I like… you are…!”
– “…… You’re too much.”
– “It gives me chills. You, whom I trusted… are worse than I thought.”
– “Enough. Leave me alone!”
– “I don’t need your help with my revenge anymore.”
– “Don’t ever act friendly again… please.”
Despite having spoken so cruelly,
She had practiced saying she liked him a lot, but only managed to say it once.
– Shhhh…
Was it the effect of the magic sword?
His new form was slowly turning to dust.
Aria buried herself deeper into his embrace.
“Don’t go, don’t go, hih… don’t go…!”
She wanted to feel even a little warmth.
Lev gently stroked her hair and slowly opened his mouth.
“D-Don’t blame yourself, tell Edwin and Yeriel, Selena too…”
“I don’t want that, hic. I hate parting like this…!”
“…”
…
– “Aria, you are the healer, right?”
– “I know you hate me, but I came to give you something.”
– “If you trust me, nod your head.”
– “You’ll follow me around anyway, right? This time, watch me properly.”
– “You’ve been too rough on this girl who loves chocolate.”
– “You have a nice scent, Aria.”
– “Aria, be my master today.”
– “You always help me. You’ve been overworking yourself lately.”
– “Andras, I will help you. That revenge.”
– “…Wait for me.”
…
She realized.
She liked him so much.
“Ah…?”
She truly loved him so much.
“Ah?? Lev-sensei…?”
There was nothing left around.
Even the feebly glowing magic sword,
The scoundrel he used to be,
Even the girl who chased Andras.
“Lev…ssensei? Lev, Lev Denec….”
What replaced that was,
The fleeting warmth of the gray-haired boy who would soon vanish…
– Thud. Drip.
Only Aria’s teardrops fell in the space he once occupied.