Chapter 166
‘*There's no way out.*’
Numbers, firepower, stamina—she was thoroughly outmatched in every aspect.
Victory was out of the question; the fight itself was unsustainable.
Moreover, with someone for them to protect, the battle could only become more one-sided.
Irene hid the unconscious Regia behind her.
Then, she raised her sword's tip.
*Whoosh—*.
Was even her crimson Flame slowly running out of power? It was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.
At this rate, she would surely collapse from exhaustion within five minutes.
No... perhaps being torn limb from limb by *them* would come first.
The girl gasped for breath, her chest heaving.
“Haa, haa...!”
No solution presented itself.
Even after cutting down one, then two, dozens of grasping hands still came at her.
For the Fox, desperately maintaining the current situation was the best she could do.
Sweat trickled down as she scanned her surroundings.
‘*This is too much.*’
Had she only dealt with a hundred of them?
Rotten chunks of flesh piled at her feet.
Beyond them, at the sight of the thousands of Specters still swarming, only a dark despair seemed to spread.
The Fox pushed away unnecessary thoughts and steadied her wavering stance.
Seizing the moment, a heavy strike was aimed for the girl's neck.
Irene barely managed to block it by tilting her sword's flat.
*Clang—!!*
“Ugh...!”
“*Your story is meaningless.*”
It was the Ragged Man who had charged.
A shovel wreathed in mana.
His brute strength slowly pushed the girl back.
The dirt ground left lines tracing her shoe soles, and the scorch marks from her Flame grew fainter.
Eventually, the Fox couldn't withstand the pressure, and her sword wavered.
Her opponent allowed no such opening.
*Clang! Thwack—!*
The man easily parried the shovel, then landed a mid-kick to her abdomen.
Irene staggered, gasping in pain.
“Cough...!”
*Kieeeek!*
Even in that moment, the corpses showed no mercy.
Claws flew in from the side, aiming for her eyes.
The girl barely managed to twist her head, but a deep wound was carved into her cheek where the attack grazed her.
The spot where mana had seeped in burned with pain, corroding her from within.
A distinct nausea struck the Fox.
“Ugh, uh...”
Irene tried to steady her breathing.
But the staggering beast finally fell to its knees in the dirt.
The Flame that had illuminated the Cemetery's dawn flickered out.
Her once red hair returned to its original orange, and the burning sword blade grew cold.
All her energy was depleted.
“Haa, haa...”
“Is it over?”
Had he realized she had no more strength to resist?
The Ragged Man lowered the shovel he had aimed.
And then he spoke.
“*Hand over Regia Filets behind you.*”
“......”
“*I do not take unnecessary lives.*”
He was saying that if she willingly handed over the Puppeteer, he wouldn't take her life.
Irene remained kneeling, unable to offer any reply.
Her shallow breaths turned to mist.
*Throb—*.
It was painful.
Decay was progressing in her wounded areas, and her mana-contaminated skin felt as if it were peeling away.
Moreover, on all sides, the corpses were smacking their lips as if eager to fill their bellies.
Thousands of corpses, at that.
It was a terrifying sight.
Nevertheless, the girl uttered a sound.
“......*Go to hell*.”
She had no intention of handing over Regia.
The Fox understood the situation.
If she allowed their will to be done, her entire daily life would be shattered.
The peaceful days and the time she had spent would scatter.
The days she had wanted to protect, or had to protect, with *that person* would be ruined.
Therefore, the girl could not break.
“*Then you must die.*”
The Ragged Man reached out his hand.
Irene, with trembling hands, still grasped her sword.
A warning brushed her ears once more.
-Never go against the flow.
-The natural order is absolute law.
-If you, a mere creature, try to defy the Stars, you will surely pay a price worse than death.
The Sword Saint had warned her.
If she forcibly opened the door, she would suffer the backlash.
He had even added that she would live an eternity trapped in her Inner World.
His gaze was serious, devoid of any hint of playfulness.
As if it were telling her to abandon that choice above all others.
“Ha...”
Yet, the girl had no other choice.
The girl poured her concentration into her sword.
Beyond her slowly fading consciousness.
She searched for the light inherent within herself.
Soon, a faint resonance reached her ears.
[My poor Fox.]
It was the Voice of the Star.
As she tried to forcibly open the inner door, it seemed to possess a will attempting to dissuade her.
Irene ignored the noise and gathered her strength.
[Why do you invite your own end?]
[, even knowing what tragedy unprepared Starlight will bring?]
[You are like a moth flying into a flame.]
It was a path she had to walk.
To protect her Sanctuary, sometimes the resolve to break through even flames was necessary.
The girl, no longer weak, knew this truth.
Gritting her teeth, she knocked on the inner door.
[Are you not afraid?]
*I am afraid.*
Yet, she did not flee.
[Are you not sad?]
*I was sad.*
Yet, she did not cry.
If she could assassinate the Reaper before her, if she could ultimately protect this place, that would be enough for her.
She pounded roughly on the inner door once more.
[You will be trapped in eternity.]
[In a place where one hour is like a year, you will meet no one and live a thousand-year punishment.]
[Are your altruism and resolve strong enough to bear such sin?]
*It didn't matter.*
Instead of answering, the Fox simply clenched her fist.
A pure white light slowly spread around her.
[Will you... not regret it?]
*Regret.*
Her hand paused for a moment at that resonance.
But as if nothing had happened, light shimmered in her clasped palms.
Had it accepted Irene's stubborn will?
The Star finally ceased its dissuasion.
[Very well.]
A somewhat poignant voice.
A faint Night Sky reflected beside her.
[If that is your nobility... foolish though it may be, I will not stop you.]
[The Stars will remember your dawn.]
[My Fox.]
The Star whispered.
[Open your eyes.]
The next moment
A single beam of brilliant light pierced through the dark clouds.
A Flash surged into the heart of the Cemetery.
It was Starlight, enveloping only the Fox.
Beyond her suddenly lifted eyelids, only pure white pupils gleamed.
From the tightly gripped sword, a Pure White Flame blazed vividly.
Intense heat permeated the entire area.
“......”
Irene was standing, somehow.
She gazed at the thousands of forces surrounding her, and at the single Necromancer.
A gasp of awe was etched in the eyes of the man who had been dead-eyed until now.
The Fox simply raised her sword without a word.
*Whoosh—*.
Wind wrapped around her fingertips with serene silence.
A sense of omnipotence enveloped her entire body.
Now, it felt as if she could cut down not just the enemy before her... but even the world itself.
The brilliant starlight filled her mind with countless revelations and exclamations.
Her pale, shimmering pupils clearly resembled the stars.
In the field of corpses where a gloomy dawn had settled.
At its center stood a single holy light.
The girl grasped the light.
‘*It's quiet.*’
It felt as if all dawn, except for her, had stopped.
Scattered silence drifted like flower petals.
It felt as if she could count every single particle within the landscape.
In that brief, ecstatic illusion, Irene slowly unleashed her Strike.
A straight horizon line was left on the boundless earth.
Immediately after.
-----!
That Strike produced no sound at all.
Only for a moment, the world split apart.
The Necromancer, the corpses, the Hunting Dogs had unilaterally faced the straight line.
They remained stunned, only belatedly realizing they had been cut.
Thousands of necks simultaneously began to fall.
Only then did a belated, drawn-out cutting sound reverberate.
*Slice—!*
“......*Burn*.”
Her lips barely moved.
The Pure White Flame, as if answering her call, consumed the enemies without leaving a trace.
The Ragged Man's sturdy Domain shattered into pieces.
A mere Strike.
Yet, the girl had glimpsed a completely different world.
Intense exhilaration became unbearable with the silence.
Just as the light was driving away the dawn.
[This is as far as you go.]
Her consciousness suddenly blurred.
The Fox's legs gave out, and she soon collapsed onto the ground.
The surrounding scenery had returned to the original Academy alley.
The faint Voice of the Star echoed in her ears.
[You are foolish.]
[Now, nothing can be undone.]
[I can only hope you have lived your Star to the fullest.]
[My poor Fox.]
*Fading—*.
Even that voice grew fainter and fainter.
Irene, unable to offer any resistance, simply accepted her fading consciousness.
Even as she sank into a deep sea, there was someone she thought of.
His uniquely ominous impression kept flickering in her mind.
‘*Yuda.*’
She had ultimately broken a taboo, but it wasn't an act done without thought.
Irene wasn't so reckless.
A low resonance echoed within her.
‘*I'm not scared.*’
Her consciousness flickered intermittently.
Her pure white pupils lost their momentary glow, and her closed eyelids embraced gentle rest.
Even as all her senses blurred as if underwater, the Fox remained.
*Slowly—*.
As if falling asleep.
Yet, she did not fear what came next.
She simply sank into the flow.
‘*If it's you...*’
You will surely find me.
No matter where I am, no matter how far I fall, you will find me.
The Strike she had just unleashed was a testament to her faith in their connection.
The belief that even if it took days, months, years, or centuries, he would surely find her.
With just that belief, the Fox was ready to endure hundreds of days.
The girl conveyed a final, unheard message.
“I'll wait.”
Just... don't take too long.
***
Several hours later.
Orange hair lay calmly on a sickbed.
The Fox was unconscious, as if asleep.
“Miss Irene.”
Beside the girl sat a boy.
His hand rested over her slender one.
The Golden Snake looked down at the one person who was everything to him.
With a gently extended hand, he caressed her pale cheek.
He soon murmured with a complex smile.
“When given such faith... how can I not respond?”
The boy tidied his disheveled hair.
Then, he uttered a low whisper.
“Wait for me.”
It was the fulfillment of a responsibility once promised.
A relationship that went beyond mere faith.
When one had sought to tame someone, it was a truth that naturally followed.
A voice acknowledging that the two were each other's only one.
The Snake replied.
“Because I will find you.”
He wouldn't leave her alone.