LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 217
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“…Ah, my sunglasses.”
As I stepped out through the door, I suddenly realized I had left my sunglasses in the Gymnasium.
These eyes… These ridiculously pinkish irises are hard to miss, even from a distance.
Even in Silia, where people sport various hair and eye colors, my appearance stood out.
Setting aside my face, no one else had pink hair or eyes like mine.
There were similar shades of color, but they were either way darker or far lighter; no one could claim to match me.
Was that a good thing? Well, I wouldn’t say so.
People would whisper about me, or even eyeball me.
And…
‘What a unique color.’
‘With that look, I bet they’d get sold for a pretty penny!’
‘Aren’t they a bit too young?’
‘Don’t noble brats prefer them younger?’
“Tsk.”
…That unnecessary memory popped up.
Of course, those who drooled over me ended up giving me a new life, but it wasn’t exactly a pleasant memory.
Considering these thoughts, it seemed I was a little disturbed right now.
Anyway, being born with such looks meant I had to disguise myself to avoid drawing attention, and those sunglasses I left behind were pretty important to that disguise.
Going back to fetch them wouldn’t be that hard.
How difficult could it be?
“…Nah.”
But I simply turned my back.
The reason? I couldn’t explain it properly.
I just had a gut feeling that it wouldn’t really matter.
A gut feeling is hardly a convincing reason to persuade someone, right?
So instead of making excuses for my actions, I stomped the ground.
‘Where should I go?’
The answer came quickly.
After all, I was wearing Edel’s Holy Power on the outside, so there had to be some connection with her.
“Let’s head to Demoninus.”
If it was indeed Edel who sent me the invitation, why did she invite me like this instead of using her perfectly good phone?
If it wasn’t Edel, then why did the man have her Holy Power?
All the answers to those questions could be found in Demoninus, where Edel was.
Even as I dashed quickly, I pulled my hood low and scanned the surroundings.
The building housing Demoninus wasn’t far from Da-eun’s house.
However, where I was located was Yuki’s Gymnasium.
Being in the middle of Seoul meant I was further from Demoninus than I was closer.
“…Guess I’ll have to.”
No matter how fast I was, I couldn’t really pick up speed in a crowded street.
Unless, of course, I was prepared to plow through everyone in my way.
So, I had to use a different means here.
Maintaining my speed, one step, two steps.
As I took the third step, my body soared into the sky.
Looking down, I noticed a person walking by, glancing around in confusion.
They were furiously rubbing their eyes, looking utterly bewildered.
Was the wind that chilly?
I hurried past the shivering pedestrian, sometimes stepping onto the rooftops of nameless tall buildings, and other times hopping onto the back of birds in flight.
When that wasn’t an option, I soared into the air, using the void as a foothold, and soon I began to see my destination.
“…What on earth is that?”
And totally unexpectedly.
Instead of the blue sky, there was a vast expanse of black.
As if a black curtain had been drawn across the sky, I landed and chuckled at the bizarre sight.
“Looks like something is happening.”
To an unknowing bystander, it might look like an eclipse…
No, probably not?
I didn’t think anyone with common sense would mistake such a sight for an eclipse.
An eclipse refers to the phenomenon when the moon covers the sun, not when darkness blankets the sky.
Plus, during an eclipse, a giant hand doesn’t appear and tear through the sky.
“Ha ha. What a mess.”
The dry laugh that escaped my lips felt oddly barren.
Even a drought’s field would feel more humid than this.
It was hardly funny, and yet laughter escaped me, so that’s to be expected.
With all this happening, people in the streets had stopped, looking up at the sky.
Some were retreating in fear, but they were clearly fewer compared to those staring up in awe and chatting.
Was this outrageous sight so far-fetched that it didn’t induce panic?
Maybe in a world like Silia, accustomed to dimensional beings, but on Earth, it wasn’t something you saw every day.
The blackness draped across the sky and the strange energy radiating from the enormous hand was unmistakably the same as that of dimensional beings.
So, this was the aura of the dimensional beings.
“Edel… you never mentioned anything like this would happen.”
What an incompetent god.
“Sigh.”
What could I do?
When the higher-ups are useless, it’s the underlings who suffer.
In that sense, Edel should take a page from my book.
I was certainly a competent and exemplary leader.
“….”
Just then, my ears itched. Was someone talking smack about me?
Of course, no way someone could have overheard my thoughts, so it must be my imagination, but even if it wasn’t, it didn’t matter.
It’s the higher-up’s duty to steer misguided subordinates onto the right path.
Swish.
‘Let’s keep the nonsense to a minimum.’
I must’ve caught some unwanted quirks from sticking too closely to Da-eun.
Letting out a sigh, I suddenly noticed the red sword in my hand…
Crimson Aegis caught my eye.
In that moment, a wave of nostalgia hit me.
‘If Dad were here…’
Dad always said I acted like a boy or was too blunt, so he might’ve welcomed me rambling on like this.
Now that I think about it, he definitely would have welcomed it.
Thinking that, it wasn’t all bad, at least for a fleeting moment.
“Gotta be serious when working.”
I might throw out a couple of jabs to provoke, but it’s not in my nature to be playful all the time while on the job.
If this were a comic book, I’d call it ‘behaving against character.’
I secured my grip on the Crimson Aegis.
There were a lot of people around.
Using swordsmanship here would definitely draw unwanted attention.
But then again, does it really matter considering the situation?
As I exited the Gymnasium, my gut feeling was proven correct, though it didn’t bring me much joy.
“…Hmm. Even if I ask them to move, they probably won’t.”
I mumbled, seeing the crowd blocking my way.
They were too preoccupied with watching, and I doubted my voice would reach the scared people.
It didn’t matter.
If I cared about such things, I’d still be pacing outside the gym.
Whoa…
The once red blade of my sword was suffused with my mana and turned a shade of pink.
Yet that didn’t mean the Crimson Aegis lost its characteristics; the heat radiating from it warmed up the surroundings.
“…Yikes?!”
One passerby, feeling warmth that was out of place with the chilly weather, turned back in surprise and swallowed hard.
Seeing their reaction, I felt a little bad… but not really.
I wasn’t out to harm that person; rather, I was offering help, so there was no reason to feel sorry.
“Inhale…”
I took a light breath and steadied myself.
Exhale-
Before my breath could disperse, everything around me swirled like a smeared watercolor.
And in the next moment, there was a giant hand in front of me.
‘…It’s still disgustingly huge.’
One finger was probably bigger than me.
It reminded me of the giant I faced in Silia….
“…”
While sizing up the hand, I suddenly felt a bit uneasy.
Some people, at my age, still clung to childhood and yet here it was, flaunting itself…
“Ahem.”
…I was getting too worked up.
I calmed my mind and kicked off the air to leap once more.
In an instant, my body that had shot upward began to descend.
Swish-
My sword had already made contact with it.
A flash erupted, followed by a pink line trailing after it.
What was it I should say at times like this? Ah, right.
“You’re already dead… weren’t you?”
Whoosh!
As soon as my words ended, a long line followed my sword, splitting the hand.
Violet liquid sprayed out, and the hand twisted violently from within the dark shroud.
It certainly seemed painful.
Were I a paragon of virtue, I’d probably comfort my opponent’s suffering.
“But I’m not exactly a saint.”
Your enemy is in pain?
…That’s a total score for me, right?
Why should I ease their suffering when I can make it worse?
So, I moved as my heart wished.
Having drawn vertically earlier, I’d have to go horizontally for balance.
Spinning my descending body, I swung my sword.
Slash!
Tada! A fine cross-section of the hand fell to the ground.
Speaking of pieces, they were massive compared to me.
“…Tsk.”
And it was easy to predict what would happen if the people below got hit by that.
Seeing them casually gawking without a sense of crisis made me briefly wonder, ‘Should I save them?’ but that thought passed.
I swung my sword a few more times out of sheer goodwill.
Enormous fragments shattered into countless pieces.
It might sting a bit to get hit, but I had no mind to accommodate that.
For all my trouble just saving their lives, they should be grateful.
“Now. On to the next—”
The pink eyes glanced quickly.
The hand, now barely hanging on, silently screamed for help.
In all likelihood, despite its appearance, the hand still had some sense, writhing in frustration as it sought me out but only flailing wildly in empty air.
“I’m right here.”
To announce my presence, I gave a slight bow, making the wildly thrashing hand go berserk.
At first, it was a bit amusing.
“…Not that fun anymore.”
It was like beating a motionless scarecrow, and my interest plummeted rapidly.
That said, it wasn’t resilient enough to stoke my competitive spirit.
As my enthusiasm waned, the prayers imbued in my sword began to flicker out too.
“You’re not planning on going back quietly, are you? Then let’s end this.”
In battling something like this, there’s no need for any grand techniques.
Swordsmanship is designed to slash and stab efficiently.
Having already shredded it, there was no need to exert myself displaying fancy swordplay on a near-dead corpse.
Clang!
The mana channeled into my sword transformed into a sword energy.
The pink energy touched the elbow of the arm peeking out from the darkness, producing a harsh sound.
There was considerable resistance compared to other areas, but…
Crack-!
The result didn’t differ.
A net-like scar etched into the enormous arm, which promptly shattered to pieces.
Glancing down, the scene below was a chaotic mess, with people scrambling to escape.
Looks like the fragments gave them a bit of a wake-up call.
Snicker.
Seeing them in such disarray made me chuckle, watching as I stood atop the chaos on my mana.
But that was that.
“What do I do now?”
The situation still wasn’t over.
The dark shroud in the sky was still intact; therefore, something strange could still burst out from inside.
While I held my sword and kept on my toes.
-Flash!
“…Huh?!”
A beam of dazzling light erupted from the pitch-black curtain.
Faced with the unexpected ambush, I grimaced and leapt back.
With the initiative lost, I needed to prepare for the incoming attack—
“Phew… that was close.”
Clenching my eyes back open, bracing myself as I sensed a familiar voice flying towards me.
“…Edel?”
“Yep! It’s me, Edel!”
It was a phrase I had heard before.
Her lively voice, which was unbefitting of her age, was exactly how I remembered Edel sounding.
‘Should I just slash her?’
I entertained that brief thought, but I quickly sheathed my sword.
It was too late to act oblivious and slice her down.
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