“…Sister!!”
More than the damage she received, Aishe’s eyes widened in mental shock, and Serejula narrowed her eyes gently at her sister, whom she had not seen in decades.
“No way…you’re alive…”
“You seem to have grown quite a bit…Aishe. Just looking at you, I can tell you’ve become quite strong.”
“Are you really…really my sister?”
“Yes, I am.”
As Serejula took a step forward as if to make up for the dozen or so years they had been apart, Aishe also tried to step forward with an emotional expression, but suddenly stopped her feet.
“But…if you’re ‘Sister’, why did you get in my way?”
Aishe really wanted to run to her sister and hug her. She wanted to be hugged like she used to be. But the decades that the sisters had been apart were more than enough to twist her sister’s mind.
The hatred for the human race nation that caused her to “lose her sister” had become the source of Aishe’s power, and even if she had no personal grudge against Camille or Aria, who were of human blood, if they interfered with her war to destroy the human race nation, even if it was her “precious sister,” she would doubt her existence…
“…I heard the circumstances on the way here. That child from earlier is the Evil King’s child, right? Isn’t that someone you, as a general, should be protecting?”
“What I protect is the ‘Evil Race Nation’. To protect the Evil Race Nation, I will destroy the human race nations! If you’re really my sister, let’s go back to the Evil Race Nation together!! I’ll kill all the guys who made you(・・・・)lose(・・・・) ‘Sister’!!”
“…”
Serejula looks at her twisted sister with sorrowful eyes. Aishe, as she remembered her last, was not an adult, but not a child either.
Serejula simply obeyed orders to survive, and continued to kill people on the battlefield with an empty heart. She doesn’t regret it now. But in those days, it was not allowed to disobey the Evil King’s orders, and if she had continued to fight as she was, this sister would have been dragged onto the battlefield with the same empty heart as her.
That’s why Serejula disappeared. She doesn’t mean to say that it was all for Aishe’s sake, but still, she hoped that if she wasn’t there, she would be able to choose a path where she could live properly(・・・)…
“Was I foolish…”
“What are you saying!? If you’re ‘Sister’, you should understand what I’m saying! Humans are bad people, so I became strong so that I would never lose you again! If you’re my sister, let’s go home together…let’s destroy the human race nations together!”
“Aishe…”
Serejula twisted her mouth as if she had bitten into something bitter at Aishe’s words.
Even though they were exchanging words, her voice wasn’t reaching her. Was this Serejula’s mistake for choosing an easy way out? If she had taken her sister and run away at that time, would things not have turned out this way?
It’s not that she didn’t consider running away with her sister. But considering the life of escape, which was difficult to live even alone, it was unavoidable that she left Aishe alone in the Evil Race Nation.
But as a result, Aishe has harbored hatred for the human race nations, and the means have become the end.
“You don’t have to fight anymore…the war with the humans is already over. I don’t hate humans anymore either. You should live your own life—”
“…Is it because of that woman?”
The strange tone stopped Serejula’s admonishing words as if to interrupt them.
“That Pink Hair woman…the brat who uses my sister’s techniques. Did you teach her, Sister? No, that’s not right, is it? Because I wasn’t taught either. It’s strange that a human brat like that can use my sister’s techniques. She must have tricked you and stolen your techniques.”
“Aishe!”
“No…no, no, no…’Sister’ wouldn’t say such a thing. If you were my sister, you wouldn’t deny what I’m saying. If you were my sister, you wouldn’t teach techniques to humans! Where did you take my sister!? You’re not ‘Sister’! I’ll defeat you, kill the Pink Hair woman, and get the real ‘Sister’ back!!”
“…!”
Clanggggggg!!
The sparks from Aishe’s blade and Serejula’s hatchet clashing suddenly illuminate the darkness of the dungeon.
The solidified emotions within Aishe deified the ‘sister’ who should have died, combined her past memories with her own hatred, and were so distorted that she could not accept anything else.
However, those around them could not even watch the exchange between the twisted sisters.
The warriors of the Evil Race Army under Aishe’s command and Camille’s group were under the fierce attack of the jet-black Mystic Beast, Kuaal.
“Gaaaaaa!!”
Nero has no reason to fight. He didn’t attack the Evil Race Army in the first place because Serejula asked him to, or because he was intervening in the conflict between the Evil Race and the humans.
There is only one reason…he smelled ‘Aria’ from Camille and the others—that’s all.
Aria exists. At least she was near these people.
He doesn’t know who is on Aria’s side. The one with the stronger smell is not necessarily an ally. But Nero thought that if they were Aria’s allies, they wouldn’t die easily, and with the arrogance of a high-ranking Mystic Beast, he bared his fangs at everything(・・・) in order to stop the fight.
For Nero, creatures other than Aria were nothing more than “others.”
“Kuaal!?”
“Why is a Mystic Beast here!?”
Aishe’s warriors were blown away, but they regained their posture and pointed their weapons at Nero. The same was true for Camille and the others. The powerful Mystic Beast that suddenly broke in attacked the Evil Race warriors, but they didn’t think it was an ally.
That “hesitation” determined life and death. Camille and the others hesitated to attack the Mystic Beast, which had no Killing Intent, even though it was not an ally.
This was the result of prioritizing the protection of Kadri and Iseru, who were unable to move due to Kuaal’s Intimidation alone, but,
“Uooooooo!!”
The attack unleashed by the long Spear warrior, who had the same fear but turned it into courage, was
Deflected by Nero’s fur, which had 【Slashing and Piercing Resistance】, and his head was blown off by a claw the moment he stopped moving in a daze.
“Tch.”
Jesha clicked her tongue and gasped at the appearance of the intruder, while paying attention to the Evil Race warriors. The roar that made her feel violence and the Intimidation that seemed to swallow lead from its huge body made everyone in the area shrink.
Jesha, who had served as the head of the Adventurer’s Guild, also knew of its existence.
Estimated Rank 5 or higher—the Mystic Beast Kuaal, which can reach Rank 6 on the Guild’s difficulty scale if it is an older individual.
She doesn’t know why such a powerful Mystic Beast, which could be the floor master of the lowest level in a normal Dungeon, has appeared in this place. The fact that the long Spear warrior, who was so strong, was killed in one blow made her want to run away, to be honest.
“Guh!!”
Even so, the pride of a Dwarf warrior made Jesha stand her ground and take a step forward.
“Gaa!!”
Sensing that slight presence, Nero’s whip-like Tentacle, which grew from the side of his ear, attacked Jesha with Digvolt sparks—
Crack—!
“…!”
Camille, who had a Demon Sword imbued with Mana, blocked it, and glared at Nero desperately, his face contorted by the shock that numbed his arm.
Sweat appeared on Camille’s face just by facing him, and dripped from his chin. The moment Nero narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight, a Shadow jumped in from the side.
Clang!!
Whether the blades clashed and were deflected, the figure that jumped in flew between Nero and Camille, landed acrobatically using Martial Arts, and yelled at Camille and the others as if they were in the way.
“You’ll die if you lay a hand on him, you guys fall back!”
“Gaa”
At those words, Nero glared at Serejula, glanced at Camille and Jesha, who were stiff, snorted, and turned to the Evil Race warriors as if he had lost interest in them.
“I won’t let you get away!!”
Aishe, wielding a black one-handed sword, pursues Serejula, who is flying around inside the Dungeon.
“…!”
The boundary between truth and falsehood became ambiguous in Aishe’s mind with the “playful words” that were only meant to affirm herself, that she would defeat the “imposter in the form of her sister” in front of her and “take back her real sister,” and the blade swung with such force that it would kill, chipped the steel hatchet that Serejula held.
“Aishe, even if you do such a thing…”
“Shut up, shut up! Disappear! Where is that woman too! I’ll definitely kill her!!”
Serejula never taught Aishe any techniques. Even so, Aishe had watched her train many times since she was a child, and because she knew all of her habits, Serejula, who only had level 3 in close combat, was able to deflect Aishe’s Rank 5 attacks.
However, Aishe’s mind was out of the ordinary, and her attacks, which gradually began to deviate from the swordsmanship of Aishe that Serejula knew, gradually cornered Serejula.
“What grudge do you have against that child!?”
“That one is dangerous!! She will bring disaster to the Evil Race!! Next time, I’ll kill her! I will definitely kill her with my own hands!!”
Hearing those words, Serejula realized that Aishe had fought Aria and failed to kill her. At the same time as she was pleased that her beloved disciple, Aria, had grown enough to fight Rank 5 Aishe on equal terms, she also knew that her poor sister’s heart, hardened over decades, could not be changed with words.
As the “foster parent” of these two, Serejula also steeled herself.
Clang!!
Finally, unable to withstand Aishe’s fierce attack, Serejula’s hatchet broke.
“Nu!”
But, at that moment, it was Aishe who retreated. The blade of the strange weapon Serejula took out became entangled with her sword, and the instant she pulled it out, that blade attacked Aishe.
The roaring “grotesque chain” — a “weapon” made by connecting small hidden weapon blades with Magic Steel rings, was wielded like a whip, and the grotesque chain wriggling like a snake with [Thread Manipulation], tore through Aishe’s shoulder, which she should have dodged.
“Aishe…”
With “illusion” combined with Dark Magic, she unleashed the weapon of the “War Demon” who had taken the lives of a thousand people on the battlefield.
“I will stop you.”
The second part will be updated tomorrow at noon as usual.
As I briefly mentioned last time, thanks to everyone’s support, this work will be published as a book.
A significant portion of this work is made up of your feedback, and I believe that I was able to maintain my motivation thanks to your bookmarks and evaluations, so I would like to thank you again.
I have introduced it in more detail in the activity report and on Twitter.
Thank you for your continued support of this work.