This became long, so I’m moving it up to be the middle part.
“…Nee-san!!”
Aisha’s eyes widened more from the mental shock than the damage she had taken. Serejyura, reuniting with her younger sister after several decades, narrowed her eyes gently.
“No way… you’re alive…”
“You seem to have grown up quite a bit… Aisha. Just looking at you, I can tell you’ve become considerably stronger.”
“Is it really… really you, Nee-san?”
“Yes, it is.”
As Serejyura took a step forward, as if to close the gap of the dozen or so years they had been apart, Aisha, with an emotionally overwhelmed expression, also tried to step forward, but then abruptly stopped her feet.
“But… if you’re ‘Nee-san,’ why did you interfere with me?”
If she could, Aisha truly wanted to run to her sister and embrace her. She wanted to be held like in the old days. But the decades the sisters had spent apart were more than enough to twist the younger sister’s mind.
Her hatred for the human nations, the “cause of losing her sister,” had become the source of Aisha’s power. Even if she held no personal grudge against Camille or Aria, who had human blood, if someone were to obstruct her war to destroy the human nations, even if it were her “precious older sister,” she would doubt their very existence…
“…I heard about the situation on my way here. That child from before is the Evil Lord’s child, right? As a general, isn’t she someone you should be protecting?”
“What I protect is the ‘Evil Race Nation.’ To protect the Evil Race Nation, I will destroy the human nations! If you truly are Nee-san, then let’s return to the Evil Race Nation together!! I’ll kill every last one of those bastards who made me lose Nee-san!!”
“…”
Serejyura looked at her twisted younger sister with sorrowful eyes. The Aisha in her last memory was not an adult, but not a child either.
Serejyura had simply followed orders to survive, continuing to kill people on the battlefield with an empty heart. She didn’t regret it now. But in those days, defying the Evil Lord’s orders was unthinkable, and if she had continued fighting, this younger sister would likely have been driven to the battlefield with the same empty heart as herself.
That’s why Serejyura disappeared. She wouldn’t say it was all for Aisha’s sake, but still, she had hoped that if she weren’t around, Aisha might be able to choose a path to live a proper life…
“Was I foolish then…”
“What are you saying!? If you were ‘Nee-san,’ you’d understand what I’m saying! Humans are evil! That’s why I became strong, so I’d never lose Nee-san again! If you’re Nee-san, let’s go back together… let’s destroy the human nations together!”
“Aisha…”
At Aisha’s words, Serejyura twisted her lips as if she had bitten into something bitter.
Even though they were exchanging words, her voice wasn’t reaching her. Was this Serejyura’s mistake for choosing an easy way out? If she had taken her sister and fled back then, would things have turned out differently?
It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered escaping with her sister. But considering the fugitive life where it was difficult even for one person to survive, leaving Aisha alone in the Evil Race Nation had been unavoidable.
But as a result, Aisha’s hatred for the human nations had intensified, and her means had become her 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?”
That strange tone of voice cut off Serejyura’s admonishing words.
“That Pink Hair girl… the brat who uses Nee-san’s techniques. Did Nee-san teach her? No, that’s not it, right? Because even I wasn’t taught them. It’s not right for a human brat like that to be able to use Nee-san’s techniques. She must have tricked Nee-san and stolen her techniques.”
“Aisha!”
“Chigau… Chigau, chigau, chigau…! ‘Nee-san’ wouldn’t say such things. If it were Nee-san, she wouldn’t deny what I say. Nee-san would never teach her techniques to some human! What have you done with my Nee-san!? You’re not ‘Nee-san’! I’ll defeat you, kill Pink Hair, and get the real ‘Nee-san’ back!!”
“!”
GAKIIIIIN!!
Sparks from the clash between Aisha’s suddenly attacking Blade and Serejyura’s hatchet illuminated the Dungeon’s darkness.
The hardened passion within Aisha had deified her supposedly dead ‘sister,’ merging past memories with her own hatred, twisting her to the point where she couldn’t accept anything else.
However, those around them couldn’t even watch such a twisted exchange between the sisters.
The warriors of the Evil Race army under Aisha’s command and Camille’s group were under fierce attack from the jet-black Phantasmal Beast, Kua’arl.
GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
Nero had no reason to fight. His initial attack on the Evil Race army wasn’t because Serejyura asked him to, nor was he intervening in the conflict between the Evil Race and humans.
The reason was singular… he ‘smelled Aria’ on Camille and the others—that was all.
Aria existed. At the very least, she had been near these individuals.
He didn’t know which of them were Aria’s allies. The ones with the stronger scent weren’t necessarily allies. However, thinking that Aria’s allies wouldn’t die easily, with the arrogance of a high-ranking Phantasmal Beast, he bared his fangs at everyone to stop the fighting.
To Nero, all living beings other than Aria were, after all, nothing more than “others.”
“A Kua’arl!?”
“Why is a Phantasmal Beast here!?”
Aisha’s subordinate warriors, despite being blown away, regained their footing and pointed their weapons at Nero. The same was true for Camille and his group. The powerful Phantasmal Beast that had suddenly barged in had attacked the Evil Race warriors, but it didn’t seem like an ally.
That “hesitation” decided life and death. Camille and his group hesitated to attack the Phantasmal Beast, which, though not an ally, showed no Killing Intent.
This was the result of prioritizing the protection of those like Kadri and Izel, who were immobilized by the Kua’arl’s Intimidation alone, but…
“Uoooooooooooooooooh!!”
The strike unleashed by the long-speared warrior, who, though equally afraid, had converted that fear into courage and attacked,
was deflected by Nero’s fur, which possessed 【Slashing and Piercing Resistance】. In the instant the warrior froze, stunned, his head was sent flying by a claw.
“Tch.”
Jesha, while keeping an eye on the Evil Race warriors, clicked his tongue and gulped at the intruder’s imposing presence. The roar that suggested tyranny and the sense of Intimidation emanating from its massive body, like being forced to swallow lead, made everyone present shrink back.
Jesha, who had served as the head of the Adventurers Guild, also knew of its existence.
An upper Rank 5, estimated—an aged individual could even reach Rank 6 by the Guild’s difficulty standards—the Phantasmal Beast Kua’arl.
He didn’t know why such a powerful Phantasmal Beast, one that could pass as a final floor boss in a normal Dungeon, had appeared here. Seeing the long-speared warrior, who had been so strong, killed in a single blow, he honestly wanted to flee.
“Gh!!”
Nevertheless, the pride of a dwarven warrior made Jesha stand his ground and take a step forward.
GRAAAH!!
Sensing that slight presence, whip-like tentacles sprouting from beside Nero’s ears shot towards Jesha, scattering sparks of lightning—
BACHII—!
“…!”
A magic-infused Demon Sword intercepted it. Camille, who had jumped in, grimaced at his arm, numb from the impact, but desperately glared at Nero.
Just by confronting it, oily sweat appeared on Camille’s face and dripped from his chin. The moment Nero saw this and slightly narrowed his eyes, a Shadow leaped in from the side.
GIIIIIN!!
Was it deflected by clashing Blades? The figure that leaped in shot past between Nero and Camille, landed acrobatically using Martial Arts, and then yelled at Camille and the others as if to say they were in the way.
“You’ll die if you mess with him! You lot, back off!”
GAA.
At those words, Nero glared sharply at Serejyura, glanced at the petrified Camille and Jesha, then snorted, “Hmph,” and turned towards the Evil Race warriors as if he had lost interest in them.
“You think you can get awayaaaaaaaaah!!”
Aisha, wielding a black one-handed sword, pursued Serejyura, who was darting around inside the Dungeon.
“!”
With the “nonsense” of ‘defeating the imposter in her sister’s form before her’ and ‘reclaiming her real sister’ solely to affirm herself, the boundary between truth and falsehood within Aisha blurred. The Blade she swung with enough force to kill chipped Serejyura’s steel hatchet.
“Aisha, even if you do that…”
“Shut up, shut up! Disappear! Where’s That Woman too! I’ll definitely kill her!!”
Serejyura had never taught Aisha her techniques. Nevertheless, she had watched Aisha train countless times since she was young and knew all her habits. That was why Serejyura, despite only having Level 3 in close combat, could parry the attacks of the Rank 5 Aisha.
However, Aisha’s mental state was deranged, and her attacks, gradually deviating from the swordsmanship Serejyura knew of Aisha, slowly began to corner Serejyura.
“What grudge do you have against that child!?”
“She is dangerous!! She is one who will bring calamity to the Evil Race!! Next time, I will kill her! I will absolutely kill her with my own hands!!”
Hearing those words, Serejyura surmised that Aisha had fought Aria and failed to kill her. While she was pleased that her beloved disciple, Aria, had grown enough to fight evenly with the Rank 5 Aisha, she also knew that her pitiful younger sister’s heart, hardened over several decades, could not be changed with words.
As a “parental figure” to these two, Serejyura also steeled her resolve.
GAKIN!!
Finally, unable to withstand Aisha’s fierce assault, Serejyura’s hatchet broke.
“Ngh!”
However, it was Aisha who retreated at that moment. Her blade had been ensnared by the strange weapon Serejyura had taken out, and the instant she reflexively pulled it free, that weapon’s blade attacked Aisha.
The roaring “Grotesque Chains”—a “weapon” made of small, hidden blades linked by Magic Steel rings—was wielded like a whip. The Grotesque Chains, writhing like a serpent due to [Thread Manipulation], slashed Aisha’s shoulder, which she thought she had dodged.
“Aisha…”
She had unleashed the weapon of the “War Oni” who had claimed a thousand lives on the battlefield, using “Truth and Falsehood”—a combination of Dark Magic and Illusion.
“I will be the one to stop you.”
The continuation will be updated tomorrow at noon, as usual.
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