Chapter 234: Crow Handler (2)

Jonathan was not the kind of person who would give up pursuit just because of something like this.

Precisely because of that, I intended to finish quickly. I cut down pine trees one after another, creating obstacles as I entered the forest.

The summoner leapt and bounded, fleeing into the deep woods.

The familiars blocked my path.

[Traitor of the clan.]

The giant with a bronze head carved with a crying face muttered.

A type of human chimera.

But unlike Seba, it was mixed with far more of a monster’s existence than a human’s.

[Repent.]

Thud!

A heavy bell slammed down onto the snow-covered ground.

Snow burst outward in all directions. I dodged the descending bronze bell that struck where I had been and climbed up his arm.

[Repen—]

Slash.

Thud! Woom-woom-woom.... As I severed the neck, the bronze head toppled and crashed into the ground. A vibrating bronze hum spread from the upside-down head.

I kicked off the collapsing body’s spine and leapt.

Landing in the center of the chimera, I swung my sword in a circle.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwaang!

I sliced through the Slenderman swarm.

Their long, white bodies split cleanly in two.

Long intestines spilled out and sullied the snow. I stepped on them without expression and moved forward.

The earth heaved upward and hands caked with ashen muscle burst out.

A bony hand clamped tightly around my ankle.

I raised my sword and cut.

Crack-snap.

Severing the wrist, I stomped down on the emerging hands and ran.

When clouds covered the moonlight, the forest grew darker.

As I moved farther from the campsite, silence piled around me. Only the sound of my sword cutting through familiars, the familiars’ dying screams, my steps crushing snow, the periodic thud of falling pine trees, and the familiars’ accusations filled the surroundings.

I couldn’t just keep chasing forever.

At this point, after running this far, it was time to capture the enemy.

The moment the pine tree I had cut fell behind me, I stopped and prepared my strike.

Watching Seba turn sharply as he heard the footsteps stop—

Kwaaaang!

Thud, thoom, thud....

「You don’t have to do all this. I won’t run.」

I blocked off every direction with pine trees.

Of course, he still always had the sky as an escape route. But guarding only the sky was far better than guarding both the surroundings and the sky.

It might even help stop Jonathan’s pursuit.

I gave a faint smile as I looked at the black feathers sprouting along the opponent’s forearms.

「Seba. Any chance you’ll surrender?」

「None. The world of humans is mind-numbingly dull.」

「Maybe for you. But a dull world might be better than the afterlife.」

「That unwavering confidence you have in your victory—very nice.」

Seba covered his mouth with the hand that had transformed into a wing and laughed.

「I look forward to seeing how long that lasts.」

I’m the one who’s curious about the source of your confidence....

I don’t think of myself as someone who behaves arrogantly when fighting. Maybe that’s just my own opinion. In any case, I’ve always tried to respond politely no matter who I face.

Even now.

But objectively speaking, the chance of me being defeated was slim.

「You don’t trust my confidence, I see.」

Yeah. Not really.

Trying to persuade him further wouldn’t work, so I should press the blade to his neck and ask again.

Having decided that, I lifted my gaze.

The pine trees had fallen to form a boundary. At the far edge, the moonlight poured down over the crow summoner.

Close the distance in one breath and finish quickly.

The moment I tightened my grip on my sword, Seba let out a long laugh.

「Punisher.」

Heavy footsteps sounded in the darkness.

「One who has been cursed by the Sacred Tree is here.」

Under the pale moonlight, something long stepped forward.

「Judge the sinner.」

The familiar stepped into the light.

For a moment, my sword slipped slightly in my hand.

I wiped the cold sweat that burst out of me instinctively, then gripped the sword again.

And as I watched the slowly approaching Punisher, I did not move.

A monster nearly three meters tall.

A humanoid body draped in a robe, but with the face of a goat. The goat’s eyes were covered with cloth so it could not see, but it had horns, and beneath its long snout were teeth.

From beneath the cloth, dangerous things were dripping red blood.

I knew these things well.

No—let me be precise. I had faced them many times.

When I was around twenty.

「It’s unpleasant how identical it is to the Punishers in my memories.」

I pressed my molars together and gave a bitter smile.

The robe draped over its body. The shape of the spear it held. The fact they matched what was in my memory could not be mere coincidence.

Even after more than a hundred years, the things that hadn’t healed... still hadn’t healed.

I clicked my tongue softly and asked:

「Did Kyle tell you?」

「About how you were captured by a cult village and suffered? Of course.」

Of course....

「He showed me personally.」

It was a story from shortly after I escaped the curse of the Sacred Tree.

Back then, I had rolled into the wrong place and been treated as a test subject.

The monster that beat me down and dragged me back onto the operating table when I tried to escape was that thing.

I was still a fledgling then. A time when I didn’t yet know such twisted beings existed in the world. A time when I lacked the skill or strength to break through their madness and escape.

Since then, I had avoided absorption and was called “the World Tree’s unfilial child.”

But the only one who knew a Punisher had been in that village was Kyle.

The only fragment of my past I had ever shown solely to Kyle.

「So he didn’t tell you—he showed you?」

I exhaled slowly as I asked.

My memory of that time is not very clear.

Those memories became broken shards of glass floating in my brain, occasionally pricking the surface.

The problem is that no callus ever forms no matter how many times they stab.

When I was appointed Knight Commander, not even ten days had passed before Kyle came to my house.

He held a cloth pouch full of sedatives.

‘You still can’t absorb, huh?’

‘What’s with that pouch? What’s in it?’

‘We both have a lot of things to take responsibility for now.’

Kyle closed the door behind him and dropped into the opposite chair.

I remember blinking as I looked at his troubled face.

I also remember lighting the candle while watching his condition.

Kyle sat silently for a long time before breaking the quiet.

‘Tell me what happened.’

I had just picked up another candle when my hands froze.

The man stared at me with bright yellow eyes.

‘You’ve never told anyone what happened back then, have you? Tell me. Who knows—maybe the burden will get a little lighter. Maybe your aversion to absorption will weaken.’

‘Did they order you to say that?’

I gripped the candle too hard, and it snapped.

I set the sticky, broken candle down and smiled at Kyle.

‘The new Knight Commander’s absorption phobia—is that what you’re supposed to cure?’

‘No. It’s my personal request.’

‘Or did the Emperor order you?’

I remember replying with a twisted attitude.

‘You came because you can’t disobey the Emperor’s command?’

It was a jab he could’ve hit me for.

A twisted response. Probably a defense mechanism. I thought provoking Kyle would derail the subject.

But Kyle did not get angry.

He simply sat there, watching me with eyes like a black lion.

‘You can tell someone else if you want. Anyone. Just tell someone what happened back then.’

‘Sir Knight Commander. Why are you suddenly doing this to me?’

‘You’re a Knight Commander now too. I want the two of us to support each other as we lead our subordinates for a long time.’

He wasn’t the kind of man to say emotional things.

He seemed aware he was doing something unusual. When I stared at him, Kyle looked embarrassed.

‘Sorry. I’m not good at this. I don’t really know how to express what I’m thinking.’

‘At least you’re aware of it. That’s something.’

‘But Hilde. This much I can promise you. Whatever story you tell, whatever past you show me—I will not pity you.’

His charismatic voice filled the quiet room.

‘And my attitude toward you won’t change.’

The man lifted the sword hanging at his waist, still in its sheath. Holding the middle of the sheath, he raised it horizontally and held it out to me.

The sapphire embedded in the scabbard shone.

‘I swear on my sword.’

He was being so solemn I couldn’t help but laugh.

‘I swear on all the time we’ve spent together.’

‘Kyle.’

‘And this is my own decision. I didn’t consult Rei. So if you want to be angry, be angry only at m—’

‘Kyle. All right.’

I placed my hand gently on the sapphire and stopped his words.

‘Let’s try.’

It wasn’t anything worth showing or telling.

But my safety depended on many things now.

And because his sincerity reached me, I placed my hand on his sword and answered:

‘I’ll try.’

From that day on, I told Kyle what I had experienced.

At first, stumbling through the story in words.

When speaking became too hard, I used magic to show fragmented memories.

Kyle was a good listener. He never pitied me prematurely, never offered clumsy comfort. He simply listened.

After each story, when I threw up my guts, he helped me. When I became dazed, he calmly fed me sedatives, shoved me into bed, and vanished.

It went on for about three months. All in secret. Kyle came and went like a ghost.

Even Rei didn’t know.

It was a story only the two of us shared....

「Yes. He showed me.」

Seba’s answer pulled my mind back to reality.

「He said he could shake you using these familiars.」

I lowered my eyes and gave a faint laugh.

「I’m glad the captain’s words were right. It was worth decorating my familiar to resemble the Punishers in your memory.」

I laughed softly at the white snow.

So this was the source of his confidence.

I didn’t resent that the fragments of my past I had entrusted had come back like this.

We were already in a position where we kill or are killed. To win, what wouldn’t one do? Didn’t I myself place a sword in Yehyeon’s hand hoping Rei would hesitate?

What made the memory ache was simply the tenderness of that time.

Back then, we trusted each other so deeply—how did we end up twisting like this?

Life sometimes shows ridiculous plot twists.

I’ve lived too long.

「Everyone saw?」

「Every warrior who fights humans. You had quite the harrowing experience.」

「That’s true.」

I smiled faintly.

「In the end, I never managed to overcome my absorption phobia. Kyle’s efforts were wasted. It wasn’t a story worth hearing nor memories worth seeing.」

For the first time, Seba’s face contorted.

Negative emotions gathered there. Disappointment and irritation—the kind you feel when you don’t get what you expected.

He must have expected me to tremble with betrayal.

Clenching his fist, the summoner glared at me and spat in Imperial:

「Have you no guts?」

I let out a short laugh.

「Maybe not.」

「Every combatant saw your disgrace. He trampled your trust and then used it to aim for your throat.」

「When two people want each other’s throats, what harsher thing would they hesitate to do?」

I lowered my torso, ready to rush Seba and his familiars.

Gripping my sword tightly, I asked:

「You came prepared for the same, didn’t you, kid?」

Seba exploded in anger.

He swelled his body and shot out feathers. The black feathers turned into sharp blades and poured toward me.

Black thorns filled my vision.

Kwaang!

I swung my sword and blasted away the oncoming thorns.

At the same time, I kicked off the ground and lunged forward.

That brilliant year.

The year I became Knight Commander, confessed everything to a close friend, led my subordinates, received countless people’s trust and help and affection.

Even now, after living for a long time, whenever I recall a happy season, I will think of that year. My life may contain times worth trading for it, but in the end, I will never let go of that one year.

But all of that is the past.

「Seba, spread your wings.」

There is no turning back now.

「I’ll end this ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) quickly.」

Gripping my sword, I charged forward.