52 Chapter 45: Unleashing the Penance of Sins

Fina: "Why aren't they decreasing…?? Muuu…!! I'm getting really tired here!! Waaaaahhh…~~~!!"

Soul Drain!

Placing my hand over the cold, metallic body of the ant, I activated the skill. Since I intend to finish it instantly, the ant's soul was drained straightaway.

It's dead.

Ciel: "Phew. You can say that again."

Destruction!

Using my fist to hit the ant' head, I activated the skill. The part that I touched began eroding and with only a moment to spare, the ants head was brought down to ashes.

I've been doing this for I don't know how many times, but their number are still not dwindling.

Fleur: "I will… Ngh… Help…!"

Fina: "F-Fleur! Don't push yourself! Just rest!"

Not heeding Fina's concern, Fleur chants her Causa.

Fleur: "Heed thine… Nh… d-daughter's call; abstract the enemies light and vest in their penance, Dastre Magic: Dastre Arrow!"

Activating the magic skill, she relentlessly casts Dastre Arrows towards the unceasing ants. She followed another skill, Black Hole, and used Gravity to crush them in one fell swoop.

Fina: "I-Incredible…"

She sure is. That's my girl right there.

I feel like a father watching his daughter win at a sports festival.

Though she certainly reduced their numbers, another batch just comes in to replace them.

Just how much do these cursed ants want to eat us?? Like there's just three of us for these many!

Seeing the number of ants entering the space, Fleur dejectedly flopped down to the ground. So to not waste Fleur's help, I use my bare hands to bore holes onto their bodies, while sometimes using Soul Consume from time to time. I can't have having Soul Overload at such a crisis after all, so I'm just using it to get their skills.

Otherwise, that, for sure, will be 'The End.'

Ciel: "These guys are tough…"

But continuous use of Psyche is tiring. Mentally, especially. My head is actually starting to hurt now and my body is catching up with the fatigue.

Oh, I can say that my head hurts, now that I finally have a head. Ahaha~

It looks like my Negative Physical Condition Resistance is not what it seems at first. I can still feel fatigue and all, just their end effect is being resisted. Like, even though I'm so tired I could collapse at any moment, I'm not at all collapsing.

I don't have any problems with damage, since Fleur uses Heal from time to time whenever she can handle the fit she's having. And I also have my Regeneration skill. But…

Continuous fighting without rest, is really damn exhausting.

Fina: "Ciel! Any plans?!"

Even now, another group of ants rushed towards us without a care for our struggles. I mean, come on. Let us rest for a while. Haaahh…

Ciel: "Hmm… Kill them until they're all gone?"

Fina: "It's not that I hate that idea, but that's what we've been doing since earlier!!"

She's right. We've just been fighting non-stop. But no matter how many we kill, there's no sign of them giving up. Rather, it's more like they just got even more fired up and sent more ants inside. Our space even got smaller and smaller until there's only about two meters between us and the ants.

We literally stirred up a hornet's nest. But in this case, they're ants.

To think that this place is actually the nest of this ant monster specie.

It's not actually the Marburrows that bore a hole where we fell down, but it's actually one of the circuit of the ants' nest. These are what I've been sensing in my Heat Sensor.

Also… It's actually my fault that they've gathered here.

It was the smell bacon. Ahaha…

As expected! No one can resist the power of bacons!

Fina: "Waaaahaaaa…! Just die already…~~!! My hands are about to give in…~~!!"

Fleur's been casting enhancement and healing skills, but with her condition, I can't expect too much.

Of course, I still have a lot of skills to spare, but I'm still against the idea of showing them to Fina. I'd hate to explain. Too troublesome.

Ants: "*screech!!*"

But these guys are giving me no choice.

Alright, let's try it.

Ciel: "Fina. When I say so, use your Wisona Elstra to blow them away and give us more gap."

Fina: "Got it!"

Fleur: "Master… *pant* What about me…?"

Ciel: "Fleur, you rest. That's an orde-. … No, hold on…"

I checked Fleur's status while dealing with the ants.

… Just as I thought, her C.Cognizance decreased and is closing to being normal again. The gibberish skill became even more gibberish, it's as if it's covered in static.

From her casting a skill earlier that uses Crysaztel to activate, it resulted to this.

Meaning, she just needs to release more to return to normal.

Ciel: "I don't think it's this simple, but… I guess it's time to put things to test."

The rate of her increasing and overflowing Crysaztel that is passed to me by the Link is still higher than she can actually release. It's still not a full remedy, but I think it'll greatly help for the time being. But then again, I guess it's just as I suspected...

Ciel: "Fleur, continue raining barrages on the Triatredents! Use as much Crysaztel as you can!"

Fleur: "U-Understood!"

Confirming that Fleur had followed my instruction and is now casting her magic all over the ants, I prepared my plan.

First, I release threads from my fingers and gather them in my palm. I gather as much as possible, being careful not to let Fina see them. Of course, that is while I'm crushing the heads of the ants.

I have to end this sooner or later. Even Fina looks like she's almost about to reach her body's limit. There's no problem with her CG, but no one can beat fatigue, after all.

Alright. I think this will be enough.

I hope you're all ready, ants. You'll be in for some hot mess!

Ciel: "Fina! Elstra! Fleur, you too! Use Gravity!"

Fina: "Roger that! Wisona Magic: Wisona Elstra!"

Fleur: "Yes! Heed thine daughter's call; abstract the enemies light and vest in their penance, Advanced Dastre: Gravity!"

Activated without a Causa as usual, the skill released a powerful gust of wind, which is strong enough to tear the surface of the ground, and blown away the ants that neared us.

Crying out with screeching sounds, they try to hold onto the ground to prevent themselves from being blown away. Those that are blown away by the wind are then pressed down to the ground using Fleur's Gravity to prevent any escape.

Alright. That's more than enough.

Using that short span of time Fleur and Fina gave me, I released the gathered threads from my hands and used Thread Control, accompanied by Trigger for faster mobility and maneuverability, and wrapped them all around the ants in the vicinity. The rest was used to cover the outside premise, in case there are still more outside.

Fina: "Threads?!"

Yeah, she'll see that, huh?

No matter.

No time to waste!

Activating Barrier for Fleur and Fina as well,

I…

Ciel: "Ignite!"

I snapped my fingers, like some state alchemist who's useless when it rains. Crackling spark of flame engulfed my hands, automatically igniting the flammable thread as well, bursting into ablaze.

The flame, like a lightning touching the ground, ran through the threads and reached the struggling ants.

And…

*FWOOSH!!*

Ciel: "Ohh…! They burn so well…~! Mufufu."

Fina: "…?!"

The wrapped threads around the ants also caught in fire in an instant, causing tiny explosions all over their bodies.

Ohhhohoho~

I didn't expect it to go this well, to be honest. Ahaha~

They have alloys for exoskeleton, after all. But it seems like they're not that metallic, like I thought they were.

Yep. They may have strong exoskeletons, but them without Heat Resistance, I can just cook their insides.

Mufufu. I'm such a genius.

One, after another, after another, after another, after another, they all burst into flames because of the wrapped threads coiling all over their body. One by one, they fall to the ground, releasing crackling sounds, as if they're woods burning in a campfire. Some tried to run to escape, but to no avail.

Even though this thread is flammable, that doesn't mean it's brittle. It's just getting ablaze, but it's not being burning at all. It works wonders, if I say so myself.

Such a great combination must be used, as expected. Mufufufu.

Well… I only came up with it just earlier though. I got the idea when my clothes suddenly bursted into flames, trying to use Ignite as a starter for a fire type Psyche.

Nice! A skill! Mufufu~

Fina: "Whoa…"

We waited for a few more minutes for the fire to cover the whole area of the ants. After waiting, the remaining fire was put out by Fina using her Meria Magic. The rest of the ants ran away after seeing their alpha get burned so well, to a crisp.

Such a well done barbecue ant.

… Wait, what the heck is a well done barbecue ant??

At any rate, what remains now are just ashes and some parts of ants that are incombustible. They're the parts that are covered with the Alloy Exoskeleton skill.

Anyhow, anyways, we're done. I flopped down the ground as my legs gave in to exhaustion. Fleur did the same as she tried to calm her ragged breath down. It looks like releasing the overflowing Crysaztel really helped.

Ciel: "Phew…! Finally done!"

I'm done with ants my whole life, I swear.

Fina: "You… Just who are you, really…? Those threads… and that fire…"

Ciel: "…"

Damn, did I show too much, after all?

Ciel: "Uh… Trade secret?"

Fina: "… *sigh* Really now…? Muu… It seems like it's something you don't want others knowing, but…"

Ciel: "… You can say it's something like that. It'll actually help me if you just turn a blind eye."

Fina looked at me with half narrowed eyes, perhaps trying to look for more hints from my expression. After a while, she gave up and heaved a heavy sigh. Is it from exhaustion or exasperation? Either way, I think I still can't tell her about it…yet.

I know explaining what I did earlier would lead us to the talk of how I got to know some things. Then…

I will have to tell her that I'm from the same world as hers.

I… I still can't find it in me to tell her.

I know it's something easy to do. Just go ahead and tell her that I'm the guy she's been with back in our former world. That I know that she was one of the Literature Org. Member who was there when we read the book. That she was the one who mentioned a what-if scenario where an Aelf and a Human fall in love with each other. That she is now that exact same result of the one she imagined then.

And now that I can understand the language of this world, the words that I saw being encrypted in that book was…

It was our names.

Our names next to the designated race they have chosen.

And Fina's was Aelf-Human.

There's no way I can deny it now.

Fina is Chloe.

But…

Fina: "Ciel?"

I'm Ciel right now.

Ciel: "Nothing. More importantly, you okay? Any injuries or something?"

Fina: "Yup! I'm fine~ Just a little bit tired… Hyahaha…"

I'm Fleur's companion and a friend to Purin. I know I'll be called out by Purin when she hears that, but I consider her as someone important.

I promised to Fleur that I will lead her to her Kingdom. That I will help her reach her dream of becoming a true Demon Lord.

I want to tell Fina. I really do.

That I'm here. That I remember everything when we were still back in our world. Her favorite food. Her favorite color. Her usual dress when she's in public. Her favorite shop. The things that she hates. The things that she enjoys.

I want to tell her that I remember them all.

But I'm not someone who breaks ones promise. It's been like then ever since.

And most importantly…

She has her life now. I only heard a little from her, but I can see that she enjoys herself. That she's loved by everyone around her. That she's happy at her current life.

I don't want to be selfish enough to rob her of that happiness. To drag her around in danger, just because I want her to be by my side.

I can't. I just can't.

Ciel: ("I don't want to be someone who robs happiness of others ever again.")

That's why…

Ciel: "Fina, are you happy right now?"

Fina: "Hm? What's with the sudden question?"

I…

Ciel: "Just answer it."

I will…

Fina: "… I am happy. I very am. Hyaha~"

She placed her hands over her chest that heaves with every heavy breath, as she tries to calm herself down, and smiled. It was the smile I am used to seeing back in our world.

Happy, yet…

Lonely.

*thump*

All of a sudden, a loud beat was felt all over my body.

It was my Detect. It sent an intense signal to my core.

A large monster. A dangerous monster.

Under the cold water. Where the lake is.

Fina: "I'm happy. Of course, I would be."

… Right behind Fina.

Hidden from my Heat Sensor, now revealed its heat with its fast movement.

Shivers crawled all over my body.

Yes.

That's because…

Bursting out from under the lake, that one large monster was already behind Fina. Freezing water splashed all over the place, revealing a malignant shadow that was just lurking under the lake.

Fleur: "…Ms. Fina!!"

Fleur called out to Fina, to immediately inform her of the sudden threat.

Fina: "…!?"

But it was too late.

*thump*

… My heart beats harder.

Fleur is too far from her. I'm too far from her. Seconds aren't enough. Teleport takes up moments to activate. It won't be enough.

"With how I am, I won't be enough."

I won't make it.

*thump*

… And harder.

The monster's huge pincers are already inches away from Fina. Just like a slow motion movie scene, my eyes followed every movement.

I can't.

There's no way I'll make it. There's no way that this miserable 'me' will make it.

There's no…

.... I will fail...….

.... I'll see someone precious to me die 'again'...….

...…. This time it'll be Fina. It'll be Chloe.....….

...…....…...…... ['Useless fuck.']...…...…....…....…....….....

...… ['Harbinger of Death.'].....…....…....…....…....…....….....

.... ['Criminal.']... ['Child of misfortune.']....…....…....…....…....

...…...…....…....…....…. ['A waste of space.'].....….....

.... ['You're just a kid who knows nothing.'].....…....…....…

...…....…....…....…....…....…. ['Devil's son.']....….....

...… ['Bring me back my daughter!!']...…....…....…....…....….....

...…...…....…. ['Murderer.']...….....…....…....…....…....….....

...…....…....…....…. ['You should've been the one who died.'].....

...….['Don't show your face here ever again.']...….....…....….....

... ['You killed everyone.']...…....…....…....…....…....…....…..

...…....…....…...…. ['Just kill yourself, you piece of shit.']...…...

....…. ['You can't protect anyone.']....…....…....…....…....

...…. ['Everyone died.']...….

…

['BECAUSE YOU'RE WEAK.']

…

['Die.']

…

I…

I…!!

… LIKE HELL I CARE!!

Ciel: "EVIL GOD'S PENANCE!!"

I'll fucking repent how many times YOU ALL FUCKING want! JUST LET ME SAVE CHLOE!!

Like a punishment to my sins, excruciating pain surges all over my body. But in exchange, an immense strength flowed through out.

I forced my body to its limits, breaking anything that should be broken. Blood seeped from the cuts in my skin that opened because of the skill. My muscles tore, my bones cracked. I bit my lips to force myself aware, followed by blood flowing down my chin.

Sparks shoot out from my body, travelling throughout and hit the molten ground. But that's the least of my concern.

I kicked the ground with all my might. The force made the ground below my feet shatter and created an explosion behind me.

It hurts. My feet hurts. My body hurts. My head hurts. Everything hurts.

It certainly hurts.

But…

It will hurt more to see Chloe getting hurt. I'd rather die than make the same mistake.

That's why, I reached out my hand… The blurred surrounding, due to how fast I instantly travelled, was the least of my concern.

I reach out my hand to that girl. The girl I owe my life to.

To the girl I…

Ciel: "CHLOE!!"

It all happened in an instant. It only took a moment. Even a second was longer then the moment it happened. All I heard as a loud explosion that almost bursted my ear drums, which was already bleeding from the intense drawback of the skill.

Even I couldn't follow what I did.

But here I am. Surrounded by dust clouds and sparks flying from my body because of the Evil God's Penance skill.

Fina: "… Wh-Wha…"

Holding the precious girl in my arm.

Ciel: "Kuh…"

The other hand, I felt creaking. I'm holding off the large pincer of the gigantic Triatredent.

It pushes me to my limits, but I'm holding it off with every fiber of my being. It pushed me down, until a crater was formed below me, as if a meteor has just fallen in our place.

Ciel: "… You okay, Fina?"

Fina: "… Y-You said… my name… My name… Chloe… you said…"

Ignoring Fina's bewildered words, I turn around to face the giant Triatredent that I am holding down with Psyche.

A self-belittling smile emerges from my lips. I can't believe myself a few seconds ago.

Alright. Let's get to it. To hell with my body. It can rot for goodness' sake, I just want to protect those who are important to me.

Fleur.

Fina.

I push the pincer of the massive Triatredent a bit. I was able to do so because of the all the enhancing skills that are activated all at once. My Physical Attack should be past the limits now.

Followed by…

Ciel: "… Ignite."

I snap my fingers and forced the oxygen in the air to gather at a single point, creating a small shining orb of condensed energy.

Casting a Barrier around Fina and Fleur, I snap once again.

*BOOM*

Fina: "…!!"

The ignited gathered condensed energy, which is packed into the smallest it could be, exploded all at once. I used Psyche to force the explosion to shower the giant Triatredent with the scalding combustion.

Of course, that wouldn't be enough to kill this cursed thing.

The intense heat from the explosion evaporated the surface of the lake. Filling the place with a cloud of mist.

… Heated water is easier to freeze.

So I used those evaporated water, crystallized them using my Psyche. Freezing them by maintaining their molecules position in one place makes them into ice crystals.

Gathered them in all directions, I recreated the Icicle Arrow Purin used before.

Ciel: "… Pierce it."

I forced Psyche to its limits and using Gale Boost to enhance the arrows' speed, I manipulated them and pierced the giant Triatredent from all directions.

Triatredent: "*SCREECH!!!*

One by one, the Icicle Arrows pierced its body, relentlessly. Without resting, even with my head almost breaking from the pain, I continued to produce arrows and pierced its body. I relentlessly produced arrows from the water mist and pierced the giant Triatredent.

I just want it killed.

Though it has Meria Magic Resistance, what I'm using right now isn't magic, of course.

That's why…

Ciel: "Let me reap your soul."

*THUD*

It's huge body fell down to the ground, and made the water from the lake splash from its fall.

It's dead.

…

Chapter End

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