Chapter 225 Part 2: Harbinger of Hope
The grass field was reduced to nothingness, the ground torn asunder by the sheer magnitude of the explosion. The blast would have been enough to annihilate a city as large as Toril's capital, leaving nothing but smoldering ruins in its wake.
Where his attack had been released, the ground was obliterated, leaving a massive, smoldering crater. The earth had been vaporized in the center, and the surrounding edges were jagged, with molten rock still glowing a faint orange from the intense heat. A large black cloud was still lingering, making it difficult to check on his opponent.
He glanced around.
Any remaining patches of grass had been swept away, leaving a barren, cracked landscape. Trees or any other vegetation that had been in the vicinity were uprooted or burned to cinders, their remnants scattered like splinters across the wasteland.
Arnold noticed that there was a noticeable handprint in his skin. He gritted his teeth when he tried closing his hand.
That attack definitely landed. He felt her release him the moment the explosion happened.
But he felt a sense of dread—it was coming from the smoke.
Paranoid as to what this overwhelming feeling was—which he felt for the first time in his life since nothing could compare to this—he released two more Flaming Gauntlets, both on the same level as the previous one.
Again, the area was reduced to molten rock and scorched earth.
It didn't go away.
He released another, this time even more powerful than the previous blasts. The kickback from that attack was so strong that he was knocked back by his own attack, losing his footing in the process.
Due to the black smoke, the sky darkened, almost blocking out all the sun's light.
Arnold's chaotic mind produced the scene of the demon world and compared it to the scene in front of him. While the environment was nowhere near as horrible—in visuals and living conditions—as in the demon world, the sense of dread was all the same.
It felt like he was about to be cut down and could already feel his head go flying. He didn't know how to move at that moment because his instincts kicked in to appear as small as possible, hopefully avoiding the sense of dread looking for prey.
Arnold's gulps were louder than his heartbeat. His gaze was locked to the area of destruction. A hole suddenly appeared in the smoke as if it was a solid substance cut through by a knife.
But from Arnold's perspective, he saw a silhouette charge at him with incredible speed.
He dodged his head to the side, avoiding a strike that could've made his head go flying, before he teleported a fair distance away.
As expected, that attack—that could level a city five times over—didn't kill this woman.
'I'm starting to believe that she really is the one who killed all the Offspring.'
The only thing different from before was that her dress was completely destroyed. Normally he'd get aroused immediately when there was a literal goddess showing all her assets to him but this wasn't the right time to admire her beauty… and body.
Oddly enough, her helmet and gauntlet were still intact.
What kind of items were those? He could scan Gergois and Luxtivin just fine but nothing happened when he tried to scan her equipment—or more like what's left of it.
"That power," Guinevere turned towards him, "The first time you used it, your body was disintegrated… Yet now you are able to control it. I have seen this power being misused too many times and had to cut down many who abused their power."
She clenched her free hand, "I realized after all these years that humans are the only ones to fear when it comes to wielding this sort of power. They are given the wills to live however they want while demigods and gods are born to serve a duty, code, or tradition. Naturally, knowing this I had to cut down many humans who were often used for their power by harbingers of evil." She gritted her teeth, "Seeing their relieved faces as they were finally released from the claws of that evil gnawed at my heart, clawing its way down my conscience and making me question if it's truly worth it to sacrifice innocent lives influenced by evil. Humans are the most incomplete canvas of creation but are the easiest to paint on, which is why there is always a villain out there ready to grab the reins."
Is this woman basically saying that no human is truly evil? Is she this naïve?
"I know humans can be born evil." She said as if she read his mind, "However, out of every race in existence in the nine realms or outside of it, they are most redeemable. Demons, however, are the complete opposite, and that is what I sense inside you. It's a rot that reached me all the way here even though I could not sense you across these hundred worlds. My body shudders with every stinking breath I draw while near your tainted soul."
Her killing intent felt like he was battling against the pressure of water at great depths.
That's right. He was one of them—a human influenced by evil. This evil was spread by none other than Oriel.
Arnold gripped his chest as it felt like he couldn't breathe. Every useless thought going through his head came to a halt as his mind only focused on the "Failed King".
'You bastard… If it wasn't for you…'
I wouldn't be in this mess, he cursed.
Guinevere looked back at the aftermath of his attacks. With her gaze leaving him, her overwhelming killing intent also departed.
The crater formed from Arnold's attacks was so deep that even light couldn't show the bottom. It was as wide as a small city.
"This power could've harmed innocent people. Thank goodness no one lives here."
"…Where is here exactly?"
He could feel her glance sideways at him.
"Can you feel how different the air is compared to the area we fought in our first battle?"
Now that she mentioned it…
The air felt cleaner and merely breathing it in filled his body with vigor and cleared his mind.
"This is the world where the Star Beast's abominations lived. Now this part of the world is cleansed by the power of the Gardtree."
With a frown, Arnold looked up at the Gardtree, almost feeling as if it were staring back at him. He didn't know why, but being near it filled him with an even greater sense of dread than before. Even though he now knew its name, the curiosity sparked by the familiar feeling inside him remained unsatisfied.
Guinevere's body was suddenly enveloped in a radiant golden light, so intense that Arnold instinctively braced himself, expecting an attack. But as the light faded, he realized no assault had come. Instead, Guinevere stood before him transformed.
Her attire had changed again, but this time it was more startling than ever. She now wore raven-black heels that accentuated the length of her legs. A garter lingerie set, as black as midnight, clung to her body, emphasizing every curve with an almost sinful allure from such a godly woman. The intricate lacework contrasted sharply with her pale skin, the fabric appearing more like a second skin than clothing as it squished her flesh.
Fishnet tights wrapped around her thighs, the pattern digging slightly into her flesh, adding a raw, provocative edge to her appearance. The delicate netting seemed to both reveal and obscure, teasing the eye and drawing attention to the strength hidden beneath her outward femininity. Arnold couldn't help but wonder if he could even call this an outfit since it's literally just sexy lingerie made to seduce men.
Her helmet had vanished and her eyes were now covered with a blindfold but her hair was still as loose as before.
The thought of calling her a "shameless woman using her charms and body to distract her opponent" was on the tip of his tongue but this wasn't the time for such a friendly jeer. Every movement made her chest jiggle, naturally drawing his eyes. Cursing his inner perverse self, he straightened his posture just like he was taught by Sebas.
Guinevere calmly walked towards him.
Thinking that another Flame Gauntlet was going to be useless, he decided to go all out from now on—
He forced out more Aether as he prepared his [Flow of the Tide] martial art—something he hadn't used in quite a while.
Guinevere came to a stop when she sensed his sudden increase of power. She got into her usual stance when she sensed the danger.
A system update went off inside Arnold's head:
· Patch notes: Your martial art has been activated! All stats have been increased by 20%!
· With the addition of [Finger God – First Stage], this number is raised to 22,5%.
Anyone who saw him use his martial arts would've asked themselves by now: "How is it possible to use a martial art built on the foundations of aura when you don't have aura at all?"
It was a stupid question because the answer was already obvious. It would've been the same even if he were a magician who built his class with mana.
He could—in theory—cast spells as well but he didn't have the dedicated Intelligence stat that is exclusive to Magicians that handles magic control, information related to rune formation structuring, mana usage control, etc...
He could draw magic circles using Aether on his own but controlling the formations are an entirely different issue. If anything, someone like Elora could benefit from this alone since there wouldn't be any need to buy magic sheets anymore.
This didn't bother him since he knew Guinevere's magic defense was off the charts so not just any mediocre spell will kill her. Fifteenth to Seventeenth-Rank spells are the only spells powerful enough to hurt even gods.
Guinevere then continued walking as if she had been waiting for him to finish his preparations. This woman truly values sportsmanship for knights. Maybe she just enjoys watching worms do their best to defeat her before crushing them?
No, he understood immediately form her mannerisms and words that she wasn't that kind of person at all. She simply wished to rid the realms of evil. Maybe this is why he thought that she's naïve. Evil can originate from anywhere. It didn't matter how many people she killed; more will eventually show up to cause trouble and take innocent lives.
Yet he knew she wouldn't give up despite that. That's because she had the power to continue fighting and that's the only thing driving her—knowing she could crush everything and anything with her sword.
Guinevere stood mere meters away from Arnold. If a passerby saw this scene, they'd think she's a dominatrix who's angry at her slave with the amount of killing intent she's giving off.
She raised her sword above her head just like during their first fight.
'Is she planning on using that ridiculously overpowered skill again?'
He didn't want to feel the power of the sun combined with divine power again. Even a combustion of Aether couldn't destroy that skill.
"—Do you have loved ones?" an unexpected question came out of Guinevere's mouth.
"…What does that matter to you?"
"The pain of killing a person who was once loved by others is unimaginable. It's more painful than burying my enemies in somewhere isolated, like a planet where we clashed. That is why I will take you to them if you tell me where you are from."
"…."
He swallowed his contempt when he saw her gentle but subtle smile. She didn't mean that in a bad way it seems. Just genuine respect to him after his death.
"Oh, just a little place near the Intermid border."
Her smile suddenly vanished and it felt like cold water was spilled over the unusually merry moment.
The Great Demon Human War took place right next to that magic barrier.
"Now I see… This familiar demonic energy… It is none other than that of the Failed Soul King—the evil I failed to eliminate, the Evil that died on that battlefield!" Guinevere's stats suddenly skyrocketed when she released her divine power.
With the way she phrased that—
'…She really is both the first wife of Promethius and the Guinevere sung in legends.'