Chapter 95 – Collapse Phenomenon

The laboratory that I was in was in the verge of collapsing. The large glass containers were broken without mercy, its' contents rolling on the floor.

The red solutions spreaded slowly all over.

At the back of that dim room, Mimir's voice could be heard.

She hadn't awakened that long already. And so, her voice was kind of raspy,

[Onii-sama…..why? Why, do you do something like this]

The question was directed at Rafal. But there was no answer.

She could only hear rustling sound coming her way.

Stop, don't look at it. An alarm in her heart said so.

Over the red solution, what lied ahead of her, was surely a very saddening view.

Rafal was sucking the blood out of Mimir's neck.

Rafal said that he lacked blood before he escaped me. Apparently, regular blood intake is required in order for him to be able to use his powers.

Even though there were other soldiers and holy knights around, he specifically looked for Mimir's blood. That only means, he couldn't ingest any kind of blood. A certain kind was required.

That's where Mimir came in. That's why she's been confined in the research facility and had her blood sampled regularly. When I found her, she might have lost consciousness due to blood loss.

And then, when she finally woke up, Rafal immediately went to suck on her blood. Judging from how Mimir looked when that happened, she seemed to have no idea why this kind of thing even happened.

When Rafal finally satisfied, he ditched Mimir to the corner of the room.

[Replenishment complete. I drank quite a lot. See, my power is returning back. No, even more than before.]

His eyes turned vivid red. Not only that, he was rather excited from his muscles clearly swelling from under his clothes.

I pointed my black sword at the power drunk Rafal and said.

[Rafal, she's still your sister.]

[Sister? No way, I never consider her as one. Well, she's nothing but a partner to kill some time with for me…..that foolish woman. Who would've accepted the daughter of a woman who kicked my mother out as a sister! She's merely a tool to replenish my power now. Hahahahahah]

Hearing that, Mimir shed a tears as her consciousness started to wane once more.

Rafal saw that, and he laughed out loud.

[She's truly a stupid woman. I remember from when she's just aware of herself, she would obediently follow my teaching to look down on other people. What a laugh. She grew up as fool just like her father. Don't you think so too, Fate? She used to treat you like a garbage after all.]

[….Rafal…..you.....cut it out already]

Mimir finally fainted due to blood loss. The wound caused by Rafal's bite was seemingly meant to kill her. Blood continued leaking out from the open wound.

Apparently she didn't turn into a nightwalker because her blood is of a special kind.

[Now then, how about a second round]

As soon as he said that, Rafal waved the black spear and rushed forward.

The black sword and spear clashed thrice. Trying to overpower each other.

His power was equal to that of me during semi starving state.

[What's the matter, Fate. Is this all you got?]

[Kuh…]

At the same time, we repelled each other, but distance is meaningless in this battle.

Laughing, Rafal pierced his black spear towards me.

Greed immediately warned me through "Mind Readin"

『Here comes the space by passing. And a multi stages one at that!』

[What?]

At first I thought that it'll just jumped through space and attack my blindspot as usual, but this attack went beyond my expectation.

It attack from from my blindside once more, which I anticipated. But seeing through my movement, Rafal made the spear jumped through space once more.

Even after Greed had warned me in advance…..I couldn't dodge it.

The black spear sunk into my left flank.

[You did fairly well, Fate. I was aiming for your heart, but you managed to twist your body at the last second, didn't you? Even so, you still got hit. How is it, is it hurt? It's hurt, isn't it? Does it remind you of the old days?]

[Gaha…]

With a grin on his face, Rafal pushed the black spear deeper.

The mind numbing pain is raging in my head. However with this, it won't be able to jump through space again.

I grabbed the spear stuck on my left, and caste a certain magic.

[To feel at ease when you haven't won yet, what a fool you are…..Rafal.]

[You…..let go!]

[If you say that, why should I let go?]

This is what I learned after shooting the spear with Dust Magic imbued magic arrow. The spear won't be able to jump through space if something interfere with its internal magic power flow.

So, by grabbing the spear, I directly casted dust magic on it.

Starting from where I grabbed the spear, the petrification ran beyond space, through the spear handle, and eventually reached the area where Rafal is holding it.

[Rafal!!]

I raised my magic power output. The petrification became even faster, spreading up to Rafal's finger, then whole hands without stopping.

Aiming for that timing, I pulled out the black spear from my flank, and pulled it as far back as I can.

Rafal's petrified hands crumbled as I did so.

[Guaaaaaaaaaaa]

The black spear escaped its owner through the distortion in space, and ended up on my hand.

"Auto Recovery" and "Auto Recovery boost" immediately triggered to heal my wounded side. At that moment, Greed also spoke to me.

『Vanity is useless for you. If something went wrong, it may even suck your blood dry』

[I know already. You're my only partner.]

『As if I don't know what Fate is truly thinking!』

I dropped the black spear Vanity on the ground, and faced Rafal.

[You've lost your black spear. There is no way you'll win this.]

[What do you even mean by that. My power is equal to you. I can regrow these easy]

Rafal said while staring at me then his lost hands.

Without the black spear, he's no match for me.

Greed said that the black spear was different from the one he remember. Which mean, Rafal hadn't been able to draw out the black spear's original power.

I had no idea how strong it was originally. However, if the space jumping strike was merely it's normal ability, what would happen if it has a secret technique much like a regular Mortal Sin weapons? This couldn't be taken easy.

Where did he find them, the black spear Vanity as well as the power of Nightwalker? Rafal couldn't properly use them all because it's not his own power originally. As if it's a rushed attempt.

It's as Aaron said after all, all those powers were too much for Rafal to handle.

[Once again. It's your loss.]

[Do you really think, gagagagagagagagag...…gaa…..]

[Rafal?]

He started to repeat incoherent words. And then, he also began talking to himself.

[Wait, I can still do it. This isn't the promise. Give me some more time….]

Afterward, his neck went limp as if he has lost consciousness.

When he raised his face again, it's as if he was someone else. The look in his face was like a child finding something interesting to play with.

[Rafal Burix-kun is really a disappointment. I thought I'm gonna enjoy this a bit longer. And I have even give him all my power. Don't you think so too, Gluttony-kun, Greed-kun?]

What the, what has happened all of a sudden!? Rafal never called me Gluttony-kun before.

[Is this one no good? His body was good as a host for me to recover myself. A body filled with vengeful thought is always the best kind after all. But I guess it'll need more than this for a full recovery. In that case, until the time comes, I'll just grant my host his wish.]

Rafal said so while sporting a smile that was very unlike him.

[Gluttony-kun, I wonder if you can stop this. Let's start with this!]

An unfathomable pressure attacked me. Greed spoke to me through "Mind Reading".

『This, get away from here!』

Rafal started to accumulate magic power that exploded his surroundings.

I couldn't just leave the black spear here. When I was about to retrieve it, the figure of the unconscious Mimir entered the corner of my eyes.

『Quickly』

[Yeah, I know, but]

『You really are...』

Taking Mimir along, I ran across the basement, and jumped out of the facility.

Just right then, the research facility exploded from the underground. Its' debrises were launched so high to the sky, and later fell across the kingdom alongside the snow.

Screams resounded, not only on the military district but also some other places.

Aaron found me and asked.

[What in the world is happening? That girl is Mimir, isn't she? What has become of Rafal? Hado and the other nightwalkers had turned into dust and disappeared. I can only think that Fate has somehow defeated Rafal….]

[About that….]

On the area where the facility originally stood, a monster-like silhouette could be seen.

Area E, when one who belongs to that level loses their life, they become monster in a collapse phenomenon.

In that case, is that figure still Rafal――or an entirely different being altogether?

I had no idea whether it will work, but I activated "Appraisal".

=====

[The One with Bloody Wings]

?Undead? Archdemon　 Lv???

Durability:6.1E(+8)

Strength:6.3E(+8)

Magic:9.3E(+8)

Spirit:9.9E(+8)

Agility:7.2E(+8)

Skills: Holy Sword Mastery, Strength Strengthening (L), Dark Magic, Spirit Unity.

=====

Cold blue skin. Two long horns on its forehead. And four jet black wings.

It's something that looked like what Hado had become, but more refined in appearance.

Its level couldn't be seen.

A monster with unique title――A crown tier.

Its statuses were higher than mine. It also had Holy Sword Mastery and Strength Strengthening(L), which was probably the remnant of the original Rafal.