I’m the Madman of This Family

Chapter 333. It Was Winter (9)

Eslow also knew. Keter had not shown his “Authority” until now.

In other words, what Keter was aiming for was an extreme counterattack utilizing his Authority.

‘Shallow.’

A strategy is effective when the opponent is unaware. The moment the opponent realizes it, it becomes poison.

‘Show me. Your Authority.’

Eslow could have retreated at any time. His Authority, as Keter had anticipated, allowed him to move to his weapon.

Appearing right in front of Keter was also achieved by moving through the curved blade embedded in his abdomen. The principle of instantaneous movement required no time, making it impossible to react with speed.

Although there was a restriction that once a weapon was moved, it could not be moved again, would Keter have noticed?

‘It’s over.’

The sensation at Eslow’s fingertips. It was definitely the feeling of slicing through a neck.

Keter’s sword dug into his neck. Very slowly but surely. Keter showed no reaction, and Eslow thought it was justified.

‘I was fast, you were slow.’

The match was decided.

But Eslow did not let his guard down. Keter was cunning, after all. However, this time there was no anomaly. The blade had cut through more than half of his neck.

Victory was certain. A human like Keter could not survive the moment his neck was severed.

The always relaxed smile on Keter’s face was freezing. Seeing that expression, Eslow’s lips curled up.

‘It’s been hundreds of years since I had such an interesting fight.’

Confident of his victory, Eslow stopped the sword that was cutting through the neck and placed his left palm on Keter’s chest.

Authority ? Life Mirror Ignition.

Eslow’s Authority, “Life Mirror Ignition,” could turn a living being into a powerful weapon, but there were two activation conditions.

First. The opponent must be incapacitated.

Second, the opponent must admit defeat.

Eslow thought it was a waste to simply kill Keter. Turning him into a weapon would surely create a very useful tool.

The conditions were sufficiently met. Even fulfilling just one would suffice, but in this case, both were satisfied.

But for some reason. Keter did not transform into a weapon. The transformation into a weapon takes less than 0.1 seconds.

Eslow felt strange.

‘He wasn’t incapacitated, and he didn’t admit defeat?’

To shoot a bow, both arms are indispensable. Of course, a strong one like Keter could shoot an arrow with just his will, but the power would be significantly less than using his arms directly.

Moreover, half of his neck was cut. He was already in a state where he could be considered dead, yet he wasn’t incapacitated, and he didn’t admit defeat?

Eslow, though not human now, was once human, so he knew how absurd this was.

Common sense dictated that he should move the stopped blade and immediately behead Keter.

But in this nonsensical situation, Eslow met Keter’s eyes. He was too curious about what kind of face Keter was making.

Keter was smiling. Then he slowly opened his mouth. With the blade still embedded in his neck.

“Preparations for victory are complete. I can die, but I will not lose.”

“……!”

The moment Eslow sensed danger, he tried to immediately move to a distant weapon, but he couldn’t.

Because Keter had grabbed his arm.

Movement to a weapon cannot be achieved while in contact with another person.

‘Did he notice? In that brief moment?’

At that moment, Eslow focused not on Keter in front of him but on his surroundings. He thought it was absolutely impossible for Keter to inflict any fatal injury on him.

But there was no one around. Henya was there, but she was Incapable of Fighting.

‘Then what the hell……’

Countless possibilities flashed through Eslow’s mind. But there was no such case.

Tsupat!

Keter disappeared before his eyes, and a pure white arrow, Baeklin, appeared.

The moment Eslow realized Keter had disappeared and Baeklin had appeared, he immediately used his Authority to move. It was an instinct to avoid whatever it was.

Soon, Eslow’s body appeared right above an axe dozens of meters away.

“……”

With Baeklin embedded in his abdomen.

No matter how little time it takes to move, thinking about moving takes time.

Baeklin appearing right in front of his nose. The effect of Baeklin being cognitive dissonance. Not anticipating that Keter would suddenly disappear and an arrow would appear……

In conclusion, Eslow failed to avoid Baeklin, but it was just one arrow. Not a penetrating wound, just an embedded arrow.

For an ordinary human, it would be fatal, but Eslow was a demigod. A single arrow wouldn’t affect his life.

But did Keter not know that and give up half his neck just to land one arrow?

Wiiiiiiii……

Baeklin was surging with immense energy. Its appearance was like the Milky Way.

An arrow condensed with explosive power. But its density was thousands of times higher than anything shown before. It emitted such a bright light that white appeared black.

Celestial Infinity Technique, Second Form.

Milky Way ? Good Night.

The world went dark for a moment.

*

The largest explosion recorded in the world was thousands of years ago, the collision of a “meteor” that destroyed the Mage Empire.

The Dragon’s Final Magic, “Meteor,” fell on the capital of the Mage Empire, and the shockwave and mushroom cloud that occurred at that time were recorded to have been seen and felt by everyone in the world.

The metropolis where the Meteor fell turned into a giant crater with a radius of several kilometers, and the surrounding area became flat. Roads, buildings, forests, all were blown away, leaving a desolate land.

All that remained after the Meteor fell was boiling lava. Nothing else remained.

Keter’s “Milky Way?Good Night” did not have that level of power.

But it was at a level observable by everyone. The battle that took place in the Southern Region became known to everyone in the Lilian Kingdom.

Even neighboring countries, and even the farthest Empire, witnessed the tremors and the blue pillar rising high into the sky.

The explosive power of Keter’s Milky Way was that tremendous. Enough for more than half of This World to notice.

There was no mushroom cloud, but the resonance phenomenon caused the space itself to twist and distort. But it soon returned to normal. The world’s restorative power is not that fragile.

The air that had been pushed away was sucked back in, as if a storm was raging. The vast forest had turned into a desert, and not a single trace of life could be felt anywhere.

Eslow, Keter, Henya, and Wid-

No one was there.

Rustle.

That was when it happened. An arm suddenly emerged from the sand, and a person began to crawl out.

“Cough, cough!”

It was Henya who crawled out from underground.

Already having forcibly contained a large amount of Mana in her body, and swept away by the Milky Way, her body was not in a normal state.

Still, she looked around. But with nothing visible, she was just in a daze.

The last thing she saw was “light” and “darkness.” The moment she felt the whole world brighten, it darkened, and her senses disappeared.

When she opened her eyes, all she felt was that her body had been flipped. Struggling aimlessly, she came up to the surface, but all she could see was sand.

“Are they… all dead?”

Eslow, Keter, Wid, and Lyze. And all those who had stepped forward to help her.

“……”

Henya’s eyes moistened. She had never cried in her life.

There were many times she wanted to cry. But she held back. Because she was the Lord’s daughter. If she cried, she would be looked down upon as “just a woman.”

But at this moment, she couldn’t hold back her tears. She didn’t cry out loud, but tears fell drop by drop.

“Save me……”

Now she was even hearing things. It was Keter’s voice.

“Save me……”

Henya’s tears flowed more.

“Keter wouldn’t say something so weak.”

Even if he were already dead, Keter was not the type to beg for his life. So this was clearly a hallucination.

Snap!

Then, a hand suddenly emerged from the ground and grabbed Henya’s ankle.

“Save me!”

Startled, Henya pulled the hand that had grabbed her ankle. Then Keter popped out like a radish.

“Ke, Keter?”

Keter, covered in blood, looked extremely tired, but he was clearly alive. His eyes were wide open.

The neck that had been half-severed was now stitched up. The scar was large, but it didn’t seem to affect his life.

The regenerative power of the “Book of Creation” he had obtained earlier. On top of that, Keter had gambled. Eslow would surely try to turn him into a weapon instead of completely killing him.

That’s why Keter survived and could counter Eslow, who was conscious of the counter.

“Keter!”

“Ugh.”

Henya was grateful that even Keter was alive. She hugged his neck.

“Sorry to ruin the mood, but it’s not over yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“Good news and bad news. Choose.”

“Go, good news?”

“Others are alive besides me.”

Henya was so happy she felt like crying again. But there was still bad news.

“What’s the bad news?”

“Others are alive besides me.”

“That’s the same. How can that be bad news……”

Henya couldn’t continue. She realized what Keter was saying.

The presence she felt behind her. She didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

“As expected, even a half is an Irregular. Ugh.”

Keter used Henya’s head as a cane to stand up. His severed arm was still severed, and his whole body was covered in wounds, but he stood up.

Because Eslow was alive.

Of course, he wasn’t in perfect condition. He stood there in a rather grotesque form.

Blackened bones with no organs or muscles, but it was definitely Eslow.

In fact, upon closer inspection, he was even recovering. Particles gathering like dust were forming Eslow’s body.

Keter limped towards Eslow. Surprisingly, Eslow was the first to speak.

-Exchanging the arrow and the position. Is that your Authority?

Eslow, without a mouth, spoke through telepathy. Keter nodded.

“Reversal. That’s my Authority.”

-A fitting name. It’s troubling. You’ve made me realize the fear of death I had forgotten, so I wonder how to repay you.

“Just die, and I’ll be grateful.”

-A difficult request. As you can see, this body is even death itself belongs to Lilian… I cannot die without her permission.

“Since when did you swear loyalty? You were just waiting for a chance to betray.”

-Hohoho. I remember. You were hostile to Lilian. I’ll tell you as a reward. Now that I’ve experienced death, I feel it. She no longer needs to play the role of a king. The reason we continue the contract is simply because we need a chess piece.

Eslow’s words seemed quite important, but Keter couldn’t analyze them.

Outwardly, he acted as if he still had strength, but in reality, he had already exceeded his limit six times. Just standing and pretending to be calm was taking all his strength.

‘Well, if it’s six times, there’s no law saying it can’t be seven.’

And even if he fights, there’s no harm in extracting as much information as possible. Even if he can’t analyze it immediately, he can remember it.

“Can you feel where Lilian is?”

-Only the direction, but I can tell. Ah, indeed. That is her will.

Eslow seemed somehow disappointed. Meanwhile, his body was nearly half restored.

-Keter. I declare that you have won the battle. But I am an immortal body. Even if you have won the battle with me, you cannot win the war.

“After being so confident of victory and then being defeated, are you going to be defeated again?”

-Hohoho. Maybe. But I have a proposal. Run away. I won’t chase you. I swear I won’t touch Sephira either. This is my reward for your victory. Isn’t this what you wanted?

Eslow already knew. Keter wanted to kill him not because of Henya, but because his very existence was a nuisance.

In other words, the moment he swore not to touch Sephira and Keter, Keter’s goal was achieved. There was no need to risk his life fighting here.

Henya also knew this, so her heart grew cold. Rationally, Keter no longer needed to risk his life to fight.

But Keter, picking his ear, said.

“To my ears, it sounds like you’re begging for your life, not proposing?”

-…I can’t understand. Why do you insist on fighting me to the end? Your goal has already been achieved. Why do you insist on fighting? Do you love Henya or something?

“It’s not something as grand as love.”

Keter, cracking his neck, prepared for battle. Then he casually added.

“Just because she’s a friend I know.”

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