SWNOVELXO Chapter 456
46 minutes.
After losing Karina, Kirsh, Lakia, Shu, the cat, and finally Mari, I desperately clung to my sanity, which felt like it was about to evaporate from rage, and swung my spear.
No.
If I lose my cool here, there will truly be no way to turn this situation around.
I must stay calm until the end and find its weakness.
And I wasn’t the only one thinking that.
“Stay calm! We need to wait patiently and find an opening. That Artifact isn’t omnipotent! The fact that it deactivated after stopping all the Resistance members proves it! If we hold out, the Artifact will stop!”
Daria, who was fighting alongside me and analyzing the ghost’s weakness.
With her experience hunting corrupted Wizards and those bewitched by the Artifacts of the Ancient Empire, she quickly analyzed the weakness of the Artifact the ghost was using.
“Kehehe. Were you expecting something? Is that all?”
But the ghost laughed leisurely at Daria’s words.
“What, what’s so funny? Are you trying to laugh it off because your weakness was exposed?”
Whoosh.
This time, the ghost teleported in front of Daria.
“Daria!”
I tried to rush to Daria, but the ghost created a wall between us with a single gesture.
“Indeed, your words aren’t wrong. The ‘Sephiroth Tree Clock’ is an incredibly powerful Artifact, but currently, it’s fused with my body, supporting my life, so it can’t unleash its full 100% power. That’s why, after activating it for a certain period, it deactivates and must wait before it can be reactivated.”
“I knew it! Then we don’t need to defeat you! We just need to hold out until your ability deactivates…!”
“But the activation and deactivation intervals are both one hour. I activated the ‘Sephiroth Tree Clock’ exactly one hour before the gate activates. By the time the Artifact deactivates, the gate will already be active. You won’t get a chance to face me in my weakened state before the gate opens.”
“Th-that can’t be…!”
“You can never stop me.”
Thud.
While breaking through the wall, I heard Daria kneeling on the other side.
No.
“No!”
“Daria!”
What unfolded before my eyes after breaking the wall was the ghost, once again unleashing a flash of light from its chest.
And in front of it, Daria knelt in despair, and Aila, who had thrown herself to protect her, stood frozen in place.
…
…
…
39 minutes.
Even in the midst of rage that felt like it would drive me mad, Arisa, who had been suppressing her presence to target the ghost’s opening, froze in place, her dagger thrust forward with a fierce glare.
33 minutes.
Yuri, who couldn’t hold back her tears and charged forward screaming, stopped in her tracks, overcome by sorrow.
26 minutes.
Serena, who could no longer maintain her drunkenness no matter how much she drank, left after apologizing to me.
In this situation.
I couldn’t help but realize.
“…Why?”
The ghost was deliberately targeting my companions and not me.
If it had gone all out to wipe us out when the Artifact activated, it could have eliminated us much faster. Yet, it deliberately avoided me and stopped my companions one by one.
“Why aren’t you targeting me? Are you mocking me!?”
“My, what a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding? You think I’m misunderstanding!?”
“On the contrary, I’m showing you respect by holding back.”
But the ghost denied my words.
It looked at me with a satisfied smile.
“Your talent, rising to Master despite being a chimera of a lizard. Not only did you grasp my abilities in an instant after reading my journal, but you even deduced how I came to implant the ‘Sephiroth Tree Clock’ into my body. Your patience, trying to stay calm even as your comrades fall. And our fated meeting, you who obtained my journal. I’ve taken quite a liking to you. It’s a shame you’re not human.”
“…So you’re sparing me, and I should be grateful?”
“Indeed, with my power, I could have torn your companions apart miserably, yet I chose to stop time and spare them. All because I’ve taken a liking to you. To put it bluntly, join me.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Kehehe. You’re not refusing. Good. Serve under me and pledge loyalty to the Empire. In return, I’ll grant you the highest position as a slave, ruling over all other slaves. And I’ll spare your half-elf companion, making her your personal slave. Though her father must be executed in the square, I’ll turn a blind eye to her. By principle, half-breeds with human blood are guilty from birth, but exceptions must be made for the exceptional, don’t you think?”
The ghost finished its speech and looked at me with a friendly gaze.
I should have firmly rejected the ghost’s offer, but…
My mouth wouldn’t open.
No matter how much I thought about it rationally, I couldn’t see a way to defeat the ghost.
All I could see was the future where we’d all be wiped out.
The plan had already failed.
Then maybe, at least Mari…
Shouldn’t I protect her with my own hands?
My hands holding the spear lost their strength.
In the midst of rage and humiliation, the sweet whisper of surrender gnawed at my brain.
“….”
No. I won’t do that.
I’d rather die as myself.
Mari would want that too.
If not, I’ll apologize after death.
If I’m given another chance in the next life and meet Mari again, I’ll apologize. And I’ll dedicate that life to her.
Shaking off my hesitation, I firmly gripped the spear in both hands…
And at that moment.
“Hahaha. How disappointing. Aren’t you going to ask me?”
Shail’s voice came from above.
Wait, above?
Both the ghost and I turned our gazes toward the source of the voice, and there, at the highest point of the tower’s rooftop entrance, stood Shail.
“Shail!”
“My, everyone’s so focused on fighting that they’ve left the gate unattended. If this keeps up, a passing Master might accidentally destroy half of it.”
The path to the rooftop.
Of course, both the ghost and I had been wary, keeping each other from approaching.
But in the midst of the ongoing battle, as the ghost and I conversed, the tension eased for a moment.
In that brief lapse, Shail, who had been erasing his presence, had already reached the rooftop entrance.
“Shail Delphine… Ah, yes. You were there. The Empire’s traitor. I treated you with utmost trust, yet you betray the Empire like this.”
“Traitor? I never thought I’d hear that from you. Do you, who deceived even the Emperor without revealing your true identity, have the right to speak of loyalty to the Empire?”
“Hah. I am the Empire. The Emperor’s throne is but a trivial position, no matter who sits on it.”
At those words, Shail smiled even more deeply.
“Is that so? Then would it be fine if I became Emperor?”
“That won’t happen. Once trust is broken, it cannot be restored. A traitor who betrays once can betray again. That’s why the betrayed cannot trust the traitor, and the traitor cannot trust themselves, knowing they might betray again.”
“Is that so? Then I’m so sad that I’ll go up to the rooftop to clear my mind. So sad that I might accidentally destroy the gate while venting my frustration.”
Shail said this and drew his sword, slicing the rooftop entrance in half.
The setting sun’s light flooded through the broken door, filling the room with a reddish glow, and a cool autumn breeze swept in.
“No!! You can’t touch the gate!!”
Whoosh.
At the same time, the ghost teleported instantly.
“Hahaha! I’ve been waiting for this moment! The only chance to strike you is now! The moment you teleport in desperation!”
But Shail had been aiming for exactly that.
From the beginning, his target wasn’t the gate but the ghost.
As the ghost’s body blurred during teleportation, Shail thrust his dagger toward the spot where the ghost would appear.
The dagger, compressed to its limit, glowed with a deep purple aura.
All technique was discarded, focusing solely on penetrating power. This strike was undoubtedly the most powerful attack Shail had ever unleashed.
Clang!!
But the attack was easily blocked by the ghost’s barrier.
“How did you anticipate the attack…?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice you had no interest in the gate from the start? Your target has always been me, hasn’t it? Ever since the battle began, your gaze has been fixed on me.”
Flash!
Shail’s hidden strike was effortlessly parried.
Shail, uncharacteristically serious, froze in place.
“Hmm. A futile struggle. Truly futile, all is futile.”
The ghost, with a bored expression, pushed Shail with a fingertip, and Shail fell from the rooftop to the ground.
There were no wings to break his fall, and he landed with a loud “thud.”
There were 18 minutes left until timeout.