ushernet Chapter 205: The Darkness of Duaat (1)
Chapter 205: The Darkness of Duaat (1)
Chapter 205: The Darkness of Duaat (1)
“Humans participated in the Great War of the Spirits and Gods? Ramine, you never mentioned that.”
[You didn’t even know that gods and spirits had a war in the first place.]
At that, Karyl shrugged lightly.
“Well, there aren’t many records of spirits in human history. In any case, for the Five Great Spirit Kings, including Duaat and Rasis, to be sealed away by the gods... I’m surprised you went down that easily.”
[It’s a past well behind us.]
“But I didn’t know humans were involved in that defeat. Seems like there’s a lot I don’t know...”
Crack—
Karyl twisted his neck from side to side. Blood was still dripping from his collarbone, which had been shattered by Duaat moments ago.
“Ptooey!”
Karyl then spat out a blood clot and wiped his lips before saying, “It’s not just any past. Even if the humans of the past did that, it’s still a human act. Is that defeat the reason the Spirit Realm disappeared?”
[I can’t deny that.]
“Why didn’t you mention such an important thing?”
[What difference would it make?]
Ramine’s flames flickered, appearing to reflect his state of mind.
“There is a difference.”
Karyl tried casting a healing spell on the wounds inflicted by Duaat, but the healing light radiating from his hands was quickly suppressed by the surrounding darkness and failed to exert its full power.
“This is important. I don’t know how humans caused the defeat of the spirits, but I’m different from those humans.”
It seemed that Duaat’s dark energy was suppressing Karyl’s mana.
“Damn it!”
After a few more attempts, Karyl eventually gave up and waved his hand dismissively.
“If you follow me, this time we will succeed.”
[What nonsense are you spouting? A Spirit King under a human? It’s absurd. Ramine, have you finally been deceived by a human’s silver tongue?]
Duaat glared at Karyl. The bandages covering his face had been slashed by the Freezing Talon, revealing his expression more clearly than before.
[Me? Not at all.] Ramine shrugged. Whether it was a trick of the light or not, the image of the flame giant seemed clearer than before.
[Do you really think that I, after witnessing thousands of years of history, would be swayed by a human’s words?]
[...]
[I didn’t submit to his words. I submitted to his power.]
BOOM—!!
CRASH—!!
At that moment, Duaat was flung much further back than when Karyl had been thrown earlier. He barely managed to block the attack by lifting his hands. The Jamadhar, which was trembling violently, managed to hold off the Freezing Talon, but Karyl’s assault wasn’t over yet.
[This is...]
The energy emanating from Karyl’s entire body began to strip away Duaat’s dark energy, tearing through the darkness. The black flames of the spirit were being consumed by Ramine’s flames coming from Karyl.
[Dragon mana...?!]
Ramine seemed pleased as he felt the intense mana flowing from Karyl’s heart.
[Now you remember? This is the same power that stopped you before, the power of the Flame Dragon.]
WHOOSH...!!
Karyl gripped Agnel tightly. Concentrating Ramine’s flames into the dagger, the fiery blade extended to match the length of the Freezing Talon. The magic blade solidified, giving Agnel the appearance of a long sword forged from red steel.
CLANG—!!
As the two blades crossed, a sharp sound echoed through the air.
[...]
Paying attention to Karyl’s movements, Duaat rotated the blade of his Jamadhar upward.
CLINK—!
When he reached out, the Jamadhar embedded into the ground flew back into his empty hand.
SWISH...!
Black energy spewed forth from the blades on both his arms, and thorn-like spikes sprouted from the extended blades.
[Be careful. Wounds inflicted by his blade can’t be healed with mana.]
Simultaneously, flames burst from the blade, engulfing Duaat.
“Damn!”
However, the fire surging from Agnel, which had pierced Duaat’s side, began to dissipate as it met the dark energy seeping through the Spirit King’s bandages.
“Ugh—!”
Karyl gathered all of his mana, his heart pounding violently, his mana veins heating up. Drawing upon his dragon mana through his yet-to-be-fully-opened meridians was putting too much strain on his body.
[A monster? Just a weak and wretched human.]
Duaat’s voice was icy as he looked at the blade digging into him.
“Why do you hate humans so much? You also opposed the gods, didn’t you? Let’s hear how humans wronged you first,” Karyl sneered.
[It’s always like this. You humans are reckless, chaotic, and only care about your desires.]
Duaat slowly raised his sword.
Crack—!
He then pressed his elbow into Karyl’s wrist, and a dull crack echoed in the air.
“Ugh?!”
Karyl’s face twisted in pain.
Seizing the opportunity, Duaat aimed for Karyl’s vital points with his Jamadhar.
[Watch out!]
Ramine’s shout echoed, but it was too late for Karyl to avoid the attack.
Bang! Boom! Bang! Bang!!
At that moment, the Jamadhar targeting Karyl was knocked away, causing Duaat to stagger. Unlike with Karyl, the Dark Spirit King barely managed to dodge the lightning bolts summoned by Nain Darhon.
“Light...?” Karyl murmured in disbelief as light suddenly blinded him.
[Kid, have you become dull just from holding a sword? Why aren't you using your Arcane mana?]
“...!!”
Was it an auditory hallucination?
[It’s true that the power of the Blazing King is your mightiest weapon, but it’s not always the answer.]
Karyl doubted his ears. He quickly looked around but saw nothing.
[There’s not much time left. Remember the nature of the Arcane mana I taught you.]
He couldn’t believe it. The voice coming from the darkness was none other than Allen Javius.
[The power of dragons and spirits is great, but sometimes the power created by humans can overturn everything.]
“Light and darkness...” Karyl unwittingly muttered, as if to answer the voice in his head.
Nain Darhon’s lightning was the answer. Why had Karyl been using Ramine’s flames to create light against Duaat’s darkness when he possessed the pure power of light himself? After all, Arcane mana didn’t contain only darkness.
Sizzle... Crackle...!
At that moment, the flames surrounding Agnel vanished, a milky Aura Blade taking their place.
Sizzle...!
Instantly, black smoke began to rise, smoldering over Duaat’s darkness that had swallowed the flames.
[AAARRGHH...!!]
Duaat’s scream echoed in Antihum. Karyl gripped his sword tighter and drove the blade further into the Spirit King’s side.
“I admit humans are reckless. So I’m recklessly asking you to trust me one more time. How does it sound?"
[You...!! How can you wield this power alongside dragon mana?!]
At Duaat’s shocked exclamation, Karyl managed a strained smile.
“I told you, I’m different from those in the past.”
Karyl grasped Duaat’s shoulder. Twisting the hand holding Agnel, he stirred the embedded blade.
“I’m actually glad. Isn’t our meeting something to celebrate?”
Surely that wasn’t something to say while stabbing someone, but it seemed like the only way to have a conversation with Duaat.
“Yula.”
Karyl drove the blade further in as he spoke to Duaat.
“In the end, we both think the gods are scum, right?”
Duaat stared at Karyl, seemingly forgetting the pain for a moment.