Chapter 81: Demon Archduke Rakshar (2)
Rakshar moved.
Its massive body brought the ocean to its knees just by stepping out of the depths.
The mere act of walking unleashed a tidal wave, churning the sea.
Fish rose to the surface in droves across the vast expanse of water. Choked fish wash up with the waves, becoming waves of corpses.
“What, what is that?”
They noticed the change almost at the same time.
A terrifyingly dense wave of magic power was coming from the sea. Even if dozens of great spells were released in quick succession, the air wouldn’t be this heavy.
All living creatures, not only those with systems, trembled in fear, realizing the evil that shook this world.
They all sensed his presence even though they couldn’t see it in front of their eyes.
“What’s going on? Abrams! Identify it right now!”
“Ah, yes.”
Abrams hurriedly moved his gaze to the sandy beach as Allen reacted nervously despite his gentlemanly personality.
Possessing the unique skill of clairvoyance, he looks out over the sea and sees it.
“What is that… That, that…….”
The shape of a mutant can be seen from far away even from within the island. If you look at the dozens of tentacles, it seems like a mollusk, but the carapace that covers the whole body is sturdy and smooth like a helmet bug.
But decisively, seeing his hideous head and pincers that seemed to cut both ends of the island, he could only think of it as a demon of another world.
It was a terrible and overwhelming, literally gigantic monster that he could not imagine how it evolved.
He didn’t know, but Abrams and his eyes met.
‘Did our eyes meet? At this distance?’
It’s coming, looking straight at him. Was he targeted? Glared at? As if staring at prey…
[Chaos Pollution is inflicted.]
“Ah, uh…”
The island vibrates with the giant’s breath.
Is this real?
“Ah, ah, hee, heehee…….”
“Abrams? What are you doing!”
Allen put his hand on Abrams’ shoulder. But Abrams pushed his arm away with bloodshot eyes.
“I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die. You have to die!”
At that moment, Abrams’ bow was aimed at Allen. The moment he pulled and shot the bowstring, he reflexively swung his spear and cut off both arms. It was minimal suppression.
“Wh, what are you doing…!”
Allen reacted reflexively to Abrams’ sudden behavior, but was confused by his colleague’s rampage.
No one would know that Abrams’ attempt to kill Allen was born out of pure goodwill more than anyone else.
“End, it’s over… It’s all over. End, end──”
“Get a hold of yourself!”
Abrams kept banging his head on the floor as if trying to escape from something scary. His mind was filled with chaos.
“Bo, boss… there…….”
It was then. The huge presence that narrowed down the distance and could barely be seen with clairvoyance approached in an instant.
Allen realized its identity through the system window.
“Oh, archduke ? Archduke ?!”
A demon of a scale never seen before.
The most powerful demon humanity had ever faced was the Archdemon.
They were horrified by the appearance of evil itself because they couldn’t even imagine that there was a more powerful existence than that.
Also──
【 Aura of Chaos 】
An overwhelming aura that crushes existence.
All living things knelt down without being able to resist an aura that was completely different from when they carried Leon’s blessing.
Even Leon had a limit to his aura distance but Rakshar’s aura was a terrible pressure that crushed the whole world.
“Oh, no. No way. We can’t beat that.”
Despair rises in the hunters’ eyes. They were trembling so much that they couldn’t even think of running away.
They don’t understand.
Why? Why were those things targeting Earth?
No, why did human civilization survive when there were such things in the first place…….
Eventually.
Until Rakshar stood before them no one could move a single step.
-Kraaaaa──
No one’s breathing can be heard. Only the breath of the archduke flowing sinisterly on the island can be heard by them.
[Kr, kr, kr──]
He roared loudly enough to make their ears burst but Rakshar didn’t care and continued his roar.
[Submit.]
It was his first ‘civilized conversation’. At the same time…
Thud!
And all the creatures knelt down.
There was no hesitation. There is no fool who does not know how foolish it is to oppose an invincible being.
They couldn’t control their teeth trembling, their arms and legs twitching, and their lower body that seemed to wet themselves at any moment.
The only thing that came to mind was to beg for mercy from the other party through submission.
-Kkakakaka──
Rakshar was pleased with the submission of the humble ones. He stared at one creature who did not kneel.
“Ah…….”
Ha-ri felt his ‘gaze’.
She shouldn’t have been seen by such a giant creature , but she felt his gaze.
[There’s an unpleasant smell.]
Ha-ri wanted to wake up the god who was sleeping on her shoulder but she had a hunch that if he tried that, she would be stepped on and killed by that huge thing.
-Kukakakaka──!
A loud rumble spreads and all living things have knelt down. They shed tears and could not resist.
Even the S-class hunter Allen Taylor, who was called the strongest of humanity, lost his will after seeing Rakshar.
The same was true for S-class hunter Minuteman and the rest of the A-class Maverick attack team and they had a different black aura rising from them.
In the end, only Ha-ri could stand on her own two legs in front of that magnificent being.
She didn’t know it, but in Leon’s absence, she was the only one who had the protection of the gods and Rakshar knew this, too.
Rakshar could handle Ha-ri himself. He could beat her to death with his giant tentacles, or grab her and swallow her in one bite. But savoring the delicacy was not his priority. Rakshar’s attention was on an old grudge match.
-Tsk, tsk, tsk!
Those who dared to seal him away and keep him in those shackles for so long. They should be the first to suffer his wrath.
Rakshar’s gaze traveled to the island where the remaining statue lay. He moves, and a tidal wave rises, washing over the Hunters.
* * * *
The tidal wave washed over the Hunters, and they barely managed to get to their feet, spitting up salt water.
Nevertheless, Ha-ri was relieved that the behemoth didn’t seem to care about them.
Whatever happened, they were alive, or so she thought. But then──
[The area is tainted with chaos. All living things are in a state of ‘confusion’]
The entire region was tainted by Rakshar’s passage, just for that simple reason?
“Hmph, hmph… hmph, hmph…….”
But a familiar chuckle from behind her back.
The cackle of despair, of giving up on everything, echoes ominously.
“Hmph, hmph…!
“I must… die.”
The human voice choruses in a cacophony that is chilling to listen to.
Just as Abrams did when he first saw the Rakshar, all living things have seen the Rakshar and lost the ability to think normally.
Chaos.
Despair.
Screams.
All that remained was purely instinctive goodwill, which was──
“Kaaaah!”
They swing their sword towards a comrade.
-Caw!
Slashing, stabbing, and dismembering each other here and there. It was only a matter of moments before Ha-ri realized what happened.
“What are you all doing- -Ugh!”
A flurry of spears stabbed at Ha-ri and although she managed to block it, but the impact alone knocked her back a few steps.
Allen Taylor.
Even S-class Hunters, who were said to be the strongest of the human race, were stunned by the sight of Rakshar.
Minuteman, a fellow S-class Hunter, in addition, the A-class Maverick raiding party was moving, and a different black aura was emanating from them.
[Blessing of Archduke Rakshar]
: To all who submit──■■■■■
Destroy.
Ruin.
Obedience.
Their pride as America’s finest hunters was shattered along with their humanity and they realized.
“We are… too weak.”
“You’re mistaken. With this much power… you’re Class S, you’re the best hunters… you’re looking down on us…….”
Their eyes are filled with despair and there is an uneasy air.
It was an air of abandonment and degradation.
“Oh, no…….”
Ha-ri cried out. The only good thing was that their killing spree did not include the members of the Ten Thousand Gods Guild.
Perhaps they were blessed by the gods, or perhaps they had been eating blessed crops in between but they are trembling, crushed by Rakshar’s pressure, and dare not move.
Only members of the Maverick Guild are able to move their cowardly legs in exchange for obedience to Rakshar.
It is clear what those who can move will do from now on.
Kill each other, help each other commit suicide, and give each other whatever chaotic goodwill they can.
“Jugger, jugger! Jugger—-! That’s the right thing to do!!!”
Allen raised his spear.
By the time Ha-ri instinctively raised her sword, the spear was already raining down.
-Crack!
The weight of the spear was transmitted through the sword and Ha-ri was pushed back.
“Grrr… Mur, stop──”
Instantly, Ha-ri felt a pressure above her head and when she looked up she saw Minuteman slamming his giant gauntlet down.
Minuteman’s fist barely missed but a shockwave hit the floor, knocking Ha-ri to the ground.
“Kuck?!”
Ha-ri’s light body bounces off the ground, she rolls on the ground, sand in her face, and bounces again and again.
“That’s enough…!”
When she gets up, she’s faced with Allen’s spear barrage.
She dodged his spears with the best reaction of her life but a slash across her forearm, a graze across her thigh, a graze across the nape of her neck appeared.
In less than ten seconds, Ha-ri’s body is ravaged.
“Ugh…!”
Ha-ri, who had been struck thirty times by Allen, was already bleeding all over but she didn’t let go of her sword, even though she looked like she was about to die.
“Kill──!”
It was then that an impossibly large fist slammed into Allen’s back as Minutemen had swooped down on Allen.
-Kwak! Kwak! Kwak!
Allen is sent flying, bouncing off the floor but with him out of the way, Minuteman sets his sights on Ha-ri.
Just as Minuteman’s fist was about to strike Ha-ri’s abdomen──
-Bang!
Ha-ri’s body bounces into the air, the gravity pulling her down to the surface.
* * * * *
The sun may shine on the surface, but beneath the surface is an abyss that never ends.
Ha-ri stretched out her hand, watching the light fade as it mixed with her blood.
‘Ah… will I die like this?’
If she’d known, she’d have used her savings.
Ha-ri had been orphaned for reasons that are commonplace in modern times.
Caught in a dungeon break, or a gate raid── the epitome of the typical 21st century orphan, raised in a state-run orphanage to provide for the children who flooded the streets after the Cataclysm.
She wasn’t rich, but she wasn’t poor either, and while she didn’t want a private education, she had the talent to get one.
She dreamed of being a righteous hunter.
Her parents died saving the world, as the orphanage’s director told all the children.
Even though there must have been countless other cases, the director wanted Ha-ri to be proud. She wanted the children to be proud of their parents, whom they had never met.
Even though the story was a lie, Ha-ri never lost sight of her goal of becoming a great hunter.
So she was naturally disillusioned with the Ten Guild’s rhetoric about defending the nation and protecting its citizens when she realized that their priority was money.
She turned down the huge salary offered by the Ten Guilds and joined the Hunter’s Association.
In the Hunter’s Association, she thought she could at least fight to protect people but even as an employee of the Association, she could only do so much.
Surely the Hunter’s Association was fighting a better fight than the Guilds and they were doing more valuable work but that’s all it was
They were not moving forward.
Same as it was 30 years ago, same as it is now, same as it will be 30 years from now.
In the end, all Ha-ri could do was adapt to reality and become a lazy civil servant waiting for her pension, just like any other civil servant.
“This King is the Lionheart King, King of the Glorious Knights and agent of the Gods, Leon Dragonia Lionheart.”
When she first saw him, she thought he was crazy.
Authoritarian, superstitious, discriminatory, arrogant, misguided, and rabid.
He doesn’t belong in the 21st century and it was no exaggeration to say he was a barbarian but he had a will, a purpose, a conviction, and the power to carry it out.
Inadvertently, she wondered if he could change the world, so when she was chosen to be a priestess of the god of the sea and waves, she was pleased.
‘Damn… damn…!’
But why?
Why am I so helpless?
Unlike the Lionheart King, whose mere existence gave her hope, she couldn’t even stand on the toes of that knight, Sir Georgic, let alone the Lionheart King.
Would it be any different if she were like Yakt Spinner?
“Come, let’s go. My brothers and sisters. Today we will die for justice. The gods will look upon us.”
She willingly chose to die, sparking the final flame.
Even her final moments, could not keep the flames──
‘That’s right. The fire goes out right away…….’
Damn gods! Gods who can’t help her!
No matter how much she stretches out her arms, all she can grab is a handful of water. Even if it was a senseless act, all she can do is reach out with her hands in desperation, but even that scatters meaninglessly.
‘Do something! Do something!’
At that very moment, the turtle she had missed during the battle with Allen and Minuteman appeared in front of her.
“……!”
The turtle’s gaze was different than before.
The sea god, who had been devious and sinister, intoxicated by the smell of women’s flesh and dazzled by the sight of bare skin…was looking down at Ha-ri with a more serious gaze than ever before.
[Han Ha-ri]
Poma said.
[Do not try to grasp the sea, for you are but a handful of water in the palm of the endless ocean.]
[The ocean cannot be grasped, but you can throw yourself into its embrace.]
I don’t know what you mean.
But all I know is that what I’ve done so far is meaningless.
[You have holy power within you but using it does not mean becoming a Holy Knight. A Knight of the Gods does not belong to the idea of limits.]
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, it’s… so vague!’
[What you lack is not strength; fill your heart with faith and trust; perceive and understand the enormity of what you hold.]
And again, unintelligible words.
I don’t understand, for what I need now is a miracle, and what does a miracle-maker expect from a rascal like me.
As if reading Ha-ri’s intentions, Poma said.
[Do not look for miracles, but perform miracles. The most favored of the gods do not beg the gods for power.]
“…….”
[Listen to the sea, for it is infinite, and if you did not know that you are held in its embrace, you will now feel it.]
I once peered through the telescope of an observatory.
I’ve looked through the eyes of a telescope in the orphanage. Like when I zoomed in on the vastness of the universe, the vastness of the ocean it’s the same.
Your senses relay information about the world you’re immersed in.
The tumultuous movement of the currents, the flailing of the coral reefs, the gently swaying of the seaweed in the currents.
[A world of nothingness, a handful of seaweed, a handful of water.]
Infinite power is not to be grasped, but embraced.
[Finite beings, mortal ahimsa, if you wish to attain your true immortal power.]
Do not try to grasp it.
Infinity is to be worn.
You are now, within the infinite.
Once Ha-ri realized this, she realized what she could do.
She feels the ocean, is surrounded by it, and controls its waves.
In the infinite ocean, her gesture would become a wave.
Her senses have even reached the Lionheart King in the Deep.
Holy Art
At that moment, from the bottom of the ocean to the sky above the surface the sea split in two.
At that very moment──
-Purrrr!
From the depths of the ocean a Pegasus rose.
