Chapter 70 : Coincidence or Inevitability (2)

It could not be said who was first.

As soon as Edric and Demian disappeared simultaneously, shockwaves scattered in all directions.

Kwwwaaaaang!!!

It was not just once.

Charges that surpassed the speed of perception continued one after another, overturning the earth’s surface, and large trees were uprooted whole.

Kwang!

Kwakwakwang!!!──

The dozens of exchanges that continued for a fleeting moment were tense, but Demian could soon feel it.

That Edric had already reached his limit.

The critical wound inflicted a little while ago was slowly breaking Edric’s balance.

As proof of that, Edric’s body collapsed noticeably with each clash.

‘There is no need to drag this out.’

Although the price to be paid for this magic would not be small, Demian thought it was well worth enduring.

To that extent, Demian now acknowledged the man named Edric.

“Rending Wind.”

The low-spreading incantation.

Along with it, all five fingers on Demian’s left hand broke.

It was not a permanent physical loss, but it was high-level magic that offered a price equivalent to it.

As if proving that fact, a fierce wind began to rage around Demian.

Kugugugugugu!!!

The magic that destroys and tears apart everything it sweeps up was completed, and at the moment it was about to be shot toward Edric.

‘Hm?’

Along with an instinctively felt ominousness, Demian reflexively pulled his body back.

And.

Kuuuuuuuung!!!───

As if that premonition was not wrong, the spot where Demian had been was completely overturned.

If he had been even a little late in avoiding it, the skin of his entire body would have been peeled off.

However, because he had urgently dodged, the activation of the magic that Demian had gone to the trouble of completing by sacrificing five fingers was canceled.

If he had not urgently canceled the magic, the user Demian would have been torn apart by the fierce wind surrounding him instead, so it was unavoidable.

‘……He was hiding magic of this level until now?’

And he waited until Demian used his magic?

‘No, that’s not it.’

However, Demian soon shook his head.

Because he saw Edric across from him, still facing him in a tensed state.

‘Then who on earth?’

The question did not last long.

Because the presence of a third party, who should not have been in this fight, began to be felt.

Tto-gak, tto-gak─

Even though it should have been a dirt floor, for some reason, the sound of heels echoes clearly.

Even though it was an utterly impossible thing, no one present here pointed out that fact.

Because this sight itself felt unrealistic.

“Hmm…… I came to see what the commotion was about, but what is this?”

Black hair, flowing elegantly in the ebony-like darkness, shines like starlight.

Her form, revealing a noble figure in the pouring moonlight, looked just like a goddess of the moon.

In an illusion as if time had stopped.

The moment he saw the half-moon eye smile that was finally revealed, Demian realized something was wrong.

“I thought I smelled something familiar…… you, you were one of the Troupe bastards?”

He did not know who the woman was who had suddenly appeared and seen through his identity, but Demian instinctively felt a more important fact.

That woman is dangerous.

Pulling his body back was one step faster than perceiving it.

Kwakakakaka!!!

Magic of some unknown kind scraped past the ground where Demian had been, leaving a deep scar.

Magic that even Demian was seeing for the first time.

Despite that, to have that much power…… as expected, that woman was not one to be taken lightly.

“……I do not know who you are, but this is not a matter for you to interfere in.”

Demian tried to resolve this situation with the most polite conversation possible.

Dealing with Edric alone was not easy, and he could not afford to deal with that ominous woman on top of it.

“Well? Just the fact that you’re one of the Troupe bastards seems like reason enough to interfere?”

“We do not know you.”

“What is this Troupe bastard saying? Is that important? What’s important is that I know you.”

Truly a self-centered woman.

Demian, feeling that further conversation was meaningless, prepared magic.

Although he had already lost the five fingers he would use as a prize in the accident a moment ago, there was still a price left to use.

Due to that, Demian also had to bear a not-insignificant burden, but surviving was the priority right now.

‘The magic until now is insufficient. I need more powerful magic.’

New magic, a new contract.

Demian began to secretly draw a hexagram for that purpose.

For a contract with a demon.

The hexagram was completed in a mere instant, and Demian declared.

“Contract de—”

To be precise, he was about to.

“I can hear the sound of your head spinning from all the way over here.”

Along with the woman’s sneer, a gentle breeze brushed past.

And, by the time Demian perceived it, his left shoulder and below had already disappeared.

It was only natural that the hexagram drawn for the contract had scattered.

‘……Since when?’

To blow away his entire left arm, surpassing the speed of perception……?

He had already expected it, but the woman who had now shown herself was a more dangerous existence than he had thought.

To the extent that fighting that woman any longer was not a very wise thought.

‘I must escape.’

Demian, who had become one-armed in an instant, made a judgment.

And, as if she had read Demian’s thoughts, the woman chuckled.

“Gotta run away, right? That’s what you guys are good at. Running away and hiding like cockroach bastards.”

Even the thought of running away was read…….

Demian felt an unparalleled humiliation from the fact that his opponent assumed he would run away, but fortunately, judging from those words, the opponent did not seem to have the will to chase him.

If she had intended to pursue his escape, she would have attacked without giving him an opening, without needing to say such things in the first place.

No, to be precise…….

‘Is she considering me not even worth chasing?’

Demian’s mouth twisted at the humiliation he had only tasted a few times in his life.

“……I will not forget this humiliation.”

“I hope you do. That way, it’ll save me some trouble of hunting you all down one by one. You Troupe bastards are a bit like cockroaches, aren’t you?”

Demian did not answer.

He just quickly hid his body before that self-centered woman’s mind changed.

‘……I must find out who that woman is, too.’

Who on earth was she to know of the Twilight Troupe’s existence, and who on earth was she to possess such abnormal strength.

Demian disappeared into the darkness like that.

Engraving this day’s humiliation into his bones.

“Hmm, he’s gone.”

The reason the woman did not bother to chase Demian further was simple.

Demian might not have known, but to her right now, there was something far more important than the likes of Demian, whom she could catch and kill at any time.

Precisely, the objective of finding someone.

Ironically, Demian’s very existence reminded her even more of that objective.

‘The fact that a Troupe bastard was around Bernhard at this particular time…… as expected, it can only be that.’

The woman’s face was soon colored with delight.

The woman knew very well about the Twilight Troupe.

And also who the Twilight Troupe had clashed with most fiercely before the Destruction Dragon disappeared.

‘It’s certain.’

The woman, Luna’s, heart began to beat wildly.

The Dragon Slayer’s post on the Anonymous Bulletin Board, Bernhard, the Twilight Troupe, Cain.

Because the clues fit together perfectly like a puzzle.

‘Cain-nim was in Bernhard!’

Cain is in Bernhard.

No, even if he was not there now, he was at least in Bernhard.

Otherwise, how could Cain’s sworn enemy, the Twilight Troupe, possibly show themselves near Bernhard as soon as a witness account of seeing Cain appeared on the Anonymous Bulletin Board?

At this point, dismissing it as a coincidence was more of a stretch.

As Luna was silently lost in thought like that, Edric, who had been stealthily observing her, opened his mouth.

It was because he felt a sense of crisis that if he handled this wrong, he could be murdered by Luna.

“……Thank you. I was saved thanks to you.”

As Edric moved his lips, Luna’s gaze finally turned toward Edric.

“Hm? Ah. Don’t mind it. It was just some pest control.”

Pest control…….

Edric was at a loss for words at Luna’s indifference, but he did not bother to voice that fact.

“I have something I want to ask for a moment, have you seen Cain-nim around here by any chance?”

“……Cain? I’m sorry, but I don’t know such a person……”

“Whaat? How can you not know Cain-nim on the Lagna Continent? Are you a spy?!”

At Luna’s all-too-sudden reaction, Edric’s voice, who had been quiet, rose unknowingly.

“A, a spy! I may look like this, but I am loyal to the Empire!”

“If you’re not a spy, how do you not know Cain-nim? Suspicious……”

Edric was genuinely baffled.

It was good that the woman who appeared out of nowhere had saved him, but suddenly Cain?

“I, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know such a person. But if you are looking for the one called Cain, I will do my best to help.”

“Help? Hmm…… ah, come to think of it, have you been to Bernhard?”

“I was on my way from there.”

“That’s perfect. Then, have you seen anyone incredibly strong and incredibly cool there?”

At those words, Edric immediately recalled the existence of the Mage of Lightning Magic who had appeared from the sky.

That majesty, which had wiped out the demonic beast horde with a few waves of his fingers, was truly mythological.

“……There was.”

“I knew it!”

Luna’s chest pounded wildly.

She had finally confirmed the existence of Cain, whom she had been seeking so much.

Of course, Luna also already knew the fact that The Lightning Emperor had appeared in Bernhard, but at least in Luna’s mind, The Lightning Emperor did not fall under ‘a cool and strong person’.

Because to Luna, there was only one ‘cool and strong person’ in this world.

“Thank you. That was a big help.”

With this, it became an established fact that Cain had been in Bernhard.

If so, what she had to do now was to head to Bernhard as soon as possible.

“I’m glad I was of help.”

“Then I’ll be on my way. I’m in a hurry.”

Just as Luna was about to take a step toward Bernhard.

“Ah, wait.”

“Why?”

“If you ever have time, stop by the Winter Castle. I will definitely repay the favor for this incident.”

Was it because she was his savior?

Or was it for another reason.

Normally, it would have been an impossible thing to invite such a suspicious person to the Winter Castle, but for some reason, Edric did so.

“Winter Castle?”

Luna’s face flushed slightly.

‘Come to think of it…….’

If Cain had already left Bernhard, no one knew where he would head.

In the worst case, it was a situation where Luna and he could miss each other.

If she could not find Cain in Bernhard, she would have to search for places untouched by human feet as originally planned.

For example…… the Demonic Realm.

“Alright. I’ll stop by sometime when I have time.”

“I will be waiting.”

Luna disappeared like that.

Just as she had when she first came.

Like a mirage.

Edric, who had been silently watching her, let out a deep sigh, feeling as if he had been possessed by a ghost.

My last years are really screwed up.

Edric genuinely thought so.

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