Volume 9 Chapter 60 White Vs Gray, Part Three
The door still remains closed. The master of this room is not Vice Ornette.
"How long do you intend to just stand by and watch?"
The white-clad demon, Seratie (Everchanging), stood on a pile of ash like a statue.
There was no aura of a Lord or any magic power emanating from him, almost making it easy to forget he was even there.
"As you can see, Vice Ornette is dead. I don't consider him a pure ally, but even if he was a fellow fighter in distress, doing nothing while he is in trouble just doesn't make sense."
The words were delivered with a sharp edge by Seratie.
Eris was quietly furious.
For whatever reason, Vice had betrayed the human race and turned his sword against Yuusuke.
At that moment, the outcome was already decided.
Eris would not forgive those who betrayed the hero. Regardless of their past, forgiveness from the country or the people, Eris Philin Centraris would condemn that betrayal.
While Vice was lost in a dream of paradise, he was frozen in place.
Despite having the opportunity to intervene in the battle, Seratie chose to abandon Vice.
She may not have known the enemy's circumstances, but she despised the act of abandoning a comrade in need.
As if remembering his purpose, Seratie looked up.
"Response. Vice Ornette. His battle is his own. Therefore, I observed. I listened."
"Is it really okay to make such a judgment? Won't your current master be angry with you?"
"No. If we call the future fate, then it is already decided."
"You don't seriously think you can defeat us, do you?"
While Eris was fighting Vice, Irial was constantly monitoring Seratie.
Even if he was a Lord, the odds were against him in a 2-on-one battle.
Seratie's magic existed "Log Walker."
It was a magic that could record and reproduce history.
Moreover, if it involved records related to his future self, he could record the outcome as history before it happened.
In short, it was possible to foresee the future and solidify it as desired.
Using this power, Seratie confirmed that he had not been hit by any attacks.
It was a magic that directly influenced causality.
"If I know your weakness well."
Even such seemingly invincible magic had its vulnerabilities.
When Kougarou fought Seratie in the past, he knocked him down before he could solidify the future.
He relentlessly attacked at a speed that surpassed the activation of his magic, overpowering him.
It was a brute force move... but sometimes battles between magicians boiled down to such simplicity.
And the sheer quantity and variety of attacks were Eris's specialty.
The scales of victory were undoubtedly tipping in her favor.
Seratie, who had been looking up at the sky, met Eris's gaze and nodded.
"Yes. I admit defeat."
"What are you talking about?"
To the unexpected words, Eris narrowed her eyes.
"I admit defeat. That is fate. Eris Philin Centraris is the one destined to move beyond this door."
"Don't decide people's fates on your own. That's something I will seize."
"Eris Philin Centraris. The memories, power, and feelings flowing in your blood. Fate is not something to be grasped. It has gravity. It calls to you."
"I don't care."
Eris cut off the conversation decisively.
Talk of fate and such. It was fine to label every passing moment in the past, but it was not something for someone else to decide or determine.
"I will walk my path by my own will. If you want to call it fate, go ahead."
A chuckle was heard.
"That's right. You really are quite similar."
"――――!?"
Eris reflexively raised her rapier.
Irial, who had been watching Seratie from a distance, leaped and landed beside Eris.
Sweat dripped from her forehead in beads.
"Who are you?"
She couldn't help but ask.
The tip of the raised rapier trembled slightly.
An extraordinary weight pressed down from the top of her head, threatening to make her knees buckle if she let her guard down.
It wasn't Seratie.
Far from it, he was unlike any demon Eris had ever encountered before. The aura he exuded was not light and casual, but rather heavy.
It was reminiscent of a king's mantle, carrying the weight of an entire country on her shoulders as if it were natural.
Thinking back, there was only one demon who bore a resemblance.
The Demon Lord who led with his unique quirks and reigned as the strongest.
"Julius Roderest..."
"No, that's not it. Even without asking who that is, I can tell, I am not that person."
The man immediately denied.
He discarded the cloth covering his face and the costume that enveloped his body, revealing his true appearance. Although she had never seen him before, she quickly realized that it was not the real Seratie.
With iridescent hair and a handsome yet refined face exuding allure, his physique honed in battle resembled the rugged beauty of a deep mountain valley.
The man, now dressed in comfortable attire of pants and a sleeveless shirt, checked his body's condition by stretching his arms and neck.
"Not bad. I couldn't have known until this moment arrived, but surprisingly, it seems quite good. Just as expected of me."
Indeed, his hair color was similar to Julius', but his facial features and demeanor were completely different.
Julius Roderest was a man shrouded in unfathomable dread, embodying careful planning and consideration. He did not display arrogance or intimidation.
At that moment, the man's finger aligned perfectly with Eris'.
"And you. I don't know your name, and I don't remember. But in the corner of my memories with him, I saw the same eyes. There's no mistaking it."
"...What are you talking about?"
"In your bloodline, there should be a man known as the hero."
――――⁉
Eris heard the sound of blood draining from her body.
Because what the man said was true, and it was the most crucial secret passed down only to the direct royal lineage.
Even Eris had only been informed due to her achievement in defeating the Demon Lord.
The Centraris Kingdom was founded by the first hero and Saint.
However, Saint's power was too strong, leading to a separation from governmental authority over the long history, with the church managing Saint's power.
Amid a common enemy like demons, the Centraris Kingdom's origin from the hero and Saint caused friction with other nations. This accumulation led to burying the truth beneath blood.
It was absurd, easy to dismiss if one didn't know.
But the man's eyes wouldn't allow it. It wasn't a question but a confirmation.
"You don't have to answer. Your eyes are unsettling, revealing enough."
"...Who are you exactly?"
He not only guessed the connection to the first hero but also behaved as if they were old acquaintances, making it seem natural.
Despite finding it unbelievable, Eris couldn't help but entertain wild thoughts.
"My name is Glenn Roderest. You won't know even if I tell you. It's a story from a long time ago when I was alive. Yes, if I say I was the Demon Lord slain by the first hero, would that make sense?"
"Wha――‼"
She felt goosebumps.
Glenn tapped his chest with his finger.
"This Seratie is not a magic tool I created. It was made to record after my death. At the same time, when someone strongly inherits the hero's blood, it temporarily reveals my records like this."
"...Why would you do such a thing?"
"It's a grudge. At that time, there were too many entanglements, and I couldn't act out of pure feelings. Finally, that time has come."
"It's unreasonable. I think it's a story that has nothing to do with me."
"Perhaps, but it's already set up that way. No matter how much you dislike it, this body won't stop. Give up."
With that, Glenn assumed a stance.
When one thinks of a Demon Lord, the image of overwhelming magic ravaging the battlefield from afar comes to mind, but Glenn's stance was that of a warrior.
"This is no joke."
――Strong.
Far stronger than any Lord.
The Demon Lord of the early days of Asteris. Magic had been honed and evolved over many years.
Eris Philin Centraris held an overwhelming advantage in that regard. However, she could not bring herself to believe she was in a favorable position.
Glenn said he created 'Seratie'. In modern times, there are no magicians who can create a Lord, or rather, a magic tool that can move independently.
Glenn laughed at the trembling Eris.
"Don't be so stiff. It's just 3 minutes. In any case, this body can only withstand my attacks for that long. If you can survive for 3 minutes, you win."
Three minutes.
It's the time one can earn even against a Lord. But right now, it feels despairingly long.
What kind of magic, no, more importantly, she must not give the opponent the upper hand.
"Let's go."
Eris released thorns.
Covering all directions, blocking all possible escape routes with a time delay.
The thorns secrete a poison that can instantly kill a person with just a graze.
Without waiting for 3 minutes, they kill.
"'Ego Gladius.'"
The thorns left Eris's hand.
When she realized they had been cut off, Glenn had already raced across the white ground, shortening the distance between them by more than half.
――Fast!
Eris swung her rapier. The magic power resonated, and the garden came alive.
Moving the roots spread across the ashen ground, changing the terrain to halt movement. Simultaneously, they unleashed explosions of thorns and seeds.
"How flashy."
Glenn prepared his attack, took a step, and stomped on the ground.
With a thud, the ash compressed, and vibrations roared like thunder.
With that single strike, all roots were immobilized.
Every time Glenn waved his hand, the thorns were slashed away.
(This guy's magic power detection is insane!)
The attacks were not only coming from all directions but incessantly from every possible angle, including above and below.
Yet, Glenn seemed to effortlessly handle them as if he knew where each one would land.
Without averting his gaze, Glenn closed in like a piece in a dropped manga.
"Gotcha."
Penetrating through all the garden's defenses, Glenn caught Eris within his reach.
His hand easily sliced through the steel-hard thorns and was drawn towards Eris's neck.
"Shh!"
Irial's white spear thrust into Glenn as a counterattack.
"Light."
Glenn effortlessly slashed it away with his free hand, the spear losing its tip, gleaming.
"Sunlight."
The exploding light spear. The blinding flash turned into a physical spear, approaching Glen.
An attack that should be impossible to dodge in terms of timing and distance, yet Glenn easily evaded it.
But in an instant, as a gap was created, Eris forcefully severed the thorn wall.
Both immediately leaped back, creating distance.
"――What is that?"
"A monster."
Eris answered succinctly, spinning her magic power faster than before.
Facing a formidable enemy, her consciousness sharpened, becoming thin and sharp.
With just a slight loss of focus, she would break.
Realizing as they drew closer, there was no way to counter the next move.
"I thought you were a specialist in creating magic tools, but what kind of magic is this?"
"My magic is more like a special creation. From birth, I naturally see Aether and magic power flowing. I can perceive everything from the flow to the slightest changes, and predict the resulting phenomena."
Eris looked into Glenn's eyes again. Around his pupils, a constantly swirling rainbow color, an unknown magic eye not heard of in Asteris's long history.
"That's a world I can't imagine."
"For me, this is normal. Everything, every phenomenon exists because of magic power. Magic tools simply replicate these movements."
With that, Glenn clapped his hands. A hard, metallic sound echoed, though it seemed impossible that his hands had touched.
In other words, his body had been modified into a magic tool.
"I can see the way. The weaknesses in magic's structure, the parts where the magician's focus is lacking, the path to severing your neck, I've run through countless scenarios until then."
A chill ran down hrt spine.
Glenn's magic may not cause massive destruction or mass slaughter compared to Lords, but none of them would be a match for him.
In the past, dhe had asked Yuusuke for tips on 'Stella (Star Sword)', and was left speechless when dhe heard that one must intuitively grasp the key points of the ever-changing magic power every second.
Glen had visualized it and lived with it as a matter of course.
The magician's natural enemy.
"Well, is it time?"
Glenn's feet crushed the ashes.
Eris didn't take her eyes off and said softly.
"Irial-san. Buy me 30 seconds."
"Thirty seconds against that thing?"
"Exactly 30 seconds, then I'll kill him. I can't support you until then."
With those words, Eris buried her consciousness within herself.
In the 'Everlasting Garden,' Glenn cannot be killed.
It requires a thorn that pierces a single point, not a wide range.
"Spiritual Penetration Art."
White petals danced.
In the pure white flurry of petals, she appeared.
A knight in elegant armor, exuding a sense of dignity.
"'White Lily.'"
The soul's drawn sword. Eris Philin Centraris. The origin.
'White Lily.' wields a bow woven with vines and grasps the void with her free hand.
Even with spiritual power, Glenn cannot be killed with just an arrow.
White magic power is spun, gradually taking shape.
Until the arrow is ready, 30 seconds.
Glenn and Irial clashed where Eris was watching.
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