The wounded Lorian was running with difficulty. Healing his injuries with residual flames, he glanced behind him.
Grant was relentlessly pursuing him, his face filled with madness. Lorian was clearly running his best, but there was no sign of the distance between them widening.
"Not bad. You’re almost as fast as me, who moves like light? Hahaha!"
"Tch, you monster of a bastard...."
"But... what are you so afraid of that you’re running away? No, wait, was this your intention from the start?"
Grant ended his words with a sneer. In contrast, Lorian was desperate.
He had to get to where he wanted to go immediately.
"Reiner, the legendary Hero, isn’t here, and the Knight Commander is focused on subjugating the northern barbarians. I can’t go there in this situation, so there’s only one option left. The strongest human I know."
He had to go to where that being was. Even so, he couldn’t guarantee victory.
Grant was an overwhelming presence.
He clearly didn’t exhibit the immortal power only spoken of in legends, nor the power of gluttony that devours everything in an instant.
Yet, he was strong. An unapproachable aura, a formidable presence, enveloped him.
Lorian, running with all his might, clicked his tongue.
"I’m almost there...."
He was about to turn back when he was horrified. He felt a killing intent, and then Grant’s face appeared right behind him.
"Kuk...!"
He instinctively thrust his sword. Grant instantly spun to face him and delivered a high kick.
"Keok!"
Lorian was sent flying backward, crashing into a tree. Grant sighed.
"Hmm, I wondered where you were going that was so important. Was it just here?"
This place was familiar. Of course. It was near Lucian’s hometown, the Ravenscoft Territory, on Uluru Hill.
Lorian gritted his teeth and stood up.
"Damn it, I have to go further. Is this it? Is there truly no hope?"
He bowed his head in despair. But then he shook his head.
Someone who had once advised him, when he aspired to be a knight, came to mind.
"Ufufu.. If you just put in the effort, you can become as strong as that man, you have enough talent. So don’t give up. What’s important is an unyielding heart!"
He let out a bitter laugh. Even in this situation, the silhouette of the woman he once admired flickered before his eyes.
Lorian finally made up his mind. He would end it here.
"I... will not give up!"
Lorian kicked off the ground and charged at Grant. Grant shrugged and prepared to meet him with his sword.
The charging Lorian vanished. Simultaneously, dozens of Lorian’s clones formed, surrounding Grant from all sides.
The clones were vivid yet uncanny, as if made of digital data.
"Hoo... is this multi-probability materialization? I know it well. A certain hero in a world I traveled used a similar ability."
"I am different!"
One of the nearby clones shouted. Grant immediately stabbed it.
As the clone bled and vanished, Lorian appeared directly behind Grant.
He immediately thrust his sword.
But it was blocked. As if by a lie.
Waves and tremors from the clashing swords spread in all directions. The rocks, trees, and weeds on the hill instantly turned to dust and vanished.
Grant clicked his tongue.
"I know you’re not foolish enough to respond with your main body."
"Ha, thanks for the high praise?"
"Well, one must properly evaluate people. Be they allies or enemies."
"And yet you’re the one who destroyed the capital? Do you know how many innocent people died?"
"Humans are beings who deserve to disappear. Were there any innocent ones to begin with?"
"...That’s wrong."
Sword clashed against sword. They moved with agile steps as if dancing.
Each watched the other’s eyes, shoulders, and knees, predicting their next move.
They engaged, then separated.
Engaged again, then separated.
Then, with swords locked, they engaged in a power struggle. Lorian gritted his teeth and pushed Grant back.
Seeing Grant calmly regain his stance, Lorian was enraged.
"You’re like Boni Elfe. I know you’re disappointed in humans. Once, this continent saw the empire retreat and the Elven Kingdom take its place."
"That was indeed the case."
"But I don’t blame the elves. I understand their hatred. Whether species are different, or races are different. You can dislike each other for being different. But you must learn to understand each other!"
"Are you talking about effort?"
Lorian nodded.
"The reason humans are called intelligent beings is because even if misunderstandings lead to conflict, they possess the emotions of consideration and respect to resolve things through dialogue and understanding. Why do you turn a blind eye to this?!"
Grant was impressed by Lorian’s outburst. He hadn’t expected someone to present such a righteous argument even here.
He simply laughed.
"Yes, I thought so too."
"Then why...?"
Lorian asked with a bewildered expression. Grant was resolute.
"Because I realized that humans aren’t even worth giving that chance. Because I’ve seen clearly what happens when the entire world, everything in it, is tainted by human greed."
"What...?"
"Shall I tell you how I feel right now? In a word, I’d be happy even if you humans were enslaved and dominated by the Outer Gods. Hehehe."
"That sounds like a curse."
"I like elves too. I especially like dwarves because they’re cute. Goblins go without saying, and I respect dragons as well. But I hate you humans the most. Even talking to you is disgusting!"
Grant’s eyes sharpened. He was revealing pure hatred.
Lorian gripped his sword tightly.
"Then I will stop you."
"That’s what all the bastards who died by my hand said. How tiresome."
"Even if it costs me everything... I will stop you!"
Lorian concentrated all his energy into his sword. Grant, too, prepared to end everything.
"Going all out, are we? I’ll match your tempo a bit. It’s been fun for a change."
"You will fight with me. Forever!"
Lorian plunged his sword, concentrated with all his energy, into the ground in an instant.
Then, cracks made of light appeared on the ground, spreading in all directions at an incredible speed.
[Eternal Castle of Distant Honor]
Suddenly, where there had been a forest, now a desolate plain, pure white castle walls began to rise from all sides.
The walls connected, towering high as if to imprison the two of them.
It was an astonishing sight.
"Hoo, what is this?"
"You said let’s kill each other, didn’t you? Yes, let’s kill each other."
It was Lorian’s unique ability and his final card.
His resolve to protect what he normally wished to protect, his ideals, twisted reality.
A fragment of that twisted reality took the form of castle walls, blocking external threats.
Of course, its use was slightly different now.
Lorian rushed in, leaving behind afterimages of light, moving even faster than before.
He instantly slashed past Grant.
However, Grant merely pointed at the dawn.
"Too bad, I blocked it."
"And you were hit."
Lorian’s neck was severed, and he fell. Grant shook his head.
"It was bound to crumble eventually."
He tried to leave. He didn’t want to waste any more time here.
And for some reason, he felt an extraordinary presence nearby. A presence even he, the creator, didn’t recognize.
"What on earth is it? I need to find out."
If it posed a threat, he had to eliminate it immediately. Because he had to exterminate humanity.
However, there was no exit. Just as he was wondering if he should create one himself, he felt a chill down his spine from behind.
"Could it be?"
Grant slid sideways, evading. Immediately, Lorian, in vivid form, was swinging his sword.
Grant questioned him.
"But you should be dead?"
"This castle is the ideal world I longed for. I came this far with just that one vow to protect everyone!"
"You sound like a Knight Commander."
"Even if it’s temporary, I will become a Knight Commander who protects everyone. I want to be! No, I will become a hero greater than that and willingly walk a path of thorns!"
Grant was genuinely impressed. Lorian, who spoke of protecting people blindly yet firmly.
His conviction was no different from those called heroes.
"How noble and sublime. If there were only heroes like you, humanity would have been a wonderful existence. However...."
Grant closed the distance in an instant. As he casually swung his sword, Lorian’s neck was severed before he could even react.
But a cluster of light gathered and reformed Lorian once again.
"As long as we fight in this castle, he won’t die? Interesting. The driving force behind it is probably his will or faith."
"Lorian, was it? Your spirit will break quickly."
"No, it won’t break!"
"It will break. Right now, right here."
[Power of Aberration that Twists the Cosmos]
Grant merely held the dawn, concentrating all his mana to collapse the surrounding space.
At that sight, Lorian charged again, aiming for Grant’s neck.
But Lorian was caught in the distorting space and warped.
He died. And a cluster of light gathered, bringing him back to life.
"Ah, no... the castle!"
Just as he regained his senses, Lorian saw that not only the space but the entire castle wall was collapsing.
Grant laughed arrogantly.
"Didn’t I tell you? That it would break. Your castle could certainly withstand a dragon army. I admit that. But even that, wouldn’t it be incomparable to a power that twists the cosmos?"
Along with the castle walls, Lorian too was cracking like a broken mirror and fading away.
As he vanished, he had one last thought.
"Ah, is there truly no hope for this country? Selena...!"
Crying out the name of the woman he admired so much, Lorian vanished.
Grant, having caught his breath, glanced behind him.
"Alright, how about you come out? Mr. Peeping Rat?"
Then someone slowly approached from beneath the collapsed hill. Not walking, but as if gliding.
"Hehe, I was going to see Lucian. But there’s a bastard who looks just like him. You... what are you, having the same face as our Lucian?"
It was Angela Breene. She had just been about to return to the Ravenscoft Territory when she encountered Grant on the way.
Grant tilted his head.
"Is she just a crazy bitch? I’ll end her painful life early."
Grant imbued his sword with energy and unleashed it. Grant’s sword energy sliced past Angela, cleaving her left and right.
Grant tried to walk past without even a glance. To him, a mere woman held no meaning.
Especially if she was human.
But this time was different.
Grant suddenly snapped his head around. Where his gaze landed, the Angela who had been split in half became a mass of tentacles and lunged at Grant.
Dozens of tentacles grabbed Grant’s limbs and flung him away.
And then the real Angela appeared, sending a captivating smile.
"And you have no manners? It’s confirmed you’re not Lucian! Huhu, our Lucian has manners, you know. And a big dick. He’s a good man who smiles at a lonely girl like me, you know? But you... you’re a fucking dickhead, aren’t you?"
Angela approached Grant with a smirk. Grant, who had only clicked his tongue in silence, stood up.
"Those tentacles just now, each one felt like the outstretched hand of hundreds of people. What was that?"
He didn’t know what it was, but he intended to defeat it. Because humans had to be eliminated.
Grant thrust his sword towards Angela.