If he could feel and move Will, couldn't he change it too?
'He could do it.'
He had already experienced it with his body and manifested it. The milky light that flowed through his sword was also a phenomenon created by transferring condensed Will to the blade.
If he could do it with a sword, he could do it with his body. Gather the remaining Will, condense it, then release it.
* * *
Ragna swung Penna four times in that manner.
The place where Ragna swung his sword was to Enkrid's left front.
Since Dremül was also separated from his two companions, from one perspective it looked like Enkrid and Dremül were one group, while Ragna and the other two were another group.
Even before Ragna stepped forward, Enkrid had been frantically wracking his brain, contemplating various strategies.
Luagarne-style tactical swordsmanship didn't tell him to rely solely on intuition.
Relying on intuition was Enkrid's unique technique.
The foundation of tactical swordsmanship was probability calculation.
'What's the path to survival?'
Or.
'What are the options for victory?'
On the surface, his expression and attitude were calm, but in his mind he was constantly calculating. There were countless variables in this situation.
And one of those major variables entered Enkrid's sight.
Enkrid was sitting on the wet dirt ground to conserve even the strength needed to put force in his legs, and from where he sat, he could see the danger Ragna faced.
The three-eyed old man waved his hands several times, scattering lightning.
In front of Ragna, the horned Scaler variant stretched out its hands and exerted telekinesis.
Falling raindrops were caught by the telekinesis and formed shapes. Two large hands made of rainwater closed in from Ragna's left and right. It was telekinesis that trapped even the rainwater pouring from the sky. This was ability far superior to any Scaler he had seen before.
Simultaneously with exerting telekinesis. The Scaler variant maintained the telekinesis while raising its left hand upward, then leaped forward toward Ragna and brought it down. The speed of kicking off the ground and closing distance was comparable to a knight's charge.
In Enkrid's eyes, the scene of that hand falling appeared in slow motion.
The surrounding air distorted around the hand blade. The moment it seemed slow, the speed of the hand blade accelerated.
He couldn't devote concentration to calculations.
Part of it was because his attention was momentarily stolen, and part was because his current physical condition wasn't good enough to think two thoughts simultaneously.
But the bigger reason than that was intuition.
The voiceless call of his heart that he absolutely had to capture this moment with his eyes.
It was just before the lightning that exploded and flew struck Ragna's body. All of Enkrid's concentration remained on Ragna's sword.
Light lingered on Ragna's sword. Even the falling raindrops seemed to be cut left and right as they touched that light.
Condensed Will was showing visible light. Ragna swung his sword just like that.
The first slash was to the left. Following the trajectory Penna had traced, the lightning was drawn and flew sideways, striking the ground.
The slashing blade had already extended straight forward. Just as the Scaler variant was bringing its hand down.
Ragna's extended sword pierced through that hand and penetrated all the way through the horned head.
Bang!
Other sounds were drowned out by the noise of lightning striking the ground. It happened almost simultaneously.
Ragna's swordwork was that fast. Once to the left, once to the front.
The two slashes felt like there was no gap between them, as if two Ragnas had swung swords simultaneously.
Ragna didn't end it there.
He retrieved his thrust sword and charged at the three-eyed old man, swinging his blade.
At that moment, formless barriers, protection spells, and countless other artifacts and spell objects activated to protect the three-eyed old man's body.
At the last moment, the eye embedded in his forehead also glowed red.
But even all those tricks couldn't block the swinging sword.
The old man couldn't even open his mouth, and Ragna's sword drew a clear line across his neck.
After those three slashes. Ragna launched his body once more.
His body had exceeded its limits like Enkrid's had earlier. To someone who didn't know, it would seem like he had cast a teleportation spell.
Ragna's final slash, which had closed the distance without even leaving an afterimage, fell toward Dremül's head.
But regrettably, his sword didn't achieve its final purpose.
Clang! Crackle crackle crack!
It was a barrier.
Was it bad luck? No, it was inevitable.
'Mages are devious.'
Enkrid recalled Esther's teaching.
Cracks were visible around Dremül's body. Something with the texture of broken glass was fragmenting and crumbling from empty air.
The spell that had protected Dremül's body for forty years had been broken.
"Remarkable."
Dremül spoke and swung his hand down. Telekinesis activated and struck Ragna's torso.
Thud!
Ragna had no strength left in his body after four slashes. He was helplessly knocked to one side. This time he couldn't even maintain balance in the air and rolled on the ground.
Thump, thud.
Right now he seemed unable to handle even a passing ghoul. But he still gripped Penna tightly in his hand.
The fallen Ragna coughed up blood. Then he tried to stand up by stabbing Penna into the ground. His body swayed.
His face was a mess along with his hair that was matted from rolling around on the muddy ground soaked with rainwater.
Muddy water that had become a murky dark red color mixed with the blood he had coughed up earlier dripped down his face and collected at the tip of his chin.
"I've planted the seed of pestilence in your body. You can just stay there. You still won't be able to die even if you want to."
Ragna couldn't continue speaking. Blood kept flowing from his mouth and nose. Looking at his dilated pupils, it was admirable that he hadn't fainted. Or maybe he had fainted while still gripping his sword.
Even so, he tried to fight by stabbing his sword into the ground to support himself.
Enkrid couldn't help but open his mouth seeing Ragna like that.
"Did you see that? A mere swordsman did something like that."
Two of the people you brought are dead, so how about it? One left out of three?
It was provocative language.
"You're all consistently insane."
Dremül answered. There was displeasure in his tone, but it wasn't a flustered manner of speaking.
Why? Because those two he brought weren't that important.
What mattered was divinity. Himself, who had descended to this land.
"Right, so come at me. I still have strength left too."
Enkrid said. That Ragna fought and endured like that. Seeing it made something hot rise up from his chest.
He was going to cut down that rotten body in front of him, right? Yes, let's do that.
As he placed his hand on Tri-Iron and spoke, Ragna's voice rang out.
"Come, come at me. I will."
There was no point in inferring what he wanted to say. It was enough that the will contained in those words was clear.
The will contained in words spoken while half-unconscious was vivid.
It was when Enkrid was clenching his molars tight.
Had his body been such a mess that he didn't even sense the presence approaching?
"That's enough. Son."
A bulky figure that blocked the rainwater stood over Ragna. The one who had approached was Tempest Zaun.
He was also Ragna's father.
He came and placed his hand on Ragna's shoulder.
"It's over now."
The head of house's words contained no emotion. Only facts and sincerity.
Rynox stood right beside the head of house, groaning "Ugh ugh" as if his back hurt.
Enkrid was about to ask them why they had come so quickly, hadn't they planned to come tomorrow morning, but stopped himself.
Hadn't the variable that was within his calculations come quite late after all.
But he couldn't bring himself to say anything.
The two weren't unharmed either. Especially Rynox.
He had lost his left arm.
When their eyes met, the old swordsman who protected the Zauns smiled and said.
"Looks like I'll have to use only three swords now."
He had used six swords with two arms, but now only one arm remained.
He even made jokes with a body like that.
Could a severed arm be regenerated? Unless Seiki, who had fled due to his innate divinity, made some deal with a god, it would be difficult.
"I will, I will."
Ragna kept repeating the same words, not even knowing who had placed a hand on his shoulder.
Everyone had seen what he had done.
The three-eyed old man's neck was cut, and the chimera that had transformed with sprouting horns had a fist-sized hole in its head.
Since he had stabbed it with Penna then twisted his wrist to gouge it out, the edges of the hole in her head were quite messy. It was jagged as if a rough blade had forced a hole.
Well, it meant they were dead.
He had killed two and tried to kill Dremül but failed.
Dremül had known these two were approaching, but left them alone because it didn't matter.
"You managed not to die. Quite remarkably. Did that Heskal fellow not do his job properly? Or did you exceed my expectations?"
Instead of being flustered, Dremül was impressed. To show such strength, look at what they had done.
Everything he had prepared was dead and lying on the ground. There were coffins prepared for them, but he hadn't expected it to turn out this way. It was truly unexpected.
So he was also a bit delighted.
This would probably be the last amusement he would enjoy before obtaining divinity.
Dremül looked down at everyone and spoke. His body had begun to grow larger, so his head was now two heads higher than Enkrid's. Black bones protruded from various parts of his rotting body like supports holding up his frame.
Flesh with protruding blood vessels filled the spaces between the bones, adding to the strength of the supports.
"You will all be reborn. I will grant you divinity so you can see the new world."
Anyone watching would think they had begged him to do so.
"So it's you."
Regardless of what his opponent was saying, the head of house looked at Dremül and approached with large strides. It was interesting that his bulk was growing, but such things didn't seem to enter the head of house's sight.
He too had many scratches all over his body. Even setting aside that there was no blood flowing, the wounds had turned black. They were traces of poisoning.
Thump thump, the approaching head of house stopped walking. If he charged forward like this and swung his greatsword, he would quickly reach the neck. It was within ten paces.
In the meantime, Dremül had grown a smoothly elongated neck, and he raised his chin high to look down below.
The head of house continued speaking calmly.
"You're uglier than I imagined."
Rynox nodded from behind in agreement.
"Indeed."
Dremül looked at those remaining before him. More precisely, he looked down at them.
"You let that child endure. I should have killed him long ago indeed."
No one here would be able to understand Dremül's words or actions. Nor did he wish for understanding.
Gods don't seek understanding from their creations.
He continued speaking.
"Why are these trapped creatures struggling so fiercely in their rebellion anyway?"
Even if he didn't seek understanding, shouldn't he tell them how great and magnificent he was, and what a treacherous path he had walked?
This would become doctrine, not understanding.
"There was a time when death approached and whispered to me. Yes, it was quite a long time ago, much longer than now. At that time, I made a very special medicine. That medicine allowed one to have different time than others. Listen, what do you think it would be like if one day became twice as long as others'?"
Dremül had originally possessed extraordinary talent, but he wanted to reach even higher places.
He delved into alchemy and eventually obtained the world of spells.
In that process, he had entered demon realms and visited the Empire. He had glimpsed the continent's secrets that way.
Only then did he know what he truly desired.
To become a god. That was his wish.
"That medicine was a small gain obtained while researching immortality and undeath."
His rotting mouth corners rose and flesh dropped off, falling to the ground. It looked nauseating just to see.
Now his skin became smooth and hard like jewels.
That didn't make it transparent though. It was like a jewel full of filth.
"Listen. This is the first testimony of greatness I speak as I become a god."
Dremül's voice was heard in overlapping layers. Enkrid felt something similar to when he faced a demon looking at him.
Not just different from humans, but different from any intelligent being—a pronounced sense of alienation felt because their purpose for living and attitude toward contemplating life were so different.
A dizzying sense of oppression pressed down on the atmosphere. It made one forget even that raindrops were falling. Should it be called dominance as if he had completely placed his surroundings in his grasp?
Or should it be called the suction power that drew everyone's attention?
After overwhelming his surroundings like that. Dremül spoke the first verse of his scripture with his rotting tongue.
"Others' one day was ten days to me. I exceeded such days more than a hundred times. This is precisely how to surpass the extraordinary with the ordinary. This is the beginning of one born human who surpassed demons to become a god!"
The overlapping voice shook hearts. Even the atmosphere seemed to submit to his voice, kneeling and bowing its head.
At that moment, Enkrid unconsciously spoke his true feelings.
"Just that?"
The murmur was small, but everyone heard it.