Chapter 92. Gluttony's Fang (5)
Gluttony's stomach was a perfectly sealed chamber.
For a brief moment the entrance had opened, and the Ark had slipped in through spatial teleportation during that narrow gap, but that had been an extreme exception. The exact coordinates and the exact timing, if even one of those had been missing, it would have been impossible. A coincidence beyond reason.
Gluttony's power was a supreme force, not permitted to the old humanity.
"How can this be...."
Yet Verden ignored it, as if to mock the idea.
Rupel's mind grew tangled. Could it be that he was carrying a fragment of Gluttony inside his body? No, of course not. Rupel knew that was impossible, because he himself was one of Gluttony's Fangs.
Then, suddenly, realization dawned.
Despite not having reached the Way of Magic, he wielded powerful magic unseen or unheard of.
An immense pool of magic power, so vast that its depths could never be measured.
Talent nearing the pinnacle as an elemental mage, freely commanding every element.
That suspicion turned to conviction, when Verden escaped Gluttony's stomach alone.
The new humanity.
Though different from what Gluttony pursued, from Rupel's perspective Verden was a being who had transcended the limits of the old humanity.
Once he realized that, Rupel saw something else, the thick hatred and wrath hidden in Verden's blue eyes.
That was the proof. The limits he had surpassed were not natural, but artificially imposed.
Rupel staggered, pressing his wound with the palm of his hand.
Panting, he spoke to Verden.
"...Do you see Gluttony as evil?"
"What else would it be?"
"Hardly. Gluttony's ideology is inevitability, and fate."
Humans die if they do not eat.
By eating meat, they gain muscle, by eating vegetables, they gain nutrients they lack.
Consumption is the essence that constitutes humans, the instinct they embody.
Yet, there is a limit. No matter how well one eats, it is only a process within those limits. An ordinary person, no matter what he eats, cannot become stronger than a bear.
The evolution of humanity begins with transcending those limits.
And what Gluttony does, is shattering those limits.
Humanity is frail.
They die of disease, they are murdered, their lifespan is short. That is why humanity cannot mix, that is why they are a weak race.
But if Gluttony's ideal is realized, it changes.
They will not die of disease, they will rule, their lives will be long. Humanity will be intertwined.
Rupel, who was born with a frail body.
Always trembling, always facing death right before his eyes, he could understand. That was why he truly followed Gluttony. Because he never again wished to experience that terror of death, and beyond that, he wished to create a world where no human would suffer that fear.
"Asher, you must know it too. Otherwise... you wouldn't be looking at me with eyes like that."
He was right.
Verden's innate limit was the 1st tier, and because of that, in the Magic Tower he suffered pain worse than death. And yet, here he now stood.
But Verden was different from Rupel.
He twisted his fate with his own power, he defied the heavens.
Verden raised his staff.
"Let's end this."
As the magic power stirred, Rupel clenched his teeth and hurled his sword with all his strength.
He twisted it with Telekinesis, but it wasn't enough. The blade cut deeply across Verden's thigh.
At the same time, he pulled a utility dagger from his waist and hurled it at Rupel.
Rupel deflected and shattered it, but that was Verden's ploy. The fragments of the dagger stole Rupel's vision for an instant.
"Urgh...!"
Rupel opened his eyes at once, but Verden was already gone. That moment of disorientation, Verden would not let it slip.
Verden, using Flight, lunged from his blind spot and thrust his staff hard at Rupel.
Kwaaaang!
From the impact, the invisibility broke. Verden pressed Rupel's chest with his staff and shoved him down toward the ground. The sound of ribs crushing filled the air.
Verden did not stop there, he activated the Ring of Permafrost and his Mystic Eye.
Blood streamed from his right eye, but he did not care.
The frost of permafrost began to engulf Rupel. Rupel grabbed the staff with both hands, mustering every last ounce of aura to resist the spell.
To kill, and to live, both gave everything.
Crack!
The staff snapped.
Not yet.
Verden immediately thrust the broken staff into Rupel's heart, grabbed his throat, and continued the spell. His vision rapidly froze over.
Sensing death, Rupel forced out his voice.
"S… save… me…!"
Craaaaack.
Rupel's body froze solid, and soon shattered into pieces. On the ground remained a black stomach, likely Gluttony's organ, but it too scattered into the air and vanished.
All that remained was a single fang, Gluttony's mark.
Rupel would not regenerate again.
Rupel was dead.
"Phew..."
Verden exhaled and leaned against a nearby tree.
He had overused his Mystic Eye, and his head and eyes throbbed violently. He had spent an immense amount of magic power, leaving his mind heavy and hazy. Some wounds were bleeding badly as well.
Rupel had been a formidable foe.
Especially that regeneration, it was near immortal.
Verden's effort, his time, and his fortune.
Had even one been lacking, victory would not have been certain. Yet he had overcome. He felt himself step forward, growing one stage stronger.
Verden pulled out two glass bottles from his spatial bag.
"Good thing I saved these."
A vitality potion brewed from the heart of a Salamander, and a top-grade potion.
He drank them in succession, and the potion's effect amplified. On top of that, he activated the Recovery Bracelet. His wounds closed swiftly, the bleeding stopped.
Of course his magic power did not return, but his mind cleared perfectly.
He blinked his right eye.
His vision was fine, and there was no pain. Fortunately, there seemed to be no lasting issue.
"...?"
Just then, he sensed a presence in the mist.
There was no hostility. As he quietly watched, a man appeared. From his noble-looking features, he was clearly not of ordinary status... something about him felt strangely familiar.
"Pleased to meet you, Asher."
"Are you a member of the Ark?"
"Yes. I serve as commander in charge of the Dark Lake region."
The man turned his gaze to where Rupel had once stood.
"Fortunately, it seems you have succeeded in the subjugation of the Fang. You truly have my thanks. Without you, surely great chaos would have come upon the duchy. I would like to give you my gratitude properly... but it seems now is not the time."
The nearby space wavered.
With Rupel's death, Gluttony's stomach had collapsed.
Moments later, those who had been trapped within the space began to appear.
***
All of Gluttony's members were dead. Even the Sweepers.
Ren Balhagne threw his blood-soaked glove atop the pile of corpses, then looked around. Locke lay on the ground, gasping for breath.
Though injured, his life was not in danger.
'Hmph, in your impatience you relied only on technique. You need to build your body more.'
Thinking of how he should raise the disciple he had taken on so late in life, he turned his gaze toward the center of the space.
There stood two marquises.
"Haa, haa...."
Cough, cough!
Splatter.
Marquis Gardran coughed blood and fell to his knees. His sword had long since been broken. Though he carried a fragment of Gluttony inside him, he was not a transplant host, so he had no regenerative powers.
With his human body, he had faced his old friend, Marquis Ravishrun. Their swordsmanship differed, but their skill was equal, their physical ability the same.
Yet he could not win.
One who walked a path he believed to be right.
One who, though he knew it was wrong, had no choice but to tread it.
The cause of defeat lay in that difference of heart.
Gluttony's stomach vanished.
The corpses disappeared along with the space, and only the survivors returned to the center of the island.
In Marquis Gardran's eyes, Verden came into view.
The mage who had left the space to pursue Rupel. The fact that he had returned alive meant that his own son was dead.
"Haha..."
In the end, he had lost everything.
Marquis Gardran let out a hollow laugh.
"So it ends like this. As a man, as a father, I cast aside everything, and still..."
He had no regrets. Even if he returned to the past, he would make the same choice.
But what if he had done this, or that. Countless decisions of the past flickered before him. Yet the reality remained unchanged.
It was a despairing situation, yet somehow there was relief.
He had lived a life unbecoming of a man... but at least, at the moment of death, he felt he could die as his true self.
Marquis Gardran raised his head.
Ravishrun's sword touched his neck.
"...Do you have no last words?"
Marquis Gardran answered.
"Please spare the servants of my house, and the vassal families. They have no connection to Gluttony."
Marquis Ravishrun gave a heavy nod.
"So it shall be."
Slice!
Light flashed, and Gardran's head fell. Since his nerves had been cut at once, he would not have felt much pain.
The sensation of severing the head of an old friend. It was a deeply searing thing. Marquis Ravishrun let out a heavy sigh and sheathed his sword.
He did not wipe away the blood.
The sunlight pierced through the mist.
Dawn had come to the duchy.
***
The annihilation of the Gardran Marquisate.
The collapse of one of the duchy's pillars brought aftershocks beyond imagination. The Ark... or rather, Marquis Ravishrun, one of the Ark's members, directly took charge of settling the matter.
During that time, Verden rested at Marquis Ravishrun's villa.
The marquis household personally repaired his Robe of the Wanderer and Mahbat's Leather. Verden rested with ease, recovering his magic power.
'Feels a bit empty without the necklace and staff.'
In truth, by current standards, they weren't so precious. He had just grown attached to them.
Still, he wasn't regretful. Seeing that a staff reinforced with mithril had shattered in less than a few months, it only meant he had lived through that much fierce battle.
In other words, one could say he had handled it roughly.
Anyway.
"I'll have to get a new one."
But it wasn't urgent.
After such a great battle, another wouldn't come immediately. If a request came from Pale, he could simply refuse.
Back when he was a 3rd-tier mage in the resort city of Briente, he had bought a staff for about 50 million Elk. Now, as a high 4th-tier mage, he would need a higher-grade staff.
At present, Verden's wealth amounted to about 1 billion Elk.
This much, saved little by little while spending here and there. Considering it had been less than a year, it was an immense profit.
Verden pondered.
Should he first buy a decent weapon, and keep saving money?
Or should he seek out an outstanding craftsman of magical items, and commission a staff crafted with an Orb?
If he chose the former, the latter kept tempting him.
If he chose the latter, the money he had saved felt insufficient. And he didn't even know where such a craftsman was. Even without a weapon, Verden's power was intact, but he had no intention of narrowing the ways he could fight.
'Hmm....'
His thoughts dragged on.
If he were to buy a decent staff for now, how much should he spend? About 300 to 400 million Elk should get him a decent one.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
"Sir Asher, the lord summons you."
Verden at once left the room and went to the marquis's chamber. He also brought his spatial bag, as he had something to deliver.
Permission was heard from inside.
The servant opened the door, and two men were sharing tea.
One was Marquis Ravishrun, the other a young man with noble bearing. He was the one Verden had met on the island of the Dark Lake.
"Sit, Asher. And you, bring another cup of tea."
"Yes, my lord."
The servant withdrew, and Verden sat on a chair.
Marquis Ravishrun introduced the man to Verden.
"Make your greeting. This is..."
"An honor to meet you again, Asher."
The man extended his hand.
"I am the second prince of the Duchy of Riviant, Belfons Ruin di Riviant."
...Who?