Chapter 125 : Chapter 125

Chapter 125 - Settlement

Self-defense.

Justified violence used to counter a threat.

That's roughly what it means.

First, I had to resist and reach a stalemate to even get to a settlement, wouldn't I?

[Unlike last time, it seems you have no intention of hiding today. Seeing as you even chugged that Dark Elixir or whatever before coming.]

The cold that was now spreading fiercely within my body.

The cold that was struggling, telling me to warm myself up quickly, felt like it would make me lose sensation in my fingertips and toes if I didn't get rid of it.

Before that, I had to increase my magic power output without thinking about the consequences to generate heat.

The Dark Elixir would prevent the consequences, and that was its effect.

The current wave of blood I was riding was not enough to see the effect.

“I left the house for a bit due to personal reasons, and.”

Fwoosh—

With a series of red flames, the Magic Sword Enad was revealed.

“You've made quite a splendid mess.”

“You came, back alive.”

The Second Daughter's voice trailed off.

The expression of someone who had seen something truly unbelievable, who doubted their own eyes, was a bonus.

For the Second Daughter, who rarely showed changes in expression or tone, this level of display was one of astonishment.

“You came back alive even after destroying the Blue Volcano. How could you? Did the Family Head-nim condone that?”

“That's why I'm standing here perfectly fine, isn't it.”

“……”

“I will show you the reason now. You'll be seeing a lot of it in the future, so there's no harm in seeing it in advance.”

The Second Daughter's eyes narrowed.

She seemed to have taken it as a provocation.

In fact, anyone would have, but it was an unfair accusation for the Youngest Son.

What he had just said, if categorized, was closer to kindness.

Moreover, compared to what he was about to do, it was the height of politeness.

The Young Ladies also anticipated that.

“Come at me. You want to kill me, don't you.”

Kuuuwooooook─!!

As if in answer, I leaped out of the wave of blood.

The red solid that had been hardened on top of the liquid had served its purpose as a platform and mixed into the bloody water.

There was no need to float like this anymore.

Because I had already taken over the sky long ago.

Fwoooooosh—

「Blood Demonization」

Another flame, different from the dark purple flame from a moment ago, erupted with the Youngest Son as its epicenter.

Its color was as red as blood, and if one were to smell it, the scent of blood was strong.

However, I only recognized the scent as that of blood from the moment I blocked the demon's sword strike.

The magic sword, which I received without even having time to register the scent, was blocked by the Third Daughter's crossed arms.

Dddddddk─

Even though it was bare skin without any armor, a sound like scraping metal was heard.

[…What is this. To think I cannot cut human flesh. There was no sign of a separate curse being used.]

Enad also couldn't hide its bewilderment, but the Youngest Son knew the secret.

‘The half of the body that the Second Daughter should have had. That physical potential was taken by the Third Daughter, who was in the same womb.’

Anyone could enhance their physical abilities with magic power, but no one could do it as well as the Third Daughter.

Her body was fundamentally special.

It was a blessing obtained by monopolizing the potential that two should have shared.

Jjeooong─

She uncrossed her arms and flicked the magic sword away.

“It's not surprising for a demon to take on a demonic form, but for my youngest brother to become a demon is indeed surprising.”

Along with the Second Daughter's voice, the giant sword of the ghost knight once again drew an arc.

The Youngest Son also responded without backing down.

“…?”

He responded with disregard.

The blood demon thrust its head straight into the path of the falling giant sword.

But it wasn't just its head that it was thrusting.

Clatter─!

A skeleton soldier, created in the blink of an eye in mid-air, clung to the magic sword.

It was a skeleton soldier that was shining in a strangely unusual way.

Kwaaaaaaaaang─!!

A momentarily mind-numbing explosion erupted between the blood relatives.

“……”

The blood relatives were thrown out from the pitch-black smoke.

As the world became visible again, their minds also began to spin.

“…Exploding Bone.”

The Second Daughter, who realized its identity, simultaneously checked on her younger sister.

“Melaine. Are you okay…?”

Nod.

If she dodged, her sister on her back would be hit, so the younger sister took the impact head-on.

The same went for the bone fragments that had managed to pierce through her durability.

That was just the beginning.

[Family Sorcery - Exploding Bone]

[Exploding Sword]

The long magic sword was decorated with a dust-coated skeleton soldier.

In that brief gap, another family sorcery had been completed.

“I heard that Exploding Bone is applied by coating a prepared Bone Sorcery undead with dust.”

The skeleton soldier that was the subject of the Exploding Bone just now had not come from a spatial rift.

It was created freshly during the attack and simultaneously coated with even fresher dust to complete it.

It was something that didn't align with common sense.

It felt like the process was gone and only the result had appeared out of thin air.

“Melaine. If we exchange attacks with the Youngest simultaneously, we can't be faster than that explosion. Let's go to form 2.”

Nod.

With the Third Daughter's affirmation.

Swishswishswish—

The Giant Knight Mhul and the candle-human form spirit returned to their master.

Form 1, in other words, one combo, had ended.

‘Are they planning to come with form 2 next.’

Try everything.

I'm the one who made over 100 forms with those bodies.

There was no way I wouldn't know the pre-customized forms.

And one of their customized forms would later bring me bundles of money.

[…What are those ghosts again.]

To continue my previous thought, it was a form that wouldn't make money.

‘Dragon Hunter Lieri. And one Gale Demon King.’

The former belonged to the Third Daughter, and the latter to the Second Daughter.

Lieri was a hero who wielded a greatbow, and her main achievement, as her title suggests, was dragon hunting.

‘With that huge greatbow and whale harpoon-like arrows, she pierces through the necks of dragons with ease.’

If I move my wings wrong, the neck that will be pierced this time will be a demon's, not a dragon's.

Thrummm─

The bowstring of the greatbow was drawn.

The moment I was sniped, it felt like my soul would burst like a water balloon.

The power of the Gale Demon King was imbued in that arrow.

Just as it had with the knight's greatsword, it imbued its attribute to give an additional buff.

‘The Gale Demon King is a spirit created by gathering over a hundred Gale Demons. Increased firing speed. Additional attribute attack power. A sword wind that scatters like a shotgun.’

Just looking at it, I could list its effects one after another.

‘The weakness is…’

The same went for the bow.

Fwubwubwubwubwubwubwub—

Frey's ghost ship, the Ashen Queen, opened fire.

Its cannons, which scattered cold rather than heat, launched an unexpected bombardment.

The moment an archer releases the bowstring is the moment they must concentrate the most.

In that moment of utmost defenselessness, the back of her head grew cold.

“…!”

The one whose expression rippled was none other than the Third Daughter.

With senses far superior to the Second Daughter's, she turned her body with something that could be either wildness or instinct.

Her reaction speed was faster than the ghost ship's cannonballs.

Kuuuuuuu─

A chill emanated from the dragon hunter's long cloak.

It was a successful defense, but the attack was not.

Therefore, she could not avoid the follow-up attack that came in the gap.

Kwaaaaaaaaang─!!

The Exploding Sword erupted once again.

The Third Daughter's body was thrown back several dozen meters.

“Y-Young Lady!”

The gray butler rushed to protect his master, but a slash drew a line.

“Where do you think you're going.”

“…Move.”

The Gatekeeper twirled his single-edged greatsword.

“Unnecessary meddling. The underlings should play amongst themselves.”

“Grr. You bastard!”

Below another clash.

The Second Daughter slowly bit her lip.

“Don't tell me I have to use the family sorcery.”

Situations she hadn't even considered before coming here were unfolding one after another.

Although the exchange had been brief, it did not feel short at all.

One attack and one defense.

Within that seemingly simple structure, a battle of wits that split seconds was intertwined.

“Melaine. You felt it too, didn't you.”

…Nod, nod.

The Third Daughter nodded a couple of times.

Her sibling knew that was a strong affirmation and conviction.

“He used the noise of the Exploding Bone to confuse our senses and secretly sent the ghost ship behind us. He anticipated the ranged form and prepared for a bombardment.”

That wasn't all.

“He ambushed her from behind in the fleeting moment of drawing the bowstring to divert Melaine's attention. In that gap, he followed up with an Exploding Bone attack to her open front….”

For these processes to be valid, one assumption was necessary.

And that was information.

“Unless he knows every one of our attack patterns and small habits…. It makes no sense.”

Strange. It was too strange.

It felt beyond strange, to the point of being bizarre.

Is that, the Youngest we knew?

The judgment I had made when I saw him recently was trash that couldn't even be called a misjudgment.

“How could he grow like this all of a sudden….”

Her words trailed off as she looked at the blood demon that had been pushed back by the explosion.

Now, I had to look up.

These grayish-blue butterflies, which originated from the family sorcery, had been caught in the explosion and a significant number had disappeared.

The family sorcery was prepared with just the appearance of the butterflies, but her hand could not move rashly.

“The moment we use the family sorcery, one of us, either the Youngest or us, will die.”

“……”

The situation, where the place she had come to with a light heart could become her grave, was extremely uncomfortable.

The Youngest Son also understood that feeling completely.

“If Noona were to use the family sorcery, the lives of those I've taken in would also be in danger.”

Having put away his demonic form, he was now hanging from the ghost ship's anchor.

“But if Noona takes a step back and promises to take some responsibility. I have no intention of going any further here either.”

“…Really?”

“Of course.”

“…But I. I did some terrible things, here.”

“So you do know.”

The cold that was spread in large quantities by instantly exploding trivial spirits.

Unlike normal cold, it hated life above all else.

Brief exposure would freeze the body, and prolonged exposure would freeze the soul.

In the end, it would shatter, and a body without a soul was no different from being dead.

A solution had to be found before that.

The Second Daughter, after a moment of silence, spoke.

“If you're telling me to handle this situation, I can't. The cold of the dead that has been spread has already left the hands of the Spirit Sorcerer.”

“I know. One has to clean their own house.”

Snap─

He snapped his fingers towards Eclipse.

Kurururururururu─

The sound that had occasionally rumbled through the Blue Volcano before the explosion was now heard from Eclipse.

It was both a loading and a firing.

“It's going to be very hot.”

“…!”

Kuwaaaaaaaaaaaaa—

Like ripples in a lake.

With the outer walls of Eclipse opened from the inside as an exit, the demon's heat spread out in an instant.

The shimmering fire was only the release of heat that had been condensed and trapped to its limit inside.

[Did you prepare this too. Seeing as your heartbeat has quickened slightly, it seems not.]

The magic sword's words were correct.

The situation inside Eclipse was unusual, so I had just snapped my fingers to give a signal.

I had no idea what kind of operation was being carried out inside.

But now that I saw it, it was a very good operation.

The heat that spread like a gale completely melted away the cold of the dead that had accumulated on the people and the domain.

It was a cold that couldn't be melted by ordinary fire, but this was no ordinary fire.

The people who had been frozen as if in hibernation were now slowly opening their eyes.

“Ki, Kio. Are you okay?”

“Ye, yes. I suddenly feel better. In fact, it feels a lot hotter.”

Kio and Josephine, as well as the porter who had been shielding himself from the cold by piling the maid corps on top of himself, peeked his head out.

“An agent specializing in blood relatives, wouldn't collapse from this level of cold. Of course, of course.”

He was instead congratulating himself on his survival with a nod.

The Second Daughter, looking down at these scenes, whispered in the Third Daughter's ear.

“I'm sorry. I'm still not sure. Even if we win by using the family sorcery here, you'll suffer a fatal wound. I can't watch that happen.”

“……”

Ssk─

The Third Daughter raised her hand, which was pierced with bone fragments, and casually stroked Melisende's head.

Her dark purple hair, which had become frizzy from exposure to the intense heat, quickly settled down.

“I will help with the younger Noona's treatment inside.”

The anchor that had descended next to the Young Ladies.

The Youngest Son pointed at Eclipse, which still seemed to be hot, and grinned.

“Ah, and the settlement between both sides, too.”

It was a smile that looked like a demon's, like the heat haze that occasionally rose.

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