Chapter 199 - North Rabbit

Chapter 199

Arpad heard it too. How dare that monster say such a thing to his wife.

‘Bride? Whose bride?’

He was the only one who could call Hilia his bride.

How dare that creature, who had merely received a few drops of his blood, refer to Hilia as his own bride?

His vision swam with crimson. It would not be enough to immediately sever the arm that dared to embrace Hilia, to tear it to shreds.

But reality was cruel. Far from gallantly rescuing his wife from the monster, he was now rolling on the ground from the shock of being stabbed and kicked.

His body would not obey. The taste of iron filled his mouth, and the muscles in his limbs screamed as if tearing apart. It was the side effect of excessive magical power depletion.

Each sensation was one he was experiencing for the first time in his life.

Among them, the most unfamiliar and bewildering to Arpad was the feeling of powerlessness.

At that moment.

A piercing sound assaulted his ears.

“Let go of this! Arpad! Are you alright? Arpad!!”

It was Hilia’s voice calling him.

His name, clothed in her voice, had always sounded like the most beautiful music in the world.

The one who gave color to monochrome things, who summoned a spring that had not yet arrived.

She was calling for him.

Magical power depletion was no issue. Even if he were already dead, every cell in his body would have no choice but to move toward Hilia.

Before he knew it, Arpad was standing upright.

Hilia’s face, held in the monster’s grasp, brightened radiantly.

“Arpad!”

The smile that bloomed on her face, still damp with tears of worry and fear from moments before, was as bright as the sun.

If it were the usual him, he would have tossed back a joke from another world that Hilia had told him, treating it as a jest.

But now was not the time for that.

The monster who had stolen his blood dared to grab Hilia’s chin and pull it toward him right before his eyes. He was clearly trying to kiss her.

His anger did not boil over any further. It had already surpassed its limit and was boiling over, filling even the smallest blood vessels throughout his body.

The monster mocked him.

“Impressive that you can stand with that body. But that’s your limit. It’s plain to see you’re in a state where you can’t move a single step. You can’t even dream of manifesting aura.”

The sword Arpad still hadn’t let go of was broken about halfway down its length.

It had helplessly snapped when he charged at Gaspard moments ago, lacking even the strength to generate aura.

“That broken sword and you are in the same state.”

Words of ridicule poured forth.

“Just stand there and watch helplessly. Watch as I receive my bride.”

The strength drained from Arpad’s hand, which had not released the hilt even when he was flung down by Gaspard.

*Clang!*

Looking at the half-sword rolling on the floor, Gaspard twisted his lips into a smirk.

“Have you finally given up? Sooner than expected. You’re a man with less tenacity than I thought.”

At that moment.

From Arpad’s now-empty hand, a crimson blade surged forth.

“!”

It was not aura.

It was similar to, yet different from, the aura that had bloomed from Arpad like flame.

A color like blood flowing from a wound.

The blood-red magical power swayed far more precariously, yet it maintained its form rigidly.

The next moment, not just the blade, but Arpad’s entire body was engulfed in red magical power.

And then.

“!”

Arpad, who had been quite far away, arrived within an arm’s reach of Hilia and Gaspard in an instant.

Before Gaspard could even perceive it.

The left arm with which Gaspard was subduing Hilia was severed.

*Squelch—!*

Hilia tumbled backward along with Gaspard’s severed left arm.

But she saw the scene unfolding before her eyes clearly. Because her eyes were wide open.

Before her eyes, the crimson blade slashed and slashed again at Gaspard in his monstrous form.

But Gaspard, torn to pieces, reattached his body. It was a scene that had repeated to the point of tedium.

Without delay, Arpad swung the blood-colored blade again.

It was a hurried, irrational movement, as if driven by madness.

* * *

As he reattached his shattered body, Gaspard felt perplexed.

Arpad was clearly in a state of complete magical power depletion right now.

He could be certain, as he had also regained the ‘Watcher’s Eye’ while capturing the black serpent.

‘Then what is this magical power now?’

Gaspard poured magical power into the Watcher’s Eye and glared at Arpad’s body as if to dissect it.

And he could immediately draw a conclusion.

Blocking the half-wing Gaspard swung, Arpad paused for a moment.

Thanks to that, Gaspard could finally speak.

“It seems you’ve resolved to die.”

*Crackle-crack!* Sparks flew as the blood-red magical blade scraped across the dragon’s scales.

Hilia sharply raised her head.

“What? What are you talking about now?”

Gaspard twisted to look at Hilia and laughed again.

“Just as I said. There is no magical power left in that man’s body now. Yet, there is only one place from which he could draw such sword energy.”

Hilia’s complexion turned deathly pale.

“His heart.”

“Correct. He has drawn out life itself. The moment that power is exhausted, he will die on the spot.”

A look of vexation appeared on Gaspard’s face.

“I must devour him quickly before he’s completely exhausted. I must prevent precious material from self-destructing.”

Hilia was beside herself with shock and worry.

“Stop! Arpad!”

She struggled to stop him, but it was useless.

Because Gaspard’s strength, which still held Hilia’s waist even after Arpad had severed it, was far too great.

A part of Gaspard’s body, still restraining Hilia, dragged her away from the fierce battle now unfolding.

Hilia resisted. Grabbing the floor with her hands, she stretched out and desperately screamed.

“Arpad!!!”

Twisting her whole body, she screamed.

“No! Stop!”

Only one thought dominated her mind now.

Her mouth moved on its own.

“If you die leaving me behind, I will never forgive you! I ran away to save you, so what’s the point if you die!”

After raging, Hilia now began to plead.

“Please!!!”

A bizarre noise rang out as if in answer to Hilia’s scream.

*Crunch! Screeeech—!*

The massive, sturdy body was twisting in all directions.

Gaspard’s body, a clumsy mix of human and dragon, began to struggle, transforming into various shapes.

It stretched out long like simple tentacles, then all the scales on its body stood up at once to scrape the floor; multiple human faces appeared and disappeared from its limbs.

Hilia realized the faces appearing and disappearing from Gaspard’s body looked familiar.

Ones resembling Evangeline and Archbishop Bio. That wasn’t all. There were also the faces of many other people.

It changed into the forms of various creatures, then changed again.

As if it didn’t properly know what form to maintain and was confused.

A terrible scream rang out.

“Kyaaaaah—!!!”

Arpad, his voice a metallic rasp, muttered lowly.

“Already once… I cut his throat and let him go, and it came to this… A second time won’t do… Absolutely……”

What Arpad’s sword energy was piercing was a black orb within Gaspard’s massive body.

“…The vessel holding… your disgusting soul, I suppose. It moved… countless times… was annoying to catch.”

But he had finally caught it.

As Arpad poured strength into the blade, the orb split cleanly in two.

From inside the orb, a bluish glowing liquid poured out helplessly.

That liquid seen in all the puppets he had made, including the spare bodies.

The difference was that the liquid now spilling from the orb was far denser and emitted a brighter light.

That liquid itself was the very core of the being called Gaspard.

Because Gaspard, for whom a physical body was already meaningless, had stored his magical power and soul within this core.

The magical power Arpad had poured out shattered the core to pieces, completely incinerating even the liquid that filled its interior.

The monster’s body, having lost its soul and consciousness, let out a scream that seemed to tear the ears.

“Kyehehehehehk—!!!!”

A scream that seemed to shatter the listener’s mind.

The monster, now a lump of meat having lost life, soul, and reason, writhed and fled from the being that had killed it.

It was a literally unicellular action, with nothing left but instinctive fear and the will to survive.

Hilia had no leisure to pay attention to such a thing now.

Finally freeing herself from Gaspard’s arm that had held her, she ran toward Arpad.

As if the movements so fast they were invisible moments before, or the ferocity, were a lie, Arpad stood still, rooted to the spot.

Leaning forward slightly as if looking down at Gaspard.

Though red magical power still enveloped his entire body, burning, Hilia rushed in without a trace of fear.

It was the result of her firm belief that Arpad’s magical power could not harm her.

As if he had been waiting, Arpad collapsed into Hilia’s embrace.

“Arpad!!!”

Like a flame giving its last light before dying out, the red magical power enveloping his body flickered and vanished.

Hilia held Arpad, laid him across her lap, and looked at his face.

The man was smiling faintly. And then, he barely moved his lips.

“Sor…ry…….”

Hilia immediately understood what this meant. She didn’t want to understand, but she couldn’t help it.

It was an answer to her words that she would not forgive him if he died.

Pain poured out like a scream.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Who do you think would let you die?!”

But his eyes closed, and his breathing stopped.

Tears streamed down.

Hilia pressed her ear to Arpad’s chest, searching for the sound of his heart.

A low, faint beat still tapped against her ear.

But it was clearly fading away.

The proof that Arpad was alive.

At that moment.

Hilia saw a vision. She was currently in a state where she could not use any divine artifact, not a single grain of divine power.

Therefore, the <Book of Fate> could absolutely not reveal itself.

Nor could it turn its pages to show the very last page.

Yet, Hilia saw it.

‘That sentence’ written on the last page, which had tormented her the most all this time.

“Regardless of your will, when the time comes, you will kill Arpad and make him complete.”

「The bride shall stab Arpad’s heart, kill him, and make him complete.」

Its true meaning finally struck her mind like a thunderbolt.