Chapter 38: The Showdown
TL: Potato-tan
Proofreader: Asianpotato
Ludwig exclaimed in awe.
“Your fighting spirit is truly incredible. What drives you to fight like this?”
Russell looked at him with a curious expression.
“Do you have children?”
“. . .Why do you ask?”
“If you’re just now developing dementia, you’ll need someone to wipe your ass in the future. Surely you’re not going to ask Julia to do that.”
Ludwig’s jaw dropped as he recalled Russell’s earlier request for him to kill him. But soon, he burst out laughing.
“Haha! Don’t mind me. I was just curious. What’s your reason for fighting? Let’s be honest. You didn’t come here willingly, did you?”
Russell ran his palm along his greatsword’s blade.
The days when it was sharp enough to cut through hair were long gone. Now, it was too dull to even cut his palm, and it was beginning to chip.
The dark elf forged the steel sword decades ago, and it is now on the verge of breaking. The World Tree crest engraved on the blade’s bottom glimmered faintly.
Would Alicia be angry after seeing this? Would she tell him to take better care of it? No, she was a general. She must know what fate eventually befalls all mortals.
A sword is just a sword. He was just as present as Russell.
“I’ve never fought before.”
Ludwig tilted his head.
“What are you talking about? Never fought before? You look like you’ve been on countless battlefields.”
It would be difficult to explain. This wasn’t a story from his present life. Russell exhaled and raised his greatsword. The blunt, chipped edge gave off a cold gleam.
“Are we going to keep chatting, or are you ready to surrender? My offer still stands.”
“. . .Never. Let’s start again.”
Once more, they assumed their stances. Silence. The forest was quiet. There was no sound from birds or beasts. The only sounds were the rustling of green leaves and the towering trees.
Their clash had blown one of the leaves into the air, now fluttering down from the sky. It landed silently, right between them.
The silence shattered. The fragments of scattered silence pierced through the air with sharp, screeching noises.
The white axe exuded cold once more, but it no longer reached Russell. Something black, which had just flown toward him, blocked the cold, leaving Ludwig in astonishment. Or rather, he was surprised that he couldn’t even recognize what it was.
It was as if it existed outside his field of vision. He knew it was there before he focused on it, but when he turned his gaze towards it, it would vanish without a trace. This experience repeated itself, and before he knew it, he was filled with fear.
━Teehee.
Goosebumps erupted on his spine. Ludwig swung his axe violently, forcing Russell to retreat.
“Did you hear that just now?”
Russell only smirked.
“No. It’s rather shy, so it doesn’t talk to me much.”
BAM!
The greatsword and the axe collided. The blades scraped against each other, creating sparks. But it was Russell’s claymore that was losing its edge. Ludwig spoke as he kept his sword and axe locked together.
“What do you mean, ‘shy’? That was a terrifying voice. It was like something out of a nightmare.”
“Jeez, we’re already in a dream. What could be more terrifying?”
“Ugh, I guess you’re right!”
The frost from the axe swirled around Russell. However, Russell’s azure magic power soon absorbed it. The cold could no longer penetrate Russell’s defenses.
“Hup!”
With all his might, he pushed down on his greatsword, his eyes now burning with flames. Ludwig’s knees gradually buckled under the force. As Ludwig looked up and Russell looked down, the earth beneath them, unable to withstand the power, split with a loud crack.
CRASH!
The ground gave way with a deafening roar. As they fell into the deep pit, the two continued to clash with their weapons.
The space shifted once more. This time, it was the sea. More specifically, they were in the midst of a battle between a pirate ship and a naval ship.
Ludwig landed on the opposite ship, which had a sail with blue vertical stripes, while Russell landed on the pirate ship, which had a large black skull painted on its sail.
The pirates and sailors were in the midst of a fierce battle, but they paid no attention to the two who had suddenly fallen from the sky.
A pirate with a bandana, a red beard, a squint in his eye, a green parrot perched on his shoulder, and a sunburned upper body shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Spread the sails! Crossbowmen! Move to the starboard side! You idiot pirate, that’s a crossbow in your hand, not a bird! Man the starboard side, now!”
On the naval ship, a stern-faced man in a blue uniform and a hat barked orders.
“Open the armory! Pikemen to the port side! Helmsman! Turn the ship to the right! Dennis! Go to my cabin and bring me the spellbook! I’m going to give those pirate bastards a taste of our power today!”
That was the general situation. Pirates and marines are fighting in the vast ocean. In this small microcosm of the world, another battle was taking place, as always.
Russell and Ludwig simultaneously kicked the ships they were standing on and met in the air.
BAM!
A shockwave erupted from the clash in midair, causing the sails of both ships to billow as if they were about to burst. The ships lurched violently in opposite directions.
“Aaah! Mother!”
“W, Who’s going to catch me, aaah?”
With the hulls and decks tilting, everyone who had been standing on them tumbled down. Excitement for the upcoming battle sent the pirates and marines flying into the abyss. And they weren’t the only ones who fell into the sea.
SPLASH!
Russell and Ludwig also fell into the water, but they continued to fight even as they sank. However, it was clear who had the advantage.
Ludwig was able to breathe easily and swing his axe freely, unlike Russell who was struggling to breathe due to the water’s resistance.
BANG!
As a ripple spread out, the water echoed with a dull sound. Russell sank lower and lower. Ludwig followed him, but then suddenly stopped.
It was there again. Something that he couldn’t see or even comprehend was rising from the depths. As he concentrated with all his might, he caught a glimpse of its silhouette.
It was a swirling mass of bubbles. It was a bubbling darkness. It was a burning void.
And from there emerged a monstrous creature.
The pirate ship and naval ship, which had been tilting, soon regained their balance. With a loud splash, giant waves relentlessly drenched the decks.
PUFF! PUFF! PUFF! Something huge and slimy burst out of the sea, sending jets of white foam and water spraying into the air in defiance of gravity.
The people who had barely managed to hold onto structures such as railings, corners, and masts to avoid falling into the sea all looked up. They all shouted in unison.
“It’s the Kraken!”
Like the Leviathan, the Kraken, one of the most fearsome monsters lurking in the deep sea, had risen and was brandishing its tentacles. The two ships began to creak and groan.
Russell and Ludwig were standing on the risen Kraken’s head. They could feel its slimy texture beneath their feet. Ludwig muttered,
“I didn’t create this monster.”
As if to prove his point, countless tentacles with suction cups descended upon Ludwig. He swung his axe, cutting them down, and jumped back up.
High in the air, Ludwig spotted Russell looking up at him from below. And his eyes were brimming with fire.
Ludwig instinctively realized that Russell had interfered with this space. He had invented the Kraken. It was similar to what Ludwig had done when he switched places.
Ludwig dropped back down. Russell jumped up, landing on the Kraken.
They met in the air, but Ludwig’s downward acceleration was faster and stronger. The two disappeared into the gaping maw of the Kraken. The Kraken’s massive head exploded with a loud POP.
Russell found himself in a new space in the next moment.
It was a desert. There was no sun or cloud in the sky. Only a vast expanse of blue. However, something was approaching from one corner of the sky.
“Hoo, hoo, hoo.”
Russell stood up, shaking the sand out of his hair and mouth. His greatsword was even shorter than before.
This was partly because his claymore was weaker than Ludwig’s axe, but more importantly, because the steel could not withstand the power of his ‘eye’.
In order to block the white axe’s frost and interfere with this dream space, Russell opened his ‘eye’ and used it to attack. This was something he had never done before.
He instinctively understood that the more he utilized his ‘eye’, the more the void would engulf a corner of his mind. Unintentional incidents in his home consistently connected to Russell’s eye. At the time, he didn’t know if he was its master.
‘No. Was I really the master? Or had I, in fact, become its slave without even realizing it?’
Russell shook off the frightening thought.
RUMBLE.
Thunder roared from one corner of the sky. It was a sandstorm. There were flashes of red lightning. Soon, the sandstorm engulfed Russell, who was standing on a sand dune.
The air was filled with orange. The wind blew grains of sand, adding color to the air. BANG! Every now and then, or rather, quite often, streaks of red lightning raced between the winds and the whirlwinds.
Russell, who had been looking around with narrowed eyes, quickly turned and raised his greatsword. Ludwig, who had appeared out of nowhere, was swinging his axe overhead.
CLANG!
Thunder and lightning drowned out the clash of weapons. Amidst the sharp sandstorm that swept over their bodies, the two men clashed and separated repeatedly.
The surroundings were filled with the noise of the wind, the friction of sand grains colliding with each other, and the thunder and lightning caused by that friction.
CRACKLE!
At that moment, a huge pillar of red lightning descended upon Russell’s head. However, the lightning did not electrocute or char Russell. Instead, it wrapped itself around his body.
Lightning bolts crackled all over Russell’s body, licking at his clothes like snakes. He gathered the red lightning into his fragmented sword.
Like a lightsaber, the red lightning took on the shape of a sword. Ludwig let out an incredulous laugh.
“You can control lightning?”
“I’ve experienced it a few times before.”
Russell lowered his greatsword, encased in red lightning. Ludwig’s axe hit it head-on. A flash of light. The space trembled and shook, changing the scene.
“Your spirit is so strong.”
Russell kicked off the snowballs that had accumulated on his body and stood up. It was a snowy field. The ground below seemed to be solid ice.
A thick gray blanket covered the sky. Snow fell in sheets as white as the blanket’s cotton.
“Don’t complain so much. This is the end. I can’t go any further than this.”
“How big is the time difference between the outside and here?”
“Unimaginably large. A month, half a year, or even a year here could be just a second outside.”
Russell chuckled.
“It won’t take that long.”
“I hope so. It’s too cold here.”
His magic power was almost depleted. Only pure physical strength and technique remained.
Russell and Ludwig charged at each other without any fanfare. Under the gray sky, the two men clashed on the snowy white field, leaving countless white footprints and heavy snowfall on their heads and shoulders.
Ludwig felt himself gradually growing exhausted. Aside from being the master of this space, his mind and body were now reaching their limits.
Perhaps being in the deepest part also had an effect. He didn’t know. This was the first time he had come this far down.
Even so, Ludwig extended his legs powerfully, twisted his waist, lowered his upper body, and swung his arms.
The sound of metal clashing rang out. CLANG, CLANG. Sparks and splinters flew. Russell’s steel greatsword, no longer imbued with his magic power, was gradually cracking and breaking.
However, Russell swung the sword without care. He acted as though he had a responsibility to perform.
At one point, Russell had a strange experience. He saw himself from a third-person perspective. Right in front of him, he could vividly see himself fighting Ludwig.
In one part of his consciousness, he could see Ludwig swinging his axe right in front of his nose, while in another part, he could see his own profile blocking the axe.
He realized it. He recognized himself, the space around him, and the storm of axe blades that flashed by countless times.
His ‘eye’ did not miss a single trajectory of the axe, and his greatsword, though chipped several times, managed to withstand all of the attacks. However, the sharp aura emanating from the axe was enough to wound Russell on its own.
With blood trickling down from a wound on his cheek, he glanced at his greatsword. Now, the remaining blade was less than a hand’s length. There was only one chance left.
Russell turned his gaze and looked at Ludwig’s body. A massive pillar centered itself on him.
Composed of thousands—tens of thousands—of glowing runes and spells, it looked like a mere pillar of light from a distance. The pillar, broken in several places, extended in all directions beneath the snowy field like the thick roots of a tree. It was gradually losing power as a result of the battle’s impact.
His body moved according to his will. Ludwig was increasingly unable to keep up with his speed.
BAM! Russell summoned the last of his magic power and unleashed a shockwave. The solid ice floor shattered and buckled. Jagged icebergs were created.
Ludwig retreated, dodging the icebergs that were closing in on him from both sides, like a crevasse.
The air was filled with transparent and blue ice shards. Russell charged past them. Hard, sharp ice shards struck his body, and some even embedded themselves in him, but Russell did not stop.
As his feet touched the ice again, the white ground buckled as if it were a lie, and an iceberg rose up. At its peak, Ludwig was teetering, unable to keep his balance.
Russell scaled the iceberg’s near-vertical slope like a wild beast and grabbed Ludwig by the neck. As Russell squeezed Ludwig’s neck, he let out a scream, akin to a hawk seizing its prey.
Snap!
“Gaaaah!”
Ludwig’s body crashed into the ground of the snowfield with a clang. He slid to a stop after breaking through the ice. A trail of bright red blood, spilled from Ludwig’s broken body, stretched out across the frozen wasteland.
Ludwig groaned, feeling the burning pain in his skin as well as the icy cold that was freezing his body. But now, even this pain feels sweet.
The promised rest was approaching. A festival was just around the corner, where he could put everything down and enjoy himself to the fullest.
Groaning, he got up and immediately charged at Russell, who was approaching with a roar.
“Aaaaah!”
The axe swung down on Russell, but instead of retreating, he charged towards it. He took the shaft on his left shoulder and struck Ludwig in the chest with his right.
A sickening thud and a spray of blood from his mouth, but the bloody streak was scattered into the air as Russell’s right fist, which was holding the sword, punched Ludwig in the jaw. The ax fell from his powerless hand.
Russell made a quarter turn on the spot and elbowed Ludwig in the abdomen while he was lying low on the snowy field.
With that impact, his body folded forward. At the same time, the fragmented greatsword in Russell’s right hand shot up from below and pierced Ludwig’s heart.