The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 119

Chapter 119: Endlessly Pure White (1)

「What lies at the end of the world?

What will come at the end of this era?

Summer blooms and falls into autumn.

Winter is born and sinks into spring.

‘Summer’ departs to find its master, ‘Winter’ grants its master’s wish as always, and ‘Autumn’ embraces them both.

How long will ‘Spring’ remain?

What will become of a world without ‘Spring’?

How long can we keep the seasons from the grasp of the Demon King?

━ Fairy Tale of the Demise」

Now that they had reached the elf village, there was no way they wouldn’t find the World Tree.

It was a gigantic tree that stretched from the center of the village to the very end, beyond the horizon.

“A wall.”

Cain placed his hand on the thicket.

Having dealt with Marquis Ross and Everwyn, a wall of thicket surrounded the vicinity of the World Tree.

Abel sheathed his sword after testing the thicket wall and spoke.

“It seems we can just go through it.”

The thicket was soft enough to not hinder movement, despite its density.

And between the gaps in its leaves…

The trunk of the World Tree was visible in the distance.

This meant they were very close to the World Tree.

Abel argued for a forceful breakthrough.

“Most bad guys operate similarly.”

Cain, however, disagreed.

Of all the opponents he had faced, there were easily more than ten that were more mysterious than Glumiêm, and many more that were stronger.

However, few were as tricky as Glumiêm.

Thump, thump━.

Cain stomped his feet.

“They become incredibly powerful on their own turf. You know why? Because the traps they set are still there.”

The forest where Glumiêm had reigned for centuries.

It was as troublesome as it was filled with all sorts of mysterious tricks and traps. And Cain pointed to the seemingly harmless thicket.

“This is no different.”

Shing━.

Agweska sprang from its scabbard. An elegant trajectory exploded, cleaving through the thicket.

Fwoosh━.

But the thicket was clever.

It accepted Abel’s sword, judging it as non-threatening, but when Cain’s sword approached, it shifted the point of contact, creating an empty space.

After evading the sword, it returned to its original state.

“Tsk. Still, it couldn’t have contained enough power to kill someone.”

Magic and miracles had their limits.

Although they were things that made the impossible possible, there were limitations depending on the caster’s power, preparation, and the target’s environment.

Cain had roughly grasped the nature of the thicket with that single strike.

“This is designed to hinder us. It’s infused with her specialty, ‘Mental Allurement’.”

“How did you know that?”

Whoosh━.

Cain picked up a stone from the ground.

And threw it over the thicket.

As if evading the sword, the thicket stretched upwards, swallowing the stone, and returned to its original form.

Cain observed this and then made a circle with his thumb and index finger.

“The power of the mental attack is a bit weak, but the result is good. Plus, it would’ve been cheaper since it’s her specialty.”

Abel nodded.

He had only grasped the presence of the thicket, but he respected Cain for understanding its essence.

He was curious about what kind of experience and knowledge allowed him to understand it so quickly.

Cain spoke to Abel, whose eyes were sparkling.

“Abel.”

“Yes, brother.”

“We have to go through it to reach the World Tree, but can you endure it?”

Abel looked at Cain with a momentarily troubled expression. He appreciated Cain’s constant concern for him.

Step.

He responded with action instead of words.

He plunged half of his body into the thicket in an instant.

“I don’t know if I can endure it. But I know I have to.”

Swoosh━.

And he disappeared.

Cain watched him go with a faint smile.

“That’s my boy.”

Following Abel, he immersed himself in the thicket. The mystical thicket, which evaded blades and even grabbed stones, swallowed the two brothers, Cain and Abel.

🔹🔹🔹

The thicket guided Cain as if it were a path.

‘First, it separated us.’

It divided their forces.

Then what was next?

Whooosh━.

A sudden wind blew from the direction of the shimmering World Tree in the distance.

Something greenish, carried by the wind, struck his face.

━Please live a new life, brother.

The forest vanished.

What appeared was the Henerali-fe of the Holy See.

He saw the Hero’s party, unable to approach due to the ‘Winter’ ultimate move he had unleashed, and the Saintess crying out in despair.

The Empire, the Holy See, the City Alliance.

All the forces of the world were rushing towards him, seeking revenge for the death of the Hero, Abel, at the hands of Cain.

Thud━.

The slain Hero, Abel, dropped his arm.

━But aren’t you living your new life a little too well?

But he opened his eyes again.

Instead of Abel, who had entrusted everything to Cain and disappeared, there were brown eyes filled with rage and resentment.

━I died by your hand, brother, so why are you living so well?

Shing━.

Cain drew his sword instead of answering.

━It’s frustrating. I’m jealous.

He beheaded Abel, who was screaming in agony.

Although it was an illusion, everything from the sensation in his hand to Abel’s head falling and scattering was perfectly real.

Of course, Cain didn’t even flinch.

“It’s the kind of illusion that interferes with memories and shows you the situation you least wanted to experience. Not bad, Glumiêm.”

Cain had seen through the thicket’s mystery.

There were many types of mental attacks, but Cain broadly categorized them into two: those that showed what the caster was thinking and those that scraped and showed what the target was thinking.

Naturally, the latter was much more difficult.

The end of the world he had faced at Henerali-fe was something Glumiêm couldn’t have imagined, so it was the latter.

Woo━ Woo━.

Although it was an illusion, the collapse of the world at that time naturally followed.

It was probably about to transition to the next illusion.

At that moment.

【To think you would use this method, impressive.】

In the original situation, the world’s colors would have faded and crumbled, and Cain wouldn’t have been able to regain his senses.

However, now that it was just an illusion replaying the past, there was something he could observe.

【Abel Ethelred, victory is yours. However, this is also the end of this world line. I like it.】

Abel’s severed head.

Silver light seeped through the gap in his half-opened eye.

【World, this will be the last time you gather the four seasons to stop me.】

Abel’s mouth moved on its own, muttering to itself, and as soon as the words ended, the world disappeared.

‘……What was that?’

It was ominous.

It must have been a whisper that his past self hadn’t noticed.

But the owner of that whisper was something within Abel.

He had found a clue he had missed in the illusion created by scraping his own memories.

Saaaaaaa━.

The thicket’s mystery didn’t stop just because it failed once.

The ramparts of Count Edmund’s castle reappeared.

The foolish Cloyd and the knights who didn’t know where to side with them surrounded him and Abel.

The day spring arrived this year, the fight with Abel.

He could clearly see the black fox, Philip, in the distance.

Shing━.

Cain didn’t even listen to the story.

He split Abel’s head open and beheaded Philip.

Saaaaaaa━.

This time, he saw Vanderbilt’s corpse and Oleciren, who had fully awakened as a witch and undergone a personality change.

Shing━.

Cain struck them down without a moment’s hesitation.

Arna.

Adrift at sea.

A mercenary at the bottom rung of the continent.

His master, Johnny-Walker.

The inheritance of the magic sword, ‘Winter’.

When Abel defeated the rising Demon King and the warriors of the Great Wall died in peace.

Shing━.

Cain walked forward, cutting them all down.

Without a shred of hesitation.

《How……?》

He heard Glumiêm’s murmur.

Cain, no longer even bothering to sheathe Agweska, replied.

“I’ve already cut them down.”

The moments Glumiêm’s illusions showed were the ones Cain regretted the most in the previous world line.

And all of them were things that the 『Four Seasons』 had shown him once when the world line changed.

Cain’s eyes widened.

Pure White Thunderbolt began to flow from his violet eyes.

With several illusions shattered by Cain, the thicket’s mystery had consumed a lot of its power.

As cost-effective as it was, mental attacks suffered a sharp decline in performance if they failed.

And Cain seized that opportunity to infuse the ‘Winter’s’ lightning.

Crackle━.

The illusions crumbled.

A giant mirror shattered.

The scattering shards of glass each held a different illusion, and all of them were from the years Cain had spent in regret and sorrow.

Step━.

Cain walked among the falling shards of illusion.

“And I……”

The past was gone.

The future was unknown.

Cain had suffered enough from the past and had run towards the future.

That’s why there was one thing he knew for sure.

“Live in the present.”

Don’t forget the present, trapped in the past.

Don’t lose the present for the sake of the future.

Only today, now, this moment.

Swoosh━.

Cain, who lived only in the present, raised Agweska vertically.

Dark Sky Bright Light.

Original Style.

Kyrie.

The sword that created today.

And he unleashed the swordsmanship he had learned first from his master.

As if in response.

Clank━!

The world was sliced apart.

The thicket, which had reflected all sorts of illusions, was cut in half.

The World Tree appeared before him.

Beneath it…

Where a few golden leaves floated as if guarding something.

A woman sat on an elven throne woven from branches, her chin resting on her hand, her eyes closed.

Her skin was whiter and smoother than porcelain, her lush green hair glossy.

A straight nose and red lips.

If perfection were to be embodied as a woman, it would be her.

《Damn Ethelred.》

Even her curses sounded beautiful.

And she slowly opened her eyes.

Clear green eyes, as if containing all the greenery that bloomed in spring, stared at Cain.

《You are indeed my final Ethelred.》

The Queen of Verdure.

The master of Airian’s northern frontier.

The Witch of the ‘Deep Forest’.

It was Glumiêm of the Unseen Forest.

“Indeed.”

Thud━.

Cain spoke briefly and then charged.

Crackle━.

His entire body crackled with pure white lightning as he channeled his power to its limits, his dash resembling a white arrow shooting forward!

Cain immediately swung Agweska horizontally.

He had no interest in long conversations with enemies.

However.

Clang━.

As if to protect Glumiêm, a root of the World Tree shot up, deflecting his sword.

《Why are you in such a hurry?》

She smiled leisurely.

It was the composure of an absolute powerhouse.

Clang━, clang!

As soon as his sword was deflected, Cain twisted his waist and swung again. Another root of the World Tree shot up, blocking his sword.

Vertical, horizontal, and thrusts in between.

In an instant, Cain unleashed several sword strikes, but they only managed to ruffle Glumiêm’s bangs with the wind, failing to land a proper hit.

《You’ve defeated my descended form several times.》

She walked towards Cain.

Dozens of roots shot up, aiming to pierce him.

“I’ve also cut off your head.”

Clang━.

Cain planted his feet firmly on the ground and deflected the roots with his sword. It felt like blocking a barrage of arrows on a battlefield.

Clang!

The problem was that the power contained in each “arrow” was unimaginably heavy!

Every time he blocked a root attack, Cain’s body was pushed back.

Glumiêm clicked her tongue as she observed him.

《Yes. You were the first to cut off my head. But you see……》

“……!”

《This is my domain. My domain, where I have resided for centuries as an elf, as a witch.》

Rumble━.

The World Tree twisted its massive trunk.

The towering World Tree obeyed Glumiêm’s emotions. She asked with an innocent smile.

《Did you really think you could win?》

[Destiny’s Crossroads has been discovered.]

[The Song of Demise begins.]

[The estimated probability of victory against the Green Witch in your current state is 1.7%.]

[Do you want to proceed?]

The message appeared along with her words.

And for the first time, the probability of victory and the question of whether he could go back appeared.

Cain grinned.

“Of course.”

Swoosh━.

He stepped forward with his left foot.

Lowering his center of gravity.

He raised Agweska horizontally, aiming its tip at the arrogant queen.

“I will win.”

The eastern frontier of the human world, the Great Wall.

The strongest of the Great Wall, the one who commanded all warriors, was called the Lord East.

[‘Winter’ wishes for your happiness.]

His back to the winter, his eyes fixed forward.

The blood-soaked ruler of the snowy field vowed to achieve victory.

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