The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 124

Chapter 124: I Am Winter (2)

Kwaaaaaang━!

Oleciren’s Lava Giant struck the World Tree once more.

A grand explosion erupted.

But the World Tree endured.

Leaving behind the moment where legend bloomed and myth waned, Cain turned around.

“No.”

“What……?”

Everwyn’s large eyes widened.

She was dumbfounded by Cain’s refusal, as if he didn’t even know what kind of resolve he had just shown.

Cain turned back to face the World Tree.

“My enemies are mine. Who are you to stick your nose in this?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

Cain didn’t look at her.

He just silently acknowledged the World Tree and the damned Northern Forest he had to destroy, then opened his mouth.

“There are people who will grieve if you die.”

Everwyn shook her head.

She knew of her own birth. But who would mourn her?

“I am but a being born from the World Tree. If it falls, so will I.”

Then let her be the final flame.

That was Everwyn’s resolve.

Swoosh━.

Cain raised his empty left hand.

Kwagaraaaaang━!

He pointed at the Lava Giant, engulfed in black smoke amidst the endlessly pouring rain.

“You say you’re doing this for the world your daughter will live in, but shouldn’t you at least see your daughter once? That’s your daughter, and my friend.”

Everwyn’s mouth fell open.

She never expected to see something like a Lava Giant, and the fact that it was her daughter left her speechless.

“If I married Hybolt, wouldn’t I be the Queen? Then my daughter would be the Princess of Airian.”

“That’s right.”

“But what kind of princess leads a charge like that in the middle of a battlefield…….”

Everwyn realized that the common sense she held was useless here.

Even if Airian was as advanced as the elves, it was inconceivable for a princess to be doing such a thing on the front lines.

“That’s why she’s my friend.”

Cain spread his legs shoulder-width apart.

Thud.

He planted Agweska into the ground, then gripped the air with both hands as if holding a sword.

“Abel and…… Father.”

Cain, struggling with how to address Edmund, simply called him Father.

It felt awkward.

‘But a father is a father.’

It felt strange calling him that in this situation, but it didn’t feel entirely bad.

Cain nodded towards the World Tree, which was enduring by constantly absorbing the life force of the surrounding forest.

“Can you buy me some time?”

“Yes.”

Edmund answered immediately.

And Abel, gripping his sword as if swearing an oath to the heavens, spoke to Cain.

“As long as it takes, brother.”

Smirk━.

Cain smiled, looking at the two of them.

If they had met during peaceful, ordinary times, things wouldn’t have turned out this way.

It was because they were on a battlefield that these three, a father and his sons, could become one, leaving behind all reasons and history.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Brother.”

Abel took a step forward.

And bowed his head to Cain.

“They say summer is very hot. I, who have only lived in the Northern Forest, have never experienced such a season.”

“Is that so?”

“Sir Cloyd told me that the color of the sea changes with the seasons. He said that in summer, the sea off the coast of Ethelred turns crystal clear.”

Swoosh━.

Abel raised his head.

Tears were flowing beneath his bright red eyes. His sincerity towards Cain, who had already accepted his sacrifice, streamed down his cheeks.

“So, I wish to see the next season with you. I truly do.”

“Abel.”

“Yes.”

“Be prepared to drown in the sea.”

The tear stains were still fresh on his face, but Abel was overjoyed by Cain’s words, promising to be with him in the future.

He broke into a bright smile.

Edmund, who had been listening, stared blankly at the battle between the World Tree and the Lava Giant, then suddenly spoke.

“Count me in too.”

Cain immediately replied.

“No.”

“……Alright.”

“Just kidding. I’ll think about it.”

A faint smile appeared on Edmund’s usually expressionless face. Cain chuckled inwardly at his reaction.

Kwooong━!

At that moment.

The World Tree scattered the earth with its roots, and Oleciren’s Lava Giant, caught off guard, staggered.

Shwaaaaaaaa━!

Tens of thousands of root tendrils spread out into the air.

It looked as if they were about to devour the Lava Giant whole.

“We must go now, Cain.”

Thud━!

Edmund kicked off the ground and sprinted. Unlike his body, which was quickly moving away, his last words lingered a little longer.

“Let us meet again.”

Tat-tat━.

Abel followed after him.

And then, a golden twilight cut through the World Tree that was about to devour Oleciren!

Ardvark.

Final Form.

Claíomh Solais.

But that wasn’t all.

While Edmund had cut through the main body, countless branches of the World Tree were met with……

Abel-style Ardvark.

Airget-lam.

Airgead-lámh.

Abel took care of them.

The roots were severed in an instant, falling to the ground with heavy thuds. Each time, the earth shook as if an earthquake had struck.

However, even though the Lava Giant, born from a miracle, and the two swordsmen were cutting down the World Tree, there seemed to be no end.

Only a part of the vast forest was scattered. The forest that the World Tree was still absorbing was vast.

“Burn it all down━!”

“Yaaaaaaaaaa━!”

At that moment, shouts from the knights could be heard in the distance.

Cain turned his head, and with his senses heightened by Active Winter of Night, he could see the expeditionary force far away.

Olivia was leading them in Oleciren’s place.

And the knights were setting fire to the forest and destroying it, whatever it took.

“Burn as much as you can!”

Like burning meteors, the knights of Airian gave it their all.

Humanity’s struggle against the world.

Civilization’s resistance against nature.

Cain silently took in the entire scene.

“How dazzling.”

Everwyn, who was looking at the same scene, muttered. Then, turning her head to the far east, she continued.

“The continent will never know that a war like this is taking place here.”

“Things like this happen all the time on the continent.”

Cain gave a wry smile.

A vast land and a large population meant all sorts of things happened.

“Though not on this scale, of course.”

Koo-ung━.

Cain made up his mind.

He gathered all the Pure White Thunderbolt that filled his body.

Dark Sky.

Outer Style.

Requiem.

Saaaaaaaaaaa━.

The cosmic chill gathered by Winter of Night slowly formed into the shape of a sword, following the path of the lightning.

It was ‘Winter’.

Not the greatsword of the Great Wall where ‘Winter’ was sealed, but a sword tempered by life and history.

The Sword of Demise, Requiem.

‘It’s on a whole different level from when I used it briefly before.’

The pressure emanating from Requiem, tempered by ‘Winter’, was so tremendous that words couldn’t describe it.

Woooong━.

Just like how Oleciren’s Lava Giant had donned a ring of storm clouds with its power, the moment Cain’s Requiem manifested, it shook the very earth.

The ground, unable to withstand the force centered around Cain, cracked and shattered like a spiderweb.

Swoosh━.

Cain raised his arm.

The tip of the manifested Requiem pointed directly at Cain’s heart.

It was a posture as if he was about to commit suicide with the sword.

Everwyn, who was watching, shouted in surprise.

“What are you doing?!”

“I’m going to destroy this whole damn forest.”

━O Lord, who judges us in glory.

Crackleeeeeeeeee━!

At that moment.

A storm of lightning raged around Cain.

A pillar of lightning so massive it could split the dark clouds descended from the black cosmos.

An immense wave that engulfed the battlefield.

The fragmented World Tree turned to look.

The Lava Giant opened its mouth.

Abel and Edmund turned their heads.

The knights who were burning the forest looked up in awe.

『Samhain’s ‘Winter’…… awakening.』

Unlike the usual messages, a mechanical one flowed through.

[‘Winter’ advises against your choice.]

[‘Winter’ advises that it is an impossible power for you to handle right now.]

[‘Summer’ and ‘Autumn’ are…….]

[‘Winter’ freezes them both.]

[‘Winter’ says there are already too many futures sacrificed.]

Cain grinned.

It was a smile born from the sincerity ‘Winter’ conveyed.

‘Thank you. But isn’t their struggle dazzling?’

As the myth faded.

As a new legend arose.

Cain looked down at everyone who was creating this new history.

‘I want to do my best too, Winter. This is my today, and it will be my tomorrow.’

Amidst the brilliant lightning, Cain slowly began to push the blade of Requiem towards his heart.

━I offer this wicked one unto You.

No blood flowed.

Requiem simply scattered into Cain’s body.

『Sacrifice Sequence…… Activated.』

『Sacrificial offering…calculating.』

At that moment.

From the black Agweska that was stuck in the ground, a jet-black shadow began to spew out like ink.

Cain, caught off guard, widened his eyes in surprise.

Hwaaaaaaaaa━!

In the blink of an eye, the shadow spread beyond the horizon.

The forest, life, people.

Elves, spring, the wind.

Just as pure white snow turned everything white, the jet-black night covered everything in darkness.

The ‘Heart of Shadow’ that Marquis Ross left behind swallowed everything in the north in an instant and then returned.

━Cain!

He began to hear hallucinations.

━Use me as a sacrifice!

He could hear Everwyn’s thoughts right next to him.

━……There is no one better suited to sacrificing themselves for everyone than the Demon King, I suppose.

Perhaps it was the Saintess’s heart.

━I will, this time, protect you.

Oleciren’s will, conveyed in a desperate, halting manner.

━Young Master!

Vanderbilt.

━Brother, let’s spend summer together…….

Abel.

━My son.

Edmund.

━Our son grew up well.

Chloe.

━As expected of my granddaughter’s potential husband.

McLoud.

[The world you changed by 18.6% yesterday looks at you today.]

All the world he had changed since being reborn flowed into Cain.

It wasn’t someone else’s power.

It wasn’t anyone’s help.

It was only the time Cain had spent sprinting and changing things that had accumulated and led to this moment.

『Sacrifice…… Calculation Complete.』

『Ain…… Partially Opened.』

『The Four Seasons bless you.』

The shadow melted into the light.

The lightning and the chill turned into a single ray of white light, and the world went dark.

The red of the lava.

The green of the forest.

All colors slowly disappeared.

A world where only black and white existed.

In the middle of it all.

Cain’s body slowly rose into the air.

“Cain━!”

Everwyn, and indeed everyone in this land, felt it. They felt something of theirs connecting to Cain and flowing towards him.

Dark Sky.

Original Style.

Credo.

Flash━.

The only place with color was where Cain stood.

Everyone turned to look, and Cain gripped Agweska, which had risen before him, with both hands.

The target was the World Tree.

The goal was to destroy all the forests in the North connected to it!

[The future is being made!]

━Let me see the eternal light.

He swung the sword down.

The pure white sword strike, like the light of the rising sun, tore through the black and white world.

From the point where the sword touched, blue and red bloomed, and life and death began to divide.

《My last…… Ethelred…….》

However, only the World Tree lost its color.

As if it were a being not allowed to exist, the World Tree withered from the edges inward, and Ross’s blood, which had been held back until now, spread in an instant.

《Ah, Father.》

It was the end of Glumiêm.

Cain fell from the sky like a feather.

Oleciren, with her wings spread, flew towards him at incredible speed.

And caught him.

“Cain!”

Through his fading vision, Cain felt something warm touch his face.

It was her tears.

[‘World Tree Glumiêm’ has been destroyed.]

[‘The Witch of Unseen Forest, Glumiêm’ will be absorbed into eternity.]

[The seal on ‘Airian Region’ has been lifted.]

[World Line Fixation: ▲ 23%]

[The final chapter of ‘Spring’ begins.]

[『Annihilator of Destruction Ⅲ』, has been updated.]

Beyond the continuous stream of messages, he looked at her face and said,

“It’s okay.”

A warm breeze blew as if it had been waiting for this moment.

This was the end of the Airian War.

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