Chapter 2 — 사자(獅子)
Part 2, Episode 20
Lion
Snow began to fall from a clear sky.
It was the aftermath of Elric’s blizzard exploding.
The Purple Lion Corps that had been near the massive blast were already all down.
And at Elric’s feet lay Bel.
Even in that last split second he must have managed to defend somewhat; his life was barely hanging on.
But—
Huff— Huff—
The wound was far too deep; he didn’t look good.
Blood ran in streams through the diagonal gash that had torn his armor.
Step, step.
Elric walked up to him.
“D... damn...!”
Bel tried to push himself up, breathing raggedly.
But—
Crunch.
“Grrrk! You bastard...!”
Elric ground his boot down hard on one of Bel’s shoulders, pinning him.
Bel glared up at him with murder in his eyes, but Elric only spoke blandly.
“Surrender. I’ll let you keep your life.”
“Are you... mocking me!”
“Say whatever you want. So what’s it gonna be?”
His tone said he’d cut him down the moment he had to.
Truth be told, Elric could have finished Bel, but didn’t—for now his identity was concealed, and there was also his relationship with House Neresta.
He might have stormed out because he hated that house, but the man was still Neresta blood.
As someone allied with Neresta, Elric was extending a final courtesy.
Besides that, this guy was one of Kromhel’s right hands. Poking him rashly felt messy.
Whether Bel knew any of that or not—
He stared for a long time at the eyes visible beyond Elric’s ice mask.
The longer he did, the more pressure Elric’s boot put on him.
“...Why.”
“What?”
“Why... did you win?”
Bel couldn’t fathom it.
If the skill is the same—if it’s even close—then in close quarters a knight has the edge over a mage. That’s basic “common sense.”
Yet he’d lost.
And he was one of the Eight Lions.
It shouldn’t be possible.
Bel’s eyes wavered for the first time.
Is it all going the way my brother said?
Perhaps because he recalled what his brother Gai had once told him long ago, his face clouded.
Looking down at him, Elric could only let out a hollow laugh.
“Why? That’s strange to you? Where’s it written that mages have to crawl before knights?”
“Even so...!”
“Even if this weren’t here. Even in a different setting, you still wouldn’t beat me. Know why?”
Under the mask, Elric’s lips twisted.
“I’m better, and you’re not.”
“...!”
Bel trembled.
Those words.
They were exactly the same as what he’d just remembered Gai saying.
-You will never become family head here in Neresta, nor out there.
From his own brother,
Gai Neresta.
* * *
It was quite some time ago.
Back when Bel still bore the name Neresta.
The head of the house, Gai, spoke with a cold face.
-Start a household of your own?
-Yes. I want to open a house of my own.
Bel had grown up watching the backs of his great father and genius brother, and he dreamed of someday standing beside them as an equal.
So he often thought:
With my own hands, I’ll build a house of my own.
So I can be of help to my brother.
He laid out that grand ambition, but what came back was ice-cold.
-Don’t spout nonsense that’ll never happen. For you, it’s impossible.
Bel was shocked.
If it had been a plea to stay by their side, maybe—but to call it “nonsense”?
That was when it began.
Bel gritted his teeth and started to train.
He could never catch up to his brother—the greatest genius in their house’s history—in magic. So he chose the sword.
If others swung a blade 100 times, Bel swung it 110.
If others slept 5 hours, he slept 4 and trained.
So as not to disgrace the name Neresta. So that with the sword, no one could follow in his wake. Bel worked like a fiend.
And he wanted to hear it.
I was wrong back then.
You’re truly remarkable.
But—
-You will never become family head here in Neresta, or outside.
Those were the words Gai threw at him even as he strove like that.
He knew better than anyone how hard Bel worked, yet he said that.
It felt as if all his efforts had been denied.
At last Bel screamed.
-Why! Why can’t I! At least tell me why! Give me a reason!
-You...
He can’t even remember the words clearly anymore.
-You are ■■.
But after hearing them, Bel left the house for good.
Later, he discarded the name Neresta and took the surname Bahamut.
And before long he rose to the seat of the Eight Lions, as the greatest swordsman.
So he swore.
He would.
He would take revenge on the brother who denied him.
And furthermore, seize House Neresta with his own two hands.
“However...!”
Thump.
Bel glared at Elric with eyes sick with rage.
He overlapped with the image of Gai and his cold gaze.
“Why do you bastards spout the same damn line!”
Thump...!
His heart began to rampage.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
With each beat, black blood welled up from his gaping wounds.
“Why!!”
“Don’t move.”
Sensing Bel’s ominous aura, Elric pressed down all the harder.
“Don’t you order me!”
But Bel’s eyes had already flipped.
Qi deviation seized him, and he lost his reason.
Reverse Blood Grand Art.
A technique Inspectorate agents manifest in emergencies had activated.
“This guy’s a complete lunatic.”
Elric hadn’t imagined someone of Purple Lion rank would even throw away his life to charge him; he was more than a little taken aback.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Now his heartbeat was loud enough for Elric to hear.
Black energy began to ripple off his body.
Crack.
Bel clamped a fallen sword hilt in a white-knuckled grip.
The blade was completely shattered, but mana spewed from the pommel, rough and jagged, replacing it.
“I can... I can become it too...!”
Bel pushed to his feet and slashed upward.
Slice—
Elric took a step back and slipped past the attack.
At the same time—
“Freeze.”
A vicious blizzard howled forth and began to ice Bel over. From the slick ground, chains of ice shot up one after another and shackled his limbs tight.
Crack—
“This kind of trick... won’t wor—!”
White vapor poured from Bel’s mouth. Throwing the Reverse Blood Art’s strength against it, he tried to smash every last icy fetter—
Craaaack!
But the freezing outpaced his exertion, and soon his body was entombed completely in ice.
“Why... why!”
Words clinging with regret to the very end.
“Do you really not know?”
Step, step—
Elric stopped before the frozen statue that was Bel.
“That’s why you keep ending up like this.”
With those words, Elric rapped lightly around his chest.
Thunk!
Fwooo—
New damage layered atop the old; blood gushed like mad.
“...Gugh!”
Black blood poured from Bel’s mouth. His flipped eyes rolled back to normal.
The qi deviation was forcibly halted.
In that moment, only one thought remained in Bel’s head.
Crushing defeat.
Even with his last trump, he hadn’t so much as touched a hair on Elric’s head.
“One last warning. Surrender. Pull your men back. I’ll at least spare your life.”
Given Elric’s temperament, he was being very generous.
“...Just kill me.”
“What?”
“I said just kill me.”
He meant that even dying, he wouldn’t pull his troops.
Elric knit his brows at Bel’s stance, then changed his mind.
[No helping it.]
“So what will you do?”
[I’ll take him hostage and make them retreat.]
Mephisto’s face went flat.
“You still mean to keep him alive?”
[I told you. The guy’s a Neresta. And he’s tied to Kromhel. Why make a big mess for nothing?]
“Nothing’s more of a headache than human politics.”
[Tell me about it.]
Grumbling, Elric hefted the half-fainted Bel up and slung him over one shoulder.
Watching him—
Mephisto narrowed his eyes.
He really does keep getting better. Like that damn progenitor.
The union of holy power and demonic energy he’d used to blow Bel away was still vivid in Mephisto’s mind.
That wasn’t something just anyone could do.
Transmuting the repulsion between two powers of different origin into raw destructive force...? Even that Winter Sage brat hadn’t managed that level of control in his youth.
As Hül said, holy power and demonic energy are like water and oil.
Mixed wrong, they’d erupt in a massive explosion that would maim even the caster.
Yet the one who did it acted like it was nothing.
More Mervinger than Mervinger. If he really does get his power back... he’s bound to block my path in all sorts of ways.
It wasn’t something to worry about yet, but it was certainly something to think on.
In fact, Original Sin... is also regaining strength little by little.
Mephisto looked down at his hand, opening and closing it.
“All right, time to head ba—”
Just as Elric started to turn.
From behind—an edge-sharp presence as if to tear his back open.
...!
Elric’s spine snapped taut on pure instinct.
Danger!
“Watch it! Behind you!”
Hül surged up out of the shadow, taking on the form of a massive beast, and even Mephisto jerked his head that way with a hurried shout.
Where the three gazes met—
Someone was walking slowly toward them.
Step.
Step.
The surroundings were raucous with battle, but the path the man walked seemed untouched.
As if he existed in another world.
With each step, soldiers blanched and parted, and in his wake lingered a soft aureate afterglow.
“Elric....”
Mephisto called quietly. In that instant, Elric could only stare, eyes wide.
For the first time since meeting Mephisto, he was tense.
A tension he hadn’t shown even before Azazel.
“Who... is that man?”
The Mage Who Devoured Talent