Raising Villains the Right Way
Chapter 477 : Astarote (8)
Fildagreen, the royal castle located within the elves’ land of Fildagreen.
As always, Rine was absorbed in reading through her library there.
And at some point.
Opening the eyes she had closed, she spoke.
“It’s been a while.”
Tap—
The sight of Rine speaking despite no one being inside the room looked strange, but immediately afterward—
“My, you knew?”
“Of course.”
“How?”
“Hmm….A feeling, perhaps?”
Before she knew it, Yutia had appeared before her.
Yutia looked at Rine as though surprised.
“I heard you were over on the Empire’s side, Yutia.”
“Mm, that’s right.”
“......Don’t you think the timing is a little tight for coming all the way here?”
“Hmm—perhaps it is?”
Yutia answered casually.
At that, Rine looked at her with a subtle expression and continued speaking.
“You’re not even trying to hide your power anymore?”
At those words layered with many meanings, Yutia silently looked at Rine before forming a faint smile.
“There’s no need to.”
“Not knowing would be one thing, but you already know, don’t you?”
Rine’s expression grew even stranger.
Naturally so, because Rine had never once told Yutia about the changes she had undergone.
After wearing that strange expression for a while, Rine eventually let out a sigh.
“To be honest, I expected you would know to some extent.”
“I knew as well. You’re smart, after all, and your ability is what it is.”
“.....”
“I thought you would be the first to realize.”
Yutia quietly added those last words almost like a whisper.
Naturally moving her body, Rine walked toward the table where Yutia sat.
Taking the seat across from her, Rine poured tea into Yutia’s teacup.
Yutia silently drank the tea Rine poured for her.
A brief silence flowed between the two.
While quietly staring at Yutia, Rine parted her lips.
“Will it really be alright?”
“What part?”
“The divine-blood that Godfather and Seolrang went to deal with this time.”
“Hmm—”
Yutia lightly tapped the table with her pale fingers.
However.
“To be honest, I’m not sure.”
“You’re not sure?”
“Well, this isn’t something I’ve ‘experienced’ before. There’s only so much I can do. But honestly, I don’t think there’s much reason to worry.”
“Mm.”
“Because Seolrang is there?”
Yutia nodded without looking particularly concerned, and confusion surfaced within Rine.
“Seolrang’s condition didn’t seem all that good, even if we’re being generous.”
“Hmm—that’s true.”
“Isn’t it possible that some unforeseen variable could appear?”
“If you think about it that way, then perhaps. But—”
Yutia paused briefly before continuing with the same gentle smile.
“Probably not.”
“Mm.”
“You mean there won’t be any variables at all?......Why?”
Rine was puzzled.
Yutia let out a soft “Hmm~” and looked at Rine.
A slightly amused smile formed at the corners of Yutia’s lips, as though she had perfectly grasped Rine’s current state.
“Rine.”
“Yes.”
“Do you happen to know what generation Seolrang belongs to?”
“Mm.”
“By generation, do you mean regarding the essence of the Golden-Maned Tribe?”
“As far as I know, if you count properly, Seolrang is the 27th.”
At Rine’s answer, Yutia smiled mysteriously.
“You’re wrong, Rine.”
“I’m wrong?”
“Mm. She’s the 28th.”
At that answer, Rine’s eyes widened slightly.
“......The 28th?”
“Mm.”
“That can’t be right. She’s the 27th. Including her, there have only been 27 users throughout history.”
Even as she said those words, Rine recalculated once more in her head, but the result did not change.
Seolrang was the 27th user of the essence.
That was why Rine looked at Yutia in incomprehension.
And yet.
“Even so, she’s the 28th. That fact doesn’t change.”
Yutia merely repeated the same words with an amused expression.
In the end, Rine blankly thought to herself for a while before—
“·!”
—suddenly realizing something and showing a shocked expression.
And before she could say anything about it—
“Besides—”
“Even if my prediction ends up being wrong, you’re not planning to just sit still anyway, are you?”
“I imagine the others are the same.”
Yutia’s voice echoed first.
At those words, Rine fell silent.
And at that silence, Yutia smiled.
“Of course, I trust Him.”
Quietly murmuring those words, she merely sipped her tea.
***
All the divine-bloods fell silent.
No, more precisely, it was a scene that forced them into silence.
The strike Seolrang had shown just moments ago was powerful enough to leave everyone present in shock.
However, the reason the divine-bloods were even more astonished than that—was Seolrang’s attitude.
Despite unleashing such an absurd attack, Seolrang’s expression remained perfectly calm.
A composed face as though she had merely done something natural.
That expression overwhelmed the divine-bloods.
[What is this—]
Even Descender was momentarily overwhelmed by that composure.
But only for a moment.
Creak—
The fact that he had felt such emotions cracked his pride, and he tightly clenched his fist.
Soon after, he moved.
However, the place he charged toward was not Seolrang—
[!!]
[He’s coming—!]
—but where the divine-bloods had gathered.
In order to absorb the divine-bloods.
Of course, Descender had not truly fought Seolrang yet.
But even so, he had already realized it.
That if he fought Seolrang now, nothing good would come of it.
Thus, even though it wounded his pride, Descender prioritized practicality first, intending to absorb more divine-bloods and raise himself to Seolrang’s level instead of fighting her.
No.
He had intended to.
If only Seolrang had not appeared before him.
[!]
A horrifying sensation engulfed Descender’s entire body.
She had done nothing.
She had merely appeared before him and leisurely prepared her attack as before.
And yet, Descender felt an enormous threat.
Because Seolrang had appeared so suddenly that even he failed to perceive it.
There was only one meaning behind that.
That her strength had far surpassed Descender’s own.
Nothing else could explain this situation.
And so, while letting out a sigh, Descender—
[?]
—suddenly felt confusion.
She had clearly become strong enough to overwhelm him.
A mere tool was wielding power that should have been impossible for such an existence.
Yet strangely enough, the very Seolrang using that power looked unbearably awkward.
[!]
Descender realized it.
That the tool still struggled to control her own power.
And the moment he realized that, Descender immediately charged at Seolrang.
If that was truly the case, then killing her before she adapted was the correct choice.
KWA-A-A-A-!
Descender instantly closed in on Seolrang and threw his fist without hesitation.
A fist carrying enough destructive force to call even divine-bloods ‘mere beings.’
That strike shot forward at a speed faster than sound itself.
Yet Seolrang effortlessly avoided it.
As though Descender’s fist was perfectly visible to her eyes.
KWAJIJIJIK!
The futilely deflected strike split the ground apart.
However, within that, Descender instead saw a faint opportunity for victory.
If she had truly grown accustomed to wielding that power, she should have counterattacked immediately.
Yet Seolrang failed to do so.
That tiny clue added logic to Descender’s deduction while simultaneously—
‘I have to kill her now!’
—giving him courage.
And yet.
Despite Descender burning with determination and unleashing attacks like a madman, Seolrang continued only to evade without retaliating.
A completely one-sided assault.
However, what Seolrang felt amidst that situation was not impatience or anxiety.
‘......Why?’
It was confusion.
To Seolrang, Descender’s fists appeared slow.
Fists aimed solely at killing her.
And not just one.
Dozens, hundreds of fists born behind him surged toward her at this very moment in an attempt to kill her.
And still, confusion filled Seolrang’s mind.
It was not because of the newly obtained power.
Rather, Seolrang had already vaguely understood this power.
That it contained overwhelming might capable of destroying even her own body if used recklessly.
….And that she had obtained this power by offering up her lightning.
What made Seolrang feel confused was a strange memory.
The power Alon granted her should have been impossible for her to use naturally.
It was an absurd level of power capable of destroying herself if wielded unknowingly.
And yet strangely, she was somehow using it, awkwardly though it might be.
It was not due to Seolrang’s natural talent or her instinctive sense for using her body.
A power capable of leading her to ruin.
The reason she could wield this power—was because of memories.
Yes.
Memories.
For some reason, among the memories of the previous users of the Golden-Maned Tribe’s essence, there were memories of wielding this power.
Not merely something similar.
But memories of someone wielding the exact same power perfectly.
Even while feeling deep confusion, Seolrang looked ahead.
Descender continued his assault, desperately trying to kill her somehow.
At that, Seolrang instinctively assumed a stance.
And as though it were the most natural thing in the world, the memories of the previous user who had wielded this power naturally guided her posture.
“Rangchangrangchang—”
Her open left hand aimed toward Descender.
Both feet supported the ground.
Her gaze locked onto him.
It was such a bizarre stance that no one would believe it was meant for throwing a punch.
And yet Seolrang felt no doubt.
Because the posture she had taken was the stance designed by the previous user to use this power while placing the least burden on the body after obtaining it.
And then.
“Chonggyeong—”
The moment Descender’s body approached, Seolrang clenched her fist and thrust it forward slightly.
—KWA-A-A-A-A-A-A!
The sky split apart.
The black storm clouds parted like the Red Sea.
Sunlight that had not yet fully set poured through the opening.
And that sunlight shone down upon Descender’s body.
Upon the body whose upper half had vanished as though it had never existed to begin with, leaving only the lower half behind.
And only then—after the deafening roar that seemed capable of swallowing heaven and earth erupted and tore through everyone’s ears—the awe within that thunderous sound surged toward Seolrang.
However.
Seolrang paid none of it any attention.
No.
More accurately, she could not pay attention.
Because she was seeing memories.
This was something that had happened to Seolrang from time to time.
Whenever she learned the techniques of previous users one by one, and whenever she delved even deeper into those techniques, the memories of the users would become clearer and clearer as they were inherited.
This time was no different.
Seolrang had used the technique, and inherited the memory.
But why?
Why was it that within the inherited memory—
‘You finally succeeded! I knew you could do it! You really are a genius!’
—she could see Master’s figure?
‘See! I told you! I knew you could do it! Wasn’t it worth refusing to give up?’
With a radiant smile filled with genuine joy upon his face.
‘Seolrang!’
Why was he calling her name?
“......Ah.”
Blankly inheriting the memory, Seolrang let out a soft gasp.
A small gasp of realization.
If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.
ReportUse arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter
Loading comments…