Chapter 61
"After experiencing the Node at White Raven Gorge last time, I did some research. Nodes have a starting point..."
She briefly explained what she had read in the book, just like she did with Baraha. Yuriene listened to her, his eyes lowered. Even after she finished her explanation, he remained silent for a while.
"Lord?"
"...I see. That starting point must be inside there. It's a hypothesis worth testing."
He answered slowly, then turned and headed straight into the shelter. Eki followed him.
[Why is he so angry?]
The Demon Sword muttered, sounding puzzled. She didn't know. She felt strange. She was surprised that he was angry, and she felt sorry, wondering if he was worried about her being hurt, and she was also puzzled as to why he was so angry.
She stared at Yuriene's back as he broke down the door of the shelter and asked, "Lord, are you angry with me?"
She wanted to know why he was angry. At her question, his back stiffened. He didn't turn to look at her, but remained still for a moment, then answered in a low voice.
"I am not angry with you. ...I'm sorry."
It was an unexpected apology. He didn't give her a chance to ask more questions and completely removed the door, entering inside. Inside the shelter, in the corner where Shaiya had been huddled, there was definitely a flaw.
"Is that it?"
"Yes, probably."
At Eki's answer, Yuriene raised Rangiosa. Watching him point Rangiosa at the starting point, she had a strange, ominous feeling. It was too easy. Could a Node be escaped so easily?
Suddenly, she wanted to stop Yuriene. But Rangiosa was already piercing the starting point. The white blade pierced the flaw in the air. At the same time, the entire space vibrated.
Eki felt a chill. A similar intuition to when she first pierced the starting point at the Node in White Raven Gorge, when all the Monsters howled and stared at her.
Instinctively, she reached out to Yuriene. As Eki pulled on his arm, Yuriene also sensed something and stepped back.
Where he had stepped back, a pillar crashed down, piercing the roof with a bang.
Eki and Yuriene didn't even have time to talk to each other before running out of the shelter. As soon as they left, the huge pillar swung around, completely smashing the shelter.
Outside was a sea of fire. All the flaming leaves had fallen, revealing the sky. Wherever there was oil, bright red flames licked the air. There was not much ground to stand on. Acrid, stuffy air filled the surroundings.
Eki turned her head to identify what had smashed the shelter.
"Oh my god."
[It's incredibly huge. Is that the boss?]
One arm was as big as a tree trunk, belonging to a giant of enormous size. Its body was not made of mud, but of a material similar to black iron, like the surrounding trees.
The black giant, who had completely destroyed the shelter, turned its head and looked down at him and her. The hollow eye sockets were eerie.
The giant held a huge rope lasso in its other hand. It lashed out the lasso at them like a whip.
Before Eki could react, Yuriene wrapped his arm around her waist and leaped back. Where they had been standing, a rope as thick as a human torso struck, the ground cracked, and sparks flew.
Yuriene put her down as soon as they landed.
"Ekinesia, I'll leave that side to you."
Yuriene quickly looked around and pointed to one side. Eki turned to look where he was pointing. Dozens of mud giants were swarming through the flames. The giants seemed to be targeting Yuriene, who had touched the starting point, but there was a place where injured villagers were lying on the way.
"There are not many with people inside. If you injure them and they bleed, there are people inside, so be careful. There are about ten residents in total, and I rescued four of them."
He explained quickly, as if he had finished identifying them while rescuing the residents earlier. Eki reflexively nodded and gripped Amethyst.
Yuriene smiled faintly at the sight, then took Rangiosa and moved away from her. The black giant aimed at him and threw a punch. He dodged it with a clean movement and infused Mana into Rangiosa.
Having seen that much, Eki drew Amethyst and ran towards the approaching mud giants. Resolving the situation was the priority before questioning what had happened.
Flames were everywhere, and if she wasn't careful, the hem of her voluminous dress would catch fire. She grabbed the hem of her dress with her left hand and dashed through the rising flames.
As soon as she reached the first giant, she slashed its waist moderately. No blood came out. She avoided the fist coming down towards her head and confirmed it.
She immediately spun around and slashed again. This time, she slashed deeper, diagonally, to pierce its solar plexus. She felt something hard like a stone catch on the blade and shatter. It was the core that most regenerative Monsters commonly possessed.
Eki moved one step to avoid the collapsing mud giant. As Yuriene had said, there was no one inside.
'Well, there are more giants than residents. There must be more Monsters than Monsters transformed from people.'
Yuriene had told her how to distinguish them, so there was nothing to hesitate about. Eki's eyes changed. She began to wield her sword, darting through the flames as if flying. Inevitably, sparks flew and repeatedly caught and extinguished on the hem of her dress.
[I'm bored. I want to fight too. Me too!]
Before cutting a giant, she always made a shallow cut in its waist. This time, blood flowed. Eki stepped on the giant's thigh, jumped up, stepped on its shoulder, and fell backward. As she fell, she slashed down its spine.
[Tch, I wish Amethyst or whatever would just break. Break! Break!]
Amethyst was sturdy and sharp.
The nape of a person's neck was briefly visible through the cracked mud. She grabbed the nape of the neck with her left hand, the one not holding the sword, and forcefully pulled the human out. Mud spurted out like a fountain.
[Annoying, just kill them. Doesn't your hand hurt?]
She threw the pulled-out human towards the other residents. The burn on her crushed left hand was severely stinging, but she could tolerate that much pain. Avoiding the collapsing giant after pulling out the human, she rushed towards the next giant.
[I don't know why you're making things so difficult. If you just killed them pretending it was a mistake, you could relieve your bloodlust and it would be great! Master, won't you use me? I only killed one before, but I haven't relieved my bloodlust enough yet!]
Sweat dripped as she cut down the giants through the heat-filled flames. Eki roughly wiped the sweat running down her chin with the back of her hand and glanced at her condition.
Normally, she would have been covered in burns, but thanks to subtly using Mana to protect her skin, only her clothes were singed here and there.
Her makeup probably hadn't smudged, so her face should be fine. She would have to secretly check in the mirror before returning to Yuriene. Thinking that, she quietly snapped.
"Shut up, Bal."
[I'm bored to death, and you're telling me not to talk?]
"I'm busy, so please..."
Before she could finish speaking, Eki jumped up from her spot. The lasso that the giants were holding grazed the spot where she had been and swung around. The flames that had been everywhere transferred, turning the lasso into a burning rope. Eki climbed onto the giant's shoulder as it was.
"Just be quiet."
[What's so busy about this? Maybe if it was hundreds of regenerative Monsters without cores.]
"There are people mixed in, and I can't use Sword Energy. Yuriene is over there."
While on its shoulder, she swung her sword downwards. She confirmed that no blood came out and jumped down, cutting the giant in half. Mud poured out like water.
[Who cares. Ugh, I'm bored.]
She grabbed another giant and threw out the person inside. The dozens of giants were quickly decreasing.
Once they had decreased that much, the giants seemed to recognize her as an enemy and rushed at her first. It was easier than grabbing and cutting down the ones trying to pass her. She just had to deal with them as they rushed at her.
Having some leeway, Eki glanced over the flames. Yuriene was fighting the black giant.
The giant was so huge that Yuriene looked like he was only the size of its palm. With that much difference in size, it would be difficult to inflict effective damage even for a Master, but every time the white blade flashed, long wounds appeared on the giant's body.
This was thanks to Rangiosa amplifying the Mana and the Sword Energy that Yuriene was drawing out growing to the size of a greatsword.
Yuriene was the one pushing it back. Faster than the giant, he dealt with it effortlessly. The problem was that the black giant's wounds healed immediately. He had to find the core, but it didn't seem easy.
Just like Eki's sensing range had narrowed earlier, the flow of Mana was not easily sensed from this giant. It seemed to be because of the material, which was like a tree trunk. He would probably have to stab the entire body one by one to find the core.
In fact, Yuriene was evenly cutting the giant's body. Of course, Eki, who had the ability of the Demon Sword, immediately knew where the core was. She wanted to tell him, but she wouldn't have a good answer if he asked how she knew.
[Hey, behind you, behind you!]
"I know."
Eki turned her body and swung her sword as it was. The sword accurately blew away both arms of the giant that was trying to strike her.
Inflict a wound, check for blood, and if no blood comes out, pierce its solar plexus. The repetitive work was done quickly. She thought about the Node as she swung her sword.
'Thinking about the last time at White Raven Gorge and just now... it seems like I have to clean up the inside of the Node completely before touching the starting point.'
She would have to learn more about Nodes when she got out of here. As long as she or Yuriene were trying to change the present, unlike the erased time, they would definitely encounter Nodes again.
'I went through all that trouble to turn back time, and now a Node appears whenever I try to change something.'
She felt a surge of annoyance, and her sword became rougher. A giant that was unlucky enough to get caught fell, almost completely dismembered.
Avoiding the lumps of mud, Eki felt a sudden question as she headed towards the next one.
If Nodes occur simply as a reaction of Lakiageosa to Kairos Giosa when a big change is about to happen, then why didn't a Node occur when the massacre that was supposed to happen didn't happen? Like the massacres she committed as the Demon of the Demon Sword, such as the Roaz mansion massacre.
'Is there some kind of rule, or is Lakiageosa acting arbitrarily?'
Considering that Kairos Giosa, the same Divine Sword, had a self, it was possible that Lakiageosa, who had a self, was moving as she pleased.
Either way, it was a problem to consider. If it was possible to predict whether a Node would occur or not when doing something different from the past, they could prepare in advance.
Somehow, it didn't seem like things would go that easily.
'I'll have to investigate when I get out of here. Nicole is a mage, so she might know something.'
As she leisurely cut down the few remaining giants, Eki turned around for a moment to check on Yuriene's condition. The moment she turned around, her pupils dilated.
Beyond the flames flickering like a snake's tongue, she saw blood splattering. All the scenes entered her eyes very slowly. The black giant's hand being swung down, the red blood splattering along the trajectory of that hand, the owner of that blood was.
