Chapter 140: Come, Spring (5)
Chapter 140: Come, Spring (5)
From root to tip, Aselle’s hair was turning white. A chill akin to frost swirled around his small hands. Ronan’s eyes widened.
“What are you…?”
[Ahaha, such an exceptional vessel, it’s a first. A talent that only comes around once every thousand years.]
Aselle chuckled, covering his mouth. There was no hint of remorse in his laughter. The voice of an exhilarated woman flowed through his lips.
Something was gravely wrong, spiraling out of control. Ronan needed to figure out why this was happening. A few peculiar elements flashed through Ronan’s mind in a fleeting moment.
Evelin’s hair suddenly returned to brown, and Aselle’s hair was bleached as if to replace her. The eerie shift in attitude, almost hauntingly familiar. It didn’t take long for deduction.
‘Shit, is it a possession?’
It seemed the Winter Witch was a formless entity like Vijra, wandering without a physical form, seeking hosts. Having never experienced it in his past life, he was entirely unaware.
Understanding the situation, Ronan lunged at Aselle. Swoosh! He lifted Aselle up by the collar and growled fiercely.
“Why are you in there, Winter Witch?”
[Oh, getting rough all of a sudden? This isn’t bad either.]
Aselle smirked coquettishly. The white creeping into his hair had even begun to tint his eyelashes. Ronan’s grip tightened.
“Stop this bullshit and come out of this kid’s body.”
[Have you been deliberately pretending since earlier? It’s a bit sad if you keep feigning ignorance.]
“I don’t know you.”
[But how come your face seems to have gotten younger? I’m envious.]
Instead of answering, Aselle muttered incomprehensible words. It seemed like he was mistaking Ronan for someone else.
Even as Aselle’s throat must have been constricting, his expression remained unchanged. Slowly raising his hand, he gently stroked Ronan’s cheek while speaking.
[Stop pretending… and call me by name. You know my true name, don’t you?]
“You bitch.”
The tone was affectionate, as if speaking to a lover. A vein bulged on Ronan’s forehead, reaching his limit.
At the moment he was about to plunge his fist into Aselle’s solar plexus, a piercing scream echoed from behind.
“Arghhh!!”
“Damn it.”
It was too significant to ignore. Ronan reflexively turned his head. It was Itargand, writhing in agony after being hit directly by the ice spear.
Every time his body struck the wall or the floor, Rodolan trembled. From the ice spear lodged halfway into his chest, an unceasing cold emanated. It seemed he was unable to even consider pulling it out, likely due to the agony. Aselle furrowed his brow.
[Hmm… quite noisy. It’s disturbing our reunion after such a long time.]
Raising his arm, Aselle took aim at Itargand. In an instant, the gathered frost formed a massive magical circle in front of him. Ronan, lost in thought, cursed out.
“Stop this madness!”
Ronan hastily pushed Aselle’s arm aside. Simultaneously, an ice spear, similar to the one before, veered off course. Whoosh! The ice spear flew past Itargand’s neck and landed on the wall. Aselle tilted his head.
With a swift motion, Itargand deflected five crescent-shaped energy projectiles.
[Why are you interfering?]
“Are you asking because you don’t know? That kid is a member of the Navardose clan.”
[Aha, so he’s of noble bloodline. I’m sure if I kill him, it’ll be a hassle in many ways.]
Aselle lowered his arms. Fortunately, there seemed to be at least some reason left. Just as Ronan thought so, Aselle quietly pursed his lips and snapped his fingers.
[But, it doesn’t really matter.]
“What?”
Swoosh! The ice spear stuck in the wall became unlogged, then it rotated smoothly in the air, shooting toward Itargand once again.
“Damn it…!”
Ronan turned his body, swinging his sword. Whoosh! Five crescent shaped sword energies were unleashed as if to intercept the ice spear.
Yet, the ice spear deftly manipulated its trajectory, ultimately reaching its target. Manipulation this refined would be incomparable to the witch he had seen in his past life. It pierced Itargand’s side, emerging out through his flank.
“Arrrghhh!”
Itargand gasped for breath. The rampage ceased. Eyes fixed on the ice spear embedded in his side, he collapsed to the ground. Chuckling, Aselle muttered.
[If we combine the power of you and mine, not even the Mother of Fire can be our foe.]
“You crazy bitch…!”
Ronan gritted his teeth. He hadn’t expected things to escalate to this extent. Swinging his sword, he lashed out at Aselle’s neck.
[Ah!]
Luckily, this time, it worked. Aselle emitted a brief groan, losing consciousness. A dreadful silence settled in Judica. Elizabeth, who was left petrified, spoke up.
“Wh-what… what on earth just happened?”
“I don’t know. Seems like he has been possessed, and his body was taken over.”
“Po-possessed? By whom…?”
“The Winter Witch, who else?”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. Suddenly, Ronan noticed that the many people around weren’t visible.
“Where did everyone go?”
“The herd of sheep all ran away when Itargand started rampaging. Pathetic.”
“Well, it’s better that way.”
In this situation, their presence wouldn’t have helped anyway. Except for Elizabeth, though, that wasn’t entirely true. Karaka, who had been standing in a daze, finally spoke.
“This is… quite perplexing.”
Karaka seemed baffled, gazing at the mess that Judica had become. Evelin Droza still clung to him, her breath heavy.
“You’re still here, Karaka.”
“It’s my job to take care of the prisoners. But this…”
There was no soul in his fractured voice. Even an experienced interrogator like him was taken aback. He glanced fixedly at Aselle, who had now turned white.
Regrettably, there wasn’t enough time to explain how this chaos erupted. Ronan tapped his shoulder and said,
“Karaka, please get that kid to safety. Tell everyone to flee or prepare to defend themselves as much as possible. I have a bad feeling about this. Make sure nobody comes here.”
“What… What are you planning to do, Ronan?”
“I’ll try to salvage this situation as much as possible. Now, go.”
Ronan gestured for him to hurry. After a moment of contemplation, Karaka nodded. Holding Evelin in his arms, he left Judica.
Ronan sat the unconscious Aselle against the wall, assessing his condition, then turned to Elizabeth.
“You need to help me. Has your telekinesis improved in the past two years?”
“Well, to some extent… What do you need?”
“That bastard must not die.”
Pointing at Itargand, Ronan spoke. The fallen figure was convulsing. Left unchecked, he seemed likely to perish within minutes, gasping for breath.
‘What a pain in the ass. Of course, it had to happen today…’
If Itargand died here, it could lead to discord between Adren, the city of dragons, and the Empire. The radical dragons might even use his death as an excuse to call for war.
The friction between the continent’s two most powerful forces was far from pleasant. Especially with only a few years left until the end of the world.
Grabbing Elizabeth’s hesitant wrist, Ronan strode purposefully toward Itargand. He was dying in a peculiar form, neither human nor dragon. His wounds were completely frozen, with no blood flowing.
“Good grief, you idiot, won’t you be embarrassed to face your mother like this?”
“Urgh… Human…”
Ronan sighed deeply. This was the cruelty of the Winter Witch. Injuries inflicted by her ice were incredibly challenging to treat.
If the spears weren’t removed, the cold would entirely consume him. Pulling them out now would cause his frozen organs to burst. The emergency potion was available, but its quantity was inadequate for his size.
As Ronan pondered for a solution, a thought flickered in his eyes.
‘Wait, did I use that?’
There seemed to be a particular item suitable for this situation. Come to think of it, he had no memory of it after receiving it. Rifling through his inner pocket, Ronan pulled something out.
“…There it is.”
A small, shimmering white bead lay on the palm of his hand. It was the Everlasting Snowflake Pearl, found only at the northernmost tip of the continent.
A supreme medicine that has the property of increasing mana and cold resistance, gifted to him by Adeshan two years ago.
‘What a shame.’
Ronan pursed his lips. Its monetary value was secondary; he simply didn’t want to use it on others. But without it, there was no immediate way to rectify the situation.
For the greater good. Reminding himself of this, Ronan spoke up.
“Listen carefully, Itargand. If I leave you like this, you’ll soon perish.”
“Wh-What…”
“The witch’s ice will freeze your heart. Resistance is futile. Being a dragon won’t help you ward it off. Eventually, your entire body will turn to ice and crumble.”
Ronan stated matter-of-factly. There was no exaggeration in his description, based on what he had witnessed in a past life. Itargand’s expression contorted. A faint, subdued murmur escaped through his clenched teeth.
“I-I don’t want to… die.”
“Good. Then do as I say. This girl who looks like a rich cat is going to pull the ice spear out of your body. Then you must immediately transform into a human. It may hurt so much that you’ll want to die, but it’s the chance for you to live.”
Saying this, Ronan halved the Everlasting Snowflake Pearl and pushed one half into Itargand’s mouth.
Gulp. Itargand swallowed the pearl. Before long, his frozen wounds began to thaw, and blood started trickling out. Itargand groaned in agony.
“Kuek… Arrghhh…!”
“Oh no, it’s getting worse?”
“The pearl is expelling the cold from his body. Let’s do it quickly.”
Ronan gestured to Elizabeth. She closed her eyes tightly, manifesting her telekinesis. With a loud crack, the ice spears embedded in Itargand’s body were uprooted, and red blood sprayed like a storm.
“Aaargh!”
“Transform!”
Ronan shouted again at the struggling Itargand. As he roared, his body was engulfed in a peculiar glow. Before long, Itargand turned into a blonde-haired young man and collapsed to the floor.
“Ugh! Grrr!”
Hastening over, Ronan supported Itargand. Blood gushed from his four wounds.
His body had shrunk so it was worth a try. He administered an emergency potion onto Itargand’s wound. Sizzle! Along with a sound akin to water evaporating, the wounds began to heal. Seeing the bleeding stop, Ronan smirked.
“Damn it. Had enough?”
“Hnn… Huuuh… You… who the hell are you…”
Itargand looked at Ronan. In his eyes, once filled with anger and envy from beyond the brink of death, now there was only fatigue. After staring at Ronan for a while, he dropped his head.
“Ugh…”
“Fine. Stop being noisy and get some rest.”
Fortunately, he did not die, but passed out from exhaustion. This staved off the possibility of war between the dragons and humans. It was a moment of relief for Ronan. A voice came from behind.
[…Who are you?]
“Shit.”
It was the witch’s voice. Ronan didn’t notice when she regained consciousness, but that wasn’t the important right now.
Ronan hurriedly split the remaining Everlasting Pearl in half again. He consumed one half, and shoved the other half into Elizabeth’s mouth.
“Ronan-nim?”
“Swallow it.”
“Ugh…! Kuek! Kguh!”
Elizabeth, who had unexpectedly swallowed the pearl, coughed. Ronan turned his head. Aselle, who had regained consciousness, was standing with his back facing them.
“Why are you doing this?”
Ronan furrowed his brow. A mirror-like ice wall rose before Aselle. He muttered in disbelief, looking at Ronan reflected in the ice.
[You’re not him. Why…]
There was an unmistakable tone of disappointment in his voice. Finally, it seemed Ronan had realized that he wasn’t the person Aselle was seeking. Ronan shook his head as if he was fed up.
“Damn it, you just figured that out now?”
[This is impossible. You look so much like…! What is the name of your father?]
“I don’t know either. But let me ask you. Is the person you’re looking for the leader of Nebula Clazier?”
[Ah… Ahh…!]
Aselle didn’t respond. His expression, filled with despair, began to whimper, and he started touching his face with both hands.
[And this child… is not a girl.]
“What? Didn’t you know?”
[That’s ridiculous. Such a beautiful appearance… and such soft skin…!]
“…Well, it’s confusing, to be fair.”
Ronan nodded. Until he’d seen with his own eyes, even he hadn’t believed that Aselle was a boy. He had heard that the number of male students whose hearts were destroyed after confessing to that dwarf without knowing, was in the double digits.
[Everything’s gone wrong… How did I escape from Lorehon’s prison… My plan to reunite with that child in a beautiful vessel… All of it…]
Aselle’s condition was deteriorating rapidly. His rambling seemed more than just shock-induced. Ronan sighed deeply.
“…Well, you don’t plan on answering, do you?”
As expected, there was no reply. With a normal conversation having become impossible, the inevitable had to be done.
Ronan pulled the hilts of both of his swords at the same time. Swoosh! Lamancha’s pure black blade revealed itself. And as Ymir was drawn, it scattered sparkling mana.
Ymir was not unsheathed, since Ronan wanted to subdue Aselle without harming him. Ronan growled softly, aiming Lamancha at Aselle.
“Now then, get out of my friend’s body. Ignorant hag.”
Ronan charged, lunging forward. Elizabeth chanted an incantation. A chilling voice emanated from Aselle’s parted lips.
[I hate it… everything.]
Just as Ymir’s sheath was about to strike him on the head, Aselle raised his head and flicked his fingers. Boom! The walls of Judica exploded and seawater gushed in.