BXBX NOVEL Chapter 256: Return (4)
Chapter 256: Return (4)
Tsk-."Do you see it?"
"Yes. Elder."
"Ideals are like stars. You can\'t grasp them, but they become the compass of the night sky, telling you the way to go."
And.
"The final destination of fate reached at its end is not always good. Hanging on a cliff, the moment you pluck the flower blooming there, all that\'s left is to fall."
"Your words are wise. Then... shall we strike the left flank now?"
Hoho-.
Hearing his straightforward words, Corleone let out a chuckle and stroked his beard."Let\'s wait. At least letting them meet their deaths on this battlefield is the minimum and last courtesy I can offer."
"Understood."
The sky that was clear and blue is now clouded, casting a huge shadow on the earth that was once filled with sunlight.
As if even the sun is offering a final consideration.
Caw--!
Even the battlefield\'s cleaners are already wandering in the air before the fight has ended.
Flinch-.
"......"
But Corleone felt a momentary doubt as the flock of crows wandering the sky was too numerous to be considered as such.
Even if they flew here following the smell of blood from the army to feast on corpses.
So why are so many crows wandering the sky in this vast empty field where there\'s not even a place to land?
"E-Elder......"
Soon, as if resolving that question, he turned his head following the retainer calling him and pointing somewhere, and he could clearly see.
Captured in his aged eyes that have progressed far in deterioration-- hundreds and thousands of the dead filling the horizon beyond.
Yes, the flock of crows was not drawn by the smell of blood from the army......
They had arrived at this battlefield, drawn by the scent of death emanating from them.
In the distance,
A single man led the army of the dead.
No matter how far he was,
That dignity.
That appearance.
That poise.
How could Alfred forget?
"Heh...... Hahaha!"
Even death could not stop their loyalty.
No--!
Eyes wide open, Corleone tightly clenched his fists with both hands.
That mortal beings cannot escape death is already proven by the long history since the beginning of time!
So the fact that a man named Ferzen met his death on the battlefield was merely a deception.
The clear purpose was solely to lay a trap at this moment to root out those who were raising a revolt against the imperial family.
"Elder......"
"Kuh-heh-heh...!"
Corleone was quite shocked to the point of his head aching, but rather, his mood had reached its peak.
"Has the imperial family, who were nothing but a day-old puppy, finally grown to at least the level of a tiger cub?"
Even if they win the war, the power of the imperial family can only weaken compared to before.
Because that\'s the structure of war itself.
Even if the Empire of Elmark provided the cause, it was the Empire of Ernes that first declared war.
That difference is not small.
But through this trap, they can greatly undermine the power of the noble faction, so how far-sighted of a plan is this?
If he had hastily given the order to tear apart the left flank of his own forces.
He would have become an undeniable traitor and could not have avoided execution.
But since that was not the case, Corleone gladly decided to step onto their stage at this moment.
"Now. Let us go. The target of the charge is the center of the Elmark Imperial Army."
Shedding the most blood.
Paying the greatest sacrifice.
"Bring me the most precious glory."
"Yes--!"
Soon, the army led by Corleone Wayne Barreta Alfred began their advance.
*****Block them--!
As the army of that old snake charged towards them, Gremory laughed and turned her back.
On this battlefield, the first person who noticed Ferzen’s appearance was none other than her.
I’ve seen you die with my own eyes…
How could a human who died and fell unto the Underworld return to the world of living?
Gremory shook her dead, banishing those questions.
The only thing that mattered was the result before her eyes.
Yes.
Those who spit and mocked the World’s laws deserved the highest praise.
But what do you intend to do with those rotten, unsightly corpses?
With a faint sneer.
Gremory, the strongest Auror Knight who ever lived, a monster in human flesh, took a step forward.
*****Why does the realization of his Return feel so unreal?
As if he was walking on a dark street, while the whole world slept.
Lizzy clearly said that his time limit to exist as a human was one month.
Has that time already passed?
No...
Come to think of it, the place he wanted to return to was not the land called the Ernes Empire.
The place Ferzen wished to return was the land beyond the two armies.
Where she was waiting for him.
Where they waited for him.
Therefore, Ferzen gently stroked his altar and took a step forward.
Boom!
Soon, the gate of the underworld opening behind him connects to the 4th level, just before the deepest level.
And what descends from there is not a monstrosity in the form of a living creature, but "earth" itself.
"Ugh...! Aaaagh!"
Yes, the ground he was trampling on rapidly expanded its territory centered around the gate of the underworld, turning the earth into writhing flesh.
It made the legs of the Elmark Imperial soldiers standing on it take root, twisting their bodies.
Their bodies were twisted in an instant, spewing out their guts, organs, muscles, and blood.
Their bones remained rooted in the ground, growing into horrific trees.
Indeed, the land where tens of thousands of troops stood on……
Slowly turned into a bony forest.
At the center of such a ghastly sight, stood Gremory, with her remaining left foot on the fleshy ground, swallowed up.
The momentum of her previous charge at Ferzen was rendered useless.
Unlike the abominations on the Third Floor, when a monstrosity belonging to the Fourth Floor appeared, Its mana consumption was so great, that all the thing could do was prolong its life by consuming the ambient mana.
Naturally, the monstrosity lacked the concept of ‘mercy’, thus it consumed everything in its path.
Noticing the absurd quantities of mana, flowing inside Gremory’s body, the bony trees all twisted their barks and clung to her.
The writing branches slowly grafted onto her skin.
In some sense, this could be called a parasite.
But in truth, it was a perfect grafting.
Naturally, Gremory\'s mana began to be consumed even more steeply...
Crack!
Snap!
In the end, as the resistance weakened following the fading mana, her slender waist twisted and her spine crumbled.
Not ending there, the crimson blood flowing from her torn skin beautifully dyed her clothes.
"Kuh...... Kuh-heh...!"
In her 27 years of life,
Had she ever been this powerless?
The wide open gates of the Underworld served as undeniable proof that Ferzen had advanced to the next level of existence.
Back then, Ferzen crumbled against her and was banished to the Underworld.
Yet, given his return, what kind of experiences would he share with her?
Even as she stood on the verge of death, such frivolous thoughts bounced in her mind.
Step.
Ferzen simply walked past her, as if her existence didn’t matter at all.
Those crimson eyes could only see the people who were waiting for him beyond this hellish landscape.
Gremory tried to struggle, squeezing all her remaining strength, but…
In the end,
She gave up.
Originally, humans looked up at the summit of the mountain they wanted to climb.
But the peak of the mountain does not look down on such humans.
Yes, that is the principle.
Ah...
It\'s not bad.
Rather than standing at the summit where there\'s nowhere higher to climb and ending life in boredom...
It would be much better to close your eyes while looking up at the summit of the mountain you couldn\'t climb.
Squelch--!
As the bones grew inside Gremory\'s brutally twisted body turned into branches.
The woman named Gremory Elden Ishtar Elmark became the largest tree in the world.
54,221.
In terms of people, that was the number of Elmark Imperial soldiers gathered here.
It was also the number of trees settled on this vast plain.
Step.
And so, Ferzen, who had broken through all that path, took a short deep breath a few steps away.
His heart was pounding unstably.
He couldn’t know if this was caused by excitement or tension,
But it was the irrefutable truth that at this very moment, the being standing here was a Human man named Ferzen.
Tap.
Soon, lightly tapping the floor with the toe of his shoe, the 54,221 bony trees all bloomed flowers at once.
What bloomed in profusion was a fresh fragrance.
What blossomed in full were beautiful cherry blossoms with pink petals.
Step.
Step...
15 steps.
By the end of those steps, he could see Prince Raymond, with a face full of tears.
Once he approached him, Ferzen knelt and bowed his head.
"Ferzen Von Schweig Louerg…I have returned from my long voyage, Your Highness.”
The cherry blossoms fluttering in the wind, falling like rain, briefly obscured the view.
And even after that rain has stopped, the fact that Ferzen is in front of him must be proof that this moment is by no means a dream.
All that lives, must one day…die.
At the same time, everything that lives fears that moment.
So, witnessing this impossibility, this defiance of the world order, Prince Raymond smiled brightly as his tears continued to fall, as he uttered the only words that came to mind.
“Welcome back…Count.”
Of course, he wasn\'t the only one welcoming him.
Even though she was stepping on the fallen cherry blossom petals, the sound of footsteps did not die.
In this moment of reunion, Yuriel, shedding her surging emotions like the blooming cherry blossoms, ran over and hugged Ferzen tightly.
"Hic... sob!"
The slender hands fumbling, caressing his face and body, were pitiful.
Her husband, alive and well…Stood before her eyes.
However, she continued to touch him,
Dozens,
Hundreds of times,
Just to confirm this fact.
But when a familiar large hand stroked her hair, Yuriel fully entrusted her trembling body to his embrace, saying…
“Welcome back….”
Just when Ferzen was about to answer her…
Squeeze.
Before he knew it, Laura, who had come to his side, silently interlocked her left hand with his, and he smiled wryly.
Click, Clack-.
Furthermore, one more person appeared,
She could be either said to be close,
Or far from him.
Standing directly four steps away, Princess Elizabeth tucked her platinum blond hair behind her ears and looked at him.
……Truthfully, Ferzen was well aware of her feelings.
But sadly, that would never come to pass.
Elizabeth knew it was greedy to pour her feelings onto Ferzen.
Ferzen also knew it was greedy to accept her feelings.
So the two were careful with each other, but maybe it was okay to be a little loose just for this moment of reunion.
"I... kept my promise."
Winter passes, and spring approaches.
She had once asked for him to still be with her during that time.
Ferzen smiled faintly at her while saying the promise wasn’t broken.
Then, Elizabeth, still standing four steps away from him, clenched her first for a moment, before slowly relaxing, smiling together with him.
"Yes... Welcome back. Ferzen."
She called his name, not his title.
Even if it was a small, and childish greed, she wanted to utter such a name just once.
Only then, Ferzen finally felt like he had returned home, as he raised his head and looked at the sky.
Opening his mouth,
He uttered the words that needed to be said, in a choking tone.
“I’m back.”
*****March had come.
Spring had arrived.
And the Villain of this world, Returned home.
His presence came along with the blossoming happiness.
"Hmph."
No, maybe not quite like that.
Amidst the blooming cherry blossoms, outside their field of vision, Lizzy who was quietly watching the scene, snorted.
The birth of life.
The beginning of the season.
Even amid the beautiful and splendid cherry blossoms that heralded all of that, she thought it was truly like him to think that they bloom using someone\'s life and misfortune as seeds.
Yes.
In the blossoming happiness.
A gentle, but subtle cruelty, also permeated.