175. Cinders in the Ashes (4)

“Welcome, daughter.”

Leon Benning, who had turned around with his hands behind his back, said that with only a slight turn of his head. The count’s attire was completely unsuitable for a bloody battlefield. An outfit similar to a ceremonial robe worn during ceremonial events. Leon Benning straightened his collar and turned fully to face Maxim and Theodora. There was an impassive smile on his face that showed no sign of change.

“You have grown a lot. I really didn’t expect to get this far.”

Maxim glanced and turned his gaze to Theodora. The bitten lips were white. Her platinum bangs cast shadows over her eyes. There was no fear in the rapidly swirling dark clouds in it.

“Even though the situation has reached this point, you are still relaxed.”

Theodora took a step forward. Her unique sense of intimidation was creating weak winds from her feet. It was not a late spring breeze, but a calm wind before a storm. The hand holding Heilang’s hilt was ready to leave at any moment. Maxim knew that Theodora needed a moment. That is why Maxim did not stop Leon Benning from speaking, nor did he stop Theodora from stepping forward to confront him.

“Do you still think I can’t put a knife on you?”

“no. I am overjoyed to see my daughter overcome her greatest fear. Growing up means this kind of change.”

Theodora gritted her teeth and interrupted Leon Benning. Her fine voice was distorted with anger.

“You still see the world the way you like it.”

At Theodora’s words, Leon Benning sneered and shook his head.

“Is there anyone else like that? daughter There is no one who is not intolerant. Humans can only see the world through their own eyes. Isn’t that right, Maxime Appard?”

Leon Benning turned his gaze from Theodora to Maxime. Maxim’s expression hasn’t changed since he first entered the room. Leon Benning’s eyes seemed to be asking for an answer, but Maxim did not open his mouth until the end. Giving the count time to talk was for Theodora’s sake, not because she wanted to talk.

Leon Benning shook his head with a trivial smile.

“Well, then I have one question for you, daughter. What did you come here to do?”

Theodora’s mood chilled. The face of Leon Benning at the end of his field of vision was strangely unfamiliar. Suddenly, Theodora realized that she had never seen the Count’s face properly in her life. Fear and suppression seem to distort even memory and will. When I raise my head like this, what I see is just a piece of wood that speaks human words.

“I am you.”

Theodora loosened the grip that held Heilang. This was to avoid overdoing it. As Theodora’s momentum changed, Leon Benning’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Remnants of mana dwelled in the breath that Theodora exhaled from her mouth. Pure white, sparkling platinum mana was burning.

“I’m here to kneel Count Leon Benning, a treacherous criminal of the kingdom.”

The distortion that Leon Benning showed on the surface quickly disappeared. Returning to that emotionless smile, Benning shrugged.

“Then prove it, Theodora.”

Leon Benning drew his sword. The afternoon sunlight shining brightly on Daejeon flowed down the blade of the sword. Theodora glanced at Maxim and turned around. Like a calm lake, Maxim collected his spirit. The two didn’t need to speak. As before, when they fought together over a common enemy, they were one.

Golden eyes and dark cloud-colored eyes shone. It was a process of matching the breath of the two. Whenever they fought together, Theodora and Maxime worked together like that. The process of inhaling and exhaling, heart rate, muscle stiffness, and even the flow of mana.

“With power.”

Theodora’s lips twitched. Maxim nodded. The feeling of mana flowing through his blood was unfamiliar. Breathing in sync with Theodora tickled Maxim’s brain and conveyed a sense of exaltation. A tingling current ran down his body from the top of his head. When the sensation of the current passed through the body, reached the legs, and finally reached the feet,

Theodora and Maxim both flew new models at the same time.

“Yes, it should come out that way.”

Leon Benning muttered as he raised his sword. Leon Benning’s eyes were blinding and glowing white. Burning mana, Leon Benning raised his strength to the fullest. Leon Benning’s aura was as black as night or filthy water. Leon Benning swung his sword wide.

Zeng-!

Theodora’s sword blocked Leon Benning’s sword in the air. Theodora’s Heilang was also wearing a platinum aura and howling sharply. Waves of surging power interlocked in the air, creating a whirlwind. Maxim hid behind the shadow of the wind.

Becoming one with the world, Maxim faced the power of the aura that cut through the world. The wind provided a way for the world to break through the tense balance of power. Maxim lightly jumped in place. And the wind, entrusted itself to the path guided by the elves’ teachings.

high wind.

The new model of Maxim disappeared as it was. In the place where Maxim was, only the faint cry of Baek Ah’s sword was left.

“-!”

Without warning, something whitish caught at the edge of Leon Benning’s field of vision. Leon Benning forcibly stopped competing with Theodora and twisted his body wide, barely avoiding Maxim’s attack. The edge of Leon Benning’s clothes was cut off by the blade of the attacking Baek A.

Leon Benning smiled twistedly at Maxim’s hard expression. Maxim was the first to speak.

“-Unless you become a Behemoth, you won’t be able to last long.”

“Well, shouldn’t we know more about that?”

The Count raised his sword high. The black aura was pouring out its strength. Baek A squeezed through Leon Benning’s aura head-on. The whirlwind created by the aura blade rushed at Baek-ah with the momentum to shatter it, but Maxim didn’t care at all and drew a sword path. Leon Benning’s eyes stared at the tip of Baek Ah’s sword, then opened wide.

“no way-.”

Resistance was felt. Maxim’s sword was caught in the aura and refused to be broken, cutting off the blade with a black aura. Underneath Leon Benning’s head, which was wide open as his aura was cut, there was Maxim crouching, avoiding Baek-ah.

fly up.

For an instant, a flash of white light flashed. Leon Benning drew his sword with a cold gaze and tried to block Maxim’s sword. Again, the response was a bit slow. Baek Ah raised Leon Benning’s sword, which was caught in an awkward position, straight up. As Maxim’s attack was about to continue, the Count forcibly drew close to Maxim and threw Maxim off balance.

“Kuh-!”

The black wall swelled up. Maxim did not have enough ways to counter the opponent who was recklessly pushing with force. Especially when the gap is so narrow. Leon Benning and Maxime, who had become one, fell headlong to the floor of the match.

bang-!

The recoil sent Maxim’s body flying into the air. The Count drew his sword and aimed at Maxim, not wanting to let him go. Maxim did not respond head-on and let the count’s sword strike flow. The Count and Maxim’s swords came and went in the air. The wind soon became a foothold for Maxim. Maxim kicked the air and ran again.

Crack-.

The Count was able to parry Maxim’s attack without difficulty, but Maxim’s purpose was to hold Leon Benning’s sword for a while in the first place.

“-!”

The count’s eyes widened. Behind, Theodora’s sword attack was approaching. In order to deal with the two, it seemed that there was no choice but to simply endure with the output of power. Leon Benning’s aura increased in size. For some expedient, Leon Benning’s aura was so bloated that it was unthinkable that it was the power of a single human being. Leon Benning slashed down the entirety of that enormous destruction.

bang-!!

Theodora and Maxim flew away with a roar. In the center of the battle, a huge scar from Leon Benning’s blow was left between Maxim and Theodora. Theodora braced her staggering body and raised her gaze. Leon Benning was now completely engulfed by the pitch-black wind. In the meantime, only the faintly leaking inorganic eyes of Leon Benning could be seen.

“what… .”

Theodora sighed and let out a sigh. Maxim frowned from the side. Maxim’s hand, which received the blow, was shaking. Judging by the blow of just a moment ago, it probably contained more power than Bernardo or Hugo Benning. Maxim repeated squeezing and stretching his hands to relieve the trembling.

“I wondered how someone who couldn’t use auras could resist them, but… . Well, it probably isn’t that important right now.”

Leon Benning stepped out. The black aura surrounding his body deeply carved footprints into the battlefield whenever Leon Benning took a step.

“You can listen to it later.”

Black auras fell from the sky again. After exchanging glances briefly, Theodora and Maxime spread out and prepared their own attacks. Leon Benning openly spread his momentum and swung his sword at Theodora, who was approaching.

bang-!!

Theodora opened her eyes to the pressure that was pressing down on Heilang. Leon Benning’s aura began to overwhelm Theodora slowly. As the black aura passed through Heilang’s blade, a sharp sword sounded.

“how… what!”

“If you have warlocks around you, you can use them more usefully than you think.”

Useful, use.

Theodora’s face hardened. Why were the black magicians invisible while they invaded the palace, and why was only that one witch left standing guarding the entrance to the Great Hall? Theodora had a vague realization. I didn’t want to know the details of what Leon Benning was alluding to. Contrary to that hope, however, Leon Benning spat out the words to Theodora’s hard face.

“It was much less tasty than I thought. What is the human heart. Especially if it’s a heart with mana tainted by Saihan magic.”

visor-!

Leon Benning twisted the corners of his mouth.

“Yeah, if I had to explain it, it felt like chewing through a leather bag full of sludge. They’re mages who aren’t even more helpful anyway, so shouldn’t we deal with them this way?”

“Crazy.”

“Otherwise, we cannot win.”

The swords of Heilang and Leon Benning clashed several times. Theodora could feel that fraud continuing to ride the aura the more she mixed her sword with Leon Benning. Leon Benning tilted his head looking down at Theodora, who was still able to block his own sword with interest.

“by the way… Theodora. I didn’t know your Aura could withstand this attack so well.”

Theodora’s qualities are special. When Leon Bening said that, he let out a big laugh.

“If you had followed my words just a little longer, how different the results would have been.”

At the words Leon Bening murmured, Theodora’s eyes lit up on fire. Grinding her teeth, Theodora stopped the count’s sword that was slowly approaching.

“… You.”

Memories passed by. The memory of being with Maxim, the memory of parting, the memory of hurting him without knowing anything, and the memory of Maxim leaving him once again. And, I remembered countless relationships that were hurt and hurt by Leon Benning.

“If it hadn’t been for that f*cking greed, how many people would have survived,”

Slowly, Theodora rose to her feet. The platinum mana seemed to push Theodora up from underneath. Cracks began to appear in the space that Leon Benning had blackened and encroached on.

“How many people didn’t have to get hurt.”

Against Leon Benning’s sword, Theodora fully rose. Leon Benning looked at Theodora, who woke up with a crooked smile. Theodora’s aura enveloped her, spreading her platinum wings.

“Wrong, Theodora. It is not greed.”

Leon Benning shook his head.

“I just do it because I can. Didn’t greed mean coveting something you couldn’t even hold in your hands? I’m not greedy. Because I have never had such a desire.”

said the Count with a sneer. Theodora’s face contorted.

“Well, it’s okay if you don’t understand. It would be different if you could understand me.”

“Sophistry-!”

“You don’t have to try to understand me, just as I don’t want to understand you, Theodora. You probably don’t know how shallow your understanding of humans is.”

bang-!

The count struck his sword again. The mana he absorbed by eating the hearts of the warlocks seemed to have no bottom. Theodora unleashed a sword strike, and Leon Benning countered with the same swordsmanship. The remnants of the aura were scattered.

“The result is this ruin. Because of your foolish nonsense that can’t even be called desire, not only you but several others… .”

“Did it matter? I don’t know.”

Leon Benning laughed dryly as he said that. A small gust of wind rose next to Leon Benning. Before Leon Benning could even notice, Baek-A cut through the sunlight and shot through the Count’s neck.

“Then, I guess I’ll let you know now.”

bang-!

There was a roar. Leon Benning frowned at the completely different weight.

“You bastard.”

Maxim’s eyes flashed. My heart pounded and a handful of mana was blown into my body. As it is, mana rushes through blood vessels and muscles. The flash of aura brightened the flickering vision. Maxim took a deep breath. The air of Daejeon was turbulent with a mixture of various smells.

Maxim’s body woke up. It rang wildly with excitement at the mana that Baek Ah had blown into it. breathing has changed. The sense of the world changed, and Maxim threw himself into the black vortex caused by Leon Benning.

bloom.

bang-!!

In an instant, the black aura that enveloped Leon Benning was scattered. The tip of Maxim’s sword, which has turned into a white halo, gallops. The count swung his sword wide and blocked Baek-ah’s attack. It was probably not only Leon Benning’s Aura that the black magicians’ mana was strengthened, but they withstood the weight of a completely different attack.

“why-.”

“Bud tree.”

Maxim disappeared from Leon Benning’s sight. His gestures toward the air only shattered the walls of the Great War and ended in vain. One miss was fatal. Leon Benning threw himself backwards with all his might at the terrifying sensation digging into his side.

“!”

Maxim entered the field of vision again. The willow tree’s series of attacks is not over yet. Leon Benning’s vision turned white.

bang-!

“You are possessed by hatred. Well, I don’t think that face is too bad.”

“Do you know what hate is?”

Maxim said that and swung Baekah again. The Count had difficulty blocking Maxim’s attack. Even with the exploding physical ability and mana, the swordsmanship was not able to keep up with Maxim’s. Small cuts were growing on the count’s body. If he pushed a little further, the blade of Baek Ah would reach Leon Benning’s neck.

But even in the midst of the tension, the count didn’t seem to feel that threatened.

“If I wanted to kill you, do you really think I wouldn’t be able to get rid of you? When I first saw you in the hospital room at the academy, did you think you couldn’t kill me?”

Maxim raised his gaze and met the Count’s eyes. Above those emotionless eyes, for the first time, a certain expression was revealed. Oddly enough, Maxim found him laughing.

“I am not a rational person, Maxime Appard. I’m just a person who wants to do it. And subduing you, too, I think is still worth trying.”

The feeling was strange. The pain in the heart area, which had been barely felt for a while, seemed to be slowly reviving. We need to get rid of it faster, faster.

Impatience permeated Maxim’s sword. Leon Benning, on the other hand, shook off Maxim’s attack with a twisted smile on his lips. To Maxim, who was being pushed back, Leon Benning took an object out of his pocket and showed it to him.

“Do you know what this is?”

Something like a lump of flesh, stained black, was held in Leon Benning’s grasp. The mass of flesh was wriggling as if it were alive. Maxim realized that it was in the shape of a heart.

“It’s the heart of the witch who’s probably fighting your mage out there – the Life Vessel.”

Maxim attacked again, but Leon Benning raised a large aura and shook off the approaching Maxim.

“Your curse is a witch, Lilia and me. Divided into two and controlled. So, in a clumsy way, your curse has become a curse that can be suppressed.”

bang-!

Maxim’s speed increased even more. However, Leon Benning did not care about the slight wounds and was only blocking fatal attacks.

“Then, what if I burst this heart and bring all the dominion of curses to you?”

Leon Benning seemed to shake his heart like a joke.

hook.

A black heart floated high into the sky. Leon Benning stretched out his arms to the side of his heart,

Pook-

The tip of the knife pierced his heart.