216 – Time for Atonement

[The condition for the Sword Master has been met.]

(A catalyst is needed to break through the limits.)

*

A black sun with a dark aura began to shine above Olaf’s head, blocking the light.

“…”

I gazed at the sun rising in the morning sky with a dazed expression. It wasn’t hot. The sun, which was supposed to be burning fiercely, didn’t feel hot at all.

Instead, the warmth felt like it was being absorbed by the sun in the sky, which was devouring the morning sun.

But only one thing.

“What is this magic…”

The warmth didn’t apply to Olaf. The warmth was forbidden to Olaf. ‘Hwaruruk’ Black flames began to engulf Olaf’s body.

Starting from his arms, the flames spread to his torso. No matter how hard he tried to put out the flames, the black aura wouldn’t extinguish, continuously burning Olaf.

Black smoke rose.

The smell of flesh rotting and screams echoed from Olraf’s body, which repeated the cycle of decay and rebirth.

“Kuaak!!”

Olraf approached the lady with an axe in hand.

As Olraf entered the 2nd phase, his body, which had overcome the limits of physical strength and aging, became incredibly powerful, but the lady didn’t even glance at him.

It was tiring, but she was definitely a saint.

Olraf’s body, which had unleashed all its power, was like a young and unscathed physique that no one could easily wound, but the lady lightly dismissed Olraf’s vigor and examined her own condition.

She simply ignored Olraf, doing nothing.

The lady, sitting in a wheelchair, reached out to touch my face. With a gentle expression, she stroked the wound inflicted by Olraf’s axe and spoke to me in a soft voice.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“No. It’s not that… “

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“Lady?”

The lady looked at me with a gentle gaze.

The doubts arising in my chest were lightly dismissed, and she spoke to me with a concerned tone, as if making a promise not to abandon me.

“I told you not to get hurt.”

“I asked you not to get hurt, didn’t I?”

“Why didn’t you listen?”

The lady muttered in a small voice, ‘I was worried so much…’ and slowly began to release her magic.

-Kugu kugu kugu…

The black sun moved.

The enormous black sun, which seemed to be rotating, started to spin. Olraf approached us, filled with rage, while the lady calmly suppressed him.

Through the medium of the Black Flame, she ignited Olraf’s leg.

“I’ll kill you.”

-Kudangtang!

When it’s reborn, she’ll ignite it again.

“I’ll cut off your four limbs…”

-Kwaddeuk…!

The lady, who repeated the cycle of falling and getting back up, had Olraf behind her, axe in hand, staring at her with a fierce gaze.

Olraf, whose upper body clothes were burned, wore white briefs and held an axe. With a muscular arm, he swung the axe as if to behead the lady in an instant.

The clothes didn’t burn. It was ridiculous.

I slowly regained my breath and tried to stand up to stop him.

-You have reached the realm of the Sword Master. └(Please unleash a critical attack to break through the limit.)

Now, I’m different from before.

With a new realm ahead of me, I thought I could engage in an all-out battle with Olraf.

But.

-Kugu kugu kugu…

The lady didn’t permit it.

She gently stroked my cheek, as if telling me not to move, and held me back.

My eyes opened.

My eyes began to open in the rotating black sun. A small line was drawn in the center of the massive sphere, and my eyes slowly, very slowly, opened.

-Rolling…

The enormous sun with its huge pupils. My half-closed eyes, as if sleepy, revealed a sense of life, like a living being.

-Rolling…

The sun’s pupils moved.

I looked up at the sky with a shocked expression. The lady gazed at Olaf with a stern face. And as I gazed at Olaf, whose hand was being burned by the dark flames, I blinked and opened my eyes wide.

-Kkikikik!

At the moment the huge sphere, unobscured by clouds, opened its eyes wide, I finally realized what it was.

‘…Dark magic.’

The lady’s weapon, which I thought had disappeared, revealed its presence.

It existed.

The words spoken by the author as a public figure.

[Harlem likes] : Author-nim, is the strongest person in the story Mikhail, who became a hero?

[Author] : No. Although Mikhail is the strongest at the current point, if the story progressed without any incidents, the strongest person would be….

-Olivia, of course.

The author-acknowledged monster.

I had forgotten, or rather, I couldn’t help but forget that the lady possessed overwhelming talent in the field of magic. I didn’t think she had talent in dark magic.

Since I lost my magic, I thought she couldn’t use dark magic, which led to a misguided thought.

The lady shattered my thoughts and unleashed a massive amount of dark magic, overwhelming the battlefield.

-Kkwap.

Olaf lifted his head and faced the enormous sun. The overwhelming fear that made his entire body tense was evident on his face as he dropped the axe in his hand.

“This is…. unbelievable.”

He was paralyzed.

The strong body of the saint was overwhelmed by the massive power and couldn’t move. Olaf’s body was also crushed by the overwhelming power, and I could only stare at the sky in silence.

Right now, the only person who could move on this battlefield was the lady. The owner of the massive dark magic, the lady, opened her eyes coldly without any emotion.

“I was told not to do it by Ricard, but….”

Thud. The lady’s body began to rise from the wheelchair. As if to overcome the physical limitations that prevented her from moving her legs, she used dark magic to lift herself and slowly approached the paralyzed Olaf.

“It’s because of you that I have to break my promise.”

The lady, who looked disgusted, placed her hand on Olaf’s heart.

Although her hand was small and delicate compared to Olaf’s robust body, it felt enormous and overwhelming to Olaf, who was experiencing it directly.

Olaf had felt this sensation only once before.

Overwhelmed.

It was the same feeling he had when he received the holy blessing and the Pope’s hand touched his shoulder.

Olaf looked at Olivia’s hand with a trembling gaze.

“Oh, God….”

Olivia lifted her head and spoke to Olaf.

“I hate you.”

“…”

“I hate you so much that I want to crush you right now.”

“…”

“So.”

Olivia spoke in a cold tone.

With a voice colder than any I’d ever heard, she placed her hand on Orloff’s chest and said, “Die.”

And in that moment…

-Gasp.

Blood began to flow from the young lady’s mouth.

*

The price of overexerting her power was coming back to haunt her.

“Cough…cough…”

Although she possessed immense dark magic and talent, Olivia’s body, which was using dark magic for the first time, couldn’t withstand it.

Veins bulged on her hand.

She could taste the iron in her mouth.

A dizziness that felt like she was about to lose her mind.

All Olivia could do now was pay the price for overexerting her dark magic. Using unprepared power always came with a cost.

‘The one who hurt Ricardo deserves to be punished with death.’ Olivia clenched her fist, repressing her rising anger.

But…

“Ugh…it hurts…”

Her body wasn’t cooperating with her.

Taking advantage of the opening, Orloff began to swing his axe. With a resolute body, he was determined to end it quickly, his sharp eyes gleaming as he moved swiftly.

“Oh, God. Give me the chance to punish evil.”

I grabbed the stumbling young lady’s body and swung my sword.

Avoiding Orloff’s axe by a hair’s breadth, I tightly embraced the young lady in my arms.

With even breathing, she bit her lip, her eyes blazing with anger as she glared at Orloff.

“Ricardo is just fine.”

“Miss.”

“I’ll…kill you.”

I tapped her forehead, which was burning with murderous intent, and smiled faintly.

“Heh!”

As I gazed at the young lady, who was making a pitiful face with her lips puffed out, I spoke in a low tone.

“You’ll have to explain yourself when you get home.”

“…”

“From when did you start deceiving us…!”

-Gasp!

“You’ll have to explain yourself.”

I let out a steady breath and sat the young lady down on the floor.

With great difficulty, she let out a breath, her shoulders heaving as she continued to move the massive sun. It seemed that this was her limit.

I had many questions, but it didn’t seem like the right time, so I grasped my sword, ready to conclude the battle, and looked at Orloff.

Orloff let out a dry laugh, brushing off the fading dark energy, and said, “If I hadn’t been tired, I could have killed that woman easily.”

I responded to his tantrum and said,

“That’s right.”

There was no mistake in Olaf’s words. If Olaf had fought with another lady from the beginning, he would have won easily. I could acknowledge his tantrum to some extent.

But what’s the point?

In the end, Olaf was the one who lost.

I stretched my arms and spoke to Olaf.

“If I didn’t have a weak heart, I would have killed you a long time ago.”

“More empty threats…”

I looked at the monster being controlled by black magic and said,

“That monster. Isn’t it the child you brought back to life?”

“…”

“The child who died due to your mistake in the past and was revived by black magic.”

“Do you want to die?”

“No. I’m just saying I could have reduced the number of enemies from the start.”

Olaf’s forehead began to twitch with anger, as if provoked by my reckless words. He grasped the axe in his hand tightly and took a step closer to me.

I looked at Olaf and said my final words.

“Don’t you hear your daughter’s voice? I can hear it.”

“Shut up.”

“Aren’t you saying it hurts?”

I looked at the monster burning with black magic and said,

-Ah, it hurts…

“Is this really the right thing to do?”

“…”

“Your daughter is crying out in pain, but why didn’t you ever listen to her?”

It wasn’t a sentimental act.

I was just repeating the lines Yuria had spoken when she settled the score with Olaf in the novel.

-Listen to your daughter’s sorrowful voice.

“Listen to your daughter’s sorrowful voice.”

-Is this really the life your daughter wants?

“Is this really the life your daughter wants?”

-Your young daughter is being used as a tool by you, and yet she still calls you ‘Dad’ and loves you… why!

“Your daughter is suffering from endless pain, but she still respects and admires you. You judge and interpret her, inflicting endless pain on her. Is that right?”

I felt a calm, soothing emotion and held up my sword. And this was the last thing I said as a possessor who had seen Olaf’s flashback scene.

“Your daughter, who couldn’t even kill a single butterfly, is crying. Isn’t she?”

-Dad… Dad…

“Repent.”

“To your daughter, who is not the god you prayed to.”

The sword was filled with a deep, red aura and shone brightly. The moment the flash of light filled the battlefield, my sword finally reached Olaf’s neck.

-I have reached the level of a Sword Master.