LGHTNOVELBOOK chapter 133
132 – Arrogance (2)
Arrogance.
A term for looking down on others and overflowing with arrogance, utterly devoid of humility.
“…No matter how I look at it, they are nothing but base.”
The old man’s ideology
was, in truth, arrogance itself.
He found everything in this world displeasing.
That one could not live
without consuming something,
nor move
without even a moment of rest.
And always, some intangible thing
would cause things to go awry.
Yes, things like love or friendship,
emotions of that nature.
Even the boy sprawled
before him now.
Why couldn’t he understand their grand purpose?
Again, he insisted, the will
of the one they served
was by no means the extinction of humanity.
Rather, by exterminating
all the wicked,
they were ridding the world
of the waste that was evil,
a kind of purification, one might say.
It was close to a noble cause,
for the sake of humanity and the salvation of the world.
And yet, why did this boy
continue to resist
them in this way?
Of course, he knew the reason.
“A pitiful, worthless desire for revenge, that’s all it is.”
Hatred for the fiends
who had made his life this way.
Resentment for being abruptly
summoned to this place from his quiet existence,
forced to repeat his death.
All of those things
gathered together, accumulating,
giving birth to the pathetic emotion of revenge.
He acted, oblivious
to the ripple of his actions
across the world.
“Vile, truly.”
Such actions from this boy,
sat poorly, profoundly,
with the old man.
One Beneath, Ten Thousand Above.
In the old man’s world,
there was always, only, one,
and all other beings existed
solely for that one and himself,
no exceptions, even within
his own Order.
He worked with them, yes,
collaborated, even planned,
for the sake of efficiency.
But he never, not once, considered
them to be equals.
‘This thought makes the boy’s actions all the more unforgivable.’
If only this boy had quietly
cooperated with our cause…
There would have been no need
to consort with such base creatures,
and the one he followed so devoutly,
that one would have already
revealed themselves by now,
and this world would be
long since purified.
“Hah… Hah…”
“…What purpose, pray tell,
does your life even serve?”
Base and wretched,
unable to live without others,
always leaning on someone else,
acting solely on emotion,
what meaning could there be in such a
pathetic and miserable existence,
that he directs such potent
hatred towards us, who seek
to save this world?
He should be boasting, instead, of being chosen as the vessel for the One’s very flesh.
Indeed, the old man wished,
with all that he was,
to offer his flesh to Him.
Haa…
A deep sigh escaped him as
he gazed upon the boy still pinned beneath him.
For one who had fought a
fully formed Majin, his body
seemed remarkably unscathed.
Yet, within, something felt amiss.
‘…It seems I attacked this
one without fully
collecting my essence.’
Judging by the birth of a Majin
who had received his essence,
it was almost assuredly so.
For his essence was,
to ordinary beings,
nothing less than poison itself.
Most likely, a human,
not yet fully Majin, had
somehow handled,
and re-handled, his essence
to launch the attack.
Had he become a complete Majin,
he wouldn’t be spreading this essence, rather without using any essence he would have been able to defeat this boy easily
“…Tch, thinking of it that way makes it even more infuriating.”
“…”
“What could He
possibly find pleasing about the likes of you.”
“…”
“Even though the flow of mana
was blocked, a being
who struggles against such a one.”
His temper urged him to
slay this boy
this very instant, but daring to lay
a hand on His vessel…
He couldn’t kill him on his own accord.
Besides, the time was not yet ripe…
“Haa…Why does that one test me so…”
“Kerr…Hurre…”
Tch.
Just looking at him ignited such
irritation within, and yet
he had to leave this wretch untouched.
Furthermore, there was still
work to be done.
He had to extract his own
essence that remained within
the boy’s body.
Well, truthfully, leaving it
as it was wouldn’t matter much,
but his essence couldn’t
dare coexist within
that one’s flesh.
It was disrespect,
a sheer defilement.
“Even in that state, you
can still hear me, can’t you.”
“…”
“Well, crawling in the dirt
suits you better
anyway.”
“…”
“I will now free one of your arms.”
“…”
“Then you will open that glass bottle
and drink what’s inside.”
“…”
“Though your eyes are incredibly displeasing, I will overlook it for now.”
The old man’s gaunt, withered hand
moved through the air, and at once
the boy’s fingers
began to twitch.
His eyes, brimming with vile poison, remained unfocused.
“Right then, now drink it quickly—”
“Keh..urk..!”
“..Are you incapable of understanding simple words?”
The boy’s hand reached for the old man’s
trouser leg, but
was immediately stopped.
In an instant, too.
“..Hm, has your eardrum
atrophied to the point of inferiority?”
“..Bullshit… you cripple.”
“..Even your speech is vulgar.”
As if something was intensely funny,
a giggling
laugh escaped the boy’s lips.
A situation completely reversed from moments before.
“Why… the fuck, would I want to?”
“..I do not comprehend.”
“…?”
“I was under the impression that humans are social creatures.”
“….”
“You are thinking only of yourself, to the extreme.”
“..What?”
The boy’s voice
began to tremble.
As if he had heard something he shouldn’t have.
His pupils shrank as if from some great shock,
and the light vanished from his irises.
Even that dusky light
that I thought was rather beautiful.
“Without even knowing what meaning
our work holds.”
“….”
“If just one like you
sacrifices, everyone will be happy.”
“….”
“Your one life can bring happiness to those around you.”
“….”
“Why will you not sacrifice?
“Should you not consider it an honor,
even volunteer yourself willingly?”
The boy’s eyes began to tremble
even more, but
the old man remained unconcerned.
He truly believed,
it was the only proper course.
From the beginning, he paid
no heed to others.
For, in the end, it was He who
composed this world, and
other creatures were mere
byproducts supporting Him, and
he, standing beside Him,
cleansing this world by assisting Him.
The process would surely
not be smooth sailing, but
what did it matter?
All were byproducts anyway.
“He Himself has deigned to choose the likes of you, mind you.”
“….”
“In any other circumstance, would you
not be bowing your head in gratitude?”
“….”
“He grants a single strand of meaning to
your otherwise meaningless existence.”
*Clang*—
The moment his words ended,
the glass bottle in the boy’s mouth shattered.
Because the girl, unable to contain her fury any longer, had clamped shut his mouth.
*Crunch, crunch*—
“Ho-ho…?”
“….”
Even though blood had already begun
to trickle down his lips from the shards of
the broken glass bottle,
the boy did not stop there.
Rather, he began to chew even more ruthlessly.
“…Though I did tell you to drink it…”
“Never did I say to eat it *that* way, did I?”
“….”
“Frankly, I am taken aback.
You are permitted to feel sufficiently proud, I suppose.”
“….”
“..Let’s see how long *you* can maintain that gaze of yours, shall we?”
The old man’s foot began to
gently crush the boy’s hand.
Simply because he felt displeased.
That a base and wretched thing like you
dare look up at me with such presumption.
“….”
Yet, the boy’s expression
showed absolutely no sign of changing.
Even as the old man’s heel
dug into the back of his hand.
Even as the glass shards he
continued to chew relentlessly
punctured his gums repeatedly.
Even as the enraged old man slammed the boy’s head even harder into the ground.
The boy’s expression and gaze
did not alter in the slightest.
He merely chewed and chewed on the glass bottle, endlessly.
“A rather peculiar method of expressing rage, wouldn’t you agree?”
“….”
“Well, I suppose, with a body that refuses to cooperate,
it is difficult to vent one’s anger in a more conventional manner.”
“….”
“Your body is already ruined, and
your magical energy appears to be nonexistent, indeed.”
“….”
“Hmm… even so.”
The old man’s skeletal fingers
delved into the boy’s mouth.
Deeply and with considerable force.
*Kwaaak─*
As expected, the boy’s
teeth sank into the old man’s fingers.
If it had been an ordinary person,
Flesh gouged, muscle compressed,
with a force enough to shatter bone.
The desperate struggle of a man who’d lived
his entire life being extorted.
A wretched movement, laced with the frustration
of being unable to express all the resentment he held,
the injustice of his life
felt so intensely, so vividly.
But the old man paid it no mind
and continued his tale.
“Your body is no longer
solely your own, you see…”
“….”
“Perhaps a little more care is─”
That instant, the old man’s fingers were severed.
By an attack whose origin
remained unseen.
“…?!”
But the assailant was not the boy.
The old man wouldn’t have
missed the boy’s movements right before him.
Rather, judging by the clean cut of the wound, it came from behind…
“Was it you?”
“…?”
“The scoundrel who laid a hand on my daughter.”
A figure materialized from
within the black shadows.
The old man strained to
recall the man.
In this empire, rose-tinted
hair was uncommon,
and a man capable of severing
his wrist even more so.
He believed he could remember, with just a little more thought.
If only his wrist hadn’t been
sliced through once more.
“..I might ask your name then, what is it?”
“You don’t need to know, nor do I intend to tell you.”
It was a meeting between the Empire’s official assassin,
and the arrogant apostate.