I Became the Youngest Disciple of the Martial God

Chapter 180

“...Deathberry?” Ferith asked, her lips twitching. She was still unable to grasp the situation. “What is going o—”

Boom!

Sellen immediately wrapped her arms around Ferith and pulled her down, and they rolled on the floor together.

Pft.

Something passed through the spot where Ferith had just been standing.

Was it a bundle of thread?

The ones before had been silver, but this one was dark and dull.

What would happen if it touched her?

She didn’t dare to find out.

“B-black thread...”

“...”

Ferith’s voice was filled with fear.

“What about it?” Sellen asked.

“I-it’s a thread coated with corrosive chemicals... It's so dangerous that it was sealed away even during fights.”

“...”

If it was coated with corrosives, it would be difficult to fight it with bladed weapons. Sure, a skilled fencer could parry it a few times, but after that?

Any weapon that came into contact with the acid would quickly rust and break, and without the rapier, there’d be no way to deal with that thread.

“So there’s a black thread. Are there other threads too?”

“...”

“Ferith!” Sellen shouted, startling Ferith enough that she snapped out of her daze. “Are there other threads?”

“Y-yes, there are...”

Sellen nibbled her lip.

She wanted to hear more, but was there time?

She looked at Deathberry.

It was still standing there with one hand outstretched, frozen stiff like it had been turned to stone...

She did not know what it was thinking, nor did she want to know.

Charon, who had approached silently, quietly asked, “Why did you save her?”

“...I don’t know,” Sellen answered. At that moment, she’d remembered something Ferith had said.

—Sellen. My first friend.

“...”

Her head throbbed. Had she been shaken by those insignificant words?

Sellen slapped Ferith on the cheek.

Slap!

“Ack!”

“Wake the fuck up.”

Ferith’s eyes began to gain their focus again.

“First, get out of here. Hide somewhere in this mansion, or if you can move, go to Building 12, where the Headmaster is. Just do everything you can to get out.”

“Wh-why...?”

“...”

It was a question with a lot of meaning behind it.

Instead of responding, Sellen gave her one final piece of advice: “Get going. And don’t pull out the knife in your shoulder or you risk bleeding out.”

“...”

Ferith got to her feet and did as she’d been told, still looking terrified.

[...]

This entire time, Deathberry, Demon Lord of the Blood-Lit Moon, had not moved.

It no longer felt like a mere doll... yet calling it a living creature seemed wrong because it was as lifeless as a fallen leaf about to be run over.

Faced with such an enemy, Sellen Goodspring and Charon Woodjack had no idea what to do next.

“...That cold ki storm you used before, how many more times can you use it?” Charon asked.

“Once,” Sellen replied.

“Mmm.”

“What about you? You don't look too great.”

Charon laughed bitterly. “I used the Blessing of Explosives. It causes an internal explosion. The sudden force momentarily boosts my speed, but as you can see, my body’s a mess. Pain aside, the broken bones are the problem. I can’t move much at all like this.”

“I see.”

Even in top shape, they would likely lose. With them both miraculously alive in such terrible states, their situation was bad.

It was like fighting a monster with a paper sword... yet neither planned to give up. That much, at least, they liked about each other.

[...]

Deathberry was still standing there, unmoving.

Did it think that they were caught fish and it had already won the fight? What a disrespectful piece of sh—

It didn’t take long...

“...”

“...”

Charon and Sellen realized at the same time.

Aren’t these...

Threads?

Since when?

All around them, threads surrounded them like spider webs, the same silver threads they had seen earlier.

How did we not see this?

A humorless laugh escaped at their helplessness.

It really had already won this fight. They were the idiots who had pretty much walked right into its net.

The demon lord took a step.

Step.

The two young heroes’ eyes were locked on Deathberry.

They could see it moving, but neither of them could move.

Sellen Goodspring thought she was the only one who could turn this situation around.

But what difference would it make if she unleashed cold ki in this state?

If her cold ki didn’t remove the threads, then...

“...One blueberry, one raspberry, one blackberry, one boysenberry, one goji berry...”

But then I stopped.

I hadn’t run out of berries, there were just too many Deathberrys to count. There was no point in counting each and every one.

Before I knew it, we were surrounded by a crowd of Deathberrys.

Sellen sighed and muttered, “...I hate this kind of enemy the most.”

I knew this wasn’t a good time, but I was too curious not to ask, “What do you mean, ‘this type of enemy’?”

“The type that splits and regenerates. They’re annoying, and there’s no effort put into it, no emotional payoff. There are so many points where I’d just quit.”

“Yeah?” I replied with indifference. Sellen was clearly starting to lose it and just rambling nonsense.

I was about to ask what kind of enemy she preferred, but we had no time for such useless conversations.

In the next moment, a swarm of Deathberrys rushed us.

Without a moment to waste, I purposely took three steps forward and became a fool who willingly walked into the most dangerous spot on the battlefield.

But of course, by making things harder for myself, I was easing the burden on the other two.

This was the right move. The strongest one should be the one who took on the most enemies.

Dozens of Deathberrys charged me.

There were no fancy powers or threads this time—just straightforward, brute-force attacks.

If that was all, they weren’t much of a threat... Which meant I had to be extra careful not to drop my guard.

I focused my energy into my eyes, awakening the power of the divine beast.

Using both fire eyes and serpent’s eye, I noted that it was about time I gave these two skills a proper name.

...

And then I realized that every Deathberry attacking me was connected by a thread.

The one controlling this thread is... ha.

I followed the trail of threads with my gaze, and the source left me flabbergasted by its ridiculousness.

The moon.

The threads came from the moon, attaching to the dolls to manipulate them like puppets.

Damn.

Did I really have to destroy the moon?

Crunch!

A Deathberry in my blind spot bit my arm.

As soon as I met its grotesque eyes, the shit-face doll mockingly flashed another creepy grin at me.

But that wasn’t all.

[Ah—]

I heard a voice.

It wasn’t an actual voice I was hearing. Rather, it felt as though the voice was directly invading my mind, though it was too unsettling to just be sound transmission.

It felt as unpleasant as having fingers invade my ears and dig into my brain.

I openly grimaced.

[Unbearably, sweet, owner of, ten thousand, souls. You, are mine.]

“...”

[But, why?]

Deathberry’s head tilted.

[Why, did you not, go back?]

“What?”

[I was, hoping, it would, be, consumed, this time—]

I smashed its face with my other hand, cutting off the weird voice. At the same time, though, I wondered.

What did it mean by that?

Also, ten thousand souls? What was that?

I had a lot of questions, but I decided not to dwell on the demon lord’s cryptic words for now.

I steadily reduced the number of Deathberrys while trying to make sense of the demon lord’s few words.

Why I didn't go back?

When I thought about those words, what flashed through my mind was the Blessing of Spirit Mountain.

Naturally, that made me think of my regression.

So the demon lord can sense my regression?

From my conversation with Legion Commander Kajita, I’d realized that the demon lord Ahop remembered our encounter.

Even though that event had happened in a past that no longer existed.

From that, one thing was clear: demon lord–level beings could indeed detect my regressions.

After that... it wanted something to be consumed?

Was it referring to the Blessing of Spirit Mountain?

I still didn’t understand.

If Hadenaihar knew about my regression, wouldn't me returning to the past be the last thing it wanted?

That would only complicate things for it.

Is my regression beneficial to Hadenaihar? That doesn’t make sense...

Right after I thought that...

My train of thought stopped with a jolt.

An absurd thought had just crossed my mind.

The Blessing of Spirit Mountain was a mysterious power. Even as its user, I couldn’t say I understood it fully.

...It was entirely possible that the demon lord, a transcendent being, knew more about my blessing than I did.

It wants me to consume it.

Or, to put it another way, it was trying to make me use up the blessing.

If I could use the blessing without limit, there would be no reason to say such a thing.

In other words, this blessing had to have a limit.

With that, all the confusion from before started to click.

.bg-container-10448869e4d{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } .bg-ssp-10448{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;display:flex;justify-content:center;} .bg-container-10448f61e68{ display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }

The reason the Demon Lord of the Blood-Lit Moon had continuously shown me both Spirit Mountain and the present, back and forth, and pulled that bullshit...

I couldn't stop the laugh that escaped me. It started with a low chuckle that gradually increased into a full laugh.

Hadenaihar, you sonuvabitch...

It was trying to make me use up my regressions.

____