Chapter 889: Parallels [1]

The warmth followed us the moment we stepped out of the enormous gates of the city.

It rose from the stone beneath my feet and brushed against my face as I carried Noel through the opening, keeping my hold steady while the wind pulled at his clothes.

Nobody stopped us.

Even after the streets disappeared behind me and the ground softened beneath my boots, no voice called for me to turn around. I continued walking, watching the first few grains of sand gather around my feet.

"...It’s warm."

Noel’s voice sounded faint beside my ear.

I adjusted him a little higher against my back before answering.

"Even after the sun goes down, it stays like this for a while."

"Sounds... troublesome."

"It is."

A small sound escaped his mouth, almost like a laugh, and his forehead settled against my shoulder again.

Several threads slipped from my fingers and spread beneath the sand. This started to feel like second nature to me, forming a wide net through which I could feel the changes in the ground ahead.

I changed direction whenever I felt the tiniest of vibrations, taking the longer way around in several occasions.

There had been a time when each step would’ve caused several monsters to appear at once.

Now... I barely needed to look down.

My steps glided across the sand.

RUMBLE—!

A faint vibration passed beneath my feet, and a muffled cheer followed from somewhere behind us. Even with the walls growing distant and the wind sweeping across the dunes, the noise continued to reach us.

Noel lifted his head slightly.

Neither of us spoke about it.

I kept walking while the light around us slowly changed. The lower sun had almost disappeared beyond the dunes, leaving their ridges red while long shadows gathered between them. Behind us, the pale glow above Karah Togg remained visible through the drifting sand.

From this far away, I could no longer make out the words people were shouting. ℯℯ𝑙.

Only the moments when they shouted louder.

"...O-ver there."

Noel’s hand moved against my shoulder, his finger pointing towards one of the nearest dunes.

I followed the direction before looking back at him.

"You want to stop?"

"...Yes."

I nodded and made my way towards the dune. The slope on its far side offered some shelter from the wind, and I crouched slowly, supporting Noel’s weight as his arms loosened around my shoulders.

Even then, I didn’t let go until I was certain he wouldn’t fall.

"Careful."

"...You’re the one putting me down."

"I know."

I folded some cloth beneath his head and helped him settle against the incline. He watched me throughout, his lips moving faintly as though there was something he wanted to say.

Eventually, he simply leaned back.

The sand was still warm beneath my hand.

I sat beside him, close enough that our shoulders touched, and looked up at the sky. The red had already begun to fade, giving way to a deeper blue that stretched farther than I could follow.

For a moment, I lost myself within the changing colors above me.

But that lasted a few seconds, until⎯

Another cheer reached us.

Far into the distance.

...I could still hear it.

I drew a small breath, and it was at that moment when Noel spoke.

"Isn’t it strange how the world shifts when we shift how we look at it?"

"...No."

I shook my head, stopping Noel before he could continue.

My chest trembled unknowingly as I shook my head again.

"Stop. I don’t want to hear it."

Noel chuckled at the sight, leaning his head back to stare at the sky above. One sun had already set, but the other remained, its pale glow lingering above, dimmer than the one before it.

And for just a moment, it... almost felt peaceful.

A soft silence enveloped the two of us.

But the silence didn’t last for long.

Noel’s voice drifted in the air once more.

"You know..."

His voice was starting to recover. It wasn’t as weak as it was before.

"Leon... He’s pretty good."

Opening my lips, I soon closed them before lowering my head and nodding.

"...Yeah."

He’s good.

***

SHIIING—!

Leon’s sword swept towards Tharvek’s neck.

The Dune Conqueror raised his forearm, but Leon was already turning his wrist. Rather than meeting the guard directly, his blade slipped around the outside of the arm, the tip catching Tharvek’s collar as he leaned back.

A thin line appeared beneath the torn fabric.

Leon followed immediately, another star fading from his eyes as strength surged through his legs and propelled his body forward. He kept his movements tight, refusing to give Tharvek the space to properly reset while minimizing his movements as much as possible.

He hadn’t spent the past three years for nothing.

He had trained.

...And trained. Endlessly.

His sword came down from above before changing direction midway, Leon shifting his weight onto his front foot as the blade snapped towards Tharvek’s side instead.

CLANG!

The blade struck his palm.

A gray layer spread over Tharvek’s fingers, catching the sword before it could cut into his hand.

Leon immediately twisted the hilt, trying to slide the edge free, but Tharvek’s fingers closed around the blade.

’He’s going to pull.’

The thought came almost immediately.

Leon moved with the force rather than resisting it.

His foot slid forward as Tharvek dragged him in, his shoulder turning at the same time. The movement carried him past the hand reaching for his face, allowing him to narrowly slip underneath it.

It brushed against his upper arm instead.

For a brief moment, Leon thought he had managed to escape the worst of it.

Then the pressure gathered beneath Tharvek’s palm burst outward.

BOOM!

"Ukh!"

Pain tore through his shoulder as Leon stumbled sideways. Rather than fighting against the momentum, he let himself turn with it, dragging his foot across the sand before planting it hard enough to stop himself from falling.

At the same time, he twisted the sword sharply.

The change in angle forced Tharvek’s fingers apart just enough for Leon to wrench the blade free.

Something warm ran down Leon’s arm.

He glanced at it before returning his attention to Tharvek, whose gaze lingered over the cut beneath his collar.

"...Your swordsmanship is much better than your fists."

He touched the torn fabric, rubbing it between his fingers.

"You should have started with that. How many more things are you hiding from me? This is starting to become really interesting."

Leon didn’t answer.

He was too busy trying to regain the feeling in his left hand.

Ba... Thump!

He felt the pound of his own heart against the back of his mind.

His fingers twitched, but the moment he tried to lift them, pain shot back through his shoulder.

Tharvek approached before Leon could think about it further.

His speed changed halfway through the movement, a separate pulse of mana gathering around his legs as the distance between them suddenly disappeared.

"⎯⎯!"

Leon had already been watching his hips.

The instant Tharvek moved forward, Leon moved, a hand appearing before him.

He twisted away from the approaching hand, letting it pass beside his chest before bringing his sword towards Tharvek’s ribs.

The gray layer appeared almost immediately.

Exactly as Leon expected.

This time, however, he didn’t commit to the strike.

He let the edge glance against the surface and immediately pulled it back, keeping his elbow close rather than letting the recoil drag his arm outward.

Tharvek’s hand swept over his shoulder.

Leon dipped beneath it.

For only a fraction of a second, the space beneath Tharvek’s arm opened.

Leon stepped into it.

His rear foot dug into the sand.

Another star disappeared.

Strength surged through his body as he turned his hips and drove the sword forward, striking the exact same place before the protective layer could fully reform.

Crack!

The sound reached him through the hilt.

Leon felt the resistance give slightly, followed by something softer beneath it.

Blood gathered along the edge of his sword, staining the white fabric around Tharvek’s ribs.

Leon’s expression tightened for a second as he looked up.

...Looked at Tharvek’s surprised expression.

’It worked.’

All those hours spent in the training grounds.

All those times he had repeated the same movement until his fingers could barely close around the handle.

They hadn’t been meaningless.

Leon tightened his grip and tried to push the blade deeper.

Tharvek’s hand moved towards the sword.

Leon saw it.

Rather than retreating, he shifted his body closer, keeping himself on the inside where Tharvek had less room to strike. His injured arm rose defensively while his sword continued pressing forward.

For a moment, the blade moved farther into Tharvek’s body.

Then the sand spread beneath Leon’s feet.

His expression changed.

A thin distortion spread from Tharvek’s body.

At first, it was barely noticeable.

A faint vibration beneath the soles of Leon’s boots.

Then the grains around Tharvek began to move.

They spiraled around his ankles before spreading outward in widening circles, flattening the shallow marks left behind by their earlier exchanges.

Leon tried to step back.

His heel sank, and so did his heart as realization struck him quickly.

’Domain—’

His eyes returned to the blade.

It had moved deeper into Tharvek’s body.

Yet the blood had stopped flowing.

The flesh surrounding the sword crumbled apart grain by grain, pale skin giving way to sand that poured around the blade’s body.

Leon’s pupils contracted.

Tharvek’s lips pulled into a smile. For just an instant, his side seemed to lose its shape entirely, allowing the sword to pass through nothing but compressed sand before his body formed again beside the blade.

Tharvek pulled forward.

Leon released one hand from the hilt immediately and turned his body, trying to use the motion to slip past him.

But it was too late.

The sand beneath his rear foot tightened around his ankle, slowing his movements by a fraction of a second.

"⎯!"

Leon’s eyes widened.

And soon⎯

A palm struck his chest.

BANG!

"Huek!"

The impact drove the air from his lungs.

His feet left the ground, and he landed several meters away, his shoulder smacking against the sand first. Pain spread through his ribs as he rolled, forcing him to drive his sword into the ground before he could slide any farther.

"Haa... Haa..."

He tried to stand immediately.

But the moment he tried, his left leg folded beneath him. Leon caught himself against the hilt, remaining bent over as his chest rose and fell heavily.

Darkness gathered more tightly around his body.

His Domain pushed back.

For several meters around him, the shadows darkened as Leon forced his mana outward, trying to spread his domain.

For a moment, the sand around his boots stopped.

Leon lifted his head.

Then another ripple passed through the ground.

The grains rippled again.

Slowly...

They pressed against the edge of Leon’s Domain before slipping through the gaps between the shadows, spreading beneath him grain by grain.

Leon’s jaw tightened.

Gradually, the grains started to combine into one single form as the outline of Tharvek’s body began to form, his body appearing in full a moment after.

The sand beneath him separated with every step, opening before his feet and closing behind him as though the entire arena floor had begun responding to his presence.

"You should be able to feel it now."

Leon raised his head.

The wound beneath Tharvek’s ribs was no longer bleeding.

There wasn’t even a proper wound anymore.

Only several grains of sand slipped from the torn section of his clothes before disappearing into the ground.

"Whatever you thought you could achieve by challenging me, you’re still a long way from it."

Leon’s fingers tightened around the sword.

He pushed himself upward.

The muscles in his arm strained.

For an instant, he managed to lift his knee from the ground.

Then the sand shifted beneath him.

"!!"

His footing disappeared completely as the ground rolled beneath his boot, forcing his knee back into the sand.

Leon immediately changed his approach.

Rather than continuing to push straight up, he drove his sword deeper and shifted his weight towards the opposite side, trying to use the blade as an anchor while pulling his trapped leg free.

The sand tightened around his ankle, and he sank further.

Leon clenched his teeth, and another star faded from his eyes.

The grains around him scattered.

He moved.

His knee lifted several centimeters—

"Ukeh!"

And the sand simply returned.

It poured over his boot, climbed his shin, and spread beneath his other foot before he could establish his balance.

Leon tried to pull himself up again, but no matter what he did, the ground continued to move beneath him.

All Leon could do was remain on his knees.

And eventually⎯

A pair of feet stopped before him.

A voice followed.

"...This is how it should be."