My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 264

264. A Worthy Death

“Cyan!! Cyan!!!”

Aria, her platinum blonde hair flying, rushed towards the fallen Cyan.

Cyan was trembling, his body spasming.

Like someone having a seizure, his body convulsed relentlessly.

His eyes, rolled back, showed no sign of consciousness.

Dark red blood gushed from every pore on his body.

It was different. Different from the Cyan she had always known.

Aria had seen Cyan overload while facing Rushuria in the past.

She had witnessed the wondrous spectacle and the subsequent collapse.

But this was different. It wasn’t the same as before.

This was… this was…

Fwoosh!!

Blood erupted from Cyan’s convulsing body.

The dark, dead blood bubbled up like a volcano around Cyan’s mouth.

Blood splattered onto Aria’s face.

Her beautiful platinum blonde hair was stained with blood.

He’s dying.

Aria’s pale face turned even paler.

“Ah… Aaa…”

The intense shock prevented her thoughts from flowing normally.

But Aria gritted her teeth, shaking off the shock.

At the same time, she drew upon her divine power.

She knew Cyan hated divine power.

She also knew he would recoil in horror at the mere sight of it.

But this was no time to worry about such things.

Waaaaaaah!

Aria placed her hands over Cyan’s body.

The brilliant light of divinity flowed from Aria’s hands into Cyan.

Shudder.

Cyan’s convulsions intensified.

His convulsing body began to thrash like a fish out of water.

It was a rejection.

Aria hesitated but didn’t stop.

The blood spurting out was noticeably decreasing.

His body was slowly recovering thanks to the divine power.

Fwoosh!

Just a little bit.

It was a powerful divinity that could save him if he didn’t die.

Yet, Cyan’s condition showed no signs of improvement.

Aria drew upon even more divine power.

Each time, the blood pouring from Cyan decreased.

Drip.

Each time, the same amount of blood poured from Aria.

“Please… please…!”

Aria didn’t stop her desperate prayers to the gods.

Waaaaaaah!

The light of divine power didn’t fade.

But Cyan’s condition didn’t improve significantly.

Was this what it felt like to pour water into a bottomless pit?

No matter how much divine power she poured, no matter how much she poured out, it was endless.

Wobble.

Aria’s vision blurred, and a dizzying sensation washed over her.

Yet, Aria didn’t withdraw her divine power.

Just then.

[Stop.]

A voice like thunder echoed.

Following that, Kwoong…! A massive tremor shook the area as Karze appeared before Aria.

“Please… please… please…”

However, Aria only muttered like a madwoman.

Karze stared at Aria before taking action.

At this rate, even the mighty child of divinity would collapse.

Karze gently raised a forepaw and lightly waved it.

At the same time, golden magic erupted, binding and extinguishing the divine power.

“What… what is this…?”

Only then was Aria able to regain her senses.

She whipped her head up, her gaze darting around.

Aria could see Ruben’s soldiers and the beastmen surrounding her.

And she could also sense Karze’s presence, the one who had interfered.

“What… what are you doing right now!”

Aria raised her voice at Karze.

However, Karze didn’t release the magic that suppressed Aria.

[Your divinity is not compatible with this child. It’s not something that can be healed with divinity in the first place.]

“You won’t know until you try! So release me right now!”

Aria unleashed her divine power, shaking her restrained body.

But she couldn’t break free.

[The recovery of the body is meaningless to this child. The vessel of this child’s existence has collapsed.]

The two elements that constitute existence, the soul (魂) [spiritual essence] and the body (魄) [physical form].

Although not exact concepts, the soul (魂) could be said to be the spirit.

And the body (魄) could be said to be the physical form.

Among them, it was the soul that defined existence.

It was none other than the soul (魂).

You could see it from the demon lords just now.

The demon lords’ bodies belonged to others, but their souls were those of demon lords.

A situation where the soul (魂) and the body (魄) were different.

However, they could be defined as demon lords.

As long as the soul (魂) that defined existence was alive, the existence wouldn’t die even if it died.

That was why the demon lords didn’t die no matter how damaged their bodies were.

Thus, Cyan had dealt a fatal blow to the demon lords’ souls (魂).

And Cyan had also suffered a fatal blow to his own soul (魂).

In this situation, no matter how much you recovered the body (魄), the physical form, it would be meaningless.

Because the soul that defined existence had suffered a great blow.

The vessel of existence had been shattered.

Therefore, there was only one way to heal Cyan.

To reattach the collapsed soul, the shattered vessel.

And that was impossible.

You could burn firewood to ignite an inferno that would last for eons.

But you couldn’t turn ashes back into firewood.

That was something that couldn’t happen in this isolated world.

The absolute law of cause and effect that no one could defy.

But perhaps Aria’s divine power could make it possible?

No.

Karze could resolutely shake his head.

[Even Muriel couldn’t do it.]

That was something only a god (神) [deity] could do.

Therefore, Aria’s actions were meaningless.

But why?

“So. So what if it is!”

Aria didn’t lose her spirit.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s meaningless! You won’t know until you try!”

She didn’t give up on her will to save Cyan.

“So release me right now!!!”

Aria didn’t stop struggling.

Karze quietly watched the struggling Aria.

At the same time, a very old memory flashed through his mind.

An event from a thousand years ago.

But an event that was no different from now.

‘H-How… How is there no way…? Karze?’

Yes, back then too.

It was like this back then.

At the time, Muriel had despaired.

At the fact that there was no way, that nothing had any meaning.

‘Ah… Ah…’

Muriel had despaired before him.

But now, a thousand years later.

“Release me right now!!!”

Aria didn’t despair.

No, she might have despaired.

But she didn’t stop her meaningless struggles.

Muriel, who despaired.

Aria, who struggled.

In Karze’s eyes, Aria… resembled Muriel in many ways.

It was no joke, he even wondered if Muriel had been reincarnated.

They were so alike that he even thought so.

So Karze had been secretly thinking of Aria as Muriel.

But now, that thought had changed a little.

“You lizard bastard!!!”

First of all, her personality was….

Karze unknowingly let out a hollow laugh.

At that moment.

Paang—! With a sound, Karze’s magic wavered.

At the same time, the magic that bound Aria disappeared.

Aria, freed from the suppression, immediately drew upon her divine power.

She unhesitatingly pushed the drawn-up divine power into Cyan.

And this time, Karze didn’t stop it.

He simply watched the scene in silence.

Same situation, same limitations.

Muriel despaired in this situation, but Aria chose to struggle.

Is a descendant… just a descendant?

Aria was a completely different being from Muriel.

He didn’t know what moved Aria.

But Aria was making a different choice from her.

And that was why there was a possibility of creating a different result from them.

“Is there… is there really no way?”

In an instant, a voice reached Karze.

Looking there, a human was asking Karze.

The territory called Ruben, led by Cyan.

Was he the one called the captain of the guard of that territory?

The memory of Cyan calling that human Lucas briefly flashed through Karze’s mind.

Lucas was asking Karze with a desperate expression.

Behind him, the soldiers of Ruben were also looking at Karze with earnest expressions.

“Is there no way to save our lord… our lord?”

Lucas continued to ask.

Karze slowly opened his mouth.

[There is one. There is a single way.]

Lucas looked startled at Karze’s words.

With wide eyes, he approached Karze.

[This child’s soul is collapsing. There is no way to reattach a completely collapsed soul, but…]

Karze continued, looking at Lucas.

[The process of collapse can be stopped.]

“How… how can we do it?”

[The reason this child’s soul is collapsing is simple. Unbearable magic power. To be precise, it is because he possesses power that the laws of this world cannot handle.]

The stern laws of the world do not allow contradictory phenomena.

And currently, Cyan’s existence itself was nothing short of a contradiction.

The vessel of a human could contain it.

He had exceeded the allowable limit of the world’s defined limits.

To be precise, there was no cause (因) [yin] that matched the effect (果) [guo].

Your existence should not be in this world.

Therefore, Cyan’s existence was in the process of collapsing due to the will of the world.

[However, if the limits are newly adjusted… if a cause (因) [yin] that matches the effect (果) [guo] is given, the process of collapse can be stopped.]

The soul, whose collapse has stopped, will gradually, very slowly, undergo a process of recovery.

And there is only one way.

[A new vessel for the soul to settle in.]

Cyan’s soul could be settled in a vessel with newly adjusted limits.

Thus, by going beyond the cause (因) [yin] that matches the effect (果) [guo], a new law of the world could be created.

A complete soul and a law in itself.

[However, the existence that becomes the target will inevitably face death.]

The price was the death of the sacrificed existence.

In other words, Cyan’s death could be postponed through the sacrifice of another existence.

Therefore, it was a difficult decision to make.

“I will. I will do it.”

However, Lucas answered without hesitation.

No, it wasn’t just Lucas.

Numerous soldiers and knights of Ruben.

“No. I will do it.”

“If it weren’t for the lord… I would have been eaten by monsters in the Dark Forest long ago. I will do it.”

“Would it only be eaten by monsters? I would have died miserably without even knowing the joy of living.”

They were all volunteering to sacrifice themselves.

Karze quietly watched them.

Survival is an absolute instinct engraved in living beings.

And the human species that Karze had seen had an even stronger instinct.

They betray their own kind to live.

They stab their own kind in the back to survive.

But these people were different.

“If I can die for the lord, then so be it.”

“Life is not precious at all.”

They were rejecting that absolute instinct themselves.

Humans hadn’t changed in a thousand years or now.

These were different results from the humans Karze had seen.

But.

[Impossible.]

Karze resolutely shook his head.

Just as people were about to ask the reason.

[Because they cannot withstand it.]

Karze opened his mouth again.

Of course, even at the time of Kyle’s death a thousand years ago, he didn’t not know this method.

But he couldn’t do it.

It would be more accurate to say that he couldn’t.

[As I said, the reason this child’s soul is collapsing is because of the power that the world cannot handle.]

The magic of transcendence. Cyan’s soul was collapsing as a price for containing that immense power.

And although the soul (魂) [spiritual essence] is the essence of existence.

The composition of existence is clearly made up of the soul (魂) [spiritual essence] and the body (魄) [physical form].

And the magic of transcendence that Cyan possessed still remained in the body (魄) [physical form].

It was lingering in Cyan’s body.

Therefore, even if a new vessel was created, it would only be for a short time.

If they couldn’t withstand the magic power remaining in the body (魄) [physical form], they would break and collapse again.

That was why he had concluded that it was impossible.

Because it didn’t exist in the world.

A vessel that could withstand Kyle’s magic a thousand years ago.

And now, a vessel that could withstand Cyan’s magic.

Not even any of the Arnice could contain Kyle.

Only one existence.

Except for the dragon, Karze.

The ultimate life form that reigns over all things, the dragon.

Among them, the heart called the Dragon Heart.

It could contain an infinite amount of magic power.

It could easily contain the magic power that even the laws of the world could not handle.

However, Karze a thousand years ago couldn’t do it.

Kyle’s collapse was more terrible than Cyan’s now.

The assumed figures were different.

Even so, he could do it if he wanted to.

But Karze didn’t.

First, Karze had no reason to sacrifice himself for Kyle.

Second, even if he wanted to sacrifice himself, he couldn’t.

Karze a thousand years ago was too young.

He was just a hatchling, a baby dragon who hadn’t been born for more than a few decades.

The Dragon Heart contains infinite magic power.

But that didn’t apply to a newly born hatchling.

And when he tried to find other dragons, they had all been hunted by demons.

Karze was the only dragon left on the continent.

And a thousand years ago or now.

Karze was still the last dragon left on the continent.

But there was a big difference from then.

A newly born hatchling.

And the big difference of being a thousand-year-old ancient dragon.

Karze’s gaze slowly turned.

Cyan, who was slowly collapsing.

Aria was continuing to push in divine power.

Aria herself would know the meaninglessness, but she didn’t stop.

Aria didn’t care about the blood smeared all over her mouth.

[······]

Karze’s thoughts deepened.

A thousand years of time.

It was truly, truly a long time.

And what Karze felt in that long time was inertia.

The meaninglessness of fate that doesn’t change even if you struggle.

That’s how Karze was dying.

Because the death of existence was the same as the end.

Karze didn’t find meaning at the end of his approaching life.

Because everything ends when you die.

Because he didn’t care about what happened after that.

He thought there was no such thing as a worthy death.

But why?

The absolute demon who he thought would never fall had fallen.

Things that he thought were impossible had finally come to reality.

And all of these things started from the death a thousand years ago.

Meaningless effort. A will like a struggle.

That small cause (因) [yin] had created the current effect (果) [guo].

‘The fate of cause and effect. It was always an object of fear and awe. But if you understand the process, you can create the result.’

He didn’t believe it. He resolutely shook his head, saying it was impossible.

But now.

Whoooooo….

Karze took a deep breath.

A great storm arose with the breath he took.

The thought that it was a foolish choice… still hadn’t changed.

He still knew that fate hadn’t changed and that it was just a temporary deviation.

Karze looked at the dying Cyan.

But if it’s you. Yes, if it’s you.

Golden magic power enveloped Karze’s entire body.

At the same time, a stream of magic power connected to Cyan and began to burst in all directions.

Aria, who was injecting divine power, looked startled.

She whipped her head up and looked at Karze for a moment.

“What are you doing….”

Aria unknowingly widened her eyes.

The trembling of Cyan, who was wrapped in golden magic power, was slowly subsiding.

It was a convulsion that didn’t even react to the squeezed-out divine power.

But it was gradually, little by little, fading away with the golden magic power.

And gradually, she could feel a huge presence from Cyan.

“Could it be….”

Aria widened her eyes once more and looked at Karze.

Karze’s entire body was also wrapped in brilliant golden light.

But it was different from Cyan.

Cyan’s presence was gradually increasing.

On the other hand, the overwhelming presence that had been felt from Karze was slowly fading.

Karze quietly raised his gaze and looked at Cyan.

‘I will break this broken chain of fate.’

It was a long time ago, and it was something that had failed.

The existence that shouted boldly had finally succumbed to the fate of mortality (必滅) [inevitable destruction] and perished.

But why do I have this thought now?

If, if Kyle hadn’t tried it back then.

If he had chosen life instead of death, could the current result have come out?

If the Arnice had survived in an ugly way.

Could the peaceful continent of today exist?

Maybe… maybe that’s why.

That’s why the Arnice have not disappeared for a thousand years.

It was a name that had already died and disappeared a thousand years ago.

That’s why their existence is remembered forever.

And now, Karze’s death is approaching.

Karze will now die and disappear.

The last words Kyle left behind flashed through Karze’s mind.

‘Even if I can’t do it.’

Kyle couldn’t do it. The Arnice couldn’t do it either.

And Karze couldn’t do it either.

He couldn’t change this unchanging fate.

That’s how Karze was standing at the end of his life.

But why?

He didn’t feel that the life he had been so accustomed to was meaningless.

This choice now. This death now.

Through it, Karze’s will and existence will continue in Cyan’s existence, in his name.

Infinitely, eternally, generation after generation.

Just like the Arnice had done.

[How much….]

Is this a worthy death?

Kwaaaaaaaaah!

The magic of transcendence swirled around Cyan.

Karze fully contained that magic power in the Dragon Heart.

And he connected that power to Cyan.

He planted the will of the Dragon Heart in Cyan’s body.

Karze’s heart was thus engraved and solidified in Cyan’s existence.

On the other hand, Karze’s existence, whose heart had disappeared, was gradually fading.

Facing the death of existence, Karze proceeded with the last remaining procedure.

Dragons are different from ordinary living beings.

The unity of soul (魂) [spiritual essence] and body (魄) [physical form].

Dragons do not leave corpses even when they die.

They simply return to nature.

This was why there were no traces of dragons left on the continent.

And it was also why the only way to save Cyan was through a dragon.

The Dragon Heart that contains infinite magic power.

A vessel composed of the unity of soul (魂) [spiritual essence] and body (魄) [physical form].

That’s why Karze shouldn’t die as a dragon.

He had to give Cyan a soul (魂) [spiritual essence].

And he had to leave the body (魄) [physical form], the physical form, in this world so that the soul (魂) [spiritual essence] would not disappear.

Perhaps it would be a low-grade death as a dragon.

But he doesn’t hesitate.

It may be low-grade as a dragon.

But it would be more noble and valuable than any other death.

[I, Karze….]

Just like the Arnice left in this world.

Karze’s will will also remain here, in Cyan, and continue.

[I refuse to return to nature.]

Because I will be immortal (不滅) [undying] forever.