My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 40

§ 40 – A Thousand Years of Waiting (1)

A voice?

No, it wasn’t a voice.

Rather than a voice, it felt as if a will was directly imprinted into his brain.

Sian turned his head sharply, unable to even gauge the direction of this strange sensation.

And Sian was able to face a certain woman.

No, could he even call her a woman?

The appearance itself was clearly that of a woman.

Long silver hair and a captivating appearance.

It exuded a mystical aura along with a dreamy atmosphere.

However, the form was blurry, making it difficult to definitively call her a person.

Above all, an aura of jet-black, darker than darkness itself, was being emitted around her.

A terrible death wish was felt within it.

It was an evil will in which the nature of magic power was corrupted by madness.

Therefore, that was a person, but not a person.

A being that was alive, but not alive.

A wraith.

That was a wraith that had died and disappeared.

-You… what are you…

She muttered the same words towards Sian.

And in the blink of an eye for Sian.

Whooong!

Her existence instantly came right up to Sian’s nose.

Her eyes visible right in front of his nose.

Her eyes, reflected under the light, were a deep grayish-white.

It was as if two tombstones were embedded in her face, with no sign of life to be found at all.

The muscles stiffened.

The sharply defined spirit binds the body.

She floated in the air, circling around Sian.

-How… how do you know Kyle’s appearance…?

The will imprinted in his brain.

The fear that paralyzes the mind.

-Answer me!!!

The bursting forth of ghostly energy makes consciousness drift far away.

Sian gritted his teeth, holding onto his departing consciousness.

Then, he drew his S-rank sword and swung it forward as if scattering light.

Clang!

A roar erupted from the place where the darkness split.

The collision of invisible forces tore through the air.

Sian quickly stepped back, readjusting his grip on the sword.

She spewed endless death wishes towards Sian.

The silent darkness stretched out, engulfing the space of the hall.

Right then.

“W-what is it…?”

Aria’s voice was heard from one side.

Aria was looking this way with a bewildered expression.

But without time to resolve the question.

The encroaching darkness covered Aria.

Aria stretched her hand forward.

Whoaaaaaaa!!!

A pure white light burst forth, beginning to drive away the encroaching darkness.

An absolute power that drives away darkness.

Because of that, Sian’s magic power began to boil, but Sian forcibly suppressed it.

Now was not the time to worry about such things.

Light and darkness intertwined, biting at each other’s necks.

But that was only for a moment.

Kiyaaaaaaaaak!!!

A chilling ghostly scream was heard, and the encroaching death energy began to intensify.

The swallowed darkness constantly bloomed.

At the end of it, the light of divine power began to fade.

“No way!”

Aria shouted.

Drawing up even more divine power, she resisted the blooming darkness.

But she couldn’t stop the blooming darkness.

“H-how can there be this much death wish…!

“Snap out of it!”

Clang!

Aria’s mind snapped back at the roaring sound erupting right in front of her.

Right in her view.

There, Sian was blocking Aria’s path, confronting the blooming darkness.

Clang! Clang!

Every time Sian swung his sword, the darkness split.

“H-how…?”

Aria stared with wide eyes at the sight.

She knew what kind of power that darkness possessed.

She had just experienced it.

The darkness that even swallowed her divine power.

Sian was warding off that terrible darkness with just a sword.

Crack!

Sian cut down the surging darkness.

He was using the power of the aura possessed by the S-rank sword.

But this terrible death wish was on a different level from ordinary death wishes.

An evil will that could not be purified even with divine power.

But no matter how terrible the death wish, its essence was darkness.

In the end, it was magic power based on magic energy.

And the Demon Soul Asura Sword that Sian was using.

It was a swordsmanship that dealt with magic energy.

Therefore, Sian was able to confront this darkness to some extent.

But.

“Kugh…!

There was a clear limit to that as well.

“I can’t hold out for long! Don’t just stand there and do something!”

Aria immediately took action at Sian’s cry.

The saintess with the strongest divine power in the history of the Holy Empire.

A pure white light rose above Aria’s hand.

Like that, little by little, after some time, it began to form a radiance.

Soon, as Aria reached out her hand.

The radiance split through space, driving away the encroaching darkness all at once.

Kwakwakwakwang!!

At the same time, an explosion was heard.

It seemed that the vengeful spirit was also swept away by the light of radiance.

Could it really be Muriel’s reincarnation?

It was truly an enormous divine power.

Only then could Sian catch his breath.

“What’s going on… No, what is that? I’ve never seen a being with such a terrible death wish. Why is a being with such a death wish in this hall…?”

Aria was quite confused.

Sian spoke towards such Aria.

“It seems to be a wraith guarding the hall.”

“A wraith guarding the hall?”

Aria tilted her head slightly.

Then, as if she suddenly remembered.

Aria shouted with wide eyes.

“Could it be… the wraith who is waiting for the man who left?”

Aria asked again with a shocked expression.

“Was that just a made-up story?”

“I don’t know.”

“… What?”

Aria tilted her head once again at Sian’s answer.

“You just said it was a wraith guarding the hall, right?”

“It’s true that it’s a wraith guarding the hall. But it’s not certain whether it’s the wraith in the story that His Highness the Crown Prince told.”

“What does that… No, then you knew that this wraith existed? How?”

“Well…”

The mobile lord said there was a wraith here in the quest.

Sian didn’t bother to say the rest.

Sian readjusted his grip on the sword.

The wraith appeared like a ghost.

Because of that, things progressed abruptly.

But that was all.

Anyway, he was trying to find the wraith.

According to the contents of the quest, he had to defeat that wraith in order to obtain Kyle’s legacy.

“It’s coming.”

“Coming? What is?”

Right then.

-How… how…

The wraith’s form was faintly visible in the view ahead.

“No way! It wasn’t annihilated even after being hit by Shining Ray…?”

Aria looked surprised with wide eyes.

From the looks of it, the divine power that Aria used just now seemed to be of a quite high level.

Even so, the wraith was not annihilated.

It was obvious how terrible the death energy of that wraith was without even saying it.

It was truly a vengeful spirit of death.

-How do you know Kyle’s appearance…?”

The vengeful spirit muttered once again.

And the vengeful spirit had been repeating the same words since earlier.

How Sian knew Kyle’s appearance.

At first glance, it was an understandable question.

Because there was no one on the continent who knew Kyle’s appearance.

-Everyone who knew Kyle’s real appearance is dead…?”

Therefore, the vengeful spirit’s question could be said to be natural.

But.

‘Why?’

Sian could feel a small sense of incongruity in that appearance.

Why is the vengeful spirit so obsessed with the name Kyle?

Now that he thought about it, the vengeful spirit appeared immediately after Sian discovered the mural depicting Kyle’s appearance.

What is the relationship between the vengeful spirit and Kyle?

If so, to react so much to knowing his real appearance─.

Wait a minute.

‘Could this be…?’

At that moment, a thought flashed through Sian’s mind.

-I’ve been waiting here, but no one, no one has recognized Kyle’s appearance…? How do you…?”

The vengeful spirit kept muttering while looking at Sian.

Various emotions flashed through her grayish-white eyes.

Confusion, embarrassment, longing, affection.

Numerous emotions that could not be expressed arose and disappeared.

However, Sian could see two distinct emotions within it.

Anger.

And hatred.

Therefore.

“…!”

Sian was finally able to realize the truth.

Right then.

“You! You seem to be mistaken about something. We are not the man you were waiting for!”

Aria stepped forward and shouted.

It seemed that she was convinced that the vengeful spirit was the wraith in the story Conrad told.

-Who are you…

The vengeful spirit turned its gaze and looked at Aria.

Madness that seemed to be squeezed out of every single cell was felt.

It forced death upon those who faced it.

But Aria was not at all intimidated and shouted.

“And that man is already dead. He’s not coming back!”

-What do you know!!!

Kwakwakwakwakwa!!

In the complete curtain of darkness where even the leaking light was obscured.

Death wishes surged blackly, as if painting over the undulating darkness.

At the same time, light burst forth from Aria’s entire body.

An enormous divine power that drove away the darkness all at once.

The vengeful spirit’s death wish was hideous.

But Aria was the one with the strongest divine power in the history of the Holy Empire.

She was the one who was chosen by the Zodiac Sword, surpassing Kai and Panate [Two legendary figures known for their divine power].

Aria shot a wave of light towards the vengeful spirit.

Light and darkness intertwined.

The two forces that did not back down even an inch coveted each other.

And.

“Heuk…!

It was none other than Aria who was pushed back at the end of that fight.

That was because that vengeful spirit was not a simple vengeful spirit.

A vengeful spirit who had spent at least hundreds of years filled with resentment.

No matter how much Aria was called Muriel’s reincarnation [Referring to Aria’s potential as a reincarnation of a powerful figure].

It was difficult to confront that vengeful spirit.

The blooming darkness began to drive away the light.

-Die…! Die…!”

The vengeful spirit’s vicious malice bloomed.

Aria gritted her teeth, drawing up her divine power.

And.

Sian, who was watching the scene.

Sian quietly looked at the vengeful spirit.

According to Conrad.

The vengeful spirit guarding the hall had never shown its face in the past.

But when Sian found the mural depicting Kyle’s real appearance.

The vengeful spirit finally revealed its appearance.

And asked how Sian knew Kyle’s appearance.

It’s not certain.

But if Conrad’s words were true.

And if the fairy tale that Conrad told him was true.

Thus, if that vengeful spirit was the woman in that story.

The truth that all of these things point to is one.

“Kyle.”

Apparently.

“You were… waiting for Kyle here.”

#

Flinch.

The vengeful spirit’s body shook greatly at Sian’s words.

At the same time, the darkness noticeably weakened.

Aria did not miss this opportunity and gathered her divine power to the maximum.

But.

“Don’t.”

Sian stopped such Aria.

“W-what did you say?”

Aria opened her eyes in surprise and continued.

“That wraith is stronger than you think! Even I can’t handle it! We have to get rid of it when we have the chance!”

He knew.

That vengeful spirit was an existence covered in terrible malice.

It was already in a state of madness, covered in madness.

Therefore, he had to get rid of it when he had the chance, as Aria said.

Above all, he had to defeat that wraith in order to obtain Kyle’s legacy.

But.

“Don’t.”

For some reason, Sian kept stopping Aria.