Chapter 256
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[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]Thi/s chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.co/m
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Market street.
Noubelmag’s workshop.
Clang-
The intermittent sound of a hammer ceased.
Noubelmag wiped the sweat flowing down and stopped his work.
Once he focused, he could devote himself to work for at least half a day, but the disturbance that occurred a few minutes ago ate away at his concentration.
‘What’s the commotion about?’
After a few shouts, most of the security guards guarding the market street headed somewhere in a hurry.
The market street fell silent.
Most of the shops had closed their doors, so the surroundings were completely quiet.
...If only Nyhill were here, she would have reported what was happening.
Unfortunately, she had been helping with work all afternoon and left about an hour ago.
Chin-
In the end, Noubelmag picked up the connector stuck in the corner of the workshop.
It was given by Yussi a while ago.
Although he rarely used it because it was cumbersome to operate.
“Damn it, why is this happening again?”
It’s dead.
Noubelmag, who was looking at the black screen from side to side, picked up the connector again.
...Then he glanced at the water artifacts scattered throughout the workshop.
They were the latest ones that had been refilled after being partially blown away by an explosion some time ago.
After confirming the sufficient supply that could withstand dozens of demons rushing in, his tension eased.
Noubelmag chuckled and shook his head.
‘Damn, this is not the time... I’m getting more fearful as I get older.’
Noubelmag picked up the hammer again and looked at the sacred stone and “God’s Gaze” on the workbench.
The time for the leader to return was approaching.
But he hadn’t yet extracted the sacred power from all the sacred stones and relics.
The sacred stones and relics provided by the academy had undergone the extraction and amplification of divine power and had been applied to the God’s Gaze, but new stocks purchased by Yussi had arrived.
He would have to stay up for a few more nights.
‘...The more, the better, the more certain.’
Noubelmag thought of the face of the Hero.
He often thought so when the work was tough.
‘A deadline, what nonsense.’
Fragmented images flashed through his mind.
The face checking the armor before going to the dangerous battlefield.
The expression when losing comrades and surviving alone.
The noble joy shown after saving lives at the end of a struggle.
People who didn’t know the Hero well often described him as an unbreakable iron man despite numerous hardships.
But Noubelmag, who had watched the Hero for a long time, knew that he was just human.
Just a human being.
A selfless and strong human being who loved the happiness of others more than his own life.
‘Someone is trying to leave already.’
He was someone who should enjoy more.
[PR/N: Bro he already left..... He will never be able to see it.....]
He had to see more possibilities on the happiness he had protected.
Clang-!
The sound of the hammer resounded again.
Clang-!
Intermittent noise interspersed with it, something strange was next.
...Thud.
Noubelmag looked towards the entrance of the workshop.
Thud-
Thud-
Thud-
He walked as if wriggling like a snake.
The shadow under the forge stretched long over the old man.
Eyes trembling with faint excitement.
He passed by Noubelmag as is and headed towards the workbench.
‘...Ha.’
There was no need for further explanation.
However, the old man instinctively understood how the situation was unfolding.
Countless emotions rose and sank on his wrinkled face.
A brief silence followed.
“How?”
“I drew it.”
The answer was straightforward.
While the God’s Gaze was being improved.
He had visited Noubelmag’s workshop several times for a simple experiment.
From the entrance to the interior of the workshop.
He had already memorized the layout and structure of the workshop where the artifacts were guarding.
It was simple to make it inoperable.
Just draw it with a few essential parts missing.
The connector, always placed in the same location unused, was no exception.
To Dante, it was an easy way to expose.
“God’s Gaze, wouldn’t it be better to keep it in Noubelmag’s workshop while the research continues? Humans may be deceived, but machines are not.”
Noubelmag’s expression distorted, recalling memories from a while ago.
“Right, it’s a damn useful ability.”
At this, Dante burst into laughter, bending down to his waist.
“I agree.”
Meanwhile, Noubelmag slowly reached behind.
Continuing to talk to prevent Dante from noticing.
“Why?”
“Why?”
What’s so funny, Dante laughed again.
“Haha, why not?”
Laughter echoing throughout the workshop.
Noubelmag’s hand moved a little further.
‘Just a bit more. Just a bit more.’
Fortunately, Dante seemed to have little interest in him.
“It’s strange. When people do good deeds, they don’t ask for reasons.”
It was none other than Dante who brought documents from the First Age and presented the “God’s Gaze improvement project” to the members.
Pushing forth a noble cause that his own treatment could be postponed for the sake of the Hero’s treatment, no one questioned it.
Such irrational thinking seemed natural.
“But when it comes to evil deeds, they ask for reasons more diligently. Why are you doing this? Why?”
“......”
“Do you wish evil to be complex? You know that it’s often not the case.”
As Dante’s voice became calm when the speech ended, it became thin and low.
Noubelmag felt a greater threat from him than when he burst into laughter.
‘What on earth is that?’
No emotion could be discerned from his empty pupils.
Only instinctual malice was revealed along with a serene smile.
His laughter exuded an eerie rigidity like a broken doll.
“Just. For fun. Without any particular reason. Because I like it. Because I don’t like the other party. Mostly like that.”
“... Have you finished babbling?”
“What?”
“You’ve finished babbling, you son of a bitch.”
Noubelmag pressed the hidden button on the wall.
Clunk-
As the mechanical sound reverberated in his ears, Noubelmag grabbed the staff on the workbench and prostrated himself on the floor.
“What!?”
As the wall opened, revealing the water artifacts, before Dante could react, dozens of magic bullets rushed in, fragmenting everything in their path with a roar.
The workshop was engulfed in intense vibrations, smoke, and flames.
Even a large demon couldn’t withstand the attack....It was an attack a scrawny painter who could only ‘draw’ things could not withstand.
“......”
“Before it’s too late.”
Ssueeueeuug-
They all heard an alien sound in their ears at that moment.
Ssueeueeuug-
The sound of a brush sliding on a canvas.
The sound of a brush moistened with enough paint drawing a moist line.
A soft scraping sound.
Noubelmag, Labin, and Nyhill approached the window without hesitation, looking out to find the source of the sound.
No one could speak.
“......”
Ssueeueeuug-
It wasn’t a sound that was unpleasant to hear, but it felt eerie, as if it paralyzed the whole body along the spine.
They didn’t know, but they weren’t the only ones hearing this sound.
The sound forcibly resonated in the ears of all humans in Rosenstark.
Noubelmag’s mouth opened slightly.
“Damn it, it’s already too late.”
Labin, the first to turn his head from Dante’s painting, muttered quietly as he headed straight for the workshop door.
“I’ll hold him off.”
It would be a long and harsh night.
* * *
Thud-
Dante hummed as he climbed the hill.
It was a hill overlooking the center of Rosenstark that Leciel had introduced him to.
Below it.
Forces to capture him were converging like ants finding a cake.
It didn’t matter.
By the time they arrived, the painting would already be complete.
There was enough paint, and what he wanted to paint was clear.
It wouldn’t take long.
Dante raised the God’s Gaze.
A vast vitality began to flow through his body.
Swoosh.
From the long, straight strokes of the brush came a light sound, as if a gentle breeze were rustling feathers.
From the sharp, short strokes came a sharp sound, as if flames were burning.
As expected, the painting was quickly finished.
“Why did you join the Dawn Knights?”
“I wanted to paint you. The shining moment of the hero.”
“...What a worthless reason.”
Scratch-
As the paint dried, the brush made a rough scraping sound against the canvas.
It felt like nails biting into the floor.
“...Do you think the hero will recover from his injuries sooner than expected?”
“Yeah, and it seems he’s found a way to become even stronger than before. Should we continue to wait?”
“......”
Dante told the demons the exact opposite of what he had heard.
Literally the exact opposite.
He told them that the hero would recover from his injuries quickly.
Just to make them impatient.
‘...A deadline?’
The hero must not deteriorate so easily.
Dante didn’t think that way because he had special affection for the hero.
It just didn’t fit.
Such an ending didn’t suit him.
‘It must not become a mediocre work.’
The culprits may not understand, but to him, the world was a painting.
Everything had its own colors and meanings.
But that didn’t mean everyone’s importance was the same.
Some shone brightly, while others didn’t even seem to exist.
Confessing, Dante had chased only that light all his life.
All relationships were tools for his art.
If the light wasn’t visible, it was worthless.
Not even friends, lovers, or even parents.
They were all just light and inspiration, light and inspiration.
When his life was left with only faded canvases, sketches, and messy traces of paint.
‘I got to know the leader.’
Ted Redymer was... more than anything, a strong flame.
He had to burn.
As a torch of this dark age.
He had to burn himself into ashes.
‘So I prepared.’
Increasing the efficiency of divine power or improving the God’s Gaze were all meaningless stories.
Because repairing a broken vessel of life was impossible.
The documents of the First Era that Dante showed his comrades were lies.
‘If it’s here... I can burn satisfactorily.’
There were many things the leader wanted to protect in Rosenstark.
When darkness fell upon them.
How would Ted Redymer shine?
Swoosh-
The sharp creaking accompanied the brush strokes eerily.
But Dante didn’t stop moving his jittery hands.
Even when the uninvited guests arrived faster than expected, he didn’t turn around.
He just greeted them casually.
“Hello, Leciel.”
Behind him, a strong aura and bloodlust were felt.
Considering that it was emitted by a girl who hadn’t even reached twenty, it was simply amazing.
If they had met a little later, surely the desire to make Leciel the ‘lead actress’ would have blossomed.
“Now. What are you doing?”
“What am I doing...?”
Before he could answer, Leciel’s sword energy shot out sharply.
It wasn’t enough to kill Dante, who was using all his concentrated vitality and maximizing his prayers.
Hmmmmm-
The sword energy, intertwined with the scenery in his mind, quickly dissipated.
Dante replied with a slight smile.
“As always, art.”
“...Art?”
Creating an immortal masterpiece with finite and insignificant life.
If this wasn’t art, what was?
Scratch-
Dante shook his arms convulsively, completing the final brushstroke.
His thin hands, like dry branches, fell weakly.
Even the strength to stand was gone, and Dante collapsed onto the fallen leaves on the ground.
The staff without light rolled beside him.
However, his expression was filled with intense joy and awe.
“Ah... it’s complete.”
He was no less than the father of all the scenes that would unfold.
Now, all that was left was for the main characters to appear.
Dante reached out his hand toward the sky with a wide smile.
“Come.”
In the hazy darkness.
The outline of a skull drawn with black and rough lines slowly revealed itself.
The empty eye sockets in the helmet contained Rosenstark.
The one who extinguishes the light.
Yol.
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[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
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