The Great Sword is not the Main Body!
Chapter 218 – Ancient Dragon, Sirinias (3)

Sirin was in poor condition.

On the surface, she looked unharmed, but internally, she was completely broken.

The divine power that had spread through her body like spilled paint gnawed away at her Aura like a parasite, and perhaps due to the reckless act of sending ‘Rubia’ back, all her vital energies had become twisted.

Simultaneously, even without taking any direct hits, her skin split and healed repeatedly. Her muscles tore and regenerated. The divine power that spread like mold through her meridians wreaked havoc inside her.

Worst of all for Sirin was the fact that the same [Law] that had bound ‘Rubia’s’ body was now intricately entangled around her own heart, where everything about her was contained.

Even so, Sirin kept moving.

She swung her greatsword to deflect another.

She scattered magic to dispel magic.

She exploded with mana to suppress Blood Aura, and with her [Decree], she forced the spirits to kneel.

Each time, the [Law] embedded in her heart tormented her, but it did not break her.

This kind of pain had persisted since the moment this world began anew, since the moment she had met ‘her’. It had become so familiar, it was practically a part of her.

But, 

Seeing the girl over there, gripping her greatsword with trembling hands, 

Watching her contort her face and hold back tears, 

That was a pain she wasn’t familiar with.

Sirin let out a dry laugh.

If she hadn’t broken the [Law] and helped the girl, just like ‘her’, the girl would be facing Sirin with a fierce glare.

If she hadn’t formed a bond and spent time together, they would’ve crossed blades with intent to kill.

If she had kept to the world’s [Law], doing whatever it took to maintain balance, the girl would have cut her down without hesitation.

If things had turned out that way, she wouldn’t be feeling this unbearable pain now.

Surely, that would’ve been better.

But somehow, she didn’t feel that way.

Why?

Because she pitied Noah?

Because even ‘she’ wasn’t enough, and she didn’t want to become another bad memory for Noah?

Or, 

Because the time spent with ‘her’ and with Noah had been so new, and so joyful?

She didn’t know.

And she didn’t want to know.

For someone like her, who had spent eternity alone, 

For someone who, since the moment she opened her eyes, had known nothing but the gears of the world, 

Such feelings were not meant to be experienced.

Whether knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or not, she had brought forth countless tragedies. For her, even this emotion felt like a luxury.

So Sirin only bit down her pain and laughed bitterly.

Yet, in battle, she didn’t go easy.

The more she thought of them, the more she cherished them, 

The more she loved them, 

The more violent and savage her attacks became.

Because that was the only atonement granted to her.

Because that was the only way to make Noah rise.

[Stop.]

Crunch, At Sirin’s [Decree], Carpeng’s body was driven into the earth. Moments later, 

Clang! 

Frey’s greatsword rushed in, only to be deflected as Sirin reached out with her other hand.

Craack!

Lightning shot from her fingertips, shattering the spirits’ arcane powers head-on. 

Zzzap! 

The residual current dyed the primordial spirits in black as they returned to the arms of the World Tree.

Sirin immediately stored her greatsword in a subspace and placed her now-free hand on her waist. She stepped forward. Twisting her waist with the momentum, she threw a punch.

…!

The wave of mana that erupted from her small fist, 

A colossal wave, incomparable to an ordinary dragon’s breath.

It began as a thin line, then expanded into a massive storm. To all beings of this world, it was an inescapable calamity. A death they could not run from.

But, 

“Hrrrgh!”

Slaaash. 

Before Frey’s greatsword, it was merely an obstacle in her way.

The horizontal slash carved through Sirin’s wave, even affecting the [Decree] that bound Carpeng’s body.

“Grgh…”

At last, Carpeng’s Blood Aura surged free. Every thread of Aura around her was laced with killing intent.

“You dumb bitch. How many times do I have to tell you, if I go first, follow after!”

Frey, wiping the cold sweat from her chin, scolded Carpeng as she caught her breath and fixed her stance.

Thump, thump. 

Carpeng pressed both palms to the ground. Her Blood Aura sharpened into claws and raked the dry ground with a harsh screech.

Then, crack! Her swelling Blood Aura compressed. The flickering energy took a complete form. Once, it had been vengeance for fallen comrades, murderous intent to destroy the world, and hatred that had dragged her into the hands of an evil god.

But now, 

It was hope for a new era.

A gentle hand meant to guide the hero of that new age.

“Not gonna fall for it anymore.”

With a low growl, Carpeng muttered her final words, 

Poof! 

Her body vanished, and the earth beneath her exploded outward. In an instant, Carpeng appeared before Sirin.

The Ancient Dragon gave her a [Decree].

[Stop.]

Crunch!

At her [Decree], the flow of the world bound Carpeng’s entire body. The Ancient Dragon’s force tried to seize even her breath, her blinks, her thoughts.

But, 

“I said I’m not falling for it!!”

Craack! 

With a savage roar and sheer will, Carpeng shattered the [Decree] encasing her.

She reclaimed her body’s freedom.

Then, Kra-kra-krack!

Her claws tore through space, racing toward Sirin’s neck.

A faint smile appeared on Sirin’s lips. A greatsword appeared in her right hand. In her other hand, claws of condensed mana, just like Carpeng’s, formed.

“You were right.”

Sirin’s body moved as she murmured someone’s name. Her greatsword swung upward, deflecting Carpeng’s claws. With her other hand gripping the hilt short like a club, she followed up with a strike to the knee like a flail.

As if she’d known all along, Sirin countered every move Carpeng had prepared and mercilessly swung her opposite hand.

Crunch.

Countless spells were infused into her claws as they sank into Carpeng’s nape. Agonizing pain seized Carpeng’s entire body, pain as if her nerves were being ripped apart and shredded. Crack, her arm bent at an impossible angle, and her hand, her claws, 

Slash.

Raked across Sirin’s shoulder, scattering bright red blood.

“Keuhahaha! I finally hit you!”

Even as blood spurted from the deep wound at her neck, Carpeng laughed in delight. Laughing, she slashed her claws again.

Each time, 

Slash! 

Blood sprayed from her neck and mixed with her Blood Aura, gurgle, thickening into an even denser flow.

The blood-formed aura shaped itself into claws and talons, surging toward Sirin with fury.

Through the relentless assault, Frey’s greatsword slipped in seamlessly. For something they’d only coordinated once, their combined assault was far too perfect.

Sirin’s smile deepened. Her softly curved lips parted.

[In the name of the Ancient Dragon, Sirinias, I command you.]

The voice that followed carried the will of the [Law] and declared it to the world.

[Prostrate yourselves.]

And then, 

…!

All things in the area bowed beneath Sirin’s feet.

Carpeng, Frey, the spirits, mana, air, sound, everything that made up the world bowed in the center of it all.

Sirin’s greatsword, now shaped like a guillotine, fell toward Carpeng’s neck.

At that moment, 

A pale hand swept through the air.

That single gesture created a ripple in the world where everything had stopped.

And then, 

Shhh…

A ripple caused by one human erased the [Decree] without a trace.

Immediately after, magic circles began to appear in the revived landscape.

Magic circles densely filled the sky.

What they held, 

Were great spells, the kind only those called geniuses among lifelong mages could draw.

There were easily thousands.

And all of them came from a single human.

From Serr.

This was not elemental manipulation mimicking magic, but true magic, woven purely from mana.

Serr, whose body had become linked with the spirit realm, could no longer hold mana.

And if one could not hold mana, they could not use magic.

That was a truth of this world, a [Law] completed through Sirin’s existence.

And yet, 

Serr was using magic.

She had performed a miracle that erased the [Decree] containing her true name.

Which meant, 

“You’ve paid the price.”

The spirit realm, 

“You’ve placed your life on the scale.”

Sirin’s pupils split.

The Ancient Dragon’s eyes, eyes that observed everything, looked to Serr.

“You’ve reached the foundation of the world. With no one’s help, using only your own strength.”

Sirin’s voice carried lamentation, surprise, and a touch of joy.

To that, Serr replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“For a genius, it’s only to be expected.”

“It is not something to be expected. Serr, what you did… it was a gamble with an extremely low chance of success. Had you failed to balance the scale… “

“A genius like me is incapable of making such a mistake.”

Serr interrupted, her voice manic with self-assuredness, an obsessive confidence in herself.

“Hah… hahaha… Right. You would never make such a mistake.”

With that, Sirin let out a self-deprecating laugh as she looked at Serr.

“Then, Serr. You have no regrets about your choice?”

“Regrets, huh…”

A faint smile crept onto Serr’s face, which until now had been subtly twisted.

At the same time, the great spells filling the sky activated.

And through the torrent of high-level magic raining down upon her, 

Sirin saw it.

Serr’s lips, barely moving.

The words they whispered.    

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