[Original Novel] Sword of the Heavenly Wind - Chapter 179

Chapter 10: The Window in the Sky, and Towards Each Morning
— Chapter 179: The Magic Cast Upon the Heart —

Light and heat race across the sky.
It is the massive destructive energy that Seiran unleashed at the very end.

“Louie! Everyone...!”

In that moment, Ciaran wished for four wings to sprout from her back.

If only I could become one of the Four Heavenly Kings...! I would stop Seiran’s shockwave—!

Though Ciaran vowed this, it did not mean that the Four Heavenly Kings could simply stop an opponent’s shockwave. Amber, who had absorbed it with his palm, was a unique case using his own specialized technique. Ciaran should have known this from her battles until now.
Now, in Ciaran’s hand, is the Shield of Aoi. She does not know how effective the Shield of Aoi will be against the shockwave unleashed by Seiran’s final burst of strength. However, in this moment, Ciaran was clinging to a slim hope of avoiding the crisis.

Please, give me strength—!

Just as she had when facing Onyx, Ciaran desperately longed to become one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

I don’t mind throwing away my happiness as a human...! If only everyone could be saved...!

The change she had feared so much, she now desired.
Hot blood surges through Ciaran’s body. Strength flows into her right hand holding the Sword of the Heavenly Wind, and her left hand holding the Shield of Aoi.

Father, grant your power to me as well—!

For the first time in her life, she prayed and pleaded with her father from the bottom of her heart.
Her soul trembled.
However, Ciaran’s body did not glow gold, nor did wings sprout.
Ciaran is stunned.

So, I am not one of the Four Heavenly Kings after all...

Ciaran, not being a purely demonic being, could not become one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Ciaran does not realize it. It was not just because of the critical situation that she wished for the change as a final hope.
Her interactions with Silgar, Citrine, and Amber had reduced her resistance to crossing that boundary.
Perhaps she had come to believe that no matter what kind of existence she became, she would still be herself, and she would surely be able to grasp her own form of happiness.
The Four Heavenly King to replace Seiran must have been born somewhere in this world at the very moment Seiran’s life ended.
Meanwhile, Kuroretsumaru, who had come very close to the Guardian Army’s camp, bounced his body greatly and quickly escaped from the shockwave.
Just as Seiran’s shockwave was about to strike the Guardian Army’s camp directly—

“What...!?”

The outline of the Guardian Army camp she could see distorted greatly. Then, a large hole opened up in space.
She gasps.

What is that...!

A mysterious, large hole had appeared in the path of the shockwave.

Goooooo...

It was strange.
Making an eerie sound, the shockwave was being sucked into the other side of the hole.

“The shockwave is... disappearing...!”

The shockwave of deep blue vanished in the blink of an eye.
The strange space swallowed the shockwave, which was emitting intense light, and then closed as abruptly as it had appeared.
The air fell silent. As if nothing had happened, the night sky returned to its snowy state.

"Everyone... are you... safe...?"

Ciaran's voice trembled.
The Guardian Army's camp also appeared unchanged.
Ciaran and Hanakonjo exchanged glances and let out sighs of relief.
A mysterious hole that appeared and vanished suddenly. Ciaran knew that this phenomenon was not a "Sky Window." Amalia had previously explained that a "Sky Window" was an energy-based change, not an actual hole opening in the sky.
Ciaran knew someone capable of creating such a hole or distortion in space.

One was Silgar.

Ciaran turned to look at Silgar.

"No. It was not me. In the first place, I do not have the ability to create space in a location away from myself."

If that was the case, then there was one other person—

The scenery wavered. The space very close to where the hole had just closed began to distort before their eyes.

It couldn't be—

"Hmm. That was quite a powerful shockwave—"

A slow, languid voice. Long, flowing black hair.

"Thanks to that, I've used up quite a bit of my magical power."

"Onyx—!"

Emerging from the newly formed hole in the air was Onyx, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
The Onyx who reappeared was not in his giant form, but the same size as a human. He had absorbed the deep blue shockwave into the space he created and digested its energy. It seemed that doing so had consumed a great deal of his power.

"I cannot have that woman or the Four Sages destroyed without my permission."

Onyx muttered as if spitting out the words.

That woman...?

He understood if he meant the Four Sages, but who was that woman—? Ciaran felt a doubt about Onyx's words.

"I will crush that woman myself...! I will break the unpleasant magic she cast on me with my own hands...!"

Onyx shouted, clearly irritated and looking as if he found it detestable.
Onyx did not know that Amalia was outside the Guardian Army's camp.

"Sever the magic cast upon you...? I find it hard to believe that a human could cast a sustained spell on one of the Four Heavenly Kings."

Silgar, appearing doubtful, questioned Onyx.

"It has been cast!"

Onyx shouted in frustration.

"Even after becoming one of the Four Heavenly Kings, you remain a man who talks too much and grates on my nerves, Silgar."

"I'm surprised such interesting magic exists. I wonder if you're just susceptible to human magic."

"You'll understand once it's cast on you! I hope it gets cast on you, too!"

"Why would it be me?"

Realizing he had been drawn in by Silgar and was talking too much himself, Onyx clamped his mouth shut.

"Onyx. Should I thank you for now? You saved me by absorbing that shockwave, even at the cost of your own strength."

Silgar had offered his thanks quite honestly.

"You are the last person I want to be thanked by!"

"Why only me?"

"Or rather, I don't recall doing anything that warrants thanks! I am—"

"I'm impressed, though—you're quite good at responding to what I say."

"I'm not responding to you—! I just—"

It seemed he was being drawn into Silgar's pace against his will.

"By the way, Onyx. Do you have any thoughts on me becoming one of the Four Heavenly Kings?"

Silgar pressed on with a trivial topic.

"Don't ask!"

"So you do have thoughts?"

Silgar asks back, looking surprised.

"Hmph, even if you've become one of the Four Heavenly Kings, you're nothing special!"

"Oh?"

"What do you mean, 'oh'?"

Onyx's irritation was about to reach its peak.

"You seem perfectly fine, but I wonder where the magic has been cast."

"It's in my heart!"

After shouting that, Onyx looked startled.

The heart...?

Seeing the confused expression on Onyx's face, Kieran recalls the many instances of Onyx's erratic behavior.

All of Onyx's inexplicable confusion happened when he was with Amalia. That means that woman is indeed Amalia...?

Kieran grips the Sword of the Heavenly Wind even tighter.

Onyx. The fated enemy I must defeat...!

"So your name is Onyx. Still, you're quite an unusual member of the Four Heavenly Kings."

It was not Kieran, but Kuroretsumaru who interrupted the conversation between Silgar and Onyx. Kuroretsumaru stands up and returns from his spherical form to his original shape.

"I am Kuroretsumaru. I, too, am aiming for the Four Sages, in a way. My revenge is gone now, but... since I've come this far, there's nothing to do but move forward."

Kuroretsumaru had declared war with confidence.

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