Chapter 188
Preemptive Strike (2)
The concept of deterrence was truly an important one.
After all, regardless of the situation, whether or not one possessed the power to suppress the opponent made an enormous difference.
In other words, even if it was nothing more than a self-destruct switch one carried in their own arms, as long as its firepower was guaranteed, there would always be so use for it sowhere.
…The thoughts that Aiden, who was currently looking at Noel, was having fell exactly into that category.
“Aiden. Have you suddenly beco mute?”
Noel, approaching this way while golden energy billowed from her body, was, just by looking at her, nothing less than a walking calamity that made one’s spine stiffen.
Even Katya, who had co along with her, was not lacking in the ability to imprint that kind of feeling onto others, yet the way she slowly stepped back with a stiff expression summarized Noel’s current state quite well.
“…Uh, th-that, is that really okay?”
In the case of Cretin, who had little resistance to this kind of thing, her face had completely drained of color as she stepped backward.
“-I had the impression that the two of you had been going around together often lately, but I had no idea you were scheming like this out of sight.”
“N-no! I can explain everything! This guy had his own reasons for doing that—”
“You’re saying you can explain kissing a man who already has soone?”
“……”
“And if I don’t find it convincing… I don’t know what I might do?”
Cretin stood still and stroked her chin.
Hmm.
A way to convincingly explain why a man kissed another woman in front of his wife.
“…I didn’t do anything, it’s all her fault!”
“……”
“I-it really happened suddenly! Without telling anything!”
Aiden glanced at Cretin with narrowed eyes, but he had no particular desire to stop her from saying such things.
Wasn’t everything she said true? Being dragged into sothing like this without any warning was certainly not her will…
However, upon hearing those words, golden energy burst forth from Noel’s body with an even more terrifying intensity than before.
At a glance, it was obvious she was more than twice as furious as earlier.
“Do not insult Aiden, you vixen!”
“……”
…What exactly was he supposed to do?
He couldn’t take her side, but he couldn’t tell her not to insult him either.
Such thoughts passed through Cretin’s mind in a daze.
“Hey, she’s your fiancée! Say sothing to explain—”
She quickly turned her head and said that, but Aiden, who was silently watching from beside her, remained just as consistent as before.
“Keep this in mind.”
He replied, giving a firm thumbs-up toward Cretin.
“It’s better to act first and ask for forgiveness later than to ask for permission.”
“……”
“That applies even more so between husband and wife.”
…What made it even more absurd was that, in the middle of all this, he was clearly aware that he was going to beco that woman’s husband.
anwhile, the golden energy of Noel, who was steadily approaching, continued to grow stronger.
“-Eek…!”
And upon seeing that, Cretin shrank even further and quickly hid behind Aiden.
It was probably an instinctive action of soone with weak nerves, acting without thinking the mont a threatening presence appeared—but the problem was that this was essentially pouring oil onto a burning fire.
“You couldn’t even hold back for a mont before wagging your tail again…!”
“N-no, no, no! If you co at soone like that, anyone would get scared…!”
“Then why, of all people, are you hiding behind Aiden?!”
“……”
Well, that was simply because he was the closest person.
…At this point, even Katya, who was watching from afar, was starting to think Noel was more of a problem than Cretin, but it was equally clear that Noel was in no state to consider such things.
And, in the midst of this chaotic scene.
Aiden’s eyes were fixed on the distance behind them.
More precisely, on the black energy billowing up from within the Void Zone.
At the mont, the number of divine authorities manifested among those here was two—Cretin and Noel.
‘A big catch.’
It would have been good enough to offer Rania, the vessel carrying Urgan’s divinity, to Wornil, but now two pieces of prey of the sa level had appeared.
There was no reason for it not to reveal itself.
“…Uh, uh?”
Cretin, who had been watching from behind, seed to notice it as well, letting out a sound of sensing danger—but Noel, anwhile, didn’t even turn her head and showed no sign of stopping her steps.
“Recently, still… I had thought that I’d grown used to whatever Aiden does—”
With sothing like a ghost clinging to her back, she muttered as she approached, looking almost as if a vengeful spirit had possessed her.
“N-no, that’s important too, but b-behind you…!”
“You’re saying you were planning to do sothing more behind my back?”
“……”
Please listen to what people are saying.
As Cretin broke into a cold sweat with a face that looked utterly drained of blood, Noel ground her teeth and reached for the hilt of her sword.
anwhile, the black energy that had revealed itself behind her was now beginning to fully take shape.
It was exactly the sa appearance they had seen before. A black robe emitting a sinister aura. Beneath it, an unidentified figure holding a scythe.
A chilling breath gathered beneath the robe. That figure slowly floated up into the air and then strode out beyond the barrier.
“……”
And as if realizing that the one they truly needed to worry about was not Noel but that thing, Cretin’s gaze firmly fixed itself in that direction.
The mont it tore through the barrier as if ripping it apart with ease and stepped outside, that fact beca all the more obvious.
“…That easily—?”
Such a hollow voice slipping from Cretin’s lips was understandable, since the barrier set up around the Void Zone had been created by the gods of the Pantheon to seal Wornil.
To cut through sothing like that this effortlessly—even if it was Wornil’s agent—made it clear that sothing was very wrong.
…And, of course, there was still one person who didn’t care about that at all.
“…Even so, I’m supposed to be first. There’s a limit to how much I can endure. I don’t know just how much Aiden thinks I’ll overlook for him to go around doing things like that—”
“N-no! No no no! F-focus!”
“I’m focusing better than anyone. Yes. Just seeing how all sorts of plans are coming to mind about how to properly educate that side’s mindset—”
“……”
Ah, it’s over.
That was the impression that reflexively ca to Cretin upon seeing Noel muttering endlessly with unfocused eyes.
This woman had definitely lost her mind.
“-Prey.”
And at last, the Harvester that had torn through the barrier swung its scythe around its body.
‘…What is she doing over there…!’
Her resentful gaze reached all the way to Katya, who was standing far away with her arms crossed despite everything that was happening.
As for Aiden, honestly, at this point, it felt like whatever happened, happened.
Cretin herself was gradually coming to the realization that expecting anything from this man was strange in the first place.
But at least that person could fight alongside them and act in a way that would be helpful to the situation…!
“Even if you look at like that.”
As if sensing that gaze perfectly, Katya let out a big yawn and replied.
“ stepping in would just be a waste.”
“…?”
“You wouldn’t know since you haven’t seen it before, right?”
According to Aiden, the more Noel got angry over sothing related to him, the stronger she beca.
Then what mattered now more than anything was asuring just how angry Noel was.
And when asured by that standard, the Noel that Katya was looking at—
“…When she’s like this, she’s practically invincible.”
And the mont those words ended.
The Harvester’s scythe fell toward Noel’s neck with terrifying force.
It was an attack of such overwhelming power that it could be called transcendent, even compared to the Mountain God, another proxy of a god of equal standing.
And Noel, who was about to receive that attack completely defenseless from behind, drew in a deep breath.
“I’m talking right now, you bastard—!”
Honestly, it was quite a sight to behold.
…That dark and ominous thing was swept away and burst apart the mont it collided with the golden wave that erupted along with Noel’s shout.
▣
As Cretin’s mouth fell open, Aiden let out a whistle, and Katya sighed from afar—
The shattered black remnants scattered like ashes blown away after being completely burned by fire.
“…In one hit…?”
“If she’s that angry, it’s only natural.”
“……”
…For soone who had angered the woman who would beco his wife that much, his voice sounded oddly proud.
Cretin glared at Aiden with narrowed eyes, but it didn’t take long for her to give up saying anything as he stood there with his chest puffed out confidently…
“So, what’s next?”
As Noel, who had unleashed that transcendent strike, turned her head slightly and breathed heavily, Katya rushed over in an instant and spoke to Aiden.
“…Next? Didn’t we just take it down?”
Cretin said that, but Katya let out a deep sigh and brushed her forehead.
It was a gesture filled with the clear sentint that novices were hopeless…
“I’ll let it slide since it’s your first ti.”
“……”
Were all the won around this man trained to say things no one could understand?
Cretin narrowed her eyes with that thought, but it was also clear that Katya hadn’t said it as a joke.
“If you’ve encountered a threat like this guy, there’s no way it ends just because you defeated it once.”
“……”
“You should at least be prepared for things to go wrong more than once.”
Just what kind of insane ordeal did one have to go through to start thinking like that the mont an enemy was defeated?
But before she could dwell on that, Cretin snapped her mouth shut as the proof of it appeared right before her eyes.
“----…Prey…”
A shiver ran through her entire body.
In a voice far more chilling than before, the Harvester’s remnants gathered energy once more and began to re-form its body.
“…Round two begins.”
Aiden muttered that as he rose to his feet.
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