Chapter 18 – Younger sibling needs an older sister (6)

It was dark…

The golden sun that used to light up the world turned dark red and no longer brightened the world as before.

The only light that now illuminated the world was the “Light of Hope” created by the four surviving tower lords of the seven collapsed towers.

– Eeeeeek!!

A chilling scream echoed throughout the world.

It was the sound of the monsters from another world approaching while hiding in the darkness of the world. Their howling sound that stimulated the feeling of fear in the hearts of many people just by listening to it brought despair. The only thing visible in the pitch-black darkness was the red light in their ominous eyes.

The knights known as ‘Choin*’, who could think of victory only when they were together, formed a huge army and were running toward one place.

That place was called Sarham in the past.

It was a golden land that enjoyed endless prosperity under the name of Kraus. The collapsed walls and turrets of the castle, which collapsed due to the invasion of foreign powers tell us how this place has changed.

Now, this place had become a place where people do not live, but those monsters, regardless of that, were stirring up dust storms with fierce howls, as if they want to completely erase any traces of humans who had lived there.

The castle wall, which had already been half-broken by the charge of such monsters, easily collapsed like a sand castle in front of the waves.

Not just the castle but even the brick road on the ground, everything left behind by the previous owners of this place turned to dust and was blown away by the wind.

The only thing left in Sarham, which had thus become a complete ruin, was the lord’s castle, which was once inhabited by the Kraus family, now waiting quietly to be destroyed by them.

As if they were saving the tastiest food for later, they destroyed everything but the lord’s castle, and then set off toward the castle.

Led by a creature that appeared to be the leader of the group, the monsters began to surround the lord’s Castle. The leader, with a wound on one eye, briefly gazed at the fortress, seeming to be lost in thought. Then, it twisted its facial muscles in a grotesque manner, as if imitating a human smile.

It looked up at the black sun floating above its head.

The black light emitted by the sun, which had turned black, caused people to feel an instinctive sense of disgust, but to these creatures, this light was like a blessing from their god.

Accepting the sunlight shining on it with its entire body, it raised its snout high into the sky to give an order to its subordinates, commanding them to destroy everything in front of them.

– Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…

The sound it emitted was louder and more thunderous than any monster’s, but it did not last long.

A golden line was drawn in the stained black world.

The line that passed through the leader’s neck immediately began to distort the world, dividing everything it passed through into two, just as if it had always been that way.

In the spot where the leader’s head fell, there stood a man.

The man, with an expressionless face, as if he was not surprised by the sight he had created, raised a sword in his hand and ran towards the remaining monsters.

Perhaps it was because it happened in an instant, even the monsters who had caused this chaos were momentarily surprised. But the feeling of fear did not exist for them. Knowing nothing but destruction, they only rushed at the one who came to kill them, baring their teeth.

The outcome was already predetermined.

The sword containing a golden aura of the same color as the man’s eyes cut down the monsters without much effort.

His appearance was like a dragon roaming the sky, giving the illusion that a single dragon had descended to the ground and was eating monsters. They were no longer predators here.

When the head of the last remaining monster was cut,  a white light descended from the sky.

As soon as the woman who embraced the white light that descended found that man, she immediately ran towards him.

“Damian!!! You suddenly disappeared, why are you here…”

She stopped what she was about to say when she saw the sea of ​​blood soaking under her feet.

Mountain of Corpses and Seas of Blood*

Literally, the corpses and blood of monsters formed mountains and seas.

Upon seeing the woman calling for him, the man finally removed the mask that had not shown any emotions until now.

“I’m sorry, Elena.”

He spoke as if he was about to burst into tears right away, she immediately approached him and grabbed his hand. Unlike the blood of the monsters that had already cooled down, a red liquid that still held warmth flowed down his hand.

He was not the type to spill blood for such a small enemy, but this place where he stood would have continued to shake his heart. Just as she couldn’t forget the faces of the dead when her composure broke down.

However, she couldn’t even offer him a word of comfort.

Just as he was suffering from the loss of his family, the guilt of not being able to save them was already deeply embedded in her heart.

“Let’s go back.”

She could only say that as she took the man’s hand and led him.

***

Some situations in life often remind us of memories that we have already experienced in the past. It would be even more so if one was a regressor who had already lived in the present once and returned to the past.

For her now, seeing him bleeding was the memory she hated the most to recall. She knew that the future he would walk into would not be as hopeless as before, but she could not erase the feeling of helplessness and guilt that she had not done anything at the time that still lingered in her memory.

Maybe that was why she lost her temper for a while.

It was just a slight cut, but she was surprised and worried as if she had seen a patient suffering from some kind of fatal disease.

Thanks to that, when his face came right in front of her, the reason she had tucked away in a corner exploded without any protection. After that, she came to her senses and waited for the next opportunity, but what she had thought was the chance turned out to be just his joke.

“Damiaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!”

“Huh? What’s wrong? Elena?”

“Phew… never mind…”

Seeing her resentful eyes, he stopped poking her cheeks.

It wasn’t a bad feeling.

There was no way she would hate the smile and the touch that saved her from the memories of the past. However, it was a little different from what she had expected, so she was only a little disappointed.

He gently stroked her cheek, which he had been fumbling with while apologizing, and began to prepare the table and seat for her as she put down the things she had brought on the table. When everything was ready, he sat quietly on the other side of her and put a macaron in his mouth, which she had prepared in advance.

“Come to think of it, I couldn’t attend dinner. Did I make you wait for no reason?”

“No, Ken informed me in advance, so I didn’t wait. Thanks to that, I was able to get closer to Lord Alphonse a little bit.”

“Alphonse…?”

As soon as Alphonse’s name was mentioned, his face began to stiffen slightly. He didn’t look as serious as before, but he still felt that he hadn’t completely resolved the issue of Alphonse. She briefly considered the silly thought of him being jealous of the fact that she and Alphonse were alone with each other, but she knew that it was an absurd thought even before she finished thinking it.

She took a deep breath, calmed her boiling heart, and asked him.

“Is it because of what happened at Isilia Pavilion today?”

“…Yes? Ah, yes. That’s right. It’s embarrassing, but I’ve come to realize how much of lacking older brother I was to Alphonse. But how can I be a good older brother… I can’t figure it out.”

“Then, wouldn’t it be okay to just be yourself as usual?”

“As usual?”

Damian tilted his head slightly, with a face that showed he didn’t know what she meant. she held her breath at his appearance and quickly took a sip of the prepared black tea and breathed slowly.

Honestly, she didn’t think there was anything lacking about him as a brother. If it were another family, there might have been a struggle for the position of the heir, but their relationship was very good-natured compared to that.

It was just that these siblings had a big heart for each other and wanted to do even more for each other.

“Yes, as usual. Lord Alphonse doesn’t hate you at all, Damian. He actually likes you very much. I think it’s because you two don’t have enough time together, rather than your actions. Don’t blame yourself too much, Damian. You’re a good person.”

At her words, he put on a blank face for a moment, then responded with a smile.

“Not enough time… I see. Thank you for your advice, Elena.”

Seeing his face relaxing, she felt her heart also relax. Just as she was about to eat a macaron mouth with a happy heart, his hand came over and offered a macaron in her mouth before she could react.

She unconsciously bit the macaron in front of her nose, but when she realized that he had fed her, her face became hot. She immediately looked at his face at his sudden action, but he seemed unconcerned as if he had done the right thing.

‘Yeah. It’s over now. Let’s get used to it. Elena Edelweiss.’

No matter how weak she became when she stood in front of him, she was the greatest sorcerer in human history. 

‘If I concentrate for a moment, I can easily calm any emotional disturbance.’

She naturally gnawed at the macaron he was holding, as if she hadn’t blushed. She guessed he was enjoying this prank because she was still shy. Yes, she was shy, but she couldn’t be swayed by him forever. Thinking so, she also offered the macaron whole in his mouth, sticking to her expressionless face just like he did.

As she put the macarons into his mouth, her fingers moved toward his lips.

If she acted like this, he would have been embarrassed too. It was a bold move that she would not have dared to do with her sober mind.

Elena looked up at his face once more with an inwardly triumphant smile.

But for some reason, contrary to her thoughts, he was only smiling thinly, feeling very satisfied.

‘Uh?’

[TL: Choin  ‘초인’  was the original Korean word that means supermen in English but It didn’t fit here well so I used the original word.

Mountain of Corpses and Seas of Blood: The original was Shisan Hyeolhae ‘시산혈해 (屍山血海)’ which is the word that refers to the accumulation of human corpses like mountains and the flow of blood like seas.

And the parentheses part 屍山血海 is the same thing but is described in Chinese. Author basically is writing the same thing over and over.

]

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