Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 866: Leon’s struggle [2]

Leon’s inner dilemma continued.

Pulling his gaze away from the ranking fight above him, Leon looked toward the people and the surroundings instead. He took in the fervor burning in their eyes, the way they cheered wildly each time blood spilled in the battle above them.

Even those who looked as if they were on the verge of death seemed entranced by the fight above.

As Leon continued to watch, he slowly came to a realization. On a fundamental level, the city was broken.

And so were its people.

’Even if I don’t participate, and allow one to have a chance at success, they’ll still eventually die.’

Leon looked up once more.

The fight was slowly coming to an end. When Leon’s gaze returned to the hologram, he watched as one of the warriors lunged forward and seized his opponent’s jaw with both hands.

With a brutal pull, he tore it open.

Blood sprayed in every direction as the crowd erupted into feverish cheers.

"Waaaah!"

"Ishma! Ishma! Ishama!"

The lower level erupted in cheers as the winner received his reward. His wounds began to heal slowly as he raised both hands into the air and let out a triumphant roar.

Leon eventually tore his gaze away from the scene. Turning around, he began walking back toward the place he had come from. With every step he took, the cries of the children echoed through his mind, causing his lips to press into a tight line.

"Haa."

With a long exhale, he felt his stomach churn once more.

But this time, he didn’t puke.

His next fight was about to happen. He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted. First, he planned on doing something for the children, and then—

"Where are you going?"

Hearing a familiar voice call out, Leon came to an abrupt stop. His steps faltered as the sound reached him, clear even through the lingering noise of the city.

Slowly, he raised his head.

Ahead of him, the cobblestone road sloped upward, rising to a slightly higher level of the street. Standing there, looking down at him from the elevated path, was Anne.

"Your fight will begin in a few minutes. This isn’t the path that leads to it. And you don’t look like you’ve recovered very well from your previous fight. Are you planning to forfeit?"

"I’m... not."

"Then...?"

"I was just thinking about the children. I wanted to—"

"You’re way too soft for this world."

Leon blinked slowly, his eyes lingering on her for a moment. Eventually, a bitter smile formed on his lips.

"...I know."

She didn’t need to tell him this.

He was quite well aware of it.

"But you know, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing."

Anne’s next words caught him off guard as he raised his head to look at her.

"In a world where everyone devours one another, it isn’t such a bad thing to have someone who doesn’t think that way. I imagine it has a lot to do with the place you grew up in, but it isn’t a bad way of seeing things. I don’t think you should change that. At the same time, though, I don’t think you should remain stuck where you are. If you truly want the situation to get better, then instead of pitying yourself, why not do something about it?"

Anne looked straight at Leon as she spoke.

Though she spoke at length, she did not truly mean most of what she said. Having grown up in the Mirror Dimension, everything that was happening seemed normal to her. She could not sympathize with his weak heart. Even so, seeing the state he was in, she knew she had to say something.

A goal. A direction.

That was what she wanted to give Leon.

Even she wasn’t sure why she was doing this much for someone she had only recently met. But thinking back to the state he had been in, she didn’t think his weak heart was necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps it could even lead to something.

"...If you don’t like something, change it yourself. That’s how we do things in the Mirror Dimension."

Pointing behind her, she nudged her head.

"If you’re worried about the children, I had An’as take care of them. Your next battle is waiting for you. If you truly hate what you’re seeing, then do something about it yourself. You can cry. You can puke. I don’t really care. But if that’s the extent of your resolve, then you might as well leave this place. The current you won’t be of much use to Julien."

Leon’s face remained pale as he looked at Anne.

However, he still ended up moving.

Though her words seemed to stir him somewhat, they still weren’t enough to drive away the doubt lingering in his mind.

’Change. Can I really change this place?’

Leon thought back to everything he had witnessed and felt his heart clench. He knew the answer already.

It was impossible.

But—

’At the very least, I don’t want to be useless. As his knight, I have to be useful. I can’t remain stuck where I am. I need to grow further.’

Moving ahead, Leon entered the trial grounds once more.

A fight ensued not long after.

*

There was hardly any break between battles.

From the moment Leon signed himself up for the trial battles, he’d fight a new fight every hour to a couple of hours. Not only that, but each time he fought someone and won, he’d face a stronger opponent.

Everyone was desperate.

They all fought with their lives on the line, abandoning any semblance of rationality and attacking in the most reckless ways possible.

Despite his clear advantages, Leon still began to struggle. Injuries accumulated with each fight, and as the battles dragged on from several minutes to even hours, he finally began to feel the toll on his body.

"Urkh—!"

Puking on the side of the road, Leon’s legs wobbled as he nearly collapsed on the ground. If not for the soft hand keeping him upright, he would’ve long fallen.

"There’s one more battle left. Are you sure you can keep up in the state that you’re in?"

Leon raised his head, meeting a pair of purple eyes as she looked down at him from above. Her face was hidden behind a scarf, but he recognized her immediately from her voice and her eyes as he staggered, struggling to keep himself upright.

Evelyn didn’t do anything else.

The best she did was offer him some food and water.

Several days had passed since Leon had entered the ranking trials. In that time, he had barely slept, fighting endlessly and pushing his body into a pitiful state. Bruises covered him from head to toe, scars and fresh injuries scattered across his skin. By now, he had likely broken several bones as well.

Normally, he would have been able to heal such injuries without much trouble. But in his exhausted state, he could barely manage it. The wounds continued to pile up, and as the final fight approached, he was in no condition to fight properly.

"You..."

Taking a moment to look at Evelyn, Leon caught his breath a couple of times before asking, "Are you... not going to stop me?"

Normally, Evelyn would’ve been the first one to stop him.

She would normally be the first to nag at him, telling him to stop pushing himself and that it wasn’t worth it. But instead, she simply watched in silence, saying nothing.

But soon, her lips opened.

"No."

Her words made Leon freeze for a moment.

"I’m not going to stop you, nor do I have any intention of stopping you."

"....Oh."

Leon lowered his gaze to the ground, staring at what he had just thrown up. The thick bile slowly slid across the uneven surface of the broken road, seeping into the cracks between the stones.

He remained there for a moment, watching it in silence as the sour taste lingered in his mouth and his body trembled faintly from exhaustion.

Evelyn’s voice whispered softly in the air.

"I understand what it feels like to feel useless. To want to prove something."

Leon raised his head, his eyes widening slightly as Evelyn’s gaze was fixed elsewhere.

"I’m not going to tell you to stop, because I know that trying to stop you would only do you more harm. The only thing I can do is offer you some water and food, and hope that you manage to succeed. That’s..."

Pausing, Evelyn looked back at him.

"...My way of supporting you."

KRRRR—!

A loud grating sound echoed as the doors slowly opened behind Leon, signaling the start of the final fight. In that moment, however, Leon didn’t bother to look back. Instead, he kept staring into Evelyn’s clear eyes.

His gaze continued to linger over her before he eventually forced a smile.

"Right."

He turned his head slowly, dragging his tired body into the trial room.

"...Thanks."

***

Swooosh! Swooosh—!

The dunes rose several meters high, their slopes shifting endlessly under the relentless wind.

Heat lingered heavily in the desert air, rising from the sand in wavering currents that distorted the horizon. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but an endless sea of sand stretching for hundreds of kilometers, broken only by the hollow howl of the wind sweeping across the barren land.

But then, that stillness was broken.

A lone figure stepped forward.

His feet sank slightly into the loose sand with each step, leaving shallow impressions that were quickly swallowed by the shifting grains. Dark clothes fluttered around his body under the force of the wind, snapping and rustling against the vast silence of the desert.

Gate Wardens were not only responsible for protecting the Gate, but were also occasionally sent out to scout the surrounding areas where several checkpoints had been established.

As his feet sank into the sand, several threads shot down from his hand, spreading in every direction and weaving into a vast net beneath the surface. His pace was neither slow nor hurried. Yet the farther he walked, the steadier his steps became, until his feet barely sank into the shifting sand at all.

Through the small gap in the cloth covering his face, a pair of closed eyes could be seen. His lips were dry and cracked, and his expression looked worn and haggard.

Despite this, he continued ahead.

The world within his mind was silent, his vision swallowed by darkness.

He could neither see nor hear, yet the way he moved made it clear that he was aware of where he was going.

By now, Julien had lost track of time.

He didn’t quite know how much time had passed, but he had grown more and more familiar with his surroundings, eventually becoming capable of dealing with whatever came at him. At the same time, he could feel his understanding of his spells steadily deepening.

In the end, he even chose to sever his sense of smell.

The more he adapted, the more he severed. Through this process, he could feel a tangible growth in his strength.

But just as he continued walking forward, he suddenly slowed down.

Hm?

Gradually, he raised his head.

But—

’Nothing?’

Though faint, he had felt something.

He immediately used [Mana Sense], extending his threads in every direction beneath the sand. Yet even after searching the entire area, he couldn’t find a single trace of anything.

’Am I growing sensitive?’

Julien didn’t know it, but he remained alert as he passed by a certain figure, completely unaware of her gaze as he quietly moved past her.