Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Aftermath

[ However, as for how long your current body can endure it... even I do not know. ]

“...My body?”

At my question, Sierra stroked her chin and paused, then soon made one proposal.

[ They say seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times. How about trying it first? If it is my disciple... it should not lead to death. ]

“Does that mean I might die if this goes wrong?”

[ If you were the kind of person who would die from this, you would have died more than enough when you completely twisted the flow of mana. Why not trust me once? I am curious how many seconds the current you can endure. ]

Sierra’s alluring voice, carrying a fairly provocative gaze, rang inside my head.

“Hmm...”

Looking at Sierra’s smile, I let out a low hum.

“It seems the body is burdened because the speed is forcibly increased...”

I understood the general feeling of the skill, but I could not quite grasp what kind of pain it would bring.

Since Sierra, the very person who had created Rebellion Against Heaven, was saying this, I probably would not die.

It seemed the duration increased the higher one’s realm became, and I too was curious how long the current me could endure.

“I will try it once.”

I said this and rose boldly from the stump.

Perhaps my unhesitating attitude pleased her, because the corner of Sierra’s mouth rose into a grin, and soon she opened her mouth.

[ If you intend to test it in this place, cutting the falling leaves would be suitable. You can detect something like leaves, yes? ]

At Sierra’s words, I nodded and approached a tree of suitable size.

—Thud!

Then I immediately kicked the tree.

—Ssssss...

Soon, the sound of leaves falling began.

The number of leaves was not one I could cut all at once.

—Shing.

The moment I saw the falling leaves, I immediately drew the cursed blade at my waist.

Then, crossing my arms, I slowly swept down the blade with the index and middle fingers of my remaining left hand.

This motion was a kind of “trigger” I used whenever I twisted the flow of mana to use Rebellion Against Heaven.

When I made this motion, it became easier to twist the flow of mana for an instant.

I had learned it naturally with the help of the status window.

When Sierra saw this before, she had said, “Having such a motion certainly would help,” but she also said it would be better if I became able to use it without the motion.

Since she was the one who created Rebellion Against Heaven, it seemed she had not gone through this kind of process.

It seemed I too would need to raise the level of the Rebellion Against Heaven skill in order to reach that stage.

As I swept along the blade, I focused on what I needed to defy.

Chapter One was space.

By defying the concept of space, I could cut enemies at a distance my sword should not reach.

Chapter Two was time.

The flow of time.

I had to defy the flow of time, which ought to pass fairly for all people, and make my body move as if nothing were wrong in that instant when everything had slowed.

It was around the time my concentration ended as I swept down the blade.

Leaves were slowly falling around me.

In an instant, the flow of mana twisted.

The leaves before my eyes, which had been fluttering down through the air, were now heading downward very, very slowly.

They were so slow that one might mistake time for having stopped, but it had not stopped completely.

Even the grass blades swaying in the cool wind were moving ever so slightly.

There was no way to immediately know how much it had slowed.

Normally, in such a situation, my body too should have slowed, but Rebellion Against Heaven broke that “common sense” as though it were only natural, and defied it.

My arm, trying to cut the leaves, was moving at normal speed.

The world had not slowed.

In this brief span of time, my perception, thinking, and body had grown abnormally faster.

The moment I moved my arm, Sierra’s voice rang out.

[ Ho... Once again, you succeed from the first attempt as if it were nothing. At this level, it is fairly convincing... I wonder if my disciple can endure until he cuts all the leaves. ]

Sierra was looking around and evaluating my Rebellion Against Heaven.

I did not know why she could speak to me.

“Since what I am swinging is both the cursed blade and ‘Sierra’ herself, perhaps it makes sense...”

Moreover, she was not a living human, but a dead person and a soul.

It would not be strange if she could cross the boundaries of space-time as much as she wished.

However, just as she said, it did not feel as if I had much time left.

I quickly swung my arm and cut the leaves.

The cursed blade “Sierra,” filled with sharpness, could precisely split the thin leaves in half without the slightest deviation.

I saw the leaves strike the edge and split apart.

Even though they had slowed, I did not cut slowly to match them.

Recalling Sierra’s provocative expression, I cut with all my strength, fiercely and nimbly.

Perhaps the moment I saw that expression, I had wanted to be acknowledged by her.

How many times did I swing the sword like that?

I was about to cut the single remaining leaf, the only one that had kept its full shape until the very end.

—Whoooosh!!!

Suddenly, a fierce sound of splitting air stabbed into my ears.

Then my vision went dark.

***

“Ugh...”

As soon as I came to, a groan slipped out from the splitting pain in my head and the pain of my body feeling as if it were crumbling apart.

For some reason, something large and red was blocking my vision.

I tried to raise myself, but it did not go well.

As I struggled with all my strength to somehow sit up, Sierra’s soft voice rang in my head.

[ Have you come to your senses a little? ]

Sierra’s voice was clear and gentle, making me feel as if my headache eased a little.

Then Sierra’s face appeared.

Both her cheeks were flushed, and she was stroking my cheek as if I had done well.

Judging by the angle, what had been blocking my vision seemed to be Sierra’s... chest.

It seemed she was giving me a lap pillow.

I gave up on trying to raise myself and decided to lie on her lap.

“What did you think of my Rebellion Against Heaven...”

[...It was terrible. ]

“Haa... As expected, it is not easy.”

Judging by her playful voice, it did not seem she truly meant it was terrible.

Still, I myself was not satisfied.

[ Pfft, did you think Chapter Two would be just as easy? There are things talent alone cannot accomplish. Still, for a first attempt, it was not bad. You merely sprayed a little blood... ]

As I listened to Sierra’s comfortable voice laughing faintly, I glanced at the ground where I had been standing a moment ago.

Among the cut leaves... I saw deep sword marks carved into the ground and a small pool of blood.

When I sniffed, the scent of blood was still pouring out of my nose.

Since she had probably gone through this process too, she could laugh like that.

“Did you not say I would not die...”

[ You did not die, did you? I think my calculations were not wrong. ]

“...”

Just as Sierra said, I had not died, but looking at the blood scattered across the ground, it seemed a lot of my vitality had been shaved away.

[ That aside, the bracelet the instructor gave you must be a fine item. To think your recovery is this fast. ]

Sierra said this while stroking my cheek, then stopped and ran her hand down around my chest.

She was stroking the area near my left chest, where my heart would be.

Judging by her expression, there did not seem to be any strange intent.

“How long was I lying down?”

I asked that to turn my attention away from the soft feeling of Sierra’s thighs beneath the back of my head.

[ It seems to have been about an hour. You reached your limit, vomited blood, and collapsed. I knew it would happen, so I was not particularly surprised. ]

Sierra looked at me and smiled.

It felt like she could at least have told me I would vomit blood.

“...By how many times does the flow of time usually slow?”

At my question, Sierra opened her mouth and began explaining.

[ Ten times. It slows that much. More precisely, you can think of it as moving your body at ten times the speed your body can fully draw out. ]

“Ten times... At that level, I can understand why my body nearly broke from overload.”

[ Yes. Not only does it consume far more mana than Chapter One, but it forcibly makes the body much faster... and it even touches the mind. Defying the rules of the world is by no means easy. ]

Sierra said this while tapping my head with her finger.

“I thought things were going easily until I learned Chapter One...”

Chapter Two was far more difficult.

I had been certain that I could use Chapter Two when Rebellion Against Heaven’s skill level reached level 4, but this was only the point where I had become able to use it.

It did not seem I would be able to immediately learn Chapter Three even if I raised the Rebellion Against Heaven skill level more.

Once my stamina recovered enough that I could raise myself, I immediately stood up.

At this, Sierra’s eyes narrowed, and one of her cheeks puffed out.

Without saying anything, I brushed the dust off my clothes and opened my mouth.

“Master... how long did I endure?”

It was an important question.

Even though time had slowed tenfold, what mattered was how many seconds I could keep the skill active.

I had attempted this in order to know my current limit.

After all, I could not collapse while vomiting blood like now in the middle of fighting an enemy.

[ Chapter Two’s usable time differs depending on the caster’s proficiency and body. Proficiency is one thing, but my disciple’s body is especially terrible... I lived my whole life with the sword, so it was irrelevant to me. ]

Sierra thrust out her chest and placed a hand over it.

...Still, I doubted that chest had grown because of swordsmanship.

I scratched my head and asked Sierra again.

“...So, how many seconds?”

At this, Sierra’s voice, serious once more, rang in my head.

[ It was a little over one minute, so... around five to six seconds. That can be considered your current limit. If we calculate the line where you would not collapse... around three seconds. ]

Chapter Two slowed the flow of time by ten times, so... if it was three seconds, then by the time I experienced, it would be thirty seconds.

Three seconds.

It was truly like the blink of an eye.

“When I first heard that it defied time, I wondered if it would turn back time.”

This was powerful in its own way.

Swordsmanship that accelerates the body and thoughts tenfold.

Rebellion Against Heaven was ultimately swordsmanship... so it seemed I could not use Rebellion Against Heaven without holding a sword.

Thanks to the status window, I realized this naturally, and did not ask Sierra an absurdly stupid question.

With this, the preparations for Varsium were complete.

The “Necklace Containing the Hero’s Protection” and Chapter Two of Rebellion Against Heaven.

In truth, from the moment I had the necklace, there was no need to fear a vampire, an undead, too much.

However, Varsium was an unknown enemy without much information, so I was preparing a little more thoroughly.

In that sense, Chapter Two of Rebellion Against Heaven felt like a preventive shot.

The result of three seconds was not very satisfying, but one could not be full from the first spoonful.

Still, there were many ways to supplement it.

Body and proficiency.

Proficiency was not a problem, because I only had to raise Rebellion Against Heaven’s skill level.

The problem was the body.

“An item that raises stamina itself so the burden on the body decreases would be good... What was there like that?”

The body was probably related to the maximum stamina that appeared in the game.

Chapter Two, as I experienced it, was a skill that consumed stamina.

It did consume mana too, but stamina was more important.

Just as a high maximum stamina means a small amount of stamina loss has little effect... if the body becomes sturdy, a little burden will not be stressful.

“An elixir?”

For now, that kind of consumable item came to mind first.

For me, as long as it was not some bizarre food like the lycanthrope’s eyeball, it seemed fine, but...

...For some reason, elixirs with grotesque appearances brushed through my mind.

If I wanted to use Chapter Two more freely, it would be good to supplement this.

Steady training would be essential too.

It seemed my daily routine would increase.

Thinking there was no need to keep doing sloppy practice here to extend Chapter Two’s activation time, I planned to return to the dormitory.

Before returning, one question occurred to me.

“...Master, how many seconds was your limit?”

After hearing my question, Sierra finally burst out laughing.

[ Puhuhut... Disciple, are you daring to mock your master, who is like the heavens? ]

Sierra, who had neatly covered her mouth as she laughed, narrowed her eyes.

Soon, Sierra’s lips, looking moist in the moonlight, opened.

[ The unit is wrong. ]

“Yes? Then...”

[...Three minutes and eighteen seconds. After that, it seemed meaningless, so I did not measure the time. ]

At Sierra’s following words, I was dyed with shock.

Three minutes.

By simple calculation, that was thirty minutes of perceived time.

“Purple Moon Sierra.”

Purple Moon, who had once stood as the Sword Saint’s equal.

The wall held by that name was still vast and high.

“Since Sierra created this swordsmanship to defeat the Sword Saint, defeating him is...”

It seemed it would be a long road.

***

[ Now that you have properly learned Chapter Two, my disciple must eat the food I want to eat...! It is fried kraken leg! ]

On the way back to the dormitory, Sierra was holding my arm and begging me.

Gone was the endlessly serious gaze she had while teaching me Rebellion Against Heaven in the forest earlier. Now, Sierra was filled with innocent curiosity like a child.

I wondered why fried kraken leg would be sold at this hour, and when I checked the shop, it seemed to be a tavern.

“I think it would just taste like an oversized octopus leg...”

Still, since Sierra was begging like this, I thought buying fried kraken leg should be fine, so I was moving toward the tavern according to Sierra’s guidance.

Nearby, the smell of alcohol and greasy fried food hung thick in the air.

It made me feel pointlessly queasy.

Just as I had fully approached the shop and was about to place an order, hurried footsteps suddenly came from the main street.

I turned my head to check who was running so urgently in the middle of dawn...

...It was Yuri Clementine.

Yuri had a serious face and was running in my direction, panting.

“Haa... haa...”

Behind Yuri, I saw familiar platinum-blonde hair.

Yuri was carrying Eisel on her back.

“Why Eisel...?”

I sensed that the situation was not good and immediately ran toward Yuri.

Soon, Yuri, who had been running, also found me.

“...Miss Yuri?”

“Haa... Zeto...? We need to go to Medical Officer Priscilla’s house! Eisel collapsed...! There was a wound on her stomach...”

Unable to calm her labored breathing, Yuri urgently conveyed the situation.

“A wound?”

Eisel, visible behind Yuri, had her face flushed red, and she was breathing harshly without even opening her eyes.

Since she was wearing clothes, I could not confirm any external injury right now, but at a glance, her condition looked poor.

“...For now, the situation is urgent, so let us go!”

I cut off Yuri’s words while naturally taking Eisel from her and shouted.

The heat I felt from Eisel’s body was terribly hot, which was not normal.

[ It seems this is not a situation where fried food matters. ]

Seeing Eisel’s condition, Sierra said this.

Eisel, who had not been seen for days, had appeared collapsed and wounded.

“There should be no reason for Eisel, a regressor, to already challenge an enemy who would put her through such a crisis...”

...For now, treatment came first.