Dragon Chain Ori : Ch 4 Part 6

Chapter 4 Part 6 

Translator : PolterGlast

Proofreader : John4891

“...Why...Such a thing."

"Why? It's because I've decided. It is for Lisa. "

 

While saying it was for Lisa, Ken kept his face ugly and distorted,

 

"Isn't that true? Lisa will surely be a great adventurer. She's a person who will be seen by everyone. Do you think she will need a hindrance like you next to her? That's why I sent you away. "

 

Nozomu's body had solidified as if he were in a frigid place. His mouth was dry and his limbs were quivering.

No matter how much he was prepared in his mind, Nozomu's mind and body were completely paralyzed by the fact that his best friend really was the cause of everything.

 

"But you already noticed, so I don't have to pretend anymore."

 

When Ken said so, he pulled out the longsword that hung on his waist and cast strengthening magic on himself with a very natural movement.

 

"I thought you were already giving up, but when I saw you pressing Lisa for an answer at the bar at that time, it seemed that you hadn’t given up yet. It's just right, so I'll just crush you right here."

 

When he said that to Nozomu, Ken stepped forward in an instant and swung his longsword down to Nozomu.

 

"Kuh!!"

 

Nozomu's countless actual combat experiences made Nozomu's pull out his katana faster and stop Ken's longsword.

Ken quickly pursued Nozomu and swiped his longsword like a whirlwind.

There was no doubt that he had the ability to rise to rank A as a teenager.

There was no waste in his physical strengthening magic, and it was clear that it gave him overwhelming power.

Ken’s slash had water torrent-like momentum and a clear stream-like tranquility.

Compared to Ken’s movements, Nozomu was slower than ever. Nozomu’s posture was lost with a single blow, and his upper body was pushed away.

There was no flexibility that he had until now.

Nozomu couldn’t concentrate on the fight at all.

The connection between his mind and body had completely collapsed, and only the combat experience, which he had cultivated so far, moved his body and managed to surpass Ken's sword dance.

 

"Haha! What's wrong Nozomu! Did you think you could be with her with such moves? Don't make me laugh!"

 

However, it didn’t seem to last long.

Ken ridiculed Nozomu’s awkward appearance and started chanting while performing a slash.

 

Nozomu hurriedly tried to disturb Ken's chanting, but because he couldn't maintain sufficient power, he was easily hit by Ken, exposing a large gap, and at the same time Ken's chanting ended.

A small water mass was held in Ken's hand. In the small water mass, Nozomu felt a sense of crisis as if the hair on his whole body had stood up.

 

*Piercing Water Fountain*

 

Attack magic that launched the compressed water mass in one direction and pierced the opponent.

Its appearance was just a small water mass about the size of a fist, but it was magic that could be unimaginably vicious.

This was a magic that changed its power depending on the amount of compressed water, and if the amount of water was small, it only made the opponent soaked, but if the amount of water was large enough, even a steel plate would be penetrated.

The water mass produced by Ken was the latter, and if it hit directly, it would pierce and tear the soft human body like paper scraps.

Ken released the water mass without hesitation. The water that had been compressed was released at once and approached Nozomu.

Nozomu twisted his body and tried to avoid the water stream, but it was all a part of Ken's trap.

 

"Wha!!"

 

The approaching water stream diffused in front of Nozomu. It completely blocked Nozomu's vision and hid Ken.

 

"Ha~!!"

 

The longsword broke through the diffused water stream and approached Nozomu.

Ken accelerated at once using his strengthened physical ability. He threw a stab at Nozomu; however, Nozomu managed to deal with it.

Instead of forcibly regaining his collapsed position, he collapsed it further and avoided the tip of the sword that was thrust into the ground.

At the same time, he put one hand on the ground to hold his body and pulled one foot to that hand to make one rotation.

He converted the momentum of his fall into the momentum of rotation and tried to strike his katana toward Ken.

However, Nozomu stopped his katana at a sight that jumped into his eyes.

 

"Wha! Li-Lisa !?"

 

What jumped into Nozomu's eyes was the face of his childhood friend whom he loved the most.

Ken's face changed to Lisa's face before he knew it, and Nozomu, who saw it, forgot that he was on a battlefield, and was stunned.

And that was his fatal mistake.

Ken's longsword fluttered and tried to slash Nozomu diagonally from his shoulder.

Nozomu raised his sword in a hurry, but couldn't prevent the longsword that gained momentum, and his shoulder was torn vigorously and he was blown away.

 

"Gah!!!"

 

Nozomu rolled on the ground and let go of his katana.

Ken smiled distortedly when he saw Nozomu lying on the ground.

The sight of Ken, a man with an eerie smile on Lisa's face, looked very unreal to Nozomu.

 

"Guu~u~u!"

 

However, no matter how much the scene in front of him didn’t look real, the burning shoulder pain told Nozomu that this was real.

In addition, the pain of being exposed to the hot iron made Nozomu's rigid thoughts move again, trying to grasp the current situation.

 

At least it wasn’t magic. Magic required a rise of magical power when it was activated, but the only rise of magical power that Nozomu could feel from Ken was the *Piercing Water Fountain* and physical strengthening.

Also, when using a Qi technique, it was necessary to raise the Qi inside one's body, which he didn’t feel from Ken either.

There was only one remaining possibility...

 

"Is that...an ability...?"

"Aah, that's right. My ability is *Reflective Water Surface of the Heart Mask*"

 

[Reflective Water Surface of the Heart Mask]

 

The ability to attach a film of water to the surface of the body and change the water to capture the other person's appearance like a mirror.

It's a very rare ability that can completely change one's appearance, unlike something that manipulates presence. It’s also an ability that has hardly appeared in history.

Ken could change his appearance freely with this ability.

 

"You made Lisa believe in my affair..."

"Aah, that was thanks to this ability"

 

Then Ken revealed the truth behind the rumors.

He transformed into Nozomu's appearance using [Reflective Water Surface of the Heart Mask] and showed Lisa while he was with another woman, making her believe that Nozomu might be having an affair.

At first, she said, "There is no way", but after she had already seen the fake affair scene. She was gradually swallowed by both Ken's words and the doubts that had arisen in her own heart.

Once again, Ken showed Lisa where he was with the same woman in the form of Nozomu, broke her feelings, comforted her in her disappointment, and got her.

 

Naturally, the girl who was having an affair may be pursued by the students of the school. However, the girl had nothing to do with the school. Ken called out to her on the spot, picked her up, and used her.

The identity of the girl was not clear. Those around him had doubts at first, but after they saw Lisa's threatening attitude toward Nozomu, they became more interested in the betrayal that Nozomu was supposed to have caused than the identity of the woman.

 

Lisa didn’t know about this ability. Ken manifested the ability at about the same time as Nozomu's manifestation of Ability Suppression. Ken, who was already hatching a plan to deceive Nozomu by that time, didn't tell anyone about this ability.

 

The deeds that Ken spat out weren’t actions that he should’ve done to his own childhood friend.

The ugly and distorted negative thoughts that he had accumulated up to now, such as jealousy and superiority complex, could be seen in his face, which he proudly talked about.

 

"Nozomu, I didn't change my attitude towards you, not just for your surveillance. I wanted to show you. Who deserves to be beside her better!! "

 

Ken slowly approached Nozomu and exposed the muddy heart that had accumulated until now.

 

"And also, I was the first to meet her. I was the first to like her!"

"Gaha~!!"

 

Ken kicked Nozomu's stomach when he said so. Nozomu could only bend his body and groan.

Certainly, between Nozomu and Ken, Ken was the first to meet Lisa.

Nozomu met Ken when he was introduced to Ken shortly after Nozomu started talking to Lisa.

As far as he could tell based on Ken’s story, Ken had probably already liked Lisa since that time.

 

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore. Anyway, it's been 1 year. If the rumors are already this old and  established, nothing you do will overturn the current situation. See you, Nozomu. Just leave her to me. You can just crawl from now on."

 

After telling Nozomu such a thing, Ken turned his heels back and returned to the city, but Nozomu still couldn't move.

He was struck in the worst possible way. His heart didn't want to believe it, and his mind was completely frozen.

Nozomu muttered in his heart like a broken mechanical doll, saying, "It's a lie, it's a lie," and kept refusing, but his tingling and aching shoulders ruthlessly brought him back to reality.

Eventually, the darkness of the night arrived, covered the field, and completely enveloped the figure of Nozomu.

 

===========================================

 

 

When Ken returned to the city, he met Lisa at the central park.

His face, after defeating his love-rival Nozomu, was clearer than ever.

 

(I did it! I finally did it!! This will make him leave!!)

 

His heart was full of joy, and he seemed to jump and rejoice at any moment.

He had been watching and acting to keep Nozomu unaware of the truth, but he no longer needed to do that anymore.

The figure of Nozomu, who continued to recognize Ken as a friend without noticing that Ken was hatching a plan to deceive him, satisfied Ken's jealousy of Nozomu.

 

Recently, Nozomu’s character was returning to the old days. The old him.

When he thought it was about time to make a move, Nozomu started talking to him, so he was able to smash everything and completely beat Nozomu.

 

“………. Ken, did something happen?”

"Hmm. It's nothing."

 

Lisa, who was walking next to him, asked Ken with a little reluctance, but he answered with a smile as if nothing were happening.

While hiding his heart, he had a smile on his face before he knew it.

His smile had been deceiving the two for many years, but perhaps because of his feeling of superiority which came from "defeating Nozomu", his smile had begun to give off a slightly different aura.

 

"...Is that so"

(.........I wonder if something happened?)

 

Lisa felt a little uncomfortable with his smile, but she didn’t think too much into it since Ken looked happy, so she didn’t care and kept walking together.

 

The two walked side by side on the main street, but Lisa was still a woman with attractive crimson hair, and passerbys looked back at her.

Just thinking that he had the monopoly on such an attractive woman raised the feeling that he had won against Nozomu, and Ken's heart was filled with a sense of superiority.

 

In the old days, Ken and Nozomu were certainly on good terms.

They were playing together and stayed at each other's house.

Even if they liked the same girl when they were kids, they didn't understand the feelings of love yet, because they were still young and didn't realize that it was a feeling of love.

It was the days when Lisa was a tomboy. She was abusing her power every day together with Nozomu. She had a big quarrel with the leader of juvenile delinquents and his entourage.

By the way, Lisa was against the leader, while Nozomu and Ken were in charge of taking out his entourage.

Lisa, who went against the leader of juvenile delinquents single-handedly, was amazing, but Ken and Nozomu were showing breathtaking combination moves against the opponents who surrounded and outnumbered them.

Sometimes they were overdoing it, and the adults got angry, but the three enjoyed running around together every day.

 

However, as his feelings grew stronger, Nozomu became an obstacle to Ken.

When Nozomu and Lisa started dating, jealousy started to sprout in his heart. He hated it so much that he wanted to kill Nozomu.

However, as long as Lisa needed Nozomu, he couldn't do anything about it, and every day he continued to suppress his impure and corrupted thoughts.

 

That changed after they entered Solminati Academy.

While Ken and Lisa were steadily improving their grades, Nozomu wasn't able to improve at all. In addition, his abilities were suppressed, and he fell to the bottom of the grade.

And when Ken's ability appeared, his corrupted jealousy finally burst.

 

(I should be the one who stands next to Lisa, not Nozomu who has no ability.)

 

When he thought so, he couldn't hold himself back anymore.

He thoroughly eliminated Nozomu and got Lisa. On top of that, he was monitoring Nozomu and made him feel the same way as he did.

He carried out his plan, got Lisa, and finally put an end to Nozomu.

 

(This is it! This is really the end for him!! Ahahaha !!!)

 

He laughed with joy; however, he, who was mad with jealousy, didn't realize that… he never actually stood on the same level as Nozomu.

 

====================================

 

 

Nozomu's POV

 

In the forest dominated by darkness, a figure was walking toward the depths of the forest while the animals were holding their breath. There were no other moving shadows, and only a small amount of moonlight shined through the gaps between the trees.

 

Nozomu Bountis arrived in the forest before he knew it.

Faced with Ken’s cruel truth, he entered the forest with disappointment and was walking with a tottering and unconscious gait. He probably didn't notice that his feet were finally facing Shino's hut.

 

"Ha ha, Why..."

 

By now, I realized where I was going. A faint voice leaked from my mouth. I was heading to the place where I was together with Shishō, not my current friends, Iris and the others.

 

(...Really, what should I do...)

 

I was told by Shishō that I was "running away".

I ridiculed myself, thinking, "I'm trying to escape to a safe place, a place with Shishio, and I’m about to trample it" even though Shishō was thinking about me until she gave her life away.

 

"You and I are similar. We were betrayed and ran away."

 

Shino's words come back to life. Thinking back, she probably knew long ago that it was Ken who was deceiving me.

 

"…………Shishō. Everything is too similar... "

 

We were both betrayed by people who we believed, and we were both robbed of our loved ones. Then both Shino and I ran away.

She fled to a distant foreign country, and I turned away from the reality in front of me, and believed only what I wanted to believe.

Although our methods were different from the other’s, the fact that we "ran away" remained the same.

I thought I was just running away from facing Lisa, but that wasn't the only thing. There were still many things which Nozomu had been unconsciously running from.

 

(I don't care anymore…………)

 

My heart was now on the verge of collapse.

My head abandoned any thoughts. I couldn't think about anything, and I didn't want to think about anything. About Lisa, Ken, and the future. Anxiety about Tiamat, who nestled within me.

Suppressing and holding everything down unconsciously until now.

The thread that was taut was finally broken. My heart was just empty.

 

(Shishō, so that's why you told me not to look away from running away...)

 

The last words Shino left in my mind were revived once again.

 

"Even if you run away, even if you stop, don't look away from the fact that you're running away, the fact that you've escaped."

 

Thinking about it now, she probably knew everything and directed those words to me.

If I started to move forward, I would eventually realize that the person who betrayed me was Ken. And between Ken and I, Ken was more mentally stable than me. I, who kept looking away from the discomfort I should have felt, and Ken, who was trying to make him do so.

 

Shino didn't want me to keep looking away like her.

That was why those words were given to me. That was why I was entrusted with it.

However, Shino's words were too heavy for the current me, who had lost all spirit.

I sat on the ground and put my back to a tree.

I held my knees and buried my face.

 

(…………I don't want to think about anything anymore……)

 

I had abandoned all thoughts. My mind and body couldn't do anything and were swallowed by the darkness.

 

============================================

 

 

He wondered how long he sat already. Nozomu raised his face, which was buried in his knees as something approached.

Something was approaching from the depths of the forest. It wasn’t one or two.

Nozomu stood up slowly, and when he stared at the sign, a pair of lights emerged in the darkness.

Eventually, four-legged beasts covered with black hair appeared one after another. The number was about 15.

Demon beasts that Nozomu knew well. They were Wild Dogs. The four-legged demons growled "Grrrrr" when they surrounded Nozomu. It looked like they were going to attack Nozomu.

 

"Ku, hahaha…………"

 

While being surrounded by demon beasts, Nozomu suddenly began to leak a hollow voice.

While being exposed to their bloodlust that pierced his whole body, something dark was beginning to spring up inside him.

It swallowed his previously wilted spirit in a blink of an eye and began to burn his heart as if it were a dead tree.

A fire that began to burn after being betrayed by his best friend. The flame, which once began to burn, dyed his heart a fiery crimson, at the expense of the emotions that he had accumulated up till now.

Nozomu glared at the Wild Dogs. His aura drastically changing. His eyes carried the swirling fire inside his chest.

 

(If you don't kill them, you'll be killed. Then, let's just kill them.)

Nozomu confronted the Wild Dogs with such a desperate thought.

(For now...I just want to rampage! Everything should be erased!!!)

 

Nozomu no longer understood his own confused heart.

Hatred, anger, or sadness.

Not even knowing that, Nozomu rushed out with his own impulse.