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Chapter 627.2: Forces Combined (2)

How many times have I stood before her?

The black-haired man couldn’t remember the answer to this question anymore.

Ever since he learned her whereabouts, he had been constantly knocking on her door to request her help, but it always ended with him getting knocked out, other than his first encounter with her. It was no different this time.

“Hu… Hu… Hu…”

In a dimly-lit castle, the man gasped for air as he climbed up from a pile of rubble.

He glanced at the holy white armor he was wearing and saw that its light was starting to dim. This meant that he was reaching his limit.

Even so, he refused to give up. Brushing the rock fragments off himself, he struggled back onto his feet to face the lofty figure, who hadn’t moved a single step from the start to the end.

“…You still wish to continue this farce?” the black-haired, golden-eyed woman asked with a heavy voice.

“Mm,” the man replied affirmatively.

The woman was unsurprised by his answer, but this time around, she didn’t launch her attack right away. As she looked at the man struggling amidst the rubble, her icy-cold expression wavered for the first time. She let out a sigh and said, “I have said this many times. You can’t defeat me.”

“…”

“That’s the limit of what you Ackermanns can do. Give up.”

“…I’m surprised that you’d try to convince me to surrender.”

“It’s vexing to have to defeat the same opponent again and again,” the woman said as she slightly averted her gaze from the tottering man.

The man shook his head and said, “Defeat me? I don’t think you have done so yet. The first time we met, you told me not to appear before you again or else you’d make me suffer pain worse than death. You accomplished the latter, but not the former.”

Despite being barely propped up by a sword, the man looked at the woman with resolute eyes as he said with conviction, “I still stand before you. I haven’t lost yet.”

“…” Unlike before, the woman didn’t refute his words.

While she had spared his life solely because he was an Ackermann, she hadn’t gone easy on him at all. In fact, she had spared no effort in inflicting pain on him. Yet, despite his body being pushed to its limit again and again, his determination only seemed to grow stronger.

Looking at it from her initial aim, it would appear that she had lost this war.

“Why are you so obsessed with me? You should have no trouble obtaining the crown with your current strength.”

“I’ve already told you that my ambition goes further than that. I aspire to inherit the initial ideals of the Ackermanns and the Ardes.”

“Ideals…” The woman clenched her fists tightly, and her body began to tremble. A rare crack appeared on her usual impassive face. “It’s too late to be talking about ideals! My clan has been torn apart, and the Twilight Sages Assembly has disbanded. We have long since given up on your so-called ideals. You might be different from your predecessors, but it’s all too late now!”

“What is too late?”

“Ah?”

“Are you talking about the threats that grow with each passing day? Or are you referring to the gradual weakening of our clans?” the man asked as he slowly walked forward.

“In the distant past, before the founding of the empire, we humans were scattered in the world, wandering aimlessly on this vast continent. Our ancestors were the ones who lit the torch and rallied our people together. They had been weaker than we are now, and their circumstances had been tougher, but did they stop because it was too late for them to make a move?

“No, they didn’t. They weren’t late at all. It’s never too late to oppose evil and pursue a brighter future. A blazing torch is ignited by a spark. Every journey starts from a step. Why can’t we be the pioneers to lead the march forward? We might not find success in our generation, but our hard work will create opportunities for the future, so…”

The man extended his hand toward the woman.

The woman trembled, and her golden eyes shook with hesitation. There was an almost resigned look on her face as she said hoarsely, “But it’s different this time around… Our enemies can’t be defeated. Rather than to oppose the inevitable, we might as well…”

“They can be defeated. We still have the final plan.”

“You don’t get it. We suffered far too many losses during our search for the Chaos Dream, so we weren’t able to finish our preparations for the final plan. It’s impossible to execute it.”

“No, I’m aware of it. I’m here to propose a new possibility.” The man raised his hand, and an intense light pulsed from his grasp. An incomparably holy aura swiftly suffused the gloomy castle. “I know it might still be lacking, but I didn’t come before you without preparations.”

.

“T-this… How is this possible?!” The woman widened her eyes in disbelief.

“You’ll know whether it’s real or not once you test it,” the man said with a smirk as he raised his glowing weapon.

“…Come at me.”

The woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her eyes once more. Her golden eyes glowed with a blazing flame.

The man charged at the woman with a furious howl, swinging his glowing sword with unstoppable momentum. Tremendous energy poured out from the sword and irradiated the surroundings with a blinding light.

The woman flitted forth as she drew out her true prowess for the first time to receive the attack.

A deafening explosion ensued. The dark castle crumbled. The clash between the blinding light and the ancient gods culminated in a pillar of light that surged into the sky. Rock fragments were sent flying in all directions, and a cloud of dust was stirred.

It took a long time before everything settled down.

Once again, the man collapsed onto the ground, his armor darker than ever. He looked at the constellations in the sky and heaved a helpless sigh.

“I still lost in the end.”

“That’s not necessarily so,” the woman said as she walked out of the rubble.

She touched her sleeve, which had been partially nicked, as a faint smile slowly formed on her lips. Somehow, she looked as if she had been relieved of a heavy burden.

“132 battles over the span of two years. Charles Ackermann, I admit defeat. You’ve won.”

“Didn’t you say that I have to defeat you in order to…”

“…You must have a rock for your brain. How can anyone in this world defeat me?” the woman scoffed before sighing. “But I’ll concede to your determination. I’ll help you in accordance with our agreement.”

“Are you serious about this?”

“Yes, I am. You have chosen a road filled with thorns, one that you won’t be able to journey to the end of by yourself… You understand what it means to have me accompany you, right?”

“Pardon me?” the man asked in confusion.

The woman flashed an ‘amicable’ smile at him as she warned, “Your clan doesn’t have a good track record. Let it be known that I won’t hesitate to take your life if I see any signs of you going down the wrong path. I have enough hatred for you people to do so.”

“Is that so? Hahaha. What a pity.”

“Pity?”

Achieving his long-time goal had loosened the man’s taut nerves by so much that his mind went a bit blank, and his voice also weakened a little.

“…I am quite fond of you…”

“!”

His mind seemed to come to a halt after he finished those words, and his consciousness started to fade. The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was her flustered expression.

As if swapping places with the black-haired man in the dream, Paul Ackermann opened his eyes to a dimly-lit room inside the resplendent secondary palace. He stared at the ceiling for a long time before slowly sitting upright.

He unconsciously murmured the name of the woman imprinted in his mind. “Carolyn Ascart…”

…