The rain had been falling all night with no sign of stopping. However, the light of day still managed to break through the clouds, rousing a reluctant Jack Harper from his slumber in the ice hut. He had conjured the hut the night before using his Heaven-Ice Holy Energy. Thanks to his skillful manipulation, the cold air within the ice was completely sealed, making the icy walls feel not frigid, but rather as warm and smooth as jade. He had even been able to sculpt a comfortable ice bed.
Jack Harper awoke naked, a golden-haired girl lying in his arms, also unclothed and peacefully asleep with her head on his shoulder. Recalling the madness of the previous night, Jack Harper couldn't help but smile wryly. Though his bond with Flora was one of near telepathic understanding, his personality would normally never have allowed them to reach this point so quickly. Yet, his wild emotional fluctuations the day before had completely stripped him of his usual calm, leaving him in desperate need of an outlet. Flora, sensing this, had taken the initiative to comfort him, helping him through the ordeal. The result was an unstoppable torrent, leaping directly from a nascent romance to a passionate, uninhibited intimacy.
How many times was it last night? I think I stopped counting after ten. As he pondered this, Jack Harper gently stroked Flora's smooth back. It feels like my mind has opened up overnight, or maybe my mental age has finally caught up? After ten years in the Ice Prison, my emotional state seemed to be perpetually stuck.
As he was thinking, Flora awoke, her beautiful silver eyes opening. She gave Jack Harper a light kiss on the cheek and said, "Morning, Jackie."
Jack Harper leaned in and kissed her soft lips in return, replying, "Good morning." He then added, "After this mission, I must find a way to get you a bloodline that's stronger than a Claymore's regenerative ability."
Their intense night of passion, while unimaginable for most people, hadn't been completely unrestrained. Jack Harper's internal energy was as vast as the sea, and his Heaven-Ice Holy Energy had permeated his bones and organs. Flora's physical strength was also astonishing. Given their constitutions, they could have easily gone further, but Jack Harper hadn't dared. Flora was still at risk of Awakening at any moment; if he lost control for a single moment of climax, her inner Yoma energy could spiral out of control, leading to a truly tragic Awakening.
As he said this, Jack Harper's gaze fell on Flora's fair body. On her smooth stomach was a six-inch-long, reddish scar—the mark left when Yoma flesh was implanted during her Claymore transformation. Originally a monstrous crater of flesh the size of a human head, enough to make any man sweat cold and lose all desire, the massive scar had since shrunk to a mere line. This was because Flora's multiple Semi-Awakenings had caused 99% of the implanted Yoma flesh to integrate with her body. When the scar disappeared completely, it would mean she had fully Awakened. Resolving this problem was therefore absolutely necessary.
Since he couldn't fully indulge his desires, Jack Harper reluctantly got dressed at Flora's urging. He had torn her home-version SS uniform to shreds, but a full-time adventurer in the Cycle can freely exchange for clothing, food, and water. So, he easily produced an identical set. Jack Harper was very grateful to Elliot Gray for designing such a beautiful customized uniform for Flora. At the same time, he was wary of the uniform enthusiast, resolving to never let him lead Flora astray again. His lover's clothing choices would always be his own privilege... and of course, the privilege of helping his lover get dressed was even more important.
By the time the two were fully dressed, the other adventurers and newcomers had already finished breakfast and were discussing their next steps. Jack Harper's fearsome reputation was still fresh in their minds, so aside from an understanding and suggestive look from Elliot Gray, no one joked about their night together. Jack Harper exchanged for two more meals from the Cycle and, while eating with Flora, listened to the discussion.
Elliot Gray began, "The hostility from the villagers here is irreconcilable. If we don't want to be slave owners, we should leave today. Based on the 'Fairy Attack' incident from last time, we can pinpoint our general location in the story. The Apostle living nearby should be the boss from the 'Conviction Arc: Lost Children's Chapter.' Her name is Rosine, a girl who was the product of imperial soldiers raping a village woman years ago. She was abused as a child and fantasized about the free and easy life of the fairies, delusionally believing she was a fairy child and hating the adult world. During an assault after she ran away from home and was found, her despair and resentment activated the 'Behelit.' Using her own parents as a sacrifice, she gained the power of an Apostle."
Evander Marlowe continued, "According to the story, the girl-Apostle Rosine is a human-moth hybrid. Her body remains human, but her hair can transform into white moth wings. In terms of combat, she has no fighting experience, as she was just a regular country girl. Her moves are limited to instinctive flying stabs, she's not good at close combat, and she has no magic. She's not very powerful. Her other ability seems to be 'Cocoon Transformation,' where she can encase people in silk cocoons, turning them into insect-like creatures. These 'bug-men' are mentally controlled and become her puppets. The bug-men are divided into two types: the hornet-men we saw yesterday, created from kidnapped children to fulfill Rosine's fantasy of building a 'Fairy Kingdom,' and the combat bug-men, made from adults who trespass into her 'Fairy Kingdom.' These are a combination of grasshoppers, mantises, and other insects, and are used to protect her and the others."
Elliot Gray nodded. "If my guess is right, the protagonist should be showing up soon. So, according to our previous plan, we have to find this moth Apostle before the protagonist, Guts, does. The storyline dictates that she will die by Guts's hand, and the 'Behelit' she possesses will be taken by the Skull Knight who follows him. The Skull Knight is a top-tier fighter who can challenge the five 'God Hand.' In other words, if we're late, we'll get nothing."
Father Frankie Romano asked, "So, you guys have read the story. Do you know where the Apostle is hiding?"
Evander Marlowe shook his head. "The author of this story, Kentaro Miura, didn't like naming things or drawing maps. Even many important characters only have a placeholder name. We know the 'Fairy Kingdom' is in a place called the 'Valley of Mists,' but the villagers here have never heard of it."
Elliot Gray interjected, "Although the information is limited, we can still figure out the general direction. Since Rosine is just a regular girl, her actions are completely unplanned. When she goes out, she attacks from all directions, so by figuring out the general range of the hornet-fairy attacks, we can get an idea of the location of the 'Valley of Mists.' I also asked the villagers which villages were affected by the war that gave birth to Rosine a dozen years ago, so we can also determine the general direction of her home village. For the rest, the captain will probably have to fly around to find it. The rest of us shouldn't wait around here; we should all head in that general direction."
Jack Harper nodded. "Alright, no problem. But I have one question: is there any chance for the people who were turned into bug-men to return to normal?"
Elliot Gray and Evander Marlowe both shook their heads. "No one knows. At least in the story, there are no examples or methods for them to recover." Elliot Gray then added, "However, considering that the bug-men revert to human form after they die, I suspect they aren't genetically mutated, but rather had something implanted in them like the Claymores, or perhaps it's a magical transformation like a druid turning into a beast. If that's the case, there might be a small chance they could be restored if we kill Rosine, their creator."
"Okay, I'll go scout the mountain villages in this area first. You all split up according to the plan," Jack Harper said, approving Elliot Gray's proposal.
Because their clothing had caused trouble twice, everyone had changed into medieval linen peasant clothes similar to what people wore in this world, and they all wore cloaks. With that, they departed under the hostile gazes of the villagers. As the only one who could fly, Jack Harper mounted his "Headless Horseman's Warhorse" and soared into the sky. Though the rain clouds restricted his visibility and prevented him from flying too high, his efficiency was still impressive. The Death Horse's flight speed was close to Mach 2, so it would only take a day to circle the entire planet, let alone a single mountain range.
Following the mountain paths, Jack Harper found over thirty mountain villages by afternoon. To avoid trouble, he changed into the solemn black armor that Elliot Gray had specially made with alchemy and concealed the white light from his horse's hooves. He now looked like a noble knight on a tall steed. With this appearance, the villagers along the way were naturally terrified and told him everything he wanted to know. Jack Harper quickly mapped out the range of villages plagued by the "fairies" in his mind.
Just as Elliot Gray had predicted, the locations of the attacked villages formed an arc, a segment of a circle. Jack Harper persisted, spending another two days to expand his search area, finally outlining a huge ring of affected areas with a radius of several hundred kilometers. The center of this ring was roughly their target.
With his task complete, Jack Harper immediately turned to rejoin the others. Although they had left the original village, their mental signatures were such that Jack Harper could sense them from dozens of kilometers away, so he wasn't worried about being unable to meet up.
However, when Jack Harper found Flora and Elliot Gray, he was met with bad news.
"What? You encountered those fairies again?"
The news from Elliot Gray made Jack Harper frown. It turned out that the adventurers had split into two groups the previous afternoon. Flora and the two children, Lilith and Caelum Vale, were in one group, preparing to meet up with Jack Harper to take on the Apostle. Elliot Gray had taken Father Frankie Romano, the otaku artist Evander Marlowe, and the other newcomers to go a different way, seeking the Behelit through other means and trying to stay away from the fighting.
But whether it was luck or the workings of causality, the second group, just after the continuous rain had stopped, ran into the foraging fairies again. This time, however, they were led by the giant moth Apostle herself—Rosine.
Knowing that these "fairies" were transformed children, the adventurers lost all courage to attack and could only flee. Elliot Gray's alchemy could create various defensive barriers, so there were no fatalities, but the slowest of the newcomers, a high school girl named Sierra Snow, was captured by the fairies.
Jack Harper asked, "What did the fairies want with her?"
Elliot Gray shook his head. "They probably misjudged her age. She has a baby face and a short stature, looking about thirteen or fourteen, and the white children in this world develop earlier than the Asian ones. So the fairies probably thought she was just a child and wanted to turn her into one of their companions."
And the trouble didn't stop there. After their companion was captured, the two police officers, Claire Whitmore and Logan Barrett, showed the moral integrity of their profession, completely ignoring the danger and chasing after the fairies to rescue her. Father Frankie Romano and the otaku Evander Marlowe had followed them, so Elliot Gray had no choice but to come back and find the other group, asking Flora to track and protect the newcomers.
Jack Harper asked for the location where they encountered the fairies, his expression turning even more grim. "If my investigation is correct, the direction where you were attacked isn't too far from the Apostle's lair. So they might have already confronted her. I have to find the 'Valley of Mists' as soon as possible to see if I can salvage the situation."
Jack Harper used his black cloak to carry the two "slaughter twins," Caelum and Lilith Vale, onto the "Headless Horseman's Warhorse" and flew ahead. Elliot Gray followed on the ground, riding a custom-made dirt bike created with his alchemy.
Jack Harper's two-day investigation hadn't been in vain; the direction he had estimated was indeed pointing toward the Apostle's lair. Though the search area was still large, spanning tens of kilometers, he found the location before sunset. It was a river valley surrounded by a dense forest. The swirling mist made it seem to appear and disappear, so it wasn't strange that it was called the "Fairy Kingdom."
However, Jack Harper realized he hadn't made it in time to get ahead of the newcomers. In the dense forest on the outskirts of the Valley of Mists, he could sense the mental signature of Father Frankie Romano.
"This isn't good. It seems they've already entered the 'Valley of Mists.' I don't know if they just went in or if they've already started fighting the bug-men."
Although he didn't know if the two police officers were with them, Jack Harper, operating on the principle of saving as many as possible, dismissed the Death Horse outside the forest and entered with Lilith and Caelum Vale. The forest in the Valley of Mists was not dense due to the constant mist, but rather filled with many dead trees, giving it a sinister feel. However, Jack Harper felt nothing, and the two slaughter twins had no concept of being scared.
"Squeak... chirrup... rustle..."
From the forest, through the mist and the darkness, came the faint sounds of countless rustling and chirping noises, as if numerous insects were moving about. It would have created a great atmosphere for a horror movie, but Jack Harper had no time for that. He made a gesture to Lilith Vale, who was beside him. The long-haired girl immediately understood, nodded, and pulled a huge weapon from her spatial pack—a grenade launcher.
"Flashbangs, flares, fire!" Lilith Vale shouted in a clear, childlike voice, and with a speed that would make a special forces soldier gasp, she launched a series of special grenades in all directions. A series of violent blasts and brilliant white flashes tore through the darkness of the dense fog, while the continuously glowing flares lit up every corner like torches.
"Chirp-chirp-chirp!" Innumerable cries of alarm echoed from the forest. In the flickering light of the flares, countless naked figures ran in a panic, a chaotic dance of demons.
"It seems to be the bug-men guards of the Valley of Mists." Jack Harper's sight was exceptionally sharp due to his profound internal energy, and he instantly made out the faces of the figures. "There are two hundred eighty-nine of them in total. None of our newcomers are among them. Lilith and Caelum Vale, this is your job."
When these bug-men guards were illuminated, Jack Harper's Cycle had automatically issued a new side quest: kill the bug-men guards of the Valley of Mists. Rewards of survival points would be given based on the difference in strength. For Jack Harper, at his current battle rank, the rewards were negligible, but for the twins as newcomers, the rewards were quite substantial.
"Yes, Master." The slaughter twins wore sweet, angelic smiles while doing something entirely different. Lilith Vale put away her grenade launcher and pulled out a Soviet-made K-K machine gun taller than herself. The black gun barrel spewed a crimson tongue of fire toward the bug-men in the forest. Caelum Vale, working in perfect sync with his sister, rushed into the woods with a giant axe and a war blade, hunting down and chopping up enemies hiding behind trees and rocks. Lilith Vale's rain of machine-gun fire flew all around him, but not a single bullet grazed her brother.
The bug-men were all products of a magical transformation, and they turned into a variety of human-insect hybrids: grasshoppers, roaches, spiders, beetles, fleas, mites, lice—a bizarre array of forms. After their transformation, they became man-sized insects with the strength of their insect counterparts and the protection of exoskeletons, greatly enhancing their power. However, even though they now had the ability to easily slaughter ordinary humans, they were completely outmatched by the twins' monstrous strength and heavy firepower. They were mowed down in droves.
Jack Harper ignored them, continuing forward, heading toward the mental signature of Frankie Romano. He passed through the forest and entered a clearing, where he found the newcomers he was looking for. Father Frankie Romano, Officer Claire Whitmore, and Officer Logan Barrett stood in front of him, along with two other large, well-built white men. They were all naked, their faces filled with a cold, blank expression.
"You..." Jack Harper said with a headache. "It seems I'm too late. Do you still have your old memories after being transformed?"
"Of course we remember. But now, our mission is to protect the children behind us. We won't let you take another step, even if we have to sacrifice our lives," Officer Claire Whitmore said coldly.
Jack Harper frowned. "What about Evander Marlowe? And have you seen Flora?"
Frankie Romano shook his head. "That kid, Evander Marlowe, wasn't strong enough and fell behind. As for Miss Flora, we didn't see her. Maybe we went the wrong way?" The three seemed to still have their old memories and consciousness, but they were bound by something, forced to obey the Apostle's commands.
...A very powerful form of mental enslavement. But I can't afford to lose three more people. We're already critically low on newcomers...
As Jack Harper was thinking, the five of them began to transform. The two large white men were likely the story characters Elliot Gray had mentioned earlier, the strongest warriors among all the transformed bug-men. As humans, they were knights, and after their transformation, one became a speedy mantis-man and the other a tank-like armored rhinoceros beetle. The three newcomers transformed differently. Father Frankie Romano's entire body became a round, glittering golden shell, a huge scarab beetle. Officer Logan Barrett became a giant, black-and-yellow patterned spider-man, unfortunately looking more like a D&D drider than the cool movie version of Spider-Man. Officer Claire Whitmore, on the other hand, became a fiery red dragonfly woman, the one who retained the most human form. Her four crystal-like wings shimmered on her back, and her limbs and waist were covered in armored red shells, giving her a heroic appearance.
But just as a mouse that turns into a cat still can't fight a T-Rex, these five were originally just ordinary people. In the Cycle's classification, they were all Iron Rank. Even with their enhancements, they were only at Bronze Rank. Against an enemy like Jack Harper, who possessed Golden Rank power, they had no chance of victory.
Seeing the five charging at him, Jack Harper simply extended his hand from his black cloak and calmly said, "Ice Coffin." In the next moment, five huge hexagonal ice pillars erupted from the ground, freezing the five individuals. The -270 degree cold completely stripped them of the ability to move or think. The only difference was that the three newcomers were fully encased in ice, while the two story characters were only frozen from the waist down. Although their consciousness was also sealed by the extreme cold, they...
"Lilith and Caelum Vale, take care of those two. Don't touch the other three," Jack Harper instructed the twins, who had just caught up.
Lilith Vale, smelling of gunpowder, and Caelum Vale, covered in blood, had in that short time completed the slaughter of nearly three hundred bug-men. Hearing Jack Harper's command, they immediately wore innocent smiles and unleashed their blades, guns, steel-core bullets, depleted uranium rounds, and dum-dum bullets on the two unfortunate story characters. While they were unconscious, they were completely reduced to ice fragments.
Jack Harper, however, did not stop. He passed through the final patch of forest and stepped into the interior of the Valley of Mists. It was a beautiful river valley, like something out of a dream. The river split into countless shallow streams, making the valley lush with water plants and covered in flowers. Water lilies floated on the water, and a faint mist drifted through the grass, tinted a brilliant golden by the last rays of the setting sun. It was a sight of breathtaking beauty.
From the high ground in the center of the valley, the sound of children's laughter could be heard. Countless points of light fluttered and played—these were the children who had been transformed into "fairies." Jack Harper had no qualms about slaughtering adults, but he wasn't cruel enough to harm children.
"Good thing... my power is ice," Jack Harper said softly, slowly spreading his hands. A shimmering, ethereal blue light rose from the top of his head and shot towards the sky. A moment later, the clouds above began to darken and lower. In less than a minute, snowflakes began to fall over the vast "Valley of Mists."
"Oh? It's snowing, it's snowing!" The joyful shouts of the fairies came from the distance. After all, they were still children, and their first reaction to snow was happiness, not confusion.
They didn't notice that these snowflakes carried a strange blue shimmer, like tiny sapphire dust hidden within them. The snow fell softly, not melting at all, and soon turned the valley a pale blue-white. The river was also covered in ice and snow. The fairies abandoned their other games and ran out to play in the snow. As transformed bug-men, they were stronger than both humans and insects, so they didn't feel the cold of the snow harming them in any way.
But this was no ordinary snow.
"You all rest for a while before I deal with the Apostle. I hope you can return to your true selves one day," Jack Harper muttered to himself, activating the power hidden within the countless snowflakes.
Throne of Cold!
A blue light erupted from the snow. In an instant, every fairy that touched a snowflake was frozen, becoming countless amber-like ice sculptures. The entire Valley of Mists had originally been home to two or three thousand children-turned-fairies. Jack Harper had already killed half, and now the other half were frozen, meaning he didn't have to worry about their casualties during the fight. Of course, Jack Harper didn't believe his technique would be able to freeze the Apostle girl, whose power was estimated to be Silver Rank, so he would need to lure her away from the frozen fairies before making his move.
But he didn't have to worry about that.
A white butterfly-like figure shot up from a distance, and a little girl's sharp voice cried out, "Who attacked the fairy home? Enemy, show yourself and let me destroy you!"
The figure was a fusion of a girl and a giant white moth. Jack Harper saw it clearly: the girl's eyes would shrink like a human's but widen into an insect's. She had antennae on her head, and a moth's proboscis grew from her forehead like a horn. The moth's wings were fused with the girl's hair, so when folded, it was long hair that reached her heels, and when opened, it was a pair of white, spotted wings. The girl's shoulders and legs were covered in moth fur, and two small moth claws protruded from her back.
It was Rosine, the loli-Apostle and the founder of this fairy kingdom.
Just as Elliot Gray had speculated, her being an Apostle transformed from a ten-year-old girl meant that although she had gained immense power, her intelligence and strategy had not improved. She didn't consider the enemy's intentions, nor did she realize the enemy was holding back to protect the fairies. After circling in the sky, she saw Jack Harper and immediately flapped her wings and charged.
"Is that you? Are you the enemy?" the girl with open wings shrieked, rushing toward Jack Harper. Her speed was a hundred times faster than an ordinary moth, nearly 200 meters per second. When she flew past, the snowflakes within dozens of meters were swept up into the air.
Unfortunately, for the current Jack Harper, any attack below the speed of sound was not fast. He saw the flying moth Apostle, opened his hand, and used "Frost-Snow Claw." A giant skeletal ice claw appeared out of thin air and reached for the girl. Jack Harper had initially judged, based on Elliot Gray and Evander Marlowe's accounts, that since the Apostle Rosine had no combat training and was essentially a normal person, she would be easy to capture, unable to resist a martial arts technique. To his surprise, the girl, who had transformed into a giant moth, was incredibly agile in the air, making two sharp turns in mid-air and evading Jack Harper's icy grasp with a speed that almost left afterimages.
Hundreds of meters passed in a flash, and the moth girl was instantly in front of Jack Harper. The moth proboscis on her forehead unfurled, extending like a two-meter-long steel spear, and shot toward Jack Harper's throat.
"Hmph!" Though his initial grab had failed, Jack Harper had already figured out her true nature. The girl had no martial arts skills, but she had inherited the innate flying talent of a moth. Her instincts were faster than thought, which was how she was able to use her power so effectively. However, no matter how powerful an insect's instincts were, their methods were always straightforward. Without rigorous techniques or careful planning, such a style could be fully effective against a weaker opponent, but it was a dead end against a stronger one. So, before her direct stab could even get close, Jack Harper pinched it between two fingers and flicked her away.
Although Jack Harper hadn't channeled his internal energy into the flick, he had used some of his Cosmos power. The damage was significant. Rosine's small body slammed into the snow and tumbled dozens of meters before hitting a tree stump and stopping. An ordinary person, even a strong man, would have had their bones shattered and their internal organs ruptured, but Rosine, as a mutated being with an Apostle's power, simply got up and prepared to fly into the sky again.
Unfortunately, when she looked up, she saw Jack Harper standing right in front of her. This time, the loli-Apostle, still on the ground, could not evade the airborne Frost-Snow Claw and was completely caught in Jack Harper's grip.
Looking at the girl trapped in his icy skeleton hand, Jack Harper couldn't bring himself to kill her. He opened his mouth and said, "Are you the creator of this fairy kingdom? Tell me, is there any way to turn those children back into humans?"
Rosine had been struggling to escape the ice claw's grip, but she froze at Jack Harper's question. Her facial features and eyes gradually returned to a human shape, and she tilted her chin slightly, looking at him with disdain. "Cold big brother, why do you want fairies to become human again? Will human children be happier than fairies? Fairies can fly freely in the sky, play every day, and live with everyone forever. They will never grow up, and they will always be happy. Human children are just locked in their homes, beaten or starved, and must endure their parents' baseless anger. And when they grow up, they will become either timid doormats who swallow whatever comes their way or bad people who vent their anger on their children. We don't want that kind of hopeless life. We only want to be fairies. How can becoming human and then an adult be more fun than soaring in the sky as a fairy?"
Jack Harper shook his head, realizing that this loli-Apostle was a deluded child who hated all adults. He didn't try to reason with her, and instead threatened, "If you don't tell me, I'll have to try killing you to find a way."
"Kill me?" Sensing Jack Harper's killing intent, Rosine suddenly seemed to snap. She shrieked, "How can a human hurt a fairy? It's impossible for humans to harm fairies! Fairies... fairies never die!"
As she screamed, Rosine's body suddenly swelled, transforming from a one-meter-tall loli into a gigantic monster resembling a fighter jet. The ice claw shattered in an instant. Her upper body was hidden within a transparent, liquid-filled oval sack, positioned like the cockpit of a fighter jet. Six air intakes grew from her waist and ribs, sucking in a large amount of air into her four-meter-long abdomen. After compressing the air, it was shot out from her tail, launching her into the air like a rocket.
"Hmph, is this your true form?" Jack Harper watched the giant moth-Apostle circle once, turn to face him, and dive again, sneering.
"Human, I'll stab you, I'll stab you to death!" Rosine shrieked. Her huge wings swept back, and her tail shot out another explosive jet of air. The moth proboscis on her forehead fully extended, and in an instant, she broke the sound barrier, launching a supersonic attack toward Jack Harper.
Jack Harper shook his head. Supersonic flight was deadly to an ordinary person and could even cause significant damage to a Silver Rank expert, but unfortunately for this loli, she had run into a Saint Seiya who relied on speed for a living. So, just as Rosine's supersonic stab was about to reach Jack Harper, she was met with a powerful uppercut.
Eternal Night Ice Tornado!
A gigantic supersonic tornado and a supersonic insect fighter jet collided at a 90-degree angle. The result was that the hurricane enveloped the loli-Apostle and sent her flying in a parabolic arc straight into the clouds. The icy hurricane temporarily deprived Rosine of her ability to fly, and soon, her massive moth form fell from the low-hanging snow clouds, crashing heavily into the forest nearby.
At this moment, the two slaughter twins, Caelum and Lilith Vale, rushed out of the forest behind them and came to Jack Harper's side.
"Master, Master, my sister and I got four cards and over seven thousand survival points in total!" The cute little boy Caelum Vale said in a clear voice, bouncing up to Jack Harper with his delicate face tilted up.
The loli Lilith Vale followed, carrying a Soviet machine gun taller than herself. She looked at the fallen moth Apostle and asked, "Master, is this one our prey too?"
Jack Harper shook his head. "Not yet. You two go and search the forest in the center of the valley. According to Evander Marlowe, the Apostle's Behelit is hidden inside a hollow of one of the big trees."
Jack Harper gave the twins their mission, which was to test a theory Elliot Gray had. In the story of Berserk, the magical egg-like stone "Behelit" that creates Apostles is said to circulate according to the laws of causality, or as a Buddhist might put it, it's destined to fall into the hands of a certain person. If this was true in this world, it would have a huge impact on their future actions, so a necessary test was in order.
If the twins could find the Behelit, it would prove that the so-called laws of causality weren't so strict and powerful, and they could collect them through non-combat means in the future. But if they couldn't find it, Jack Harper would have to try and kill the Apostle. Based on Elliot Gray's reverse deduction of the mission, since the objective was to collect Behelits, they wouldn't be expected to simply rely on luck and knowledge of the story to find these stones like gold prospectors. Killing the Apostle would be the most effective way to break the causal chain and obtain the Behelit.
The twins did not question Jack Harper's words and immediately ran around Rosine toward the sparse forest behind her. According to the story, this was Rosine's hatchery for transforming human children into "fairies." The trees were tied together with countless white silks, forming a huge tent-like canopy. Each child brought there would have a silk cocoon spun around them and be hung among the trees until they emerged from their cocoons as fairy-like hornet-men.
Lilith and Caelum Vale went to complete their task, and the loli-Apostle Rosine also struggled to get back up.
"You... you're not a normal human, you're an evil sorcerer! You want to imprison all the fairies and make us your slaves, don't you?" The little loli, dazed from Jack Harper's punch, couldn't understand the attack she had just endured and shrieked.
Jack Harper gave a cold laugh and used his movement technique, taking a single step to appear in front of her. His step had actually surpassed the speed of sound, but he had used his internal energy to push the air aside, so there was no sonic boom. An ordinary person wouldn't even notice the speed, and it would just seem like he had been there all along.
Seeing Jack Harper approach, Rosine's body trembled and she tried to fly away. But the difference in power was too great. She wasn't a resilient warrior who could overcome a stronger opponent, just a little girl. The previous blow had shattered her confidence, and now, completely demoralized, she couldn't even use half of her power. She couldn't get airborne before Jack Harper hit her with five consecutive palm strikes, sending her flying another few dozen meters. Her giant moth fighter jet form also receded, revealing her original loli figure.
"I'll give you one last chance. Tell me the method to restore everyone, or I will kill you," Jack Harper threatened in a cold voice. At the same time, he couldn't help but marvel at the resilience of her bug-like body. His seemingly effortless attacks were actually powered by his peak Silver Rank strength. Even he, before he had cultivated the Divine Heart technique, would have been spitting blood and unable to stand after taking those hits. Yet, the loli-Apostle Rosine had only suffered some superficial wounds, without a single broken bone. If it weren't for the Heaven-Ice Holy Energy invading her from within, she probably could still get up and fight him.
But according to Evander Marlowe's account, Apostles were inherently very tenacious. In the original story, Rosine had her chest blown open by a cannon at close range, then her abdomen pierced from behind by a giant sword a foot wide and two inches thick, and finally had a sword cleaved from her shoulder to her heart. She still had enough strength to fly out of the Valley of Mists, and only bled to death an unknown distance away.
"Evil sorcerer... the fairies won't be ruled by you..." The loli-Apostle struggled to shake off the frost on her body, shrieking and trying to charge again. She was met with two sharp finger attacks that sent her flying again, crashing into a tree on the edge of the forest. This time, she finally coughed up blood.
Just as Jack Harper was about to unleash another Frost-Snow Claw and a chain of ice to bind her, a chestnut-haired little girl suddenly ran out of the forest and threw herself at the moth-Apostle.
"Sister Rosine!" The girl cried out, cradling Rosine's head.
"Shiil..." Rosine looked at the human girl, her expression suddenly turning gentle. Her courage returned, and she said, "Don't worry, I'll protect you. I'll protect our Fairy Kingdom."
Jack Harper was also startled when he saw the girl, and he immediately realized who she was. In Evander Marlowe's version of the original story, the girl named Shiil was a very important character in this arc. She was Rosine's best friend, almost like a sister. Shiil was the only person Rosine said goodbye to before running away to find the Fairy Kingdom. The protagonist, Guts, had accidentally saved Shiil in the rain the day before, which was how he ended up following her to her village and discovering Rosine, who had become an Apostle. Shiil had later tried to leave the village with Guts, but Guts shook her off. Rosine found her again and brought her to the Valley of Mists, intending to transform her best friend into one of her companions so they could live happily ever after in the Fairy Kingdom.
Evander Marlowe's storytelling style was to create vivid and lifelike mental images of the characters, which allowed Jack Harper to instantly recognize the girl's identity. Shiil being here means the story time is exactly when the protagonist Guts and this moth Apostle are about to fight? So, is Guts here too?
As Jack Harper was thinking, something unexpected happened. Just as Rosine was getting up from under the tree, leaning on Shiil's shoulder and beginning to expand her body into her giant form, a dull thud, like an approaching train, came from behind her. A two-meter-long, thirty-centimeter-wide, and five-centimeter-thick black iron greatsword shot out from behind a tree. It shattered the tree trunk with a single strike and, carrying the splinters, pierced Rosine.
"Puh!" The unprepared Rosine was impaled through the abdomen by the sword and screamed, flying backward. A one-eyed, iron-handed man in black armor, holding the 200-kilogram sword, leapt out from behind the tree.
Jack Harper's eyes narrowed slightly, and he inwardly praised, What a heavy aura, as cold and solid as steel, more oppressive than winter clouds. This isn't from any martial art or power; it's a killing intent forged from endless slaughter, unshakeable will, and a bottomless, deep-seated hatred. This killing intent alone is even more terrifying than the aura Sephiroth built up over a decade of dominating the world. And when he was concealed, I didn't even sense him. This is beyond mere cultivation; it seems the story was right that he can convert his mental energy into unbelievable power.
"Mr. Guts!" Shiil next to him also recognized the owner of the giant weapon. It was the wandering swordsman who had saved her before.
The protagonist Guts, traumatized by the brutal sacrifice and betrayal of his former friend Griffith two years prior, harbored an instinctive hatred for all Apostles. This hatred and rage, channeled through the Brand of Sacrifice on his neck, crossed the boundaries of the mind and physical world, becoming his power. This was how he, a mere human with no formal training in martial arts, was able to reach a level where he could slay Bronze and even Silver Rank Apostles. Now, his gaze at Rosine was like a red-hot steel pincer, capable of melting flesh.
He didn't even acknowledge Jack Harper's presence, simply striding toward Rosine. He twisted the greatsword in his hand, rested it on his shoulder, and then, with a step, raised it high, preparing to strike down the struggling loli-Apostle in the snow.
"Clang!"
The sword came down, but a ringing sound of metal-on-metal collision filled the air. Sparks flew, and a slender, three-meter-long blade, as thin as a silver thread, held Guts's mountain-like strike in place. It was the katana, Deep Snow Masamune. Jack Harper's clear voice rang out, "I'm sorry, but this is my prey. Please don't casually chop up someone else's target."
"Get out of my way!" The black-armored swordsman, his body radiating a nearly tangible "fury," growled through gritted teeth.
Jack Harper shook his head, refusing. "Impossible. She turned some of my companions into bugs. She can't die until I figure out how to reverse it."
Guts's response was a horizontal slash with his sword. The blade kicked up a cloud of snow and sounded like a tiger's roar—fierce and unyielding. Jack Harper held the Deep Snow Masamune vertically, and with a "clang," he parried the horizontal slash. On the surface, the slender, two-finger-wide silver katana holding back a heavy greatsword that looked like tank armor was a visually stunning sight that defied common sense. In reality, it was Jack Harper who was in disbelief. His Deep Snow Masamune was already a Silver-level weapon, a nascent demon blade, while Guts's greatsword was nothing more than a block of common iron. Although Jack Harper wasn't using the energy within the Masamune, the sheer force of the shock would have been enough to shatter an alloy steel plate, yet Guts's greatsword was completely unharmed, and even the cold energy from the blade couldn't penetrate it.
"How impressive," Jack Harper thought to himself. "If my Deep Snow Masamune is a meticulously crafted magical blade, then this black iron greatsword is a naturally formed one. The souls and resentful spirits of countless slain foes are condensed within the sword, and then elevated by the wielder's killing intent and fighting spirit into a malevolent energy that can slay any supernatural being. If it continues to grow like this, it might one day truly become a powerful, sentient demon blade ." As he praised the sword in his mind, Jack Harper's own blade did not stop, and he launched a fierce counterattack.
"Hmph! Hah!" The Masamune only weighed a few kilograms, making it a thousand times more nimble than Guts's greatsword. Under the combined mastery of Sephiroth's swordsmanship and Jack Harper's internal energy, its power was no less than Guts's, so Jack Harper didn't use any special techniques. He simply used basic slashes and thrusts, which forced Guts to retreat repeatedly.
At the same time, Jack Harper also assessed Guts's combat strength: "He's at the mid-Bronze level. Among ordinary humans, Guts's power is astonishing, but in the non-human realm, he's just at the bottom. A fellow swordsman like Cloud from
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is probably dozens of times stronger than him. However, Cloud is a genetically-engineered warrior with Sephiroth's cells implanted in him, while Guts is a pure human without any chi or magic to support him. To be able to raise his combat strength to this level with just his muscles and pure rage is truly remarkable. Moreover, in the story Evander Marlowe told, he killed the Silver-level Rosine with this very power, clearly demonstrating his ability to defeat a stronger opponent, which means his fighting spirit and intelligence are equally formidable."
With that thought, Jack Harper naturally increased his strength, and two ferocious slashes sent Guts flying, sword and all. In terms of raw power, the two had a significant gap. However, Guts's battle instincts once again surprised Jack Harper. While still in mid-air, the tall, black-armored man remained completely calm, turning his steel prosthetic left arm to reveal a black cannon barrel in his wrist, and fired a shot. His target, however, was not Jack Harper, but the loli-Apostle who was just getting back on her feet.
"Good, even in the middle of a fight, he doesn't forget his original purpose. This is a warrior who has truly lived on the battlefield and faced death since childhood," Jack Harper praised him in his mind. However, he was not about to let Guts kill Rosine. His figure flashed, and he moved faster than the cannonball, blocking its path to Rosine. He held out his right hand, catching the steel sphere between his fingers. "Although you are my opponent right now, I have no intention of killing you. Just stay quiet for a while. Frost-Snow Claw! Ice Chains! Ice Coffin!" Jack Harper unleashed three ice techniques in a row with his right hand, and before Guts could land, he successfully sealed him in a four-meter-tall hexagonal ice pillar.
At the same time, he spun the long blade in his left hand and, reaching behind him, held it to the neck of Rosine, who was trying to fly away. But even with the blade at her throat, the loli-Apostle did not surrender. Though she dared not move, she still glared at Jack Harper.
"It seems I have no talent for threatening people," Jack Harper said. "Let's try a different approach. What do you think would happen if I handed you over to this guy in the ice?"
In fact, Jack Harper knew many interrogation methods, all inherited from the dark knowledge of the Shinra Company that he had received from Sephiroth. Breaking every bone, twisting sinews, and shaving off fingers one by one were simple methods. There were also various bizarre forms of torture that could cause anyone to have a mental breakdown. But interrogation not only requires technique, but more importantly, a twisted heart that finds endless pleasure in tormenting others. A truly formidable interrogator doesn't even need to lay a hand on someone; a few words or a single glance can be enough to terrify a person into confessing everything. Jack Harper did not have this twisted mindset, and it was impossible for him to use any of those perverse methods on a minor girl, so his threats were ineffective.
Rosine's friend, Shiil, tried to run over, but Jack Harper naturally wouldn't let her interfere, so he used the Force to block her. But fate seemed determined not to let Jack Harper interrogate in peace. As Shiil stopped, a tiny, thumb-sized figure flew out of her hair. It was a tiny fairy with translucent cicada-like wings, another one of the "fairies" from before. This fairy, however, seemed different from the others, and he was quite comical. He held two chestnuts as hammers and flew straight at Jack Harper, yelling, "Bad guy, let Guts go!"
"There was a survivor," Jack Harper thought. Assuming it was a bug-man fairy he hadn't frozen, he extended a finger to freeze it, but then a voice from a distance called out.
"Wait, Captain, that's not a bug-man, that's a real fairy," the voice said. Jack Harper recognized the voice of his team's strategist, Elliot Gray. He stopped his finger, and the two chestnut hammers struck his head, but Jack Harper's Heaven-Ice Holy Energy protected him, and the "real fairy" bounced off three inches away.
Jack Harper stretched out his finger and caught the fairy, who looked like a small boy. He turned to see Elliot Gray, Evander Marlowe, and Flora emerging from the surrounding forest. It turned out that Evander Marlowe had been left behind because he couldn't keep up with the other three, and Flora had followed the wrong direction while trying to rescue them. By the time she returned, she ran into an exhausted Evander Marlowe, who was slowly walking forward. Then they met Elliot Gray, who was riding a dirt bike. The three had then come to the Valley of Mists together.
Elliot Gray walked closer and said to Jack Harper, "This little guy's name is Puck, and he's a real fairy, not a transformed child. Although he looks weak, he has many wonderful abilities and is Guts's pet. I'll need his help with some things in the future, so it's better not to offend him."
"You're the pet! I'm Guts's guardian, his most important companion! If it weren't for me, he would have died countless times by now!" The little fairy had the temper of a child, and he was furious at Elliot Gray's words. He yelled while in Jack Harper's hand. When Jack Harper let him go, he flew up again, brandishing his two chestnut hammers and flying at Elliot Gray. Elliot Gray didn't seem to care, and with a casual point of his finger, he activated his alchemy, turning the two chestnuts into two puffs of colorful dandelions, which scattered into the air as the fairy, Puck, swung them. Fairies are naturally playful, and this one was no exception. He immediately forgot that Elliot Gray had offended him and chased after the scattered dandelions.
Jack Harper ignored the fairy and pointed to the loli-Apostle held at knifepoint, asking Elliot Gray, "Do you have a way to make her tell us how to turn the bug-men back into humans?"
Elliot Gray said, "I'll try," and walked up to Rosine to start asking her questions.
Strangely, Elliot Gray's questions had nothing to do with saving the bug-men. They were completely random, like, "Did you eat bread today?" "Did it rain last winter?" "Was the morning sun green?" "Did the water lilies in the river float up from the bottom?" The questions baffled Jack Harper and the others. He also didn't wait for Rosine to answer. No matter if she frowned, was silent, or jeered and cursed, he would immediately move on to the next question. This nonsensical questioning went on for a hundred questions, and then he suddenly began asking about the bug-men transformation, still one question after another, without waiting for an answer from Rosine. Finally, Elliot Gray stopped, frowned, and turned to Jack Harper, saying, "It seems she doesn't know how to undo the transformation. However, if we kill her, or if she voluntarily releases her authority, their spirits will be freed. It also seems that the freed spirits can transform between their human and bug-man forms, but she doesn't know about any side effects."
"How did you figure that out?" Jack Harper's eyes widened. "She didn't say a word. And her mind is strange; my Force mental skills don't work on her."
Elliot Gray shrugged and said, "It's easy to deal with a child. Their expressions don't change even when they're caught off guard. By observing carefully and breaking all the questions down into yes-or-no questions, you can easily get the answers."
"Fine, you're a monster," Jack Harper said, not wanting to argue the point. He asked again, "Is there a way for her to voluntarily release their spirits? Otherwise, I'll have to kill her."
As soon as he said that, the loli-loving Evander Marlowe jumped up. "Captain, you can't do that! For any reason, you cannot harm such a cute loli. She's just a child. Do you have the heart to do it?"
Jack Harper shook his head. "If it comes to that, I won't hold back. In this world, there's often only a difference between the living and the dead. Since she's gained the power of an Apostle, she's no longer an ordinary child. If a child stabs someone, does the person not die?"
As Evander Marlowe was about to argue, the loli-Apostle under the blade laughed. "So you're with them after all. Don't underestimate the wisdom of fairies".
Before everyone could figure out what she meant, Jack Harper's expression changed, and he turned to look into the forest, but he saw nothing. Jack Harper didn't hesitate, however. He raised his hand and launched a Frost-Snow Claw. As the giant skeletal ice claw closed in on nothingness, Flora and Elliot Gray both vaguely saw an invisible force brush past the mist from the ice claw, rushing toward them.
The invisible thing came so quickly that it instantly reached the blade and pushed Rosine away. At that moment, Jack Harper could have simply slashed down. While it wouldn't have killed Rosine, it would have killed the new entity. But when the invisible thing touched Rosine, it instantly became visible, and its appearance made Jack Harper's hand stop. It was Sierra Snow, the surviving high school girl with the baby face, who had been the first newcomer to be captured. She had now become a white butterfly-like bug-man similar to Rosine and had gained a strange invisibility ability. She had flown out to save Rosine.
"Hmph!" Flora's face turned cold. Although she appeared motionless, she had already used her "Wind Blade" technique, slashing at Rosine's limbs. To her surprise, Sierra Snow, in her butterfly form, although she couldn't become as large as a fighter jet like Rosine, was twice as agile. She turned her body and blocked every one of Flora's slashes with her own body. Flora knew that Sierra Snow was a newcomer from their own team, so she had to hold back. She watched as Rosine once again flew into the sky.
"Hahahaha, cold magic big brother, fierce big sister, strange guy who asks random questions, perverted big brother, you can't catch me!" Rosine's body once again swelled into the shape of a fighter jet and she flew into the sky. She felt as if she was a fish in the sea and a bird in the sky, and she couldn't help but laugh.
Unfortunately, she didn't realize that extreme joy can be followed by sorrow.
"Swoosh——————Boom!!!!"
Just as Jack Harper and the others looked up at Rosine, a black shadow with a trail of fire shot up from the nearby woods and exploded on Rosine with a thunderous roar. The loli-Apostle's body, wrapped in thick smoke, plummeted to the ground.
From the woods, the clear cheers of the Slaughter Twins could be heard.
"What was that?" Jack Harper asked.
"A Stinger man-portable air-defense missile," Elliot Gray said calmly.
"You made that for Lilith Vale?"
"Of course".
"Aren't those for shooting down helicopters? How can they hit a person?"
"I adjusted the infrared thermal tracking parameters, so it works on biological targets as well".
"Right. You're amazing," Jack Harper said, shaking his head and dropping the subject. "But to survive a missile like that, an Apostle's vitality is truly something else ." Jack Harper's eyesight was extraordinary, and even though it was now evening, he could clearly see that the fallen Rosine, although half her body and a wing were burned by the explosion, was not dead, and her mind was still conscious.
But she was only barely alive. Shiil had already run to her side, pulling on Rosine's hand and crying.
"Shiil... I've known for a long time... that fairies aren't real... no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find them... I was just fooling myself..." the loli-Apostle said haltingly.
"No, that's not true, Sister Rosine. Fairies do exist, look..." Shiil brought the real fairy, Puck, to Rosine, saying, "Look, this is a real fairy, and he said that the Valley of Mists really was a fairy kingdom once".
"Is that so... Shiil has already found a fairy... then it's okay... even if I'm not here anymore... Shiil will be okay on her own..." Rosine said, as if giving her last words.
At that moment, Jack Harper walked over. Shiil saw him approaching and quickly blocked his path, crying, "No, please don't hurt Sister Rosine anymore. She can't move. Please don't hurt her!"
Jack Harper looked down at the two girls, one crying and the other on the verge of death, and said in a deep voice, "Release the people who were turned into bugs. This is your last chance. If she releases everyone, I have a way to save her life."
Shiil turned to look at Rosine. The loli-Apostle was silent for a moment, then finally let out a long breath and said, "Okay".