A Former Child Soldier Who Uses a Magic Sword Wants to Live with an Older Sister of a Former Enemy Executive - Chapter 74

• Chapter 74 : VS. The wraiths – Boiling Void (Part 1)

The place Seto found himself in was a strange sight to see.

The entire area was made of metal.

It was a vast rectangular space, the floor was made of a hard wire netting, and from there downwards, there was a huge cavity with no visible bottom, where countless gears were interlocked and moving in tandem without stopping.

In this space, there were eight columns, each with a radius of about 2 m, supporting the ceiling and penetrating down through the wire netting.

Along with a huge noise, the wind blew in Seto’s direction with an eerie howl.

The dry heat and damp heat that pervaded this space blended together and made Seto feel particularly uncomfortable.

Looking around, he saw a number of winding metal pipes running along the metal walls and ceiling.

Some of them were straight, some were pliable and curved, and white steam would occasionally spew out from the joints.

Some of those pipes extended below the wire netting, and had their trajectory change at right angles so as to enter the wall, while others went straight down.

It was truly a steampunk-inspired mechanical world.

He could tell that he was inside a man-made structure with no connection to nature at all, but he could not help but feel that this was all too far ahead of his time.

It was so shocking to Seto that he wondered if he had not traveled through time and jumped far into the future.

[What is this place…? For a landscape imagined by a wraith, this place feels so lifeless. …Completely different from the ones I’ve seen so far. Maybe I’ll face an opponent stronger than the other two.] (Seto)

Seto readied his magic sword.

As the endless sound of the gears and the spewing of the steam echoed loudly and reverberated into his ears, Seto’s concentration grew sharper.

He had to distinguish between the noises of their constant rhythm and the noises that did not match that rhythm.

Concentrating with sweat pouring down his face, Seto turned around as he sensed a presence for just a moment.

However, he did not see anyone.

He felt as if someone had passed behind him.

Seto moved his gaze around to watch out for his surroundings.

Holding his sword with one hand and the tip pointed downward, he waved it in small, gentle motions to see how his opponent would respond.

Since then, he had reacted to their presence and creepy laughter several times, but whenever he did, he did not see anyone.

He then suspected that his foe was toying with him.

[—This world is empty.] (???)

He heard a distinctive voice amidst the mechanical racket.

[Only the void eats away at the soul. …The void… THE VOID!] (???)

It was the voice of a man. Of the wraith.

As the unseen enemy stretched his voice, the metal pipes around him creaked and vibrated, as if shaken by an earthquake.

Several vapor streams gushed out vigorously, and the ambient humidity soared at once.

[Aaah, my heart is shaking! This heart that should be empty… This heart that was supposed to be empty is… BOILING HOT!] (???)

That was a word that could be interpreted as anger.

His empty heart, his heart that was supposed to be an empty shell, was screaming and raging.

It was as if an invisible force was both killing him and keeping him alive, and at the end of it, seemingly making a mess of his heart.

As if in response to the wraith’s emotion, all the steam spewed so violently that it covered Seto’s entire field of vision, then the owner of that creepy voice emerged from the white mist while stepping on the wire netting.

It was a tall, thin man wearing a camouflage-pattern combat uniform.

The wide-open red eyes of that wraith, who had the eerie air of a skilled assassin or a famous hitman, were locked on Seto with a fiery, bewitching glow in them, and he was baring his pointed teeth at Seto and exhibiting them like a predator.

A vampire.

That was what the wraith’s appearance reminded Seto of.

Though unarmed, the boy could tell just by facing him that he was much more powerful than his physique implied.

[—My name is “Boiling Void”. Of the many emotions that exist, I’m the closest to “hatred”. …I can feel it. An emptiness inside you that cannot be removed. A lonely emptiness covered in blood and rust!] (Boiling Void)

Emptiness.

That was an emotion Seto felt all the time on the battlefield.

A hole in his heart that had taken shape from witnessing the fragility of life for a long time.

That hole was progressively being filled thanks to Satis, but the wraith could see that this was still in progress.

The difference between the wraith and Seto was exceedingly simple: whether they were a slave to their emptiness or not.

Seto strove to accept the emptiness of this world as it was, while that man was clinging to that emptiness, to the point of turning himself into an evil spirit.

Death and emptiness were the only truths that mattered to this wraith.

Because he was a slave to this chaotic mindset, he had forgotten what his former face used to look like, and had given it a grotesque appearance.

[Your magic sword against my emptiness… Now, let’s see which of us death will declare the winner.] (Boiling Void)

With a look of self-satisfaction on his face, the wraith moved his right hand behind his back, and made a playful gesture by fluttering his left hand in the air.

Seto braced himself in case he had a weapon hidden behind his back.

Raising his sword up to face level, he took a stance while pointing the tip at his opponent, circling around while moving away from him.

He moved further and further to the right, but the wraith remained still with his gaze fixed straight ahead, refusing to look at Seto.

During that unsettling moment the wraith spent without moving, only the noisy gears and Seto showed any sign of life.

In this space of stillness and motion surrounded by metal, Szeto attempted to slash at him, but quickly sensed something unusual.

He faintly heard an unnatural noise.

It sounded as if something was being forcibly torn to shreds.

[—It’s from above!?] (Seto)

Seto reacted immediately and slashed over his head twice with his magic sword.

To destroy four thin metal pipes with pointed ends.

They flew like arrows and were about to skewer the boy.

[Too bad, they come from below too.] (Boiling Void)

[……!?] (Seto)

This time, four pipes of the same kind came flying through the wire netting.

While evading them brilliantly, Seto decided to go after the wraith once again, hoping to make short work of him.

However, he vanished into the white mist, moving from one pillar to another by hopping around like a frog or an insect.

Suddenly, when he looked up at the ceiling, he saw a huge amount of gas gushing out of a thin tube that had been shredded.

The gas descended through the wire netting where Seto was standing.

As it blurred his vision, he heard the voice of the wraith.

[What’s wrong? I’m right here.] (Boiling Void)

Seto braced himself and looked around with his back against a pillar.

This was a different type of enemy than the previous ones.

This place was the mental landscape and home ground of the wraith.

Killing him while hiding from sight would be a suitable tactic.

Sure enough, the second wave of attacks arrived.

This time, not only metal pipes, but even small fragments came flying at him.

Seto jumped to the left to avoid them, causing the projectiles to dig into the pillar, with the countless impact marks clearly demonstrating their destructive power.

[He can manipulate objects at will…? Is it some kind of psychokinesis? Even for that attack just now, he tried to hit me with projectiles he ripped from the walls and ceiling.] (Seto)

Psychokinesis.

The power to lift objects at will without touching them.

It was a simple yet highly versatile ability depending on how it was used, and its true worth was still unknown.

[Only now you realize it? Don’t lump me together with the other wraiths, okay? Because I’m a combat expert with far more experience than you!] (Boiling Void)

His voice came from above.

Looking up, the wraith was standing at a right angle to the pillar.

His arms were lightly outstretched, and he was putting strength into his palms so that he could unleash his power at any time.

[—This is emptiness. Emptiness is the strongest thought that governs the mind. It allowed me to obtain this power.] (Boiling Void)

[And in exchange for that, you… No, all of you wraiths are trapped in this world. What good is a power like that?] (Seto)

[You could never understand… You don’t know what it feels like to have a heart that boils over with emptiness.] (Boiling Void)

Taking a martial arts fighting stance, he jumped down from his pillar and attacked Seto.

Without a moment’s delay, Seto swung his blade from the bottom up for an upward slash.

His sword was blocked by the power dwelling in the wraith’s palm.

Both forces repelled each other, emitting lightning-like energy and creating a shockwave, albeit a small one.

[KUHAAAAAAAHHH!!] (Seto)

Riding the shockwave and jumping like a flying squirrel, the wraith landed on top of the wire mesh with a relaxed expression on his face and glared at Seto, who had also widened the gap between them.

While keeping a poker face, Seto kept his sword low and waved the tip.

[…I don’t like your eyes. I don’t like that fighting spirit of yours. Khehehe, I’ll show you. I’ll show you that in the face of my emptiness, your strength is nothing more than child’s play!] (Boiling Void)

[Go ahead and try. In return… I’ll slice you like an onion.] Seto said in a cool, composed tone.

There was no fear or hesitation in his eyes.

He had grown accustomed to the supernatural powers of the wraiths thanks to his previous battles.

This one possessed the nasty power of psychokinesis, but the boy would make sure to take him down.

Seto’s eyes and blade carried a will far more resilient than all the metallic objects around him.

[I will make you regret ever challenging me. It’s on!] (Boiling Void)