When the light died down, the Lich Lord finally collapsed to the rugged floor.
The battle had been decided. The double Grand Cross that I and Aaron had casted was enough to break through the Lich Lord's magic resistance and caused to it fatal damage.
That's why the dead people who were bound to the Lich Lord were released once after another. Their bodies seemed to have reached their limit a long time ago, thus immediately decomposed into soil. This mean I have to be quick.
[Aaron, quick. To your family.]
[…Yes]
Aaron put on a stout look and went to his family.
His wife and son's body were laying on the floor and had begun to decompose from the lowermost part.
When Aaron arrived at their side, the two opened their eyes.
Could they be still being controlled…. I prepared the black sword, just in case. But no, there is clear conscience in their eyes.
Unlike the doll they were before.
[Father….]
[Dear…..I'm sorry]
Upon hearing that voices, Aaron dropped his holy sword, rushed to their side and held their hands that seemed to be about to collapse at any time.
How…? Didn't the two should've been died a very long time ago? At this question Greed replied with the "Mind Reading".
『It can be said that their body still contained their soul. They gained temporary freedom after being released from the Lich Lord. Well, their time isn't long though.』
[I see….]
I don't know if this conclusion is the best for Aaron. It may even wound him even further. But I feel that this is what he always wanted.
So I simply stood there watching.
[Forgive me…..Father. I couldn't protect the castle and the city. Taken prisoner by the Lich Lord after being killed….even wielding my sword against father.]
[That's enough. Forgive me too. I should've stayed with you more often. I'm really really sorry.]
It was his wife who then replied to Aaron.
[Dear, you didn't do anything bad. There was nothing we could do to change it. And after all, didn't you came to save us? So please, for our sake, continue to walk the path of the Sword Saint you had once believed in forever more.]
[Father, we'll be alright now….]
His family collapsed little by little. Even their hands could not be held anymore…..the time was out.
Aaron shed tears, and answered to his family with a smile on his face.
[In my remaining life, I will live as to not to make you two ashamed…. I, I can finally feel at ease.]
Upon that answer, the wife and son pair smiled, before finally turning completely to lump of soil.
Leaving two small balls of pale light. They fluttered in the air, floating around Aaron.
[Greed, what are those?]
『Souls, souls with lingering strong feeling sometimes can be seen by naked eyes. Those two were truly important for Aaron.』
[A final farewell for their loved one, is it….?]
『That's quite right. But however』
I understood what Greed was trying to say. The Lich Lord was still alive, even after all this time, since I didn't hear Gluttony Skill activating. It's that resilient, isn't it?
Turning back, I found it crawling on the floor trying to approach us.
[Don't you dare interrupt Aaron.]
I switched into bow form, and generate a magic arrow with my remaining magic power. I added dust attribute to the arrow, and aimed to the Lich Lord's forehead.
[You'll remain here, petrified.]
The arrow was released in a staggering speed, and hit the target. The petrification took effect almost instantly, to the point that it didn't even have any time to shriek.
"Gluttony Skill activated"
"Durability+3640000, Strength+2560000, Magic+4565000, Spirit+4346000, Agility+2347000 will be applied to your stats"
"Illusion Magic, Magic Strengthening (L), Spirit Strengthening (L) will be added to your skill list"
An terrifying stone statue of the Lich Lord was completed. Even if someone took it and tried sell it away, nobody will be willing to buy it since it looked like a cursed item. Good grief…it's still terrible even after dying.
Afterward, came the excitement of the Gluttony Skill after consuming a crown tier monster as usual. It raged throughout my whole body. The soul of the Lich Lord seemed to be very delicious, all the crown tier monster I've come across so far are no match.
[Ku….uuuu]
Greed reverted back to his sword form as I struggled to maintain my consciousness.
After a while, the excitement died down, and it came to pass with me still not being consumed by it. It seemed that my training had been paid off.
I had my confidence, but it's far from perfect. Tears of blood running through my cheeks as a result of me forcibly enduring the urge.
Using the black sword as mirror, I checked my appearance as I wiped the blood on my face. Yes, one of my eyes was red before this, but now both of them were black and the feeling of hunger had also gone.
As I caught my breath and took a look at Aaron, the sphere of light finally disappearing slowly. Aaron watched them depart solemnly.
[Please go ahead and wait for me. I still have something left to do, I'll be there with you one day]
As if reassured after hearing his words, the two souls finally faded into darkness. Only Aaron and I left in this castle. The battle we had here felt like it was never happened.
When Aaron turned to me, he opened his mouth with a troubled face.
[Pardon me, but can I ask you a favor?]
[What do you want me to do?]
[Cleaning up. Clean this place up from any monsters. I've made a promise, I will do it all over again.]
Aaron planned to rebuild this city. But first, we'll have to exterminate all the monsters dwelling around here. I guess it will take overnight….no, with the scale of this city, it will take a few days.
But I'll do it anyways. It's my master's request, so it's my obligation to fulfill it as his disciple.
[Sure. I'm still itching for more battle experiences.]
[Ho, well said. In that case, should I leave it all to you?]
[I'm alright with that. Aaron is wounded, so it's best not to force yourself.]
[Hahaha, this is nothing but a scratch.]
He's a tough old man alright. But as far as I know, there is no magic to heal wound. So I'd rather that he doesn't push himself too hard…..though I can't ask about it to Aaron yet. But anyways I have auto recovery myself so I can work as hard as I want and still be fine.
[Then rest for a bit while, and join up with the cleaning afterward.]
[Nope, I will join up right now.]
[Eeeeee!?]
He's really tough….or perhaps old age simply made him stupider. While thinking about that, Aaron raised his voice.
[What's the matter?]
[Fufufuhahahahaha...I didn't know that there is something like this]
Aaron was laughing out loud. Since I didn't understand the reason, it only managed to confuse me.
[Apparently, I still have some room left to grow. The limit has been overcome, and I actually rose a level.]
[Really….?]
[And still rising.]
When someone has reached a certain age, their level stopped rising even if they killed a lot of monsters. There was an inborn level limit for each individual, and normally it's impossible to rise beyond that limit.
However, limit breaks happened when one overcame that hurdle. According to Aaron, doing so would make someone to be stronger by ten times of their original power. He also said that there weren't many warriors who had exceeded their limit.
As Aaron himself doesn't know how it actually happened, he couldn't give me a proper explanation about it.
[If I have to say so myself, it may have been because of the opportunity to fight with Fate. Something in you must've triggered it within me.]
[Something…?]
I only had Gluttony Skill with me. Did it also influence Aaron who fought alongside me that he's able to experience limit break? It was just a guess since I haven't fought alongside anyone else but Aaron before.
Greed talked to me through "Mind Reading".
『If you fought with the owner of a skill that breaks god's rule, there were some cases where you were also influenced...No matter who that person is. As long as they fought with someone who owned skills like the Mortal Sins skill. The influence can either be good or bad. But most of the time it appeared under the form of limit break.』 [TL Note: Mortal Sin = Deadly Sins]
[You should've told me about this sooner]
『You didn't need to know about this before. But anyways, those recorded in history to have broken through their limit usually had some relation with the owner of the Mortal Sins skill. 』
I was whispering with Greed at the back when Aaron finally recovered from his initial happiness for being able to experience limit break.
[Fate, what are you doing talking to yourself? Come now, let's clean up this city from the skeletons. Time to step up our game]
[In high spirits, eh?]
[It's been a while since I've been this happy. Alright, let's go then.]
Aaron went out of the castle, with chasing behind trying to tell him an impending issue.
[Aaron, there is one problem!]
[What?]
[If our return is delayed due to the skeleton hunting, Myne will surely be mad]
[Indeed….then how about this. In addition to the 50 gold I've promised, I'll add another 100 gold for the reward to protecting the village. She seems to be in need of a lot of money, so I think this would be enough to appease her.]
As expected of Aaron. He knew that Myne had this weakness when it came to money, even if they barely talked to each other. With that 100 gold, I dare bet that she'd immediately forgive us for being late. I can already imagine her expression upon receiving the money.
With that problem solved, I'll be able to fight to my heart's content. I fully demonstrated the new stats I obtained after consuming the Lich Lord's soul, getting ahead of Aaron.
[I should be the one taking the lead. Please rely on the youngster more like the old man you should be]
[I am certainly old already. However, I feel like I want to go crazy for a bit]
[In that case….]
[ [ Competition! ] ]
Aaron and I ended up competing on who killed the most monsters. If this went on, it might actually take faster than I expected. Retaking the city from the undead and starting over.