Descendant of Sloth
Chapter 56: Dance of the Angel

Chapter 56: Dance of the Angel

*GUSH**

Blood sprayed from Lala’s mouth, dark crimson staining his lips as his body tilted forward. Gasps echoed through the elves around, every elf frozen in horror. From his stomach, piercing through his back, were long, white, solid strands of hair—sharp as blades, glistening with his blood.

"Lala?" the female elf whispered, her voice shaking with concern. She took an instinctive step forward to hold him, her hands trembling.

Above us, the sky darkened as storm clouds began to gather, swirling ominously, casting an eerie gray colour over the battlefield. The once serene forest now felt suffocating, thick with tension and dread.

Then, the sound of crumbling rock shattered the silence. A heavy thud followed—a sound I didn’t wanted to hear. Something I couldn’t believe. Slowly, every head turned toward the source of the noise.

"Arghhh..." A low, guttural groan echoed through the air.

Gyosu—who was supposed to be dead—staggered to his feet. His body swayed, barely holding itself together, blood dripping from his mouth, his wounds still raw and gaping. Yet, somehow, he moved. Somehow, he was standing again.

"You fuckers..." his voice was deep, rough, inhuman. His breath was ragged, each word laced with venom. His body trembled, veins bulging beneath his pale, blood-soaked skin. His eyes—now an unnatural, glowing red—burned with fury.

"Don’t say that you’ll do anything for the Eladrins..." he growled, his voice like a beast’s, unrecognizable from the man he once was.

With a slow, deliberate motion, he yanked his hair back, withdrawing the deadly strands from Lala’s stomach. The sickening sound schlick* of flesh tearing made even the battle-hardened elves flinch.

Lala crumpled to the ground, his body convulsing as he gasped for air.

"Ahh...huhh...huff..." He struggled to breathe, his hands pressing weakly against the gaping wound. His skin paled, and his once-fiery aura flickered like a dying flame.

"Don’t talk, Lala... let me heal you!" The female elf dropped to her knees beside him, holding his trembling body in her arms. Her hands hovered over his wound, and a soft, warm glow of aura gathered at her fingertips.

"I won’t die..from this..Huff*.." said Lala in a breaking tone.

"Stop speaking damn it!" The female elf said, her eyes filling up with tears as she did her best to heal him but even as she worked, panic flickered in her eyes.

Because deep down, she knew—this was no ordinary wound.

"You all ruined the name of the Eladrins!!" Gyosu’s voice thundered across everyone, raw with fury and grief.

White aura crackled around him, shifting into electric currents that danced across his body. The elves around him stared in shock, their expressions a mix of guilt and disbelief.

Even those who never doubted him now felt the weight of his words pressing down on them.

"Gyosu...what are you saying.." one of the elder elf dared to ask

"We always respected you and held your words hig-"

"SHUT UP!" Gyosu groaned in anger. "I don’t want to hear your fucking excuses. You all are useless generation undeserving of even breathing...You don’t deserve to live!" he snarled. "I will kill you all with my own hands!!"

He took a step forward, his hair rising like a peacock’s fan, rigid and sharp, swirling ominously around him. The tension in the air thickened, the scent of blood mixing with fear.

A small elven child let out a terrified wail, clinging to their mother as sobs shook their tiny frame.

"STOP IT, GYOSU!!" I stepped forward, my voice firm.

With a flick of my wrist, I summoned my black dagger, its shining blade pulsing with dark energy.

Gyosu’s red eyes snapped toward me, his rage only deepening. "Esther...you are an—outsider—shut the fuck up!!"

His head tilted toward the sky as his aura flared. Then, in a single ruthless motion, he slashed his hair outward. The sharp strands sliced through the air, cutting through several elves in one brutal sweep.

Blood splattered the ground. Screams rang out. Bodies crumpled.

"Nooo!!" I roared, my breath catching as I watched them fall.

Sweat dripped down my face, my heart hammering in my chest. I clenched my dagger, shifting into a low stance—my legs stretched apart, body half-turned, weight balanced. My free hand rested near my waist, mimicking the grip of a swordsman about to draw and strike but it was my dagger which I held.

Black aura surged from my feet, coiling up my legs, wrapping around my dagger like a living shadow.

"Stop this at once!" I demanded, my voice firm despite the storm raging around us. "I don’t want to do this..."

"Hahahahahahahaha.!!!!" Gyosu only let out a ragged chuckle, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. His breath was labored, his voice breaking.

"Do whatever you want... but I’ll do it. I’ll kill them all... for destroying the very pride of the Eladrins... the pride that we—of the early generations—protected!!"

"You are one of the Eladrins yourself, GYOSU!!" I shouted, my teeth gritted.

But he didn’t listen.

He leapt into the air, his body silhouetted against the stormy sky, a lone figure in the swirling gray clouds.

"SHUT UP!!!!"

His scream tore through the heavens. His entire mass of hair shot toward me, each strand rigid, razor-sharp, descending at a speed too fast for the eye to track.

I didn’t have time to think. They were coming straight for me.

"Shower of Darkness!!!" Gyosu roared, his voice echoing like a death bell.

His hair, now an endless storm of razor-sharp strands, rained down upon me, seeking to tear through flesh and bone. The sky trembled, the wind howled, and the cries of elves filled the air.

Yet in that moment, when destruction seemed inevitable—time itself slowed.

And amidst the chaos, my voice pierced through the storm, reaching every soul present, even Gyosu, though it should have been impossible to hear over the raging winds.

"Dance of Angels."

The instant those words left my lips, I vanished.

A hush fell over the battlefield.

The only sound was the faint cracking of the ground beneath me as I launched forward, my black aura unfurling like wings of shadow. A blur of black and white streaked through the battlefield, a fleeting dash of light and darkness woven together.

And then—obliteration.

I cut through every single attack of Gyosu. I didn’t dodge. I didn’t evade.

I destroyed.

Mid-air, I moved between Gyosu’s lethal strands, moving so fast that I became nothing but a shifting silhouette—a ghost of destruction.

Slash—one strike severed a cluster of his hardened hair.

Slash—another ripped through an oncoming wave before it could reach the helpless elves behind me.

Slash, slash, slash— each movement precise, each cut decisive.

To the others, I was invisible, a mere afterimage streaking through the battlefield. Only black-and-white arcs remained in my wake, carving through Gyosu’s storm like divine judgment.

But in that moment, the only one who saw me...was Gyosu alone.

His red eyes, wide yet resigned, tracked my movement—a blur, yes, but one he recognized.

A memory flickered across his face, and for the first time, his expression softened. He had seen this before. Centuries ago. When we fought side by side. When I used it against Demon Lord.

His lips barely moved, his voice escaping in a whisper that only I could hear—

"Esther..." A sad smile formed at the corner of his lips. "I wish... I could have lived a life like you... a life unbound by the weight of any emotional sin."

Something deep in my chest twisted. But my blade was already in motion.

"I am sorry, Gyosu."

Our eyes met for the last time.

Then—SLASH.

I passed through him. The storm ceased and the winds fell silent.

And behind me—his head fell from the sky, severed cleanly from his body.

Gyosu’s lifeless form hovered for a moment before gravity claimed it, dragging him down like a fallen star.

I landed softly, my dagger still gripped tight. I did not turn back.

The battle had ended.

"May your soul rest in peace..." I murmured, my voice barely audible.

My hair concealed my eyes, hiding whatever emotion might have surfaced. And then, like the wind that had vanished, I too became still.