Love Letter From The Future
Chapter 424: Proof of Existence (12)

Chapter 424: Proof of Existence (12)

0% Unrefined mana was dangerous. Its power defied the laws of nature, corrupting living beings and turning them into monsters.

Such creatures born from this were called ‘demonic beasts’.

Most of these creatures would merely grow slightly larger than their original forms, but some species reacted dramatically to mana, undergoing radical transformations. These demonic beasts were classified into a new category entirely.

The monsters lined up before me were prime examples of said category.

They were squirming masses of elongated flesh with mouths grown so grotesquely large it was impossible to distinguish their faces. Acidic saliva dripped through the jagged teeth that framed their monstrous maws.

This particular species was called ‘Hellholes’.

Back when, little was known about demonic beasts, even their original forms were a complete mystery. It was only speculated that some enigmatic creatures from deep underground had mutated due to mana.

Thus, these creatures earned the ominous moniker ‘Hellholes’. No one had ever imagined that their original forms were something as simple as an earthworm.

And why would they? Who could possibly look upon these overwhelming monstrosities and think of an earthworm?

From their wrinkled skin to their carnivorous appetites, they were the exact opposite of their origin.Though, the reason why earthworms—along with a select few other species—underwent such peculiar mutations remained a mystery.

But one thing was certain.

Entities that underwent such unique transformations, like the ‘Hellholes’, were invariably stronger than other demonic beasts. So much so that the likelihood of them earning a name was noticeably higher.

KIIIIIIEEEEEEKKKK!

A piercing screech ripped through the silence of the night. The sound was sharp enough to make my eardrums throb, and cold sweat beaded on my forehead.

To be honest, I wasn’t particularly frightened of the Hellholes.

After all, I had taken down the underlings of the Evil God before. Unless a demonic beast had a name of its own, no matter how many there were, they hardly fazed me. Perhaps if it were a demonic human, things would be different.

There was only one reason I was on edge.

Because of the presence of the black-haired woman. Whoever she was, she must be behind this incident.

That was the real issue.

As I didn’t know her identity, I couldn’t gauge her strength. Worse still, it was already night, making it near impossible to identify dark-colored objects.

Even more so in the midst of battle against demonic beasts.

I lowered my stance, tightening my grip on my sword.

For now, resolving this chaotic battle was my priority. Silver aura began to bloom across my sword like wildfire.

Then—in a single flash.

A pristine streak of white sword-light sharply tore through the air. Flesh that came in contact with the silver horizon exploded soundlessly.

Several Hellholes screamed as they were split in half and flung skyward.

Droplets of blood splattered down in a grotesque rain. Showered by that foul scent of blood, I shouted at Sir Reynold.

“Sir Reynold, how much longer?!”

“Just a little more!”

A voice tinged with faint groans replied, signaling he was performing painfully complex calculations.

I ground my teeth together, staring straight ahead. It was a sight I’d seen over and over again.

With each swing of my sword, several Hellholes collapsed into lifeless heaps.

It was an incredibly efficient battle. By all rights, I should’ve been assured an overwhelming victory.

Yet the battle still hadn’t decisively tilted in my favor.

There were just too many Hellholes. Even worse, their numbers hadn’t decreased in the slightest, and now, they were even acting intelligently.

As blood sprayed, obscuring my vision, something squirming suddenly began to accelerate.

I swiftly positioned my sword horizontally, blocking the gaping maw of an incoming Hellhole. But at that moment, several others skillfully weaved around me, shooting straight toward Sir Reynold.

This wasn’t the intelligence of an ordinary demonic beast. They had intentionally created an opening for themselves.

A sharp whoosh rang out as something shot out from my palm like lightning. It was the hatchet I’d kept hanging at my waist.

The thrown hatchet buried itself deep into the head of one of the Hellholes lunging at Sir Reynold. And then a loud, droning wail erupted again.

KEEEEEEEAHHHH!!

The torrents of blood that burst out one after another testified to the creature’s death. Seizing the chance, I channeled mana until my sword thrummed with power.

The silver aura steadily grew larger.

As the pure white flames ignited, acidic fluid sizzled away with a harsh crackle. The Hellhole struggled fiercely, desperate to push me back—but that was its fatal mistake.

Clenching my teeth, I yanked the sword with all my strength.

The resistance lasted but a fleeting moment. After a brief pause, my aura surged forward in a relentless charge, cleaving through the Hellhole, leaving its bisected flesh suspended in midair.

A frustrated shout burst spontaneously from my lips.

“Aren’t you done yet?!”

No answer returned. Instead, Sir Reynold remained immersed in his chanting.

This meant he was nearly finished.

“O star of truth, arbiter of life and death... guide of the seeker, law of heaven and the way of nature, the eternal and boundless order—I call upon thee to command light and fire!”

A gentle wind began to stir across the world of mangled flesh and blood.

The soft breeze soon became a gust, and the gust quickly turned into a tempest. Crackling lightning charges violently surged through the trembling air.

The sky was weeping.

Even the Hellholes hesitated momentarily, sensing something was off. Amidst the raging whirlwind, Sir Reynold’s brown hair thrashed wildly.

Yet, he remained calm. The man’s attention was fixed solely upon his clenched fist.

Azure light seeped through the gaps between his fingers.

“Unleash.”

At his trigger word, Sir Reynold’s fingers opened revealing a tiny sphere of glowing light atop his palm. And then, with a gentle blow from his lips, the orb floated upward.

And just as it reached the eye of the whirlwind—

“Get down!”

I faithfully obeyed Sir Reynold’s command. As I flattened myself against the ground, vivid bolts of lightning scattered violently above me.

It was nothing short of a meat grinder.

Relentless lightning erupted endlessly from the tornado, spinning and annihilating everything around it. The Hellholes shrieked, and the stray charges grazing against the earth left behind acrid scorched odors.

Severed flesh became conduits, spreading the electric devastation further.

It was a merciless spell. The horrific scene that unfolded from a mere brief chant was beyond brutal.

Yet even this was merely the beginning.

Sir Reynold slammed his palm into the ground with a loud smack. The earth swelled at the point of impact before erupting with a storm of light and heat, devastating the surroundings.

Lightning, blood, and dirt.

Amid the chaos, I caught faint noises. Soon after, monsters lurking deep underground were forced to the surface, screaming as they emerged into the world.

KIIIIEEEEKKK, KEEEEEAAAAAHHHHKK!

The storm was slowly subsiding.

Bodies of monsters paralyzed by lightning stood rigidly upright. I hurled a hatchet at the head of a Hellhole that had just begun rising.

Thwack! Blood erupted from where the hatchet struck. While the monster flinched, I dashed forward, climbing atop its skull.

My gaze met another Hellhole that had risen first. I flashed it a grim smile.

“What’re you staring at, you bastard?”

With a sickening squelch, my sword pierced straight through the monster’s crown. As blood sprayed, I vaulted off its collapsing body—finally spotting the leader of the pack.

The other Hellholes measured about 6 to 8 meters each. But this one towered at least twice that size, looking down at me from a dizzying height.

I didn’t like that look.

As I leaped again, my hatchet whirled back into my hand. At the peak of my ascent, my eyes finally matched level with the leader of the pack.

This is how it should’ve been from the start.

With both hands gripping my hatchet, I ignited my silver aura.

A silver flame split the world in half as it crashed downward.

KIEEEEEEEEEEEEK.......

Its scream faded into the distance, and immediately after the hatchet blade struck the ground,

The demonic beast’s body split cleanly into two halves. I caught my breath calmly, soaked in the raining blood.

My hands felt numb, I had exerted too much force.

I flexed my hand repeatedly, unfazed by the smell of blood, as Sir Reynold approached with heavy footsteps.

He was as bloodied as I was.

“Your aura has grown stronger than before. Have you awakened a trait?”

“No, not yet.......”

“Yet you can still display such power.”

Sir Reynold’s eyes quickly scanned our surroundings. Only then did I fully grasp the carnage we’d created.

The ground was littered with flesh and blood. Additionally, most of the severed corpses had been split cleanly in half with single strikes.

I felt it too. At the end of the battle, my aura had surged so fiercely that it overwhelmed even the hatchet’s blade.

And wasn’t the evidence clear? That tiny hatchet cleaved the enormous beast in half with a single blow.

Perhaps a rush of excitement had gotten to me—to the point that I ended up using more strength than necessary.

Surveying the area with an indifferent expression, Sir Reynold soon shook his head dismissively.

“Forget the demonic beasts. The real issue is—where did that woman go?”

“I don’t sense her presence at all.”

Sir Reynold also nodded in agreement. It meant that neither of us could sense even the faintest trace of her.

Was that even possible?

Even as I said it, I couldn’t fully believe it. A swordsman who’d reached Expert level and a mage recognized as an Archmage couldn’t detect her at all?

With a groan, I asked,

“Sir Reynold, you said you’d seen her before, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Strangely enough, the memory of her keeps resurfacing in my mind lately.”

“Weren’t you about to say something earlier?”

Sir Reynold hesitated at my words.

As confusion flashed across his face, I urged him on anxiously.

“You mentioned something about her ‘eyes’—didn’t you?”

“Ah, yes. Indeed, I did.”

The middle-aged man’s eyelids drifted shut once more. His expression, lost somewhere in the depths of the past, carried a hint of weariness.

“It was a dark night. The plains, without even the faintest breeze, were eerily quiet... so quiet that it was hard to believe that the city overrun by demonic beasts even existed. That’s when I saw her.”

“The girl?”

“She looked young. Her long black hair fluttered in the breeze... I approached and spoke to her.”

Drifting through the waves of memory, Sir Reynold momentarily wore a pained expression.

A reenactment woven from his testimony unfolded before my eyes. A mercenary encountering a girl sitting on the darkened plain, gazing up at the sky.

Her back was turned, so I couldn’t see her face. All that stood out was her long, jet-black hair.

“‘What are you doing here? It’s dangerous,’ I told her.”

The girl then smiled—a smile so pure it was unsettling.

“She chuckled at me, simply stating she was waiting. Before I could even ask what for, the Hellholes ambushed us and...”

“And after that? What happened to the girl afterward?”

The middle-aged man’s groan deepened. Sir Reynold, his face contorted in agony, pressed his forehead, struggling to recall.

“Yes, that’s right! She just stood there, watching us while laughing! Those damned Hellholes shouldn’t have stood a chance against us. But then... how...”

As he revisited those memories, the man’s face turned pale.

His haggard eyes snapped open. Frantically, he looked around in confusion. Taken aback, I had no choice but to ask Sir Reynold again.

“What’s wrong, Sir Reynold?”

“...right, it wasn’t just this.”

His voice was hollow. His gaze fixed somewhere.

Towards the garrison.

Sensing something ominous, I channeled mana into my retinas. My enhanced vision cut through the darkness, capturing the dust rising in the distance.

My expression hardened immediately.

“This wasn’t all of them... The main force is elsewhere.”

“...Shit.”

I stomped forward, roughly yanking out my sword embedded in a Hellhole corpse.

There was no time to hesitate. My mind was already filled with worry for one particular person.

Ria, my younger sister.

I sheathed the blade, ready to sprint off, when suddenly my body froze.

My eyes scanned the empty space behind me. As I stood blankly staring around, Sir Reynold, who had recovered somewhat, asked me,

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s just...”

I thought I’d heard laughter.

I tilted my head in confusion, but had no choice other than to sprint toward the garrison.

Please let Ria be safe.

All the while praying like that desperately in my heart.