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CHAPTER 283 — A REALM BEYOND UNDERSTANDING

 

—Curulario’s POV—

…What is this?

At Hail’s signal, Master Aun and Ciel ‘started a fight’. It should’ve been happening right in front of me, yet I could barely grasp what was going on.

The instant I thought Ciel stepped in, blood sprayed from Master Aun’s cheek.

The split second I thought Master’s fist finished its arc, Ciel went flying and gouged the earth with the foot he used to land.

There was no gap between action and result.

My mind couldn’t connect the outcome I saw to the process that led to it.

And yet… not understanding set my heart racing, and it felt unbelievably good.

—Every time the sounds of combat reached me as vibrations, I forgot to breathe; my vision seared white, my pupils dilated, and my brain tingled.
My heart pounded, and I could keenly feel the blood boiling through my whole body.

This is the ‘height’ where Master Aun and Ciel stand.

Right now I’m… being allowed to vicariously experience a dimension I don’t know, one I can’t reach.

If my eyes can’t track it, then I’ll just have to feel it with my ears.

The shrill rip of air being torn, the wet pop of blood bursting, the dry creak of bone.

All of it split my eardrums and hammered straight into my brain.

Before I knew it, the corners of my mouth had lifted. Breathing no longer mattered; I focused only on inhaling the phenomenon itself.

Ah—so this is the sound of ‘strength’.

Amid a speed of battle I couldn’t believe, only the two fighters’ sprays of blood drifted slowly here and there—like red petals on the night wind.

It’s insane. And yet… beautiful.

I was straining to follow their ‘fight’ with eyes and ears—able to catch them only at the edge of my vision—when the air suddenly detonated.

Sound or shockwave… even that was a blur. With a roar, I saw both their fists buried in each other’s cheeks.

My vision went so white I could’ve sworn the world split open. I sucked in a breath.

I never want this moment to end. But…

For an instant, their eyes met.

No hatred. No malice. Just faces that looked satisfied.

That sight woke something inside me.

Heat blazed up from deep in my chest.

In the next moment, Ciel dropped to one knee, one hand braced on the ground.

Master was still standing, but he was drenched in blood and heaved for breath—living proof of how fierce the fight had been.

Both of them had been close to their limits—but the one who remained on his feet at the end was Master Aun.

At some point even the quiet wind had died.

Even the night insects fell silent, as if cowed.

All that remained was the smell of blood and the two shadows under the moonlight.

「Ha… ha—hah… hahahaha.」

A laugh slipped out of my throat before I knew it.

My emotions had slipped the leash and there was no going back.

Unstoppable tremors raced through me and blew my reason away.

I was scared. And happy.

I hardly understood the content of the fight at all—yet what I gained was enormous.

I want to catch up. To that back that’s impossibly far away…

But I’d never reach it alone. No matter how hard I sprinted solo, I’d never stand on that height…

Damn it—this is unbearable!

I made up my mind.

I will catch up. I don’t need to understand it yet. Even so, I’ve recognized my own room to grow.

Until I can stand shoulder to shoulder with that ideal, I’ll vomit blood as many times as it takes, let my brain juices flood, and survive on the knife-edge between life and death.

I turned my gaze to Heil beside me.

My whole body was still rigid, my fingertips numb, yet my mouth moved on its own.

「…Heil. Make it official—let me join Tekirana.」

By the time I catch up to Master as he is now, that back might be even farther away.

Even so, I won’t give up. The moment I stop moving forward, my dream becomes something I can never touch for the rest of my life.