Chapter 139
CHAPTER 139
REUNION
Two figures remained in each others" embrace for nearly ten minutes, doused in complete silence interrupted only occasionally with a faint sob and a gasp . Lino slowly came to and raised his head, his eyes being met by a reddened pair . He couldn"t help but let a faint smile escape his lips as Ella tightened her hold on him . From over her shoulder, he could see another figure slowly leaving the small house .
Eggor was still just as Lino remembered him; tall, broad and old . Though he kept his brows furrowed, it was clear it took quite a magnificent effort to do so . He seemed to take a deep breath before beginning to walk forward, stopping only when he reached the two . He spoke with his arms crossed over his chest .
"h.e.l.lo kiddo . "
"h.e.l.lo old man . " Lino replied, smiling .
" . . . you look like s.h.i.+t . "
"Thanks . "
" . . . I"m glad you"re okay . " Eggor said, coughing almost immediately after as if to cover up his embarra.s.sment .
"You know what I"m going to do right now?" Lino asked, pulling Ella up and away .
"What?" Eggor asked, arching his brow .
"I"m gonna give you a bear hug . "
"No you won"t . "
"Sure as h.e.l.l will . "
"Try and I"ll rip you apart . "
"No you won"t . " Lino said, taking a step closer .
"Hey, back off b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
"Here I come, old man!"
"f.u.c.k off you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I"m warning you!!" Eggor exclaimed, fervently backing up .
"Aww, come on, come here . Gimme that big ol" hug!"
"I swear I"ll shove a sword up your a.s.s if you don"t stop!"
"Eh? If you"re gonna cheat on your wife man, at least, you know, pick another woman . "
" . . . "
"How about that hug, huh?"
" . . . "
"Ha ha, are you thinking about whether it"s possible to squeeze me to death?" Lino asked, slowly walking over .
"Maybe . "
"Eh, give it a shot . If it works, I won"t haunt you . "
"I"d be quicker to believe stars s.h.i.+t diamonds than that . " Eggor said, grinning for a moment . However, he wasn"t backing up any longer .
"Why diamonds though?" Lino asked as he stopped in front of him . Though Lino had grown quite considerably, over 190 at that, he was still at least a head shorter than the giant before him .
"Why not?"
"Good point . "
" . . . come here . " though he tried desperately, Lino was unable to wrap his arms around the thick-bellied giant . On the other hand, it was leisure for Eggor to do so . Muscle atop a muscle, that was truly the only thing Lino felt .
"d.a.m.n man, you"re so f.u.c.king fat . . . " Lino mumbled as the two parted .
"Fat? Humph, "tis all muscle, you braindead kid . All muscle . "
"Yeah, that"s what I said . " Lino said, grinning .
"All the same, I"d rather be a fatso than a stick like you . "
"Oh, please . You should see how women swoon over this stick . "
"Perhaps "stick" wasn"t the best choice of words . . . " Eggor mumbled .
" . . . oh . Yeah . Khm, anyway," Lino swiftly turned around and faced Ella who was currently staring at the two curiously with a faint smile . "What are you looking at?"
"Just wondering if I should be worried . "
" . . . oh, please . " Lino rolled his eyes at her . "Unlike you, I"d be crushed if he tried to jump me . " Pa!! Though it hurt, Lino suddenly felt a strange sense of nostalgia surge from within . He then immediately suppressed it from fear of growing to enjoy being slapped at the back of his head .
The trio soon headed back into the house where Ella quickly fas.h.i.+oned a simple meal while Eggor took out the finest ale he could find and poured all three of them a cup . Lino grabbed at the wooden spoon and quickly downed the strange soup . It wasn"t exactly due to hunger, but because he missed Ella"s food quite a bit .
"Did you two wait long?" Lino asked .
"No . " Ella replied, shaking her head .
"h.e.l.l yeah . " Eggor replied, frowning .
" . . . so which one is it?"
"Mine . " both replied at the same time .
"Ah, I get it . So you decided to f.u.c.k with me for a while . "
"Do you really think I have time to do that?" Eggor asked .
"Well, you had time to wait for me here . "
" . . . "
"How have you been?" Ella asked while caressing Eggor"s back gently, healing the old man"s wounds .
"Honestly?" Lino said, looking at her . "Thinking about whether I should try to kill you when I found you, mostly . It was a very tough decision . "
" . . . that bad, huh?" Ella asked, sighing lowly .
" . . . nah," Lino said, smiling . "Had I been smarter, all of this could have been avoided . "
" . . . I"m truly sorry, Lino . " Ella said . "I . . . I honestly never meant to entangle you into this mess . I had no idea it would happen in this way . . . "
" . . . I"m sorry to burst your bubble, but you didn"t have a choice," Lino shrugged his shoulders . "If the b.a.s.t.a.r.d wanted you to give him to someone, you would have given him to someone . The c.u.n.t"s c.u.n.ty like that . "
" . . . are we talking about the same thing? The thing?" Eggor suddenly asked, seeming slightly shocked .
"The Writ? Yeah . " Lino replied casually, nibbling on the bread .
" . . . you really have the b.a.l.l.s of steel calling it a c.u.n.t . " Eggor said, a shred of respect toward the young b.a.s.t.a.r.d across from him appearing in his eyes .
"Oh, that? Pf, c.u.n.t"s like a lovely nickname compared to the s.h.i.+t I usually come up with . For an entire year, I used to call him Gaia"s unwanted wh.o.r.e . Even he couldn"t endure it in the end and decided to teach me a brief lesson in pain . "
" . . . "
" . . . khm," Ella coughed awkwardly . "You"re still the same, I see . "
"He he, but of course!"
"Oh, right . " Eggor chimed in . "What happened to the others?" he remembered the band he was briefly a part of before he went to look for Ella . The atmosphere almost immediately dipped into frigid as Lino"s expression darkened . He almost immediately regretted asking, but there was no b.u.t.ton to unwind the time and erase regrets .
" . . . dead . " Lino said . "Only Lucky"s alive . . . I suppose . "
" . . . I . . . I"m sorry . . . " Eggor mumbled weakly .
" . . . as am I," Lino said, sighing and leaning back into the chair . "I went my own way for a while before the invasion "cause I wanted to make some money and buy some resources . . . I was too late in coming back . "
" . . . that"s why the spear"s there . . . " Ella mumbled .
"The spear? Oh, right . Yeah," Lino said . "As you can imagine," he continued, taking a deep breath . "I was a bit angry about the whole ordeal . So I figured it was a good idea to go and challenge two Devil Variants with my sissy-fit . I somehow wound up shoving my Will into the spear . Killed everyone there, though . Well, except the Devil Variants of course . One day, however . . . I will . "
" . . . the Devils killed your friends?" Ella suddenly asked, frowning .
" . . . " Lino glanced at her and smiled oddly for a moment . "What? You think everyone uniformly agreed to help out a wet-behind-ears Empyrean dog without any issues with it whatsoever?"
" . . . "
"As with almost everything, there are splinters," Lino explained . "A group content with invading this dimension, partly because they really like killing humans and partly because they can"t really say no . And then there"s the other group, who would rather not condemn their race to a near-extinction war . "
" . . . how"d you learn this?" Ella asked .
"A Devil told me . "
"Eh?"
"Ay, he was quite a fun guy actually . " Lino said, remembering Linger for a moment . "Didn"t really appreciate me pretty much flipping him, but then again, he didn"t try to kill me either . Good guy altogether . "
" . . . this is making less and less sense," Ella sighed, shaking her head . "Again . . . I"m really sorry Lino . If I had known . . . ah . . . "
" . . . why didn"t you tell me what it actually was, though?" Lino asked .
"Because I figured you wouldn"t need to know," she replied with a bitter smile . "That you would be like Eggor . Train for a while, and then get too tired of it and focus entirely on blacksmithing . "
"Hey!!"
"Clearly, though . . . I was wrong . You really intend to pursue both paths . You always did . "
" . . . it"s not like I really have a choice," Lino shrugged . "It doesn"t matter though . I"ll figure it out eventually . "
"I know you will . " Ella added with a smile . "You"re quite quick in your progression," Ella suddenly added . "Already Early Purity Realm!"
"Pu!!" Eggor suddenly spat out a mouthful of ale, a shocked expression on his face . "W-what the f.u.c.k?!! You"re already so strong, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d?!"
"Huh? What are you spitting at me for, you weak, old b.a.s.t.a.r.d?!" Lino said . "By the way," he then ignored reddened Eggor and focused back onto Ella . "Just how strong have you gotten over the past ten years? You"re at the very least Numinous Realm . That"s even faster than me . "
"Ha ha, well, for me it"s mostly just retracing back my old path . " Ella said with a faint giggle . "But are you sure you want to know just how strong I am? It might shock you quite a bit . "
"Oh, please . Don"t be so vain . "
"Alright . Don"t say I didn"t warn you . " seeing her basic stats, Lino"s world crumbled for a moment as time stopped . He stared in utter disbelief .
" . . . "
"What?" Ella asked, seeing that Lino remained silent for nearly five minutes .
" . . . f.u.c.k my mother . " he took in a deep, cold breath, remembering those few brief lines .
[Eleanor Qe"ll - Human - Immortal Sword Maiden]
The Ineffable
Level: 899