Shoujo Hater-Chapter 62 - 57: The Last Stage of the Plan

On the battlefield between Escanor and the cracked ram masked monster, Escanor’s energy began to rise higher and higher, crashing through everything around him and melting the surroundings.

His eyes turned a pure orange, and his nerves started appearing across every part of his body. His magma breath intensified, growing hotter with every second.

“AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

“I am going to kill you.”

“You and that bastard.”

“I am... I am... I am going to kill you both, you and your entire clan.”

At that moment, Escanor’s anger could no longer be suppressed.

With a powerful sweep of his wings, Escanor flew straight toward his sun. He drew in a long, massive breath filled with pure rage and hatred, then released all of his magma breath at once, unleashing a devastating blast.

The attack shot directly toward the broken ram masked monster, but the creature countered it with a black blast fired from its mouth.

Both forces clashed equally, shaking the battlefield.

Then the broken ram masked monster began reinforcing its attack using its Abyssal Heart, overpowering Escanor and forcing him back into his sun.

Escanor seized this opportunity. Using the pressure from the clash below, he pushed himself deeper into the sun and altered its direction. As he did, he began to chant.

Open your eyes and witness the light of darkness.

By Iskania, the star of all avengers, and by the might of the Dragon of Destruction.

Lend me your true power.

A power forged from revenge, hatred, and unbreakable duty.

I, Escanor, offer my soul as the price to avenge my master.

Hear my resolve and answer my call.

Awaken me.

The rightful heir of the Magma Dragon and the chosen student of the Dragon of Destruction.

A hole opened within the rising star. With a swift beat of his wings, Escanor entered it.

The sun began to connect its outer and inner energies to its core, which had become Escanor himself.

But the cracked ram masked monster sensed the danger and tried to redirect the Abyssal blast toward Escanor, only for it to be quickly absorbed by Iskania’s destructive sun.

A black and violet aura mixed with blazing orange erupted from the star, marking the birth of a new legend within the Dragon Clan.

Escanor’s body began to adapt to this new power. His magma core and Iskania star transformed, surpassing all previous users. A new body started to take shape with the evolution of his blessing.

It was built upon three different energies.

Iskania’s blessing of magma, a fragment of purple destruction, and the power of the Abyssal Heart taken from the masked monster.

It was a gamble. Escanor risked everything to evolve into something entirely new.

This was Escanor’s true talent. He could turn hatred and anger into evolution itself, staking everything on the edge of destruction to achieve his vengeance.

—---

In another part of Nivara, Lin began to awaken due to the Black Flamed Table within himself.

This was the Flame of Oblivion, something only a Forgotten One could use. It was unique to him alone and could neither be copied nor mastered by anyone else.

On the surface, it seemed as if the flame was treating Lin, Nullen, and Azareen equally. However, its effect did not apply to Nullen and Azareen until Lin’s eyes began to move.

Only at that moment did the Forgotten One allow his flame to treat them, and it took less than a second.

A being like him did not require time to treat anyone. It was as if the flame surrounded everyone, yet it only functioned under the authority of the Forgotten One.

This was clear evidence that the Forgotten One had mastered every flame technique that had ever existed.

But deep down, the true purpose was different.

The core objective was to allow Lin to surpass Jin’s current bad memories from that specific dream. The pain was sealed away temporarily, only to resurface when needed.

The pain from those memories was worse than the curse of the Ma’hul, yet the Forgotten One had no intention of erasing them.

This was proof that Lin had been cursed in his original world.

The Forgotten One made Lin forget those memories until a specific moment.

And at that moment, Lin awakened.

He awakened with his memories intact up to the point where he and Joseph were walking together. Then everything snapped, and he awoke in his current state.

Since he had already witnessed those memories, the Forgotten One did not delete them, even though he could have.

Once Lin awakened, Nullen and Azareen awakened as well.

The difference was that Lin awakened outwardly, while Nullen and Azareen awakened inwardly.

Ahhhhhhh!

My head hurts.

Where is Joseph?

Lin opened his eyes and saw his dagger resting beside him against the tree.

He had not awakened here by coincidence.

This was part of the Forgotten One’s plan.

Everything was moving exactly as the Forgotten One desired.

Lin endured the pain, grabbed his dagger, and steadied himself.

It was in Lin’s nature to finish what he was involved in and then ask questions later.

Without wasting time, he began the final stage of his plan.

This part had not been predetermined.

It was divided into multiple possible choices, all dependent on the current variables.

He activated his tattoo, and his eyes turned light blue, matching the tattoo’s eye.

His gaze wandered toward the five shadow black serpents with blue eyes that he had planted.

Originally, there had been only four, as he was uncertain whether the fifth was still alive, because the fifth depended on Elenius.

It was bound by the promise between Lin and Elenius according to their plan, and anyone who betrayed the promise would die, since there was no trust between them. They sealed it with a heart promise contract.

Elenius had promised to plant a shadow serpent provided by Lin into his sister so that Lin could kill her using the substitution technique.

It was one of the top ten elite techniques left behind by the original owner of the Vasthera Ruins. It consumed an enormous amount of energy, yet its abilities were extremely powerful. Even so, the technique was riddled with loopholes.

Through it, Lin could review all the information seen by the shadow serpent. The technique also enabled substitution between the serpent and Lin’s dagger along with its owner under one condition. The owner had to be holding the Heir’s dagger.

The process could not be reversed, as the owner did not possess mastery over that level of substitution.

Compared to those with substitution blessings or special eyes, the ability was inferior.

However, under specific circumstances, it became lethal.

Transportation instead of the shadow serpent consumed vast mana depending on distance. Once substitution occurred, the shadow serpent would be destroyed, and a significant amount of mana would be lost.

Because of this, Lin could only use five shadow serpents. That was the maximum he had managed to plant within such a short time.

Lin began by checking the one planted on Orillana.

He took control of the serpent without her noticing and began absorbing the information.

Fuck off!!

So that bitch has two blessings. That is why she used me.

Damn it. In the end, that bastard Elenius abandoned me.

He said he would kill her.

If he could, he only fulfilled the part about planting the shadow serpent and then made a filthy promise with her.

He gained all the benefits and gave me only half of mine.

And now that bitch has given birth to two babies.

Worse still, I cannot substitute to kill her. She is too far away and has already escaped Nivara.

If she awakens, she will notice the serpent.

Damn that motherfucker. I expected this, but I had no other options back then.

If this plan becomes useless, I will activate the backup.

Lin checked the second shadow serpent.

It had been planted far from the battlefield.

When they rode the massive white serpent, it was at least two hundred kilometers away.

Useless.

That area is full of monsters and unsuitable for escape.

I will destroy this serpent.

Then he returned control to the one bound to Orillana.

He divided it into two equal serpents and moved them to the backs of his two babies.

Both serpents entered their bodies and settled as tattoos in identical positions on their backs.

Anyone who saw them would think they were born with them.

For a moment, Lin considered poisoning his children using the shadow serpents.

But then he abandoned the idea for three reasons.

First, they were born from him and Orillana and already carried his poison. Moreover, his poison had evolved after consuming the serpent surrounding Orillana. There was a high chance they would survive.

He had not used this method on Orillana because her hair had turned black, which was clear proof that she had evolved and could counter his poison. Even then, her original poison was stronger than his.

Second, it was a dangerous gamble that could cost him his chance of tracking her again.

Third, there was hesitation. Perhaps guilt over killing two lives that had done nothing to him.

Lin did not know.

But he chose to act logically rather than emotionally.

He focused on tracking them.

However, he could not convert the tattoos back into moving shadow serpents because he had not learned how.

Hooooof!

There are still three remaining.

Lin checked the arena of his last battlefield against Isphyrlya.

It contained two serpents.

He had planted them for escape, but once his instincts took over, he lost control of them.

The moment he regained control, massive information flooded his mind.

He extracted four key points.

First, something had taken control of his body and forced it to escape. He only saw its back.

Second, Isphyrlya had lost an arm yet managed to escape, and the monster she had fought was dead.

Third, the magma dragon and the ram masked monster were terrifyingly powerful. Their battle had been overwhelming.

Fourth, Isphyrlya had not yet shared the information she obtained about Lin with the magma dragon.

This was an opportunity.

If any elite clan learned that someone had escaped the Ma’hul, Lin would be placed on an emergency hunter list by all of them.

This was a flaw in his plan that he had not anticipated.

And it was a mistake.

Lin took a long breath and then destroyed both serpents. There was no reason to continue observing the battlefield, as it was about to be destroyed.

It was a miracle that those two shadow serpents had survived at all.

Now, the last one.

It had been planted in Isphyrlya’s back, close to her heart.

Lin took advantage of Isphyrlya’s arrogance and slipped behind her during their fight.

Something felt wrong.

Isphyrlya stopped flying to catch her breath. She was exhausted and bleeding heavily.

As she was about to check her back, a giant appeared in front of her, preventing her from doing so.

She ignored the feeling and continued flying, escaping the giant.

Isphyrlya’s priority was to conserve her energy and escape until Escanor finished his fight.

But at that moment, Isphyrlya did not realize she had made one of the worst decisions of her life, one she would come to regret.

Lin canceled the observation, gripped his dagger, and an evil smile formed on his face.

Enough of escaping.

I am going hunting.

At that moment, an opportunity was presented to Lin on a golden plate.

He began moving rapidly, leaping through the trees while absorbing ambient mana.

He needed height to build momentum for what he intended to do.

Since she was weak, Lin chose a massive gamble.

He would kill Isphyrlya.

She had not yet shared his information, and killing her would eliminate future trouble.

On top of that, she possessed a dragon heart.

Consuming it would be a great opportunity for Lin.

It was a win win situation.

Lin initiated a new plan, one he had never expected to use.

Of course, he would never attempt this if she were at full power or even at seventy five percent.

But as they say, great risk generates great benefits for the people who put everything on the line.

And with that a dangerous hunter started moving with a great ego and killing intent to devour something he had surpassed.