Shoujo Hater-Chapter 67 - 62: Beyond Fate

"Is that your last act of rebellion, rat?"

"Just accept that you will die."

In that instant, Isphyrlya enjoyed killing Lin as he struggled to survive her trap.

She was sure that she had won.

But for Lin, he didn't feel anything. Only hollowness remained inside him.

A hollowness that devoured his madness and hate.

A hollowness that took control of him, making him talk as someone else.

A white hair color and crimson eyes started appearing on him, then disappeared and turned white.

Isphyrlya saw this change and began launching her spikes again and again, trying to kill him as fast as she could.

"You lost, you rat."

Me?

Lost?

…So that's how it is.

I lost.

Hmm.

It seems so.

I thought it would be more painful.

I would cry or shed some tears.

So I can't even scream.

Lin tried to remove a spike torn next to his heart.

But why can't I feel anything?

It seems hollow inside.

Blood started pouring from Lin's mouth as the spike tore his body.

"Losing."

What an interesting word?

"losing"

"Losing"

Is that what they meant by death?

So I can't try again.

Is that how it ends for me?

Why not?

No, that's not me.

I am not losing here.

My death can't be that pathetic

You are better than that, Jin.

I am not dead yet.

I am not losing yet.

I can try again and again.

A loss will always push me to break my limits.

That's my real self.

Lin raised his right hand to the sky, then closed it as his mouth bled more blood.

I can't generate others' perseverance. I can't generate their character or hate or motivation. I can't be others.

I am only myself.

I fight for myself. I adapt for myself. I survive for myself.

Today I may fail, but tomorrow I shall surpass my current self.

I will climb the mountain of others. I will learn from others.

I will assault the earth and rise above the sky. Behold the reach.

Surpassing my past and present to form my new peak.

There is nothing that will stop me.

Not you or anyone else.

I will get my revenge.

Even if it takes me year after year.

Or time after time.

I will keep going.

I am not invincible, or smarter, or stronger.

I am not ashamed of losing sometimes.

Only shameless people exist who don't devour the chances given to them.

I will push myself to surpass myself and break your limits and rise above you and everyone else.

I will put everything on the edge.

I will make all of you witness my new peak.

Conquer life. Conquer death. Execute my former self.

Surpass the past. Devour the present. Unleash my future.

"I refuse."

"I refuse to end here."

Break fate. Destroy luck. Surpass limits.

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!

In that moment, Lin had driven into real madness. His madness managed to devour his hollowness. His emotions forced Nullen's blessing to be devoured by him, lending him power, and his hair turned into gray ashes while his eyes turned crimson.

Without anyone predicting it, Lin managed to break the snowy spikes.

Eight white spinal pulses burst from him, penetrating all the clones, and one launched toward Isphyrlya, sending her flying away.

"Phew."

Lin looked at his back while brushing snow from his lower clothes.

"I should thank you."

"You pushed me this far and made me break my limits twice.

But now everything will change."

"Because I am the strongest here."

With his high speed, he caught her. Then, with a swift kick, Isphyrlya was sent flying, rolling across the ground.

Then, while she was unconscious, Lin slammed her into the ground.

Isphyrlya raised her hand, trying to release a massive, long snowy blast.

Lin raised his hand as well. A massive ashy line began to appear as his eyes glowed brighter.

At that moment, it seemed as if Nullen's illusion stood behind Lin's body, guiding him.

Lin extended the ashy line, shaping it into an ashy arrow.

"With the power of ashes and abyss, lend me your power."

"Ignis!!!"

A massive glow erupted from Lin's eye as the arrow shot toward Isphyrlya's right heart. She unleashed her snowy blast at the same time. The two powers collided, sending an overwhelming crushing force into the surrounding environment.

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

A scream erupted from both of them as the clash intensified.

Their screams became their will, amplifying the power of the collision. Lin's will was stronger. His arrow pierced through her defense. Isphyrlya created a thousand layers of snowy protection, yet the arrow still penetrated two centimeters into her heart and drew blood.

Without giving her time to recover, Lin moved at high speed. In a fraction of a second, he was standing in front of her. With his right hand, he delivered a powerful blow to her face, smashing her into the snowy wall behind her.

Then he forced her down, pressing her face into the ground.

"Have you ever trained, bitch?"

"Of course not. You haven't faced true danger… until now."

"But now you will."

"So let me show you what I have been doing since the moment I came here."

He grabbed her by the hair and struck her again, cracking another part of her skull and sending her flying into the air.

As Lin tried to jump after her, a massive pain surged through his body, forcing him to fall to his knees and cancel his forced blessing form. A crushing pressure attacked him from the inside, making him scream in agony.

He suppressed the pain, commanding his shadow serpent tattoo to coil around his neck and pull his dagger back into his hand. The binding responded, even as the pain continued to surge.

Isphyrlya struggled in the air.

"Hm. I learned it."

"This is the end."

She raised her remaining hand, forming a circular figure and redirecting it toward Lin.

"Soul Mirror. The Nivara Wheel Domain."

At that moment, Isphyrlya managed to learn the Soul Mirror.

A massive circle appeared beneath Lin, pressing him down, while another magic circle formed above him. Enormous snowy walls closed in around them.

Isphyrlya was so enraged that she decided to kill both of them.

As her last mana surged, a wicked smile appeared on Lin's face. He activated the other black serpent on her, squeezing her heart and forcing her mana to surge even more. Then Lin's blue eye activated violently, exploding with power, making her bleed further and burning her heart.

Lin thought he had stopped her, but Isphyrlya continued casting her beginner Soul Mirror.

She moved swiftly and grabbed Lin by the neck. He tried to escape, but Isphyrlya had gone mad.

She clutched Lin tightly as her severed hand gushed blood, her other wounds making her bleed from nose and ears.

She began freezing both of them.

As a massive blast prepared to erupt from the ground and enormous snowy spikes descended from above, Lin bit her hand as his leg froze solid.

Then he controlled the last shadows he had planted in the cracks of the mountain during his earlier attack. His dagger had two shadow serpents bound to it. He had not used either, as they were reserved for emergencies, and now he used only one.

As he did, he vanished outside as his serpent leapt out of the crack in the cave and escaped from the shrine.

Isphyrlya saw Lin's eyes glow as his serpent form surged, then he vanished from her sight.

"You…!!!" Isphyrlya stammered as she realized what had happened.

Lin had tricked her from the very beginning.

A smile spread across his face.

He had won.

The massive snowy blast erupted from the ground, sending Isphyrlya flying as her body was pierced by countless spikes. Then an explosion shattered the surrounding wall from within.

"Hee… cough… cough…"

Lin laughed as he coughed blood.

Then he stood and forced himself to walk toward the explosion.

He collapsed to his knees when he saw the scene.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"

A scream of victory and pride tore from Lin's throat.

"I defeated a fucking dragon!"

He allowed himself a moment to believe he had finally won.

But the happiness did not last long. His body gave out, and he collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.

Isphyrlya's soul rose from her body.

She had five seconds to find a body to possess, or she would completely vanish.

This was an art created specifically for her clan, passed down by their ancestors. They used it as a second chance to survive, even if they lost their bodies.

And for Lin, it was bad fortune, because he had not predicted this.

Usually, after this technique activated, a battle would occur between the dragon user and the original host of the body.

But this technique had one weakness. It could not defeat a strong soul or a strong mind.

And so, by fate, a battle between Lin and Isphyrlya should have happened now.

That was what usually occurred, if someone specific had not interfered.

Because someone had already predicted everything.

It was none other than him.

The mastermind behind it all.

The Forgotten One had predicted this long ago.

Isphyrlya's soul rushed toward Lin, just as the Forgotten One expected, and invaded his spiritual field.

But what awaited her there was not Lin's soul.

Instead, it was a man with black hair and turquoise eyes.

It was Equilen.

"Who are you…? You are not him," Isphyrlya stammered as she sensed the strange power flowing from Equilen, an overwhelming pressure crushing her existence.

"Yes.

I am not him.

I am the scale of balance that returns all things to stillness."

His katana flashed in a blur. Isphyrlya was cut in half and erased. The only thing left of her soul was her blessing.

Equilen picked up the blessing and walked toward the gate opened by the Forgotten One.

"Did the mission get done?" the Forgotten One asked, even though he already knew the answer, as he could sense all forms of energy.

"Yes, my master."

"Well done, Equilen."

"Why didn't you absorb it?" the Forgotten One asked, wearing a curious, knowing cold smile.

"I want to give it to my brother, Nullen," Equilen answered honestly.

"Why is that?" the Forgotten One asked, even though he already knew.

"I want to give it to Nullen. I don't want him to be left behind," Equilen replied with a blank expression, speaking politely to his master.

"Is that so? Very well. Give it to him."

In that instant, Equilen handed Isphyrlya's blessing to Nullen without hesitation. He simply felt that his master had created Nullen, and therefore he felt responsible for him. He believed that everything his master possessed needed a strong foundation to fulfill their mission properly.

Perhaps it was a brotherly bond.

He did not know yet.

He only felt the urge to do it.

So he did.

Because he did not yet understand what emotion truly was.

Nullen's head was already spinning as his body accepted the blessing. Pain immediately spread inside him as he started rolling.

Outside Lin's inner world, a snowy dragon mark appeared on his back.

At that moment, Lin officially became a dragon slayer at the age of thirteen.

He had officially defeated Isphyrlya and had become the fifth youngest Dragon Slayer in the history of the magic world.

—---------

Reader's Archive:

Lin had carefully hidden two shadow snakes within his dagger, something that would go unnoticed by most. When he threw the dagger into the mountain, it was not a reckless attack. He was deliberately hiding one of his most important tools, keeping it ready for the right moment.

He used the 2 Inch Punch for a specific reason. It was meant to shatter the frozen ice inside her body, breaking her control and forcing her to act recklessly, giving him the opening he needed.

Throughout the fight, Lin did not use any of his teleportation abilities, avoiding any hint that could reveal his final card. Every action was deliberate, focused entirely on gaining the advantage and executing his plan to its completion.