The Reluctant Hero: Why Is Everyone After Me?-Chapter 140: Ch139 Ashes That Refuses To Die

The mist exploded outward.

The false Elythra’s body twisted unnaturally as black veins split across her skin like cracking porcelain. The silver of her hair darkened at the edges, turning ashen.

Her smile widened.

Too wide.

"You truly are perceptive." it smiled.

Luther released the sword.

The demonic blade snapped into position beside him, humming low and eager.

"You are not part of this chamber," Luther said calmly.

The creature laughed.

The sound fractured halfway through, doubling into a second voice layered beneath the first.

"Very good."

The mist surged again, forming jagged tendrils that lunged toward him.

Luther moved before they reached him.

He stepped—not backward—but slightly to the side.

The tendrils pierced empty air.

He raised his hand.

The mist around him flattened instantly, mana bending away from his body in clean arcs.

The creature’s blackened eyes narrowed.

"You are troublesome," it said.

"I have been informed," Luther replied dryly.

The demonic sword shot forward, slicing through the creature’s midsection—

But instead of blood, the body split into smoke.

The halves dissolved and reformed several steps away.

The sword hissed in irritation.

It is not fully corporeal.

"I can see that."

The creature tilted its head.

"You killed me once."

Luther’s gaze sharpened slightly.

"You assume I remember every unpleasant encounter."

The smile twitched.

"In the forest."

Recognition flickered in his eyes.

"...You."

The two-faced horror that had worn a noble’s skin.

The thing that had split itself open and laughed while dying.

"You and that elven bitch burned me," it continued, voice vibrating through the chamber. "Reduced me to ash."

"You gathered my remains without knowing."

"I gathered nothing," Luther replied calmly.

"Oh?" it mocked. "After the elf tore me apart... after my body collapsed... what do you think that crystal consumed?"

The black crystal in Luther’s pocket pulsed faintly.

His hand instinctively brushed against it.

The creature’s grin widened.

"Yes," it whispered. "That."

Luther stilled.

"When you absorbed the remains," the creature continued, "you carried me with you."

The mist thickened, swirling around him as if affirming the claim.

"You restored me."

Luther’s expression did not change.

"I did no such thing."

"You carry corruption without understanding it," the monster snapped. "The crystal feeds. It gathers. It remembers."

The black crystal in his pocket felt warmer now.

Not hot.

But aware.

The demonic sword’s tone shifted.

The residue... it clung.

Luther exhaled slowly.

"So you have been following."

"Waiting," the creature corrected.

Its body flickered, shifting between Elythra’s form and something grotesque beneath—split jaw, mirrored faces sliding over one another.

"You stepped into this chamber," it said softly, "and the mana disruption gave me shape."

The runes along the walls pulsed violently now.

The room was reacting.

Luther’s eyes narrowed.

"You are not meant to be here."

"No."

"And yet you are."

"Yes."

He sighed faintly.

"That is inconvenient."

The creature shrieked suddenly—

And lunged.

This time it moved properly.

No mist.

No distortion.

Its claws tore through the air toward his throat.

Luther pivoted sharply, catching its wrist mid-strike.

The impact cracked the stone beneath his boots.

The creature’s strength was abnormal.

It grinned inches from his face.

"You are stronger than before."

"You are uglier than before."

The second face split open from the side of its neck and snapped toward him.

Luther released its wrist and stepped back just as the jaw clamped shut where his shoulder had been.

The demonic sword flashed.

One clean horizontal arc—

The monster’s torso severed.

Both halves hit the ground.

For half a heartbeat—

Silence.

Then the pieces liquefied into black sludge and surged together again.

"Oh, come now," Luther muttered. "You are one of those."

The creature reformed, taller this time.

Its limbs elongated unnaturally.

"You cannot kill what has already died," it said.

"We shall test that theory."

The chamber trembled.

The mist thickened violently, forming jagged spears that shot toward Luther from all sides.

He did not move.

Mana expanded outward from his body in a silent pulse.

The spears disintegrated mid-flight.

The runes flared brighter.

The creature recoiled slightly.

"You bend this place," it hissed.

"I am being observed," Luther replied. "It would be embarrassing to struggle."

The sword hummed approvingly.

The monster roared and split—

Two bodies forming from one.

Both wore Elythra’s face.

Both smiling.

They attacked simultaneously.

One from above.

One from below.

Luther ducked low, sweeping his leg to destabilize the lower form while the sword intercepted the upper one.

Claws scraped across the blade with sparks.

The lower body twisted mid-fall and slashed toward his side— 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

He caught its arm again—

This time, he forced mana directly into it.

The creature shrieked.

Light burst from within its form, cracking its structure.

The upper body slammed into him from behind, claws digging into his shoulder.

He winced.

The sword spun violently and cleaved it in half.

Luther twisted free, shoving the other body backward with a sharp pulse of magic.

Both forms staggered.

Both reformed.

But slower.

"You persist," the creature growled.

"I am stubborn."

The monster’s expression shifted.

The mocking tone faded.

"You should stop."

Luther paused.

"That is not a threat," it continued quietly. "It is advice."

He tilted his head slightly. A kind of realization came to him.

"You only appeared after Elythra’s"

"You were sent after her," Luther said calmly.

The creature smiled wider.

"She carries what was hidden."

Elythra’s bloodline.

"Explain."

The creature’s second face slid into view, speaking separately.

"If you continue—if you pursue the crystal’s origin—lives will be consumed."

"Whose?"

"Many."

"That is not specific."

The creature’s grin sharpened.

"Our master does not hesitate."

The word lingered.

Master.

Luther’s eyes cooled.

"Who?"

The creature laughed.

Its body flickered violently now, destabilizing.

The chamber’s runes were reacting more aggressively, the mana pressure intensifying.

"You seek answers," it said. "You will not enjoy them."

"Who is your master?"

Silence.

Its body began cracking again, fractures glowing from within.

"You could survive," it whispered. "If you stop."

"That is unlikely."

The creature’s form began dissolving from the edges inward.

"You carry death in your pocket," it said softly, glancing toward the black crystal. "And you walk willingly toward ruin."

"Names," Luther demanded.

The monster’s eyes locked onto his.

"We would rather die."

Its body convulsed violently.

Luther stepped forward.

"Wait—"

Too late.

The creature’s form imploded inward, collapsing into ash.

The ash disintegrated before it touched the ground.

Gone.

Silence swallowed the chamber.

The mist thinned slightly.

The runes dimmed.

The demonic sword hovered beside him.

It chose destruction.

"Yes."

Luther’s gaze lowered to his pocket.

The black crystal pulsed faintly once.

Then stilled.

He exhaled slowly.

"So," he murmured, "I am carrying more than I intended."

You are not surprised.

"No."

He looked around the chamber.

The illusion was stabilizing again.

Reforming.

Resetting.

"And now," he said calmly, "they have witnessed everything."

The sword rotated.

You think they saw that creature?

"They saw me fight."

He flexed his fingers once.

"And that was the point."

The runes brightened again.

But this time—

They reacted differently.

The floor beneath Luther’s feet began to glow.

Luther smiled.

It seems I win.