Ch.101101. Septimus (3)

The mutation was so sudden that the intermediate warrior had no time to react.

The once-pitiful body began to inflate like a balloon in an instant, transforming into a hideous and grotesque red mass of flesh that defied description.

From the severed leg area, four pairs of limbs resembling the legs of arthropods like spiders or centipedes grew, as if attempting to replace the lost limbs.

Meanwhile, the left arm—the only limb that hadn’t been severed—instantly expanded and swelled, maintaining roughly its original shape but with fingers replaced by blades.

From where the right arm had been severed, dozens of tentacles resembling metal cables with sharp blades at their tips sprouted and writhed wildly.

On top of that, the original head was buried within the swollen body, leaving no trace of its existence… In its place, a massive mouth formed on the belly, while eyes positioned themselves across the entire body.

Having transformed into something that could only be described as a monster—once human but now with barely any trace of humanity left—Septimus…

No, the abomination that was once Septimus completed its mutation in the blink of an eye.

CLANG!!

“…Ugh!!”

Before the intermediate warrior guarding the tribune could even swing his gladius wrapped in aura, the fully-mutated abomination, its skin now a pale gray, deflected the attack with magical energy.

Even though the warrior had wrapped his metal weapon in aura, the fact that it was deflected meant that the monster’s flesh was unimaginably tough.

Having made this assessment, the two intermediate warriors concluded that their priority was to buy time to evacuate the tribune. They reached for the small shields at their waists, intending to stall for time, but…

WHOOSH—CRASH!!!!

“Guh, urrrgh!!!”

The abomination moved even faster, charging at them with bizarre spider-like movements inconceivable for its size, and swung its massive left arm with blade-like claws, sending them flying.

Of course, these two were veteran elite warriors of the legion.

Having reached superhuman levels through their mastery of aura, they attempted to rejoin the battle despite being thrown about 7 meters through the air and crashing into a wall, but—

“Gack, gaaaaaack…”

SHRRRRRRK!!

CRACK!

[■■■■■■■■■■■───!!!!]

While they were pinned against the wall, the abomination approached the tribune with its peculiar, eerie speed.

It pierced the tribune with its right tentacles, lifted him into the air, then wrapped him in tentacles and tore him to shreds while letting out a roar.

THUD-THUD-THUD!!

As the tribune’s flesh and blood scattered in all directions, the public speech venue had long since descended into chaos.

People had gathered hoping for at least a piece of bread at this rare public address, but when the abomination suddenly appeared—

Although it showed no particular hostility toward the crowd, people panicked at its horrific appearance and fled in all directions.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!!”

“Run, run away!!”

“Move!”

THUMP! CRASH!

“Urrrgh…gack!”

Naturally, with so many people gathered in one place falling into panic, the crowd began killing each other in the chaos.

Pushing each other, falling while trying to escape faster, those who fell getting trampled, and others tripping over fallen bodies.

On one side, chaos that could only be described as hell on earth unfolded, while ironically, the area around the abomination remained calm as it merely kept watch over the two intermediate warriors.

Of course, this calm was only momentary.

[■■■■■■……..]

Watching the two warriors regain their stance and draw out their aura, the abomination growled softly……..

[───■■■■■■■■■■!!!!!]

Then it opened the massive mouth on its sagging belly, let out a thunderous roar, and began approaching again with its bizarre spider-like movements.

Naturally, due to its exceptionally long left arm and tentacles, the abomination’s reach was considerable. If these two warriors, armed with only gladius and shields, approached carelessly, they would undoubtedly be attacked one-sidedly.

“Catch, Honorius!”

“Thanks!”

Therefore, the weapon these two chose to attack the abomination was—

“Take this!”

WHOOSH—THUNK!

“—Hup!”

—THUNK!

The pilum, a short javelin used by Roman legion soldiers.

When they threw these javelins, just under a meter in length and wrapped heavily in aura, they pierced right through the abomination’s skin that had deflected the gladius slashes.

“That thing, is it weak against piercing weapons?”

“Seems like it!”

THUNK! THUNK!

By the time they had used most of their six pila each, they had long since noticed the abomination’s vulnerability to stabbing attacks.

They received rectangular shields—scuta—from nearby soldiers and advanced toward the abomination, which now resembled a porcupine with javelins sticking out all over its body.

WHOOSH—THUD!

After one of them blocked an attack from the whip-like tentacles on the right with his shield—

BOOM!!!

“Urrrrrgh!!!”

The other blocked a swing from the left hand and continued advancing.

It was a head-on confrontation where victory depended on when the aura-wrapped shields would break, and the battle seemed to be slowly turning in favor of the two intermediate warriors, but……..

SLASH—CRACK!

‘…Is this the end?’

At that moment, when the blade-fingers of the abomination’s left hand shattered the shield, warrior Honorius instinctively sensed defeat and merely glared defiantly, determined to face his end with dignity—

THUD!!

“…Huh?”

The battle continued in a completely unexpected direction.

Suddenly, half of the spider legs collapsed, and the abomination crashed to the ground with a thud. Then, as if its body had reached its limit, it began to disintegrate into powder.

Honorius, who had been prepared to die just moments ago, tried to hide his dumbfounded expression as he looked down at the nearly collapsed abomination.

And finally, in the spot where the abomination had completely turned to dust and disappeared—

‘…What’s this?’

For some reason, Honorius’s gaze was drawn to a small, ornate dagger that had fallen there.

※ ※ ※

The abomination……..no.

Septimus, who had only regained his senses as his body slowly disintegrated at the brink of death, was dying in the middle of the chaotic scene.

Of course, he had no regrets.

Despite ending up like this, he had succeeded in assassinating the tribune for the revenge god he served, so his own death was merely a “minor” factor he had been prepared for from the beginning.

Therefore, Septimus wasn’t afraid of his death right now.

‘………’

What he feared instead was that despite leaving behind such an “achievement,” no one would remember him—the terror stemming from the thought that “no one would acknowledge his deeds.”

But just then.

《Fear not. I know you.》

Before his dying eyes, a figure appeared—blurry, but recognizable enough.

A floating skull emitting a red halo in the shape of a cross.

It was the appearance of the god of revenge whom he had pledged to serve with his soul—something he never expected to appear right before him.

“M-My God! My master, my master!!!”

Despite being on the verge of death, Septimus felt a spiritual fullness and overwhelming presence that convinced him this was truly the god of revenge, and he began to rave.

《I remember your achievement. Now, rest in peace.》

The words left by the god of revenge(?) gave Septimus an indescribable sense of fulfillment.

Of course, all of this might have been a delusion created by his dying mind, and the possibility of that was quite high.

But for Septimus, such trivial matters weren’t even worth considering.

For him, this was spiritual salvation that acknowledged his worth above all else, so Septimus quietly smiled with a strange satisfaction he had never felt before.

And that was the last expression Septimus left in the material world.