Ch.109109. Monsters, Ghosts, and Maids

“Hah, this is why I hate fighting Spiritmasters!”

Dina, a monster tamer, leapt across rooftops with a sinister laugh.

Even without wrapping her body in mana, she moved with such lightness and flight-like physical abilities that it would be more accurate to consider her a knight rather than a Mage.

Spectral hounds pursued her.

No matter how fast she was, she couldn’t outrun these flying soul hounds, so Dina finally stretched out her hand.

Her right hand began to writhe.

It transformed into an impossible shape for a human hand, accompanied by the chilling sound of bones cracking and realigning.

Soon after, her hand had become the massive jaws of a magical beast.

The reason this monster tamer had come all the way to Claren to find a monster of a slightly different nature was…

Because of her unique characteristics.

“These damn dogs don’t even recognize their master.”

Chomp!

She bit into the flying soul hounds with her right hand. The souls of the hounds, mangled and torn apart as they were flung around, tasted nothing but fishy and didn’t even provide a slight sense of fullness.

Despite having eaten several, more hounds charged at her, painting the sky like a rainbow.

She let out a hollow laugh, wondering if she had really sent that many.

“But to think someone’s controlling all of them.”

When judging a Spiritmaster’s ability and talent, not only was the power of the souls important, but their number was crucial as well.

“I heard they were handling the Spirit Stone.”

But looking at the souls of the hounds, they hadn’t been enhanced at all. If anything, they were weaker than when they were alive.

This meant that they were accommodating this many souls without separately handling the Spirit Stone.

“Overflowing with talent? No wonder we tried to bring them to our side.”

Being able to see all souls, and having the talent to handle this many?

“I heard they’ve been practicing for less than a year.”

As Dante had been closely observing Deus Verdi’s movements, they had already tracked his past.

She had thought that brilliant ideas and thorough preparation had helped him overcome various obstacles, but…

“His raw talent is also exceptional.”

His aptitude for spirit magic was terrifyingly impressive.

Since monster tamers and Spiritmasters had good synergy when they were allies, Dina thought it was quite unfortunate that he hadn’t joined Dante.

But if asked whether she feared him now that he was an enemy, she would snort and tell them to cut the nonsense.

“There are no mediocre people in Dante.”

Her other hand, still intact, began to twist as well, transforming into another massive mouth that roared toward the sky.

“This fight is too low-level for these dogs to interfere.”

She hadn’t expected them to be so persistent over what was merely a light jab.

Both of her hand-mouths opened wide and took a deep breath. The souls of the hounds rushing from the sky began to be sucked into those mouths.

In less than a few seconds, all those souls were cleanly devoured by Dina.

“Ugh, no taste at all.”

Dina turned around and ran without reverting her hands back to normal. Since it was a rooftop and everyone was in costume for the Artist’s Day anyway, people would probably just think it was part of her disguise.

Just like those stupid monsters parading down the street, showing themselves off.

“Foolish creatures.”

Dina clicked her tongue as she watched the procession of monsters.

The grotesque-looking creatures were just walking along, smiling happily.

Did they even realize that people were mocking them?

Their stupidity was so excessive it was disgusting.

Among the procession, a black-clad woman caught Dina’s eye.

[This way!]

The woman, her face covered with a semi-transparent black veil, was guiding the monsters at the front of the procession.

Dina realized that thanks to her acting as a guide, the monsters weren’t wandering around randomly but following a specific path.

“Heh.”

What kind of festival was this?

Monsters, as always, were meant to frighten people, harm them, and devour them.

That’s what made them monsters.

“Is she a soul following Deus Verdi?”

Crack!

Once again, both her hands opened wide. The black woman’s voluptuous figure and condensed mana felt like a truly tempting fruit, making Dina salivate.

A high-class meal after so long.

Her ferocious teeth clacked together, strongly demanding to bite into that woman right away.

She stood on the railing of a rooftop overlooking the procession.

Even without handling any mana, the force of her leap partially destroyed the rooftop railing.

Physical abilities that surpassed not just knights, but were difficult to consider human at all.

But because of this, Deus Verdi would have a hard time tracking her, and that ghost woman wouldn’t notice her either.

After all, the greatest weakness of a Mage was brute force.

She shot through the sky like a cannonball toward the Dark Spiritmaster. She would momentarily draw everyone’s attention, but it didn’t matter.

After all, once she devoured that woman, the monsters would lose order and begin to act indiscriminately.

Even if they didn’t harm people…

The mere state of disorder and chaos would turn the festival’s laughter into screams and confusion.

As she stretched both hands toward the Dark Spiritmaster…

Screech!

A long, violin-like friction sound accompanied by thick sparks stretched out.

What reflected in Dina’s crimson eyes was a woman in a revealing maid outfit holding an axe in front of her.

“Ah, I see.”

Findenai nodded, understanding something on her own.

“So that’s why my master told me to follow the front of the procession?”

Grin.

It was a first.

For the first time in her life, Dina felt the illusion of changing from predator to prey.

The woman before her was so wild, and the smile on her lips carried the composure of a predator.

Whoosh!

Dina hastily pushed her hands away to distance herself from Findenai. She landed cleanly on top of an eyeball-shaped monster that was following the procession.

Findenai likewise landed on the head of a goblin-shaped monster that was following right behind the Dark Spiritmaster.

“Ooooh!”

“What’s this? Another event?!”

“We can’t miss this!”

The spectators following the procession seemed to mistake the battle between Findenai and Dina as another event.

Dina didn’t like that in itself, so she gritted her teeth and used mana to pull her robe’s hood down deeply.

She found it unsightly and unpleasant to be a spectacle for them.

In contrast, many people recognized Findenai.

“Wow, isn’t that the maid who was with the Spiritmaster?”

“Ah! She was dressed like that from the beginning because of this event! It was foreshadowing!”

Her face was already known in Claren. Findenai rested the axe on her shoulder and asked:

“You don’t like people treating someone’s fight as a spectacle, do you?”

“…”

“Well, they probably think this is just part of the performance. But what does it matter? We’re fighting for our lives here.”

Dina couldn’t grasp what this woman meant by these words.

Was she suggesting they stop fighting and let each other go?

While she sympathized with what Findenai was saying, not understanding her intention made it difficult to respond.

“So what?”

She carefully chose and blurted out one phrase. Findenai giggled and shook her head.

“I was just saying. Trying to shake you up. I actually enjoy fighting!”

It happened in an instant.

As if the wind and space had been split by the blade named Findenai.

She instantly kicked off the goblin’s head and rushed at Dina, swinging her axe.

Whoosh!

But Dina was no ordinary opponent either. Being a Black Mage in the Griffin Kingdom meant living without trusting anyone.

Moreover, the superhuman physical abilities she had shown from earlier were enough to dodge Findenai’s axe swing.

“You bitch!”

With that harsh word, Dina’s hands extended and flew toward Findenai.

Not an ordinary sword or spear, but two massive mouths flying at her.

Even for Findenai, it wasn’t an attack she could block with just one axe, so she had to dodge, but…

Crunch!

Blood flowed down, wetting the ground. Findenai slightly frowned at the piercing pain of flesh being torn, and muttered:

“I really chose the wrong master.”

She blocked it despite the bleeding. Even though she could have easily dodged the attack, Findenai’s feet didn’t move at all.

‘Why?’

The question sprouted like a seedling in Dina’s mind and was just as easily plucked.

“You’re protecting the monsters, aren’t you?”

Dina laughed with her mouth torn wide, stuck out her tongue, and burst into laughter, saying it was incredible.

“You crazy bitch! You’d risk your life to save these monster bastards? I knew you were stupid, but you’re beyond stupid!”

“Your mouth is fucking filthy.”

Findenai unnecessarily took out a cigarette from her bosom and put it in her mouth. But seeing that it wouldn’t light properly because it was soaked in her blood, she spat it out in annoyance.

“I let you hit me because I thought you wouldn’t cower and would fight properly if I did.”

“Bullshit.”

Dina had now changed her target. She just needed to devour the monsters around her indiscriminately.

That was her original plan, and now there was no reason to hesitate.

“Let’s see how well you can block this.”

Could she really prevent her from devouring all these monsters alone, and while injured at that?

An opponent who would have been quite challenging had fallen on her own.

And even showed her weakness.

Dina stretched out both hands and opened her mouths wide, laughing as she planned to devour at least half of the monsters before Deus Verdi arrived, but…

Crack!

An unexpected impact struck her under the chin, causing her to bite her tongue.

Only after spitting out something wet rolling around in her mouth did she realize it was her own severed tongue.

“What the fuck?”

Wondering what had just happened, Dina quickly raised her head.

If she were to die from just having her tongue cut off, she wouldn’t even qualify as a monster tamer.

Did her opponent know that too?

[Now you’ll be a bit quieter.]

It was a strike meant to silence, not kill.

A middle-aged woman with her face covered by a black veil.

The Dark Spiritmaster, who had been leading the monsters’ march until just now, was somehow floating in the air, looking at her.

Dina glanced at the front row.

Despite the Dark Spiritmaster’s disappearance, the monsters continued walking along the path, now led by a boy in women’s clothing and a slightly pregnant woman dressed as a vampire, both smiling.

“Are you a soul controlled by Deus Verdi?”

Dina was thoroughly irritated. If it was a soul, she could devour it with her hands.

That’s why she thought of it as merely an annoying insect, but…

[Control?]

The Dark Spiritmaster snorted as if it was absurd and stretched out her hand.

[I cut your tongue, yet you still run your mouth.]

Ominous mana surged.

Deus Verdi was rapidly advancing toward the pinnacle of spirit magic thanks to the non-standard item called the Spirit Stone.

But conversely…

A woman who had walked this lonely path ahead of time.

A Spiritmaster who had glimpsed fragments of that pinnacle solely through effort, without any special connections or inherently cheating tools.

[I wonder which part I should cut next to make you quiet.]

With that eerie murmur, the Dark Spiritmaster’s black mana rushed toward Dina like a whirlwind.