Ch.110110. Farewell

A chilling sensation ran down her spine, but Dina calmly assessed the situation.

‘If I think about this calmly, I have the advantage.’

The mana emanating from the Dark Spiritmaster was the very embodiment of ominousness, but Dina herself was quite resistant to fear.

‘In their living form, they seem to be at the level of a somewhat flashy Mage, but they’re just a dead evil spirit anyway.’

No matter how exceptional a Mage might be, they couldn’t showcase their living skills after death.

[I can hear your thoughts all the way over here.]

But as if to shatter that notion, the Dark Spiritmaster’s mana began transforming into a grotesque spirit form. Their mana rushed toward her with a wide-open mouth like a scream and outstretched hands.

“…a necromancer?”

Even Dina couldn’t help but be surprised by this. Though they weren’t dealing with souls directly.

The resentment embedded in the mana itself was a common characteristic of necromancers.

And the viscous manifestation of that grudge suggested they were no ordinary necromancer.

Being in such a narrow field, Dina recalled the necromancers she knew and realized their identity.

“Dark Spiritmaster?”

Just like with Deus Verdi, there was a time when Dante had tried to scout her, but she refused because she had absolutely no interest in world crises. Additionally, Dante’s ultimate goal and the Dark Spiritmaster’s main objective were so diametrically opposed that Dante eventually gave up on recruiting her.

“You died?”

This was truly shocking even for Dina. One of the top five necromancers on the continent.

A witch who devoured knowledge, whipping herself to reach the finish line of necromancy.

“Why? No, more importantly, why are you by Deus’s side?”

[Sigh.]

In response to Dina’s flood of questions, the Dark Spiritmaster exhaled in apparent irritation. The Dark Spiritmaster’s mana, taking the form of an evil spirit, rushed forward in lieu of an answer.

[Would you please shut up.]

“Yes, someone like you could do this much even after death. Especially as a necromancer.”

Being most closely connected to death, her abilities hadn’t diminished significantly after death.

But there were clear limitations.

Crunch!

Dina’s hands didn’t just devour souls. They chewed up and digested even the Dark Spiritmaster’s mana.

As she tasted the high-quality yet tangy mana, the corners of Dina’s mouth curled upward.

“A necromancer who can’t handle souls should just die. Oh, you’re already dead, so I should say ‘be annihilated’?”

[So cocky.]

From somewhere hidden, previously calm mana surged forth again. But for Dina, it was like a feast rolling straight into her mouth.

Then.

A strong scent of tobacco suddenly spread from her chest, hitting her nose.

While the Dark Spiritmaster’s magic poured down from above, Findenai had somehow reached in front of her with tobacco in his mouth.

“High-quality tobacco doesn’t get wet easily.”

Leaving this strange observation, Findenai swung his axe. Thinking he had landed a solid hit, he exhaled smoke deeply with the blood-soaked tobacco in his mouth, but…

Crunch!

Teeth protruding from Dina’s chest began devouring Findenai’s axe.

“Is this a monster or a human?”

Though he voiced his disbelief, Findenai didn’t stop there. He immediately discarded the axe and threw a punch at her face. Dina, not expecting him to continue his attack without hesitation, took a direct hit but didn’t even flinch.

“Whoa!”

Instead, teeth sank into Findenai’s hand. He had clearly struck between her nose and eyes, but somehow teeth were biting into him.

He was certain the woman before him didn’t have a normal human body.

Judging close combat ineffective, Findenai twisted his body to pull back.

“Ah, damn!”

But the wounds he’d sustained protecting the monsters caught up to him. A sudden sharp pain made him stagger as blood gushed out.

Dina’s hand, with its gaping mouth, reached for him, but.

The Dark Spiritmaster’s mana grabbed the mouths on Dina’s hands from both sides, allowing Findenai to compose himself and escape.

“How annoying!”

Having devoured the Dark Spiritmaster’s mana instead, Dina licked her lips and glared at the two again.

Findenai, bleeding profusely with severe injuries, and the Dark Spiritmaster, fighting with limited mana.

Though there had been a momentary crisis, ultimately her advantage remained unchanged.

She didn’t need a direct confrontation; devouring the monsters would be enough to maintain her advantage, but.

“Mmm, you two look so delicious.”

Findenai and the Dark Spiritmaster looked so tempting that her stomach’s hunger strongly desired them both. She felt greedy, not wanting to spoil her appetite with lesser creatures before eating those two.

[You’re not just an ordinary monster tamer, are you?]

At the Dark Spiritmaster’s calm words as she perched on a nearby monster’s head, Dina merely twitched her eyebrow without bothering to answer.

But the Dark Spiritmaster’s purple eyes had already pierced through to the truth.

[You’ve implanted a monster into your own body? And quite a high-level one at that.]

Though the Dark Spiritmaster wore an expression of disgust, Dina smiled as if asking what the problem was.

“Heh, isn’t that the same as you helping Deus? Me implanting a monster to surpass human limitations and you helping him grow rapidly. Not much difference.”

[…]

“I wondered how he could grow so much in such a short time. Our Dante members were curious too, and it was because of you?”

Dina continued spewing words as if her mouth was heating up.

“You know what? Our members share vision when on missions. Everyone in Dante is watching you right now. They’re probably laughing at you.”

[Ugh.]

The Dark Spiritmaster realized that was the source of the eerie feeling she’d had and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Look at you, being controlled by another necromancer after death. Did you have that many regrets? Or is this the karma for handling evil spirits?”

Her mockery grew heavier.

Two pupils appeared in Dina’s crimson eyes, indicating she was gradually fusing with the monster.

“Do you think you have the right to mock me? We’re all the same filthy women. Addicts hooked on the drug called Black Magic!”

Dina stretched out her hand. The mouth on her hand wailed loudly, eager to devour the Dark Spiritmaster.

“Still clinging to that drug even after death.”

Honestly, the Dark Spiritmaster somewhat agreed with those words. No one had been as obsessed with necromancy as she was.

She had been captivated by the pleasure and power it gave, wanting to see its ultimate end.

But.

[Still, I lived as a human and died as a human.]

“…”

[You abandoned your humanity, shifting all responsibility to some greater cause, and became a monster, justifying it by saying it was to strengthen your body.]

Snap! Snap!

Dina’s hands clashed their teeth violently, eager to tear the Dark Spiritmaster apart. Her facial expression also contorted, taking on a monstrous appearance.

[Can I even call you human anymore?]

“Let’s see if you can still talk like that after I’ve devoured your soul.”

Growling, Dina kicked off the monster she was riding. But midway through her leap, she was struck by a blunt impact to her head, causing her to stagger and fall to the ground.

Surprisingly, the eyeball-shaped monster Dina had been standing on had reached out and struck her from above.

“You bastards!”

With bloodshot eyes, Dina gritted her teeth and exhaled deeply. Despite the monsters clearly showing hostility toward her, Dina was indignant.

“Do you think having that woman on your side makes a difference? You’re all just my meal, you bastards!”

As Dina shouted in rage, people watching the procession finally sensed something was amiss and began murmuring.

“Are they really fighting?”

“N-no way. There couldn’t be someone like that.”

“But it’s too real for a performance. Look at that maid bleeding.”

Dina was about to shout at the people to shut up, but ominous mana surged into her mouth.

Her cheeks bulged as if her mouth was stuffed with food, and she struggled to swallow it.

The Dark Spiritmaster, who had fed her mana to Dina, looked down at her with a finger to her lips.

[Be quiet. You’re scaring people.]

“…!”

[You should be grateful.]

After swallowing all the mana that had entered her mouth, Dina sensed something strange.

[I don’t want my disciple to hate me, so I’m not crossing the line.]

“What?”

The Dark Spiritmaster chuckled softly, reminiscing about something.

[He’s someone with clear boundaries. So I’m always careful not to cross them.]

“What nonsense.”

Dina found it hard to understand.

What was most difficult to comprehend was the strange energy she felt emanating from the front of the procession, which was already far ahead.

Something ominous yet merciful.

A power that she didn’t want to approach, yet it made her tilt her head in curiosity, attracting the monsters to welcome it.

[Since I’m dead, I’ll let you have the highlight.]

A sense of not following the conversation. The Dark Spiritmaster, the maid who had already hidden herself.

And the monsters marching vigorously toward the energy welcoming them at the end of the procession.

Dina felt a loneliness, as if everyone was abandoning her.

They seemed to be already seeing the end of this night.

That is, they were acting as if the dawn was already rising.

As if the outcome of today’s time was already determined.

Dina followed the fading Dark Spiritmaster as if entranced.

Finally, at the very front of the procession.

She reached the place where the inexplicable energy was pouring out.

The monsters were disappearing with smiles. Contrary to their grotesque appearances, in what could be called their death, they became clusters of white light, beautifully adorning the city.

A black-haired man with his hands behind his back was seeing them off.

She had been wondering when he would come.

But that wasn’t it.

She had been approaching him all along.

Dina thought she was walking on a path she had laid out, but belatedly realized that the path she was treading belonged to someone else.

It felt like someone had moved her elsewhere, like pulling out the bottom card.

Deus, who briefly glanced at Dina grinding her teeth, slowly spoke.

“What do you think these beings truly desire?”

“What?”

An abrupt question.

Again, just as she had felt with the Dark Spiritmaster, she had the illusion that she was lagging far behind them.

Even if she racked her brain to find an answer to this incomprehensible question, she naturally couldn’t utter a word.

“They are monsters created by numerous artists. If you find the commonality among those artists, you could easily discover what these beings want.”

“…”

Dina could only keep her mouth shut and listen. It was like a professor forcibly seating a delinquent student and starting a lecture.

“They simply wanted to show themselves off. Just as all artists desire to show their work to an audience, these beings also just wanted people to recognize them.”

But since that was impossible, they chose to vanish. Because the very act of showing themselves to people was already causing harm.

So they thought it was a wish that could never be fulfilled, but.

“Can you see their satisfied smiles?”

Deus smiled gently as he bid farewell to the monsters who had fully displayed themselves in the procession. Though it seemed it wouldn’t suit him, it was surprisingly a very warm smile.

People were applauding the monsters’ deaths as if it were the final climax of a performance.

Just as no audience believes a magician’s hand is truly cut off during a trick.

People didn’t believe the monsters in the procession were real, nor did they think their exit was death.

A fantasy created with mana.

They marveled at it as a spectacular exit.

They applauded with smiles and shed tears of emotion.

But that was precisely.

The only thing the monsters wanted.

To announce even their final moments to people. To give them emotion and joy.

That’s why the monsters left with smiles. They joyfully accepted their deaths.

This wasn’t death.

It was the fulfillment of a wish.

The final destination of a dream.

Deus Verdi was giving them what they had always dreamed of but couldn’t reach.

“What are you doing?”

In such a situation, Dina had bitten her teeth so hard that blood flowed from her gums.

“What are you doing in the middle of our fight? Are you seeing off those monster bastards when you should be borrowing their power?”

She was so dumbfounded she couldn’t speak. She had intended to bring complete annihilation to Deus Verdi along with the monsters, but.

“…”

Deus clicked his tongue and turned his gaze away from Dina, continuing to bid farewell to the monsters.

And only then.

Dina realized why she had felt like she couldn’t keep up with their words and actions.

Why she had repeatedly thought, “What on earth are they talking about?”

Because they were on different stages.

She thought she was in a life-or-death battle with them, but.

They were simply seeing off the monsters.

During which, she was just a bundle of variables within expectations.

“I see, that’s why you didn’t pursue me with full force.”

Dina realized that while she had come to the office for some sort of resolution, Deus himself hadn’t bothered to chase after her.

While Deus wasn’t even thinking about it, Dina alone had been fighting against him.

Her teeth grinded so hard that eventually.

They broke.

“This is the first time I’ve been insulted like this.”

Her burning eyes flared up. As her entire body began to twist, becoming something grotesque.

“You’re a bit.”

Judging that without stopping her, it would be difficult to bid farewell to the monsters.

“Annoying.”

Looking at the crimson monster, the necromancer’s mana surged, brightly illuminating the festival.