Ch.273Falling Blossom

Isabella was dead.

…To be precise, Isabella as a witch disappeared at this moment.

That was the power of ‘Metamorphosis’.

Like a caterpillar in a cocoon transforming into a butterfly, it was a power that shed everything from before and transformed into a completely different being.

And the result was as you could see…

“The dark mana, it’s gone…?”

Lacy’s cross spear trembled with bewilderment.

Yes. Not even a trace of dark mana remained in Isabella’s body, which had been oozing that putrid stench.

She had sacrificed everything.

All four shattered powers, and all the transcendent dark mana bestowed by the evil god.

By sacrificing all of that… she had obtained a new body.

That was the essence of ‘Metamorphosis’.

Two more eyes had appeared on the face once praised as the Empire’s greatest beauty.

Her hair had turned snow-white. Long feather-like antennae sprouted from her forehead, and wings with bizarre patterns draped like a veil behind her back.

The changes weren’t limited to her head.

Her torso remained human flesh down to near the groin, but below that had transformed into an elongated organ resembling an insect’s abdomen.

Her human arms and legs had disappeared, replaced by three pairs of insect-like arms that clicked together.

One pair of arms sprouted from her shoulders, replacing her original arms.

From their tips, carapaces resembling swords had grown, gleaming with a sharp luster.

The arms that had grown near her ribs were covering her exposed upper body as if embracing it, while the arms near her pelvis were wrapped around her insect lower body.

The mixture of insect features was similar to the “Writhing Nest,” but fundamentally different.

While the Nest’s power merely forcibly mixed parasitic insects with a human body, this power fundamentally changed the species itself.

That thing was no longer a witch, but a new species called ‘Isabella’.

Well, since the basis of the transformation originated from an evil god’s power, it would still be classified as demonic regardless.

The newly reborn Isabella flashed a seductive smile.

The damage she had taken earlier was nowhere to be seen, and her aura was incredibly stable. She looked as if she had been perfectly healed through rebirth.

“After coming this far, she recovers again…? Isn’t this too much?”

Ophelia let out a sigh as if she was disgusted.

Her eyes trembled slightly, as if her fighting spirit had been dampened.

“To think a witch could be this powerful…”

Lacy too was gritting her teeth in dismay.

Well, both she and Lacy were already quite exhausted. I was also in a state where both my energy and mental strength were considerably depleted.

In this condition, defeating Isabella who had completely recovered seemed nearly impossible.

“How unfortunate, reality is always hard to believe. You’ve fought quite well until now, but all your struggles have been in vain!”

Isabella laughed triumphantly as she spread her wings wide.

The two women’s expressions darkened even further.

…She’s bluffing.

In vain? What nonsense. She might fool others, but not me.

I can clearly see through her pretentious bravado.

The power of ‘Metamorphosis’.

While it appears to resurrect one with a complete body, the reality is completely different.

This was a power Isabella was using as a last resort after being pushed to her limits.

Recovery? Such an ability never existed in the first place.

Visible wounds might have healed as she was reborn in a new body, but the strength and energy she had already lost wouldn’t return.

Having lost all her dark mana, she couldn’t unleash magical bombardments like before.

In the game, this transformation maintained the same health while changing attack patterns and power.

The attack power increased significantly… but the health remained the same.

This is nothing but a bluff to gain momentum; Isabella too is pushed to her limits!

“Whether it’s in vain or not, we’ll find out when we fight!”

“Can’t you see even when it’s right before your eyes? You’re no different from beasts!”

I charged forward, drawing up my depleting Karma once more.

Isabella fluttered her wings and soared, rushing toward me like a flash of light.

– Clang!

The blue blade and black carapace collided fiercely.

The impact felt like it would shatter my wrist.

My body was thrown back, crashing through a wall.

“Kuhak…!”

Indeed, her attack power has increased quite a bit…!

The impact made my head spin.

“Lord Median!”

Lacy’s urgent voice.

Holy light and lightning bolts stretched out to block Isabella who was trying to pursue me.

“I’m fine! Keep fighting!”

I pulled myself out of the wall while responding to her.

My back was throbbing, but I had anticipated this level of power.

“Are you really okay?!”

“I’m not badly hurt! Isabella is just bluffing!”

My conviction only grew stronger. If she had truly recovered perfectly, she wouldn’t have retreated from mere holy light and magic.

She would have endured it with her body and rushed to finish me off…!

I launched myself again toward Isabella who was engaged in combat with the two women.

Though Isabella, now with wings, was flying around in complex movements, fighting a flying enemy was nothing new to me after just dealing with so many in the mental space.

“Your movements are predictable. Remember earlier!”

I leaped repeatedly off pillars, pursuing Isabella and swinging Durandal down.

My blade aimed at her wings was blocked by her carapace sword with a screech.

“You, monster woman…!”

Isabella, having blocked my slash, bared her teeth and broke into a cold sweat.

As expected, her composed expression and tone were mere deception. Now that we were properly crossing swords, I could clearly see her faltering.

“You might have gotten stronger, but your talk of our efforts being in vain was clearly a lie! You’re exhausted too! Aren’t you?”

“That’s, a big misunderstanding!”

Isabella, wielding her two carapace swords, thrashed about in the air.

Countless slashes intertwined and scattered against each other.

Indeed, her strength and speed were formidable.

If she could still use magic or powers in this state, I honestly don’t think we could have won.

But having consumed everything for her metamorphosis, to use magic again she would need to start from scratch, gathering sacrifices to build power.

At this point, all Isabella could do was engage in simple physical combat.

And that, is what I do best.

A desperate battle racing toward each other’s limits.

Ice spikes rose from the surface of the underground water and shot forth, while barriers of holy light blocked Isabella’s path.

However, the witch, now transformed like a moth, evaded all these attacks and stubbornly counterattacked.

Would our strength run out first, or would Isabella’s vitality be completely depleted?

The end was already approaching.

And then.

“Hnngh…”

Lacy, her strength depleted, fell to her knees clutching her cross spear.

The overflowing holy light had completely vanished.

“Aagh!”

Ophelia, having lost her shield, screamed and fell.

Her arms were half-shattered by a pillar fragment hurled by Isabella.

However…

Isabella was still alive.

Three of her six legs had been severed, and there was a deep sword wound on her abdomen, but it wasn’t enough to cause immediate death.

“Haa… haa… with those two troublesome women down, nothing can stop me now…! Victory is mine, Aishan-Gioro!”

Isabella laughed triumphantly after confirming that Lacy and Ophelia had fallen.

“…You talk big for someone who’s dying. Just because I’m alone, you think I can’t kill you in that state?”

I was also approaching my limit, but I still had enough strength left to swing my sword a few more times.

That would be enough to take down the severely injured Isabella.

“Oh really? Let’s see you try…!”

Isabella spread her wings wide and soared into the air.

Toward the sky where sunlight poured through, beyond the ceiling of the underground waterway.

Could she be trying to escape now…!

While I might have been able to pursue her in the underground waterway full of pillars and walls, once she flew into the open sky, I had no way to follow.

It’s not like I had wings.

“Are you running away, Isabella!”

“Until we meet again, Aishan-Gioro!”

If I let Isabella escape now, it would be over.

She would disappear, gather sacrifices again, and return after regaining the powers she lost through metamorphosis!

“Isabellaaaa!”

I extended tendrils of Murder Karma to chase after her and jumped over the collapsed ceiling, but… by the time I reached the surface, Isabella was already high in the vast sky.

“Ahaha…! Can you jump this high? Or perhaps you’ll throw that sword? If you’re lucky, you might hit me!”

Isabella looked down at me with a laugh full of joy.

Indeed, with both Lacy and Ophelia fallen, I had no means left to attack Isabella.

She was already beyond the reach of my sword or the power of Murder Karma.

Shooting arrows or throwing spears would be futile.

She could easily dodge such attacks by flying.

Isabella fluttered her wings and laughed.

At the warrior crawling on the ground, armed with nothing but a sword.

At this moment, the outcome of the battle in the underground waterway was decided.

In my favor.

“All units, commence firing! Don’t let the harlot who toyed with the Empire live-!”

A command echoed throughout the entire district. Thousands of arrows and hundreds of spears darkened the sky.

“Priests! In the name of the Eleven Gods, annihilate this heretic tainted by evil!”

Hundreds of beams of holy light intertwined like a net, filling the air.

“What…?!”

Before Isabella could react, thousands of hostile intentions flew toward her.

Attacks aimed solely at her, surrounding her from all directions.

No matter how desperately she flapped her wings to evade, there was no way she could dodge all those attacks.

Arrows, spears, and fragments of holy light embedded themselves all over Isabella’s body.

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

The height was too great to hear the sound of flesh tearing, but her scream was crystal clear.

Such a pleasant voice she had when crying out.

Isabella fell.

With both wings torn to shreds, looking like a pufferfish with its spines raised.

“Not yet, not yet. To such creatures, I…”

Isabella tried somehow to maintain balance and dodge, but I had already flown close to her, wrapped in the priests’ blessings directed at me.

Using building rooftops instead of waterway pillars as stepping stones for my leap.

It was impossible to change direction in mid-air, but the trajectory of the falling moth-woman was obvious.

“Aishan-Gioooooro!”

“Just die already, you damn stubborn whore!”

The final collision unfolded as we fell toward the ground.

Isabella’s right arm pierced through my shoulder.

My left shoulder was half-severed.

Durandal, swung with force, deeply cut through her waist.

Hot blood sprayed like a fountain from her split abdomen.

The carapace of her left arm pierced my calf.

The blade of Murder Karma chopped off that arm.

Her last arm aimed for my face.

I turned my head to avoid it and bit that arm to pieces with my teeth.

The carapace crumbled as my fangs dug deep.

The taste of bitter, foul blood was vivid.

And finally.

Frosting’s claws plunged into the witch’s chest.

“Kuhek…! To the likes, of you…!”

[Do you remember my vow? I said I would tear you into a thousand pieces—!]

Hersella’s roar.

Clear hatred filled my left arm.

망인 (Mangin).

The crimson blade whirled like a storm.

As I had vowed, tearing Isabella’s body into a thousand pieces.

A rain of flesh pieces poured down.

Toward the underground river that had somehow appeared right before us.

– Splash!

The impact struck my entire body.

The cold river water cooled the heat throughout my body.

It was fortunate to fall onto the water’s surface.

With one leg damaged, if I had landed directly on the ground, my injuries would have been much worse.

And… Lacy and Ophelia were right in front of me.

Pieces of flesh floated and drifted away on the reddened water surface.

In my left hand, which had crawled up through the current, I held Isabella’s corpse, with only half of her head remaining.