Ch.343Changed Raid NPC. (8)

-BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

“Guhurk?!!”

Jack had said it. Ragni and the Chancellor. It wasn’t that he underestimated their abilities, but even considering their skills as equal to or greater than his own, he believed they could never defeat the EP.7 boss who wielded the power of Sloth.

-Ratatang!! Bang bang bang!!

“Kugh?!!”

“Assistant. I told you to defend.”

“Hmph! I saw a way to attack the bastard too. Why should I just stand still?”

-KABOOM KAKAKAKANG!! THUD!!!

“Tsk, the pattern is the same. If it weren’t for the magical interpretation, I would have finished this already.”

“Well, it may be the same. But equally dangerous.”

“Kugh!! You heretics…!!!”

-Whoosh!!

-Pause.

When Torrens Martini extends his hand, the two stop moving, but this is a situation that has already repeated several times.

“Spirit for the Chancellor!! I’ll take the Princess!!!”

[—♬]

[—~!!]

-KWAAANG!!!

-TANG!! BOOM!!

“GAAK?!!”

The high-rank fire spirit quickly dodges while carrying the two frozen people, along with Lili, the high-rank demon of Lust. As the priest tries to chase after them, a high-rank wind spirit in the form of a giant girl smiles and attacks the high priest, pushing him away. The two being carried simultaneously fire magic and bullets at the priest who was sent flying. And then.

“Cough…!!”

The high priest, who until now had shown an inhuman ability to instantly recover from any wound, finally coughs up blood from the continued attacks, staining his dusty white vestments crimson.

“Damn it. How the hell…”

“You wonder how we found a way to harm you, is that it?”

“That’s funny. If you keep showing us the same thing over and over, even a monkey would figure it out.”

Jack’s judgment was half right. The two hadn’t found a way to defeat him ‘together.’ However.

“The number of beings you can stop. It’s half of all living things in this space, isn’t it?”

“And while you’re stopping your targets, your own state becomes fixed, making you vulnerable to attacks? No wonder you could get up unscathed after taking my shots head-on. Now that I know, you’re nothing compared to the high priest I met before.”

In this space, there are ‘two high-rank spirits’ and a ‘high-rank demon.’ The Chancellor noticed that he could only stop half of them at a time, and Ragni, who had been desperately defending, realized that the best defense is offense and managed to inflict a small wound on the high priest. As a result.

“…Even if you know that, you still can’t defeat me now…”

“The same goes for you. Your attack power isn’t enough to defeat us. The undead around us are just consumables to wear us down.”

“And those priests behind you earlier were beings who empowered you with holy magic to supplement your attack power. Right?”

Without even being told the strategy by Jack, the reincarnator, they’ve figured out the approach and are now completely cornering their opponent.

The EP.7 raid boss who originally had no reason to fight, the EP.5 raid boss, and the EP.3 deus ex machina. What Jack hadn’t calculated was the snowball effect of the world he had twisted.

The Chancellor, who in the original timeline would have learned about the children’s abduction and deaths much later, and would have remained confined in the Academy, living a life of atonement without ever moving—she met Jack and his group, rescued the children early, and got a chance to start anew.

In the process, she approached her students first, gained a new disciple in Ira, returned to the path of an educator, and had time to study and improve herself. During this time, she even ‘captured, tortured, and researched a high-rank demon.’ Even if she didn’t level up by defeating monsters, could it really be said that she hadn’t grown at all? And.

-TANG! TANG!!

“He’ll stop in 3 seconds.”

[Yes!!]

Ragni Bluemoon Ottoman, who from her first meeting with Jack could predict opponents almost like future sight just by observing their movements, actions, tone, and gaze, had completely deviated from her original path and directly met, experienced, and interacted with far more people.

As an assistant at the Academy, the Chancellor’s secretary, the brains of Jack’s group, and Ira’s big sister. She didn’t remain just a princess confined to the imperial palace but accumulated direct experience through many battles and encounters. And those experiences…

-Pause.

“Woah!! Wind Spirit!! Fire Spirit is stopped too!!!”

[—~!!]

-KWAAANG!!!

-Bang bang! BOOM!! TANG!!

“H-how did you predict my movements…!”

“I told you, your actions are visible to me. You showed too much, talked too much. If we keep fighting like this, I could ‘predict’ even which hand you’ll use to scratch your nose three hours from now.”

When she truly concentrates and focuses on one thing, she can predict the future almost like genuine precognition. Nine seconds. Ten seconds. Even if they were stopped for a minute, she could predict how the high priest would track them after the high-rank demon and spirits carried them away, what attacks he would use, and even ‘how he would try to escape from this place.’ She had reached a state where everything was predictable.

That’s why the high priest, the EP.7 raid boss Torrens Martini Cardinal, cannot dodge Ragni’s attacks. He can’t block them either. Even the time when he should be attacking unilaterally is completely predicted by Ragni.

“Tsk. What a shame. Was it too much to interpret during battle?”

“Huh, were you trying to capture him alive?”

“Of course. The magic he uses…”

“You mean power!!”

-KUWOONG!!!

“Not that crude holy magic that creates and throws weapons, but the magic that stops us is certainly a valuable ability that will help the next generation of magic. So I must interpret it.”

The Chancellor, who easily blocked the enraged high priest’s attack with a barrier, answered Ragni’s question and began issuing orders to the high-rank spirits, saying there was nothing more to see. Meanwhile, Ragni continued shooting down approaching undead with her gun. The two acted as if the enemy before them was no longer a threat, causing veins to bulge on Torrens’ forehead.

“Puhu! Hahahahat!!”

“Hmm?”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, he burst into laughter as if he couldn’t hold it in anymore. The two frowned at his strange behavior, but as they pointed their weapons at him, not bothering to ask:

“This is [Wisdom of the Blue Ruler]. Impressive. A wonderful skill that far exceeds our expectations.”

-Hissssss….

“Hey, Assistant. Slave.”

“Yes!!”

-TANG!!! BANG!!

As black smoke suddenly began pouring from his body, and at Naika’s tense voice, the high-rank demon Lili and Ragni fired bullets and magic shells without hesitation.

The Chancellor thought he might still have something to show, but she was neither a fool nor arrogant as before. She wasn’t stupid enough to obsess over research when her long experience warned her of danger. And, as if confirming her instinct was correct:

“Huh? What, what is this?”

“Eh, ehhh…?”

The magic bullets Ragni fired and the magic shells the demon fired should have cut through his smoke and exploded. But they didn’t. The two projectiles, as if caught by something, stopped in mid-air and were gradually consumed by the smoke, crumbling away. Seeing this, Ragni and demon Lili opened their eyes wide.

“Tch. Like a cornered rat showing its teeth.”

The Chancellor clicked her tongue and broke into a cold sweat. She hadn’t finished interpreting the magic that stopped them, and now a new phenomenon she’d never seen before was threatening them. The Chancellor launched rock, lightning, and elemental attacks from the spirits of fire and wind to determine what the black smoke was.

“It’s useless. Truly, if you had allowed yourselves to be captured quietly, I would have at least kept your corpses intact for undead use.”

All magic disappeared into powder the moment it touched the smoke. Rock attacks were one thing, but lightning, fire, and even wind turning to ‘powder’ and vanishing was incomprehensible and grotesque. Moreover:

“Ch-Chancellor. The surrounding undead…”

“Quiet. Hide yourself again.”

“Yes!!”

After instructing the high-rank demon Lili, who was biting her hand in fear and incomprehension, to hide, the Chancellor looked around. The undead that had been targeting them were losing limbs and heads to the black smoke, turning to powder. Then, as if the powder was replacing their bodies, armor and swords began floating in the air. As if the smoke was creating new undead soldiers.

“Chancellor. Do you know what that is?”

“I don’t even know the magic that stops opponents, let alone magic that turns magical constructs to powder. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

The fact that attacks turned to powder and disappeared meant they would suffer the same fate if touched. This became clear the moment he said he couldn’t capture them ‘intact.’ That’s why both of them gradually retreated from the approaching black smoke. Even as they did, Ragni fired several shots as if to check, but now the bullets didn’t even reach the undead, turning to powder and evaporating.

“Wh-what is this…”

“Holding back is difficult. After all, it’s an ‘artificially’ created power of the Seven Deadly Sins. So, will you surrender quietly? Princess. Your skill is an ability absolutely necessary for the future of our Holy Nation and the continent.”

“Tsk. I thought you were unimpressive for a high priest who devoured the Empire, but you were hiding such a card.”

The Chancellor, who had been gradually retreating, swung her staff and stood in front of Ragni protectively, while the two high-rank spirits positioned themselves on either side of her, stopping their retreat.

“Chancellor? Do you have a plan?”

“Well, it’s just buying time, but let’s try.”

“Puhu. Buying time against this power? Are you the demon of Pride?”

“How foolish, who’s a demon? And this isn’t pride, but confidence built on years of experience.”

-Hisssss!

The black smoke began moving quickly, as if fortunate that the Chancellor was separated. Everything the smoke touched turned to powder and eroded away. Even the pillars supporting the palace corridor crumbled to dust after just a slight touch.

To Ragni, it seemed like death itself was crawling toward them, but:

“Now, you too shall turn to dust and disappear…!!”

-Tap!

-KUWOONG!!!

“?!!”

Just as his smoke rapidly spread to engulf the Chancellor, she tapped the ground with the tip of her staff, and the floor where the high priest stood began to disintegrate instantly, giving him no chance to escape.

“Foolish one. You turn everything you touch to dust, yet you’re careful not to let it touch the ground you stand on. You said it’s hard to control, so if the black smoke touches the ground and turns it to dust, that would be difficult to control too, wouldn’t it?”

“Y-you womannn!!!”

“Pleia, Wintra. Fusion elemental magic.”

[—♬]

[—~!]

As the high priest tried to escape the collapsing floor by quickly climbing up the falling debris, the Chancellor prepared her elemental magic with a mocking smile:

“Then, I wish you a pleasant fall to the depths of hell.”

She fired the high-rank spirits’ destruction cannon not at him, but at the ground, completely erasing the debris he was trying to step on.

“Aaaah?!! You womaaaan!! Naikaaaa!!!”

And as he had said himself, Torrens the High Priest, unskilled at controlling the black smoke, plummeted endlessly beneath the palace as the undead fell first and the ground was erased beneath him.