Ch.452In the Vortex

Hersella fell asleep quietly as if the aftermath wasn’t her concern.

I suppressed my bewildered feelings and gripped Durandal, which was stuck in the ground, while looking at Lübitz.

Having used up all the power of my Karma of Murder, all I could do now was swing my sword like an ordinary hero, relying on my achievements.

I’d gone from being the Crimson Empress to just an Empress.

In the end, nothing had changed about the fact that the whirlwind would engulf me unless I fled!

“Grr…ugh! This monster…!”

Lübitz screamed while clutching his left shoulder, sweat pouring down his face.

His expression was contorted as if he might bring down the whirlwind at any moment.

He was pouring out so much holy light and mana that his blown-off left arm was already slowly regenerating.

What a troll.

“Impossible, impossible! What was that just now… what kind of power was that…?!”

Well, what was it?

A self-destructive area attack that I can’t use anymore?

“…As if I’d tell you? Why don’t you figure it out with that brilliant mind of yours.”

“Your manner of speech…! It’s reverted back. The fierce killing intent, the thick Karma of Murder—all of it has completely dissipated. So that means… it’s a power you can’t use twice! I can’t grasp the principle, but it’s a technique that consumes all your accumulated Karma of Murder…!”

…He’s actually figuring it out.

This is why I hate intelligent enemies.

I glanced behind me, looking for an opening to escape.

At the very least, I needed to avoid that whirlwind first.

Surely that insane magic wouldn’t completely devastate the ground.

Actually, now that I thought about it, with Hersella asleep and unable to complain, the best option would be to escape and regroup with my companions to fight.

There was no reason I had to stand my ground here, no need to hold this position.

The problem was… I’d come all the way to the center of the prayer hall to catch the enemy, so the distance to the entrance was quite far…

“You think you’ll have a chance to escape!”

Damn, did he notice?

Lübitz shouted fiercely and swung his raised right arm downward.

Toward the high priests sprawled on the balustrade, groaning as they tried to recover from their wounds.

I launched myself backward, but I couldn’t possibly be faster than someone who just had to flick his arm.

“There is no escape route. Not killing me with that technique just now will be your downfall…!”

The moment he clenched his fist.

“Gaaack…!”

Mana and holy light were literally extracted from the priests’ bodies.

The priests convulsed and collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

Hersella might have called it something like Soul Absorption Technique.

It was clearly not ordinary magic, but something closer to dark sorcery.

The next moment, Lübitz converted the extracted power into a shockwave and released it.

Not toward me as I ran desperately, but toward the visible exit ahead.

– BOOM!!

A thunderous sound like an avalanche erupted as a fierce wind rushed in.

The ground of the underground chamber shook as if hit by an earthquake.

Shattered rock fragments rained down, blocking the entrance.

His magic was boring into the chamber’s exit and the corridor beyond, grinding the bedrock itself and causing it to collapse!

“Damn it…!”

I had no choice but to stop running.

Even I would find it difficult to dig through completely collapsed ground.

Right, escaping was never in my cards anyway.

I gritted my teeth, gripped my sword tightly, and changed direction to point Durandal at Lübitz.

At this point, the only option left was to break through head-on.

There was no time left to find another solution.

Whatever, I might die anyway.

“I thought it was a perfect trap, but to think I’d suffer this much damage. Truly unfathomable resilience! But this is the end! Be torn to pieces and perish like the priests you killed, Aishan-Gioro Haschal!”

“…Weren’t you the one who killed the high priests? Some of them seemed to be alive until just now.”

“……”

Ignoring my retort, Lübitz spread his arms—or rather, his one and a half arms—and looked up at the sky.

The heavenly authority unfolded for the second time.

The whirlwind in the air, saturated with mana, began to descend like a giant peering down.

And so.

– CRASH!

The tornado touched down.

—-

If the first disaster, the thunderstorm, was a hammer that struck and destroyed everything, this disaster was literally a giant mixer.

An enormous noise pounded my eardrums.

The whirlwind, stained red with the blood of the priests, swept around tearing everything apart.

Pillars and balustrades that had maintained their form were shattered and lifted by the wind pressure, while rock fragments scattered on the ground spiraled in the vortex.

– CRACK!

The bodies of the high priests, sucked into the tornado, were hit by fragments and torn to pieces, scattering their shredded innards.

Though its instantaneous destructive power might not match the thunderstorm, this too was a force approaching an irresistible disaster.

Even I, despite straining every muscle to hold my ground, was being gradually pulled toward the growing tornado!

“Grr…nngh…!”

The ground where I had planted my feet was shifting.

As if it might be uprooted and blown away entirely.

“Resistance is futile. You say the essence of your power is death? Then follow that essence!”

Lübitz pointed his right hand toward me.

As if completely unaffected by his own manifested power, he floated in the center of the vortex, seemingly unharmed.

Light began to gather at his fingertips.

“Damn it, if only Lacy were here…!”

Ah, no.

If Lacy were here, she might have suffered fatal wounds from being caught in the Field of Mortality.

That technique doesn’t discriminate between friend and foe.

“Did you think I wouldn’t anticipate that? Since you seem to harbor futile hope, let me enlighten you. They cannot come. They’re engaged in fierce battle with the priests and paladins I sent! It seems your messenger never even arrived!”

As if his confidence was returning along with his regenerating left arm, Lübitz, quickly recovering from his shock and fear, declared firmly.

His eyes flashed, emitting holy light.

…It seems he possesses some kind of power related to “seeing.”

Perhaps that’s how he detected my infiltration.

Either way, it wasn’t good news.

It meant I had to fight and win alone, without any support.

“Ha, fine. Whether you die or I die, let’s see this through to the end!”

– BANG!

As a brilliant beam erupted from Lübitz’s fingertips, I kicked off from the ground where I had planted my feet and leaped upward.

Toward the approaching tornado that was growing larger by the moment.

—-

– WHOOSH!

My body, swallowed by the storm, was caught in the rotation of the tornado.

No matter how strong one might be, weight remains unchanged.

Even I had no way to withstand such wind speed while suspended in the air.

Stone pillars many times heavier than me were flying around—how could I fare any better?

Just resisting the wind pressure that threatened to tear off my limbs and separate flesh from bone was consuming considerable strength.

The pressure was tremendous. It felt like all the blood in my body was rushing to one side.

All I could hear was a roar as if the world was being torn apart. No other sound reached my ears.

My vision raced sideways.

In the red and gray clouds, mangled corpses and rock fragments flashed by in an instant.

Isn’t a tornado’s wind speed about 300 km/h? This seemed even faster.

Being hit by those fragments alone would be enough to easily tear a human body apart.

Damn it. This kind of stunt would suit Demian better than me…!

“Kyaa…aaaaaah!”

With a desperate battle cry, I forcibly moved my wildly flailing limbs to correct my posture.

Even if I couldn’t stop spinning, I needed to at least be able to move my body.

If I couldn’t do even that, I would surely die.

Fortunately, my limbs, strengthened by the power of my achievements, somehow overcame the wind pressure and moved according to my will.

Except for my dangling left arm.

…Come to think of it, I had been using the physical force of my Karma of Murder to stabilize my broken arm.

No wonder it had been hurting so badly.

With all the Karma that had supported my arm like a splint completely depleted, it was natural that my left arm wouldn’t move properly.

Well, it’s fine. At least it’s not my right arm.

Thankfully, I can still swing my sword.

In the midst of the storm, I positioned my body vertically and faced the oncoming wind head-on.

“Grr…!”

The tremendous headwind began to lash my entire body, but at least I could slow my flying speed a little.

I covered only my face with my right hand and endured the violent wind pressure.

– CRACK!

Small fragments mixed in the wind pounded my entire body like hail.

Most were blocked and shattered by my black iron scales and Rurik’s leather, but without this armor, I would have suffered serious injuries long ago.

In a way, Rurik had saved my life.

Indeed, Werebeasts become kinder the more they die.

– WHOOSH!

Enough idle thoughts. A massive pillar fragment that had been spinning around in the whirlwind was rapidly approaching.

If we collided, I would be crushed like an egg thrown against a rock, armor or not.

…Good. Everything’s going according to plan so far.

A hastily improvised plan that bordered on madness, but still.

“Haaaa…!”

I took a deep breath of the air laden with moisture, dust, and blood, then gritted my teeth and channeled all my strength into my legs.

Bracing for the impact that would soon follow.

And then, my extended foot touched the rock.

– CRASH!

“Ugh…!”

The impact felt like my kneecaps might pop out of my body.

A groan escaped through my clenched teeth.

In my heightened senses, with time seeming to slow to a fifth of its normal speed… I could clearly see my legs crushing into the rock fragment.

Now was the time.

“Graaaaaaah!”

With a scream-like roar, I straightened my bent knees and kicked off the rock fragment, leaping toward the center of the whirlwind where I could clearly sense Lübitz’s mana.

As the pillar fragment exploded into pieces, my body soared upward, cutting through the storm.

Of course, a single leap wouldn’t be enough to reach him.

– WHOOSH!

My body, having advanced about halfway, lost momentum and was caught in the storm again.

It didn’t matter.

There were plenty of rocks around to step on and jump from.

I swam through the tornado, smashing smaller rocks with blows and using larger ones as stepping stones to leap again and again.

Enduring the accumulating pain with each collision.

After five such leaps, finally—

“What the… madman! Facing a storm that could destroy a castle with your bare body?!”

I pierced through the tornado and reached right before Lübitz, who cried out in shock.

“Good to see you, you son of a bitch—!”

My body, covered in bruises from being hit by fragments, with no spot left uninjured.

Spraying blood from torn and cut wounds, I thrust my sword toward him.