Ch.75Rescue Signals Are Dangerous (4)

‘About a dozen or so.’

Despite not much time having passed since the radio transmission, the situation had deteriorated to this extent.

It was reasonable to assume that the opponent had killed all the hunters before them in an extremely short time.

“Look over there, Eric. It’s Trione.”

“…Indeed it is. I heard he was missing. Is this betrayal?”

At the silver-haired girl’s words, the man with the sun tattoo called Eric stared at Trione while summoning intense magical power in one hand.

Whoosh.

“I have no particular feelings about this, but since we’ve met, it’s better to kill him.”

“Tsk. Whether it’s this guy or that guy, everyone’s so casual about deciding others’ lives.”

The concentration of magical power was clearly alarming. He intended to launch a powerful attack from the start.

I summoned my own power and chanted a spell.

“Bone Shield.”

Crack.

Crackle.

Death energy took form, creating black bone fragments in the air along the boundaries of my body. I positioned myself in front of Trione, facing Eric.

“…Do you think you can block it?”

“Well, we’ll find out when you fire.”

Eric, without changing his expression, released his power.

A thunderous sound erupted as if the air itself was exploding, and intense pressure crashed against my entire body.

Boom!

Crash!

It felt like being squeezed by the air itself, or like invisible blades rushing toward me.

Slash!

Splat!

Despite maintaining a dual defense system by casting another spell inside the bone shield, small wounds accumulated from attacks I couldn’t completely block.

‘…He’s certainly strong.’

Glancing at my opponent, I could see he still had a composed expression.

It meant he could launch attacks with even greater power if he wanted.

Crack.

“So you’re not just some random nobody.”

“Stupid Eric. I told you last time. He’s that Korean hunter who’s been interfering with our work.”

“…Right. I had forgotten.”

A direct confrontation didn’t seem like a good idea.

I glanced at the restrained JP, but his pupils were dilated as if drugged. The situation looked quite difficult.

“That’s an altar, isn’t it? Seems like they’re trying to do something here using the power of a wide-area magic circle.”

“…That’s obvious just by looking at it. Do something useful.”

“Damn it.”

Whoosh!

Trione slightly raised his hand to try controlling the silver-haired woman, but it was in vain.

Zing!

“I am Bennett the Puppeteer. Mind control doesn’t work on me since I’m an awakened one of a similar type.”

“What…”

“Yes. And since I have materials right here, I’ll show you something good.”

Swish!

Bennett, who had maintained an expressionless face, smiled and waved her hand. Magical threads extended from the air and attached to the corpses scattered around.

“Rise. My cute toys.”

Crack.

Crunch.

Snap.

The twisted and severed limbs were forcibly reconnected as the corpses rose.

They began to glare at Trione and me with tears of blood.

Seeing this, I gave Trione a suspicious look.

“…You were actually just a low-ranking member there, weren’t you?”

“Ha, Hades doesn’t have hierarchical relationships.”

For something like that, the power imbalance was quite severe. To be honest, even if Madison, Wei, and Trione combined their strength, they probably couldn’t defeat that girl alone.

However.

“In the end, they’re just corpses.”

They must have already had some information about my abilities, but this was underestimating me too much.

Whoosh.

“Undead call.”

Following my spell, death energy began flowing into the corpses controlled by the girl, and soon they were consumed by it, each transforming into undead.

However, for some reason, the girl maintained a faint smile despite the situation.

Sensing something ominous, I frowned, and the girl spoke.

“Just as expected. I like it.”

“What?”

“I’ll make good use of these ones.”

Whoosh.

Swish!

As the girl raised her hand again, new types of threads appeared and began consuming the undead corpses.

At the same time, the control over the corpses that I had been smoothly taking over was transferred back to her.

‘She stole my undead?’

This was disconcerting, to say the least.

Of course, I wasn’t in my best condition, but it would be no exaggeration to say this was the first time I had been so easily overpowered since reaching my peak.

“Now, attack.”

Thud.

Crash.

Patter!

The undead puppets rushed forward with movements so natural it was hard to believe they were already dead.

“…Undead call.”

Boom!

Crash!

I immediately took out various catalysts from my pocket and summoned an undead army, but this would only lead to a war of attrition.

“…I’d like to do something, but I can’t enhance undead with my abilities.”

“I wasn’t expecting much anyway.”

Setting aside Trione, who was less helpful than expected, I needed to somehow overcome the obstacle before me.

‘As if I didn’t have enough to worry about on the other side…’

To make matters worse, the girl I thought would be insignificant was proving to be a formidable opponent.

Boom!

Crack!

Crunch!

[Growl!]

Crash!

The forces from both sides clashed, maintaining a balance as they continued to reduce each other’s strength.

However, even that situation couldn’t last long.

Slither.

Slide.

Swish!

The threads extending from Bennett’s puppets began to infiltrate my undead once again.

‘This is ridiculous!’

Whoosh.

Crack!

I wasn’t going to fall for the same trick twice. I sent death energy in all directions to strengthen my necromantic control, but at that moment, Eric, who had been watching from behind, attacked us again.

Boom!

Crash!

“Urgh!”

“Huh.”

Bang!

Trione quickly retreated but collided with trees from the impact, and with my concentration broken, I ended up losing even the newly summoned undead to the enemy.

“…This should be enough for you to handle alone. I’ll go complete the ritual.”

“Yes. We don’t need Eric.”

Step.

Step.

As Eric left for the altar with the restrained JP, Trione, who had finally regained his senses, got up clutching his head, but I stood like a statue, blankly staring at the ground.

“…Snap out of it. Now that they’ve separated, this is our chance.”

Despite Trione’s prompt, I remained silent, lost in thought.

“You look pitiful. How does it feel to be abandoned by your own servants as their master?”

To Bennett, who was smiling as if enjoying herself, I responded blankly.

“…I was fooled twice.”

“Huh?”

“I said my undead were stolen twice.”

It was more of a lament than an answer.

“You don’t need to be embarrassed. It’s simply that my ability has a good compatibility against yours.”

“……”

Slowly raising my head toward Bennett, who was speaking nonchalantly, I spoke again as if entranced.

“I can’t accept this. Not from myself.”

My eyes were no longer properly registering anything around me.

All that dominated my mind now was an unbearable sense of displeasure and irritation.

“Book of Death.”

Boom!

It wasn’t simply about wounded pride. It was something much more fundamental and primal.

“…Give up. I already know about that book’s abilities. Whatever you summon won’t change anything.”

“……”

Swish.

Ignoring Bennett’s words, I searched for a corner of the Book of Death’s page and applied force.

Squeeze.

Clench.

It wouldn’t open. It meant I lacked sufficient power in my current state.

But I firmly commanded it again, applying more force.

“Open.”

Boom!

Rustle.

There would be aftereffects later, but I didn’t care. At least for now, such things didn’t matter to me.

As the page opened, a vortex of indescribable magical power swirled around the Book of Death.

It was extremely heavy and viscous.

To be honest, it felt more like a curse than magical power.

Perhaps sensing this chilling energy, Bennett, who had maintained an expressionless face, stroked her goosebump-covered arms and asked me:

“…What exactly are you doing?”

“Extraction.”

Whoosh.

Ignoring Bennett, I continued to chant spells.

“Synchronization.”

[We will not, leave you, alone. Filthy servant, of death…]

For a moment, someone’s curse-filled lament swept by, but that was none of my concern.

Extending my right index finger, I carefully transferred the soul extracted from the Book of Death into it.

And then.

“Activation.”

Crack.

Crunch.

With the uttered spell, small scales formed across my entire index finger, and a tiny horn and mouth began to appear at its tip.

What was completed was an index finger decorated as if with a miniature version of some creature’s head.

I pointed it at my opponent like a gun and delivered my final judgment.

“Try something.”

“……”

“If you don’t want to die here.”

Perhaps my words didn’t seem like an empty threat, as Bennett changed her expression to a serious one and gathered all the undead that had become her puppets in one place.

Then she spewed threads into the air again, weaving them into a solid wall.

“Even if you have a trump card, it’s meaningless to me. This wall created by my skill will last until all the puppets’ life force is exhausted…”

“How boring.”

Cutting off Bennett’s words, I tilted my finger to point at her hiding behind the wall of puppets.

And using the dragon’s rage rampaging inside my finger as fuel, I chanted a spell to incinerate everything in the world.

“Dragon Breath.”