Ch.79Secret Weapon (1)
by fnovelpia
After Lilly and Kitsune joined the battle, the fight became increasingly intense.
Boom-
Crash-
As the battle intensified, all the buildings around the succession grounds were destroyed and collapsed in real time.
This was the nature of combat between superhumans who transcended the standards of normality.
Just their collisions alone were enough to rapidly crumble the civilization built upon this land.
‘Whew… this is more exhausting than I thought.’
How long had the battle been going on?
I felt my limbs trembling, suggesting I was reaching my limit.
I thought I wouldn’t run out of stamina thanks to visiting the demon realm and experiencing rebirth, but it seemed I was mistaken.
‘No, if I had fought normally, I wouldn’t be this exhausted…’
I stared with weary eyes at the muscle monster charging toward me once again.
No matter how many times I cut him down, after a short while he would rejoin the battlefield as if he’d never been injured, which was incredibly draining.
If this turned into a war of attrition, it was clear we would lose.
“Kahaha! Let’s enjoy this more!!”
“Just… die already! You muscle freak!”
Lilly spoke as if she too was getting tired, having cut down and killed that thing more than seven times in this battle alone.
The one fortunate thing was that the muscle monster seemed to act alone, without any cooperation.
Even now, he was blindly charging at us by himself when the timing wasn’t right for the other Death Knights to move.
“Won’t you please die already?”
“When it’s this fun? How could I?”
The muscle monster’s charge was a one-dimensional straight rush that relied solely on raw power.
At first it was difficult to counter because I wasn’t used to it, but now that I’d experienced it multiple times and my abilities were fully activated, things were different.
Crash-!!!
I shattered the ground to slow down his charge, then dove inside his guard and kicked upward at his chin.
“Kuhuk!!”
“Lilly, if you please.”
“End it in one strike.”
The moment the muscle monster was thrown helplessly into the air, I wrapped my sword in sword energy, thinking to finish him with this attack.
And on top of that sword energy, Lilly’s enchantment magic overlaid vast wind-attribute magical power.
Whoosh-
For a moment, a sharp wind spread throughout the vast succession grounds with me at its center.
It was because too much had been loaded into the sword at once, causing me to momentarily lose control, allowing fragments of this strike to leak out.
And feeling those fragments right before his face, the muscle monster, his earlier smile gone, opened his mouth pathetically.
“Let’s… call it a draw…”
“As if I would.”
If I was going to do something, I’d do it properly.
Cut.
With that short incantation, the sword was swung.
.
..
…
…
..
.
Of all my senses, my eyes were the first to process what happened.
I saw the man’s body being vertically sliced in half by my sword.
I also saw the succession grounds in the distance split in two along a straight line.
The next sense to process this phenomenon was touch.
I felt the sensation of wind so sharp it seemed like it could cut my own skin as it brushed past my body.
My hearing was the very last to process what happened.
Slash-
Even then, all I heard was the sound of something being cut.
Only after hearing that sound could I regain my normal senses.
And once I did, I felt a draining sensation as if all strength was leaving my body, along with the feeling of blood flowing from my throat.
“Haa… haa…”
“Frey! Are you okay?!”
“Yes… except… my voice… isn’t coming out… well…”
I leaned on my sword like a cane to keep from falling over and took a moment to rest while catching my breath.
The problem was that it consumed more energy than I had anticipated.
It was my plan to line up myself, the muscle monster, and the succession grounds in a straight line to deliver a full-power slash, but I didn’t expect it to drain this much strength.
‘There are still so many enemies to face…’
I prayed that the old man in the succession grounds had fallen from my last strike.
If not, this strike would have been a clear waste of energy, which is why I had to pray.
‘At the very least, I need to deal with that prince…’
I prayed desperately, but unfortunately it seemed all our gods were asleep and couldn’t hear my prayers.
I could see the old man still standing strong, though one of his arms had been cut off.
And beside him was the prince, without a single major wound, preparing to swing his hammer again, apparently having been protected.
“Ha, to think you could display such prowess… impressive. Truly impressive. I never expected a young person like you could kill that immortal monster.”
“I wish I could have killed you too…”
“Young one, you shouldn’t try to gain too many things at once.”
Despite having lost an arm, the old man still seemed fine and was walking toward me.
As if he wasn’t a living being to begin with, not a single drop of blood fell from his severed shoulder as he approached me.
I wondered if I could have killed the old man had my slash cut his neck instead of his arm.
I was certain I couldn’t have killed him.
“Well then… I think it’s about time you prepared yourself to become a Death Knight. What do you say, young one? Will you quietly become a Death Knight?”
“As if I would. But… I might change my mind if you answer a few more questions.”
A tiny vibration spread from the ring I received from Cecilia and flowed through my body.
The old man, unaware of this fact, simply looked at me with an interested expression.
“Hmm? Questions… do you want to gather more information like before? Well, it’s not bad as a brief entertainment.”
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but I know a lot about this world. I even know facts that others wouldn’t.”
It was a question I could have asked directly, but to buy time, I added unnecessary flourishes and stretched out my words.
I tried to steer the conversation in a direction the old man would find interesting, to keep the dialogue going.
“Knowing a lot… I acknowledge that your mind works quickly, young one, but I’m not sure if your knowledge is worth boasting about.”
“It’s true. I know various magics that exist in the world, and hidden secrets too. For example, things like the succession method for the Fox Clan leadership.”
“There’s no way to prove that claim right now, but if it’s true, I suppose you do know quite a bit. So, what is someone so knowledgeable curious about?”
At the old man’s words suggesting I get to the point, I opened my mouth as if asking something obvious.
“It’s about the necromancy you use. I know a lot, but I’ve never heard of the necromancy you use.
No, I don’t think there’s anything about your necromancy and bloodstones anywhere in this world.”
“Of course you haven’t seen it before, since it’s not of this world. You seem to have forgotten that I am an Apostle.”
“As far as I know, Apostles don’t know much magic besides knowledge about this world.”
Coming from another world means having knowledge from another world. That explanation might work well for people of this world, but not for me.
After all, I was essentially an Apostle from that world too. I knew well that Earth had no magic whatsoever.
So I looked at the old man with confidence. But that was a mistaken thought.
“Pfufu, I’ll acknowledge that you know a lot. But it seems you know one thing and not the other.
Don’t think that Apostles are only beings from those inferior worlds without magical power. Rather, those are hardly worth calling Apostles.
Bringing worthless information is all those dregs do.”
The old man mocked me, and I stared at him with a dumbfounded expression.
Not because I didn’t understand his words. It was because I understood all too well what he was saying.
“So the Apostles I’ve seen are essentially information shuttles. Sacrifices who bring a bit of information about this world for your kind.”
“You understand very well. Occasionally those dregs try to climb up without knowing their place, but most die as the price for dreaming beyond their station.
A pine caterpillar should live eating only pine needles. Otherwise, it’s bound to die.”
“Honestly, you’re right. They should have just stayed playing games and living well, why make contracts to come here?”
I had previously dismissed Apostles as people who chose death by their own choices.
I thought they were just greedy people who ended up dying by their own doing, and didn’t think beyond that.
I didn’t want to hesitate when swinging my sword. But in this moment, I felt a bit of pity for them.
“Well, since your curiosity seems satisfied, I’d like to know if you’re now ready to become my Death Knight.”
“Ah, about that… my mind still hasn’t changed.”
“Then…”
At my answer, the old man prepared to attack me as if he had expected this response.
The attack of a necromancer who was weak in direct combat. Normally I might be able to dodge it, but it would be difficult with my current body condition.
But I didn’t particularly need to dodge.
Crash-!!!
Because our tardy dragon had just finished his business and arrived.
“A dragon… approaching… I didn’t… sense it…”
“About that. It’s Kitsune’s work. She cleverly blocked external magical power. It’s hard to notice when you’re focused on me.”
There was a reason I called her the best supporter.
‘Barrier techniques have amazing versatility when mastered.’
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