Ch.86Jealousy (1)

Grrrr…

The skeletons, revealing blue ghostly flames, began charging from all directions.

Seeing some skeletons approaching with green flames surrounding them alongside the blue ghostly flames, the Saintess and Archbishop Pellosi quickly adjusted their formation.

“Envy! The undead surrounded by green flames rather than blue ghostly flames possess the power of Envy that Lord Uldur mentioned! Everyone be careful! The Holy Knight Order will block all four sides! The Holy Hammer Corps, prepare to break through one side when positioned behind the Holy Knight Order!”

“The remaining members of the Holy Spell Corps, take your positions and use holy spells as soon as you’re in range! Clerics, support the Holy Knights and Holy Hammer Corps! Choir, sing El Zeria’s hymns!”

“Jemia! I’m truly sorry, but I need you to step in… Deal with the one fighting Plok, and deliver the final blow to Wrath the moment that darkness disappears.”

As the members of the order moved busily, the last Knight of God who had remained hidden finally revealed herself.

Her condition appeared quite poor—her body completely wrapped in white bandages and her missing right shoulder indicated just how bad her state was.

She had lost her arm in battle with a Death Knight and was in the middle of drawing out the death energy using bandages soaked in holy water due to prolonged exposure to death energy. Despite this, she had volunteered to join this battlefield after Khan’s appearance, interrupting her treatment.

She had been considered unfit for combat as one more battle could kill her, but… in this situation, preventing her participation would result in even more deaths, so the Saintess reluctantly approved her joining the battle.

Nodding at the Saintess’s order, Jemia—moving in a way that belied her status as a patient—rushed toward the Death Knight that was attacking and interfering with Plok’s attempt to finish things.

With Jemia’s gesture, blades of light flew through the air, restricting the Death Knight’s movements, and chains of light tightly bound its body.

Her skillful use of spells, more proficient than any member of the Holy Spell Corps, demonstrated craftsmanship worthy of being called the leader of the Holy Spell Corps.

Eventually, with Jemia’s intervention, the Death Knight, which had been on the defensive, could no longer endure and disappeared as it was purified.

“Jemia! Here you are!”

Thump!

Catching the spear Plok threw to her, Jemia burned what little remained of her lifespan to once again infuse the feathered spear with red energy.

“Cough…!!”

The death energy inside her body rebelled against her continued use of holy power, causing Jemia to cough up blood.

The black blood staining the ground was evidence of how poor her physical condition had become. The death energy tormented Jemia even in sanctified areas, driving her toward death.

But she was a Knight of God.

Having been a Knight of God for over 10 years and approaching forty years of age, her master-level skills had not deteriorated but rather grown sharper, and her senses had become even more acute as she faced death.

Forgetting even her fear of death, Jemia waited for the darkness to end while infusing the feathered spear with increasingly intense red holy power.

The thought that she would soon meet her end circled in her mind, and indeed, the darkness began to flicker as if about to disappear.

“Aaaah!!”

“We’re counting on you, Lady Jeria!”

“We believe in you, Lady Jeria!”

And timing it perfectly, she leaped toward Khan who had just revealed himself, accompanied by a battle cry.

Those holding back the skeletons cheered for her, and responding to their encouragement, she squeezed out her last remaining strength to make the red energy even more intense.

With Lord Uldur’s Nine Radiance still faintly present, if she could stab him now…!!

Swoosh—!!

Hmm…

The long feathered spear easily pierced Khan’s body. However, instead of the cracked skull she had been aiming for, it struck the area with the horns that minotaurs took pride in.

“Impossible…!! The Nine Radiance is still—”

“Jemia!”

Rumble—!!

Jemia, who had used up almost all her remaining strength and could barely stand, turned to ash and disappeared from the lightning that formed on Khan’s horn.

Witnessing this, the Saintess ordered Plok to finish Khan once more, but the constantly approaching corpses made it impossible to get near Khan.

Crack… Snap—!!

And the Nine Radiance binding Khan could no longer hold and began breaking one by one.

This sacred artifact of Uldur, which could restrain even the mythical monster Hydra long enough to cut off all its heads, was now breaking apart without properly holding.

“Impossible…! For Wrath to be stronger than the mythical monster Hydra…!”

The black beam from the skeleton that had torn through the sky earlier flashed through the Saintess’s mind.

If that light, which had shattered El Rapim’s Barrier, had created a tiny gap in Uldur’s Nine Radiance, allowing Wrath to break free?

“Damn it! Consider Envy to be on the same team as Wrath! I repeat! Consider Wrath and Envy to be on the same team!”

Roooar——!!!

Khan, freed from Uldur’s Nine Radiance, created an axe once more and swung it.

* * * * *

Crash——!!!

Crack——!!!!

“Aaaaargh—!!!”

The ground split into five chasms from Khan’s axe swing, causing nearly a hundred Holy Knight Order members to disappear into the earth.

The fur covering Khan’s lower body regenerated as he absorbed their life force, and the hide damaged by the black beam also began to heal.

However, the two places pierced by the red energy wouldn’t heal. Considering it unavoidable, Khan covered those areas with stone and moved to kill others to recover.

Boom…

Flinch—!

Just one footstep. He had only taken one step forward, yet the Holy Knight Order members watching him flinched.

But despite their flinching and fear, they didn’t show terror of death.

Khan was impressed by their display of fighting spirit toward him despite thousands of their comrades having died by his hand.

While they might be considered strong from a human perspective, the only ones weaker than them here were those surrounded by green flames…

‘Green flames?’

While Khan was briefly pondering the appearance of creatures he remembered seeing somewhere before:

“Hello there, Wrath. I know you understand human speech, so I’ll speak freely.”

Whoosh——!!

Crack

Startled by the voice that had appeared behind him without warning, Khan swung his tail and shattered something.

When he turned his head to check, a skeleton had been smashed to pieces.

Flap flap

“My, breaking it like that makes things troublesome for me. I simply sent it to initiate conversation, so please refrain from destroying them.”

This time it was a skeleton bird. Though it was essentially just a messenger, Khan casually swung his hand to smash it and charged toward the humans.

Thud— Thud— Thud—

“Wrath is coming! Holy Spell Corps, use Divine Shield! Archbishops, cast El Rapim’s defensive spell!”

“El Rapim’s Holy Barrier!”

“Uldur’s Shield!”

The Holy Spell Corps protected the front with Divine Shield, while archbishop-level personnel deployed El Rapim’s Holy Barrier, and the Saintess used Uldur’s Shield.

They thought this would be enough to block Khan’s charge. After all, Uldur’s Shield alone had stopped Khan’s strike when he tried to kill William.

“Divine Shield!”

After setting up various defensive spells in Khan’s path, they began casting them in the sky as well.

It was now well known throughout the battlefield that Khan appeared with each lightning strike.

Thud—!! Thud—!! Thud—!!

But Khan, undeterred by the defensive spells, charged forward with his horns leading the way, as if such defensive spells could easily be shattered.

As the Holy Knight Order members facing Khan remained vigilant despite the layers of defensive spells:

“Twelve Hands of the Dead.”

Ahhh…

What stopped Khan’s charge was a green-haired man with a kind expression. While Khan and those facing him were bewildered by this sudden development, even the Saintess was confused.

“If you ignore me like that and go after them, doesn’t it make me envious? I’ve done my best for months to meet you. Since my greeting saved your life, won’t you spare me a moment?”

Hmm!

Khan shook off the technique Envy had used and looked at the figure who had appeared. Green hair, a seemingly kind face. And… he wore a monocle, while his other eye emitted green ghostly flames.

“How many months has it been since our reunion! I haven’t forgotten it for a moment! Exactly 8 months and 11 days! Since barely escaping from your hands, I’ve lived to meet you again—that’s no exaggeration!”

“Hmmmm… (Who is this guy?)”

“Hahaha, since I never learned translation magic, I don’t know what you’re saying. Anyway, the reason I wanted to meet you again is none other than to reclaim what you took from her.”

“Hmm? (Her?)”

“Don’t tilt your head and act cute. It only looks horrifying when you do it.”

Her, something taken. And a well-groomed man using green flames. Plus the black beam.

Combining these, there was only one conclusion.

That this guy was the one who escaped from Fairy Tail.

Hmmmmmm—!!

Rumble—!

Realizing this was one of the targets he had intended to kill but missed, Khan instantly approached with lightning-wrapped feet and swung his fist at him.

“Oh, you finally remembered. But I don’t understand why you’re angry. Shouldn’t I be the one who’s angry?”

Snap!

Rumble…

As soon as Envy saw Khan wrapping himself in lightning, he snapped his fingers. A massive dragon’s head appeared, tearing through empty space and wrapping around Khan’s arm as he was about to swing his fist at Envy.

Crunch—!

Crash——!!

Khan struck the dragon’s head that was squeezing his arm with his other hand, but its durability was on a completely different level from other skeletons.

After shrinking his body size to escape from the creature wrapped around his arm and creating distance:

More heads appeared, tearing through empty space. Including the head that had wrapped around his hand, a total of 9 dragon heads looked at him, emitting green ghostly flames.

“A gift I prepared for you. I do hope you like it.”

——!!!!

A skeleton hydra wrapped in green flames, tearing through empty space, blocked Khan’s path.