Kormo
by Afuhfuihgs
A woman with a pierced head raised her clothes, revealing her pregnant belly. Suddenly, flesh surged out from the large, protruding belly, and the shape of a small face appeared. Like a child pressing their face against the glass of a zoo enclosure, the baby brought its face close from inside the womb, as if looking right at me.
,You’re Ross, but not the Ross I knew?”
Although I didn’t make direct eye contact, I felt a terrifying chill from her skin. I turned my body completely and materialized a shadow spear in my hand. The opponent instantly realized that I was a different Ross. Even though it was a baby inside the womb, this was an opponent I couldn’t let my guard down against. I tensed my muscles and stared at the woman’s belly, ready to stab at any moment.
,Who are you?”
At my question, the woman’s belly trembled like a ripple. I could feel the baby inside laughing. Just looking at it made a sense of disgust surge up, as if snakes were crawling on my skin.
,Guess who I am.”
Is this some kind of evaluation? It was clear that the opponent had no intention of easily revealing their identity. If so, I had no choice but to guess as they wished. The opponent knew that I was Ross. And if they also knew that I was different from the dead Ross, narrowing down their identity would be surprisingly easy.
I used the process of elimination. The Church’s strength lies in creating corpses, not using magic to manipulate them. The Order might know Ross’s face, but they wouldn’t know that I’m a different Ross. So, the remaining answer is only one. An opponent for whom taking on such an appearance wouldn’t be out of the question.
,…The Demon King.”
The Ross of this world succumbed to the Demon King’s temptation and sold his soul. It’s only natural that the Demon King, who owns that soul, would recognize me. The Demon King, intrigued by a being similar to the soul they possessed, came to find me.
,Hoo, I never thought you’d actually guess it… You’re definitely different from the idiot I knew?”
As if amazed that I had figured out their identity, the woman’s belly writhed greatly. The sight of it looking like it would burst through the skin at any moment made the palm holding the spear feel damp with sweat. Even though I knew the Demon King couldn’t attack me.
,…Is there a reason you came looking for me?”
While pretending to be wary of my surroundings, I recognized the space coordinates, ready to counterattack and retreat at any moment.
,I sensed the soul I own from the outside, for some reason. I was almost enraged, thinking a thief had broken into the Demon King’s castle. I absolutely hate having my things taken away. You could say I’m a Demon King full of possessiveness?”
The Demon King’s appearance, making the belly ripple with a playful voice, was not funny at all. I didn’t activate Unyielding Courage, but I calmly assessed the situation without being swayed by emotions. Even if the Demon King has ownership of Ross’s soul, it wouldn’t be binding on me. Even if it’s the same soul, Ross’s soul and Jin Sian’s soul are mixed together.
If the opponent is the Demon King, it was easy to guess the identity of the woman I killed. It’s obvious she was a bug like the Sixth Prince. A piece of trash who is a human yet worships demons. She must be a follower of the Demon King. I twisted one corner of my mouth as if sneering.
,…Is the Demon King reduced to parasitizing the body of a mere follower?”
The opponent wasn’t someone who would easily fall for such a simple provocation. As if drumming on the woman’s belly from the inside, the sound of tapping on flesh echoed through the alley.
,That’s right, due to restrictions, all I can do for now is watch you guys with this body.”
,Should I apologize for ending your sightseeing without permission?”
,It’s okay. I always welcome these unexpected encounters. There’s nothing I want to kill myself over more than a boring routine, you know?”
Having gained confidence that the Demon King couldn’t lay a hand on me, there was no reason to continue the conversation. I said to the Demon King while being wary of my surroundings.
,Well then, I have an appointment, so I’ll be going.”
As I subtly took a step back, I felt an immense pressure crushing my entire body. The Demon King was revealing their presence. The woman with the pierced head stroked her belly.
,I still have so many things I’m curious about regarding you.”
Overcoming the pressure that felt like it was crushing my entire body, I quietly swallowed and asked.
,What are you curious about?”
,I’m curious about your existence. You easily recognized that I’m the Demon King, and you’re aware that you’re a different Ross. Especially the fact that the soul I own is mixed in! Souls are unique, so why does a mixed soul exist within you?”
I closed my mouth at the Demon King’s question that pierced through the core. And I raised my spear, aiming it at the Demon King.
,You think I’ll tell you?”
,Yeah, otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to use force to find out.”
I let out a hollow laugh at the Demon King’s immediate answer and asked.
,Didn’t you just say that all you can do is watch?”
,That’s right, but I didn’t say that I wouldn’t use force.”
No sooner had the Demon King finished speaking than I felt a presence behind me. Someone was blocking the entrance to the alley. A blue-haired man holding a spear with blades on both sides. Just from his appearance, I could easily guess who the opponent was.
,…Konfushion is your escort?”
At my sighing words, the Demon King laughed, drumming on the woman’s belly from the inside.
,Hehe, to realize who the opponent is just by looking at them. You really seem to be hiding a lot of interesting secrets. How about it, are you willing to answer now?”
,…No way.”
,Then there’s no helping it. I’ll have to forcibly look into your head. It’s okay to kill you as long as your head is intact.”
At the Demon King’s words, I heard footsteps from behind. Since the Demon King in the womb wouldn’t intervene, my opponent was Konfushion. As I turned around, the blue-haired man opened his mouth with a clearly annoyed expression.
,Yeah, yeah, I have to listen to whoever’s orders.”
The man, who had been swaggering, stopped walking and looked at me, then gave me a bright smile as if I were an old acquaintance he hadn’t seen in a while.
,Oh, what’s this? You use a spear too? It’s been a while since I’ve faced off against someone with the same unique taste? This is going to be more fun than I thought.”
There are only two people in Konfushion who use spears. One is Rene, the Iron-Blooded, who uses the Spear of Destruction. The other is Kormo, the Decisive Battle, who is in charge of Konfushion’s number 7. He was a blue-haired spear master who wielded a spear similar to the halberd used by Lu Bu, the famous general of the Three Kingdoms.
Like the Spear of Destruction used by Rene, the Iron-Blooded, there was a setting that each weapon in Konfushion had a special ability. The Spear of Decisive Battle used by Kormo also had a special ability. Like its title, Decisive Battle, the opponent fighting Kormo cannot escape from the boundary connected by a line called [Battlefield] until the victory or defeat of the battle is decided.
There is a compulsion that you cannot cross the boundary in the battlefield, so even if you use magic, you cannot escape the battlefield. A battlefield for a true one-on-one fight where no one can intervene. In that place, Kormo preferred to drive his opponent into the corner of the boundary and indiscriminately pour out attacks, using the wide-range sweeping attacks using the crescent blades on both sides of the spear.
In a one-on-one fight, the spear is the most powerful weapon. Moreover, if there are distance restrictions due to the boundary, you can fight advantageously in the way you want by adjusting the distance.
,Listening to the conversation, it seems like you know me?”
,Yeah, there’s no way I wouldn’t know Kormo, the Decisive Battle, Konfushion’s number 7.”
,Haha, I didn’t know I was so famous? Then, shall we see your skills?”
At the sight of Kormo nonchalantly lowering the spear slung over his shoulder, I checked my surroundings. The space coordinates I had recognized had disappeared. The [Battlefield] was already deployed. At the left and right ends of the alley, there were clearly felt boundaries. Fortunately, the space coordinates I had recognized in advance within the boundary remained the same.
In an instant, Kormo’s shoulder moved. It was an attack that seemed to be lightly swung, but the power contained in the blade was enough to easily cut through even a stone pillar. Having read the trajectory of the attack with my eyes, I avoided the attack by pulling back the foot I had extended forward. The spear, which had passed along the trajectory, suddenly stopped in mid-air and stabbed in as if trying to pierce my neck.
Chaeng-!
Having already known that the first attack was a feint, I was able to deflect the crescent blade by immediately putting strength into my elbow and lifting the spear. Kormo’s eyes sharpened with a low exclamation of ,Hoo.”
,Try reading this too!”
Kormo, with a distorted smile, began to pour out attacks without a moment’s rest. I also countered with a barrage of continuous strikes. The spear shafts, meeting in the air, bent greatly and bounced off the boundary. The maximum speed is similar. But the power contained in the spear was far superior on Kormo’s side.
Kormo powerfully swung his spear and took a step forward. It was an intentional action, knowing that I would have no choice but to take a step back to maintain the distance.
Simultaneously with taking a step back, I lowered the spear low and lowered my center of gravity as much as possible, as if crouching, so that I could shoot the spear at any time. Kormo also lowered his center of gravity, lowering the spear low until it was just before touching the ground, like me.
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