Book 14 Chapter 44

Flesh collection,

Appearance of Friede, Priestess of the Fire Dragon (3)

"Let's finish the game here for now… where do you think you're going?"

Zola the Beast Tamer and Simon the Chunhwa artist, who had been stealthily trying to escape the scene by suppressing their footsteps, flinched and stopped.

"Th-this doesn't add up. The Priestess of the Fire Dragon, and Lysta? Lynn? Simon, you bastard! Why didn't you tell me who these guys were properly?"

"Well, if I had, I thought you'd run away just by hearing their names…"

I rotated my genius brain and was able to come up with the most suitable answer for this situation.

"Aha, Simon must have actually acted as a double agent to perfectly capture Zola! That's amazing, isn't it? My trust in him went up even more!"

"Aha, so that's what it was! Lynn is smart, as expected!"

At my perfect judgment, Lysta hit her palm with her fist and nodded, while Friede shook her head with a sigh.

"Aha, my ass! Do you really think that's what happened? Both of you are so ignorant of the world that you're practically suckers. Those guys are dangerous criminals who were locked up in <Ikegrad Prison>. They must have thought they could beat you because they're a bit… lacking in intelligence."

"Damn it, if I can't escape, I'll defeat all three of you here and become a new legend! Come forth, beasts!"

"Pipi, I won't even need to step in myself for these small fry beasts, will I?"

Pipi unfurled her large wings of flame from atop Friede's pipe and soared into the air.

Never before, nor in all his life to come, had he seen a Sun Parrot that wielded flame as powerfully and grandly as Pipi. No, wait, wasn't the Beast Slayer raised by the Dragon Slayer similarly strong?

As Pipi darted through the horde of beasts in a red flash, their bodies were incinerated amidst mournful screams.

"She's quite good, isn't she? In contrast…"

As I watched that unrivaled display in admiration, a sigh escaped me when I saw the guy at the perfect opposite.

"Gyung?!"

As Sval flinched at my gaze, Lysta stepped forward and shouted.

"Now, you have no chance of winning! Kneel as a sign of repentance for your wrongdoings. And hand over Lynn's chunhwa as well."

"What? This guy's chunhwa?"

Then Friede's eyes gleamed malevolently.

"Hey, you ugly bastard! Hand that over right now! As the Priestess of the Fire Dragon, who must protect the morals of the entire world, I need to check the level of its obscenity. If it's good enough, I'll even distribute it to the world for my slush fund."

"Kyakyat, kyakyat, hand it over, kyakyat."

"What are you talking about! Such an evil item must be burned immediately!"

Friede and Lysta leaped forward as if competing.

What's the big deal about a drawing of me sleeping, that they're acting like this?

I wasn't particularly interested in such a drawing, but Zola's next action made my heart pound.

"Hahahaha, you've entered my domain. You fools! Come forth! Legendary beast controlled by the [King's Flesh], Giant Serpent!"

Yes, this is more like it! If he's going to lay traps in such a gloomy forest, then he should naturally have a killer secret technique like that ready.

In that case, I cannot lose either.

To the legendary beast he meticulously prepared, I must demonstrate the [Strongest] I have honed.

"Let's go, you useless fellow."

Perhaps wanting to show that he was more useful than Pipi, Sval's passion was greater than usual.

"Gyungyugyung!"

A whirlwind of light formed above his palm, and inscribed upon that chaotic wave of power were four orders.

Ice, the origin of the attribute.

Brightness, the flourishing quality.

Lightning, the origin of the attribute.

Thunderbolt, the quality of a lightning strike.

The mathematical theory used for coordinate calculation was the Parallel Postulate (Zhernik's 5th Postulate). If two straight lines intersecting a line segment are extended indefinitely, they intersect on the side where the sum of the two angles is less than two right angles.

"Coordinate calculation complete, and power amplified from coordinate values."

Sval could ignore all mathematical theories and amplify only mass and volume, among other things.

In an instant, three straight lines, piercing the world with a blue glow, penetrated the body of the Serpent, whether it was Great or Giant.

Originally, the runes of Lightning (雷) and Thunderbolt (霆) would only act as conductors, but now, amplified by Sval's power, they are more than enough to turn the skeletal framework of that massive body into bone fragments.

"KIYAAAAAAAAAAKKKK!"

* * *

"Come forth! Legendary beast controlled by the [King's Flesh], Giant Serpent!"

Seeing the Giant Serpent that suddenly appeared, sweeping over the entire area, Friede immediately tried to chant a short incantation.

'By the way, with this size and speed, it must be influenced by the [King's Flesh], or in the worst case, this guy might also possess a piece of the flesh.'

It seemed like she had to use chantless magic after abandoning her incantation, but would its power really inflict significant damage on this creature?

Giant Serpent, A-class beast.

A-class beasts are on a level where subjugation requests are only given to the top tiers of Gold Rank and Platinum Rank in the Mercenary Guild.

'He was considered a small fry among the escapees, but does this mean he's not to be ignored if he has the flesh?'

Lysta also immediately took a battle stance. Though, as expected, she didn't touch the holy sword due to her lifespan.

Instead, she picked up a goblin's stone knife that Friede had knocked away upon her earlier appearance.

Lysta was truly the strongest; she could easily manifest a massive blade of magic even atop that stone knife.

'I just need to buy enough time for the blade to form.'

In that very moment, as she was about to recite the incantation for her magic, within that judgment.

"Coordinate calculation complete, and power amplified from coordinate values."

A magnificent icy trajectory pierced the Giant Serpent's body in three directions, momentarily freezing its movements.

That wasn't the end.

What flowed dazzlingly along the surface of the ice was electric current; the current that swiftly traveled along the three ice pillars as conductors concentrated in one spot, causing a powerful explosion.

'What is this? This level of magic, and this speed…'

Friede could see the movements of the spirits more clearly than any witch in history.

'And this isn't so much magic as it is a hybrid of magic and sorcery…'

Water spirits drifting through the air were aiding that magic.

Magic is inherently about causing anomalies in the natural order, but those anomalies are always bound by the chains of that order.

But with the spirits lending their power, a phenomenon occurred that seemed, at first glance, to transcend the natural order.

"KIYAAAAAAAAAAKKKK!"

In the Giant Serpent's innards, momentarily exposed by the electric explosion, the [King's Flesh] was seen wriggling like maggots.

'That's incredible, isn't it?'

Gururuk…

'He would be suitable for the role of the main artillery of our hero party.'

The regenerative ability originating from the flesh began to repair the damage to its body, but Friede's eyes had already pinpointed its exact location.

"KYAOOOOOOOOOO!"

As the Giant Serpent furiously spewed venom from its maw, the entire forest rotted and withered.

"Mother's fire, protector of all life on earth, form a storm-like power upon my breath."

In response, Friede also instantly finished her incantation and forcefully exhaled the breath she had inhaled through her pipe.

With that breath, fire spirits united, becoming a flame of purification.

The fierce gale of flames incinerated all the venom that was corrupting the forest, and instantly reached the product of corruption defiling the snake's body, even the innards where the [King's Flesh] parasitized.

"Lysta, the connection with the flesh has been severed!"

On Lysta's stone knife, who had leaped by creating several magical footholds in the air, a blade of magic was already surging with a blue glow.

It was, truly, a blue flame.

To an ordinary person, it appeared to be a single slash, but that slash precisely carved the Giant Serpent's body fourteen times, scattering pieces befitting of such a blow across the ground.

"W-what…!"

And when Zola gasped in horror, somehow, the magical blade was already pointed at the back of his head.

"This is your final warning. If you resist again, I cannot guarantee what misfortune will befall you."

Zola had no choice but to kneel and surrender before the fear of death, which was raised right before his eyes.

"Crazy! I thought I could win because those guys just collect the flesh but don't use it, but this is like a monster's feast, not even…"

Simon the Chunhwa artist, who had been observing that superhuman battle from afar, was already stealthily making his escape.

Just then, a bird landed on Simon's head. It was Pipi.

As Pipi the Sun Parrot gracefully unfurled her wings, flames surged from her entire body.

"Ho-ho-hoooot!"

Simon's hair, as he thrashed and rolled in agony from the burns, not only curled but was charring black.

"Friede, Pipi! Wait."

Lysta, having finished binding Zola, approached.

The stone knife, unable to withstand Lysta's magical overload, oxidized into ash and crumbled. No blade other than a holy sword could endure such power.

Pipi climbed onto Lysta's shoulder and affectionately rubbed her head against her cheek. As much as Friede and Lysta were best friends, Pipi also liked Lysta.

"Simon helped us catch Zola. And it seems like he could perform well as a guide in finding other flesh possessors, don't you think?"

"Are you serious?"

"And Simon only drew chunhwa. Of course, that alone is a great sin, but given the circumstances, I think it would be good to accept help if we can get it."

"Th-that's right! Priestess! I will be of great help!"

"You really are exceptionally gullible when it comes to trashy men."

Friede pulled out a scroll hanging from her waist. It was densely filled with the names of the crimes of prisoners incarcerated in <Ikegrad Prison>.

"<Ikegrad Prison> absolutely doesn't send anyone there unless they're truly irredeemable trash, you know? Let's see, you've committed quite a lot. Unlawful entry, murder, arson, rape… In summary, 47 prior convictions? Hey, you crazy bastard, you wouldn't even get 47 convictions if you only committed crimes all day long. Do you want to die? This means he committed crimes every single moment he wasn't in prison. Lysta, you don't treat anyone with more than two prior convictions as a person, do you? This guy has 47."

"Ha-haha, unlawful entry and such were unavoidable for the sake of art, I suppose? I even had a client say, 'I've lived until now just to see this' after seeing my chunhwa, so perhaps I've brightened up the world a bit? Please, just give me one more chance."

In Lysta's gaze, as she looked down at Simon desperately trying to make excuses, there was only coldness, unlike before.

"Just go die, trash."