Book 20 Chapter 6
- The sworn enemy of the mission and the advanced, Shincheon Kaditpol Knights (10)
“Ghu… ShuAAAAAAAAKK!”
Kadin Omeque (06) once again rushed at Lista with a roar.
“Lista, the opponent is a completely anomalous individual! Don't approach them! If you try to defend according to instinct, that is, according to the data accumulated so far, you’ll be caught off guard like Chiesse!”
Freed’s flames or Chiesse’s arrows… he parried them all with five swords wielded by ten hands!
Not only that!
By throwing the hosts corrupted by the abyss moss at Freed and Chiesse, he even blocked their next interception.
“Damn it, he has no ego, but his combat judgment is incredibly skilled!”
In such a situation, Lista had to face not only Omeque (06) but also the endlessly swarming hosts around him in a one-on-many battle.
‘Anomalous individual…!’
The sparks spewed by the repeated clashes of five blades and one sword at an instant's interval were dazzlingly brilliant.
‘Yes, definitely…!’
The oppressive weight of the greatsword, the range of the tachi, and the swiftness of the longsword each restricted Lista's range of motion.
‘Even if I think I've dodged or blocked, the next attack comes.’
The whip sword, deploying iron fragments woven around a spinal circuit, and the bow-sword, transformed into the shape of a bow, aimed at blind spots.
‘The sheer power of using five swords simultaneously with ten arms…!’
When the Genesis Gods created humans, they made them bipedal primates in their own image.
They are fundamentally different from beasts!
Wasn't the difference of using two feet for the ground and two hands for tools the origin of all civilizations?
‘The amount of work that can be done with one hand is limited…’
If two hands work together, the possibilities increase exponentially, so how should one calculate the possibilities of ten hands?!
‘If I don't split time, I can't block them all… He has an inherently overwhelming advantage over me in strength and speed!’
Lista, who was gradually being pushed into a disadvantage, had to face not only Omeque (06)!
The moss hosts!
Look at these individuals, decaying with the abyss moss, their central nervous systems in their spines dominated by the moss, rushing towards Lista!
“Lista, get out of there! Quick! Chiesse, no! Don't shoot! The moss will explode, and Lista will get caught in it! You won’t even have time to regenerate the moss against that monster!”
“…!”
“See, that guy doesn’t even try to avoid the hosts swarming Lista! He doesn’t need to! Link had the same power! The power of super-speed regeneration! Unlike Link, this guy is the complete version and has the [King’s Flesh], so it’ll be much faster for him!”
Each time a host explodes, the range of decay expands!
Flesh, blood droplets, anything goes.
They’re rapidly increasing the number of hosts in a short period through vectors of infection!
“These guys have been fighting and defeating enemies in such an outrageous way! So don't confront him head-on, Lista! Flee into my barrier! Quick!”
Sweat poured from Freed's body like rain.
‘An encirclement using living bombs, and a near-invincible monster who can freely manipulate those living bombs and isn't affected by their explosions. They are maximizing each other's abilities and characteristics.’
This duo…!
Their compatibility is unbelievably good…!
Even more than the fairy duo we met before coming here!
“An unknown assailant, about eight feet tall, and a kid shouldn’t be making such a fated pair, it’s sickening! Damn it!”
In a situation where her comrades could only cause more harm by helping, Lista was being driven into an overwhelming disadvantage. Chiesse stepped forward.
‘Don't stop, Lista!’
Weaving arrows with magic, and in every moment of drawing the bowstring, genius-level judgments about the battle at hand are made at high speed!
A one-on-one close-quarters battle against a swordsman?
Unless you're an exceptional archer, it's a suicidal act that should never be done unless there's at least a two-rank difference in skill!
But this archer is Chiesse!
The greatest archer in human history, unmatched before or since!
‘A monster using five swords; even if he attacks with one, he can block that attack with the other four. That's if it's just a linear attack!’
10-shot Multi-Shot: Heaven and Earth Spiderweb (多重射擊 : 闡蜘網).
‘The chance is the moment he makes a move to block my attack!’
This is a technique that simultaneously creates 10 arrows as Heaven's Cherry Blossom Slashes, the highest power of the White Spear Bow Serwebon.
‘This guy, like swordsmen of his physique, is more a combat type than an intellectual type!’
His magic output is too high, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
‘He will instinctively bat away anything that interferes and push forward! Since he seems to have changed his top priority to Lista now, that's the only time to finish him!’
Due to its volatility, ultra-close combat is inevitable, but Chiesse chose to engage.
Heaven and Earth Spiderweb, first shot (一發)!
The arrows that flew directly aiming for a linear trajectory were, as expected, each parried by one of the five swords and shattered into particles of magic.
‘I naturally expected even the Heaven’s Cherry Blossom Slash to be deflected. I wasn’t aiming for a killing blow to begin with!’
Entering a curved trajectory immediately upon firing, five remaining Heaven’s Cherry Blossom Slashes entered Omeque’s upper, lower, left, and right blind spots!
‘Now! Take this!’
All five of those Heaven’s Cherry Blossom Slashes, the moment Omeque parried all the vanguard Heaven’s Cherry Blossom Slashes, changed trajectory and rushed behind him!
‘Using arrows as a binding force rather than simple piercing wounds is Serwebon, the White Spear Bow’s exclusive patent!’
Omeque tried to react to that too, but rough restraints arose on his body!
Mad master!
The Heaven’s Cherry Blossom Slashes, which had clearly scattered into particles of magic, or were made to appear that way, extended green branches and bound Omeque's limbs!
‘The arrows you deflected dissolved into branches of the World Tree, binding your body!’
And yet, in such a situation where the concentrated power of ten Heaven’s Cherry Blossom Slashes should have dismembered Omeque!
“!”
“!”
“!”
A tachi swung with unbelievable speed, enough to make even Lista exclaim, parried three of the trailing Heaven’s Cherry Blossom Slashes!
Two struck directly!
However, as if such damage was irrelevant to regeneration, Omeque allowed the hits without dodging or defending, and instead charged at Chiesse.
‘Fast!’
Lista barely managed to thrust the holy sword Shirupain between Omeque and Chiesse, protecting Chiesse from a fatal blow.
‘Omeque’s movements are unbelievably fast for such a large body! And the weight of the blade hitting Shirupain is almost unreal! Like the bones of my wrist or fingers holding the hilt will all be crushed!’
And yet, he freely wields five such swords.
‘Dangerous… With five swords, I don't know what kind of swordsmanship he’ll use!’
On top of that, hosts are scattered everywhere, making it impossible to even split time for evasive maneuvers.
The battle situation is desperate!
Is this the end of the hero party's journey? It will not be too late to judge after witnessing the performance of the last remaining member of the hero party.
“So, I just need to make sure they don’t explode, right? You should have said so earlier.”
That sudden clear sound that pierced through the despair was not a question seeking a separate answer.
Self-correction.
The owner of this voice was someone who could process what an average genius would think about in three days in just three seconds, so no one’s objection or approval was needed.
“Filter Small Count Bag Reversal (濾小計袋反). Maximum output, wide-area deployment.”
Everything that was boiling red with extreme heat, everything that belonged to or was included in that space…
Only the overwhelming blue hoarfrost.
…The vortex of bitter cold froze the very existence of the atmosphere and made the creatures breathing in that atmosphere quietly fall into an ultimate cold sleep.
“…!”
“…!”
“…!”
Both decay and healing occur through metabolic activity. But what if metabolism completely ceases?
Decay does not proceed.
Because even microorganisms are frozen.
The widely deployed power of bitter cold was insufficient to cool down the hero party or the Shincheon Kaditpol Knights, but it was more than enough for the civilians and Reptilians used as hosts.
“Kkyuut!”
The range of that power, with the Ice Dragon Asrulva, covered the entire North Gate city area… it would not be an exaggeration to say that winter had arrived.
‘Sorcery is ultimately a power related to nature and metabolism. If metabolism is reduced to near zero, neither healing nor decay occurs.’
Freed was so dumbfounded, so bewildered by the genius that actually conceived such an idea, that he had to let out a hollow laugh.
“Well done, Lynn! By freezing them thoroughly and suppressing them, the abyss moss can neither act as a living bomb nor proliferate!”
Kadin Dell (03), whose knowledge as a witch was equally excellent, was no different in her bewilderment. The only difference was that it culminated not in admiration but in irritation.
“What is that… she froze an entire city block with one spell… is that even possible…?”
Her eyes narrowed, as if she could now understand why not a single person had died after defeating the Mew (04) and Cata (05) combo to get here.
‘All humans are dirty and impure.’
That's why she wants to see humans who pretend to be noble, like those idiots, die.
‘Before they die, their true nature always shows on their faces.’
* * *
“Lista, that monster seems truly enraged at you! Let's make him chase us! Shorten the time to the Grand Plaza as much as possible!”
Freed shouted.
“Lynn! I can leave that to you, right? That damn brat on the broom!”
It was simultaneous: Dell (03), standing on a broomstick in the sky, flashed an unpleasant smile, and Chiesse instantly raised his index finger.
‘Wait…!’
He focused on his hearing, but even with Chiesse’s amplified senses, he couldn’t pinpoint the source… a wide-area wave was echoing from all directions.
‘What is this sound… something is coming, something is coming!’
Its identity was quickly understood: hosts swarming from all over the city!
Garrison, Reptilians, citizens… every living being, without exception, was infested with moss!
The numbers were truly immense, no exaggeration, so Dell (03) was engaging Lynn in a battle of quantity.
“Vichisana and Hezmana had a firm conviction!”
Freed shouted blankly.
“That’s why I didn’t feel the specific vengeful spirits of those who commit indiscriminate slaughter!”
Perhaps the spirit of a hero subconsciously puts a brake on "unilateral evil."
But that crazy kid…!
The vengeful spirits are thicker than the smell of blood!
Does she have no conviction to act as a brake? Or is it that cruelly trampling others is her conviction?
“No, that person… far from her conviction acting as a brake, it actually accelerates her sadism.”
Schwan tried to cast a barrier, but the melodies of light rotating around Archmage Lynn’s left hand had already long since drawn the shape of that power once more.
“Filter Small Count Bag Reversal (濾小計袋反). Maximum output, wide-area deployment.”
The extreme cold that silences all that chaos into a deathly blue state of dormancy once more! A master!
“Lista, let's trust Lynn and go!”
Unlike Freed, who had already mounted the 16-cylinder broom, Lista had no choice but to hesitate for a moment.
The murderous intent…
Omeque was clearly clashing swords with him, but the murderous intent suddenly vanished. No, it had turned in another direction.
“Omeque only listens to me if ‘that person’ isn’t nearby… he’s lost interest in you guys.”
Kadin Dell’s unpleasant smile remained.
‘Ah.’
Suddenly, a leap powered by leg strength that created cracks in the ground enabled that massive body to instantly surge towards Lynn.
‘No.’
The momentary defenselessness due to the recoil of a 5-star spell, it was impossible for Lynn to dodge those five blades.
‘No!’
Unlike the frantic thoughts swirling in his brain, his body’s movements were frustratingly slow.
‘How many pieces would I have to split time into to arrive without delay?’
He tried to fragment time within a heightened state of concentration where the flow of time stretched long, but only the searing heat of blood rising from his heart, as vivid as his slowed senses, was transmitted.
‘My blood vessels and internal organs ruptured?’
It wouldn't have been surprising, as he had to constantly accelerate time while fighting Omeque.
In fact, if he hadn't received a fragment of the 광룡 (광룡: Light Dragon, or perhaps a different term) last time, he might have already died of old age.
‘Lynn…!’
If Lynn had even 1% of the physical skill that I or Chiesse have…
That attack…
Even if she couldn't fully dodge it, she could at least avoid a fatal injury…
“““LYNN───────!”””
Just as everyone screamed his name, unable to do anything, just as death was about to rush into the boy's face!
[Hmm, that one appears to be your younger brother.]
Clashing and blocking Omeque’s surreal massive body and explosive acceleration… a similar ‘massive body’ and ‘acceleration’.
[Link.]
What suddenly appeared ‘massively’ before the ‘massive’ death rushing towards Lynn was none other than… the Demon Slayer!
The wind pressure of the collision raged!
However, the two colossal figures only cracked and sank the ground they stood on… neither showed an inch of retreat.
“──────Li, Li, Link!!!”
“─────Damn it, it’s Link again!”
“─────Link, how do you always pick just the coolest moments to appear!”
The members of the hero party, without anyone being first, shouted his name joyfully, fondly, and welcomingly.
“Link, Link, Link!”
Lista instinctively knew that now, this very moment, was their chance.
“Nils, Link! The Kaditpol Knights are trying to break the Lizard Lord’s seal!”
[!]
“We need to go to the Grand Plaza immediately to stop it! With Lynn, can you two hold them off?”
Nils, who peeked his face out of the modified six-legged walking tank Captilt-II, and Lista’s gazes met for a moment. Nils shouted.
[Don't ask permission for that, just go, Hero!]
Omeque tried to chase Lista's group, but then chains wrapped around his ankle!
What immense size!
The chains were so large and sturdy that they forced Omeque's massive body right into the ground!
“What is that bastard…”
Kadin Dell’s expression couldn't help but contort at the sight.
“His strength is similar to my Omeque’s?”
Their heavily armed appearance was also similar.
However, the light emanating from the core of the armor was the light particles of the <Comings>, an artifact, and his only weapons were the chains on his wrists.
[Listen well, Link. It has always been a ‘brother’s’ duty to beat sense into a wayward ‘younger brother,’ even if he had to.]
Link was the first successful product of the Demon Slayer Project.
Omeque was the last successful product.
Considering this, it wouldn’t be much of a problem to refer to them as older and younger brothers.
[I, the ‘father’ of the Demon Slayer Project, authorize this! Beat that ‘younger brother’ until he comes to his senses! Instill manners! As an ‘older brother’!]