Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Came to Sing
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Boom!!
Cecilia's Shatter Light struck the doll monsters, sending them sprawling in a pathetic heap.
'Shatter Light isn't enough damage.'
From the way they staggered back to their feet, their HP was critically low. It seemed just a tiny bit short of a one-shot kill.
Check.
Cecilia rushed over in a panic.
"Are you okay?! Let me see where you're hurt!"
The doll monster's attack had nearly torn off my right arm.
The price of removing the yellow shard?
Without immediate first aid, it was a wound that threatened my life as a swordsman. Cecilia's face hardened in an instant.
"Sorry...! For some reason, my body wouldn't move right...!"
No matter how you sliced it, Cecilia had nothing to apologize for. It was my fault for not anticipating the turn-based battle's bullshit.
Jester's Domain had an effect that distorted human motion perception, according to its description.
In the game, it was implemented as mere slow for discomfort's sake, but in reality, it seemed to work full force.
Well, at least it didn't affect me. Small mercies.
A sharp jolt of pain shot through me every time I moved my right arm.
'Can't swing a sword with this arm.'
I'd only allowed one attack, but three consecutive strikes after that turned my arm to rags.
And I was right-handed, to boot.
Things looked grim.
Okay, Jester analyzed.
'Can't win.'
At least not this round.
No choice but to abandon this run.
That said, I had no intention of wasting it. My turn was back, so I had work to do.
'Gotta extract pattern data.'
I gently pushed away Cecilia, who was supporting me, and rose to my feet.
Switching my sword to my left hand, I kicked off the wall.
I charged straight at Marias, still floating in the air.
"Oh?! Splendid! Charging desperately despite a wound that should leave you crippled! This is exactly the dirge sword I imagined!"
"Who said crippled?"
Mid-flight, I activated Chronodive.
I plunged Corner Slash straight into his core.
Clang!
"...What."
"Hahaha! Wouldn't a human protect their weak point by default?"
But a thin membrane formed from his core, repelling Corner Slash outright.
"Of course, once I receive His baptism later, it'll be a different story!"
A barrier like Eugene's Aegis.
A thin defensive film made of magic.
"Cecilia!"
"Y-Yeah?! Oh, got it!"
Boom!!
Cecilia's follow-up struck, but the barrier only cracked—it didn't shatter.
"Ooh?!"
Marias flashed a playful smile.
"The Sword Heir's talent, indeed?! One strike nearly shattered my armor!"
"Urgh...!!"
Leaving Cecilia seething behind me, he turned to me and asked,
"Sir Halibal, how does it feel? Despairing? Or humiliating?!"
But his smile didn't last.
"...?"
Probably because he got a good look at my expression as I fell from the air.
The expression hidden from Cecilia by the shadow of the moon.
The face only he could see.
Right now, I was desperately suppressing a grin trying to creep onto my lips.
He must've thought my attack failed, but nothing could be further from the truth.
I just had something to check.
And I'd just confirmed it.
'This works.'
Bishops have a phase 2: beastification.
The trigger is death.
When you drive an attack into the bishop's heart and kill them, that's when they shed their human flesh and truly become the Evil God's apostles.
That's why phase 1 bishops don't protect their hearts aggressively.
No, they practically offer them up—break my heart, please. They have to die to enter phase 2.
So why was this guy desperately defending his?
'Confirmed. No phase 2 at this point.'
No wonder I couldn't help laughing.
I could see a path to victory.
"...What’s with that face? You're on the brink, sir. Don't tell me you're not afraid of death?"
The turn had already swung back to Marias.
With sunken eyes, he swung his hand through empty air.
"Well, even the world-renowned dirge sword is just a boy in the end. Lost his mind facing death... That'll be my explanation."
Dozens of black-flame knives painted the sky.
"Then let's end this here. Lady, wait just a moment—I'll send you after him soon enough."
"Shut your filthy mouth, you trash!"
The knives rained down on me like arrows.
His arte from the original: Hundred Knives.
Of course, it wasn't anywhere near a hundred.
Even wounded, he targeted only me relentlessly.
[Just Guard!]
[Just Guard!]
[Just Guard!]
I desperately parried the knives, but my left arm fell short.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Several knives pierced my body.
One became two, two became five.
Soon over ten knives tore through flesh and grated bone.
"...Hoo."
The surviving monsters charged again.
Crunch!
My shoulder and side were ripped away. Blood rushed to my head in an instant, consciousness fading.
A sensation like taking Barhatan's spinning strike.
Death.
"Aaah...!! H-Halibal...!! No...!!"
Cecilia ran to my blood-soaked side, voice breaking.
Trembling like an aspen, reaching to grasp what she couldn't hold.
'A new scene.'
In the story, Cecilia never shed tears of sorrow.
There was a scene where she cried tears of joy if you picked her as the heroine at the ending, I think.
This was a cutscene I'd never seen.
'Don't worry. I'll be back.'
I wanted to say it, but my mouth wouldn't open.
Cecilia's rage turned to the monsters.
"You fucking bastards!!"
Light gathered on her blade.
'An arte different from Shatter Light? Why didn't you use it sooner?'
By now, Cecilia's gaze was fixed solely on the doll monsters, ignoring Marias.
But that wouldn't do.
Look straight.
The one you need to target isn't them.
I forced my limp left arm up and tapped her side.
When Cecilia looked down at me, I nodded toward Marias.
What we needed now wasn't clearing trash mobs. It was extracting as many patterns as possible from Marias.
For that, we needed to land at least one more attack on him.
"...Why?"
Realizing my intent, Cecilia's face was already streaked with tears.
"...Look ahead."
Squeezing out the words, I made her turn her monster-aimed sword toward Marias.
And she said,
"...This... I made it... to show you... my technique."
Don't worry. I'm watching.
You, him. The path I must take. Everything.
"Cecilia Sword Style. Secret Sword."
Her sword, as if resolved, dropped to the ground.
"Radiant Fang."
...!
A new arte I'd never seen.
Boom!!
A roar swallowed the entire alley in light.
When the light faded, the doll monsters scattered as dust.
Marias now stood right before Cecilia.
"...Urgh."
For the first time, the blood-drenched man groaned.
Sword marks rivaling those on me.
Moreover, he hadn't moved himself. Her arte had forcibly dragged him to her.
"Haa... haa..."
Even the armor guarding his heart was utterly shattered, leaving a massive gash across his chest.
The power of this new arte called Radiant Fang far exceeded my imagination.
"How was it... my arte...?"
'That's enough.'
Then, Marias clapped.
"Yes! I agree! As expected of the Ren family lady! Hiding a technique like this!"
"...Shut up."
"But that's the end. Sir Halibal. Death's shadow is right beside you."
He approached me and bowed his head.
"Any last words? I'll make sure! To deliver them to your loved ones! Ah, of course, you might meet them in person by then!"
I glared straight at him and said,
"You said you wanted to hear a dirge?"
"...Pardon?"
"Just wait. I'll hammer it right into your ear."
In that moment, Rene in my pocket began to glow.
The signal of ability activation.
Blue light burst from Rene, shooting into the sky and dyeing the entire night blue.
The stars overhead sparkled like jewels.
"This is... that time's..."
Cecilia murmured, tears still unwiped.
I had no intention of wiping them.
I planned to make sure they never fell in the first place.
Then.
"Dirge Sword... no, Halibal Belder. What... are you?"
Marias's face hardened.
An expression he'd never shown even to fatal blows from Cecilia—or up to death in the original.
A face like confronting something utterly unexpected.
And for some reason, that gaze was fixed on me.
'What...?'
"Why... you...?"
But I couldn't hear the rest.
Right after, the gem above my head shattered.
[Unique Ability – Action Rewind 1 / 3]
⁎⁎⁎
"What... what happened? Why are we back here again?"
'Right at this point.'
The moment my feet got stuck trying to backtrack.
Escape impossible. Confirmed again.
"Cecilia. Set all your shards to white."
"No, why suddenly? And what was that just now?! If you know, explain!"
"I sense killing intent beyond that alley. Looks like we're in a trap."
With my prepared lines, I reconfigured the shards.
╔═════════╗
◈Abyss Core - Rene◈
╠═════════╣
▸ Equipped Shards: 16/16
□ □ ■ ◎
● ● ● ●
● ● ● ●
● ● ◆ ◆
╠═════════╣
□ = Red Shard II x2
■ = Blue Shard II x1
◎ = Green Shard II x1
● = Yellow Shard x10
◆ = [Adamant 金剛]
◆ = [Self-Love 自愛]
╠═════════╣
▸ Stat Bonuses
Attack Power 4
Vitality 11
Defense 13
Critical 2
╚═════════╝
Cecilia peered into my sockets.
"You told me to pull all the blue shards!"
"I've got a plan."
I'd already grasped Marias's opening patterns.
Jester's Domain right at the start, monster summons, focused attacks on me.
Even after dumping Hundred Knives on me and eating a big hit from Cecilia, he gritted his teeth and ignored her.
Instinct told me there.
In this fight, I had to play tank.
So I loaded up on yellows. Luckily with Self-Love and Adamant, this setup should tank the monsters and his arte.
I'd experienced it once, so Just Guard was in play too.
DPS shortage worried me, but Cecilia's final arte's power would cover it.
The issue was seizing first turn.
'Will this work?'
No certainty.
I'd trained agility-focused outside turns. And Marias was blatantly the slowest of us.
Even without black shards, I should be faster than him.
'No choice.'
Slice.
Without hesitation, I nicked the back of my calf with my sword. A stinging pain crept in.
Not severing the tendon.
That would make movement impossible.
Just enough discomfort to leak groans with every step.
"Hey?! What are you doing?!"
Naturally, Cecilia freaked.
Sudden self-harm.
Looked like pure insanity at a glance.
Wish I could explain, but no dice.
"Don't worry. Doing it 'cause I have to."
Instead, this time I spoke first.
Her eyes widened, then she nodded.
"...Explain properly later."
"If there's a chance."
Afterward, I outlined the plan to Cecilia.
Had to explain without keywords like Marias, bishop, Jester, my knowledge—major hassle.
Cecilia eyed me suspiciously the whole time but seemed to buy it after filtering my words.
"...So, to sum up, hit the first guy we see entering the alley?"
"That's a bit short."
I pulled out the [Cheap Keychain] from my pocket.
Hard and sharp-edged.
The best throw item I had.
Sorry, Gomen, Richard.
I'll buy you better ones next time.
"Let's go."
Prep done, I stepped into the alley without hesitation.
"S-Sp... spare..."
Rounding the corner, I hurled the keychain with full power straight ahead.
"...What?"
It struck Marias's wrist, dropping the man he'd been holding.
"Guh...! Kek...!!"
The man I'd thought dead gasped for air.
'What? He's alive?'
Just a shot in the dark, but lucked out.
Felt like life force nearly drained, but alive and dead were worlds apart.
Absorption cut.
Win odds ticked up a notch.
Interrupted mid-meal, Marias turned with an irritated glare.
"You..."
Yeah, skip.
No interest in hearing the same lines again—I charged with sword raised.
Clanggg!
Sword met armor, shockwave swallowing the alley.
"Urgh...?!"
Jester's Domain deployed simultaneously.
"...Sir Halibal? How are you here?"
And a blue gem floated above my head.
"Me? Came to sing."