Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Rose and Lilian (2)
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Rose spun her spear once in midair.
Her body flashed with the two Corner Slashes I had inscribed during my turn.
[Do you happen to know? That Alain and the two of us are special.]
'What the hell would I know.'
Her blood-red dress unfurled in the sky, and red flowers bloomed along the spear's trajectory.
One of Rose's patterns: Red Meteor.
The fully bloomed flowers condensed into a single shooting star, plunging straight down toward me.
I raised my sword in line with its path, planning to block it with Just Guard.
But Rose twisted the spear's trajectory in midair with a sinister smile.
Slash!
The spear blade grazed my forearm at an angle instead of my sword, and a searing pain spread along with a stream of blood.
'A wound... this is bad.'
This attack confirmed it. This boss fight would be tougher than any I'd faced before.
The previous bosses were mindless beasts, after all.
They just repeated fixed patterns like machines, so with my knowledge of the original game, they were easy to handle.
But this opponent had will and intelligence, so she could improvise and break patterns just like this.
Rose landed lightly on the ground and spoke again.
[Our three bodies are the only wax dolls our hands never touched.]
That made sense. These two were the doll makers from the start, so they couldn't have made their own after death.
It was probably the work of those main god cult bastards.
Rose caressed her joint areas with sunken eyes.
[That's why I don't like them. I need to fix them up from now on.]
No sooner had she finished speaking than a red stream of blood leaked from my wounded arm on its own and was sucked into the air.
I immediately grabbed my arm to staunch the bleeding, but the blood flowed out in a fixed amount without fail.
"Hoo..."
The aftermath made my head spin.
The blood that had left me soon floated behind Rose as a red orb.
In the fight with Rose, the most important thing to watch out for was taking damage itself.
The moment I took damage, a portion of my health turned into one of those blood orbs behind her.
Those orbs could serve as her attack tools, or if I destroyed them, I could recover the health that had been drained.
But attacking them would likely consume my turn as well.
Inscribing Corner Slash weak points on them seemed pointless too.
In the end, not getting hit was the best option.
That's why I'd been so cautious.
Looking up, I confirmed that the gem signaling her turn hadn't disappeared.
Weak! hadn't popped up, which meant her attack wasn't over yet.
The Red Meteor pattern originally included a follow-up strike using that blood orb as a set.
I'd probably have to block that too before my turn came.
With that thought, I gripped my sword again, but Rose did something unexpected.
She pulled the blood orb toward her hand and smeared it over her split joints like cosmetics.
The area touched by my blood naturally filled in with wax, and the gaps disappeared.
[A few more times, and it'll be back to normal.]
As Rose smiled in satisfaction, the gem finally appeared above my head, and my turn arrived.
...Using a blood orb not for attack, but for skincare too.
It was absurd that she had the leisure for that in a life-or-death fight, but at the same time, another thought crossed my mind.
She had forgone attacking to repair her body instead.
That meant she was prioritizing desire over rational judgment.
'Maybe that's the key here.'
Just then, a scorching hot wind blew over me and Rose.
It was the Sun's Domain effect draining my health.
Of course, it didn't apply to Rose.
I swallowed thickly and gripped my sword tighter.
My turn.
I inscribed two more Corner Slashes, and Rose frowned.
[Oppa’s sword is weird. I thought I could dodge it for sure, but I still took damage.]
As her turn came, she added,
[But I think I know what you're trying to do. Like you did against Alain, right?]
'She saw that too, huh.'
She must have watched us stack up weak points on Alain and explode them all at once.
Well, as the final boss, she might have been observing.
But so what if she saw.
What could she do about it.
'Four should be enough.'
Considering my specs, the damage from four Corner Slashes seemed plenty to push into phase 2.
The real challenge wasn't Rose anyway. It was phase 2.
Rose's turn.
Instead of charging at me, she stood in place and whispered softly.
[That wound looks pretty painful. Want me to heal it?]
Slash!
No sooner had she spoken than another stream of blood leaked from my wound toward her.
[Of course, I lied.]
What a bitch.
Even more than before.
My head spun with the sensation, and a second blood orb formed behind Rose.
This time too, instead of attacking, she absorbed my health to pamper her body and ended her turn.
'As expected, that's her priority.'
Even after seeing through my strategy, her priorities didn't change.
If anything, that was good for me.
My turn.
I used Gale Rush to strike the areas with the four weak points inscribed.
The moment my sword touched Rose's body, the weak points lit up and burst simultaneously.
[Weak!]
[Weak!]
[Weak!]
[Weak!]
Kwaaaaang—!!
[Kyaaaak!]
Rose's body was engulfed in gray wind amid her scream.
That's why you shouldn't get cocky.
This much damage should naturally push her into phase 2.
As expected, the demonic barrier that had separated me from Cecilia began to lift slowly.
Beyond the barrier, a red gem drew closer.
Probably Lilian.
'Good. Phase 2 entry successful.'
Then, Rose's voice came from within the storm.
[Do you happen to know?]
'What now.'
As the wind cleared, she was revealed covered in sword scars, but with a sinister smile on her lips.
An ominous chill emanated from that smile.
[I didn't focus on attacking Oppa because I could deal with you anytime.]
"...What do you mean?"
[Because we're not one, but two. Even if I took it easy, Lilian would surely come to help.]
I knew that already.
But so what. I had Cecilia too.
With that thought, I glanced back where the barrier had been, and a sense of wrongness hit me.
Lilian's red gem was visible, but Cecilia's blue one was nowhere to be seen.
Then, Lilian appeared from beyond the vanished barrier.
She was dragging something charred black by the hair.
I didn't want to know, but I had to recognize it.
Near the head of that black lump of meat was a familiar brooch, melted black.
[I'm back. Rose.]
[Welcome back, Lilian.]
In a daze, I was ignored as the two embraced.
Rose kicked the lump away like trash and giggled.
[But now... Oppa’s all alone?]
Rose's turn began, and demonic sword energy shot toward me.
Even as it riddled my body with dozens of holes, I couldn't tear my eyes from what had been Cecilia.
[Unique Ability - Action Rewind 2 / 3]
⁎⁎⁎
“…I’ll take Lilian, you handle Rose.”
“Huh? Not the other way around?”
“You’re stronger in close combat.”
“You are too. And by your logic, the Moon’s Domain is a bad matchup for you, right? Wouldn’t it be better if I took out Lilian quick and came to help you?”
You’re right. That’s what I thought too.
But I overlooked something. Lilian’s insta-kill pattern was black flames launched from range.
I couldn’t see Cecilia’s side of the battle.
But having synced with her for so long, I knew.
There was no way Cecilia would get wrecked that badly by Lilian normally.
So it was obvious without seeing.
‘She probably didn’t even get to fight properly.’
It had to be because of her past.
When Senia told me about it, I thought, what did that have to do with me.
‘Fuck. It did matter.’
This was my fault.
My fault for not properly considering her past and life, and only focusing on efficiency in planning.
So this time, I had to bear it.
“Same situation on Rose’s side. I’ll hold out as best I can.”
“...Got it. If you say so.”
Fortunately, Lilian doesn’t use black flames in phase 2.
Unless Rose somehow learned Cecilia’s weakness to them, she wouldn’t expose it fighting Rose.
‘Yeah. This is the right call.’
Probably.
With that mindset, we opened the door again and faced Rose and Lilian.
[You two took down Klaus and Alain, right?]
The moment the conversation started, I kicked off the ground and charged straight at Lilian.
[W-Wait! No introductions and straight to fighting?!]
[These intruders are in such a hurry...]
I had no intention of chatting.
My memory clearly held the image of those two smiling casually after turning Cecilia into that state.
So yeah, I was pissed right now.
Kwaaaa—!
The curtain split the rooftop in two once more.
[True servant of the gods. Priestess of the Tartarus Cult, Lilian Iliasa, shall grant you peace.]
Black flames rose from Lilian’s fingertips.
‘As expected.’
The black flames that triggered her trauma. But to me, they were just a bit tricky magic attacks.
The Moon’s Domain effect seeped into my body, dulling my muscles.
‘I just need to hold out until Cecilia whittles down Rose’s health.’
I couldn’t hold out.
Well, I did hold out. I’d wrapped myself in yellow shards on purpose to tank it.
But that dulled my attacks too, and I couldn’t land any real hits on Lilian, just taking a one-sided beating as time dragged on.
Meanwhile, black flames relentlessly scorched my body nonstop.
It had been a while. That sensation of hot fireballs gnawing at my whole body.
Time to return to gray Halibal again.
By the time Cecilia had chipped away at Rose and the barrier lifted, I was barely alive, covered in burns.
“Ah... Aah... Ha, Halibal...?”
I saw Cecilia approaching, trembling as she saw me.
Meanwhile, Rose and Lilian were fine.
Cecilia’s expression looking at me was more wretched than even during the Marias incident.
Empty eyes. Frozen in place, unable to come closer.
Combat impossible, naturally.
‘Damn it.’
Even if heaven helped and Cecilia survived, I’d just given her a new trauma.
...That wasn’t what I wanted to show her.
‘Sorry.’
I painfully shaped the words sorry with my mouth, then closed my eyes.
[Unique Ability - Action Rewind 3 / 3]
I clutched my head.
‘...We’re screwed.’
Tactically, I should take Rose, Cecilia takes Lilian.
But Cecilia can’t face Lilian because she hasn’t overcome her past.
In the original, she needed Aren’s help to overcome it.
Even if she had memories from before the regression, it’d be different, but to her, Lilian’s black flames would always be a fresh nightmare.
Overcoming a leg injury instantly without any trigger? Ridiculous.
Even if she miraculously overcame the trauma, nothing would change.
Cecilia overcoming wouldn’t change the situation.
Above all, the problem was we had only one chance left.
We’d already used two, and we hadn’t even properly cleared phase 1.
So we were screwed.
Totally, completely screwed.
“Halibal. So what’s the plan?”
“...”
The rewind timing was right after finishing the pattern explanations for Rose and Lilian.
I needed to say something, but the words wouldn’t come.
‘If you take Lilian, you die from trauma. If I take her, I die from matchup.’
How do you even say that.
“Halibal?”
Her worried voice made me clench my fist.
‘No way out... really.’
That’s when it happened.
“Having a hard time, huh?”
“...What.”
“You’ve had a bad look on your face this whole time. Even an idiot could tell something’s wrong.”
She stopped in front of me and looked straight into my eyes.
“And that’s... probably because of me. Right?”