Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: When Meeting the Dead (2)
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- The enemies are here. Dragon Shadow bastards.
- What? But I can't sense a thing...
- There are a few from last time, but it seems an even better mage has come with them. Even magical beasts are approaching in large numbers, but I can't pinpoint their exact locations either.
- Hmm...
Zail and Boer looked flustered as well. They extended their senses, but nothing caught hold.
Boer asked,
- Sir Azel, is it true? I can't feel anything...
- It's certain. Stick close to the ground and focus on the vibrations in the earth.
Up until now, Azel had sparred with them to improve each other's skills but never revealed his full hand. Unlike during the Dragon Emperor War, it was now a world where leaking your techniques to others was unthinkable. Azel had realized this shift in warriors' common sense during his spars with Zail and adjusted his behavior accordingly.
But now, to convince them, he needed to share knowledge that had been commonplace during the Dragon Emperor War. Everyone followed Azel's instructions.
- There really is a rumbling in the ground.
The rumbling was faint. For such vibrations to occur in the dead of night was strange in itself. Unless it was a precursor to an earthquake.
Azel said,
- Everyone, arm yourselves quickly. The enemies are watching, so no need to stay quiet. They'll probably attack right away.
His guess proved correct. The enemies, who had been stealthily closing the distance while waiting for the group to finish deploying, panicked as the group rose and began arming themselves, and moved into action.
Woooooong...!
At the same time, an intense mana wave spread out. Centered about fifty meters from the group, the wave rippled in a circle, distorting space and leaving a trail.
'As expected! A big fish has come!'
It was a level of power Azel had never experienced since awakening in this era, aside from earth dragons. Azel's senses sharpened.
Woooooong!
And from various spots around them, darkness erupted. The darkness poured out like thick fog, sweeping away the campfire's light and plunging everything into complete blackness.
Seeing it, Azel was shocked.
'They got us! These bastards buried magic tools here in advance!'
Azel finally realized this place was a stage the enemies had prepared to capture Arietta.
The magic tools had been completely dormant until receiving their master's magic, emitting no residual mana. The lack of digging marks was probably because Kirion had swum through the earth to plant them.
With such thorough preparation, even Azel couldn't have noticed. He recalled the daytime events.
'Damn. No way those people were their pawns too?'
They couldn't have done this without being certain the group would camp here. In other words, the 'people in distress' they'd met during the day were likely deployed by Dragon Shadow to delay them.
'No matter how you look at it, they seemed like ordinary folk, so I let my guard down.'
In hindsight, their demeanor had seemed a bit off. But they were thorough commoners, untrained in magic or Spirit Order. So he'd dismissed it as them being chased by magical beasts and flustered upon meeting Arietta, who clearly seemed noble, and her knightly companions.
But if Dragon Shadow put their minds to it, such schemes were entirely possible. Whether they were Dragon Demon Worshippers or just hired for coin, he couldn't tell...
Gugugugugugu!
Then the ground shook violently, and darkness surged up like a tidal wave. Though pitch-black where not even an inch ahead was visible, Azel sensed a massive curtain of darkness enveloping a hundred-meter radius in a hemispherical dome.
And...
[Hehehehehe...]
A sinister laugh echoed from the darkness, laced with an eerie resonance. Just hearing it sent chills down the spine, stirring primal fear.
Azel sensed someone wielding a sword approaching him.
[Perish in terror within this darkness. Sinner with a name deserving death.]
The moment he heard the words directed at him, Azel furrowed his brow and muttered,
"...Could it be that Dragon Demon Hybrid who died back then? The voice sounds similar."
[I see you remember. I am Zikel.]
The approaching foe in the darkness was the Dragon Demon Hybrid Zikel, who had fallen to Azel in the Balan Forest.
[I've returned from hell to kill you!]
And Zikel, resurrected from death, glared at Azel with ferocious eyes.
3
Having one's vision blocked is terrifying. Imagine something hostile aiming a blade at you in a situation where you can't see an inch ahead.
But Spirit Order practitioners were far less burdened in such scenarios than ordinary people. Having first tempered their mind and senses before their body, they had mastered ways to grasp their surroundings even without sight.
'Still, this situation will be tough for everyone.'
Even for Spirit Order practitioners, humans inevitably relied heavily on vision. Without thorough training in coping when deprived of certain senses like Azel, it would be difficult.
A sharp sword then flew at Azel.
Swoosh!
Yet Azel dodged it as if he could see it.
He actually could see it, faintly. The sword-wielder's eyes gleamed fiercely, outlining their form dimly.
[How dare you look away with me right before you?]
"Well..."
Azel smirked.
"It's just too ridiculous a sight to focus on without glancing away. You've become quite the half-rotted corpse, Dragon Demon Hybrid. If you're going to rot, at least rot fully—what's with that half-assed state?"
Zikel, now an Undying, had a nightmare-inducing appearance. Half-decomposed flesh with hollow eye sockets, devoid of eyeballs, emitting a savage glow.
Azel faced it without the slightest flinch.
'Dead guys coming back for revenge isn't a one-time thing.'
Such occurrences were everyday for Azel, who had lived through the Dragon Emperor War. Especially since he felled so many high-ranking enemies, many had returned as undead to challenge him.
[You bastard! How dare...!]
"And they didn't even revive you properly. You're weaker than in life..."
Enraged by Azel's mocking words, Zikel charged. A sharp flash gleamed.
Kwachak!
Zikel's body was sliced in half. Azel had effortlessly evaded and counterattacked.
"...What gave you the confidence to charge at a stronger me? Did you think I'd tremble like, 'No, it can't be! This is impossible! You definitely died!'?"
[Ugh...]
"If that's what you thought, sorry. My humanity must still be lacking to cater to someone with less imagination than a three-year-old."
[Y-You bastard! I'll kill you!]
Though half his body was blown away in one strike, Zikel didn't die. As a high-rank Undying retaining intelligence like in life, he could regenerate like restoring a shattered vessel even if his body crumbled.
Azel watched Zikel's shattered flesh reassemble as if rewinding time. And even as he charged in a half-destroyed state, unable to wait for full restoration.
"Man. Undead really are hot-tempered, as expected."
That was exactly Azel's intent. In that instant, pure white flames enveloped his sword.
'Breath of the Stars.'
Fwoooooosh!
It was a secret Spirit Order technique developed to counter Undying. As Azel's sword slashed Zikel, the white flames followed the trajectory, igniting his body.
[Kaaaaaaaack!]
Zikel let out a horrific scream.
When Azel's first sword strike had blown half his body away, Zikel felt no pain. Though the mana-infused blow damaged both body and spirit, it didn't paralyze him with agony like the living.
But this time was different. The white flames clung like adhesive, burning with excruciating pain to his soul.
Azel said,
"Big ones have dense grudges, so they don't burn well. But chop them up and light 'em—they go up nicely."
That was why Azel's first strike was a normal attack: to shatter the body first, allowing 'Breath of the Stars' to work efficiently.
Breath of the Stars targeted the impure energy sustaining the Undying itself. An intact high-rank Undying resisted unless overwhelmed with massive power. But fragmented remains had drastically reduced resistance.
"You worked hard to come back. Having shown your face before me and even exchanged words is an honor—now let go of your regrets and sleep."
Mocking Zikel's grudge, Azel unleashed another sword strike. The terrifying blow slashed Zikel again, pursued by white flames.
Kwaaaaa!
The white flames on Zikel's body exploded, devouring the impure being.
[No way... so pointlessly... Kyaaaaaaaack!]
The wail of the dead echoed chillingly.
Though Breath of the Stars held no heat, its white flames briefly lit the surroundings like daylight. With his back to the blaze, Azel gazed in one direction.
"Recycling is good. Still, I can't praise using the dead as troops. More than that, they're surprisingly useless. Way too hot-headed."
Most Undying were explosively temperamental. Inevitably so—save for those who became Undying to transcend bodily limits, most had experienced 'being murdered' by someone.
The black magic reviving the dead as Undying amplified their deathbed dark emotions into malevolent energy, intensifying the grudge of murder and fueling their rage.
Azel knew this well, and thus easily felled Zikel.
"Even more cold and ruthless than I imagined."
A calm woman's voice came from beyond the darkness. An overwhelming presence spread.
Arietta gasped.
'This power... rivals Master's!'
A woman with long black hair floated in the air. Her mana waves were so overwhelming that Zail, Boer, and even Arietta were overpowered.
'How can such a young human woman possess this strength?'
It was true humans had lower mana potential than Dragonkin or Dragon Demon Hybrids, but those reaching high realms transcended limits. Even so, to attain such heights at that young age?