Chapter 171: For the Sake of a Story Not Yet Known (2)
Chapter 171: For the Sake of a Story Not Yet Known (2)
"Gwaaaaah!"
A ghoul let out a piercing shriek, its tattered flesh fluttering in the wind.
Unlike the ones Sophia used to command, this one had clearly seen its fair share of combat while alive; its aura was exceptionally vicious.
Of course, it wasn't nearly enough to detect me, not while I was using Presence Concealment combined with an Undead Assimilation Potion.
I threw myself into the middle of the ghoul horde, their footsteps heavy enough to make the earth tremble.
I moved my legs without rest, blending in among the monsters as they rushed like moths to a flame, drawn by Iona’s massive life force.
Being undead, they really don't get tired. Good thing I doped myself up beforehand.
I lost track of how long I spent weaving through the undead, frantically dodging the stray effects of Iona’s magic.
Whoosh—Boom!
Suddenly, a figure plummeted from the sky.
His bare upper torso revealed grey skin and muscles as solid as boulders. He stood easily over two meters tall.
His massive frame, making one wonder if he was even human, struck the ground like a meteor, leaving a crater in his wake.
Naturally, the monsters in the immediate vicinity were obliterated.
However, the man, who had flown an incredible distance even to the naked eye, didn't have a single scratch on him—unlike the shattered undead.
No, it wasn't just that he was uninjured.
"Graaaaaagh!!"
One would expect someone to be dazed after being slammed down that hard, but instead, he let out a roar, his rage visibly boiling over.
As if unable to contain his fury, he leaped out of the crater and immediately began grabbing nearby monsters and hurling them away.
Even now, as he glared at Iona, his face looked incredibly familiar.
Wilfried the Rock Giant.
He was the Archbishop of Reckless Roar, the symbol of wrath—a man who was absurdly strong and durable.
If he had a weakness, it was that his reason evaporated when he was angry, making him easy to lure into traps.
In an unprepared situation like this, however, he was a rather troublesome opponent.
He wasn't the brightest, but he had an annoyingly sharp intuition, so I had to put some distance between us quickly.
Right now, he was preoccupied with Iona, but the moment he shifted his focus, he would notice the discrepancy and try to hunt me down.
Whoosh!
I ducked, narrowly avoiding a thick arm that swung over my head.
A fisherman and a skeleton were crushed into a single mass within his giant hands before being launched toward Iona.
Naturally, a projectile thrown from this distance—rather than a direct strike—didn't yield any significant results.
Shatter...
The mass of flesh and bone hit the crimson mist surrounding Iona, rapidly decelerating before crumbling to the ground.
"Grrr!"
The giant growled in dissatisfaction. He tried kneading a few more monsters into balls and throwing them.
"Uwoooooooh!!"
When that didn't work as intended, he began pounding the ground in a tantrum, hurling monsters in every direction—not just toward Iona.
Swish! Whoosh! Fwoosh!
That crazy bastard with no self-control...
If it's not working, just leave quietly! Why do you have to throw a fit here?!
Cursing inwardly, I rolled across the ground to dodge a clump of monsters that happened to fly my way.
"Ugh...!"
Iona could block this without lifting a finger, but if it were me, I would have had to spam all sorts of magic just to intercept them in mid-air.
Since I couldn't do that now, I had to settle for rolling in the dirt.
After several more rounds of eating dust, the giant finally finished his venting and charged toward Iona, huffing and puffing.
Thump! Thump! Thump...!
He carved footprints into the ground with every step. Only after seeing his back recede as quickly as his thunderous footsteps did I breathe a sigh of relief.
"Phew..."
I suppose I've passed that hurdle. Now I just need to blend back in with the monsters and get closer.
I brushed the dust off my clothes, telling myself that the struggle was worth it since I’d avoided unnecessary combat. But then—
"???"
A chill ran down my spine, as if someone had slid a piece of ice down my neck.
Reflexively, I tightened my grip on my dagger and staff, focusing my senses. I realized the cause almost immediately.
The scattered bloodlust that had been permeating the area was now focused entirely on me.
Hoping I was wrong, I looked around. Beyond the area Wilfried had devastated, the monsters were all glaring at me in unison.
Only then did I feel the cool breeze on my face.
In the chaos of rolling around to dodge the attacks, the hood of my robe must have slipped off.
To them, it probably looked like a head was just floating in mid-air. Naturally, that would draw aggro.
I quickly pulled the hood back down, but it was too late.
"Kiyaaaaaah!"
"kumuua huyo jamaa!"
"Click! Clack!"
A diverse array of monsters, letting out all sorts of cries, charged at me simultaneously.
A wave of monsters filled my vision from every direction.
It seemed that once they noticed me, simple invisibility wasn't enough to hide again.
I guess the stealthy approach ends here.
"Tsk... well, I've made it far enough."
I deactivated the robe's invisibility, which was now doing nothing but draining my mana.
I'd spent half the journey hiding; I could fight my way through the other half.
Thump—
With the stacked buffs, a stronger current of mana than usual circulated through my body. My core began to beat like crazy in response.
Gathering the overflowing mana at the tip of my staff, I chanted the spell.
"O solid one. O sharp one. Become the shell fired from my hand. ...Rock Blast!"
A massive rock erupted from the ground. The lump of stone split into half a dozen pieces, taking the shape of stakes.
I fired one forward and threw myself into the fray right behind it.
Screeeech—!
The rotating stone stake impaled a Fisherman Warrior and the subordinates behind him in a single line.
Thwack!
It was the signal for the melee to begin.
*
Iona’s hands moved in a blur.
With one hand, she formed complex mudras, while with the other, she gracefully parried the fists of the grey giant charging at her.
Crack.
Perhaps his strength was simply too great. Even though Iona sent the giant flying in the opposite direction, the sound of something breaking echoed from her arm.
Her arm was bent at an angle it should never be. However, it regenerated in less than a second.
It was a level of regeneration befitting the majesty of a Lord-class Vampire. Seeing this, Ayla, who was facing her, scowled deeply.
"This is why I always hated you, Sister. You took my arm, yet yours is perfectly fine? Why? Why am I the only one who has to hurt? Why am I the only one who has to suffer? Why are you the only one who's okay?"
"Is that why you killed my entire family, Ayla?"
"I am your family! Not those insane vampires!"
Gritting her teeth, the arm made of eyeballs began to glow in various colors.
Magic Eye of Disintegration, Magic Eye of Petrification, Magic Eye of Distortion, Magic Eye of Explosion.
Four Magic Eyes activated simultaneously, firing toward Iona.
Each one was powerful enough that an average mage wouldn't even be able to react.
They disintegrated mana to collapse spells, hardened the body into stone, distorted the surrounding space to block escape routes, and triggered an explosion near the heart.
It was a single move, but it was a combination born from the agonizing desire to kill Iona.
Just as Iona wanted to kill Ayla, this strike clearly showed that Ayla wanted to take Iona’s life just as badly.
Of course, Iona didn't just take it.
She used Blink to move before the space could be sealed. She threw the spell she had been preparing as a decoy into the beam from the Eye of Disintegration.
Next, she shifted the petrification onto her crimson mist, and finally, she charged at Ayla while shielding only her heart.
Boom!
Iona broke through the explosive flames.
Her pale skin turned red and blistered... but by the time she reached Ayla, she had already fully regenerated.
"Haaaaah!"
Discarding her magic, Iona grabbed something with her empty hand and swung.
In that brief moment, she had forged a greatsword directly from her own blood.
It was a technique from the Blood Manipulation branch of blood magic, which involved creating objects from blood.
While it was a branch known for its speed, Iona’s speed was on a different level.
The perfectly formed Blood Sword swung toward Ayla’s hideous shoulder.
If she lost her arm again, she would lose most of her Magic Eyes, and Ayla’s combat power would plummet.
However, Iona wasn't fighting Ayla alone.
"This is why I hate women."
Pouting her lips, a purple-haired beauty stepped in front of Ayla.
With a pair of horns, wings, and a demonic tail, the woman—a quintessential succubus—reached out toward the Blood Sword.
Ssssss...
With the sound of escaping air, Iona’s Blood Sword rapidly lost its shape.
"Tsk."
Clicking her tongue, Iona used Blink again to create distance.
A succubus’s Energy Drain shared commonalities with a vampire’s blood-sucking. And since ancient times, blood was the essence of life, overflowing with vitality.
Naturally, Blood Manipulation, which dealt with blood itself, was bound to lose its form before an Energy Drain.
Of course, if she were fighting Iona one-on-one, her head would have been severed before she could even react.
Knowing this full well, the succubus wore a spiteful expression and lightly waved her blood-stained hand.
"Ah! But lesbians are an exception. Iona, big sister, do you happen to like girls?"
"...Don't call me that!"
Losing her temper, Iona waved her hand, and droplets of blood swirled in all directions.
Each one was ignited with an unquenchable fire, making it a formidable spell, but—
"Don't say useless things during a fight..."
A boy with a lethargic drawl lightly snapped his fingers. A translucent barrier manifested, deflecting Iona’s magic.
"Your barriers really are reliable, aren't they? How about it? When this is over, want me to help you blow off some steam?"
"It's a pain... just hurry up and fight..."
"True. Last time I checked, you couldn't even get it up."
The succubus snickered, while the boy let out a sigh as if she were a nuisance.
In addition to them, there was a cranky-looking old man, a greasy, obese middle-aged woman, and a man with a mustache adorned in gaudy decorations.
Finally, the grey-skinned giant who had been blown away earlier came stomping back to block Iona’s path.
Gazing at the six Archbishops, Iona bared her sharp fangs and growled.
"Individually, none of you are even worth my time..."
"Wow... it's been a while! Didn't you say something similar back then, Sister? Let's see... 'If only my body were whole, none of you would be a match for me'... was that it?"
"......"
Ayla smirked, picking at Iona’s nerves.
Knowing it was a deliberate provocation didn't make it any easier to bear, and Iona grit her teeth.
However, before long, she relaxed her jaw.
"...No. This time is different."
It wasn't a situation where someone who didn't have to die was dying for her, nor was someone sacrificing themselves on her behalf.
Rather, Iona was the one fighting to save others.
While personal revenge was part of it... her heart felt much lighter when she thought of her disciples, who had run toward her even while hesitating.
It felt as though she was finally correcting a mistake she had made long ago.
Iona wore a faint smile, feeling a sense of liberation.
And just as she began to draw up her mana again, hoping that on her final journey, she could at least take her damnable sister with her—
Bang!
"???"
At the sudden sound of an explosion, both Iona and the cultists turned their heads in unison.
"Idiot! You idiot! Why did you come back?!"
Iona was so flustered that her old habits slipped out.
He was wearing a strange mask he’d gotten from somewhere, but she recognized him instantly.
The source of the explosion just now was Yandel, whom she had thought had escaped long ago.
Yandel had talent and skill, and he had somehow managed to slightly exceed the limits of a lower mage. He was actually fighting quite well.
But even for Yandel, this act was nothing short of suicide.
It was impossible to fight through that many monsters, and even if he somehow broke through, what awaited him was one Cardinal and six Archbishops.
Even if Iona could hold back Ayla and a few other Archbishops, she couldn't stop them all.
One or two would surely slip away, and Yandel wouldn't be able to handle them.
That reality triggered a flashback of Iona’s past.
The former Lord, who had thrown her body away for Iona even as she was dying.
Her image began to overlap with Yandel, who was tearing through the monster horde with eyes like a demon.