Chapter 345
Chapter 345
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 345
Chapter Title: Battle of the Lake (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Kraaaaaagh!!"
As the shrinking spell was released, Child-Force entered the corpse puppet—Duncan, bringing him to life and setting him in motion.
Duncan let out a monstrous roar as he drew a tonfa made of bone and flesh from behind his waist. The tonfa vomited up the black magic Black Armor it had stored within, wrapping it around Duncan's body.
Clad in black magic armor, Duncan dodged Tedore's grasp with his signature agile movements and burrowed into his embrace.
"Such petty tricks—"
—Boom!!
Mid-sentence, Duncan smashed his tonfa into Tedore's face.
With Duncan's physical prowess enhanced by Oliver's Black Armor and the tonfa specially crafted by Iwan, the strike packed considerable power.
Yet Tedore's head merely turned slightly.
It was only natural. Tedore's body boasted immense durability, and he'd deployed a mana shield just before the attack landed.
The perfect ambush had failed. It had only interrupted his attack rhythm and bought a little time.
'That's enough.'
Oliver judged inwardly as he extended his hand toward Tedore, extracting his emotions.
Shwoooosh—!!
He could have created a Black Suit to defend his vulnerable body, but Oliver took the risk and boldly chose to extract emotions instead.
It wasn't something he'd normally do, but against a Tedore who shrugged off most attacks, Oliver had no choice.
Even if he wrapped himself in a Black Suit and painstakingly reinforced an artificial soul, one punch from Tedore would shatter it anyway. Better to find an opening for offense.
—Thwack!!
The moment Tedore spotted Oliver extracting his emotions, he swung his opposite hand, cutting the extraction short.
It was a shame. He hadn't pulled out nearly enough yet.
'Not just emotions... life force too...'
Tedore, overwhelmed by Oliver's suddenly aggressive onslaught that bordered on recklessness, reared back his massive fist for another swing.
Duncan tried to interfere again, but Tedore blasted him away with the vast mana dwelling in his body, then fired a shockwave from his other hand that shattered Duncan's armor and sent him flying far off.
Duncan resisted, but the power gap was overwhelming, and he was hurled away helplessly. This left Tedore and Oliver in a one-on-one matchup once more.
Tedore thrust his enormous fist toward Oliver, who didn't dodge but instead hurled two sheets of paper to activate a spell.
Weeeeng...!!
The paper lodged in the knuckle of his wrist bone emitted its characteristic small but clear sound, generating a purple magic portal that split Tedore's fist into three parts.
For an ordinary person, it would mean death or unconsciousness from shock. Even a superhuman would suffer crippling injuries.
But Tedore suppressed the pain by manipulating his flesh with mana, deployed a magic circle in midair, and wove mana particles into multiple mechanical arms centered on it.
All to grab the suicide puppets emerging from the portal and hurl them back at Oliver.
It wasn't a bad choice.
Even those emerging straight from the portal—mere suicide puppets—could be snatched and neutralized by Tedore's mechanical arms.
They were that swift and lethal.
If they had been suicide puppets, that is.
Crunch... crrrunch!!
Shraaaatter!!!
What emerged from the portal were the corpse puppets—Batory and Seamus.
The moment the paper struck, Child-First and Child-Third had stealthily entered Batory and Seamus respectively, activating blood magic and druidic spells. They sliced and smashed the mechanical arms grasping their bodies.
Tedore's eyes widened at the completely unexpected turn of events. Child-First didn't miss the opening, using the blood in the artificial blood vessels as a medium to summon multiple blood balloons, securing a massive volume of blood to form a spine-shaped spear.
"Kyaaaaagh!!"
With Child-First inside her, Batory unleashed the blood magic [Spine Pile], driving the spine-shaped stake vertically into Tedore's massive arm with a piercing scream.
Spluuurt————!!!
The layered stake, bristling with countless thorns, tore into Tedore's arm.
Despite its formidable penetration, Tedore's flesh durability was too high, and it halted midway.
At that moment, Child-Third inside Seamus smashed the spine stake with all his might, driving it straight through Tedore's fist.
Boom—!!
"Kyaaaaagh... Tear!!"
Seeing this, Child-First shouted.
At her command, enormous blood-red thorns sprouted from the spine stake, shredding Tedore's arm.
The enlarged fist tore apart violently, scattering in all directions. Seizing the gap, Batory, Seamus, and even Duncan—who had been flung away but returned—launched a fierce assault on Tedore.
Batory's blood-red blade aimed for Tedore's heart,
Seamus's nature-infused fist sought to crush his face,
and Duncan's tonfa twisted unpredictably to destroy his flesh.
All attempts were blocked by Tedore's mana shield.
Even with one arm gone, he didn't lose focus, devoting himself to defense while rapidly regenerating his torn arm with mechanical arms.
Knowing he couldn't let the Childs recover, they clung desperately to disrupt it, but Tedore's defenses held firm.
No, it was more than that.
When all the Childs drew close, he unleashed a powerful shockwave that shoved back the corpse puppets and Oliver. Then, using his feet as a medium, he shook the lake like an earthquake, keeping them at bay.
And that wasn't the end.
Tedore conjured countless magic circles above Oliver and the corpse puppets' heads, raining down machine-gun-like mana bullets, lightning, ice shards, and flames.
Like an bombardment from dozens of mages collaborating.
The already chaotic lake from the fierce battle surged anew, raising massive water columns. Oliver and the three corpse puppets focused every nerve on avoiding the deluge sweeping the surface and the catastrophe pouring from above.
Meanwhile, Tedore concentrated on healing once more. Impressive. Spells that demanded full attention for each one.
Thwack!!
As Oliver dodged the magic raining from the sky, he flung mana-infused paper high above.
A portal formed on the paper, which rose higher than the magic circles amid the relentless mana barrage. From it emerged the corpse puppet—Sniper—activated as Child-Second entered.
"Kyahahaha!!!"
Thrilled to be last, Child-Second inside the sniper cackled maniacally, drawing reinforced guns from over ten hands and unleashing a barrage at the magic circles in the air.
It looked random, but true to the sniper name, Child-Second's shots hit their marks with unerring precision, shattering the circles.
With that, the magic bombardment slackened.
As the skies stabilized, Oliver gathered the absorbed lake mana in both hands, pressing it to the surface to challenge Tedore for control of the lake's mana.
Tedore's will to upheave the lake clashed against Oliver's to restrain it via their mana. The earthquake-tsunami-like lake gradually calmed.
At that instant, Batory, Seamus, and Duncan moved.
With the skies clear, Batory sprouted blood wings to close in and strike first. Seamus and Duncan followed, attacking in turn.
Tedore tried to amplify his mana to roil the lake again, but Oliver matched it to cancel it out. When he tried conjuring magic circles for bombardment, the rear sniper's gunfire disrupted them each time.
Thanks to this, the other corpse puppets safely narrowed the distance and pressed Tedore once more.
"Kyak!!"
Batory shrieked sharply, focusing her Blood Sudden Blade into a single point and hurling it at Tedore's mana barrier, creating a small crack.
Duncan compressed his black magic armor and swung his tonfa at the crack, widening it.
Seamus hurled his nature-infused beanstalk javelin with full force, not only shattering the mana shield but embedding it in Tedore's regenerating arm.
"Grrrh...! Such annoyances...!!"
"Grow!!"
The moment the beanstalk javelin pierced, Child-Third inside Seamus yelled.
The embedded bean grew at the shaman's command, burrowing inward from within Tedore and widening the wound dramatically.
"You filthy vermin!!"
Tedore exploded in rage, suppressing the beanstalk with mana while sprouting countless hands on his opposite arm to reform a massive tentacle arm.
The Childs' momentum faltered amid the surging life force, mana, and emotions.
[Parasite]
Oliver, catching up belatedly, joined in and cast black magic using Tedore's previously extracted emotions.
The disease-based black magic [Parasite], which devoured the target's life force via parasites, mushrooms, and the like.
The beanstalk growing inside Tedore sprouted multiple mouths as black energy seeped in, sucking up emotions, life force, and mana indiscriminately like the Borecity's maw.
Tedore, who hadn't even groaned at ordinary attacks, screamed. The mana, life force, and emotions in his body momentarily slipped from his control.
His enlarged arm thrashed as if about to tear apart—proof of it.
It seemed like he'd perfectly transplanted other mages' powers, but apparently not.
Of course, a method of amplifying one's power by borrowing others' couldn't be risk-free... That reminded Oliver of something Merlin had once said.
About the apocalypse, when he'd asked.
'Cheap knockoffs always steal ancient authority and drape it over themselves, beyond their station.'
Not that he, who created nothing himself and relied on others', had room to talk. But right now, Oliver thought no one fit those words better than Tedore.
Oliver extended his hand toward the writhing Tedore, absorbing the emotions, life force, and mana sucked up by the beanstalk, then used them to recoat his entire body in Black Suit.
Crack—!
Oliver swung his quarterstaff woven from emotions and life force, striking Tedore and inflicting meaningful damage.
Damage enough to make Tedore cough in agony.
Already deprived of bodily freedom, mana, emotions, and life force by the parasitic beanstalk within, Tedore grew confused. Perhaps from that, his body rampaged, sprouting countless arms all over and unleashing indiscriminate high-output magic.
From basic elemental spells to pure mana magic, even explosive flames and shock lightning blending emotions and mana.
Blind attacks, but their power forced the corpse puppets to retreat. Tedore didn't miss the timing, forming another massive fist and swinging at Oliver.
"Hup—"
Oliver pulled back the corpse puppets, then reformed an artificial soul using Tedore's emotions, mana, and life force to reinforce his Black Suit. He swung his quarterstaff with all his might.
No special spells—just the Black Suit—but Oliver's quarterstaff tore through Tedore's fist and the air, cleaving the lake in two.
"......Huh?"
Tedore cried out upon seeing his arm cleanly gone. His emotions flooded with bewilderment, intimidation, and fear in an instant.
"Everyone."
At Oliver's call, the Childs who had seized the momentum charged at Tedore, now bereft of both arms.
Batory pierced the defenseless Tedore's body with blood-red stakes, Duncan destroyed his flesh with flashy tonfa strikes, and Seamus pulverized his face with nature-powered fists.
"Finale! Protagonist!!"
The supporting corpse puppet—Sniper—from behind rushed in excitedly, leaping to fire a sword-off shotgun in midair.
Boom—!! Boom—!!
Tedore's body became a ragged mess, riddled with massive holes.
He was now steeped in the terror of death. As that fear peaked, he swelled like a balloon, bursting and spewing vast amounts of blood, organs, and flesh.
Oliver and the corpse puppets closing in for the attack were caught in the unforeseen explosion.
It was loud but lacked destructive force, so aside from the nearest, low-durability corpse puppet—Sniper—no one was hurt or damaged.
Still, it was quite bewildering. Who would've thought Tedore would die like this? There was so much he wanted to ask...
'Huh? Dead?'
Oliver tilted his head at the blood, organ clumps, and flesh chunks floating on the lake.
Most had lost mana, life force, and emotions upon Tedore's death, but a tiny fragment of flesh retained them.
No, beyond retaining—it wriggled, moving toward somewhere.
Toward Oliver's back.
Splurt—!
As Oliver turned, Tedore—filled with survival instinct—stabbed through his back.
A completely unexpected attack.
Mad with frenzy, he screamed.
"I... I won't die!"
The End of < 345. Battle of the Lake (3) >