Chapter 443: Festival Day
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 443: Festival Day
The process of merging with Dain wasn't as painful as before. In fact, it would be more accurate to say it was almost comfortable. This was the second time I had become one with her. The hypothesis that I had simply grown used to her wasn't very convincing. I couldn't be certain, but it was likely that our shared desire helped raise our synchronization.
- Yesssss!
Crazy bitch.
As the frantic Dain entered my body, I felt the very substance of my being begin to change. My massive horns and tail felt as if they were turning into liquid. The sensation of my body becoming blood itself wasn't exactly pleasant, but it was an undeniable fact that I was growing stronger. A different kind of magic, unlike my usual power, began to swirl within me. New strength flooded my body.
[ Weapon Unification ]
[ Mode - Dainsleif - Legacy of the Magic Sword Dain ]
[ Through unification with the cursed magic sword, the Legacy of Dain, you will embody its nature. Your body will be converted into blood. Blood will continuously drip from parts of your body. You carry the penalty of death if you fail to replenish the lost blood.
You gain dominion over any blood that comes into contact with Dain. You gain perfect dominion over your own body. ]
[ Magic +10, Agility +5, Strength +5 ]
“Hoo…”
- I love you! I love you! Why did you take so long to find me! Why did you abandon me last time?
Just be quiet…
- I can't stand you favoring only Levatain anymore. You're mine! You! You're mine! Together like this! Together like this! Together like this! We'll be together forever. I'm never letting go this time! Never!
She was the same as always. No, she was even louder than the last time we unified. It wasn't that I hadn't hoped she might have quieted down a little, but of course, nothing had changed. She was so distracting that I would have preferred not to unify with her again, but I had my reasons.
The reason was incredibly simple.
She was the most efficient choice for this situation.
Dain was the perfect weapon for this moment. The enemy numbers were vast, and no matter how much magic I had, dealing with this many foes alone would be overwhelming. I could have used Levatain or Gram, but I didn't want to suffer the aftereffects once the battle was over.
Of course, it was an undeniable fact that Dain's penalty was overwhelmingly greater than theirs, but that wasn't necessarily the case when facing an army of this scale.
A weapon that granted dominion over blood. The more enemies there were, the more blood that could be spilled, the longer the battle dragged on—the more Dain boasted an overwhelming efficiency that other weapons couldn't even compare to. This was especially true if the opponents were weaker than me, or even moderately strong.
Many say the ideal person is one who is lenient with the weak and firm with the strong, but Dain was the exact opposite.
She was strong against the weak.
Overwhelmingly so.
- Kyahahahahahahahahaha!!
“Hoo….”
As I slowly opened my eyes, my body, now one with Dain, came into view. My other weapons were gone. All I wore was my basic armor and the cloak Choi Seulgi had gifted me.
I could see my arms and legs turning crimson.
My vision was slowly tinting red. Whether it was her influence or the innate instinct of a Green Skin, my heart felt like it was starting to pound faster.
- Quickly! Quickly! Let's go! Go! Go for it! Let's go!
I didn't answer Dain.
Instead, I poured a massive amount of magic into my feet and repositioned myself in the heart of the enemy formation. In an instant, my view changed. It wasn't as fast as Ridil, but countless people still lost track of my movements. I did, however, spot a few who were clearly following my every move.
“Attack!”
“Attack! Re-form the lines! Don't waver!”
The faces of those who had been watching the situation with dumbfounded expressions were now twisted in alarm. They had realized that the simple sense of dread they had felt was becoming a reality.
As I unleashed my killing intent and fully released my magic, many of them couldn't even keep their wits about them. Some raised their swords or chanted spells, which seemed to suggest they were a cut above the forces of the East, but…
There would be no reversal.
“Uwaaaaaaaahk!”
“Aaaahhhhhhhhhhh!”
In an instant, thorns of blood erupted from my body and began to pierce the warriors closest to me. The blood that gushed from their bodies and fell to the ground surged forth once more, raining down on those who were out of the initial range.
- Kyahahahahahaha!!! Yes!! Yes!! More! More! More!
“Aaaargh!”
“Defensive magic!”
“Defensive magic! Healing!”
Squelch!
Pshhhk!
Crack!
The sounds weren't loud, but the thorns and swords of blood I created were unerringly striking the enemies' vital points. A few warriors tried to block them with their shields, but it was useless. There were some decent fighters mixed in who managed to parry with their swords or form magical barriers, but this fatal plague spread rapidly outward from me.
- My love! I'm so happy! So! So! Happy! Happy! Kyahahahahahahahaha!! I'm the happiest woman in the world right now! Right? Right, my love!
“Agh… ugh…”
Even the priests who reached out to heal their fallen comrades could do nothing. They couldn't get close to their allies, who were growing cold with death. They knew that another attack would erupt from near the bodies. If they possessed divine power on the level of Ha Yuri, Jane, or Baek Ahyeon, they might have been able to seal the wounds before the blood fell under my control, but such priests were extremely rare. I saw a few decent ones, but they were naturally no match for an army of this size.
“Re-form the lines! Gather around the priests and mages! Soldiers armed with firearms, fire at will!”
BANG!
BANG!
A loud command rang out, apparently from someone with a brain. With an indifferent expression, I slightly raised my arm. A massive wall of blood rose from the ground, effortlessly blocking the incoming bullets. The attack spells chanted by a group of mages and the sword strikes launched by high-level warriors couldn't even scratch the wall of blood.
With so few targets, a ridiculous situation was unfolding where their own bullets were hitting their own men.
It was no illusion that the expressions of the men on the other side of the blood wall were visibly crumpling.
“…”
- Is this all? This? This is all?! Give me more! More blood! More affection! More love!
Just as I sighed at Dain's words, I felt a single magic bullet fly toward me. It even pierced through the wall of blood. As I reached out to swat away the foe who had managed to get into effective range, I saw the bullet change its trajectory.
As if it had a will of its own, the bullet began to curve, dodging my casually swinging arm and arriving right in front of my forehead.
A bullet with a will. It seemed someone with a unique ability like "Magic Marksman" was mixed in with the crowd. The thought that they weren't just chaff actually put me in a better mood.
I stared at the bullet flying straight at me and reached out again. The bullet, which had been aimed at my forehead, veered toward my temple to avoid my hand, but with my concentration pushed to its absolute limit, even the bullet seemed to slow down.
When I neatly caught the bullet between two fingers, a woman holding a large rifle stared at me with a look of utter shock.
“Not bad.”
It was a decent ability, all things considered. And she wasn't the only one. Once the initial storm had passed, various other rare unique abilities began to stand out. I saw firearms imbued with special powers, and people with abilities that would be considered rare on our continent.
If they're lucky enough to survive, they might be useful.
Of course, there were also men and women who absolutely had to be killed. I pushed magic into my feet once more and charged toward those who had finished preparing to meet me.
“Die!”
I dodged or blocked the bullets and swords aimed at my body by ducking my head or raising an arm. I used my tail to smash the heads of anyone who got in my way.
Splat!
With a sickening sound, the head of a man struck by my tail was obliterated without a trace. The blood that scattered into the air once again formed into blood thorns and rained down on the humans nearby.
Crack!
Squelch!
I almost wanted to applaud them for managing to form a basic line in such a short time. Warriors in heavy armor greeted me with massive shields. There was no need to slow down. I kicked straight at a man holding his shield out, and his body was sent flying sideways with a tremendous crash.
CRUUUUUNCH!
“Uwaaaaaaaahk!”
The melee swordsmen waiting behind the warrior thrust their swords at me, but their weapons suddenly swapped with the rifles of the soldiers who had been aiming their guns to shoot me.
Firearms are also classified as weapons.
I had thought it would work, and sure enough, firearms were judged as weapons. The men now holding swords instead of guns were cut down, their bodies and necks separating while expressions of confusion were still on their faces. They didn't even seem to realize their own heads had been lopped off.
“You! Monster!”
The voice belonged to a woman swinging a greatsword. Judging by her armor, which was different from those around her, she seemed to hold a somewhat high rank.
Decent.
In this relatively relaxed situation, I found myself appraising her, running a finger down from top to bottom. In an instant, a greatsword of blood formed in the sky and fell directly upon the woman.
“Kyaaaaaaahk!”
She instinctively raised her sword, but there was no way she could block it. Deflecting it was the best she could do. I had swung with the intent to kill, but in the end, I only managed to sever her arm from her shoulder. Just as I swung my tail to separate her head from her body, a long spear shot out. I bent my back to dodge it and then kicked at the man who had thrust the spear.
“Keoheok!”
CRACK!
BOOOOOOOOM!
The sight of his body plowing through other soldiers and slamming into the castle wall was spectacular. I reached for a sword lying on the ground and immediately cut the next man who charged me clean in half at the waist.
Everything around me was an enemy. There was no need to distinguish friend from foe, no need to hold back my strength. This was a battle where all I had to do was simply swing my sword, strike, and shoot blood at the faces arrayed in every direction.
“Uwaaaaaaaahk!”
“Aaaargh!”
Screams filled the air. Blood and guts spilled out continuously. The cloak from Choi Seulgi was soaked crimson, as if it had been dyed red. The sensation of my sword cutting through bone and flesh began to exhilarate me.
Shields, swords, defensive magic—I swung the cheap swords they carried and cut through it all. Just as my ears were growing accustomed to the screams of humans, I saw a rather familiar face.
“It's been a while.”
“Ah… uh… ah… uh…”
It was Jeong Jina of the Western Clan Alliance.