In the Shadow of the Holy Nation (10) - The Master's Uppercut
BANG!! The master’s precision uppercut exploded the air where Larilura’s chin had been. A fist strike that meticulously controlled the point of impact and kinetic energy! Even with the mana coating of Beast Regression wrapped around the body, taking a direct hit would have shredded the internal organs. It was power that could never have come from Temujin’s untrained, flabby fists.
So this is what those braided bastards were so scared of!!
The boss, Temujin, lacked the charisma to make his subordinates fight knowing they would die. This man was nothing like the reclusive mages lost in research and narcissism. He overflowed with violent intimidation, using magic without hesitation for his own ends. Their personalities were polar opposites, yet his attitude of treating magic purely as a tool to achieve his goals was perhaps not so different from mine.
Larilura can’t handle him without her puppets. I need to release the transformation—
Just as Larilura grew passive after confirming the enemy’s strength, and I prepared to drop my disguise and leap out, a sharp SCREEECH─!! split the air. The obese figure spun with impossible agility and unleashed a spinning kick. There was no way Larilura could dodge it. It would land one hundred percent.
Fuck!
I forced myself to stop pulling away from her. I concentrated every ounce of the Beast Regression mana coating onto my abdomen right before the kick connected. It didn’t increase the strengthening effect itself, but expanding the coating’s volume was like layering multiple hides—I could at least hope for a boost in defense.
─THUD!!
Ugh…?!
The fat leg slammed into Larilura’s stomach with unnatural sharpness. The technique—striking precisely with the toes like a champion’s jab before instantly retracting the leg—was flawless, offering no openings whatsoever. It was the refined skill of a true master of unarmed combat, something I had never witnessed before.
Who the hell is this guy?!
High-level dark magic paired with physical prowess to match? The raw savagery that his flabby, treacherous body couldn’t conceal was impossible to ignore. He felt like violence incarnate.
Is he a boss of one of the Three Great Families? Which faction does he belong to?!
Useless speculation rippled across my mind before vanishing. With Larilura getting pummeled in real time, I had no room to wonder about the bastard’s identity.
Aura? No, not quite! What an interesting technique!
The kick, powerful enough to rupture both intestines, only drew a light cough from him. Seeming to enjoy it, he burst into raucous laughter and tried to sweep Larilura’s legs out from under her. She hopped lightly to avoid the low kick that scraped the floor.
Even the dead have plenty to say if you handle them right!! Let’s see if your corpse will give me answers!!
“Aaaah, seriously! The first thing I hear after coming back to my homeland is sexual harassment about what this body can and can’t do? This is the worst day ever!!”
Larilura ground her teeth and shouted. She didn’t even have the luxury of speaking to me. The same went for me. I watched anxiously for any opening.
She’s somehow dodging for now, but it’s only a matter of time.
Wrapped around her neck, I could feel it clearly. Her shoulders were far too tense. The flexibility, quick movements, and quick thinking that were Larilura’s greatest strengths had all dulled under the pressure.
Who could have predicted that a body possessed by an undead would be this strong? Especially one as worthless as that flabby sack of meat!
I need an opening to attack! The only option is to wait for the moment he can’t counter and finish him myself!
If I separated from her body, I wouldn’t be able to maintain the mana coating on Larilura. If she took even a single blow from that monster while I was apart from her, our junior would be attending a funeral back in her home country. Wasn’t that exactly why I had stayed transformed into snake mode to protect her?
I even used the time I would have spent clicking my tongue to search for a gap.
─SWISH! SWAT!
That was the moment. When Temujin swung his hand through empty space, something invisible shot forward and latched onto Larilura’s body. Having used similar magic before, I immediately recognized the spell.
“Eep?!”
Larilura froze. No—her feet had been restrained. The magic controlling Temujin’s corpse had delayed her evasion by a full second. A second might not sound like much, but in a life-or-death fight, it was more than enough time to land a decisive blow.
But—this is my chance!
As the thick fist flew toward Larilura’s face, I opened my mouth wide and unleashed a freezing beam straight from my snout.
“What?!”
The intruder had never seen me use magic before possessing the body. He had shown no wariness toward me during the fight. So he was utterly shocked to discover that the snake wrapped around Larilura’s neck was Mignon, who had learned the freezing beam. The compressed jet of frigid air froze his ugly face solid. The leftover mist even blinded him completely. I had thoroughly erased his vision.
Now!
─WHIRL!
I canceled the transformation magic and clung directly to him. Even without sight, the intruder sensed me with his remaining senses and threw a punch, but I wasn’t foolish enough to eat a blind attack. I tilted my head just enough to dodge, then drove a double palm strike—using the taekwondo bear-hand thrust I had mastered in beast form—straight into his flank.
─BOOM!
Calamity Horn
Using the same technique I had learned while performing CPR on Gals, I spread the mana of the Blood Hand Demonic Art throughout his body. They say that even medicine, taken in excess, becomes poison—and that the same art that saves lives can be used to kill with brutal efficiency. I poured every ounce of that knowledge into detonating his body with explosive mana.
The resulting explosion was deafening.
─KWAAAAAANG!!
The magic controlling the corpse apparently did nothing to bolster its defenses. The flabby mass of flesh became a boiling storm of blood that splattered across the Moonward Family’s hideout like a crimson water balloon. Naturally, not a single drop landed on my clothes.
“……If the upper body is gone, maintaining the possession won’t let him do anything anyway.”
I brushed off my shoulder and muttered the words. With his eyes, nose, mouth, and even ears completely destroyed, that corpse would never hear my face or voice. From his perspective, he had only taken a light hit from Mignon before suddenly getting his lottery ticket drawn.
I first chased away the disgusting smell of burning fat with a burst of steam.
─RATTLE-RATTLE!!
The windows shook from the pressure, clearing out the stench. I kept my eyes on the corpse while tossing a potion to Larilura.
“Sorry. I wanted to jump in sooner, but I couldn’t find an opening.”
“Owie…… Ugh, I’m fine. I didn’t get hit that many times.”
Larilura answered while rubbing her stomach. She pouted, clearly stung by the damage to her pride. Even with a different face, it was still unmistakably her. It seemed transformation magic had its limits after all. Old habits really do die hard.
“……Does it hurt a lot?”
“……Aha♡! Are you actually worrying about me~? How unusual♡! For some reason I’m so happy the pain has completely vanished!”
“Hmph. Liar.”
I considered using the reverse Kenaz rune to numb her pain but changed my mind. Pain is the body’s warning that continued damage will lead to death. Not knowing you’re hurt and suffering worse consequences is the real problem.
I need to get her back quickly so Dana can treat her.
But first, there was something I had to confirm. I stepped forward.
Whirl─! I tried engraving Ansuz without much hope, but since Temujin had become an undead, his soul was already destroyed beyond recovery and refused to appear.
While waiting for Larilura to recover, I interrogated the other four braided brothers. It was completely pointless.
“Damn it, how can these so-called executives know absolutely nothing? Just disappear already.”
I sent the remaining four braided brothers straight to hell. The intruder was obviously a dark mage. Leaving his soul intact might let information leak, so I made sure to purify him completely.
“Let’s head back quickly. You worked hard. This is an excellent result for the first day.”
I patted her shoulder with a mix of genuine and half-hearted comfort, but Larilura simply pointed at the drawers and shelves as if that didn’t matter.
“Ah, you have to collect the loot! Money, information—take anything you can!”
“Hey, you idiot. You almost got a hole punched through your stomach. Aren’t you going to get treatment? Why do you sound so cheerful?”
“Huh? Was it that bad? Aha♡! It’s a gloomy back alley, so you have to keep a positive mindset at least!”
There’s such a thing as being too positive. I clicked my tongue at the thought, but Larilura’s point wasn’t wrong. There might be information only the boss knew.
Nodding, I gathered every intact document from the blood-splattered room. I smashed open the safe and took the currency as well. After checking with Odin’s Eye to ensure there was no tracking magic, I pocketed everything with confidence.
“There. That’s everything. Can you walk? Want me to carry you?”
“Walking should be… No, it might be difficult! I have a feeling I’d fall behind if I tried to run~?”
“Carry or not. Make up your mind.”
Larilura chewed her lip for a moment before whispering.
“……If I ask you to hug me from now on, will you do it?”
“Something like that is no trouble at all.”
─Lift!
I scooped Larilura up in a princess carry.
“Kyaa♡”
Larilura overacted dramatically in my arms. I considered smacking her but held back—it felt too much like bullying an injured girl.
As we left the building, the blood scent clinging to us was swept away by the winter wind. Our junior wrapped her arms around my neck, and I slightly slowed my rooftop sprint because the wind stung my cheeks. Even so, my mind was occupied with other thoughts.
……Would fighting that guy with our real bodies be dangerous?
If I went all-out against the intruder from earlier, how far could I push a one-on-one fight? What were my chances of victory?
After running the numbers in my head, I narrowed my eyes.
No. If I stop hiding my identity, I can win.
I had seen several kill opportunities even during that fight. Even if his techniques grew sharper or his physical specs rose, the odds were still good. Unless he had some absurdly powerful secret move he hadn’t used, it wasn’t enough to make me hesitate before the fight even began.
But if that guy was a boss or strike captain for one of the families, the problem becomes much bigger.
Because there might be someone even stronger than him? No, that part didn’t matter. Our party’s goal wasn’t the total destruction of the underworld powers.
The real issue was whether the remaining two families possessed enough strength to wage war against the faction that man belonged to. If there were three or four monsters like him, even tracking Tirsi’s footsteps would become extremely difficult.
……As expected of a great power’s underworld. Not to be underestimated.
Should I look for a more fundamental solution?
I shook my head. No need to rush. It was still only the first day. I had learned some things: Tirsi’s disappearance definitely involved the dark societies, and the kidnapping had been planned thoroughly enough to be issued through an organized chain of command.
The next critical question was whether a noble house stood behind the kidnapping. Personally, I almost hoped that was the case. Both paths were dangerous, but if a noble family had ordered it, the situation seemed safer than a random abduction.
For that, hearing the opinion of an active noble would be best.
……I need to report to the young lady.
A carrier pigeon would take too long. Exchanging letters would eat up two weeks. While running, I poured mana into the jade seal tucked in my chest. We had already obtained Teleport magic. The distance between Britannia and Romania was practically nonexistent.