Proposal (3)
Proposal (3)
A shattered sky and thick darkness where the other side couldn't be seen.
A noisy sound came from within that darkness.
The wailing of countless beings, regardless of age, gender, human, or beast.
Frowning at the noise that made me want to cover my ears, I glared at the shattered sky, and soon, an uncountable number of monsters poured out from within.
From weaklings like goblins, kobolds, and gnolls to large species like trolls, ogres, and wyverns.
'There are too many...'
None are strong enough to threaten me, but the sheer number is just too much.
There are more monsters flowing out of this gate right now than the number Odin pushed out of North Korea using Valkyries last time.
I thought about threatening them with the unique aura of a dragon to chase them away like last time, but...
If the monsters head toward Korea because of that, it'll be a total disaster.
That was only possible because I thought Odin would handle it if I just chased them upward, but the situation is different now.
And even if I tried, those are monsters possessing Black Magic Power like the Fiends.
There's no guarantee they'll run away from my aura.
"You've really done it now."
"Please consider it a wise judgment. It was all a choice to avoid fighting you."
"A wise judgment? Do you think I'd let one dying bastard go just because a few monsters came out?"
"Well. I did come out unprepared against you and ended up like this... but I don't intend to just keep taking it forever."
"You're going to try and resist?"
"Yes. I can't just die, can I?"
Not really something a guy with one arm dangling and the other missing should be saying.
Thump!
The Prophet lifted his only relatively intact leg and stomped on the ground.
Then, Black Magic Power flowed out, creating a new gate behind him.
Is he planning to call for allies now?
However, contrary to my expectations, what came out of the opened gate were plain, ordinary Fiends.
It's funny to call a Fiend ordinary, but these were just like the Fiends I've met so far—the ones that just commit terror without a word.
Ten Fiends of exactly that level popped out of the gate.
What could he possibly do with just those?
The Prophet didn't even look back at the Fiends and commanded them in a high-handed voice, unlike when he was dealing with me.
"Sacrifice yourselves for me."
"""For The Prophet-nim."""
The Fiends, who answered without a single error, simultaneously plunged their hands into their own chests.
Crunch-
With the horrific sound of flesh tearing, bones breaking, and blood vessels snapping, the Fiends pulled out their own hearts.
Hearts stained as black as their magic power.
The essence of life escaping from them settled into The Prophet.
Then, starting with the small wounds all over his body, even his broken arm regenerated.
Now, the only wound left was the severed arm.
"As expected, it was too much to regenerate the arm that vanished from your Breath with just this much. It's a nasty poison."
"Do you have no human heart?"
"What are you talking about? They all sacrificed themselves for me with joyful hearts."
The Prophet, checking his recovery by clenching and unclenching his healed arm, smiled with satisfaction.
"Then, shall we begin in earnest?"
"This time, I'll kill you without giving you a chance to resist."
I let my guard down because I didn't expect him to recover through his subordinates' suicide, but it's different now.
Just as that bastard The Prophet called subordinates through a gate to recover, my main body, which shares the current situation with me, also began to move.
I didn't want to use it because I got body aches for a while after borrowing the main body's power last time, but if I don't deal with this guy here, I have no idea what kind of trouble he'll cause next.
So, I won't miss him and will deal with him for sure.
Crack!!
Just like the gate that appeared behind The Prophet, space split behind my back, and the golden Wish-fulfilling Jewel appeared along that path.
Last time, Ratatoskr opened the path using the Giant's Heart, but this time I had to draw the main body's power entirely with my own strength, which consumed a massive amount of magic power, but I still succeeded in connecting with Ratatoskr's assistance.
Sigh. I'm going to have a hard time later.
As the Wish-fulfilling Jewel connected with me, my avatar, an overwhelming magic power and sense of omnipotence enveloped my entire body, just like last time.
"Hah... so that's how you defeated Apophis."
"Was that sent by you too?"
"To be precise, I only approved the operation."
"That's the same thing. Then, I'll kill you without leaving a trace, including interest for that time."
"This is an unexpected situation. I should retreat rather than hold out."
"Do you think I'll let you?"
The Prophet chose to retreat, perhaps having come to his senses after seeing my true power.
But if I were going to let him go just because he wanted to leave, I wouldn't have drawn this power in the first place.
"Are you going to catch me?"
"Of course."
"Even after seeing that?"
The Prophet lifted his intact arm and pointed behind me.
When I turned my head, I saw that the monsters that had fallen from the sky weren't attacking me, but were all heading toward Busan, swimming or flying however they could.
The Prophet explained with a smug face, as if he had been waiting for this.
"From the beginning, I had ordered them to head to the nearest land, excluding this side. And the nearest land from here is..."
"Busan. You've done a fun thing."
"Don't mention it. More than that, for some reason, you care about humans, so don't you have no time to be dealing with me?"
"I care about humans? You're under a strange delusion. And I can handle those guys while dealing with you."
Massive magic power poured out, following the spell I wove in an instant with the help of my main body.
If that bastard The Prophet's magic was huge enough to cover the sky, my spell was huge enough to fill the sea.
As the spell, which had expanded widely to the points where the monsters hadn't escaped yet, activated, the seawater swirled.
The swirling water caught the swimming monsters so they couldn't escape and ground them up, and water spouts rising from the sea struck the flying monsters and knocked them down.
No matter how many monsters come out of the gate, there is no way to escape this spell.
"Oh my."
"That pathetic stalling won't work anymore. So, die quietly."
"It would be a waste to use any more sacrifices or comrades. Then, shall we end our meeting here?"
I was wary that The Prophet, who spoke as if he could run away at any time, might summon something else strange or use magic, but the action he took was the exact opposite.
"Now, kill me."
He, who openly told me to kill him and spread his arms without resistance.
It's extremely suspicious for a guy who, until just a moment ago, was thinking of holding out against me and even consumed his subordinates to recover, to act like that.
"I don't know what kind of scheme you have again, but did you think I'd hesitate because of that?"
Honestly, I did flinch a little.
Even so, my choice remains unchanged.
I prepared my Breath to finish it for sure.
Magic power gathered from deep within boils up.
Once ready, I fired the Breath, and this time, unlike before, the Breath shot out in a straight beam.
Through my slowing vision, The Prophet, who had his arms spread out, showed no movement until the very moment the Breath touched him.
In the end, the Breath swallowed The Prophet.
Nothing remained where the maximum power Breath had passed.
Only frozen ground and a huge hole remained.
Even though I killed The Prophet, leaving not even a body, I feel dazed.
Did he really die from this?
What was that meaningful remark at the end?
It's almost a shame that an enemy I thought of as a final boss, in game terms, died so easily.
Still, dead is dead, so just as I was about to finish off the monsters and head back, that happened.
The voice of The Prophet, whom I thought was dead, rang out from the empty air.
-It's a pity we couldn't have a long conversation in a proper setting. Next time, I'll arrange a formal venue and invite you...
"That's it! As expected, you weren't a guy who would die from that much. I knew you were alive."
-...I'm a bit embarrassed that you're welcoming me so suddenly. Anyway, I'll see you next time.
"Yeah. You better wash your neck and wait. When we meet next time, I'll really kill you then."
-Haha. I, however, hope you will stand on this side. In that sense, I'll give you a piece of good information.
"??"
-Although we had a base here, this place. No, the Pacific Ocean is already the territory of 'someone'. And it has been for quite a long time. I tried to recruit them as well... but. Like you, they also rejected the offer. So, you'd better be careful.
"Why should I be careful of guys I have no connection with?"
-Well, you've been causing such a ruckus in their territory, haven't you.
A ruckus?
When did I cause a ruckus?
Looking around, I saw the swirling sea, a few water spouts reaching up to the sky, and islands frozen and split by the Breath.
Hmm.
A tiiiiny bit. I did cause a very small ruckus.
But this happened because that bastard The Prophet opened a super-sized gate or something, right?
Strictly speaking, it's not my fault.
And if it was their territory, they should have managed it well.
Letting cockroach-like Fiends settle in for no reason and causing this kind of trouble.
Wouldn't the owner of the territory be somewhat responsible too?
[Who is it! Who dares to commit such rude acts in my territory!!]
It seems that wasn't the case.