Chapter 143: Trials, and Then (5)
『That bastard... That filthy bastard! How dare you touch my hand...!』
I'd clearly aimed my Honeybee Punch right at that shiny bald skull, but for some goddamn reason it veered off and only blew off his hand. Clicking my tongue in frustration, I swallowed the last of the Overdrive Pill still in my mouth.
No matter how much I pumped myself up with the Overdrive Pill, the time I could hold out kept getting shorter each time.
This one would probably last about a minute before the power ran dry.
And I had no more Overdrive Pills left.
One minute.
『I'll smash every fucking bone in your body in that time, you pedo piece of shit.』
It was overflowing. Way too fucking much.
BOOM!
『Grraaaah...! A-Absolute...!』
『Shut your fucking mouth!』
『Shield!』
CRACK!
A barrier sprang up just before my fist could connect, blocking my path.
『Pedo Skull Buster Punch!』
But shit like that was made to be shattered.
I smashed through the crumbling barrier, my fist slamming into the pedo skeleton's jaw.
『Kuhk...! Rise, my slaves!』
This fucking prick.
I'd nailed him right in the jaw, but it glanced off awkwardly, only pulverizing the bastard's shoulder bone.
Staggering, he twisted his body and used some kind of teleportation magic to put distance between us in an instant. I could see him raising the bones.
They were all clad in armor, wielding gleaming swords that weren't the rusty toothpicks we'd seen from outside—high-level skeleton knights, by the look of them.
『Honeybee Punch!』
Before the skeleton knights could even stand fully, I unleashed a barrage of Honeybee Punches.
Not just thunk, thunk—it was a deafening THOOM THOOM THOOM as the poison stingers from the Dragon Claws on both my hands ground the rising bones to dust.
『Come forth! My servants! Hammer of my enemies' destruction!』
In the midst of it, I spotted the pedo skeleton chanting some grandiose bullshit.
『I said shut your fucking mouth, you prick!』
I charged through the wrecked skeleton knights and clenched my fist again.
『Shut your mouth and die...!』
『Come forth, Gigas!』
CREEEAK.
A massive door materialized behind the pedo skeleton, and a huge monster burst out from it.
"GRRROOOOAAAARRRR!!!"
I knew that monster—no, this one was way bigger than any I'd known.
An ogre.
Known as the forest giant, infamous for its brute strength despite being a large-class monster.
But this ogre was easily two or three times the size of the standard ones, and it grabbed my fist.
I was shocked. In my current overpowered state, I hadn't expected anything to block my punch.
『An ogre corpse infused with giant's blood, crafted from materials I handpicked myself—my strongest servant! You think a mere mortal who borrowed 'holiness' on a whim, and from a half-dead god at that, can stop it?! I used it even against Draganias!』
Ah, got it.
So that's your ace in the hole.
Just beat the shit out of that Gigas thing, and you're done.
Seeing its strength nearly match mine—even in this state—I decided to crank it up another notch.
『GRRRRRR...!!』
Werewolf.
A race famous for overwhelming strength that could dominate even ogres if they were the same size.
But the werewolf abilities I'd wielded so far were nothing compared to the 'original'.
After all, my version only enhanced physical capabilities, unlike true werewolves who fully or partially beastified their bodies, multiplying their base power several times over.
A fake that couldn't even compare to the real racial ability.
But now was different.
Now, I could draw out the real thing.
No—the real thing and more.
『UOOOOOOOOOH—!』
Sharp claws and fur like a beast's began sprouting from my hands.
Not just my hands.
My whole body.
And I could feel the balance of power shifting—me gaining the edge where we'd been even moments ago.
"Guu—GUUURRRRAAAHHH!!"
Crunch, CRACK, CRACKLE!
The hand gripping my fist bent backward, then its wrist SNAPped clean off.
"KUUUAAAAAAAHHH—!!!"
Feeling the pain, it dropped to one knee, bellowing in agony.
『M-My Gigas... losing in strength...? I-Impossible...! I didn't want to use this, but come forth!』
CREEEAK—another door ripped open.
Black, slimy things squirted out from it.
Those are...
『You fucking pedo prick. So that's what those were?』
SPLAT SPLAT—they latched onto the broken-armed Gigas thing's body. I'd seen these fuckers plenty of times before.
They clung on, morphing into armor-like coverage, even slithering over the snapped wrist.
"GUUURRRAAAHH!!"
It started rising again, regaining its strength.
So before that—
Still half-covered in the gross slime, I grabbed its head with both hands.
『Honeybee Knee Kick!』
CRACK—Wearhoneybee poison stingers shot from my knee.
I drove that knee straight up, skewering its face like a shish kebab.
But I didn't stop there.
『Honeybee Knee Kick! Honeybee Knee Kick! Honeybee Knee Kick!』
(Repeated endlessly...)
I knew once it was fully covered, the damn thing wouldn't die properly—and it'd be even grosser.
So before then, I kept kneeing its skull relentlessly, pulverizing it to powder.
『Where you going, you prick?』
Sensing its host was wrecked before full coverage, the black slimy nameless bastards tried to peel off—I grabbed them too.
『Rag Wring!』
Using my five-plus years of bachelor life know-how, I twisted and wrung the ends hard.
SPLURRRRT...!
They thrashed wildly in my grip, but soon burst.
SPLAT, SPLAT...!
These things turn to water when they die, huh.
I shook off the gooey black liquid oozing between my fingers like melted sludge and advanced on the pedo skeleton clacking its dentures.
『D-Don't come closer...! Stay back...!』
CREEEAK, CRREEEAAAK!
The pedo skeleton's magic battered me, but without the brains or time for proper chants, it was all weak shit that barely tickled.
The thick fur covering my body absorbed it all—no pain.
『I said stay back...!』
『Uji mlurg mlhurd...!』
Spouting gibberish shit, the prick.
『Honeybee...!』
『Grraaaah...! A-Absolute Shiel...』
CREEEAK—a barrier flared before my fist.
『Ha! Fuck you!』
I kicked hard into the gap it couldn't cover.
But.
I definitely connected, yet it didn't feel solid.
Like the first Honeybee Punch missing the skull.
Or the jaw shot only wrecking the shoulder.
Now, aiming to shatter exposed ribs, I only blasted off a scrawny shinbone.
The pedo skeleton kept dodging proper hits in this creepy way.
Something was up—he was doing something.
『Kuhk, kuuugh... KAAAAHH...』
Writhing from its flying shin.
I mounted it.
『Dunno what, but it still hit, right?』
『S-Stop! You filthy mortal, don't touch this body—』
『Mouth.』
CRUNCH!
I smashed my fist into the pedo prick's mouth.
Its remaining hand shattered.
『Kuuuuugh...!』
『Do it.』
Slammed again.
CRACKLE!
Now its last shinbone crumbled.
『Stop...! STOOOOP...!』
『Third warning? This is four.』
For dumb shits who won't listen, a good beating's the way.
CRACKLE!
Keep pounding till it sinks in.
CRACKLE!
Even if it never does, fine.
CRACKCRACKLE!
Never planned to let it live anyway.
CRACKCRACKCRACKLE!
What the hell was resentment, anyway.
Hoaran had lectured me on it plenty, but I'd never really gotten it.
Now I did—crystal clear.
"Ku, kuu... Uaa..."
Pounding and pounding and pounding—its body reduced to scraps, only the skull dangling.
Clinging to its remains.
'Kill—!'
'Please, kill—!'
'Kill that bastard!'
'Ahh, finally, finally, finally...!'
Tens of thousands of vengeful spirits appeared.
The eyes inherited from Karura.
These eyes, bearing the bloodline of the divine bird, showed me the countless horrors clinging to this pedo skeleton's body.
Only those who'd died with grudges so fierce they lingered in the world—tens of thousands of them, an evil so grotesquely thick.
If you added the ones who'd died without even a chance for resentment, who knew how many victims this pedo fucker had claimed.
No—I didn't even want to imagine.
『Die...!』
As I raised my fist for the final blow on its mouthless skull.
Whoosh...!
The power dwelling in my body vanished in an instant.
"Ah, oring."
Just one finisher left, but not only did my strength drain, the backlash hit from overdosing on Overdrive Pills from the start.
The wounds suppressed by holiness, the curse or poison that wouldn't heal—they all demanded payment for the strain.
"Pffft...!"
My shredded guts spilled from my mouth.
"The limit's here, eh...! A mere mortal, abusing holiness so arrogantly... finally...!"
The skull-only pedo skeleton glared from its empty sockets, teeth clacking as it shrieked.
"Die, mortal! Magic Mis—"
This bastard was at his limit too—its 'confident' spell was the lame Magic Missile I knew well.
Problem was, even that would kill me now.
"Fuck! Just die!"
Forcing my unresponsive hand into a fist, I swung down.
"Sa..."
At the same instant, the clacking skull finished its chant.
A beam of light pierced its shiny skull.
"De...?"
The same light that pierced my chest.
"B-Bill... eat... Me, dying in a place like... "
Fssshhh...
The pedo skeleton crumbled to dust.
I groped my chest where the beam had passed—nothing, not even a scratch.
What the hell? I turned to where the light came from.
"Haa... haa..."
There was the pint-sized pharaoh, still chained, barely extending a finger my way.
She'd fired the finishing shot at the pedo skeleton.
Thanks to her, I lived...
"Buueeeehh..."
No, too early to relax.
Blood poured from my mouth, my torn side—everything.
Somehow... gotta fix this.
Gotta...
"...Head's spinning like crazy."
The consciousness I'd barely clung to slipped away right then.