Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Dirge of Persia
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[You have encountered the Field Boss 「Dirge of Persia」.]
Dirge of Persia.
A crimson demonic beast inhabiting the Great Forest.
And at the same time—
The remnant of an elf who was once the brilliant lord of the forest.
The thing before my eyes now... held no glory, no intelligence.
It was merely a monster marching endlessly toward death, clutching its soul like a funeral dirge.
“…….”
It hadn’t spotted me or Klaus yet.
A sound too vague to call speech.
Uttering bizarre noises indistinguishable from cries, it pressed forward, ever forward.
“…Tch.”
I clicked my tongue softly.
The condition for a field boss in the Great Forest to begin its activity was one week.
But... this one was blatantly breaking the rules and moving right now.
‘This is a pain.’
My plan had been simple.
Ambush the dormant Persia, strip away more than half its health from the start.
But now, that opportunity was completely gone.
Still, there was no reason to despair.
It hadn’t seen me or Klaus yet.
The chance for a surprise attack remained.
The problem was not knowing how meaningful that attack would be.
Whoosh, whoosh.
I slowly shifted my gaze.
The wall of ancient trees encircling Persia.
Twisted trunks rising up, spaces so narrow you had to twist sideways to pass.
A terrain stifling on both sides.
A battlefield where movement wasn’t free.
“Haa…….”
A sigh came from beside me.
Klaus stared down at his sword-gripping hand and swallowed once.
Hesitation.
A rare emotion for the protagonist, Klaus.
Even so—
“Yeah... let’s do it.”
Klaus clenched his fist and slowly assumed his stance.
That moment of resolve was perfectly protagonist-like.
Rustle—
The sound of trees growing near Persia.
...Sprouts rising like fresh shoots.
Vines and branches entwining each other, beginning to form shapes.
Rustle, rustle...
A trunk formed, limbs attached, and finally a silhouette completed.
Saplings.
Saplings that looked tough at a glance.
‘Headache.’
It was already awake, which was a headache...
And now it was even summoning trash mobs.
I whipped my gaze toward Klaus.
“I’ll take the trash mobs.”
“…Huh?”
“You take that one.”
Whoosh.
What my fingertip pointed to...
The field boss, 「Dirge of Persia」.
“Hmm... got it.”
The trash mobs with their bizarre defenses would be no problem for my 【Void Dragon】.
Instead... the main body had to be Klaus’s job.
“Let’s go at once.”
A surprise attack only once.
If we didn’t end it here, Persia would immediately enter phase 2.
“…….”
I slowly steadied my breathing.
「Dirge of Persia」 had a phase 2, but...
It was still just a field boss.
Nothing compared to something called a ‘catastrophe.’
And if we finished it before transitioning from phase 1 to 2, we wouldn’t even see those bullshit patterns.
“……Going.”
Klaus murmured lowly, and...
──────!!
Like a meteor falling.
A brilliant light cleaved through the forest.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Meteor Light Dance】
Like a meteor falling, the sword dances brilliantly.
: Along with trails of light, it inflicts absolute damage on ‘evil.’
Light will surely dispel the shadows.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
Klaus’s body left trails of light as it shot toward Persia.
Dozens of afterimages trailing a straight, radiant path.
The tangled trees and trunks of the Great Forest...
Rustle—
Lost their color the instant they touched the light.
“…….”
In the blink of an eye, the surroundings had been cleared into what could almost be called flat ground.
────?
Persia turned its head.
But... just before that head fully turned—
Klaus’s sword had already reached Persia.
Slash!
One arm severed.
The severed limb didn’t even spin once in the air before crumbling to ash and scattering in the wind.
Crunch—
Then the surrounding scenery shook.
Ancient trees and trunks surged up again, wrapping around Persia’s body like a shield to block Klaus’s advance.
- Keeak!?
Demonic beasts in the form of saplings let out eerie cries as they charged at Klaus.
But—
Thud!
I blocked their path early, raising 【Void Dragon】’s blade to pierce the saplings’ tough hides like paper.
This dagger’s unique skill, 【Annihilation】.
The dragon’s fang denies reality; all defenses crumble and lose meaning, existence culminating in the word ‘annihilation.’
Just as it said, the saplings’ hides lost the concept of hardness.
Sizzle—
And turned to ash, vanishing.
“…Tch.”
But the remaining saplings didn’t even comprehend their comrade’s death.
Ignoring the sight of their identical form shattering, they threw themselves solely for their master.
Leaping high with sharp thorns extended, the falling sapling.
And its trajectory... straight toward Klaus.
Whoosh!
I reached out my hand.
Dozens of strands of mana thread extended from my fingertips.
Lines connecting, tangling in midair—
- Kkak?!
I grabbed the thread, yanking with all my might on the sapling’s leg ensnared within.
The unbalanced mass of wood toppled forward, and the mana thread evaporated after fulfilling its role.
“──!!”
That brief instant became Klaus’s opening.
Swish...!
Persia’s remaining arm bounced away into the air.
That arm fell slowly, very slowly, turning to ash in midair and vanishing.
“…….”
The forest fell into a silence so thick it choked.
But that silence didn’t last long.
Crunch...!
As if to fill the void of the lost arm.
Saplings sprouted once more from Persia’s body.
The Great Forest screamed as ancient trees shook together, and in that chaos, saplings bloomed endlessly: four, six, nine...
“Fuu…….”
I exhaled shortly and wrapped mana threads around 【Void Dragon】’s hilt.
Like scattering wind.
Like flowing waves.
【Void Dragon】 quietly rose from my hand.
- Kiiik─?!
A dragon swimming through the air.
A wingless serpent tracing melodies, as demonic beasts turned to ash and dispersed.
And...
─────!!
A massive shadow surged from Persia’s body.
The precursor to phase 2.
The fleeting moment before transitioning from phase 1 to 2.
I immediately reached out.
Whoosh.
A line drawn in midair.
Lines connecting, and an abyss bloomed beneath my feet.
Purple liquid crawled out, shadows twisting atop it into tentacle-like extensions.
I meant to bind Persia’s legs, arms, every movement, but...
Crackle.
“What the─”
The instant Persia’s red eyes met my golden ones.
With a single glance... my magic circle vanished.
────!!
Shadows flowed from Persia’s body.
The severed arms reborn as darkness, ancient tree forms reviving at their tips.
“…Ah.”
I hadn’t considered it.
Persia... at its core, a ‘ghost’ of an elf.
The race that wielded the purest mana in the world, masters of nature’s flow... mana itself.
“Fuck...”
Thud.
【Void Dragon】, swimming in the air, fell limply to the ground.
“Grrgh...!”
A metallic clank from Klaus’s direction.
Klaus was desperately holding on amid trees and trunks, reaching out toward Persia, but...
- Thump!
A trunk surging from behind struck Klaus’s body.
The next instant, Klaus’s body ricocheted far into the trees, spraying blood into the air.
- Crackle...
I quickly opened my inventory and drew 【Leviathan】.
...Not yet.
It wasn’t over yet.
There was... still time.
“Swift.”
Tick.
A single syllable from my lips.
The flow of time hitched abruptly.
Fwoosh—
My vision warped under 【Word Spirit】, and I shot upward at a speed light couldn’t match.
I stepped on an instant.
And another instant, arriving behind Persia’s back.
Blood trickled from my mouth, but regrettably, no time to feel pain.
Swiiiing...!!
I swung 【Leviathan】 with all my strength.
The shadow peeled away.
The arm of darkness severed futilely, and as the blade reached for Persia’s neck—
[Using 【Devourer of Catastrophes】.]
“…What?”
Everything stopped.
...No.
It was closer to me being severed from time.
[Peering into the essence of 「Dirge of Persia」.]
The second hand halted.
Ash scattered in midair froze particle by particle.
And atop the frozen world, like an old film reel, sloooowly—projections began playing.
—“You... look like a marmot.”
—“Persia, come on, what’s with marmot?”
—“Your eyes. Those curiosity-filled eyes look just like a marmot’s.”
A brilliant forest.
Gentle winds, birdsong in a living woods.
—“So, like...”
—“You haven’t received a name yet, right?”
—“That’s right.”
—“How about ‘Marmot’?”
Two figures, a man and woman, sat side by side by a lake.
Gentle ripples shook, reflecting two faces on the surface.
—“...Persia. Don’t tell me you got that from marmot?”
—“Why not? It’s cute.”
The outlines of the two faces sharpened in the calm ripples, but...
Zzzzt—
In that moment, the faces in the lake glitched like censored footage, noise creeping in.
Faces blurred and faded, expressions smeared illegible.
—“I’ve already decided on ‘Kaden.’”
—“That... isn’t it from ‘Kadencha’?”
—“You figured it out!”
—“That’s so lame.”
The dialogue rang clear, yet the faces speaking it remained unseen.
Zzzt......
Vision distorted, the film tearing apart.
“…….”
Colors faded, afterimages stretched long, the last fragments vanishing like thunderclouds.
[Fragment of 「Dirge of Persia」 is unstable.]
[Forcibly terminating 【Devourer of Catastrophes】.]
The hands of time began moving again.
Thud, silence shattered.
And I... felt all strength drain from my fingertips.
Stab...!
【Leviathan】 half-severed Persia’s nape.
But that was it.
That fleeting emotion brushed in that instant, that briefest hesitation, stole the chance.
“……!”
Shadows writhed across Persia’s body.
Sensing danger instinctively, I wrapped mana threads around myself and leaped far back.
[A portion of the 【Fragment of Greed】 dwelling in 「Dirge of Persia」 reacts.]
The air currents twisted.
Every wind and breath in the forest... flowed entirely toward Persia.
[「Dirge of Persia」 copies ‘Klaus’s’ unique trait 【Adaptive Protagonist】.]
Fwooooosh──
The shadows cloaking Persia’s body melted away, wounds spewing hazy smoke and vanishing.
[「Dirge of Persia」’s unique trait 【Adaptive Protagonist】 reacts.]
Ding.
Text flickered in one corner of my vision.
[「Dirge of Persia」 temporarily acquires the trait 【Physical Nullification】.]
“Wow.”
Confirming that message, I could only utter those words.
“We’re fucked.”