Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: Monster, Ghost, and Maid
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“Ha, this is why I hate fighting necromancers!”
Monster Sorceress Dina leaped from rooftop to rooftop, letting out a sinister chuckle.
Even without wrapping her body in mana, she moved with effortless grace, her physical prowess more akin to a knight’s than a mage’s—as if she were flying.
The spectral monster hounds chasing after her.
No matter how fast she was, she couldn’t outrun soul hunting dogs that soared through the air, so Dina finally thrust out her hand.
Her right hand began to writhe.
It twisted into an impossible shape for a human hand, accompanied by the chilling crack of bones realigning.
Soon, her hand had transformed into the gaping maw of a massive magic beast.
The reason a monster sorceress like her had come all the way to Claren in search of a slightly different breed of yokai was due to her unique trait.
“You mutts don’t even recognize your master.”
Crunch!
She bit into the incoming soul hunting dogs with her right hand. The battered spirits of the hounds, flung about and broken beyond repair, offered nothing but a rotten fishy taste and barely any sense of satisfaction.
Even after devouring several, more monster hounds came charging in, painting the sky like a rainbow.
She let out a hollow laugh, wondering if she’d sent that many herself.
“But he’s handling all of them.”
While the power of the spirits one commanded was important in gauging a necromancer’s ability and talent, the sheer number mattered just as much.
“I heard he wields a Spirit Stone.”
Yet the hounds’ spirits showed no special enhancements. If anything, they were weaker than in life.
That meant he was accommodating this many without even using the Spirit Stone.
“Such overflowing talent. No wonder they wanted to recruit him.”
He could see all spirits and had the talent to command this many?
“Investigations said he’d been at it for less than a year.”
Dante had been closely monitoring Deius’s movements, so his background had already been thoroughly investigated.
She’d thought his brilliant ideas and meticulous preparations had overcome various obstacles.
“But his raw talent is exceptional too.”
His aptitude for necromancy was terrifying.
Monster sorcerers and necromancers had excellent synergy as allies, so Dina found it a real shame he hadn’t joined Dante.
But if asked if she feared him now that he was an enemy, she’d scoff and tell them to cut the bullshit.
“There are no half-assed folks in Dante.”
Her other hand, still intact, began to twist as well, transforming into another massive maw that roared toward the sky.
“This fight’s too low-level for mutts like you to intrude.”
She hadn’t expected them to cling so tenaciously to a casual jab.
The mouths on both hands opened wide, drawing in a deep breath. The hounds charging from the sky were sucked into them.
In mere seconds, all those spirits had been cleanly devoured by Dina.
“Eh, no flavor at all.”
Turning her body, Dina dashed off without reverting her hands’ transformation. It was a rooftop, and with everyone in costumes for the festival, they’d just think it was part of the disguise.
Just like those idiot yokai marching along, flaunting themselves.
“Fools.”
Dina clicked her tongue at the sight of the yokai parade.
The grotesque ones happily strolled along, grinning.
Did they even realize people were mocking them?
Their stupidity was so excessive it turned her stomach.
Amid the procession, a black-clad woman caught Dina’s eye.
[This way!]
Her face veiled in translucent black cloth, the woman led the yokai parade.
Thanks to her acting as a guide, the yokai stuck to a set path instead of wandering off, which Dina quickly noticed.
“Giggle.”
What kind of festival was this?
Yokai were meant to terrify people, cause harm, devour them.
That was enough for monsters like them.
“A spirit following Deius?”
Crunch!
Her hands’ mouths gaped wide once more. The black necromancer’s voluptuous figure and dense mana felt like a delectable fruit, making Dina’s mouth water.
A rare gourmet meal after so long.
Her vicious teeth clacked together, demanding to chew the woman right then.
She perched on the rooftop railing overlooking the parade.
Even without using a shred of mana, the force of her leap half-shattered the railing.
Her physical abilities now surpassed knights, hard to even call human.
But this brute strength would give Deius Verdi a headache trying to track her, and the ghost woman wouldn’t notice either.
After all, a mage’s greatest weakness was raw, unrefined power.
She shot toward the black necromancer like a cannonball, slicing through the sky. She’d draw every eye for a moment, but it didn’t matter.
Devour that woman, and the yokai would lose order, rampaging indiscriminately.
Even if they didn’t harm anyone.
The mere plunge into unregulated panic would turn the festival’s laughter into screams and chaos.
The instant she extended her hands toward the black necromancer—
Screeech!
Sparks flew with a thick frictional screech, dragging on like a violin’s wail.
Reflected in Dina’s crimson eyes was a scantily clad maid holding an axe right in front of her.
“Ah, I see.”
Pindenai nodded to herself, as if understanding something.
“So that’s why the young master told me to follow the front of the parade?”
Smirk.
It was the first time.
For the first time in her life, Dina felt the illusion of shifting from predator to prey.
The woman before her was that feral, her smile exuding a predator’s leisure.
Whoosh!
Dina urgently pushed back with her hands to create distance from Pindenai, landing neatly atop a round, eyeball-shaped yokai in the parade.
Pindenai similarly leaped onto the head of a goblin-like yokai right behind the black necromancer.
“Oooh!”
“What’s this? Another event?!”
“Can’t miss this!”
The onlookers following the parade mistook the clash between Pindenai and Dina for yet another spectacle.
It grated on Dina, who ground her teeth while channeling mana to pull her robe’s hood low.
She hated being their entertainment, looking pathetic in the process.
In contrast, Pindenai was recognized by the crowd.
“Whoa, isn’t that the maid who was with the necromancer earlier?”
“Oh! She’s been dressed like that from the start for this event! Foreshadowing!”
Her face was already known in Claren anyway. Pindenai slung her axe over her shoulder and asked,
“Don’t like people turning someone’s fight into a spectacle, huh?”
“…….”
“Well, they think it’s just part of the show. But what does that matter? We’re fighting for our lives here.”
Dina couldn’t grasp the intent behind the woman’s words.
Was she saying they should call it off here?
She agreed with the sentiment, but without understanding the motive, she hesitated to respond.
“So what?”
She carefully spat out the words. Pindenai chuckled and shook her head.
“Just testing you. Trying to rattle you. Truth is, I love a good fight!”
It happened in an instant.
So swift it felt like the wind and space itself split under Pindenai’s blade.
She kicked off the goblin’s head and swung her axe at Dina.
Swoosh!
But Dina wasn’t ordinary either. Operating as a black mage in the Griffin Kingdom meant trusting no one.
Plus, her superhuman physicality was more than enough to dodge the axe swing.
“You bitch!”
With a curse, Dina’s elongated hands shot toward Pindenai.
Not a mere sword or spear—two massive mouths flying at her.
Even for Pindenai, a single axe couldn’t block that range; she had to dodge.
Crunch!
Blood sprayed, soaking the ground. Amid the piercing pain of flesh torn, Pindenai grimaced slightly and muttered,
“Picked the wrong master, huh.”
She’d blocked it, enduring the bleeding. Despite being fully able to dodge, her feet hadn’t moved.
‘Why?’
The question sprouted and was plucked from Dina’s mind like a weed.
“Protecting the yokai?”
Dina grinned ear-to-ear, sticking out her tongue and bursting into laughter.
“Crazy bitch! Throwing your life away for these monster shits? I knew you were an idiot, but a top-tier moron?”
“Your mouth’s filthy.”
Pindenai pulled a cigarette from her pocket and lit it. But soaked in her own blood, it wouldn’t catch, so she spat it out in annoyance.
“This is just me taking the hit so you won’t chicken out when we start for real.”
“Bullshit.”
Dina switched targets. She’d just devour the yokai swarming around her willy-nilly.
That was the original plan anyway—no more hesitation.
“Let’s see you block this.”
Could she, alone and injured, stop Dina from eating every last yokai?
An opponent who’d normally give her trouble had handed her an opening.
Exposing her weakness, no less.
Dina extended both hands, mouths gaping wide in laughter, planning to devour at least half before Deius arrived.
Crunch!
An unexpected blow to the jaw made her bite her tongue.
She spat out whatever rolled in her saliva-filled mouth, realizing it was her severed tongue.
“Fuck?”
Stunned, Dina jerked her head up.
A mere tongue wouldn’t kill a monster sorceress.
Did the opponent know that?
[Now you’ll be quiet.]
It hadn’t been a killing blow.
The ghostly woman in black cloth gazed down from the sky—the black necromancer who’d led the yokai march until moments ago.
Dina glanced at the front lines.
Even without the black necromancer, the yokai marched on, led by a boy in drag and a slightly plump pregnant woman in vampire makeup, both smiling.
“One of Deius’s spirits?”
Dina snarled in irritation. A spirit was just food for her hands anyway.
She dismissed it as an annoying pest.
[Handling it?]
The black necromancer scoffed, extending her hand in disbelief.
[Even after I cut your tongue, your mouth keeps flapping.]
Ominous mana surged.
Deius had the irregular Spirit Stone, propelling him toward necromantic mastery at an absurd speed.
But on the contrary.
This solitary woman had walked this path long before, alone.
No lucky breaks, no cheat artifacts—just pure effort, glimpsing the pinnacle’s fragments.
[Wonder where to cut next to shut you up.]
With a chilling murmur, the black necromancer’s dark mana swirled toward Dina like a storm.