Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Seeing Off
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A chilling sensation brushed along her spine, but Dina calmly assessed the situation.
‘If I think about it coolly, I have the advantage.’
The mana emanating from the Black Necromancer was pure malice incarnate, but Dina herself had a strong resistance to fear.
‘She seems like a mage on the weaker side in the living world anyway, but she’s just a dead evil spirit.’
No matter how skilled a mage, they couldn’t maintain their prowess after death.
[I can hear the gears turning in your head from here.]
But as if shattering those thoughts, the Black Necromancer’s mana began to morph into grotesque evil spirits. Her mana charged forward, mouth gaping in a scream, hands outstretched.
“……Necromancer?”
Even Dina couldn’t help but be surprised by this. Though she didn’t handle souls herself.
Mana reeking of grudges was a hallmark of necromancers.
And this sticky, manifested resentment didn’t seem like the work of an ordinary one.
Given the narrow field, Dina recalled the necromancers she knew and realized her identity.
“Black Necromancer?”
Like with Dayus Verdi, there had been a time when Dante tried to recruit her, but she had no interest in the world’s crises and refused.
Moreover, the Black Necromancer’s grand goal was utterly opposed to Dante’s ultimate aim, so even they had given up on her.
“You’re dead?”
This shocked even Dina. One of the top five necromancers on the continent.
A witch who devoured knowledge to whip herself toward the pinnacle of necromancy.
“Why? No, more importantly, why are you sticking by Dayus’s side?”
[Haa.]
In response to Dina’s barrage of questions, the Black Necromancer exhaled as if annoyed.
Her mana, shaped like evil spirits, charged in answer instead.
[Shut your mouth.]
“Right, you could pull this off even after death. And as a necromancer, no less.”
Being closest to death, her skills hadn’t plummeted post-mortem.
But there were limits.
Crunch!
Dina’s hands didn’t just devour souls. They chomped through the Black Necromancer’s mana, digesting it.
Her lips curled at the high-quality, tangy mana.
“If a necromancer can’t handle souls, she deserves to die. Oh, wait—you’re already dead, so should I say ‘dissipate’?”
[Keep talking.]
From wherever she’d hidden them, the once-still mana surged forth again.
To Dina, it was like a feast rolling right into her mouth.
Then.
A thick tobacco scent bloomed in her chest, assaulting her nose.
As the Black Necromancer’s magic poured from above, Pindenai had somehow arrived in front of her, cigarette in mouth.
“Fancy smokes don’t get soggy easy, huh.”
Muttering something odd, she swung her axe. Thinking it hit true, she exhaled deeply, blood-soaked cigarette between her lips...
Crunch!
Teeth burst from Dina’s chest, devouring Pindenai’s axe.
“Is this a magic beast or a human?”
She spat out a baffled remark but didn’t stop, tossing the axe and punching at Dina’s face.
Dina hadn’t expected her to follow up so smoothly without flinching; the blow landed clean, but she didn’t budge.
“Wak!”
Instead, teeth embedded in Pindenai’s hand. It had struck between nose and eyes—how teeth got there was beyond her.
She was certain the woman before her wasn’t normal human flesh.
Judging close combat ineffective, Pindenai twisted to retreat.
“Ah, shit!”
But wounds from protecting the yokai caught her. A sharp pain made her stagger, blood gushing.
Dina’s hand, mouth agape, lunged, but...
The Black Necromancer’s mana grabbed the mouths on Dina’s hands from both sides, holding them off. Pindenai steadied herself and escaped.
“Annoying!”
Dina, having devoured the Black Necromancer’s mana instead, licked her lips and glared at the pair again.
Pindenai bleeding profusely from severe wounds, the Black Necromancer fighting with limited mana.
There had been a momentary crisis, but overall, her superiority remained.
She could gain the edge just by eating the yokai without facing them head-on.
“Tch, you two look delicious.”
Pindenai and the Black Necromancer tempted her so much that her hunger intensely craved them.
She didn’t want to spoil her appetite on scraps until she devoured those two.
[You’re no mere monster surgeon, are you?]
The Black Necromancer, calmly settling on a nearby yokai’s head, spoke. Dina merely twitched an eyebrow, not bothering to reply.
But the Black Necromancer’s violet eyes had pierced the truth.
[You’ve grafted a magic beast directly into your body. A high-rank one, at that.]
She grimaced in disgust, but Dina laughed as if to say, what’s the problem?
“Heh, isn’t it the same as you helping Dayus? Me surpassing human limits by implanting a magic beast, and you accelerating his growth. No real difference.”
[…….]
“I was wondering how that guy grew so fast in such a short time. Even our Dante members were curious, but it was thanks to you, huh?”
Dina’s words poured out like her mouth was on fire.
“You know? Our members share vision on missions. All of Dante is watching you right now. They’re probably laughing their asses off.”
[Ugh.]
The Black Necromancer realized the eerie feeling she’d had was this, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Being manipulated by another necromancer after death? Still so attached? Or is it karma from handling evil spirits?”
Dina’s sneer deepened.
Two pupils appeared in her crimson eyes, a sign she was fusing further with the magic beast.
“You think you’re qualified to mock me? We’re all filthy bitches. Black magic junkies hooked on that drug!”
She thrust out her hand. The mouth on it wailed longingly, desperate to devour the Black Necromancer.
“Even after death, you can’t quit the drug and stay hung up on it.”
Honestly, the Black Necromancer partly agreed. No one was as obsessed with necromancy as she.
She’d been captivated by the pleasure and power, wanting to see its end.
But.
[Still, I lived as a human, and died as one.]
“…….”
[I didn’t abandon my humanity by shoving all blame onto some ‘greater cause,’ or justify turning into a magic beast for a stronger body.]
Clang! Clang!
Dina’s hands gnashed their teeth viciously, eager to tear into the Black Necromancer.
Her face twisted savagely into a magic beast’s form.
[Can I even call you human?]
“Let’s see if you can flap your mouth like that after I rip out your soul too.”
Growling, Dina kicked off the yokai she’d been riding and lunged. But midway, a dull thud to her head sent her staggering to the ground.
To her shock, the eye-shaped yokai she’d been standing on had reached up and smacked her from above.
“You fucking bastards!”
Her eyes bloodshot, she ground her teeth and heaved a breath. Despite the yokai now openly hostile, Dina was the outraged one.
“That one bitch on your side changes nothing! You’re all just my meal, you shits!”
As Dina bellowed in fury, the onlookers finally sensed something off and began murmuring.
“This is a real fight, right?”
“N-No way. No such person exists.”
“But it’s too realistic for a show. That maid’s bleeding, too.”
Dina nearly yelled at them to shut up, but ominous mana surged into her mouth.
Her cheeks bulged like stuffed with food as she struggled to swallow.
Having fed her own mana to Dina, the Black Necromancer looked down, finger to her lips.
[Be quiet. You’ll scare people.]
“……!”
[You should be grateful.]
Having swallowed the mana flooding her mouth, Dina suddenly felt off.
[I don’t want my disciple hating me, so I won’t cross that line.]
“What?”
The Black Necromancer chuckled softly, whispering as if reminiscing.
[She has clear boundaries she set herself. So I’m always careful not to cross them.]
“What bullshit.”
Dina couldn’t comprehend.
Most incomprehensible was the odd aura from the procession’s front, far ahead.
Something ominous yet merciful.
A power that repelled closeness but stirred curiosity, welcoming the yokai.
[I’m dead, so I’ll yield the highlight to you.]
Dina felt lost, unable to follow. The Black Necromancer, the cloaked maid, and even the yokai charging toward the welcoming aura at the rear.
She felt abandoned, everyone leaving her behind.
They were this night’s finale.
Acting as if they already saw dawn’s light.
As if tonight’s outcome was set.
Dina chased the vanishing Black Necromancer, entranced.
Finally reaching the procession’s head.
Where an inexplicable aura poured.
The yokai were vanishing with smiles.
Contrary to their grotesque forms, in their death-like phenomenon, they became white orbs of light, beautifully adorning the city.
A black-haired man saw them off, hands behind his back.
She’d wondered when he’d appear.
But no.
She had been approaching him.
Dina thought she was advancing her plan, but belatedly realized she’d been led onto another’s path.
It felt like the deck had been stacked, shifting her elsewhere.
Dayus glanced at the grinding Dina and slowly spoke.
“What do you think they truly desire?”
“What?”
An out-of-left-field question.
Again, again.
Like with the Black Necromancer, she felt lagging far behind them.
Racking her brain for an answer to the cryptic question yielded nothing.
“Yokai created by countless artists. Find the artists’ common thread, and their desire becomes obvious.”
“…….”
Dina could only listen silently. It was like a professor forcing a delinquent student to sit through lecture.
“They just wanted to show themselves off. Like all artists crave showing their work to audiences, these yokai simply wanted recognition.”
But impossible, so they chose dissipation. Showing themselves harmed people.
They thought it an unattainable wish.
“Do you see their satisfied smiles?”
Dayus smiled gently at the yokai parading proudly.
It didn’t suit him, but surprisingly warm.
People applauded their ‘deaths’ as the show’s climax.
No audience believes a magician truly severed their hand.
They didn’t believe the yokai real, nor their exit death.
Mana-born illusions.
A splendid finale, they marveled.
Clapping, laughing, shedding moved tears.
And that was it.
The one thing yokai desired.
Announcing even their end to people. Giving joy and emotion.
So the yokai left smiling. Accepting death gladly.
Not death.
Fulfillment of wishes.
Dreams’ end.
Dayus Verdi gifted what they’d dreamed of but never grasped.
“What the hell are you doing?”
In this scene, Dina bit so hard her gums bled.
“Fighting me, and what? You need the yokai’s power, yet you’re seeing them off now?”
Absurd, words failed her. She’d meant to grant Dayus and yokai total erasure.
“…….”
Dayus clicked his tongue, turning from Dina to bid the yokai farewell again.
Only then.
Dina realized.
Why she couldn’t keep up with their words and actions.
Why their speech baffled her repeatedly.
Different stages.
She thought it a life-or-death battle.
They were merely seeing off yokai.
She was just an accounted-for variable amid it.
“So that’s why you didn’t pursue full force.”
She’d come to the office to wrap things up, but Dayus hadn’t truly chased her.
He hadn’t even considered it; Dina alone had been fighting him.
Her teeth ground beyond grinding.
They snapped.
“First time for such an insult.”
Her blazing eyes ignited. Her body twisted, becoming something grotesque.
“A bit.”
Without stopping her, the yokai send-off would fail.
“Annoying.”
Staring at the crimson beast, the necromancer’s mana surged, brightly illuminating the festival.