Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: The Final Battle Begins
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Right after the strings were severed, all the Deathberries froze in place before collapsing limply to the ground.
They looked just like puppets with their strings cut.
“…Is it over?”
Seren muttered in an exhausted voice.
The hostility that had filled the air evaporated like mist.
The horde of Deathberries scattered across the floor reverted to their original doll forms, showing no signs of further movement.
Even the “main body” Deathberry that Seren had cut the string from returned to its initial ball-jointed doll appearance.
The same eerie look the princess had carried around in her arms.
“Cough…!”
At that moment, Caron spewed blood and collapsed.
Evan, who was closest, rushed over and caught him before he could hit the ground.
“Hey! You okay?”
“…The enemies?”
“We took them down. It’s over now. But you… damn, how much blood have you lost? Ruan! Got any potions?”
“Afraid not. Stop the bleeding first.”
“R-Right. Let me find something to use as a bandage…”
He was tough, so he wouldn’t die easily… but even accounting for that, Caron’s condition looked dire.
Seren, who had slumped down, let out a deep sigh and held out the scissors with trembling hands.
“…These were picked from the dean’s treasure vault, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Good eye. They look like rusty junk you wouldn’t even bother using, but how’d you know they were a holy relic?”
“Just like you said. I’ve got a good eye for these things.”
To be precise, it was the Martial God’s eye.
In any case, I took the scissors from Seren and inspected their condition.
The blade was clearly in much worse shape. The aftermath of pushing it too hard.
Frankly, they looked like they could shatter at any moment…
I felt a slight pang knowing I’d damaged what was essentially a national treasure of a holy relic.
But there hadn’t been a better way to use it, so this end result was probably one the relic would accept with a smile.
“…”
That said.
Even a dwarf artisan might struggle to repair these scissors, but just in case, I decided to keep them.
“About those scissors.”
Seren spoke up, her face unusually pallid.
“Any normal person would’ve had their energy sucked dry and died. Turned into a withered mummy.”
“What do you mean?”
“One swing drains your mental strength, stamina, mana—everything. Felt more like a cursed demon sword than a holy relic.”
“Ah…”
So that was the side effect.
That explained why her complexion was so poor.
“…I just want to wash up, eat, lie in bed, and sleep for two straight days.”
I was about to say I agreed a hundred percent.
“…”
When I sensed something off.
The Deathberries were gone now.
All the dolls had stopped moving.
Every last one, real or fake.
Yet that ominous instrument remained untouched.
Above all, the blood-red lighting hadn’t faded.
I instinctively looked up at the sky…
“…!”
And locked eyes with the blood moon still hovering there.
Was it my imagination? It seemed closer than before—
Crack—
In that instant, the moon’s maw gaped wide, and something inside shot out like a spear.
It wasn’t aimed at me.
Thud. My right arm was pierced as the price for shoving Seren out of the way.
“Ruan!”
“I’m fine!”
It hurt like hell!
“You okay!?”
“Brother…?”
“Stay back and stay alert! It might attack again!”
After barking at Evan, I grabbed the spear with my good hand.
“No…”
Was this really a spear?
Since it came from its mouth, shouldn’t I call it a tongue?
Though that might rob the green-tongued Demon King of its identity…
In any case, feeling it directly only strengthened my conviction that it was a tongue.
Disgustingly squishy and warm. Like grabbing a fish barehanded.
“What if I yank this?”
I turned the thought into action on the spot.
I twisted my pierced arm, wrapped the Demon King’s tongue around my wrist, and pulled.
Naturally, I couldn’t drag the moon from the sky like this…
But a tongue was generally a vital spot. If I could rip it out, maybe I could inflict meaningful damage on the Demon King?
Crash!
…That idea shattered instantly.
“Ow…”
So it could just detach at will.
What was this, a lizard?
My mistake.
I’d treated the Demon King like any ordinary creature. Rip out the tongue and deal damage? Wishful thinking.
It didn’t even have a tongue to begin with.
“But why does this thing still seem alive?”
The moment I glared at the tongue.
It thrashed like a freshly caught eel, swiftly coiling around my entire forearm.
A serpentine, insidious, cunning motion.
Crunch…!
Then immense pressure.
Enough to tear muscle and crush bone.
I circulated my qi while contracting my muscles to resist, but this severed tongue—whatever its structure—suddenly swelled in size.
“Huh…”
And in an instant, it grew large enough to swallow me whole.
Did “wanting me” mean it wanted to eat me? The absurd turn left me momentarily stunned.
Whoosh!
At that moment, a massive blade wind erupted from behind, shredding the swelling tongue to pieces.
Magic.
“Over here!”
It was Dean Alderson.
The moment I whipped my head toward him, Alderson raised his staff again.
I’d never seen him lift it like that before…
Flash. The scenery around us changed in an instant.
“Huh? Where’s…”
“We’ve relocated for now. Research Building 6.”
Alderson replied.
His complexion still didn’t look good.
Rumble…
In the distance, a building collapsed.
I walked to a window and peered outside.
“Hmm…”
The blood moon was smashing buildings indiscriminately.
Just like it had pulverized Building 13, raining down debris.
“…It’s looking for us.”
“Yeah. While wrecking the place.”
Alderson said, gazing out the window.
“…Fortunately, it seems to need a bit of time between attacks. It’ll take a while to find us. There are 13 research buildings total.”
Building 13 was down, Building 12 was guarded by Brother Arang, and one more had just collapsed, leaving 10.
From the Demon King’s perspective, it was like finding a coin in a cup—smashing each building one by one to guess the right one.
“Ugh, my poor back…”
This building could be next, but I was so exhausted I flopped onto the bare floor, forgetting all decorum.
I’d tempered my body and mind, dulling White Flower’s side effects considerably, but I still couldn’t get used to this debilitating fatigue.
Disrespectfully, I spoke to the dean from my spread-eagled position.
“Thanks to you, we survived… but what’s the situation at Building 12?”
“I have many questions for you about that, but sadly, we don’t have time for talk.”
With Fourth Brother summoned, the 250 armored soldiers shouldn’t be an issue.
The cadets there were safe for the moment.
Of course, not forever.
Fourth Brother’s manifestation had a time limit.
“I heard the gist from Princess Perist.”
Alderson said gravely, and I sensed a flinch from somewhere.
Just then I noticed Princess Perist cowering in the corner.
“You…”
She startled and hid her face with her knees.
I wanted to smack her head a few times—it grated on me—but I lacked the energy.
“Now I’ll ask. What happened to the strike team? You couldn’t take down the Demon King after all?”
“Hmm…”
Pondering how to explain, Seren answered for me.
“Threads came down from the moon in the sky. The Demon King was controlling the dolls with them, but one thread was exceptionally tough. The entity connected to it was the main body. We managed to defeat it after a struggle, but the back world didn’t end.”
“I see…”
The dean pondered briefly, sighed, and spoke.
“As expected, we need to destroy that moon to escape this place.”
“Defeat the moon? That’s unreasonable.”
“The Demon King is an unreasonable existence by nature. At least it can’t control dolls anymore. Now it’s down to just one enemy…”
Of course, that one enemy was stronger than all the dolls we’d fought combined—and far more infuriating.
How the hell were we supposed to take down a moon in the sky?
“I guess I need a long-range martial art for times like this.”
True to my nature as a martial artist, here I was thinking of techniques even now.
I couldn’t keep relying on Fire Wheel or throwing my sword forever.
Another homework assignment piled up.
It really hit home—you had to travel the world and face trials to recognize your own shortcomings.
This tied into the drawbacks of secluded training: even in a perfect environment, you might not realize if you’re heading in the wrong direction until too late.
One misstep, and you could waste years honing the wrong path.
Rumble…
Another building collapsed in the distance.
“…Caron’s not doing well.”
Evan said heavily.
“He’s lost too much blood. At this rate…”
“Let me see.”
After checking Caron’s complexion and pulse, Alderson grimaced stiffly.
“…Hm.”
“No way to help him?”
“Not right now. We need to get out of here ASAP and get him to a priest…”
“…”
Evan exhaled. I knew what he was thinking.
Would Caron hold out that long?
Then the princess timidly approached and placed a hand on Caron.
“What do you think you’re—!”
“Eek!?”
Evan, still hostile toward her, slapped her hand away roughly.
Her pale hand turned red, but Perist bowed repeatedly in shock, apologizing profusely.
“S-Sorry… I’m sorry…”
“…”
Evan looked flustered too—realizing he’d hit harder than intended. He hadn’t adjusted to her changed demeanor yet.
I was different.
At first it was absurd, but given her looks and current state, this felt more like her true self.
She’d seen the back world as false, so her previous facade was probably just an act, like a mask.
Like in a lucid dream, where you can be your idealized self.
Though her ideal being a creepy dress, dyed black hair, and talking to ugly dolls was shocking.
“Huh…?”
Evan voiced surprise. Looking over, Caron’s complexion had improved dramatically.
Perist stammered.
“I… used my blessing. It’s not healing, but… he won’t die now…”
She mumbled meekly before burying her face in her knees again.
An awkward silence fell.
I turned to the dean.
“If we stay like this, we all die eventually, right?”
“Probably.”
“No other options?”
I had no sharp ideas myself. Time to rely on the adult.
After a pause, the dean spoke.
“There is one method…”
“Tell me.”
“…There’s a spell to destroy that moon. But it’s a grand magic, so casting takes time.”
That damn chanting.
Mages were powerhouse fighters, but this part was inconvenient.
“How long?”
“At least 30 minutes.”
Longer than expected.
A grand mage chanting for 30 minutes meant serious power, sure.
Rumble…
Meanwhile, buildings kept getting systematically demolished.
Alderson peered out the window and spoke.
“The Demon King attacks once, then goes quiet for about five minutes.”
“Eight buildings left. If we’re lucky, we could stall up to 40 minutes.”
“But the odds aren’t great. It could target this one next.”
Alderson fell silent after that.
I scanned our group.
Pale-faced Seren, Caron hanging by a thread, Evan seemed relatively fine…
‘From his position, going all-out might be tricky.’
One slip, and his young cult leader identity could be exposed.
I spoke up.
“I’ll do it.”
“You alone, holding out for 30 minutes?”
“Yeah. I still have an ace up my sleeve.”
I’d pondered long and hard, but this was the only way.
Seren and Evan stepped up.
“I’ll help.”
“Me too.”
“I appreciate the spirit, but rest. You two would just get in the way right now.”
Facts.
To me, the difference between those two and Caron was just whether they were conscious.
I turned to Alderson.
“Use that spatial transfer spell again. As far away as possible.”
“Understood.”
Alderson hesitated, then looked at me.
“…As dean, I’m ashamed. Relying on a mere cadet like this is regrettable.”
“It’s fine.”
I chuckled.
“When it’s tough, you help each other—that’s how you survive.”
* * *
When I opened my eyes, we were inside another building.
Likely one of the other research wings.
Rumble…
Right on cue, another building collapsed.
We’d bought five minutes.
I strolled slowly down the hallway.
There were several reasons I had to buy time against the Demon King alone…
One being Haden Ihar’s attitude toward me.
He probably wouldn’t try to kill me unless pushed.
Of course, I couldn’t bank on that alone.
Shing—
Drawing my Yin-Yang Sword, I thought.
Once this fight ended, I probably couldn’t return to the Bednickers anymore.
But it didn’t matter much.
A real man had turned sixteen.
A fine age to leave home.
Click—
I opened the building door and stepped outside.
The Demon King’s gaze, overlooking the back world, snapped to me instantly. Its ominous eyes curved, lips splitting into a grin.
No matter how many times I saw it, that smile was repulsive.
“Watch closely.”
I muttered to the Demon King…
“…And try not to tell anyone.”
Adding that for the dean and cadets possibly watching, I awakened the instrument slumbering in my dantian.
An unfamiliar energy mingled with my internal qi, transforming into a special inner force.
I drew it into my palm. It naturally seeped into the weapon I gripped.
Kwahhh…!
The roughly blended inner force harmonized the moment it touched the Yin-Yang Sword.
Crimson flame and azure flame—two different fires—intertwined, revealing a new hue.
Huuu…
Violet flame.
This mystical blaze devoured not just my qi but my fatigue as well, roaring fiercely.
In an instant, the post-White Flower lethargy and haze vanished.
My mind sharpened like a man starved for days.
Probably because it was a flame I couldn’t handle otherwise.
Gripping the Yin-Yang Sword, I addressed the Demon King.
“We’ve fought long enough, haven’t we?”
[……]
“Let’s end it already. We’re both sick of this.”
At my declaration of finale, the blood moon Demon King responded with狂 laughter…
And I grinned back, kicking off the ground.
The final battle had begun.