Chapter 101
A mad bastard who treated people like ingredients. Even after filling his heart to the brim, his endless greed poured out without cease, becoming one with his blood and flesh, stuffed to bursting inside that freakish bulk.
Seeing him vent his rage so raw just because he couldn't get the one thing he wanted made me think—maybe his greed had muscled its way into the spots where shame and conscience should be, flushing any human emotions down the drain ages ago.
"It's mine!! Give it baaack!!"
The hulking brute barreled toward us, shaking the castle grounds like an earthquake with every thud-thud, swinging his fists wildly. Despite his size, he moved with surprising agility, like a high-speed chariot bearing down, radiating overwhelming pressure.
"Quit your whining—you're not a damn kid, and this ain't worth the tantrum!"
But no matter how fast he was, he couldn't match my speed. Dodging the charge aimed at Prazia Auros, I grabbed the lady's hand and darted this way and that.
"Damn it."
"Ah."
She managed to keep up with my pace somehow, but I couldn't keep dragging a duke's daughter around like a parade balloon. In the end, I scooped her up into my arms.
Meanwhile, the grand duke's knights and the academy students held the line against the thugs trying to kidnap their kin.
"Frost Cycle!"
Spotting me evading Gula, Prazia unleashed a spell at him from my arms. But the cluster of hardened ice spikes shattered to pieces the moment they hit his body.
Still, her magic briefly obscured his vision, and I seized the opening—channeling aura into my flung sword, aiming for his ankle.
The aura-infused blade pierced his instep, pinning it to the ground and toppling Gula flat.
"Buheuk?! It—it won't come out!! You little...!"
With his movement locked, he flailed punches at empty air. I used the moment to carry Prazia out of his line of sight.
The knights the grand duke had left to guard her rushed over, checking her frantically.
"Lady Prazia!! Are you alright?!"
"Any injuries? Are you hurt anywhere?!"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Prazia stayed composed even in this chaos—impressive, or just plain weird?
Relieved to have dropped off their prime target, I glanced away from Gula for a split second. That's when he unveiled another trick.
Grrrumble—
His shadow, as dark and vast as his massive frame, stretched out at his command. Like tar, sticky and viscous, it formed a hand that lashed toward us.
"The shadow—?!"
It snagged my ankle in an instant. Losing balance, I toppled and got dragged straight into its grip.
"It's miiine!! Miiiine!!"
The force was stronger than I'd imagined. Panicking, I steeled my mind and waited for an opening.
Restraint and pull via shadows. A power fitting his greed to claim everything for himself.
This must be why he could afford low mobility—he was still a monster. Stealing others' physical prowess made his body insanely tough and strong. For mobility? Just reel the enemy right to your face with shadows. A true invincible siege weapon.
I spotted him gaping his jaws like a serpent, laughing grotesquely. Reversing the pull, I blasted aura from my feet, rocketing toward his face even faster.
His eyes widened in surprise at my speed, but I was already in striking range before he could react. Switching my sword to my left hand, I loaded my right with aura and smashed a full-power fist into his dumbstruck mug.
Noctus Style: Thunderclap
With a thunderous roar, his face crumpled—fried crisp by the aura, smelling of charred meat, smashed like wet clay under a hammer.
The shadow's grip loosened from the pain, and Gula clutched his face, rolling on the ground.
"Again!! Again... you hurt me!! Agaiiin!!"
"Ugh. What a set of pipes..."
Big body, big voice—it echoed like a foghorn. Pathetic as a wailing toddler, but his aura was no joke. Wild arm swings sent shockwaves ripping through the earth, scattering bystanders.
"Buhehe... I hate pain... Hate paaaain!!"
His shadow stretched like taffy, snaring his thugs by ankles and arms.
"G-Gula, sir?!"
"Urk!? C-Can't—can't shake it off!!"
His minions got dragged helplessly to his jaws.
"Ha... crazy bastard."
Crunch! Grind! Snap!!
Chewing live people wasn't a pretty sight. Some knights facing the thugs turned away, retching; others grimaced, stomachs churning at the horror.
"Eating his own forces... Is he insane?"
The princess muttered in disbelief at Gula wasting his power on a tantrum, devouring his own men.
To an emperor's daughter raised on lessons of rulership, soldiers were precious shields for her and the empire. Sacrificing them to impulse? Unthinkable.
"Kuhuhp... Buhehehe! Buhahaha!!"
Devouring his underlings bloated him further. His already huge maw tore his cheeks wider; eyes skewed sideways on his swollen face.
Unable to bear the weight, he toppled forward like...
"A toad..."
Yeah, a toad. One three times a grown man's size.
Blub-blub—thump!
"!!"
The toad-Gula glared at me, stomped, then vanished in a blink.
Crack—!
"!! Gahk!"
Ribs screaming in agony—it was enough to terrify, just from a body-slam wrecking my internals.
He'd grown even stronger gobbling his minions. Too fast to track, he'd launched me like a ragdoll.
"Two hits and I'm really dead."
Cracked ribs, mangled left hand—even wrapped in aura, this power...
Like a siege engine hurtling at you full-force.
"Sp-Specially... I'll kill you first...! Eat you, and I'll be untouchable... even to Him... Buhehe... Buhihehehe!!"
Me cockblocking his gluttony pissed him off so much, he set aside his prize to murder me first. Terrifying declaration.
His minions gone, others breathed easier—until Gula's evolution froze them like frogs before a snake.
"..."
But I knew. I wouldn't be the one to end him.
My job: endure until his finale.
"Everyone! Just hold him a moment! A brief moment!!"
Unlike the stunned crowd, my team leaped in, hammering Gula—not to kill, but to bind.
Others joined: ice, lightning, slow, bind, petrify, paralyze. Dozens blasting him at once—even Gula couldn't seize control easily.
"Buhehe... You worthless livestock...!!"
Meanwhile, I raised my sword, aiming like a cavalry lance. Pooled all remaining aura in my legs, streaking with a blue afterimage.
Noctus Style: Thunder Island
The ground melted behind me from sheer speed; wind tore gashes in my face.
Craaaack—!
"Buhe... Buhahaha!! Charge so cocky, but you can't pierce this body?!"
My blade lodged in his gut, sparking futilely against his iron hide.
"Buhi! You can't pierce me!! Nothing can kill me now!!"
My arm trembled at its limit, just as he boasted. He grinned, victory assured.
"Now... get eaten nice and quiet! Become part of me and feel bliss!!"
His massive jaws gaped to chomp me like his minions—nightmarish. His hot, slimy breath chilled my spine.
"Fuck that."
"?-!"
But the aura in my quivering blade deepened, spinning toward the tip.
Whirr—reeee—!!
The spin intensified, cracking his "impenetrable" flesh. I poured every last drop of aura into output.
"You—!!"
Caught off-guard, he swung to crush me—but
Reeeeen—Boom—!
Aura detonating for thrust, my strike blasted through his gut in a glorious explosion.
Gula, gut holed wide, lolled a grotesque tongue, gasping raggedly. His insane regen clotted the crater, but my lingering aura slowed it to a crawl.
"Buha...!"
"Ending you ain't my role."
"What?"
Whoosh—Boom!!
A shell slammed beside me.
"A bit late, Your Grace."
"Shut it."
Shouldering his signature great axe, he'd charged from the grand duchy walls. Face taut, suppressing explosive rage, the grand duke—Prazia's father—drew a grin from me.