Chapter 304
Chapter 304
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 304
Chapter Title: The Avatar's Master (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“We can't afford to wait. We need to buy Shirone some time, any time at all. That steel wire is still tightening around his neck. The longer we delay, the worse things will get for him.”
Amy bit back a protest, the words rising in her throat.
Armin was right. If this was inevitable, they had to gamble on the option with the highest chance of success.
“I'm worried about Shirone, but we must pursue Arius. He'll need to retrieve the timeline he used. I'll give you three seconds. If you can't come up with another solution by then, the temporal field will be released.”
A timer started ticking in the minds of Amy and Reina. One second, two seconds… No solution came to them.
By the third second, they had resigned themselves to leaving everything to fate.
Though it felt like they were being forced, they were nevertheless prepared to face reality when the temporal field dissipated.
‘Good luck, Shirone…’
Having retrieved the timeline, Armin vanished from the food pantry using Flicker magic.
If Arius escaped, he would expose the broken pact to the world, triggering an international conflict on par with the Ataraxia incident.
Amy and Reina, oblivious to Armin's departure, kept their nerves on edge, focused entirely on what would happen to Shirone next.
The moment they sensed life returning to Xenoger's face, a brilliant light flashed from Shirone's body. A photon burst of narrow diameter exploded outward, blasting Xenoger away.
The burst's density was so high it struck with the force of a physical barrier, the impact feeling as if he'd been hit by a carriage.
But he couldn't understand.
The sensation of cutting through skin still lingered on his fingertips. To be counterattacked *after* feeling that was a first in his entire career as an assassin.
“Sh-Shirone…”
Amy's voice trembled with overwhelming relief.
She had no idea how Shirone had managed to repel Xenoger. Even if he had altered his flow of consciousness, the casting speed and power were far beyond what any magic academy student could muster.
The spiderwebs binding Shirone glowed red before turning to brittle ash and snapping away. To conduct heat by firing a laser into a web a single millimeter thick was a feat of precision far beyond Shirone's current abilities.
Amy, who had been basking in the relief of Shirone's survival, finally realized something was wrong.
But as Shirone fell to the floor with a thud, her mind went blank, and she shot forward.
“Shirone!”
“Don't move!”
Xenoger, sent flying by the photon burst, swooped back in, pressing down on the back of Shirone's head and pinning him to the ground. Still, his eyes darted about, unable to process what had just happened.
‘What in the world happened?’
An instant had passed, and the world had changed. The women who were trapped in his web were free, and everyone was in a different position.
‘I was hit by something.’
There was no way for Xenoger, trapped in the temporal field, to grasp the situation. But his mind, honed by years of experience, swiftly discarded the irrelevant variables.
Something had simply occurred beyond his perception.
All that mattered was identifying the current enemy. If he focused on that, he would be the one left standing.
“Xenoger! Kill him! Right now!”
Zion yelled, having already calculated his next move.
With Arius gone, he would be the sole scapegoat if Shirone survived. Killing Shirone, and everyone else involved, was the only way to secure his own future.
“As if I'd let you!”
Amy charged at Xenoger.
She wouldn't fail this time. She would save Shirone, even if it cost her own life.
Xenoger was a fraction faster. He produced the steel wire from his mouth again, fashioned it into a noose, and slipped it around Shirone's neck.
But just as he was about to pull it taut, red light converged on Shirone, and high-powered lasers shot out in every direction.
One of the lasers struck Xenoger's shoulder, piercing straight through the bone.
“Huh? What is this… Gyaaaargh!”
Amy's eyes widened in disbelief.
She had witnessed the power of his lasers many times, but this was an unbelievable output. It wasn't this powerful even when Shirone cast it at full strength.
Sensing the danger, Xenoger dropped flat to the floor. Then, with the instinct of an insect, he scrambled backward, never taking his eyes off Shirone. He scurried up the wall and tucked himself into a corner of the ceiling, a spider’s favorite perch.
With Xenoger's failure, Zion decided to eliminate Shirone himself. Extending the blades on his gauntlets, he charged forward.
“Die! You worthless bastard!”
“Your Highness! No! Get back!”
Despite Xenoger's plea, Zion did not stop.
Shirone staggered, his head bowed, then raised a hand toward the charging prince. In that instant, a thin laser beam shot through Zion.
A second later, the reaction came.
“Aaargh!”
Zion was thrown backward as if struck by a gale, clutching his abdomen as he writhed on the floor.
He didn't know where or how he had been hit, only that an excruciating pain was tearing through his abdomen.
-*Abdominal perforation detected. Maximizing cellular regeneration. Injecting pain inhibitors. Physical performance index reduced by 48 percent. Estimated recovery time: 3 minutes, 47 seconds. Rest recommended.*
“Your Highness! Are you alright?”
Xenoger scurried over like an insect and propped up Zion's torso. All the while, his left eye remained fixed on Shirone, watching his every move.
As an assassin of the Spatur clan, he had his own methods for dealing with mages.
But he had never encountered magic so brutally simple. If that laser had pierced Zion's brain, he would have been killed instantly.
Shirone hadn't said a word. He just swayed on his feet like a drunken man.
Then, after firing the laser, his body trembled violently.
A harsh cough wracked his body, and a spray of blood erupted from his mouth.
“Damn it, this human body…”
As Shirone slowly lifted his head, Amy covered her mouth, her face a mask of terror.
His pupils were pitch black, and a network of vein-like nerves bulged around his eyes and temples.
Amy realized that this expansion of his nervous system was what had enhanced his magic.
But it wasn't normal.
She felt the same monstrous nature in Shirone that she had from the creature in the first deep stage.
“Shirone, are you really Shirone?”
Shirone didn't answer.
Of course, he was Shirone. He had simply integrated with Behemoth in his avatar state.
This was different from possession, where two consciousnesses share an avatar. Integration meant they had literally merged into one.
He was different from the Shirone she knew, but if this was Shirone's avatar, then he was undeniably Shirone.
“Answer me! Who the hell are you?”
Shirone gave a chilling smile.
“It's me, Amy. Don't you recognize me?”
Amy was certain.
The being before her was not Shirone.
“Liar! You're that monster from before! Change Shirone back to normal!”
Shirone had a cool temperament. But right now, he was like an active volcano, seething with molten lava.
Shirone ignored Amy and surveyed the scene before him.
The sole emotion driving him now was rage—a rage so potent it felt as if it would detonate inside him if not immediately unleashed.
And the target of that rage was Zion.
Having somehow already recovered from his wound, he extended the blades of his gauntlets, ready for another assault.
“A mere commoner… You think I'd be beaten by someone like you?”
Xenoger suggested cautiously.
“Your Highness, perhaps we should retreat for now…”
“Silence! How can I run away and leave a traitor who dared to grievously wound the prince of a nation?!”
He wasn't fighting out of pride.
If the incident ended now, he would have to pay the price for attempting to assassinate Shirone. But if he killed Shirone here, he could frame *him* as the traitor and neatly bury the entire affair.
“Xenoger, distract him. I'll strike from behind.”
“As you command, Your Highness. My life is forfeit, but you must ensure your own safety.”
Shirone watched Zion and Xenoger with an indifferent gaze.
Inside, however, a furious chemical reaction of rage was brewing, so intense it threatened to overwhelm his consciousness.
“I'm going, Your Highness!”
Xenoger charged, his posture purely offensive.
As an assassin, he knew that to attack Shirone now was to die. Yet he flew willingly toward his own demise.
“Long live Her Majesty, Empress Theraze! Preserve the Spatur clan!”
Xenoger spewed forth steel wires with all his might.
He wasn't aiming for a fatal blow. He just needed to buy enough time for Zion to face reality and escape.
His sacrifice today would ensure the survival of the Spatur clan.
“Huh?”
There was nothing where his steel wires landed.
When he reached the spot where Shirone had been standing, he turned and felt a chill crawl up his spine.
Instantaneous movement at an explosive speed.
Shirone appeared before Zion, grabbed him by the throat, and slammed him against the wall.
“Kugh!”
Zion dangled a hand's breadth off the floor, choked by the grip on his neck.
Even as he suffocated, he could see Shirone's distorted face. His eyes were even blacker, and the bulging nerves around them now extended to his cheekbones.
“Hehehe, I found you. So it was you.”
Zion's face was familiar, yet foreign.
But that didn't matter to the Shirone of this moment. All that mattered was the immense rage that ignited the instant he laid eyes on Zion.
A glint flashed across the surface of Shirone's pupils, and for the first time, Zion understood that even darkness could hold light.
His face turned ashen under the weight of that killing intent.
Armand was too preoccupied with supplying oxygen to the suffocating prince to formulate any other strategy. Besides, that was Zion's only command.
Shirone was annoyed that Zion was still twitching when he should have already suffocated. Then his eyes fell on the limp tentacles, and a smirk played on his lips.
“So it's an Objet. Then how about this?”
Shirone's nerves bulged, raising the skin all the way down his arm to his wrist.
The power in his grip intensified. The sound of capillaries bursting in his eyes was audible, and his eyelashes were stained red with blood.
‘Neck… my neck…’
Shirone intended to snap his neck.
Despite Armand's physical enhancements, a sickening, creaking sound came from Zion's neck. A chill ran down his spine, and he lost control of his bladder.
“Xe-Xenoger…”
He called out desperately, but there was no reply. Xenoger, having concluded that Zion had no chance of survival, had fled to warn his clan of Theraze's inevitable retaliation.
“How annoying. It still won't break. No, is my body too weak?”
The avatar, merged with Behemoth, had forcibly expanded Shirone's psyche. His magical power had soared, but it came with the agonizing sensation of his brain being torn to shreds.
He couldn't suffocate him because the Objet was supplying oxygen, and he couldn't break his neck because his physical strength was lacking. It was utterly infuriating.
Shirone's words struck Zion with terror.
Having just had a near-death experience, the world looked different. He now knew there was nothing more precious than one's own life.
“I-if you kill me…”
Zion mustered his last ounce of strength and screamed.
“If you kill me, you won't get away with it! I am the son of Theraze!”
At that, Shirone hurled Zion across the room.
Zion rolled across the floor, clutching his throat and making horrid choking sounds. Tears, snot, and saliva streamed down his face.
Shirone rubbed his wrist, clicking his tongue in annoyance. It ached, as if he'd strained a ligament.
He couldn't break the prince's neck with his own physical strength. While his mental domain was quite satisfactory, he had completely neglected physical reinforcement.
Zion flinched as Shirone approached.
Having survived the brush with death, his mind began to race. The reason Shirone had spared him… it had to be because he'd heard the name Theraze.
‘Of course. Even a psycho like him must be afraid. How could he possibly handle the consequences of killing me?’
Contrary to Zion's expectations, Shirone was neither frightened nor concerned. He had simply recalled a single, memorable incident from a long-forgotten past.
“Theraze. It's been a while since I heard that name. That woman is quite amusing. So… what about Theraze?”
“I told you, I'm Theraze's child. If you kill me, my mother will hunt you to the ends of hell and kill you.”
Shirone tilted his head.
“What are you talking about? You… were a woman?”
“Hmph! I know the rules of matrilineal succession! But blood is blood! Even my younger sister is fond of me! If you harm me, the full might of Theraze's army will hunt you down.”
“Pfft…”
A puff of air escaped Shirone's vibrating lips.
“Puhahahaha! Puhahahaha!”