Chapter 283: Lainella's Fate is Decided by Lainella (76)
Chapter 283: Lainella's Fate is Decided by Lainella (76)
My entire body trembled like a corpse on the brink of death.
Yet, I remained clung to the forehead of the Corpse Giant. If anything, I tightened my grip on its head, pouring every ounce of strength I had left into my hands.
I couldn't let go now.
I had to see this through to the end, no matter what.
My axe strokes continued, stubborn and savage.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
With every strike, blood sprayed, drenching my body.
Before long, silver fissures began to spiderweb across the Corpse Giant’s head.
At first, they were merely small cracks, but as time passed, the fissures grew in number and depth.
The Corpse Giant wasn't about to let it end like this.
The monster desperately jerked its head up, attempting to slam it back into the ground.
It was a brilliant decision.
Even for me, allowing another direct impact would mean certain death.
Had there not been someone else rushing in at that exact moment, the Corpse Giant surely would have succeeded.
Blue hair trailed behind a streak of blue aura as a figure sprinted forward.
The female knight dove straight into the Corpse Giant’s embrace. Immediately after, her sword glided through the frozen flow of time.
A blue trajectory, drawn vertically like the Milky Way.
The aftershocks were staggering.
The ground erupted, and the atmosphere tore apart as the sword strike broke the speed of sound.
It was a strike that seemed to recreate a natural disaster through the blade.
As far as I knew, there was only one person capable of such a technique.
"…Master!"
Irene Lupemion.
She, who had volunteered to be Lia’s guard, had finally joined the battlefield.
I still wasn't used to being called 'Master,' though.
However, her timing was impeccable, and the Corpse Giant was forced to experience another fall.
Sir Irene’s surprise attack had caused its waist to collapse.
The Corpse Giant’s body lurched uncontrollably.
Unable to maintain its balance, it found it impossible to slam its head into the ground.
Seizing the opening, I brought my axe down with everything I had.
And then, finally, a sickening crunch echoed through the air.
The Corpse Giant’s head was completely engulfed in a silver radiance.
KREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
It was the most dramatic reaction it had shown yet.
The giant’s head convulsed wildly, and even the scream it let out was vomited forth as pure light.
It didn't take long for the Corpse Giant’s head to explode with a deafening bang.
The force of the blast sent me flying along with countless severed heads.
After tumbling across the ground for a while, I gasped for air, drove my axe into the earth, and forced myself up.
The headless body of the Corpse Giant didn't move an inch.
It simply toppled forward with a heavy thud.
Certain of victory, Sir Irene ran toward me, her face bright with excitement.
"Ma—Master! Did you see that?! The technique you taught me... it was more perfect than any of my practices...!"
Of course, this was merely Sir Irene’s premature judgment.
If the enemy were the type to be finished so easily, my future self wouldn't have been so wary of it.
From amidst the scattered corpses, a smaller Corpse Giant emerged.
It happened in an instant, as if it were shedding layers of an overcoat.
I immediately spat out a curse.
"God dammit... Sir Irene, get back!"
Hearing my warning, Sir Irene blankly turned her gaze behind her.
But it was already too late.
The Corpse Giant was already throwing a punch.
Having shrunk in size, its speed had accelerated proportionally.
Boom! Sir Irene took the punch head-on and let out a crushed scream.
"Kyaaaaaaakh!"
Breaking the sound barrier, Sir Irene was sent rolling across the ground multiple times.
I immediately swapped my hand axe for my sword.
The Corpse Giant, which had once stood dozens of meters tall, was now only a few meters high.
It was still an imposing size, but far more manageable than before.
I flashed a provocative smile at the giant.
"…Let’s see just how small you can get."
Instead of answering, the Corpse Giant kicked off the ground and shot toward me.
Its speed was terrifying.
My battered body, held together only by analgesics, couldn't properly react to the charge.
Instead of swinging its fist, the Corpse Giant kicked.
Just before it could bury itself in my abdomen, my sword blocked the foot.
However, I couldn't stop my body from being doubled over by the force.
The Corpse Giant didn't miss the opening.
With its remaining leg, it kicked me upward.
Thump! My entire body was launched into the sky.
This was bad.
I had neutralized most of the impact with Binding, but I couldn't move freely in mid-air.
On the other hand, the Corpse Giant, firmly planted on the ground, had infinite options.
Furthermore, I noticed something even more horrifying.
The air around the Corpse Giant’s body was bubbling and seething.
It was a precursor to regeneration.
It meant it could return to its previous size at any moment.
It was an enemy that truly deserved the title 'immortal.'
That must be why I was told to abandon everything.
The territory, hundreds of lives, and even my younger sister.
The Corpse Giant was making full preparations to secure its victory.
The way it took its stance suggested it had been trained in martial arts.
It was ridiculous.
A monster learning martial arts?
Perhaps it was absorbing the memories of the corpses it was composed of.
The word 'defeat' naturally surfaced in my mind.
But I still had one last trump card.
As I floated high in the air, my eyes were drawn to a specific spot as if by fate.
A single pointed hat, conspicuous even from a distance, was positioned there.
the moment I met the girl’s blue eyes, I shouted a name.
"Senior Elsie!"
That was the signal.
Senior Elsie was a highly capable combat mage.
She would have been preparing a trump card to turn this golden opportunity into victory.
Because that was the role of a mage.
As if to meet my expectations, Senior Elsie even had Mr. Reynold standing behind her.
It meant they had been plotting something.
Mr. Reynold silently placed his hand on Senior Elsie’s back.
Soon, the girl’s clear declaration rang out across the battlefield.
"…Heavenly Thunder Array!"
The atmosphere let out a violent roar.
A gale swept through, creating a vortex. The wind surged upward in a circular motion.
Caught in the very center was the Corpse Giant.
Rumble! The sound of thunder shook the world.
Only then did I realize why the Lainella Magic Corps had been maintaining the thunderstorm.
It was a feint.
By maintaining lightning magic that served only as a distraction, they had ensured the Corpse Giant wouldn't even think to be wary of the rain clouds.
The dagger they had truly been preparing was meant to be revealed by Senior Elsie’s hand.
Right now.
Dozens of lightning bolts poured down all at once.
Streaks of golden light struck the center of the array indiscriminately.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions echoed in rapid succession, drowning out the Corpse Giant’s monstrous shrieks.
The sight of dozens, no, hundreds of lightning bolts striking a single point was truly a masterpiece.
The residual electrical charge alone was enough to dry up the surrounding blood, and a deep, deep crater was gouged out at the center of the array.
It lasted only a few seconds.
But the concentrated destruction and violence within that short span were enough to leave even an immortal in tatters.
I pulled out my axe instead of my sword.
Because it was more fitting for the finale.
My fall was accompanied by a roar.
Boom! A fierce shockwave erupted, sweeping through the surroundings.
The Corpse Giant’s body was already in shreds.
As if it still had one last trick up its sleeve, its arms remained sturdy. They were covered in the same gauntlets that had grabbed my ankles before.
It was futile.
Applying strength to the hand holding the axe, I recalled the lingering scent of an unfamiliar memory.
To make myself explode—that is 'Unbinding.'
Silver fissures erupted across the Corpse Giant’s entire body.
And without fail, its form burst apart with a pop.
Inside, yet another small Corpse Giant remained.
The regeneration speed of the bubbling flesh was terrifying.
So, I moved even more violently.
I shouldn't have been able to move anymore; I shouldn't have been able to get any faster.
Yet the intervals between the silver trajectories grew shorter and shorter.
The silver aura burned with an increasingly vivid light.
Sword strikes followed, carving through time itself.
Acceleration, and more acceleration.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
When the small Corpse Giant burst, a smaller one appeared.
And when that one burst, an even smaller one emerged.
The Corpse Giant, which had once been several meters tall, soon shrank to the size of a young child.
It no longer had the hideous appearance of tangled corpses.
The core of the Corpse Giant, finally revealed, took the form of a child.
Judging by his shabby appearance, he looked like an orphan.
He was so bedraggled that it was impossible to tell if he was a boy or a girl.
The little boy, who hadn't even been breathing, suddenly opened his eyes.
He looked around in confusion before looking up at me with terrified eyes.
"Wh—where is the Head Nun? Is she going to punish me again for... for fainting...?"
This was sick.
To use the corpse of an orphan to put on an act again... but as I was about to curse, something caught my eye.
A name tag was pinned to the little boy’s chest.
I stared silently at the letters written on that tag.
'Mitram.'
The boy clung to my knees and pleaded.
"I—I'm sorry... I'm sorry for being a useless mouth to feed who couldn't even work after sleeping for three hours yesterday. Please, please, just not the punishment room..."
I inhaled a faint breath, held it for a moment, and exhaled.
Then, I slowly opened my mouth.
"…Hey, kid."
Clear, innocent eyes looked up at me.
That cruel Dark Priest must have once had a face like this.
So, I had no choice but to utter a single sentence, filled with poignant emotion.
"It's my fault."
No, perhaps it was ours.
In that brief moment when the boy’s eyes widened at my incomprehensible words—
Stab. The sword already in my hand pierced through the boy’s heart.
The boy touched his chest fumbling, as if unable to believe it for a moment.
Then, seeing his hands stained with blood, he smiled.
"…Finally."
With a look of relief, the boy’s body collapsed.
"Finally, I can rest…."
The blizzard ceased, and the sun rose.
Sunlight poured down like a curtain.
I simply stood there for a long time, facing the sun.
The finale of the story was drawing near.