The Priest's Rampage
Kuwoong! Kwoong!
Kwaaaaaaang!
Dirt surged up like mountains, and trees were swept away in the wake of the destruction. Through the chaos, a figure dressed as a Priest was fleeing in a blind panic.
Feels like being chased by a wild beast.
Erzsébet, stationed to guard the Forbidden Forest at Simon's command, had spotted the suspicious man. He'd thrown a featureless brown robe over himself down to the crown of his head — an outfit that, at a glance, screamed of someone straining to hide his identity. And on top of that, he kept furtively glancing around as if searching for something.
She concluded that this intruder might well be the Priest Simon had spoken of. She immediately dispatched her Corpse Spiders to summon Simon and Pier, but before either of them could arrive, the man was already preparing to slip out of the forest.
In the end, Erzsébet had no choice but to act alone.
Just as planned, she transformed into a Priest, offered a greeting in proper priestly form, and tried to pry information out of him.
What came back from the other side wasn't information. It was a wild flurry of fists.
'!!'
Erzsébet ducked with a start. Boulders the size of houses and whole logs came hurtling through the air like thrown stones.
The opponent was unquestionably human — yet he wielded strength rivaling that of an Ancient Undead.
No help for it, then.
She didn't enjoy fighting, but there was no way around it. When she spread both palms wide, bluish-green webs fanned out from the tips of her fingers.
Swiiik!
The moment she crossed her arms, the trees all around split apart with a deafening crack. In the tangle of collapsing timber, the Priest flashed upward. Spinning like a top, he swung his right arm, and a massive claw mark tore across the space directly in front of Erzsébet.
Deep gashes scored her leg all the way up over her knee.
Kgh!
Erzsébet staggered, pain lancing through her. In that interval, the Priest dropped to the ground and began his charge. She flung both arms wide, scattering webs in every direction.
It was a signature technique — shrinking the enemy's room to move to the absolute minimum, slicing bone and flesh apart the instant anything touched a thread. But the Priest slipped past the webs one by one with movements no human should have been capable of, closing the distance all the while.
He really is nothing but a beast!
She crossed her arms with both palms turned over, and every web deployed in the air reversed at once, their positions inverting in a heartbeat. The threads bit deep into the man's body, and blood sprayed.
Just as victory bloomed in her mind and the corners of her mouth curled up—
'……!'
The sole of a shoe hurtled toward her face.
Craaaash!
The kick caught her square in the forehead and sent her blasting through the trees, flying hundreds of meters before she slammed into the dirt.
"Guhhk!"
She was still pushing herself up off the ground when the Priest was already upon her, clambering onto her upper body. His fist rose, blotting out the moon.
"Well, my."
Erzsébet forced a smile.
"I am a lady, so the face, if you would—"
Craaack!
The impact snapped her head sideways.
Crack!
Crunch!
Baaam!
A senseless, indiscriminate barrage followed, without rhythm or mercy.
Then, in the middle of taking the beating one-sidedly, Erzsébet twitched a single finger.
'……!'
The robed Priest's body shot upward. At some point, a web had wound itself around his throat.
[I told you to watch the face, you bastard!]
The flesh of her face had been scraped away, and Erzsébet screamed, her monstrous crimson eyes blazing.
[Die!]
Grrrrk!
The thread around his neck pulled taut. The Priest, clutching at his throat in agony, suddenly raised his right arm and struck the empty air.
Kwakwakwaang!
A massive shockwave burst outward, ripping the trees on the right side of the terrain up by their roots and flinging them skyward. One of those trees must have been connected to her web, because the taut threads suddenly went slack — and the Priest, instantly tearing himself free, dropped back to the ground.
Ptui.
Spitting a wad of bright red blood onto the earth, the Priest rose smoothly to his feet.
Erzsébet was scowling and reaching for her Jet-Black when—
"Erze!!"
Simon's voice rang out. Her frozen face lit up at once.
My Legion Commander! He's come to save me!
But the Priest reacted to Simon's voice just as keenly — and abruptly, ignoring her entirely, he began sprinting toward the source of the sound.
Oh no!
Erzsébet scrambled after him, but she couldn't match the Priest's speed. With Simon still only at student level, he couldn't beat this monster alone.
Tatadadat!
In the blink of an eye the Priest covered hundreds of meters, found Simon, and leapt into the air, driving down a flying kick.
Simon, too, had come from Rochest — he'd shed his Kizen uniform and thrown a robe over himself.
Hp—!
Simon reacted with razor sharpness, snapping his head aside just in time, and the Priest's foot carved through empty air. Landing, the man turned to stare at Simon with a flicker of genuine surprise.
Teong!
But the astonishment lasted only a moment before he came charging head-on, the ground sinking beneath his stride. Simon gritted his teeth and thrust his arm backward.
"Pier!!"
Shrrrrrrrk!
The bones Pier had sent from the ruins linked themselves to Simon's right arm in an instant, and Simon swept that arm forward.
Teooooong!
The two fists collided in midair, unleashing an enormous shockwave.
'……!'
The one driven back was the Priest. Simon exhaled a slow breath and settled into his fighting stance.
Tat. Tadat. Tat.
The Priest began an eerie, weaving footwork. His body snapped sharply side to side, his head tilting low enough to graze the ground, then whipping back the other way, over and over.
There was no reading his approach at all.
"Hoohp!"
In the end, Simon lunged in first, swinging his Pier-armored right fist. But the Priest bent agilely at the waist to evade, slipped around behind Simon, and drove a kick at the back of his skull.
Baak!
Yet it was the attacking Priest who felt a sharp pain blossom in his foot.
Before the kick could land, Pier's skull had wrapped itself around Simon's head like a helmet.
The Priest instantly spun his body and snapped a low kick at Simon's legs — but once again, Pier's bones moved to shield them faster than the blow could arrive.
Chak. Chak. Chak.
Like puzzle pieces clicking into empty slots, Simon's body was being enveloped, piece by piece, in Pier's bones.
Just as the Priest moved to charge again—
Snap!
He wouldn't make the same mistake twice. This time it was Simon who seized the Priest's arm, stepped deep inside his range, and drew back his left fist. The Priest clenched his jaw and pushed his Jet-Black up over his face to shield it.
He intended to shatter his attacker's fist in return.
Shrrrk!
But the bones that had been wrapped around Simon's right hand had already migrated to his left.
'……!!'
Craaaaaaang!
With a colossal impact, the Priest's body went blasting through countless trees, out beyond the limit of sight.
The Priest vomited blood and dragged himself up off the ground. By then, Simon — Bone Armour fully equipped, the Cloak of Shadowless billowing behind him — was charging straight at him.
Buaaaaaang!
By a hair's breadth, the Priest hurled himself out of the punch's path and stretched out his right hand. His Jet-Black rippled and reshaped itself into the form of a spear.
Toward Simon's back — still skidding across the ground, bleeding off speed from his headlong charge — the Jet-Black spear shot out.
Suu.
Simon extended his left arm, sheathed in Pier's bones.
Restoration!
Tup!
Pier's greatsword came flying into Simon's hand at once. Wrenching his grip around it, Simon pivoted at the waist and cut through the air.
Shwaaaaaaack!
The Priest recoiled in horror. Pier's slash split the Jet-Black spear clean in two — and carried on to cleave the trees behind it in half as well.
'…….'
The Priest felt cold sweat pouring down every inch of his body.
Strong.
Stronger than anyone he had ever faced.
But he couldn't stop here. Bending his knees again, he hurtled himself at Simon.
Teoooong!
Simon refused to meet him head-on. Instead, he stamped down hard where he stood, kicking up a thick cloud of dust all around.
The moment the Priest involuntarily halted, his vision shrouded—
Whoong!
Bursting through the dust, a Legionified skeleton swung its sword. The Priest retreated a single step and slipped clear of it.
Buaang!
This time blades came swinging in from behind and from both flanks.
More than ten skeletons had ringed him around without his noticing.
Tadadak!
Tadak!
The Legionified skeletons threw themselves at him all at once. The battle had abruptly turned into a brawl against overwhelming numbers, but the Priest showed not a trace of panic, moving his body in dazzling flourishes. As though he had eyes in the back of his head, he weaved between the onrushing spear thrusts and sword strokes while raining fists and kicks in every direction.
The skeletons' bodies shattered one after another with sharp cracks.
Srrrr.
Then the scattered bone fragments littering the ground rose into the air. Simon was casting dark magic with the hand that wasn't gripping the greatsword.
Bone Nail!
Puk! Puk! Puk!
Bones punched deep into the Priest's body at a dozen points — he'd let his attention slip while fending off the skeletons.
Scowling, the Priest tried to break out of the encirclement—
Shwaak!
Something sharp raked across his back.
[I shan't let you go.]
The entire area had, at some point, been laced into a maze of bluish-green webs. Erzsébet, her venom at full surge, had sealed off every route around the Priest with her silk.
Shwak! Shwak!
From the branches above, Corpse Spiders spat webs or came rappelling down along their threads.
Tadadak!
Tadak!
And from the front, the skeletons formed an airtight ring, weapons whirling.
Swiik.
Sssk.
Even when he felled a skeleton, the bones it dropped scrambled up off the ground and attacked him again.
Caught in the Legion's chain of coordination, the Priest could find no gap to escape through. He'd lost too much blood; his strength was draining away by the second.
In a situation this dire, only one desperate gambit remained for survival.
Strike the head first.
Kicking off the earth, the Priest launched himself in a blind charge straight at Simon.
Erzsébet's webs bit deep into his flesh, blood pouring from the wounds; he simply absorbed the skeletons' attacks head-on and drove his fist toward the undead's controller.
Simon hastily raised the greatsword square in front of him.
Kwaaaaaang!
Greatsword and fist clashed dead center. Landing on the ground, the Priest instantly snapped into a swift motion, raising his other fist and smashing it down into the earth.
Koong!
The ground beneath both their feet sank into a crater, and Simon — caught unprepared — staggered, his balance collapsing.
The Priest, recovering his footing first, surged Jet-Black up his right fist and thrust it toward Simon's face—
Shwaak!
A fountain of blood erupted skyward.
Out of nowhere, something like an enormous blade had risen up from behind and carved straight through the Priest's back.
"Khhk!"
The stumble had been a fake. Simon was pulling a lever with his other hand.
Now — Overlord!
In the instant the Priest's movements seized up, Erzsébet's webs coiled around his arm, and Simon leveled the greatsword at his throat.
[Give it up.]
Simon spoke coldly, borrowing Pier's voice through the Bone Armour.
[You've lost.]
'…….'
Drenched in blood from head to toe, the Priest let out a long, slow breath. Then he pulled off the hood that had been shrouding his head.
Simon's eyes flew wide in disbelief.
[You're……!]