Chaos Spear
Thwack! Pak! Krak!
It was a duel between necromancers the likes of which none of them had ever seen. Watching the two boys tear into each other, the Hayward brothers found themselves struck completely speechless.
"What the hell is that?!"
"They're getting faster!"
Fwaba-bat!
Tat-tat!
Neither of them spared a thought for defense. Every exchange was an offense aimed solely at bringing the other down. Four fists and legs drove outward, kicking up afterimages too quick for the eye to follow.
And above all—
"Whoa...!"
Even mid-fight, both boys were grinning so wide it looked like their faces might split. Utterly lost in the battle.
"This is amazing!"
The Hayward brothers each breathed the words, their eyes shining.
Pabat!
Their kicks collided, and the instant they rebounded apart, both boys' fingertips shot up toward each other's heads.
Kwang!
The two curses collided in midair and exploded. Jet-black smoke bloomed upward, smearing the sky a deep, pitch black.
Woong! Bung!
"!"
Through that smoke, six vials of deadly poison came streaking straight at Hector. He tried to back away—
Sreuk!
—but a Cloud rope erupted from the sand and coiled around his ankle in an instant, locking him in place.
"Beautiful chain play!"
"Go, Simon! You can do it!"
Meilin and Camibarez screamed themselves hoarse, hearts in their throats. Simon immediately triggered his magic circle.
'Break!'
Jjang! Jjang!
Circles etched along the outside of the vials flared to life, shattering all six poison potions at once. Their contents spread wide in a rolling wave, painting Hector's vision a sickly green.
But Hector's response was just as swift. He completed and triggered a magic circle in a matter of seconds, and a blade of jet-black wind swept the poison clean away.
Except—beyond the dissipating toxin, Simon was nowhere to be seen.
'Above!'
Hector snapped his head up. A colossal black subspace gate had yawned open in the sky, and Simon floated beside it.
"Loose everything!"
At Simon's command, Skeleton Archers inside the gate let fly a storm of arrows. Hector slammed a foot down on the Cloud to snuff it out, threw up a jet-black shield, and launched himself forward. Everywhere he went, arrows rained down and hammered out a path.
"Tch!"
Now it was Hector's turn to counter.
Skeletons reassembled into multiple bundles of bone javelins and hurled themselves at Simon. Simon answered in kind, drawing out his own skeletons—the moment they emerged, the bones scattered like buckshot and slammed against the incoming Bone Spears, wrenching their trajectories off course.
"Oh!"
"Impressive undead control."
Even the adults began to murmur their admiration.
Chaak!
The moment Simon's feet touched the sand, Hector came barreling in like a rhinoceros. Simon flung out his arm.
"Restoration."
'What?'
Hector's head whipped to the side. Bones hidden beneath the beach were snapping together, seam after seam, at blistering speed.
'Skeleton Mages!'
Three consecutive casts of Dark Blaze crashed over Hector—but he tore through the flames without so much as slowing his charge.
'Open Gate!'
This time, Overlord's blades closed in from six directions, hunting for Hector.
A grin split Hector's face.
I'm fighting with everything I have.
I can feel the wall.
He pushes with everything, and the other guy takes it.
'How could I not be thrilled?!'
The corners of his mouth refused to come down. Hector triggered the magic circle he'd already finished behind his back.
Shuaaaaaa!
Simon wasn't the only one who'd hidden things in the sand. Dragon scales burst upward and slapped themselves onto Hector's body, plate by plate.
And it was no simple layering, either. The scales had attached themselves precisely along Overlord's predicted trajectories and projected strike points.
Kagagagagagagak!
All six tentacle blades scraped past in a shower of sparks against Hector's scales.
"WHOA!!"
The moment Hector vaulted lightly over Overlord, cheers erupted from every direction. Even Simon flinched, snapping both arms together into a guard.
"Got you! Simon Polentia!"
Jjeooooeok!
A fist thrown in Dragon Form punched clean through Simon's guard. Simon's body skidded backward, carving a long trench in the sand.
"Simon!!"
A pained chorus rose from the legion members. Simon staggered and steadied himself, and Hector kept charging.
'Took a hit there.'
It wasn't yet the full 100% Dragon Form, but the Hector standing before him now had grown beyond anything raw strength alone could beat.
And Hector was thinking the exact same thing.
'I'll fall back while completing the Royal Guard!'
But Simon's choice was entirely unexpected.
Chwarurururuk!
Chwarururuk!
He stripped eight skeletons out of his subspace in rapid succession and spread both arms wide.
Chaak!
Chak!
Chak! Chak!
Simon's body was being swallowed by the bones of eight skeletons. In moments, his clothes had vanished entirely beneath the plate of bone. He stood two heads taller, his frame broader, more imposing—a living fortress of skeleton.
With a thunderous tremor, it was Simon who came charging this time, meeting Hector head-on.
Tukwaaaaak!
The two of them locked hands and sank into crouches, strength grinding against strength.
Kkudeudeudeudeudeuk!
Bewilderment flickered in Hector's eyes. Simon, sheathed in that thick Bone Armor, wasn't losing an inch. Under Simon's Absolute Order, every single bone fragment was generating attraction.
'He's committing to a head-on clash—here, against ME?!'
Simon hadn't run. He'd come at him with pure force. Simon, who had always looked up at Hector—today, for once, was looking down at him.
This was honestly—
"Kgh!"
—a completely unpredictable bastard.
"KHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Hector let out a howl of wild laughter.
I've been waiting for this!
For a fight that sets the blood on fire like this!
Pajik!
Pajik!
Hector bore down with a roar, and ominous cracking sounds began to ring out across the Bone Armor.
"SIMON POLENTIAAAA!!"
Warurururu!
The Bone Armor shattered to pieces and Hector burst through. The instant his outstretched arm reached for Simon—
Cheoeok!
Cheok!
Chajajak!
Chak!
Simon slipped backward, and the Bone Armor changed owners. Hector found himself trapped in bone.
'A trap!'
"First time using this one."
Simon, down on one knee in the sand, swept his arm through the air.
"So this is what 'Bone Prison' feels like, huh?"
He knew perfectly well how long Hector had looked forward to this duel. Even that knowledge was a weapon—a key to victory, turned against its owner.
"SIMON POLENTIA!!"
Padeudeuk!
Padeuk!
Hector strained to muscle his way out of the armor, but Simon gave his fingers a sharp snap.
"Spin."
The words had barely left his mouth before the Bone Armor began whirling like a top. Under the intense vertigo, the strength drained right out of Hector's attempt to break free.
"...Wow!"
The watching Hayward brothers could only gape at Simon's sheer ruthlessness.
"Simon, you don't look it, but you've got a real sneaky streak...!"
"That setup is INSANE, Simon! Finish it right now!!"
Dick shouted, face flushed with excitement.
"He's read Hector's fighting style. One Sickness now and it's a guaranteed win."
Meilin smiled in satisfaction.
"A brilliant strategy!"
Even sweet, gentle Camibarez was sending up nothing but pure praise.
The three Hayward brothers looked at one another.
'Necromancers, honestly...'
Teeooong!
At that very moment, Hector's armored body shot up into the air. A magic circle had been etched into the sand beneath him at some point.
'Ah—no, the leap spell!'
Simon, mid-preparation for his curse, jerked his head up. Hector came plummeting down toward him, still clad in the Bone Armor.
KKWAANG!
Through the Bone Armor shattering under the impact of the fall, Hector tore free like a damned prisoner of hell and came charging, malice blazing in every step.
'I knew he was strong, but he's beyond what I imagined. No—he's gotten stronger than before.'
Alertness sharpened in Simon's eyes as he gave ground. Then he let out a light breath and laid a hand on the magic circle at his side.
"Be happy, Hector. You're the first person I'm ever using this technique on."
Tseutseutseutseutseutseut—!
Something was rising out of the circle into Simon's grip. Hector's eyes blew wide open, and he halted his steps in a flash.
The adults began to stir as well.
"What is that?"
"A variant of Jet-Black?"
"It could be that Cloud technique Simon uses."
"It's neither."
Richard shook his head, his eyes gleaming.
"That is a power that has never existed before."
Simon, the violet spear in hand, slowly settled into his stance.
'What the hell is THAT?!'
Hesitation flickered across Hector's eyes as he charged. It was a technique he had never seen—so he had no choice but to stop and brace himself.
"Take it, Hector!"
Simon hurled the spear with all his might.
Tukwaek!
Watching the Chaos Spear come flying straight at him, Hector readied an easy sidestep.
But then—
Chwaak—!
The spear swerved sideways, right in front of Hector's nose.
"??!"
Woong!
This time, upward.
Hwaak!
This time, backward.
Chwaak! Chwaak! Chwaak! Chwaak! Chwaak!
With no pattern whatsoever, the spear tore wildly through the air like a thing possessed—less a weapon than a storm of violet lightning flickering in every direction at once.
Buaaaaaaang!
"!!!"
And the strike, astonishingly, came from behind. Hector whipped around to find the Chaos Spear planted against his back.
Except there was no pain.
Watching the violet spear drop limply to the ground, Simon clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"A dud, huh."
"What kind of joke is this?!"
Convinced he'd been played, Hector flew into a rage and came charging in. Simon calmly drew three more spears from his hip.
Sreuk.
He pulled out a spear, held it loosely in one hand, and tossed it at random.
"Kreuh!"
Hector had no choice but to stop again. Three bolts of violet lightning were embroidering the air like madmen. Charging through them meant ignoring every warning his body and brain were screaming.
Pajit!
One spear grazed past Hector's shoulder.
Shaak!
Another clipped past his ear.
'Goddammit! There's no predicting it!'
Trajectory, speed, power, impact—everything random. It was Chaos, plain and simple.
'But that goes for HIM too!'
As Hector dropped low into a charging slide, Simon leapt skyward—and up there, he spread an empty palm open in a throwing stance.
Cheoeok!
And like magic, the rampaging spear of Chaos flew neatly into Simon's hand.
'He can actually predict that technique?!'
Tukwaaaaak!
Simon hurled the spear with everything he had. It punched through Hector's raised guard and detonated against the barrier suit, unleashing a massive violet explosion.
"Kkeheok!"
Hector took a heavier blow than at any point in the fight, rolling across the ground before collapsing. The factions wailed in sympathy even as they showered him with encouragement.
"I'll tell you, since you'll figure it out anyway."
Simon caught a fallen Chaos Spear and spun it lazily in his grip.
"A Chaos Spear is thrown after setting its destination. The path it flies is random—but the point it finally arrives at is always, without fail, the spot I choose."
Hector's eyes gleamed.
'I'd already figured that much out. That's why he could catch the spear mid-flight so easily.'
Piing.
Then a violent headache split through Hector's skull.
"...Kkuk!"
The damage was damage—but the moment his body took a hit from Chaos, the headache flared and his thoughts scrambled into knots.
Hector pushed himself up, hand pressed to his forehead.
'Some kind of curse effect?'
Then he'd have to answer in kind. Hector triggered his final magic circle.
Kkudeudeuk!
Kkudeuk!
Scales sealed over Hector's entire body, and wings drew out of his subspace and fixed themselves to his back. His frame swelled larger and larger, a tail sprouted, and his muzzle reshaped into the jaws of a reptile.
-Kwooooooooh!
Hector, now in the form of a complete corpse dragon, let out a roar that shook the beach.
Chwaaaek!
A spear of Chaos came flying from behind, but Hector flicked his tail almost lazily, coiled it around the spear, and crushed it to dust.
[Chaos, schmaos—none of it means a thing before overwhelming power!]
"In that case, good."
Simon placed his hand over a magic circle he had drawn in advance.
The last of his Chaos magic had just been completed.
'Finally. Finally my turn to use it.'
Steadying his pounding heart, Simon activated the circle.
'My Chaos summon!'