Chapter 148
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: Eastern Region (3)
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'What the hell is this bitch up to...?'
The five-star Hero in charge of the eastern region, Pierre, stared at the white-haired demon confronting him, his mind filled with questions.
With a swing of his staff toward her, the tip bent elastically, and a blade shot out from within, shredding the body of the silver-haired demon... Erzsebet.
-Splash!!
And at the same moment, the blood comprising this space gathered together, regenerating Erzsebet's flesh. Just like the 'Empress' he had clashed with countless times before.
The longer the battle dragged on, the more 'tools' he pulled out to pressure Erzsebet, the greater his doubts about her grew. And he even began to wonder if this demon might hold the key to finally ending his endless war with the Empress.
"This is fun... so much fun!"
Pierre continuously shifted the form of his mask-shaped Holy Relic, 'Persona.' Depending on the expression appearing on the mask, it granted various abilities. He equipped an angry mask suited for close combat, granting superior reflexes and physical prowess, then switched to a weeping mask that provided immense mana regeneration.
"Care to draw a card?"
"You're... endlessly rude."
With that, he casually approached Erzsebet and held out the deck. She pulled out her blood scythe with a look of utter exasperation and tore his body to pieces once more, but just like a matryoshka doll, a pristine Pierre emerged from the shredded remains.
The ability of the Holy Relic 'Pluto.' Thanks to it, Pierre possessed limited resurrection—as long as the conditions weren't met, he would revive even after death.
"What a tenacious bastard... Even undead aren't this sticky."
"Ohoho! This is a performance. The actor can't die mid-show!"
As he swapped masks again, feeling a surge of immense mana, Pierre drew another card.
The card-shaped Holy Relic, 'Arcana.' Unlike other relics, its power was remarkably simple. The ability to seal other things into a total of 52 blank cards.
Previous wielders of this relic had excelled as exceptional porters by storing massive, heavy objects in the cards, or fought by freely deploying magical tools and weapons in moments of crisis.
But Pierre had used this relic in an utterly ingenious way...
-Flash!!
As her body was torn apart once more and blood rushed in to reform, Pierre slipped a single card into Erzsebet's regenerating flesh.
The back of the card depicted lightning striking from a clear sky. The moment her body fully regenerated, the card flashed, and with a colossal burst of light, a bolt of lightning erupted, partially vaporizing Erzsebet's form.
This was his method. Not sealing specific 'objects' into Arcana, but phenomena or energies themselves. With this power, he had captured the moment of 'decapitation' as the guillotine severed a criminal's neck, imprinting that concept onto a card—or sealed an entire massive lightning bolt.
"Kuh...?"
And Erzsebet barely escaped the lightning's range after unexpectedly losing a massive amount of blood.
'Tricky one. Those cards... each one has completely different powers, and there's no mana or demonic energy signature from them.'
She wasn't in any real mortal danger. The abilities were bizarre and unpredictable, one by one, but their raw power paled compared to the Hero of Radiance she'd fought before. They were merely chipping away at her blood bit by bit.
Normally, she'd just ignore such an opponent and leave the battlefield...
"Oh? Where do you think you're going?"
The moment Erzsebet seized a gap to flee the stage, Pierre snapped his fingers, and her position was 'repositioned' once again.
Returned to the center of the stage, Erzsebet glared at the clown in annoyance, while Pierre smirked deeply behind his mask, clearly savoring her reaction.
"...Ha. Fine. You've got some impressive tricks."
And having already been delayed far too long by this clown, Erzsebet felt her anger truly rising. She needed to meet that 'Empress' as soon as possible, but this fool kept wasting her time...
"Alright then, clown. Let me show you something amazing."
Her fury reaching its limit, Erzsebet pulled out the gift from her master meant for emergencies. Items far more wondrous than this pathetic clown's gimmicks.
-Splash!!
Blood pooled at Erzsebet's feet, forming a puddle of indeterminable depth.
"Hee-hohoho! Sorry, but your technique is too predictable! The Empress—your previous audience member—has used it countless times!"
Pierre showed no caution even as Erzsebet unleashed more blood; he simply selected another card.
The woman before him was strong. That much was certain.
But that blood manipulation... even at its best, it was a downgrade of the Empress he'd fought dozens of times. Her skill and combat sense with blood seemed somehow superior, but the output was sorely lacking.
'Time to wrap this up.'
A performance dragged on too long wasn't ideal. Invincible as it seemed, 'Arcana' was consumable. Using the concepts sealed in each card required replenishing them, and the 'Room' had a limited duration too.
He'd hoped to see if she was hiding something, but if she just kept manipulating blood... there was nothing more to observe.
'Gotta capture her alive.'
He felt the urge to shred and kill this demon who'd stepped onto his stage—not as an audience member but a participant—like before. But Pierre suppressed the thought.
A demon seemingly connected to the Empress. If he could just capture her... no, even dissect and analyze her powers, humanity might gain another chance to assault the demonic realm.
-Rumble!!
With that in mind, Pierre drew a new card. Depicted on it was a turbulent sea with crashing waves.
The instant the card flashed, an immense volume of seawater carrying a salty tang poured forth, flooding the stage. Pierre then used the Room's repositioning to adjust the water, enveloping Erzsebet without gaps.
"How's the underwater show?"
It's over, he thought, smiling as he asked Erzsebet for her thoughts on the performance. One piece of intel he'd gleaned from countless clashes with the Empress.
Even the Empress with her invincible regeneration needed to 'breathe.' Which meant this demon, presumed to be of the same kin, did too.
Both she and the seawater he'd summoned existed on his stage, so he could reposition it at will. No matter how she struggled, the water would relentlessly flood her lungs—any living being would drown eventually.
"The passion of an audience member stepping onto the stage for an underwater experience...! This clown is moved! You're the first to enjoy my show this far! It's a shame this has to be the finale..."
"What a boring show."
"...!!"
-Flinch!!
Pierre, waiting for Erzsebet to suffocate and collapse, couldn't help but jolt as she calmly opened her mouth.
'Her voice?'
One could hold their breath underwater for a bit. Given a powerful demon's physical capabilities, it was expected. But trapped in water with it constantly surging in, speech should be impossible... yet so clear?
"...What the hell is that? That scrap of cloth."
And Pierre spotted it. A pure white cloth mask now covering Erzsebet's face, which hadn't been there before.
[Cleaning Mask (Lv. 5)]: The core of cleaning! A mask that protects the janitor from various foul odors and toxic gases.
"Hmm... So that's how my master got into that fish-filled place last time?"
The items Eugene had handed her before she set off alone for the east. Pulling out all sorts of cleaning tools and gear, Erzsebet now picked up an utterly mundane-looking [Dry Mop].
"Like this?"
[Dry Mop (Lv. 5)]: A dry mop suited for wiping up moisture.
-Whoosh!!
Now that cleaning had become second nature, Erzsebet swung the mop with practiced ease, and the spherical water prison enveloping her vanished in an instant.
"...What?!"
And for the first time since the show began, Pierre was thrown into genuine panic.
'Completely erased?'
If water remained on the stage, he could reposition it at will. But for it to vanish without a trace—not even steam left behind?
-Whirrr...
As Pierre panicked, a strange noise reached his ears. Looking down, from the puddle Erzsebet had created moments ago, a bizarre white round object was slowly crawling out.
-Whirr?
"What the...?!"
Whatever it was, since it was something the enemy had deployed, Pierre had no intention of letting it be. He immediately switched his mask to an angry expression and swung his staff-sword.
-Clang!!
"Ugh...!!"
The blade that had pierced Erzsebet's barrier and wounded her moments ago was now helplessly deflected, and his wrist throbbed.
"Surprised?"
Seizing the moment of his fluster, Erzsebet closed in and thrust her blood-soaked hand through Pierre's heart. His body jerked to a halt, and in desperation, he invoked the Holy Relic 'Pluto' to shed his dead flesh like a husk and be reborn in a fresh body.
"On my stage, something like this...?!"
As he scrambled to regain composure, the [Robot Vacuums] that had been flashing their camera lenses like they were scanning the surroundings reacted in unison the moment he discarded his wounded body.
-Whirr!! Crunch!!
Pierre's discarded corpse—the one killed by Erzsebet and shed like molted skin—was swarmed by the [Robot Vacuums] in an instant. Like hyenas devouring carrion, they tore it to shreds and sucked the pieces into their maws (the suction ports).
-...Chill!!
And as if asking if there was more, they turned, their 'eyes' (cameras) now facing him, Pierre felt a chill for the first time.
'W-What the hell are those things?'
It felt like staring at hellish beasts drawn to corpses. Suppressing his fear, Pierre drew another card from the Arcana deck and hurled it at the approaching [Robot Vacuum].
The illustration was green poison mist. Upon activation, it would release a toxic cloud deadly even to high-grade monsters. To buy time and assess, Pierre threw the poison Arcana,
-Whirr?
Sensing something—something classifiable as 'contaminant'—approaching via its sensors, the [Robot Vacuum] nonchalantly aimed its suction port that way. And then...
-Shlorp!!
".........???????"
It simply got sucked right in.
-Burp.
Leaving only a faint mechanical belch-like sound.