Chapter 264
Chapter 264
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 264
Chapter Title: Tag - 4
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"..."
There was no sensation in my ankle. Even though a skeletal hand was gripping it hard enough to crush bone, I hadn't noticed until I looked down. It must have a paralyzing effect.
Could the red assassin command even bare bones? No. The ability's direction is different. This is the work of a third party.
Ssssh.
Skeletal hands bloomed silently, one by one. They erupted from the ground, snatching at Bennett and Cisel's ankles and dragging them down, slowly revealing themselves.
My crisis detection sensor tingled. I warned them immediately.
"Watch the ground! Skeletons!"
"Skeletons, you say? Where... Hyaah! What the hell is this?!"
Even in the chaos, Cisel's startled face looked just like her big sister's, which was amusing.
"...Necromancy laced with chill. Damn it. This is the magic of Corpse Flower!"
Bennett shouted that as she swung her hoe, slicing through the bones binding her and shattering them. If it was Corpse Flower... that was the alias of the named black mage who had taken over her little sister's body.
The Pleasure-Drinking Succubus Queen came to mind. If this Corpse Flower was on the same level as the Queen, it was an incredibly dangerous foe.
"Bennett, what do we need to watch out for?"
"First, get off the ground. Up into the trees!"
I wrapped my legs in flames and stomped down, smashing the skeletal hand, then scooped up the dazed Selbia nearby and leaped.
I ran straight up the tree trunk. I confirmed Bennett and Cisel leaping onto the branches in a single bound.
Clatter, crunch. Rattle rattle rattle—!
Innumerable hands clawed and tore at the ground. The earth heaved, and skeletons began rising from the soil, one by one.
No, surging up.
Rumble rumble rumble—!
Bones erupted simultaneously from every visible patch of ground. Endlessly, without cease. To the point where I wondered if this was sustainable.
Soon, a sea of bones about a meter deep had formed.
And it began to undulate. Bones, which should be solid, rippled like liquid due to the sheer volume.
I felt dizzy at the insane scale.
"Crazy..."
"These... these are all human bones? How...?"
Selbia, cradled in my arms, was stunned. It was obvious what would've happened if we'd stayed on the ground. But it was far too early to relax.
The sea of bones, formed in an instant, was rising by the second.
Shaaa—!
I wondered if I could evaporate the bone sea and escape the threat, so I unleashed a flame serpent. The Coiling Flame Serpent writhed, melting and burning bones, but weakened as it cooled against the inherent chill of the bones.
It lasted about 10 seconds before being swept away by the bone waves, leaving nothing behind. I judged quickly. Unless it was Kim Ruru-level firepower, confronting this head-on was a loss.
Crunch, rumble rumble!
The tree began to tilt as its base was gnawed away. I had to move, come up with a plan—anything. Before drowning in bones.
"This won't fizzle out midway due to lack of power... We can't hope for that, right?"
"If Corpse Flower is really here, she'll have brought a horde of souls to replenish mana. It'll be faster for us to get swept under those waves."
"Then we have no choice but to take out the caster. Let's go, Cisel, Bennett! There's a reaction from where the scream came from! Bennett, carry me. Cisel, take Selbia!"
"Yes. Got it."
Thud.
Balancing on the falling tree, leaping to the next— all while avoiding the bone sea... It was too harsh for mages.
Calculations were fine, but physicality couldn't keep up. Selbia and I rode on the vanguard duo's strength, racing through the crumbling forest. Bennett made for a surprisingly comfortable ride.
I racked my brain in the meantime.
This place wasn't some brutal human execution festival ground or an ancient cannibal empire's mass burial site... Otherwise, that volume of bones was impossible.
It was as if bones had been conjured from nothing. That phrase felt strangely familiar. For some reason, I felt like I knew the secret of this magic.
As we headed toward the red assassin's scream, the reaction with the elven holy relic grew closer by the second. At the same time, a chilling, sticky voice echoed through the forest.
Clack clack clack clack!
With the sound of bones intertwining and clashing, a massive serpent rose from the bone sea. It gaped wide to swallow me whole, its interior lined with sharply honed ribs spiraling in rotation.
"Bennett, jump!"
"...Jumping here means getting eaten?"
"I'll dodge with 3D maneuvering, so jump!"
Bennett launched without argument. I activated magic immediately.
I used flame magic as propulsion to maneuver Bennett. We traced a swallow-like descent curve, pulling off acrobatic flight.
Kagagagak!
We slipped through the narrow gap between the bone serpent and the bone sea, dodging the attack. The serpent pulverized an innocent tree instead.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Bennett's neck. Dizzying, huh. I was a bit scared too.
"Oppa, what the hell is that nonsense?!"
"Uh, well..."
Taat.
Evasive of the massive bone wave, we reached our destination: a beautiful clearing blooming with white bone flowers. At its center sat a woman on a throne of bone.
Beside her, the red assassin glared at us, clutching his perforated waist.
Ash-gray hair dyed deep green by mana. An ominous color that seemed poisonous just to look at. And facial features eerily like Bennett's.
Bennett muttered through gritted teeth, voice thick with rage.
"Fear-Devouring Corpse Flower..."
"Long time no see, Bennett. I heard you abandoned your sister for a happy life? If I'd known you had that ruthlessness, I would've leashed you differently."
"You dragged your heavy feet all the way here. Never thought we'd meet like this. Corpse Flower. Now, give me back my sister's body—!!"
"You think that's possible? No. Let me explain why. Where was I...? Right, the pinnacle of magic."
Swipe.
With a casual gesture, dead soldiers rose. From behind came the creeping sound of the bone sea. A spine-chilling, nerve-grating noise.
My indirect connection to this black mage began the moment I arrived at the Academy. In the secret underground facility, she had installed an emotion-amplifying magic circle, biding her time.
Now repurposed as a session auxiliary battery and rendered obsolete, but looking back...
Installing a circle that amplified emotions instead of squeezing souls or extorting mana was profoundly meaningful.
And the black mages' schemes at the Academy. She sought mass fear through them.
"After 300 years of death and resurrection in research, I finally reached the realm of gods. 'Materialization of Fear'... Corpses from no corpses, souls from no souls."
Corpse Flower monologued smugly, looking down at the red assassin, boasting of her achievement.
"That's why I didn't bother with the evil god statue. I didn't need its power—I did it myself."
In other words.
My hologram tech, converting faith to physical force, and Corpse Flower's necromancy fueled by fear... were on the same level.
I'd never once considered losing a pure magic duel to anyone on raw skill.
My high-performance brain was objectively monstrous, and even renowned geniuses I'd met fell short in computation power. Only Yuna could match me.
But now, even accounting for being split into dozens of pieces and weakened—
I was being pushed back bit by bit.
Corpse Flower's pinpoint spells shattered my barrage one by one, tightening around my throat.
300 years of necromantic mastery, and the talent to harness emotions as fuel... Her intuition pierced my weaknesses, transcending numbers.
Hummm—
"Oppa, she stole my metaphor too?!"
Even when I tried firing my arranged mini-sun.
"No, damn...!"
Precisely hitting the trigger of my constructed spell's impact-explosion sequence, disintegrating it mid-air— even I was dumbfounded.
Like threading a needle into an enemy bullet mid-gunfight to blow up their gun from inside.
I didn't know where she stuck the straw, but the infinitely multiplying skeleton hordes advanced relentlessly. To wipe them out, I'd need a big casted nuke.
"Flame Angel stage 3...!"
"No, Selbia. Flame Angel off!"
Fwoosh—! Poison gas scattered on the wind. I hastily erected a flame wall to burn it away.
Yeah. She gave no openings for a big cast. That's why I shut down Flame Angel.
Flame Angel boosted offense but tanked defense into the negative—one solid hit meant death. Against such precise attacks, it'd be suicide.
Cisel blocked the encroaching skeleton sea from the rear. She pinned them with gravity to halt their advance, giving her all just for that. No spare capacity to help us.
And Bennett was...
"I'll punch a hole in your side—!!"
"Out of my way. I have no time to waste on trash like you."
"Don't make me laugh, you're dying here to me, guk?!"
Clang, kang!
...Locked in combat with the red assassin, his bone club wrapped in dark red mana. His ferocity was unprecedented.
As if he'd sacrifice his life to reach his little sister, Bennett fought without looking back. Pressing the red assassin back in momentum.
"I said move."
"...You ignoring me?!"
But it wouldn't resolve quickly.
To steer the battle, center on Bennett. Fueled by burning resolve, he fought better than ever.
Bennett's odd awakening was a boon, but this fight was still filthy hard. Necromancers should be helpless without corpses, right? Conjuring them from emotions transcended necromancy.
Not that I, who did all sorts with illusion magic, could complain.
"I've heard a lot about you. Mad wizard. You wrecked my precious magic circle at the Academy too?"
"Yeah, it had so many inefficiencies, so I fixed it up!"
"Thanks. Can I take it back now? Funeral of Vermin."
"Who said... Selbia, right side!"
Corpse Flower's leisurely tone grated. She knew she had the edge.
Even positively, it was a crisis. No breakthroughs with fire magic came to mind. If it were illusion, maybe...!
But was all hope lost? No.
We had an ace up our sleeve!
I dodged a flying bone spear with arm-storage, using the gap to signal Bennett while firing a fireball at the red assassin.
"Bennett, use it!"
"...Got it."
Bennett pulled out the mini-tower master's wish ticket from his pocket. Half a year passed, but it was pristine, uncreased.
He tore it in half without hesitation.
A burst of light erupted from the ticket, sending an intangible signal skyward. Yuna was coming. The battle dynamics would shift dramatically.
Now it was a war of time. Just hold out until Yuna arrived. Pure defense was doable.
Soon.
Crack— split.
A rift tore through the air. From the gap, Yuna's massively enlarged pupil peered out calmly. Illusions swirled, mingling with the cries of myriad beasts.
Decidedly cosmic horror vibes.
"...W-what's that?!"
"No, relax! That's Yuna, the Violet Magic Tower Master!"
I soothed the freaking-out Selbia.
Yuna's sublimation Illusion Realm: Gate Opening.
Blurring boundaries between illusion and reality for spatial transfer to the marked coordinates. The nightmarish visuals were from her mental state influencing the transit through illusion-land.
This battle was won. We could hold that long, and if they tried fleeing, we could catch them.
How's that? I checked Corpse Flower's expression. But...
"Heh... hehehe."
Laughing?
I tightened my briefly loosened guard. Not bluffing. Did she have a trump card? Something to counter Yuna?
She flung spells casually while speaking.
"Bennett. Curious about the Nightmare Summon your betrayal delayed? It's a theoretical secret from the old Violet Tower. Its effect—summons the opponent's most horrific experience, literally."
"..."
"I've prepared this spell for ages. Using it now means a century cooldown. So... I chose my target carefully."
If it truly summoned nightmares, on Bennett it'd drag the session's evil god into reality? A universe-shaking entity?
No way.
It couldn't be that simple. Otherwise, make a kid imagine a planet-sized octopus and cast Nightmare Summon.
Data was probably needed. The more detailed the knowledge, the more concrete and real the nightmare.
Then.
"Mad wizard, I heard you clashed with the boy knight... Empire's Sword Saint. Split the Violet Tower in half, right?"
Yes. When Irid finished session 1.
I witnessed the tower master's clash with the boy knight.
"Must've been impressive. You probably trembled in fear. Your genius brain analyzed every detail of the Sword Saint's power."
True. With more data on metaphors and sublimations now, even more so. I could vividly imagine the boy knight's strength.
Monstrous brain. Save the boy knight himself, no one remembered the details more precisely.
"I accepted Faceless's rescue request partly for the elven relic... but mostly to meet you. Mad wizard. To pull the boy Sword Saint from your head."
Her green-tinged eyes curved gently.
"Damn, shadows underfoot, darkness peeking from closet cracks..."
I prepped Mind Severance for my own head. Blow consciousness and data away, and Nightmare Summon couldn't pull it.
A materialized boy knight foe would make it tough even with Yuna. Had to block it.
But...
"Too late."
Yeah. Mages only yap after prep's done.
Looking back, Bennett's brief daze hinted at Corpse Flower's magic circle in the forest.
Ominous black light gleamed from Corpse Flower's hand.
Targeted at me, the spell activated.
The world plunged into darkness in an instant.
Mana and emotions swirled.
300 years of accumulation from a black mage's repeated deaths and resurrections. Reagents and resources beyond measure. At the darkness's core, violet light spiraled inward.
Yes. This moment. Corpse Flower prepared to greet the nascent Empire Sword Saint clone. It might resist or be hard to control.
She'd prepared for that too. Finally, she'd wield the world's sharpest blade. With power secured, all her desires would be fulfilled.
Form gradually took shape.
The mad wizard's deepest, eternally etched terror began to manifest.
Angular body. Less than a meter tall.
...Not the boy knight, for now. Corpse Flower bit her lip. She'd assumed Sword Saint. Off-script, but fine.
This madman who wrecked her plans and wielded powerful magic himself—whatever he truly feared would be strong enough, even if not Sword Saint level.
Maybe stronger. Lambkin hinted the mad wizard might link to the evil god.
And finally, the mad wizard's terror materialized.
Darkness and mist parted, revealing a sleek metallic body. The mad wizard's legs gave out; he collapsed, trembling and screaming in horror.
"Hya啊啊啊啊啊啊—!!"
Emotionless, indifferent, relentlessly swinging the dust mop.
It was a cleaning golem.
"?"