Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Get Out of Our Yard! #6
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Sling.
Antiope raised her short spear high.
The tip of its sharp blade gleamed dazzlingly in the moonlight.
“In the name of Lord Jupiter, you are hereby summarily judged as heretics caught red-handed.”
Swoosh.
The tip of the spear, held high, now pointed straight at my head.
No detailed explanation.
No readable expression.
But thanks to the chilling gleam of that razor-sharp blade, it was clear enough that she saw me as an enemy.
Humans are hypersensitive to those who mean them harm, after all.
“...”
Of course, I couldn’t say a word.
Drip.
A thick cold sweat trickled down my back, the sensation vivid.
This woman was Hippolyte’s younger sister.
A warrior as strong as Hippolyte herself, without a doubt.
A living weapon who could flick a pebble with her finger and launch it like a bullet to kill.
And now she was radiating killing intent with the clear intent to end me.
One twitch of a single muscle, and who knew what might happen.
So I froze in place, legs spread and arms crossed, facing the undead.
They say some beasts stiffen up completely when facing predators, unable to even flee.
Sheep, I think that’s what they were.
I’d always thought those sheep were idiots, but here I was, the sheep.
I’m the idiot.
“Huh, even after hearing me, you don’t budge? Guess an item really is just an item.”
At that moment, Antiope slung her spear back over her shoulder.
The killing intent that had been pouring out like a thrust moments ago now felt relaxed.
“But since you’re my sister’s acquaintance, I’ll give you a choice. Surrender quietly, and I’ll spare you execution. Rot away for life in Prison City, or become a holy warrior of Lord Jupiter and dedicate your life to the faith. What do you say?”
Was she showing mercy?
“Ha-Hassan-nim... The temple knights really showed up. Bad, bad guys...!”
Paranoya, tense as could be, hid behind me and tugged desperately at my clothes.
She’d always had a meltdown at the sight of temple knights, like it triggered some seizure.
While Paranoya and I huddled there, unable to move, Luna—who’d been lying on the ground—caught her breath and stood up.
“Antiope, was it? You’re mistaken. We’re not heretics!”
“Luna Noxdoty. Noxdoty, huh? Must be from the Ideophe Isles. Everyone from Ideophe is always suspect. Your voodoo is all too similar to heretic sorcery anyway.”
“We have nothing to do with heretics. Guiding these suffering spirits is just what a voodoo practitioner must do.”
“That’s exactly why I call you suspects. You all think just like heretics.”
“What do you mean, ‘like heretics’?”
“Undead, spirits—they’re just monsters. Nasty things you can’t even talk to. You’re saying these hideous freaks don’t look like monsters to you?”
Antiope lowered her head, looking down at the undead beneath her foot.
The one she was stepping on had been muttering “I’m being stepped on, me!” nonstop, but it was like she couldn’t hear it at all.
Does the mask block out their presence or something?
Tsk. Antiope clicked her tongue and spoke.
“I despise these heretic festivals from the start. In the name of the Thunder Great Priest, guardian of the kingdom and earthly proxy of Lord Jupiter, this festival ends here and now.”
The verbal standoff between Luna and Antiope was deadlocked, neither yielding an inch.
Realizing words weren’t getting through, Luna raised her silence totem high.
“This one’s Hippolyte’s sister, alright—stubborn as hell. Know how I beat your sister?”
Undaunted by Antiope’s authority, Luna bristled with fury, clearly pissed at being lumped in with heretics.
Luna took pride in her Ideophe Isles origins and her voodoo mastery.
Getting slandered like that as evil necromancy would piss anyone off.
“I am Luna, daughter of the great Night and Superstition! I won’t tolerate insults to Ideophe or voodoo!”
“Then negotiations are over. I am Antiope, daughter of the warrior god Mars. Since I’ve invoked my father, I won’t hold back.”
Flash.
In an instant, Antiope vanished from sight, her foot pushing off the undead.
Faster than the eye could track. I flinched in surprise.
“Gah!”
Soon, Luna’s scream echoed loudly across the yard.
Thud.
Luna collapsed to the ground, as if all strength had fled her body.
Behind her stood Antiope, hand blade poised sharply, speaking casually.
“Amazonian hand blade strike.”
“Mu-my body... no strength...”
“You’re still conscious? Tougher than I thought. Didn’t want to waste ink, but...”
Swipe.
Antiope flipped the prone Luna onto her back, exposing her belly.
She raised her index finger and began drawing something on the soft white skin.
Black markings etched themselves onto Luna’s pale, yielding stomach.
The pattern connected belly to arms, like binding ropes or iron chains.
“Wh-what is this! My body won’t move!”
Whatever it was, Luna flailed like a shrimp dragged from the mud.
But impossible as it seemed, the clanking of iron chains rang out loudly from her body.
“It feels like I’m really chained!”
“That mark is a prison you can never erase. Ideophe folk are full of variables—textbook says neutralize them first.”
“A tattoo... on my body! Gods, it’s horrifying! Get it off, now!”
“Can’t. You’ll live with it forever! Just like the heretic sins etched on your soul never fade.”
“Nooo!”
The tattoo was seared onto Luna’s body.
A gruesome chain on that pale, soft belly.
The criminal-branding attitude pissed me off too.
“Such fierce killing intent. Gonna fight me, Samaritan? With your skills—no aura—you were just spectating out there!”
Antiope gripped her spear and accelerated toward me at blinding speed.
Whoosh.
Her leap was so low, belly to the ground, she looked like a crawling shadow.
That’s why she’d vanished from view—crouched that low.
No time to admire it, though.
The spear tip swept up from below, straight for my jaw.
I tensed every muscle and barely dodged backward.
Screeech!
It grazed my nose bridge, slicing off my bangs.
A direct hit to the jaw would’ve skewered me head to toe.
I’d barely escaped—this was a clear attempt to kill.
“You dodged? I was gonna send you painlessly.”
“Fuck this!”
No point in excuses now. It was kill or be killed.
I gritted my teeth and kicked off with all my strength.
Aiming to boot the woman crouched before me.
But just before my foot connected, she flipped backward in a graceful somersault, showing off her flexibility.
Boom!
It just cratered the innocent yard instead.
“Your eyes are sharper now! You really think you can beat me!?”
Antiope reversed her grip on the spear and dropped into a low stance.
Her specialty was spear throws, right? If she hurled it like that, no clue if I could block.
Distance is dangerous.
Instinct screamed it, so I charged at Antiope full tilt.
Gripped my club two-handed and swung hard, right to left, full arc.
Clang!
It collided with her spear shaft.
The shaft bent with a sharp crack, and Antiope yelled in genuine surprise.
“What brute strength! Ha, fun!”
“Raaah!”
I screamed and smashed her spear upward with all I had.
Her spear spun away from her hand and stabbed into the ground.
“Ow, my hand’s numb!”
Antiope leaped back, shaking out her palm.
Disarming her was a golden chance for me.
But what came next shocked me.
“Come.”
She opened her palm to the air.
I tensed, wondering what she was up to—then the spear ripped from the ground and flew right to her hand.
“This spear’s a pretty fine epic relic.”
Elite gear lived up to the hype, apparently.
A spear that always returns? Bullshit cheat.
How do I beat this woman?
I racked my brain for ways to take her down.
All I pictured was my heart pierced by her spear tip, dying.
Or vivid images of me and Luna dragged to Prison City.
Luna in prison? No way I’d allow that.
But normal methods wouldn’t cut it against her.
I needed to surpass my limits.
“Paranoya! Get a jar from the first floor! You can do that much as my right arm, right?”
“Y-you mean that one! Got it...!”
So I shouted to Paranoya, trembling uselessly behind me.
She got it and dashed into the hut.
“What are you up to—?”
But Antiope wasn’t one to watch idly.
“Nymph heretic. Perfect material. Killing a heretic nymph is guilt-free!”
She even aimed her reversed spear at Paranoya’s back.
If this kept up, Paranoya was dead.
I lunged at Antiope to save her and complete my plan.
Swung my club left-to-right, right-to-left, big arcs to stop any spear throw.
“God, you’re annoying!”
She gave up on Paranoya and jabbed wildly at me instead.
Swoosh, swoosh!
Her sharp tip whistled past my hair and side by a hair’s breadth, chilling me to the bone.
Close call.
Getting pummeled by Hippolyte’s fists must’ve paid off.
Dodging spear tips? Honestly surprising.
Or maybe crisis mode cranked my focus to superhuman levels.
“...The nerve?”
But her attacks kept missing, and Antiope growled in fury.
Her spear sped up impossibly, finally grazing my side and leaving a sharp gash.
Spurt, slash!
My left side burned, vision going dark.
Just a graze—why was all my strength draining?
Did she hit some vital spot I didn’t know?
The thought flashed, but blood loss fogged my head red.
Luna and Paranoya’s yells blurred and faded.
“Hassan—!”
“Filthy temple knights—! Le-let go of thi—this—!”
Humm.
The world tilted.
The ground rushed to my face.
Or so I thought—turns out my body was collapsing.
I hadn’t even realized I’d fallen.
Thought it was just a skin scrape, but it was worse than that.
Weirdly, no pain.
Just like threads snapped in my body, no strength left—like my flesh was a giant prison trapping my soul.
Lying here in this crisis? Only my lips and tongue could move.
“Stand... stand up. Get up, get up... Get up...”
I chanted to myself like a spell.
No strength in my legs, blood draining, pallor spreading—vivid sensations.
But I couldn’t stop pushing myself.
Swipe.
Then my body floated up.
Not by my power—Antiope had grabbed my collar, hoisting me airborne.
Press.
Her short spear pressed against my left side.
“Push this in, and it pierces your heart. Last chance. Prison City or holy warrior of Jupiter. Well?”
“...Get up.... Fight...!”
“Pray all you want—it’s useless. This is Exhaustion Demon Spear—Kanrunga. One stab drains your strength. Especially those thick with Pluto’s mana—they’re helpless.”
Swoosh.
The prick as the tip dug into my side was vivid.
“How’s this? Wanna become karma etched on my belly? 10 seconds. No answer, and this spear goes through your heart.”
“Fuck...!”
“Hmph, proud to the end. Fine, bye. Nice meeting you. Shame it ended like this. Samaritan. We could’ve been friends.”
Press.
She tensed her arm to thrust at my heart.
But luckily, her spear didn’t dig deeper.
“Wh-what is this...!?”
Her body was swarmed by undead clinging to her arms and legs.
She hadn’t noticed them sneaking up silently.
“Th-these half-dead undead! When did you—!”
They multiplied to dozens, yanking her away from me.
“Ugh—.”
“Agh.”
The tangled mass of undead howling and swarming looked pretty horrific even to me—like a trap, snare, or swarm.
From afar, like a black orb.
“Come with us—.”
“Living warmth—.”
Thrust. Thrust.
Dozens of hands burst from the black sphere, grabbing her head and arms, dragging her into their midst.
“Wh-what power—! H-haaah! Haa, huuuh! L-let go! Let gooo—!”
Crushed by their weight, Antiope hit the dirt.
She stabbed her spear into the ground to resist being pulled, gripping it desperately.
“Damn!! Controlling this many undead!? Impossible! I’ve never seen a heretic like this!”
“Of course. I’m no heretic.”
“Grr, ugh, this petty binding... just activate the tattoo on my back, and I’ll slip out no pro—blem—!!!!”
Even a powerhouse like her couldn’t fight off the growing horde of hands.
Antiope lost her grip on the spear and got dragged into their mass.
“Why... why won’t Grace work...!! No way—.”
She tried to scream something, but a hand smashed her mask and clamped her mouth and eyes.
“Mmmph—!”
Soon, she was trapped inside the massive ball or boulder the undead formed.
She seemed to scream from within.
“Uwaa, save—Jupi—, Mar—sis, sis...”
“Come with us—.”
“New undead.”
“Give your life force, your warmth—.”
Her cries drowned in the chorus.