Insect King Subjugation Battle (6)

"Are you in your right mind?"

Yulise asked me in a sharp voice. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shrugged my shoulders and replied.

"There's no need to pray inside that damp worm's belly, is there? It's not exactly sunny, but praying on the ground is still better."

"Do you think I'm doing this because it's easy?" she continued, her voice thick with agitation. "If it were that simple, I would have done it long ago... It won't work. If I pray here, there's no way that thing will just stand by. We'll be crushed to death in seconds."

"Even if we go into its stomach, dying is the same, isn't it?"

"...At the very least, it would buy our comrades time to escape. If possible, I could survive longer inside and take it down with me..."

"Why are you trying to make it so difficult?" I drew the Holy Sword. "If someone stands guard beside you, everything will be okay."

Her face flushed as she shouted. "That's exactly why! I'm doing this because it's obvious that won't work!!"

"Whether it works or not, we'll only know by trying."

"You really are...!"

Yulise got irritated with me for a moment. She tried to persuade me, saying it would never work and that I should just quietly run away.

For a second I wondered if I seemed that unreliable to her. Well, with something of that scale before us, it would be hard for anyone to trust easily. I understood. But I had already decided to hold the line. Therefore, I chose to completely ignore her words. There is no need to listen to someone weaker than yourself.

"Stop talking and start praying already. It's coming soon."

"Haa... Really......"

In the end, I won the argument. There really was no time left to bicker. The creature revived from the summoning circle was slowly regaining its senses. It had finally recognized us. The fact that Valcan was indirectly controlling its mind from atop its head was likely one of the reasons.

Screeeeech!!

The Gluttonous Preta that discovered us let out an insect-like roar.

I asked Yulise one last time.

"How many minutes will it take to gather enough divine power to defeat that thing?"

Yulise had more than just buffs. She also possessed several attack skills she could use as a last resort. If she used the highest-tier one, defeating it wouldn't be impossible.

Thinking along those lines, she answered with a worried face.

"It's nighttime right now, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and the creature is so enormous that it will take a while."

"What if you concentrate the divine power on the head fused with Valcan, which I believe is its weak point?"

"Even then, it would still take about forty minutes..."

...Forty minutes. After our encounter with Valcan, the time until it summoned the Gluttonous Preta had been only twenty minutes total. Now I had to endure twice that length all by myself.

Still, it was fine. I had not rushed forward without any foundation. After all, I possessed several final measures of my own, techniques one might call life-saving ultimate moves.

When a person stands at a crossroads, they must choose. What to discard, and what to gain in exchange.

What I would gain was victory.

"I offer twenty years of my lifespan to strengthen my durability and muscle power."

A strange sensation briefly seized my entire body.

It felt as if part of my soul had been torn away whole. An intense emptiness nothing could fill swept over me in a single moment. At the same time, my body began to strengthen.

Creak. Crack...

All the growth potential I should have had over those twenty years was now concentrated into this single instant!

Energy that made me feel capable of anything surged through every limb.

It's coming.

The creature charged at me. It opened its greedy maw and closed the distance with terrifying speed. I held the Holy Sword before me and took a defensive stance.

Boom!

The collision rang out like steel smashing against steel. Even though I had blocked with everything I had, I was still pushed back several steps. No matter how much I reinforced my body, the overwhelming difference in mass could not be overcome.

Crack! Crunch!

"Ugh...!"

My body screamed along with it. Despite the enhanced durability, sounds no human body should make echoed from within me. Bones shifting, muscles tearing. If I hadn't strengthened my durability, I would have been pulverized in an instant.

Injuries were piling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up across my body in real time, yet thanks to the cheat skill Regeneration I seemed able to keep enduring.

After I had blocked like that for some time, Valcan, now fused with the creature, shouted.

"It's useless no matter what you do! Your mana is not infinite. That endlessly regenerating body of yours will eventually burst!"

His voice was thick with frenzy, perhaps because he had lost so much. Certainly, as he said, regeneration was not infinite. Once my mana ran out, my body would collapse as well. But I was not worried.

That's exactly why this skill exists.

I pressed my hand against the Gluttonous Preta's body and activated the skill.

Everything in existence contains a certain amount of mana. Blood flowing through a body is no exception. Rather, because it is part of life itself, the density of mana within blood is extremely high. If so, manipulating that mana should not be impossible.

That was the essence of Blood Magic.

The study of controlling blood and the mana contained inside it. As long as blood flowed through the opponent's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠body, I could always seize the advantage.

With every absorption, mana gradually filled my body. Its ridiculous size meant I could not tire it out, but at least I could replenish my own mana.

It was then that it happened.

"Cough...!"

Blood poured from my mouth the moment I coughed. My head grew dizzy. My breathing turned ragged. Just how many different poisons were inside it? Pain like being stabbed all over hammered my body without pause.

Seeing this, the Insect King spoke.

"Hah! Fool! Did you think absorbing its blood would fix everything? This thing is already one with me. Now that my blood and its blood are mixed, its blood is nothing less than extreme poison!"

Thanks for the helpful explanation, you bastard.

"Hero!"

The Saintess cried out in worry from behind me. It seemed she was watching even while praying. I gave her a single reassurance.

"I'm... fine..."

I could not receive purification. She was busy praying for another skill. I could not waste the divine power she had worked so hard to gather on mere cleansing.

Still, it was all right. My Poison Resistance was still active. No matter how extreme the toxin, I believed I could neutralize it eventually.

I kept draining its blood. Each time, more of its poison accumulated inside me, but I endured through sheer will. Even if blood began leaking from all seven orifices, I would not stop the skill.

Pain continued to build within my body. My instincts screamed warnings without cease. But I saw this as an opportunity instead. Since I had accumulated this much pain, its power when released would surely be extraordinary.

Looks like I'll be using this for the first time today...

With my hand still pressed to its body, I activated the skill.

Magic is the manifestation of imagery. It turns the picture inside one's mind into reality through mana. The clearer and more specific the image, the greater the power.

If that was true, then could pain, one of the most intense images a human possesses, not be manifested? On the contrary, because nothing is as vivid as pain, its power when realized would be overwhelming.

Pain Magic was the discipline that studied exactly that. If pain exists, it can be used as magic.

Thud!

A heavy impact rang out. The massive body that had seemed impossible to push back was forced backward for a moment. The spot struck by the magic had caved inward as if a giant's fist had slammed into it.

As expected, the amount I had accumulated was so vast that even at level one its power was immense. The skill had even leveled up after a single use.

"You bastard!" Valcan atop the creature's head roared.

"Wasn't that black magic?! How can someone called a hero possibly...!"

"You're saying the exact same things my comrades did."

"Just what are you?! A hero who uses such grotesque techniques!"

"The process doesn't matter. Only the result does."

I continued speaking even as I coughed up blood. Roughly ten minutes had passed since the standoff began, and my body was finally starting to adapt to the poison.

"No matter what methods I use, I will sever your head and the Demon King's. ...That is my purpose."

And at that exact moment...

The skill level rose. At the same time, a derived skill appeared. The poison inside me was further neutralized, making it a little easier to breathe.

I let out a small smirk.

I'm lucky...

My conviction was steadily growing. The conviction that I could win this fight.