Chapter 206
Chapter 206
“Keuk! You damn bastard… Then and now, you always stand in my way.”
The Calamity of Death, pierced clean through by the Nameless King’s blow, staggered back, clutching the gaping hole in his chest before turning on his heel.
“…! Trying to run, are you?”
The first to notice it was Camilla.
Who would’ve thought a transcendental being like that would try to flee? It was a sight you’d expect from a cornered criminal, not a calamity. She was the only one not bound by such preconceptions, snapping her whip forward.
“How irritating! Back off! Do you really think you can stop Death itself?”“Hmph. Still talking as if you have any pride left? How revolting.”
One hand channeled the magic that controlled her sand soldiers, the other cracked the whip to hinder its escape.
Thanks to Camilla’s fierce assault, the Calamity’s retreat failed.
And that wasn’t the end of it.
The Blessing did not only rest with the Nameless King and Camilla.
“Give Hans back!”“He still owes me something… And besides, Luciana will be sad.”
The elf loosed an aura-imbued arrow for the first time.The mage launched a flame that had once shattered the Calamity’s shell.
Wounded by the Nameless King’s strike, the Calamity of Death could hardly defend against any of them.
“Graaaah! You filthy wenches…!”
Thrashing in pain, he tried to cast a spell—
“…What?!”“—You think I’ll let you?”
A shimmering barrier surrounded the Calamity, snuffing out his magic before it could even form.
The Nameless King’s skeletal fingers gleamed with mana.
Then, with a resounding crack—
“Gaaah!”
The Calamity screamed as another gaping hole opened in his neck.
“Damn you! Damn you all…! Wretched mortals daring to defy Death…!”
His furious glare swept across them as he began chanting a new spell.
“…Whatever attack it is, I’ll block it,” the Nameless King muttered.
But just as everyone prepared to counter—
“Just you wait! I’ll judge your arrogance later!”
A vast portal opened behind the Calamity.
A means of escape, of course.
“—What?”“What the…?”
He hurled himself into it without hesitation.
For all his lofty title, his flight was utterly pitiful.
“…I was caught off guard for a moment,” the Nameless King said. “No time to waste. We must go in.”“Are you sure it’s not a trap?”“We’ll have to risk it. Our proxy is inside.”
Before anyone else could move, Freesia darted forward.
“Wait for me, Hans! I’m coming to save you!”“—Wait! We need to analyze the—!”
Too late. She was gone, swallowed by the portal.
“…What now? Do we follow?”“No,” the Nameless King said. “You’re right—it could be a trap. We’ll need to fix the coordinates before moving. Just wait. Not for long.”
Everyone’s gaze fell on the portal’s vanishing shimmer.
“…She’ll be all right, won’t she?”“She should be fine, Lady Roberc. Even if she acts rashly, I’ve heard from Hans himself that she’s strong.”
Still, worry laced every voice.
The Calamity of Death panted heavily in his private dimension.
“Khuk! To think they could corner me this far…”
What sort of magic was that?To wound even him—whose essence was built upon the concept of death itself.
“But it changes nothing, magician.”
He sneered, forcing his weakened body forward toward the man he had sealed here earlier.
“No one could possibly unleash such power twice in a row.”
After taking two devastating blows, he had already realized:That terrifying spell required time to ready.
“If I recover quickly, I can still bring them death.”
Once restored, he would crush them completely.
Spotting his target, he grinned.“Yes… there you are.”
The source of his restoration—the life force of the insolent fool he had trapped here first.
To claim the life of one who had endured and witnessed every form of death—The thought alone made him smile.
He grabbed the limp figure by the collar and lifted him up.
“Heh… pathetic. This is what comes to those who oppose me. Fool, now give me your li—”
But his words froze. His grip slackened.
“…Ah. You’ve arrived. I was getting tired of waiting.”
The chill that filled the air came not just from the man’s tone.
Between his half-lidded eyes, the black irises gleamed coldly—brimming with hostility.
“I knew you’d come. After all, Phase 4 starts by draining the sacrifice’s vitality.”
Unfamiliar terms?Or foresight that saw through everything?
No—that wasn’t it.
‘…He feels completely different.’
His tongue might’ve always been sharp,but his power had never been anything special.
Yet now, he radiated a presence far beyond what he’d shown before—almost transcendent.
“How… are you still alive?”
With his body drenched in deadly toxin, he should’ve been paralyzed.But somehow, he was not only standing—he had grown stronger.
“How can you survive the Ultimate Death itself?!”
“No one can endure that! Even the strongest mind would crumble!”“That’s where you’re wrong,” Hans said coldly.
He brushed the dust from his butler’s uniform.
“You can dress it up however you want, but it’s still just an illusion.”
He shrugged lightly, as if the whole ordeal had been trivial.
“Actually, it was kind of entertaining. A reminder of what could’ve happened if I’d made the wrong choices.”
“Impossible! No mortal could bear it! No one ever has!”“You’re overconfident. Drunk on your own power. And this—” Hans gestured around. “—is the result.”
The Calamity stared, aghast, as Hans calmly straightened his cuffs.
“Do you think I’d be haunted by what’s already past?”
He had already succeeded—turning even the calamities to his side.Why would he care about a mere illusionary death?
“…But still,” Hans continued, “what came after was downright disgusting.”
He stepped forward, closing the distance in an instant.
The Calamity flinched back.“W–what are you talking about?”“I expected to see my own death. Not the deaths of my companions.”
The disgust on his face wasn’t from fear.It was grief—for those he had seen die.
“…Ha! So that’s your weakness! Then die in despair once more!”
The Calamity unleashed the same illusion spell again,to drive him mad and extract his life force.
“Drown in sorrow, mortal! Watch your loved ones perish again!”“…You really don’t get it, do you.”
Though his eyes trembled for a heartbeat, something fiercer burned within them—rage.
“Keuk! H–how can you grab me barehanded…?”
He should’ve been trapped in illusion, watching his friends die—yet here he was, gripping the Calamity’s body.
“For the sake of clearing this gimmick, I endured it. But even so, watching it all was revolting.”
Through his narrow eyes, that black gaze glinted—and within it flickered the image of a silver-haired woman.
“Batori dying to a doppelganger? That’s believable—she’s always been an unpredictable character.”“Oparn dying to Levain? Also believable. That’s the burden of a king.”“Liura getting expelled and torn apart by jackals after being disowned? Understandable. Enemies should be cut off at the root.”
How many deaths had he witnessed?One story after another spilled from his mouth.
“But Luciana… No.”
For the first time, his tone hardened with fury.
“Who the hell are you to trample on that fragile flower, just as she begins to bloom?”
Even as the toxin blackened his hands,he refused to let go.
“Death itself? Don’t make me laugh. You’re nothing more than an old relic—the weakest of the sealed calamities.”“You… wretch!”
His words were venomous—but true.
“Fool! You’ll die for your insolence! Touching me is suicide!”
There was no Saintess here.No Blessing to protect him.The poison alone should’ve been fatal.
“Fine then! I’ll kill you, and bring death to the woman you cherish so much! You can meet again in the afterlife!”“Sorry, but I’d rather roll in the dirt of the living world than rest easy in the afterlife.”
Despite his blackened arm, there was no sign of weakening.
“What… how…?”
In fact, his fingers—touching the poisonous fog—were slowly regaining color.
“I won’t let Luciana die. Not to you. Not ever.”
He wasn’t just gripping now—his hand clamped around the Calamity’s neck, crushing it.
“Kghhk!”
Only then did alarm flash through the Calamity’s mind.
Me?The Calamity of Death—dying?Not to a great spell, not to a hero’s sword… but strangled?
“Keh! You think you can kill me?! I am Death itself! I’ll curse you with a fate worse than death!”
A last, desperate cry.
Hans sneered.“What? Trying to turn me into the Nameless King now?”
That same curse—to trap a man forever between life and death.
The Calamity’s target was obvious: the silver-haired Luciana Speda.
“Yes! I’ll curse you! You won’t even care! But when you see your companion’s wretched form—you’ll live the rest of your life in regret!”Hans sighed. “Predictable to the end.”
But before the curse could even form—
“Why… can’t I cast?!”“You said you were Death itself, right? Then I’ll answer in kind.”
He raised his hand—his magic flaring.
In that instant, too late, the Calamity understood.
“…Heh. Madman.”
The strangulation of a conceptual being like him—the immunity to the toxins—the negation of the curse—
It was all because of one thing.
The Imaginal Barrier—a magic that transcends perception, manifesting one’s will into reality.
“All this… just for one woman.To think I’d lose the seat of Death itself…”
With that final whisper, his poisonous mist scattered into the air.
[Calamity of Death has been defeated!][Calculating rewards…][…]
[Imaginal Barrier acquired][??? : ??? Calamity][You can now emulate the Calamity of Death.][Locked][Locked][Locked]