136
My Villains Chapter 136
35. The Legendary Bloodline (4)
Keeeyaaaak-!
A terrible scream spread. The mercenaries fighting against the spirit army froze. The evil energy in the scream had overwhelmed the mercenaries' minds.
Atalante, who was struggling to swing her spear, looked up and gritted her teeth. As a warrior who wielded the power of arcane magic, she had a strong 'mental barrier'. Atalante shouted, infusing her voice with that power.
"Get a grip!"
A wave of mental energy spread out. The mercenaries, freed from the suppression, moved hurriedly.
"Ugh."
"Fall back!"
In urgent battles, the outcome is often decided in an instant. The mercenaries had stopped moving for only 2-3 seconds, but it was a fatally long time.
"Ugh,"
Vittorio, with a rusty sword stuck in his shoulder, retreated with a pale face. As he staggered and gasped for breath, a choker hidden behind the skeleton soldiers stole his breath.
"Gaaak."
His breath was instantly blocked, but Vittorio, a skilled Nude warrior, quickly swung his spear and retreated.
At that moment, a huge form flying in the sky descended, scattering evil smoke in all directions.
Keeeyaaaak-!
As the black smoke took shape, the startled mercenaries shouted.
"Ghoul! It's a ghoul!"
The identity of the undead that the rift to the underworld spat out at the last moment was a 'corpse demon', commonly called a 'Ghoul'.
The ghoul stood over 3 meters tall with abnormally long arms, blade-like nails, and a large mouth. It wasn't simply a walking corpse, but a monster closer to a ghost.
Keeyaak!
The ghoul stretched its arm towards Vittorio. Vittorio quickly raised his spear, but with a thud!
The ghoul's nails instantly split the sturdy spear shaft and dug into Vittorio's chest.
As the ghoul's nails tore through his chest, the Nude warrior collapsed like a rotten bundle of straw.
"Vittorio-!"
Atalante let out a desperate scream. But her despair and anger were premature.
Keeee.
As the ghoul made a hissing sound, Vittorio twitched and rose. He had become an undead, succumbing to the evil energy in the creature's nails.
Seeing her comrade unable to rest in peace, Atalante's face contorted. Then, a purple light blazed from her eyes.
"K'nat, mawzir!"
With a harsh curse, Atalante drew her purple spear.
The archer Cole kept pulling his bowstring without rest.
It was difficult to damage the skeleton soldiers with arrows, and it was a waste to use arrows on zombies. So Cole's main targets were the chokers and corpse hands.
"Cole, Cole, over here!"
As usual, the freckled Mira was shouting noisily. She was dealing with the skeleton soldiers with quick movements of her shield and sword.
'Mira's footwork is so good, she probably won't get hurt easily.'
Cole fired an arrow in that direction and quickly scanned the surroundings. Thanks to the blue world collapsing and narrowing the passage, they were somehow managing to hold off the undead.
Bald Steedman's left forearm was deeply cut by a sword. Judging by his dangling shield, it seemed to be quite a deep wound.
'Steedman is weak on the left. He injured his left hand recently too.'
He fired two arrows in quick succession in that direction. A giant corpse hand tumbled down after being hit in the joint by the arrows.
"Damn it, smash it!"
At Steedman's shout, Lanky Boonie brought down his pole hammer. The heavy hammer head broke the corpse hand's fingers in various directions.
'Boonie is fine. He may be slow, but he's quick-witted.'
"Aaargh!"
Leader Amias thrust out his shield. Instead of the kite shield that was smashed by the troll, he charged with a round shield firmly attached to his shoulder.
Bang
As three skeleton soldiers tumbled down, Amias swung his axe and shouted.
"Come on! Come at me, you bastards!"
Behind the rampaging Amias, a zombie lunged. Soon after, that zombie fell with an arrow in its head.
'The bleeding on his thigh is severe, but he doesn't seem to have noticed yet. Still,'
While Amias was drawing the attention of the undead, the quiet Jenesa silently supported him. With each thrust of her long spear, an undead fell.
'With Jenesa there, I don't need to worry too much. The power of love, indeed.'
Jenesa's vambrace blocked a rusty sword aimed at Amias's back. Then, as her spear shaft came down, a skeleton soldier crumbled.
Suddenly, Cole looked ahead. Amidst the swarming undead, bursts of purple light were repeatedly flashing.
'Over there... It's a different world.'
The Nude female warrior was locked in a fierce battle with the ghoul.
A purple spear and a white spear were being swung sharply, but the ghoul showed no signs of retreating. With each swing of its long arms, black streaks were etched on the warrior's scorched skin.
"Kdvila (Die)-!"
The raging Atalante was just like a wounded leopard. Another Nude warrior, Agos, was supporting her by shooting long arrows, but it seemed insufficient to deal with the ghoul.
"Oh no, already."
Cole clicked his tongue as he fumbled with his quiver. The thirty arrows that were left had already run out.
He habitually loosened his bowstring and slung the bent bow over his shoulder. Just as he was about to draw his short sword.
"Cole!"
"...Lady Ellen?"
The one who stopped Cole from rushing out was Ellen, who was sitting beside Phoenix.
Ellen, with a pale face, had a dazed expression with unfocused eyes.
"We need to retreat now. The rift to the underworld has closed."
Cole quickly turned his head. Indeed, the gray rift that had been constantly spewing out undead was nowhere to be seen.
"Call Utequais, call Utequais."
"We need time."
Utequais was breaking through the spirit army. Siren's group could be seen struggling to keep up behind him.
"There's no time. The rift will completely collapse soon."
With half-closed eyes, Ellen looked up at Cole.
"Please take care of Phoenix."
"...Pardon? What do you mean,"
"Take Phoenix with you. I'll handle the rest."
Understanding Ellen's intention, Cole bit his lower lip hard. Then he looked down at Phoenix, who was wrapped in a translucent scale membrane...
Twitch.
"...Huh?" Cole's high-pitched exclamation was brief.
Pop!
A hand shot out from the scale membrane.
"Th-This is-"
Although Cole prided himself on being quite calm by nature, he simply couldn't maintain his composure at the bizarre scene unfolding before his eyes.
Riiip.
The scale membrane tore lengthwise. A large figure slowly rose through the gap. It was like watching a giant snake shedding its skin.
What emerged was, unsurprisingly yet shockingly, Phoenix.
Deeply shadowed muscles glistened with moisture. Steam rose from his broad shoulders and thick forearms, split back and flexible waist, thighs that looked ready to burst, and long calves.
Cole's mouth fell open. Phoenix's naked form, fully exposed including his manhood, was both terrifying and beautiful.
"... Phoenix?"
At Ellen's voice, Phoenix's head slowly turned. Cole, with his keen eye, noticed that his downward gaze was higher than before.
A face that looked as if carved from ice looked down at Ellen. Fire ignited in his black pupils.
Phoenix stepped closer to the trembling Ellen. Then he grasped her chin with his strong hand.
"Phoenix, why-"
Before Ellen could finish speaking, Phoenix licked the corner of her mouth. As his long tongue wiped away the remaining droplets of blood, her face, which had been pale, turned bright red.
"S-Suddenly, if you do this..."
In that moment, her blue eyes lost focus.
"Huu." Ellen fainted, but Phoenix was still exploring her mouth.
The muscles of his back, including the latissimus dorsi, twitched like those of a beast. Phoenix, gripping Ellen's chin and waist, looked like a large predator devouring a young deer.
"Huu, huu."
Phoenix's heavy breathing was laced with desire. While he was conflicting and hesitating, Cole, who had been frozen, forced himself to speak.
"Phoenix-"
The black eyes turned towards Cole.
There was a strange atmosphere where savagery and nobility, ferocity and majesty coexisted. The man born as the son of a soldier from a remote village in Ridburn instinctively added,
"-sir."
"Cole?"
"Yes, it's me. We need to escape quickly."
"Escape?"
Phoenix looked around.
The blue world was collapsing, the dead were singing, and his comrades were bleeding. Reason settled in his black eyes.
"Where to?"
"Over there."
Beyond the echoing passage, a black space could be seen. Phoenix's furrowed brow reflected the dark mine.
The large figure stood up. He was still naked, but somehow a glowing white sword was now in his hand.
Phoenix gripped Hrunting's handle and wiggled his fingers for a moment. His slightly elongated fingers felt somewhat unfamiliar, but his senses were clearer than before.
"...Phoenix?"
"Utequais."
Utequais, who had approached unnoticed, was catching his breath.
Siren's group was hiding behind him. As Phoenix quietly looked them over, their wide-eyed gazes scattered.
The black eyes turned to Utequais's abdomen.
"Are you hurt?"
"Just a bug bite."
Phoenix chuckled.
Cole, standing beside him, only then realized that Phoenix had truly revived upon seeing that smile.
"Showing off, are we?"
"A great warrior doesn't show off."
Utequais smiled back.
"Take care of Ellen. I'll handle the rest."
With a nod, Phoenix kicked off the ground. Watching his retreating figure, Utequais suddenly spoke.
"Is he going like that?"
"...It seems so."
Utequais burst into laughter.
"It's a hundred times better than carrying that stuffy hunk of metal! Don't you think?"
Cole nodded awkwardly.
I tried to focus while swinging my sword.
It wasn't easy. The hazy memories of Phoenix were cluttering my mind.
Moreover, having absorbed too much troll blood in the past few days, instinct kept overriding reason. I'd have to stay away from monster blood for a while. It's a dog's life.
Still, becoming stronger through molting was quite pleasing. The lighter, faster, and tougher body was a comfort to me as I faced impending fasting.
"Huu."
As the sword light flashed, a corpse hand was split in half and tumbled down. The following horizontal slash sent three skulls flying at once.
The sword was already coated in blood. Hrunting was quite long for a one-handed sword to begin with. With the added blood, the blade's length now easily exceeded 1 meter.
That long blade emitted light. It was a brilliant light, as if trying to become the protagonist in the collapsing rift.
While cutting, slashing, and slicing the endlessly approaching undead, I began gathering blood with my left hand.
Whoosh. Rotten bodily fluids and the blood of mercenaries gathered.
Unlike before when it slowly clung, now it was like being sucked into a drain.
...Ah, this is it. This is real magic.
Inwardly marveling, I stretched out my left hand. The magic, significantly more powerful than before molting, surged as it converted into blood energy.
Then, a blood storm.
Bang!
The swirling blood exploded like a grenade, sweeping the front. As about seven undead collapsed like rags, Amias, who had been limping, gaped.
"Phoenix?"
"Hurry and fall back. I'll hold them off here."
At my words, Amias made a slightly strange expression.
"That appearance..."
Right after molting, I was half out of my mind. So I hadn't managed to grab any other equipment or clothes.
In short, I was now completely naked, holding only a sword.
"...Could you not ask anything?"
"Sure."
Amias closed his mouth and nodded. His expression was like that of an understanding adult overlooking a teenager's mischief.
Damn it, this is even more embarrassing.
Jenesa, standing next to Amias, spoke up.
"Atilia is fighting. Up ahead."
"I know. I'll bring her, so you all hurry and go."
At my urging, the mercenaries quickly retreated, supporting each other.
I was only able to approach Atalante after cutting down about twenty undead.
Atalante, drenched in sweat as she fought the ghoul, spotted me and suddenly whistled.
"Wow, killer look."
She swung her White Thorn to cut off the ghoul's hand and leaped back.
Atalante, who had approached from the side, caught her breath for a moment. Then she looked me up and down and grinned.
"I don't know whose idea it was, but it's a good strategy. It's really boosting morale."
"...I don't think you're quite normal either."
I sighed and swung Hrunting. It was aimed at the ghoul lunging towards us.
Keeeyaaaak—!
As it screamed, an evil energy assaulted us.
"Hup,"
With my innate resistance and increased magic power, I shook off the evil energy with a single breath.
Hrunting, swung in one motion, cut off one of the ghoul's arms. Then Atalante stabbed its belly.
Keeek.
The bark-like skin disintegrated and black mist rose. The ghoul, facing the crisis of annihilation, was trying to escape.
I quietly watched its behavior, then slashed at the ghoul as it completely turned into a spirit body.
In normal circumstances, this would have been useless. But neither I nor Hrunting were normal.
Whoosh!
The ghoul, turned into a spirit body, began to scatter like dust.
Keeyaaa—
As the dust settled, the screams faded. When the ghoul completely vanished, Atalante muttered softly.
"...Arqid fi salam, Vittorio."
"What?"
"Nothing, ugh."
Atalante's complexion darkened, and she staggered for a moment before collapsing. I quickly supported her.
"Ata, Atilia!"
"Aah."
"Are you alright?"
"...No, my head feels like it's splitting."
Rumble rumble rumble rumble.
The collapse of the rift reached our feet.
Looking back, I saw the other party members had already escaped through the rift.
"Phoenix! Hurry up!"
Hearing Utequais's shout from afar, I quickly slung Atalante over my shoulder.
"Whoa."
"Let's move quickly."
As I started running, Atalante, hanging on my shoulder, quietly muttered.
"Wow. What a luxury. I'm glad I lived a good life."
"...Take your hands off my butt."
"This feels like I'm getting some kind of treatment. My headache is even better."
"It's annoying, so take your hands off."
"I almost died dozens of times because of you, can't you allow this much?"
"When did you almost die dozens of times—"
"Never mind, just run faster. I'll collect the rest of my life debt when we get back."
...She's definitely not normal either.
I swallowed a sigh and ran at full speed towards the exit.