Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: My Army (1)
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Ras dashed toward Riki in a single bound.
However, he was forced to retreat by a slashing strike from the one-horned chimera.
He shot an irritated glare at the chimera and called out to Riki.
"It's dangerous here, so head inside for now. That spot should be safe, right?"
"Y-Yes."
"I'll take care of this quickly."
Riki nodded without a word.
He was glad to see Ras, but anyone could tell the situation here was dire.
Sticking around would only get in the way. As Riki turned to slip back through the door, the chimera—fused from an ogre and a demon horse—moved first.
Neighhh!
A horse's whinny burst from the ogre's mouth.
The sound was so absurd compared to its appearance that no one could laugh.
Because the monster had launched itself straight at Riki.
An enormous leap!
It had clearly been at the far end moments ago, but in the blink of an eye, it was right in front of Riki, rearing up its massive foreleg.
"Block it!"
Ras issued the command and shot forward faster than anyone else.
The shadow knights kicked off the ground too, but the one-horned chimera intercepted them.
In the end, only Ras was heading for Riki.
Gritting his teeth, Ras slashed his Sword of Judgment diagonally.
The blade of light, which wielded absolute destructive power against evil, scraped across the floor.
Kraaaah!
The ogre let out a monstrous roar.
The sonic wave distorted the space itself, vibrating the air.
The shockwave disrupted Ras's strike. That was enough. The slowed slash would never connect now.
The horse's hoof plummeted down to crush the boy along with the door.
Riki stood there dazed, like his mind had frozen, staring up at the falling hoof. It was as big as he was. Being crushed under that would leave no trace behind.
'No!'
Ras suddenly recalled the time the runaway carriage had nearly flattened Riki.
Even then, without Jamie's help, he wouldn't have saved him. And Jamie wasn't here now. No one but him could protect Riki.
He poured all his power into his legs.
The ground crumbled beneath him. His cloak of light shortened rapidly. The excessive force had cut its duration short.
Ras shot forward like a beam of light.
'In one strike.'
Could he reach it?
The distance was closing at tremendous speed, but the chimera and Riki were closing in just as fast.
Despair began to color Ras's face.
"N-No!"
He swung his sword.
The light was blinding. But it didn't reach the hoof.
The massive shadow engulfed Riki. He'd be crushed flat. Not even a trace of his life would remain.
Ras's eyes widened as if they might pop out.
Boom—!!!
A deafening roar.
Then an explosion of dust.
Gray smoke billowed everywhere.
Nothing was visible.
Ras's feet hit the ground. It was the longest air time he'd ever experienced in his life. And yet, he was too late. Even summoning all his senses hadn't been enough.
A cry of frustration nearly escaped him.
Finally found him, and this was the end?
'I failed to protect...'
"Grooo..."
Then a groan came from within the dust—the chimera's.
At first, he thought he'd misheard.
Why would the chimera groan? Had his strike somehow landed? Had it thrown off the monster's balance, causing the attack to fail and leaving it in pain?
Neither was right.
It didn't take long to realize that.
A faint light began seeping from the dust.
"...?"
It was a familiar light.
The dust slowly cleared.
And there, wrapped in light, a boy was staring oddly at his own delicate little hands.
Riki turned his head and looked at Ras.
"Big bro...?"
"You."
As Ras reached out toward him, debris rattled—clatter clatter—and the ogre chimera buried under it rose again.
The monster, its eyes gleaming fiercely, glared at Riki with rage-filled eyes.
"We'll talk later. Come here for now."
At Ras's gesture, Riki quickly dashed behind his back.
The soft light that had enveloped him was already gone. He had no idea what had just happened, but it had definitely saved Riki's life.
Ras placed a hand on Riki's head and said,
"Good job."
He wasn't sure what exactly he'd done well.
Riki replied brightly.
"Yeah!"
Ras chuckled softly and turned back to the chimera.
The shadow knights were locked in fierce combat with the one-horned chimera. But the fight would be decided soon.
'Duration left is about 10 minutes now.'
That last burst had shortened it.
"Climb up higher."
"Higher?"
Ras nodded and pointed at the entrance.
There were no enemies left above. It was definitely safer than staying here.
Besides, he wasn't confident he could protect Riki properly while fighting the chimeras. There was no guarantee that miracle would happen again.
"I'll guard you as far as the entrance."
"...Got it."
Riki knew he was just a hindrance here.
Ras gestured and moved toward the entrance.
Meanwhile, the ogre chimera merely watched, standing stock-still. He had no idea what it was waiting for, but it was a relief for now.
They reached the entrance, and Ras hoisted Riki up.
As Riki struggled up the broken stairs, he turned back to Ras and said,
"You have to come up too, big bro."
The kid who'd called him "mister" before was calling him "big bro" now.
Ras smiled leisurely and just raised his hand.
Reassured by that confident pose, Riki climbed higher.
Once he was fully out of sight, Ras's expression hardened again.
The ogre chimera began to move.
One of the shadow knights shouted,
"I'll help you!"
"No."
Holy power writhed within him.
It hadn't reached mastery, but an unstoppable force began flowing from Ras.
As he advanced toward the ogre chimera, Ras declared,
"I'll be the one to kill this thing."
For trying to kill Riki.
He wouldn't forgive that.
'What is this?'
As he climbed the stairs, Riki felt a strange sensation.
The moment that grotesque monster had tried to smash down on him, a tickling feeling stirred in his chest.
That was when the odd light had emanated from his body.
Something had unfolded around him. The monster struck it, but no impact occurred. Only the beast's massive body was flung backward.
That was when it started—he began sensing an intensely unpleasant aura from the monster. He didn't know what it was, but he'd felt something similar from others before.
'There were a lot in Libal.'
Bad people.
What he sensed from the monster was no different from the feeling he got whenever he saw those "bad people."
And it wasn't just that monster. He'd felt the same from the horned spider chimera fighting the black-armored figures.
It was what they called "evil," but Riki didn't realize that yet.
For now, getting out of here was what mattered. Climbing the crumbling stairs with his small body was perilous, but staying here was even more so.
This was actually safer.
Having somehow scaled the stairs, Riki panted heavily from exhaustion.
He crossed the room and pushed open the door leading outside.
"O-Outside."
Compared to the underground, it was a sweltering summer night, but even that heat felt refreshing to Riki.
He hadn't expected to actually escape.
"Ugh..."
The moment he stepped out, the tears he'd been holding back burst forth.
Riki collapsed to the ground, clutching the dirt and sobbing. He'd thought he'd escaped despair. He'd thought he could live happily with his sister from now on.
He hadn't even dreamed of a rosy future.
Everything had betrayed him. The sweet hope had been a lie, a lure for even greater despair.
He thought of his little sister Anna, still back at the church. His poor sister who couldn't see. Thinking of her brought even greater agony than before.
"Damn it, damn... hic, damn. Ugh."
He resented God. It had been just a short month, but he'd given his all to that faith.
He hated Bishop Lincoln too, and Zenith, the chief god who commanded such men. He despised them.
The boy rose to his feet. His tear-reddened eyes burned with fury.
"I won't forgive you."
Sinno's corpse down below.
And countless others sacrificed before him.
First, he'd escape this place completely, then expose the Zenith Church's atrocities to the world.
With Ras, reporting it would be easy.
So for now, he had to wait for Ras here. Riki glanced toward the door. As he moved to clasp his hands, he stopped short.
There was no god left to pray to. So no prayers.
"Big bro will make it out alive..."
That was when it happened.
His head buzzed—reeee.
Nausea surged, and his body staggered.
Riki felt his heart pounding wildly. Light flowed from his body, only to fade, repeating over and over.
His gaze turned somewhere. Far off, an unprecedentedly unpleasant and ominous aura emanated from that direction.
Like a man entranced, Riki started walking toward it.
Crack crack—
Four trees snapped under the force of the tentacles.
Jamie deflected the whipping tentacles with magic while keeping his distance.
The Doctor bellowed at Jamie's slippery movements.
"How long are you going to keep running?!"
The Doctor leaped high with tremendous leg strength, then began high-speed flight in that posture.
All the while, dozens of tentacles writhed ceaselessly to intercept Jamie.
Boom— boom— Explosions rocked the forest, the noise spreading in all directions.
'Incredible power.'
He had no idea what those tentacles were, but even grazing one would cause serious injury.
Dodging was the best option right now.
'The problem is, he hasn't even used magic yet.'
Even judging by magic level alone, the Doctor outclassed Jamie.
It was a precarious matchup even with magic, and his chimera abilities were top-notch too— a real headache.
Jamie bashed away tentacles with his shield-wrapped hand.
A massive crack split the shield; he immediately converted it to mana and reabsorbed it via the Full Body Breathing Method.
Without the Full Body Breathing Method, this fight would have ended in his defeat already.
'I've got plenty of magic left.'
He still had many memorized spells.
But spamming them recklessly wasn't wise. He needed to bide for an opening.
Jamie kept his eyes glued to the Doctor while dodging attacks as best he could. He couldn't help but find it ridiculous that he was being so cautious against such an opponent.
'No time for bitterness.'
He'd reclaim his lost power someday.
For now, he had to focus on creating a situation where he could maximize what he had.
"Annoying! Annoying! Annoying!"
As his tentacle assaults kept failing, the Doctor thrashed his limbs in midair, fuming.
It was like a child throwing a tantrum.
Panting with rage, the Doctor furrowed his brow and adjusted his orientation so his head pointed downward.
"I'll crush you myself!"
A pair of wings burst from his back hide.
Flapping his two pairs of wings, the Doctor dove at tremendous speed.
Jamie clicked his tongue at the opponent closing the gap in an instant.
"Tch."
Darkness engulfed the space they occupied.
Undeterred, the Doctor cackled madly.
"Kehahahahaha! Dieee!"
The tentacles coiled around his right arm.
The now-enormous tentacle arm plummeted to smash Jamie.
Jamie didn't avert his eyes from the attack.
As massive as it was, it was sluggish—dodging wasn't hard. The issue was the counterattack afterward.
'The tentacles are protecting him like armor.'
Those from his left arm had formed a spherical barrier around the Doctor's body. Considering their defensive power, ordinary spells wouldn't pierce it.
'Dodge first.'
The huge shadow swallowed Jamie.
His small body slipped neatly under it.
BOOM!!!!!
The ground split, sending rock shards flying everywhere.
The shockwave uprooted nearby trees, toppling them sideways.
The Doctor clicked his tongue and unraveled his tentacles.
"Black sorcerer bastard."
He was top-class at evasion. But that ended now.
The corner of the Doctor's mouth curled up.
A blue glow flowed from his eyes. Nothing special—just mana infusion. But that alone changed his perception of the world.
"One by one, shall we ramp it up?"
Killing the punk who'd pissed him off so easily wasn't his style. He'd torment him, make him suffer as much as possible. Corner him bit by bit until he begged for mercy in the end.
Then he'd pretend to show mercy.
"Shrieek!"
The Doctor let out a throat-slashing screech.
Despair is born from hope.
"You won't escape."
The unpleasant black space looked dangerous, but he'd already perfectly read Jamie's movements.
The Doctor grinned and directed his tentacles.
They drew lines in the air, connecting repeatedly.
Soon, the fully linked lines formed a distinct shape.
A massive hexagram.
"Tentacle magic."
Hundreds of tentacles swirled from the massive magic circle formed by the tentacles, crashing toward the ground—
Toward where Jamie was hiding.
"What a damnable spell!"
Jamie swallowed a hollow laugh at the massive magic tearing up the forest.
The storm of tentacles obliterated a section of the woods without a trace.