Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: My Army (2)
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Multiple layers of protective barriers shattered.
Jamie gritted his teeth and endured the storm of tentacles.
He hadn't even imagined turning a chimera's ability into magic. Regardless of how repulsive the bastard was, the idea was brilliant.
'But it has clear weaknesses.'
The Tentacle Hurricane was one of the most powerful spells among 6th-class magic.
If he hadn't laid down Dark Dimension in advance, he wouldn't have been able to block it.
However, even such a powerful spell had a fatal flaw.
'Black.'
Kip!
Black, who had been focused on defense, poked his head out at his master's command.
'Can you hold out?'
Kik-!
Black replied that it was no problem.
In truth, Jamie knew it was tough. Black was just bluffing to reassure his master.
Jamie knew, but said nothing. To turn the tables, he had no choice but to let Black take some damage, sorry as he was.
'Doppelganger.'
The wing-like membrane spread from his back vanished, and the black liquid covering his body coalesced into a single mass.
The black lump floated above Jamie's head, rapidly expanding and taking on a human form.
Kip!
Soon, it took on a perfect form—an exact replica of Jamie.
A transformation spell usable only when the target is fully comprehended.
Its drawback: if the target and the Doppelganger-made duplicate face each other, one must die.
But as long as they didn't face each other, nothing happened.
'Not a very efficient spell, so I rarely used it... but now it's coming in handy.'
Jamie looked at the back of Black, transformed into himself.
The Doppelganger could replicate about 60% of the target's abilities.
The Tentacle Hurricane would end soon. Black could block it. He couldn't avoid injury, but Jamie would compensate him accordingly.
Jamie melted into the shadows.
'He's holding up pretty well.'
The Doctor smirked as he watched Jamie desperately defending. He didn't know which lineage of black sorcerer he was from, but his skill was impressive.
'His tastes are gruesome, though.'
He knew there were plenty of black sorcerers as mad as him—or madder.
Some even wandered around in the form of children, insane as they were.
This kid was probably one of them.
The Doctor didn't for a second think he was a real child. In his common sense, such a monstrous talent couldn't exist in the world.
"Shall I crank up the firepower a bit? Kehhehehe!!"
The hexagram magic circle drawn by the tentacles gradually grew larger.
Dozens more tentacles burst out, joining the storm.
"Huh."
It was then.
Something his senses shouldn't have detected caught his attention.
"Wait."
The Doctor urgently opened his mouth.
But it didn't stop.
"Wh-what the hell?!"
His face twisted in panic.
Something impossible was happening. A situation his mind couldn't comprehend unfolded.
How, exactly?
"Why are you coming out from there?! You should be over there!"
The Doctor's gaze shifted to the ground.
There, Jamie was still grimacing as he endured the Tentacle Hurricane.
Then why was this one here?
"Is that you?!"
"Your weakness."
A cruel smile spread across Jamie's delicate face.
A curse flowed from his hand.
Black mana rippled across the Doctor's body.
A slight stinging sensation spread through his entire body.
"Wh-what is this?!"
"From now on, you'll slowly rot away."
"This little—!"
"The flaw in the spell you're casting right now."
Jamie raised his right hand.
"It boasts tremendous destructive power, but the caster can't do anything for a while."
"How do you...?"
"Look at you right now—you can't even twitch."
[Black Ball]
[3rd-Class Black Magic]
A black sphere slowly flew toward the Doctor.
His expression contorted.
As Jamie said, he couldn't dodge.
Not even now, as his skin rotted.
"Gaaaaahhh!!"
The moment the black sphere touched him, the Doctor felt excruciating pain.
Black Ball was a 3rd-class black magic, not an attack spell. It simply amplified the target's pain receptors threefold.
The problem was the spell cast just before: Rot Cell.
The pain of cells decaying was merely stinging at first, but now, with pain amplified threefold by Black Ball, was it still just stinging?
"St-stop it!!!!!"
Mind-numbing agony chained through his body.
The power of the Tentacle Hurricane rapidly weakened, beginning to dissipate.
"Good work."
Kip...
Black, who had endured the storm of tentacles until now, collapsed in exhaustion.
With a pop, he reverted to bat form and fell asleep.
Jamie unsummoned Black and extended both palms downward.
The Doctor's body plummeted to the ground.
Boom—with a crash.
"Gaaaaahhh!!"
The Doctor's scream erupted.
Alive, somehow.
Falling was dangerous enough, but with pain amplified threefold, it was a miracle he didn't go into shock from the agony.
That meant his body had been modified to an absurd degree.
Jamie enveloped both hands in black magic and calmly landed on the ground.
The writhing Doctor came into view.
"Guhk... kuhk."
His body convulsed in twisted agony.
His eyes rolled back, and blood-flecked foam bubbled from his mouth.
Jamie dispelled his black magic and approached the Doctor.
He'd heard directly from Lincoln, but this guy might know something else.
Not necessarily about Zenith, but he'd been at this for quite a while, from what he'd heard.
'And he's interested in body modification.'
The Doctor would know the method.
As a 'chimera specialist,' he might not know how to maintain human form during modification, but he might know someone who did.
What Jamie needed was the information he possessed.
He placed his hand on the Doctor's head.
No—he tried to.
Splat!
Jamie frowned at the tentacle that grazed his cheek.
If he hadn't sensed the incongruity in that split second, his face would have been pierced.
He instantly widened the distance.
"Kuh... damn it, damn it, damn it!!"
The Doctor, whom he'd thought unconscious, screamed as he rose with his grotesquely twisted body.
"It hurts. It hurts so much, so much, so muuuuuch!!"
Crack!
His twisted body reverted to normal.
The gruesome sound of bones realigning echoed. Even that must have been immense pain, yet the Doctor endured, grinding his teeth to the point of shattering.
"Hahk, hahk, hahk."
White smoke billowed from the Doctor's body.
Jamie didn't hesitate and summoned a black spear.
Gripping the mana-forged black spear, he hurled it at the Doctor with all his might.
Whoosh—the sound of slicing wind—
Thud!!
"Gweeeeh!!"
The cursed spear pierced his heart.
Yet the Doctor didn't fall.
The skin around the puncture unraveled like thread, wrapping around the black spear. Once fully encased, the magic fizzled away with a hiss.
"Heh. Hehehe. Hehehehehehe."
The Doctor staggered, lifting his head.
His disheveled hair and unfocused, walleye pupils were grotesque.
He laughed like a madman for a while, then abruptly stopped.
"I didn't want to use this."
He began muttering to himself.
"A bastard like you did this to me. You. Trash. Die. Damn mutt. Annoying. Angry. Gotta experiment. Ah. Going crazy. Madman. Die. Vanish. Get lost. Kill."
His pupils trembled violently, then snapped back.
Red veins bulged over the eerie whites of his eyes.
"Already used three, and now thiiiis!!"
The Doctor was furious.
What treasures they were, the things he'd made.
And now they were all going to be spent here.
Veins protruding across his entire body writhed disgustingly.
"My kin, come forth—!"
A magic circle spread centered on him.
Jamie instantly recognized it as a summoning circle.
Should he counter? Too late.
"Kihihihi. My treasures!"
Three chimeras appeared.
But they were no ordinary chimeras.
"...So that's what he was hiding."
A chimera with bird wings, lion head, troll body, and ogre limbs.
A chimera with lizardman head, ant body, six insect legs like a grasshopper's, and a hornet stinger.
And finally, one with a cannon-like muzzle—he couldn't tell what creatures made it up.
All looked grotesque, but the aura from each was extraordinary.
"Rip off every limb of that bastard and drag him before me alive!"
At the Doctor's command, the chimeras charged at Jamie.
Riki wrapped his trembling arms around himself as he kept walking. He knew he shouldn't go there, yet his feet carried him forward involuntarily.
'It's horrifying.'
What was there to evoke such loathsome feelings?
He swallowed hard from the tension.
Just a little further, and he'd arrive.
Boom!!
Then, a roar echoed from the ominous place.
Riki jolted at the sudden noise and collapsed to the ground.
His limbs shook uncontrollably. Was it really okay to go?
Boom—boom!
Roars rang out in succession.
Riki's mouth went dry. If he turned back now, Ras would emerge victorious from the battle.
What could a powerless kid do? If it was really dangerous, he'd just die going there. He had so much ahead of him; he couldn't waste his life.
Having decided, he turned to leave. But his half-turned body wouldn't move further.
'What the hell is this.'
His chest burned hot.
An inexplicable sense of duty beckoned him onward.
Why is this happening to me?
Riki made a tearful face.
In the end, he turned back around and faced forward again. Amidst this, the roars continued. Irregular winds blew from deep within the forest—perhaps an aftereffect.
He started walking again.
The sounds grew closer.
There were various kinds of noises. A fierce battle raged aboveground, more intense than the one underground.
......!
......!!
Overlapping voices reached him. But he couldn't make out what they said.
A bit closer, and faint words became audible.
"Kill! Kill!!"
"Tch. Annoying!"
Both voices were familiar.
The first one—yeah.
'The bald guy with horns like devil's horns.'
He remembered the face that had glared at him menacingly underground.
The other was a child's voice.
He didn't know why a child was here, but why did it feel familiar?
"Your mana must be running low by now!"
"Plenty left!"
Voices again.
Riki's eyes widened. 'No way?' flashed in his mind.
'That voice just now...'
A certain boy's face appeared in his head.
But he couldn't be here.
After all, he was the young lord of Hays territory.
Riki shook his head to dismiss Jamie's face. It was absurd for Jamie, who should be in Hays, to be here.
But the word 'no way' lingered in his mind.
"It's not him."
His mouth said so, but his feet moved forward.
"Gah!"
A short scream rang out.
Riki thought no more and sprinted ahead.
And into his eyes came a familiar face, crystal clear.
A boy's distorted face impaled on a massive rock.
"Ja-Jamie!"
"Riki?"
Jamie widened his eyes toward the voice. How did this kid know to come here?
He glanced back at the Doctor. Too far away—he hadn't heard Riki.
His bones ached all over, but he couldn't stop here.
But the Doctor was faster.
"Kill!!"
The chimera with the cannon muzzle planted its four legs and extended its neck.
Wooong—!!
Mana particles gathered in its round maw.
And—
Boom!!
A beam shot out.
Jamie tried to raise a barrier, but his body had reached its limit.
'Damn it.'
Can't dodge that.
That was his thought—
"Jamieeeee!!"
Riki threw himself toward him.
Dazzling light began flowing from Riki's body.
Jamie knew what that light was.
But no thought of 'how' crossed his mind.
"No!"
He reached out toward Riki.
The brilliant light existed to protect him, but that beam was something it absolutely couldn't block.
As expected—
―――――――――――――――――――――!!!
A massive explosion.
Jamie was swept away by the shockwave, tumbling far off.
His consciousness flickered on and off repeatedly.
Even so, Jamie focused solely on Riki.
He rolled across the ground but quickly rose and ran to him. His body was soaked in blood, several muscles torn, but the Full Body Breathing Method kept him moving as best it could.
And when he reached Riki—
"......"
Riki was gasping intermittently.
His limbs twisted unnaturally.
There was only one meaning to that.
"What? Why's that brat here?!"
The Doctor, spotting Riki late, scowled.
But he soon shrugged it off nonchalantly.
"Doesn't matter now. You got lucky and survived."
The Doctor raised his hand.
The chimera prepared to fire its beam again.
"......"
Jamie's heart pounded like it would burst.
Someone had thrown themselves to save him. And now, he was dying fast.
No. To monitor the saintess, this kid needed to live a bit longer. He couldn't die here.
Beyond that, Jamie hated the idea of someone dying because of him.
—Diablo. You survive.
Whose voice was that?
No.
It wasn't specific to anyone. In the past, all his comrades who stuck with him to the end left with those words.
The most heartbreaking moments weren't betrayal or parting ways over differing ideals.
It was witnessing a comrade's death before his eyes.
Like the day his last lover, Jane, died—all his comrades' deaths were the same.
His ears rang, his mind went white.
Thump, thump, thump—
Only his heartbeat sounded.
And then.
Tssst—
Chains breaking.
What chains? He didn't know. Didn't want to.
It wasn't important now.
Snap!
The chains fully snapped.
"Ah."
The moment they did—
Jamie naturally spread his arms wide.
And declared to the Doctor.
"This place is a field."
The countless corpses sleeping in this land.
The souls unable to leave this land.
The grudges bound to this land, unable to be spat out.
"And this place is."
"Your hell."
The army rose.