Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: Netherworld Tour - 4
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Adwin separated Maide's soul and immediately held the bell to his ear.
Jingle. Jingle.
He continued shaking it in the pattern Leon had taught him.
Neril crossed her arms and watched intently before speaking up.
"If your arm gets tired, let me know. I'll take over."
"It's nothing like that. Better if I just finish it myself."
"Huh? Doesn't matter who shakes it, as long as the pattern's right?"
"That pattern has to be precise. Even a fraction of a second off, and it means something completely different."
"......"
"So don't talk to me. I need to focus."
Neril skipped even a reply, not wanting to disturb him.
Instead, she turned to Jenia.
Jenia placed her hand on Maide's chest and cast her spell.
"Heavenly God, behold one who seeks Your mercy here."
"You're suddenly so formal?"
"Can't risk even the slightest mistake. Once this is over, we'll go back to normal."
"Now that's your normal......"
Anyway, the spell took hold properly.
A body without its soul is as good as dead.
Well, usually the soul leaves when the body dies.
But Jenia's spell could stave off the body's death, and Adwin's bell tolls would prevent the soul's demise too.
'No issues there. Unless......'
That's when it happened.
Offense suddenly spoke in a chilling tone.
"Uninvited guest. Near Agril's tail."
"Huh? Oh."
"I hoped it wouldn't happen, but here you are."
A stranger stood there.
Even Offense, who wasn't a mage, had only just noticed him.
He approached them with leisurely steps.
Neril extended her hand and said,
"Stop. Don't come any closer."
"Neril sis? Who's that?"
"Adwin, Jenia. Ignore him and focus on Maide."
"Yes, got it."
Despite the warning, the figure kept walking without hesitation.
Neril finally loosed a simple magic arrow.
Whoosh.
Boom.
The man neither blocked nor dodged it.
He simply took the hit.
Even a basic spell packed different punch from the Saintess of Coercion.
It could punch holes in mighty oaks, yet it left no mark on him.
Offense said,
"Velosian?"
"You know my name, I see."
He confirmed it lightly.
His speech was surprisingly polite.
Neril felt her hair stand on end but forced a calm tone.
"Who gave you permission to board Agril's back?"
"My apologies. Though I have no intention of leaving even if told to."
"If you're going to be sarcastic, drop the formalities."
"No. I respect humans. That's why I speak casually to the Demon King and his minions, but politely to you all."
That's why he hadn't used honorifics with the 'human' Heavenly God either.
He smiled faintly.
"I respect all humans. They truly are noble beings."
"What are you talking about?"
"No other creature in the world is as foolish as humans. They're exceedingly rare. And rarity demands respect."
Neril felt revulsion.
But arguing was less practical than getting to the point.
"Why are you here?"
"To kill Maide."
"Hah. Not even hiding it. You think you can?"
"Why ask such a question?"
"Because you seem weaker than us."
Velosian's smile deepened.
"Why? Because this isn't the 'Special Room'?"
"......"
"Who told you that?"
"We didn't even answer, and you're monologuing?"
"No. I can tell. You all believe I'm weak."
He crossed his arms.
He pondered for a moment before speaking.
"Perhaps you heard it from Impellium?"
"......Who's Impellium?"
"Pitiful how hard you're pretending. But as I said, I can tell."
"......"
"You met Impellium? No, no, that doesn't make sense no matter how I think about it."
He uncrossed his arms.
In a soft voice, he said,
"Whatever. Doesn't matter. I'll just kill you all anyway."
He raised his hand.
Neril felt an illusion as if that small palm blocked her entire view.
"Mime!"
Risel's voice rang from the carriage.
Swoosh.
The ducal spirit Mime.
The strongest spirit short of the Spirit Kings descended upon Agril.
Risel, who had rushed out from the carriage, said,
"Mime. Stop him. No......"
Her eyes turned fierce.
The man before her was Velosian.
The one who had turned Serein into that.
"Kill him. Mime."
"As you will, my Queen."
Mime grew even larger.
Just like when he had summoned the typhoon over the capital long ago.
Velosian simply looked up at him calmly.
"What a rare sight today. Haven't seen a spirit this strong since Adin."
"......! Who are you?"
"Why are you defying Adin's orders to communicate with me?"
"Hmph. No more words needed. Die."
Mime shaped his arm into a sharp blade.
Blades of wind.
The sheer pressure would shred one's body before even drawing near.
Mime swung it down at Velosian.
Whiiir!
But.
Twitch.
His body halted abruptly.
"Wh-what is this?"
And it shrank.
Velosian was slowly clenching his fist.
As he did, Mime's body began to 'crumple' in sync.
"Arrrgh!"
Soon, as Velosian fully balled his fist.
"Run, my Queen. This one's danger—......"
"M-Mime."
"Graaah!"
Mime vanished completely.
All that remained was a gentle breeze brushing cheeks.
Velosian had erased the 'typhoon' with a single fist clench.
He addressed the stunned party.
"Anything else? Esteemed humans."
I opened my eyes.
No, my ears woke first.
Jingle. Jingle.
Adwin's bell tolls!
'That sound is what's keeping me safe.'
Proof I'm not a departed soul.
As long as the tolls continue, I'm still alive.
The world recognizes me as living.
I felt a bit relieved.
That relief gave me leisure to look around.
Let's see. What's the netherworld like?
'Lepia said you'd reunite with earthly ties here.'
May said sins would be laid bare, and Gray said it was a decent enough place.
So I'd imagined the netherworld much like our living world.
But.
'Wh-what is this?'
I saw a vast world made of countless transparent, bluish bubble membranes.
Tiny bubbles rising from ocean waves.
An infinity of them clustered together.
'This is the netherworld? Nothing like I pictured.'
That's when it happened.
[What you're seeing is the full visage of the netherworld.]
'Who...... Oh, Impellium.'
[Yes. Congrats on dying while alive.]
'Don't say creepy stuff. Explain. What do you mean the full visage?'
Impellium replied lightly.
[Every bubble you see is the world of one departed soul.]
'Huh?'
[Leon said you'd meet in the netherworld, but that's unlikely. He and the other heroes can't pierce their own bubble worlds. They can't even fathom the netherworld's overall form.]
'What are you even saying......'
[It's one of those things. Hard to explain in words, so skip it. Urgent is saving Serein, right?]
He continued before I could respond.
[Look over there.]
Impellium had no visible form, so I shouldn't know his 'there.'
But somehow, I did.
I gazed at a specific spot amid the infinite bubbles.
Two bubbles stuck together like an inverted 8.
All others were somewhat apart, but these two clung tight.
[Serein and Firensha's worlds.]
'......?'
[Cut that attached part to separate them.]
'......'
[The world will then see their souls as distinct. Firensha's half-erased soul won't affect Serein at all.]
I calmed my bewildered mind.
Mountains of questions, but Impellium wouldn't answer anyway.
Even if he did, I doubt I'd grasp it.
Better focus on the priority.
'How do I cut it?'
[From there, it's out of my hands. Do it with your own power.]
'You're skipping the crucial part.'
[You already know it.]
......
I already know, huh.
Actually, a thought had already crossed my mind.
I decided to trust my instincts.
Even as a soul, my attire and gear were unchanged.
Swish.
I drew the Fake Hero's sword.
I pressed it to the adhesion point of the two tight bubbles...... the interface of the two worlds, as Impellium said.
[Got a feel for it? How to do it?]
'Yeah. I have a technique called Space Rend.'
[......]
'It creates a space of my own, severed from all external laws. Scaling it up should work.'
[Space Rend. Quite a fitting name.]
His voice sounded genuinely impressed.
He knows his stuff.
[You've achieved unprecedented feats before, but this is on another level.]
'......'
[It's an expanded Space Rend, but how about a new name for it?]
A great technique name came to mind.
I took a deep breath.
Then swung at the joined worlds.
'World Sever!'
Neril drew every ounce of origin energy from the Withering Jewel to its limit.
All she'd absorbed from the recent ten thousand monster horde.
More than when she'd deleted the mountain before.
-Transcendent Decomposition.
She formed a massive spear.
A hundred meters in diameter, it soared into the sky.
Then plummeted vertically toward Velosian's head.
"Not bad......"
Velosian watched the falling spear impassively.
Soon, he raised his hand.
He flicked it into the air like a child skipping stones.
Kabuuum!
A tiny orb of light shot from his fingertip, colliding with the Transcendent Decomposition spear.
Minuscule compared to the spear, barely visible.
Yet it astonishingly cleaved the spear in half and pierced through.
"Tch."
Neril bit her lip.
The spear that decomposed all ironically decomposed itself and vanished.
Velosian turned his head smoothly.
But his view was blocked.
Green smoke.
Offense's improved version of Hirein's 'Crave' poison.
It should have spread wildly everywhere, but it precisely enveloped Velosian.
Risel had used wind spirits to concentrate it solely around him.
A deadly toxin that killed via open pores on contact, no inhalation needed.
But.
"Huuuuh!"
Velosian instead inflated his lungs and inhaled all the poison.
Just to clear his obstructed vision.
As sight returned, Offense unleashed every hidden weapon he had.
Little Stars rained down like hail from all directions.
Each enhanced by Risel's spirits for devastating power.
Plip. Plip.
But Velosian neither blocked nor dodged.
He merely grimaced, as if mildly annoyed by spring rain wetting his clothes.
"Got nothing more innovative?"
"You, what are you......"
Velosian took a step forward.
Approaching leisurely without haste, he said,
"What's next? Ah, maybe the Grand Purification ritual? Though time might not allow it?"
"How are you this strong?"
"You're the weak ones. To think even I outside the Special Room gives you this much trouble."
"......"
"Makes me laugh that I came personally just because you name-dropped Impellium. Let's see......"
Snap.
He pointed at the party members with his finger.
"One, two, three. ......Plus the one groaning in the carriage makes seven."
"......"
"Killing seven might trigger the laws a bit stronger...... Well, have to risk it. Idria and Adin probably can't kill you themselves."
"So you are with them after all?"
"More like an ally. Or guardian?"
"......"
"In this world rigged unreasonably for humans, those beings can't survive without my help."
Neril couldn't comprehend his words.
No, she had no time to.
Her hands were busy forming seals for the next spell.
But right before activation.
"......?"
She couldn't understand why Velosian's fist was suddenly before her nose.
They'd been dozens of steps apart, surely?
Thought froze.
The mere wind pressure from the unstruck fist tore at her skin.
Just as Velosian's fist plunged toward Neril.
-Bam!
Someone punched him in the gut.
The speed of the charge sent Velosian flying far back.
Neril blinked several times.
'Who?'
Offense voiced it for her.
"Ah, Adwin?"
Adwin, no.
The 'Oldest Hero' replied.
"It's Trail. No, it's Trail."