Chapter 38
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Chapter 38
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Tug-of-War with Death
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Like a massive swarm of mosquitoes sweeping through, after one barrage, only mummified, shriveled corpses remained there.
The lich swallowed the life force he'd sucked in with a single gulp, then lightly clenched and unclenched his hand.
And slowly swung it.
Shwick!!!
At the same time, black blades sliced through the bodies of two knights lying behind the duke.
-Gaaaaahhh!!!
-N-No... nooo!!
Like souls being dragged out, swept away by a massive wave, they flailed across the floor before getting sucked into the lich.
"Hmm..."
But he smacked his lips, seemingly unsatisfied.
"You bastard!!"
Enraged by the sight, Duke Berli raised his sword and charged at him.
Thoom!!!!
At the same time, a horrifically complex magic circle revealed itself across the entire space.
A massive pressure bore down on him simultaneously, slamming into his body.
He couldn't even identify the magic, but he could tell it was impossible to destroy the circle—and that as long as it existed, victory was out of reach.
"Kuhk?!"
"Heh heh. I don't know what made you barge in here, but do you finally see it? Where you've stuck your foot."
"This whole place was a trap..."
A torrent of unidentified necromantic mana shook his mind.
It wasn't that he was weak.
The lich was a being created by a sixth-circle mage invoking a taboo.
Sixth circle meant archmage—a realm on par with Duke Berli himself.
If such a being had lived on for ages, it was at least sixth circle; judging by the scale and precision of the magic now, it might even be seventh.
Crushing the duke effortlessly was only natural.
"Oh ho. There are two more brimming with life force nearby. And my death knight's close by, perfect."
At those words, Duke Berli staggered, eyes bulging.
Two.
He knew exactly who that meant.
His son, Parel, and the firstborn of House Cascadia, Leon Cascadia.
He began slowly unraveling the power that had been constricting his entire body since moments ago.
And declared,
"You'll die here, you monstrous freak."
The monstrous lich burst into laughter at that.
"Heh heh heh, such spirit from a child who just crossed the wall! Fine, show me what you've got."
Even with defeat all but certain, he couldn't retreat. If he did, his son would be next.
Leon Cascadia flashed through his mind for a moment, but he doubted it would make any difference.
"Uwaaaahhh!!!"
Duke Berli had to fight the lich with everything he had.
But after the magic circle activated, the battle unfolded overwhelmingly one-sided.
"Kuhk!!"
He slashed away the black blades flying from all directions and unleashed bombardment-like attacks befitting a Sword Master, but his opponent was beyond an archmage.
The lich's magic was so impenetrable even a Sword Master like Duke Berli couldn't overcome it.
Moreover, the lich ruthlessly targeted the fallen subjugation squad here and there to create openings, or siphoned off the power suppressing Duke Berli through magic, converting it into his own strength for even greater force.
"What in the..."
Duke Berli gasped raggedly and asked,
"What... even is this magic..."
In response, the lich floating in midair spread his bony black hand.
A black spike formed from mist, and he slowly approached, gently piercing Duke Berli's shoulder.
He no longer had the strength to resist.
"Grk?!"
A pale, misty substance began to ripple out from Duke Berli's body.
He toyed with his secured prey leisurely.
"Curious, were you? Well, no harm in telling. This magic is the masterpiece of my lifetime."
"A unique... spell."
"Heh heh, quite the effort went into it—and here, you and I have no choice but to play tug-of-war."
"What?"
The duke's eyes twitched at the out-of-left-field metaphor.
"Child, how close are you to death and the underworld?"
It was a cryptic question.
"This magic is like scales. You and I have wagered our existences on it. Whichever side is closer to death and the underworld will tip..."
His eerie skull face rippled, then twisted softly.
A gruesome smile.
"The side farther from death and the underworld pledges its soul as collateral."
He didn't need to ask what happened to the collateralized soul.
Duke Berli's body was deteriorating horrifically in real time—his aura breaking down, his flesh screaming in agony with every movement.
And that suppressed, stolen power converted to energy and flowed into the lich.
He'd fought countless foes as the royal knight commander, but this was the first magic so overwhelmingly powerful and terrifying.
Whatever the lich's condition was, there was no reversing it now.
"I've had my fun. Time to reap the harvest."
With a flick of the black spike, black crescent blades materialized in the air and sliced through several of the fallen.
Duke Berli desperately tried to defend, but the follow-up sword qi carved deep wounds into him, pinning him down.
-Gaaaaahhh!!!
-Aaaack!!
Those exposed to the black sword qi met gruesome fates. Misty substances leaked from their flesh, stretching long like being sucked into a black hole before vanishing into the lich's maw.
"No! Stop, you monster!!"
Duke Berli roared in fury, but the lich continued with a sinister smile.
One by one, they were devoured.
These were the kingdom's future.
Young and seasoned alike.
They weren't meant to die so pointlessly to a monster.
"Why... why target the Bata Kingdom!!"
The lich tilted his head at the duke's cry.
And asked,
"Child, don't living beings repay favors received?"
"What nonsense."
"Oh, just granting the wish of those who freed me from my seal to destroy the kingdom. To me, this country is no different from an ant by the roadside. Do humans get punished for stepping on ants?"
A calamity. This was a horrific calamity.
Duke Berli resolved to use his final hidden card.
Using it would consume his vital energy, costing him all his power and leading to swift death—but unleashing that monster was far too dangerous.
It was just as Duke Berli stimulated his vital energy to awaken it.
Kwaaaang!!!
A sturdy wall exploded inward as a knight in pitch-black armor with glowing red eyes rushed in frantically.
And then.
Uh?
He only stopped after scrambling right up to the lich.
It felt mismatched with the menacing aura of the jet-black armor.
"Hm? What's this? Why is my death knight..."
Even the lich paused his soul feast, baffled, staring at the death knight.
A being unafraid of death.
Not some common undead either—this one's aura was at least peak Expert level.
What could terrify such an undead?
If it were afraid of the lich, maybe—but it seemed to belong to the lich.
And the mystery unraveled in the ensuing absurdity.
"What is this? All that effort, and it's got some shoddy magic in a weird spot."
Whoosh!!!
Two boys entered, one gesturing as if crumpling part of the magic circle.
"Urp... uweeek!!!"
One of them vomited the moment he stepped inside the circle and collapsed.
Duke Berli's son, Parel Berli.
He writhed, feeling the horror of this magic domain with his whole body.
"Parel!!"
"Keh heh heh. Like moths diving into flames!"
The lich let out a satisfied laugh.
"A lich... what the... And what kind of magic is this..."
Not the lich, but another answered Parel's question.
"Tug-of-war magic. Seeing which side has more necromantic mana—and whose dominion over it is stronger."
"Oh ho?"
The lich let out an impressed gasp, surprised.
"I'd need a closer look for details, but the surface system seems to work that way."
Unlike suffering Parel, Leon was perfectly fine.
At this point, even the duke and lich were puzzled.
"But... why are you so unaffected?"
Even the lich sounded baffled, asking cautiously.
"It targets all hostile lifeforms in the space upon activation. Oh, like this? Pretty ingenious for such poor security."
Ignoring them, Leon gestured in the air, poking and prodding the magic circle like it was a toy.
He'd shifted interest from the death knight to the magic long ago.
"Hm. So it piles debuffs on whoever's lower in necromantic magic realm than the caster."
Leon stated calmly, then looked at the lich.
His gaze wasn't that of one eyeing a superior foe. More like observing a curious specimen.
Perhaps that's why.
"Don't look at me like that, you insect."
As if a switch flipped, the subtly enraged lich unleashed vast power, making most present cough up blood.
The worst off was Parel, the last to enter.
Whether due to his constitution or something else, he'd clearly suffered massive internal injuries from the shockwave.
"Parel!!"
The enraged lich gestured, and pitch-black orbs formed around Leon, enveloping him.
"I won't let you die easy."
"Run, Leon!"
The duke urgently tried to tell him to flee, but before Leon could move, the black orbs swallowed him whole, lifting into the air.
This monster wasn't sixth circle after all.
An ancient relic, at least seventh.
The subjugation squad had probably lost the moment they failed to detect it.
Duke Berli despaired.
Deep down, seeing Leon unscathed, he'd hoped the boy had some hidden ace.
Absurd as he knew it was.
But look at the situation now.
Leon was gone, consumed by the black orb. Parel was dying from real-time internal injuries.
"Such fierce resistance. With your talent, this magic must hurt even more."
Satisfied, the lich raised a mist-formed black spike and stabbed Parel's nape.
"Kuhk!! Kyaaaahhh!!!"
The duke's heart shattered watching Parel lose his mind to the excruciating pain.
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