Chapter 51
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Resentful Specter's Bite
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It was a spell where a specter brimming with resentment bit into its target, implanting the very essence of death into the wound.
Unlike handling death visualized as ghostly energy, wielding the word "death" itself required at least the sixth circle.
The spell itself had been refined to the sixth circle, but I only grasped it much later.
In truth, the dozens of bite wounds on the guy Muyoung had chomped were rotting black, soon crumbling away as death overtook them.
The creature thrashed wildly in agony before collapsing in convulsions, no longer able to resist.
I approached slowly.
It lay limp, unable to move any further.
Outwardly, the fight seemed over, but I knew better.
"Don't try any tricks. I've seen your kind pull this crap plenty of times."
These so-called divine beasts were dishonorable scum unworthy of their name.
When gravely wounded in battle against the strong, they'd play weak as if on the verge of death, only to unleash their trump cards the moment their foe let their guard down.
It couldn't understand my words, but as I drew near with an apparent opening, its eyes flashed for an instant.
"Snap out of it! It's still...!"
Luna Basilrin's warning came too late—Barba moved faster.
As if its earlier staggering had been a lie, it sprang up in a flash.
And then.
Golden light gleamed in the eyes of the beast, which had showcased its vicious regenerative powers and defenses. Finally.
Kagagagak!!!! Hwaruruk!!
Invisible, formless claws. A last-ditch resistance forged by carving away most of its own life force.
However, having taken a direct hit from Revenge of the Banshee, its power was pathetic.
No matter how I sliced it, this was far too strong for a spell from a sixth-circle mage.
Now that even this had emerged, Barba was in no state to fight any longer.
"Yeah, like I'd fall for this trick once or twice."
Even with only instinct left, it hadn't expected me to predict and dodge this—Barba's massive frame flinched hard.
Even sprawled out, I had to crane my neck to look up at it.
A good five meters tall—what more was there to say?
Countless factors had intertwined, but in the end, I knew all about Barba, while it knew nothing of me.
And the presence of the enigmatic angel, Luna Basilrin, whose true nature intrigued me, had played a huge role.
-Grrrruk... Gruk... Puu... Puu...
"If she weren't here, this wouldn't have ended so easily."
Good for me, but a bolt from the blue for it.
Barba, gazing down at me, heaved ragged breaths before its eyes—now blackened with curses and poison even in the sockets—slowly closed.
Its wildly pounding heart gradually stilled.
"Is it dead? Did we take it down?"
I scowled at Melissa's mutter before relaxing.
"Watch your mouth."
"Wh-what?! What did I even do?!"
She yelped in protest, flustered, but thankfully, Barba's vital signs had fully ceased.
Wonder if I can raise it as a specter now...
I extended my hand toward the corpse.
Having surpassed the sixth circle, I could now specterize even these beasts to some degree.
However.
Unlike with the Death Knight, Barba was an apex monster even when weakened.
In the end, specterizing it failed.
Not only that, but as a divine beast, it couldn't be undeadized at all.
"What a shame..."
Would've been handy for plowing fields if I'd raised it as an undead.
Pushing aside my regret, I approached the two women. Melissa shuddered as she stared at the carcass, while Luna Basilrin gazed at me intently with closed eyes before asking,
"Imitating a technique that wields death itself is one thing, but handling it with such mastery is impossible at that realm."
"It's possible. Not impossible."
"Nonsense. Wielding death is a matter of qualification."
"Who knows. I just pushed myself to the brink of death until I figured it out."
She pondered my answer in silence before shaking her head.
"Sounds just like Adam's tale."
"Adam? You mean the evil god of death, Adam?"
Melissa chimed in from the side with a puzzled look.
What? I'd never heard this story before.
As I shot her a demanding glance, she shrugged.
"You don't know the story of the evil god of death and the goddess of life?"
"Why would I? I don't care about religion. The only religions I know have popes, pontiffs, saints, archbishops..."
"Ugh, enough!"
She cut me off with a click of her tongue.
"It's a story I heard from Mother long ago. Way back, there was a god of death named Adam and a goddess of life named Eve."
The only Adam and Eve I knew were the primordial humans from Earth's myths in my past life.
Created by God, cast out of the paradise of Eden for eating the fruit of knowledge of good and evil.
Honestly, I hadn't expected similar names here, so it threw me off a bit.
"It's nothing special. Just a tale of the fallen god of death and the goddess of life Eve rebelling, only to be punished and obliterated by the primordial god. That's why in the Holy Kingdom, they have ghost stories like, 'If you don't behave, the god of death from hell will come get you!'"
"Common stuff. Bata Kingdom has tales like evil dragons living in the Demon Realm."
"True. Compared to other myths, Adam and Eve are mostly dismissed as legends. But since she mentioned it, makes you wonder if it's real."
"It's not. No such evil god exists."
Melissa nodded vigorously at her firm denial.
"Nope, doesn't exist. If it doesn't, it doesn't. Too much happened today all at once— I just want to crash."
At Melissa's slump, I hoisted her up like luggage.
[The sentence connects awkwardly. There is a possibility that the truth has been cleverly concealed.]
Was it my imagination, or did that librarian guy seem oddly averse to Luna Basilrin?
Either way, true or not, I didn't care.
"Ack! What're you doing?!"
"Space is collapsing faster than expected, so we gotta bail. You know what happens if we're late, right?"
She shut her mouth at my chilling warning.
"Can you keep up?"
"Movement is possible. But most of my strength is spent."
"As long as you can move."
As I sped forward, Luna Basilrin flapped her pair of wings and followed from behind.
The rift's exit, blocked by the divine beast Barba before, was unchanged now that its power had vanished completely.
Soon, we burst out of the rift exit swiftly, and Luna Basilrin shot out right after me.
"Urk!"
She wobbled like a toddler taking its first steps before flopping ungracefully to the floor.
"What's with her?"
"Air... not accustomed..."
"Young Master!! Young Lady!"
The servants and knights guarding the rift's perimeter rushed toward us in a panic.
They'd arrived late after hearing about the rift but apparently couldn't enter for some reason.
Just then, the rift we'd escaped sparked violently, as if waiting for us.
"What the—! What's happening?!"
Melissa fumbled for her sword in alarm.
But Luna Basilrin and I just watched silently.
"Collapsing. Will vanish soon."
"The structural energy's dispersing."
As she said, the rift containing Luna Basilrin and the divine beast Barba gradually calmed its ripples before shrinking and vanishing entirely.
Only a dull, lightless blue box remained alone in the room.
"As expected. The structure collapsed under the ghostly energy's influence. This box is now useless, devoid of any power."
Luna Basilrin snatched it up with a sneer.
Without hesitation, she crushed it in her grip.
The scattering powder ignited in the air like it was disintegrating before vanishing.
"Totally smashed... I need a drink and some rest..."
Exhausted, Melissa plopped down right there with a sigh.
At that, Luna Basilrin's head snapped up.
"Food and drink!!"
Luna Basilrin had shown keen interest in alcohol even back when she first asked if it was okay to die—she'd said it was because she hadn't had a drink in ages.
Did mysterious beings like angels indulge in drink and revelry?
I wasn't sure, but one thing was clear.
This mad fallen angel, Luna Basilrin Raphaelria, was an unimaginable boozehound.
She started with what seemed like wine before switching to the hard stuff dwarves favored, chugging it down.
Worn out from the rift ordeal, Melissa had passed out mid-task, but I couldn't sleep easily.
Even setting aside whether Luna Basilrin was truly safe, my insomnia hadn't fully healed yet.
Thus, late at night, I sat in one corner of my room, staring intently at her as she gleefully guzzled booze.
In the process, she'd made herself at home in my room—me listening to her idle chatter—and I was half-babysitting her.
It wasn't critical yet, but the sleeplessness was subtly stressful.
I silently gazed at the ring sketch she'd drawn.
Surprisingly well-rendered, the ring's shape was crystal clear.
No special powers, and while its appearance was a bit unique, it lacked any standout feature that screamed "Aha! This one!" at a glance.
"Why exactly do you need this ring?"
As I munched on coffee cookies I'd made for snacks, she slammed down her mug after chugging barley beer and looked at me.
"As I said before, it's precious to me."
"A gift?"
"Something like that."
She didn't elaborate further.
"Well, now we know what it looks like, so we'll search come dawn."
"Don't get your hopes up. It's just a tiny, worthless trinket that might be somewhere in this vast world teeming with life."
She said that, but bitterness tinged her voice.
Made me wanna prove her wrong out of spite.
"Worth a shot."
"Then I'm glad. Whew. Guess that's enough for tonight. It was fun drinking after so long and chatting with someone."
"Yeah."