Chapter 90
Bahamons was defeated. I flashed a sinister smile at the panicking lich. There was only one reason for his panic right now, and the goddess's power radiated strongly from not far away. It meant Marian had arrived. And the way her entrance startled Bahamons suggested she would be far more useful in battle than I'd anticipated.
Almost fully recovered already.
I swung my sword swiftly at Bahamons, who couldn't hide his agitation. In that instant, his eyes locked onto me, and he hastily erected a shield.
"You bastard—how dishonorable!"
Getting called dishonorable by a lich. It stung my pride a bit, but I had my own retort.
"Says the guy who fights with numbers. Who's the coward here?"
I shouted that at Bahamons, but the ambush had already failed. My blade clanged harmlessly against his black shield, and a gloomy dark energy began gathering in his hand.
Damn, how the hell did I beat this thing in the first timeline? Honestly, taking down Bahamons back then felt like a miracle. If I hadn't gotten his Life Vessel first, I might never have succeeded. Right at that moment, my finger brushed the button on the sword's hilt, and without thinking, I pressed it.
Vrrr—
The mechanism Katrin Jayhops had installed activated with a hum, the blade singing as it vibrated. Shockingly, it started piercing through Bahamons' shield bit by bit.
"Wh-what is that?"
Oh ho, so that's the effect?
I grinned wickedly at the sword thrumming and hammering the shield. Shields weren't designed to block endless assaults indefinitely. They were the standard defensive spell for most mages, optimized for single, powerful hits. But the sword's relentless vibration sent tiny shocks rippling through the shield, rapidly draining Bahamons' mana.
No matter that he was a lich beyond mortal mana limits—he couldn't defy that fundamental law.
Crack—crack—
I smirked as fine fissures in the shield grew larger.
"Damn it all, another one of your freakish toys!"
Realizing he couldn't hold, Bahamons sprayed dark energy at me and retreated in a hurry. But battles rode on momentum. I swept the energy aside with my hand and gave chase.
Pain seared my hand where the demonic energy hit, flesh rotting in real time, but if it meant catching him, it was nothing.
"Damn pest!"
"Shut up and die, you bony fuck!"
I swung at his skull. He raised a hand in desperation, blocking with his reinforced lich body. The blade wavered; I had to settle for slicing off his shoulder.
"...Close, but no cigar."
I muttered low as his arm hit the ground. No decapitation, so no real satisfaction, but it felt good anyway.
"Filthy hero scum—you really want to die, don't you!"
Bahamons bellowed, furious. I hadn't planned to spare him anyway, so his outburst was laughable, but the energy he summoned was no joke. Black aura swirled around his maimed form like an abyss, and I gripped my sword tighter, glaring.
Goddamn skeleton. Just fuck off already.
The skeletons battling the dwarves twitched like they'd been struck by lightning. Their heads snapped toward me at unnatural angles, empty sockets fixed on me. Dozens—no, hundreds—charged, ignoring everything else.
The dwarves tried to block them, but they were outnumbered. I cleaved at the oncoming horde, but even I was reaching my limit.
"Die, hero."
As skeletons piled up around me, Bahamons sneered. He knew I wouldn't die that easily.
This is gonna hurt.
I gritted my teeth at the trembling bone soldiers, primed to explode. But then a welcome voice rang out from afar.
"Holy Territory Declaration!"
Marian, riding with Jena von Darius, shouted toward me. Soft light cascaded from the sky, enveloping me and spreading across the battlefield. Skeletons touched by it crumbled powerless to the ground.
A true miracle of the goddess descending to earth. Not just me—even the dwarves, who usually treated the goddess like dog shit, gawked at Marian in shock.
"D-damn it... Has the saintess grown this strong?"
Bahamons, the one hit hardest, was the most rattled. Unlike the others, he held his form within the holy territory, but he looked strained—no denying it.
I advanced slowly toward the kneeling lich glaring at me.
"So, tell me—who owns this battlefield? Huh?"
Grind.
Bahamons gnashed his teeth at my taunt. In his rage, one cracked and fell out.
"Don't get cocky. I lost because of the saintess—not you."
"Yeah, fair point."
I nodded, agreeing outright. Marian and Jena rode up beside me, glaring at him.
"But you're the one who had to tuck tail and run like a bitch, right?"
"...Today, maybe. Next time will be different."
"Hero!"
Bahamons spoke with haughty calm, both of us knowing we couldn't kill each other here. I had no reply—until Marian and Jena arrived.
"Next time? You can't mean you're letting him go?"
Marian, pulling up beside me, looked baffled.
"Can't kill him anyway..."
I smacked my lips regretfully. The only way to kill a lich was destroying his Life Vessel.
"Saintess, even though you did this to me, I don't hate you."
"What?"
"Somehow, you smell just like me..."
"Shut up!"
I stifled a laugh at Bahamons' familiar line, but Marian flushed with anger and shrieked.
Light burst from her, striking him.
"Heh... Useless—?!"
Bahamons' smugness shattered. Eyes closed in focus, Marian extended her hand. He gaped in horror, jaw clattering.
"H-how...? This can't... be..."
His reaction told me everything. Who was Marian? The woman who'd pioneered the first holy magic soul-tracking spell. Liches linked body and Life Vessel through their souls, and she was tracing his to its location.
"St-stop! Saintess! I truly understand your pain..."
"I said shut up, you skeleton fuck!"
She spat curses unfit for a saintess at his desperate pleas—whether from distraction or his words, I couldn't say.
Anyway, he started groaning in agony.
"N-no... My... Life Vessel..."
His pitiful voice broke, and his body began crumbling like the other skeletons.
For a Death Lord and demon army exec, it was an anticlimactic end—but that's how it went.
"...That woman. Is she her?"
As I stared at Marian in a daze, James Schultz sidled up and whispered in my ear. Her shoulders twitched at his words.