Chapter 164
Chapter 164
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: 14. Farther Than Love, Closer Than Friendship (12)
Misfortune always strikes suddenly.
But whether it comes suddenly or not, the difference between those who are prepared to respond and those who aren't is vast.
This time, we were naturally the former. We'd anticipated external invasions and internal betrayals in advance, and we were fully ready to suppress any incident the moment it erupted.
And today, without any warning, something struck the Magic Tower, shaking the building with a deafening roar.
At the same time, the Tower Lord moved, and the damaged section regenerated instantly—but the strikes kept coming in rapid succession.
Knowing that the Magic Tower was sensitive to intrusions from outside but didn't defend as rigorously against exits from within, I received Ermina's divine blessing and leaped out through the window.
Ermina and Professor Selene said they'd hurry up the stairs, so my top priority was to shape the battlefield in our favor without pushing too hard, if possible.
With that in mind, I landed on the ground—only for something to burst from underground, tentacle-like appendages made of stone... or more like squid legs, slamming down toward me.
『Hah! Last time, you shattered my dragon with the goddess's power and raw physical force! But this time, I'm immune—immune! Behold, the Tentacles Designed to Absolutely Kill Yulius!』
"Let someone else name it."
『No demon knows my creations more perfectly than I do! From head to toe, the names I give capture their essence—they're the best!』
"Yeah, yeah."
I considered dragging things out with conversation, but her personality was far more bubbly than expected, so I shut my mouth. Judging by her temperament and the creature's form, the demon had to be the Inquirer Chen.
A monster who tinkered with and created all sorts of creatures, true to her title.
The Butcher Clasis would be hard to endure in corrupted lands without the goddess's power.
The Glutton Sventlana, who toyed with human nature, was tough to even encounter or capture.
The Executor Daniel became a firepower beast once she'd devoured enough sacrifices.
As you can see, without the goddess's power, these weren't foes I could beat head-on.
They were gimmick bosses designed to be taken down specifically with Ermina.
The Inquirer Chen was no different.
Without the goddess's power, destroying her creations was nearly impossible, but her main body wasn't overwhelmingly strong.
So.
『You genderless freak! Dodging everything, huh?!』
She'd boasted about bringing a custom weapon tailored to kill me, so the answer was to dodge everything and buy time.
I exhaled deeply, drew my sword, and ran my thumb along the flat of the blade.
Alright. Bring it.
As if hearing the voice in my head, the stone squid burst through the earth onto the surface.
Ten legs. The solidity I felt glancing off its attacks was at least two hundred times that of ordinary rock.
Slicing them off outright wasn't impossible, but cutting writhing stone limbs—like living creature legs—that resisted the demon-slaying strike empowered by the goddess's power was no easy feat.
I gritted my teeth and dodged the chaotic frenzy of its ten legs, even slashing at one to test if it'd work—but it regenerated so fast I couldn't even count the strikes.
Tch. I clicked my tongue, and laughter exploded in response.
『How's it feel? Bet you could do it if you tried, right? Looks like one good slash would end it, but you can't land it! Swordsmen like you hate environments where you can't swing with full power the most!』
She wasn't entirely wrong. Unleashing a full-powered strike on something that fluid would leave me open to the backlash, unable to move.
But the situation was different now.
For starters, I had two reliable allies. The Tower Lord was pouring everything into defense against the relentless bombardment for the moment but could switch to offense anytime.
The professors? I didn't trust them. No guarantee desk-bound researchers jumping into a fight would help.
And right on cue, a high-powered, complex light-attribute spell erupted from nearby, cleanly blasting off half the damn squid's head.
"I've got your back!"
Ermina had high aptitude, but her understanding of magic itself wasn't top-tier. That was likely Professor Selene's formula, executed by Ermina—a joint effort.
Obviously, no spamming it. We moved assuming one shot at key moments.
I dove in from the side rather than head-on, landing blows hard to block without focus.
This forced the squid monster—who couldn't ignore intense light strikes—to split its attention.
Of course, without the main demon body, Chen, showing herself, I couldn't go all-out either, dragging things out.
Chen had a mad scientist streak; she loved showing off her "artworks," but if her "masterpiece" got wrecked, she'd step in personally.
I horizontally bisected a vertically raised tentacle along with its body, then—for minimal but certain damage—empowered my sword with the goddess's power and thrust into the main body.
As if it'd learned my style, the embedded blade didn't come free easily, but I channeled the goddess's power into my left hand too, smashing it to convulse the squid and yank the sword out.
"What a pain, one by one!"
『Ahaha! Even Yulius, the darling of human nobles, curses when things don't go his way?』
"Who wouldn't?!"
The gap from my thrust closed quickly, so hitting the same spot again was futile. Assuming they'd finished recharging after holding back on spells, I poured power into my arm's wound until golden light blazed brilliantly—then brought my sword down in a single stroke.
The body cleanly severed. The head tilted from the shockwave. And a light arrow pierced it.
A faint smile crossed my lips at the clear hit—but it vanished as something shed the mangled shell and emerged.
「Yulius. I'll kill you. Right here.」
Shedding its stone-like shell, out came a humanoid body with only a squid-like head.
The tentacles became ten arms, each gripping a shell-forged sword like a true ten-sword swordsman.
With that many arms, you'd think they'd clash mid-motion, but like a living instinct, they wove a flawless sword barrier without collision, closing in.
Irritation surged toward Chen, whose face from the game I couldn't even recall—but first, I calculated how to turn the tables.
With the inner body exposed, no guarantee it matched the shell's toughness. Had to test a slash.
But one trait was clear: the shell-made swords.
Bracing for disadvantage in the fight with Chen ahead, I smashed power into my right hand and sword.
Four swords dropped in an instant, pulverized by one strike. The goddess's power made destroying them easy.
I reset my stance, clenched my teeth, and shattered incoming blades one by one, landing hits on the gradually exposed body.
"...You."
「You saw it. You saw! Isn't it amazing? Perfect, right?」
This thing couldn't be left alive.
From the gashes my sword inflicted, its innards spilled—Dwarves, Elves, humans, even demons, all fused into one writhing mass.
"Professor. Fire."
I'd coordinated with Professor Selene for fire magic in advance. To mercifully end those turned into the squid-human's living guts, I gathered power in my right hand again.
Killing pain surged. My skin split further atop old wounds, golden blood flowed, and my sword blazed with incinerating fury.
I slammed it in with most of my mana. The monster began collapsing from within, fully incinerated by Ermina and Professor Selene's joint spell.
Damn it.
Just like Chen said. From the moment I saw it, encountered it, using most of my power was inevitable.
A monster crafted from everything I despised, designed to force me into that anyway.
My power wasn't fully depleted, but like this...
"Oh dear. Yulius. Care to show me the true nature behind that handsome face?"
Despite my senses spread wide, the female demon appeared atop my back, ignoring them entirely.
She activated an impossibly complex magic circle, enveloping us in darkness.
"Stop!"
Professor Selene and Ermina charged toward me as the magic locked my body, dragging me in—but for some reason, Chen didn't block them, laughing as all four of us were swallowed by the dark.
The magic's effect, perhaps.
Sleep crashed over me, overwhelmingly hard to resist.
"See you in your dreams, handsome."