Chapter 71
He didn't hear what Lydon said, but Cadel was sure it wasn't a good thing. He nudged Lydon, who stood frozen in place.
“Lydon! I told you to avoid him!”
The huge palm rose high into the sky again. Cadel hurled a fireball at the palm and called out to Lydon.
But it was no use, Lydon wouldn't budge no matter how hard he pushed and pulled, and he was busy mumbling something with his hands clasped together. Lydon’s cold, sunken gaze captured Ergo with eerie accuracy. Lydon didn't look up at all, as if mesmerized by Ergo.
The palm, meanwhile, was still intact after all those fireballs. Cadel pursed his lips as he spotted the rapidly filling hole in the explosion.
‘As long as there's the swamp, that thing will never go down. ……We're just gonna have to take a chance here, because the first time he was in that position, he used that damn skill [Great Frozen Land].’
Even if Lydon’s abilities were sealed, S-grade was still S-grade. This was a battle he couldn't fight alone. If he was not going to run away, he should at least get some help.
Finished with his calculations, Cadel took a deep breath. For the amount of magic he'd used, he still had plenty of mana. A complex formula utilizing multi-attribute magic, and a new level of 7-star. As long as he didn't lose his cool, as he did in the Forest of Enchantment, nothing could happen.
Do not forget that. For the victory in this fight will go to the one who has outnumbered his opponents to the last.
Rumble. Rumble.
The giant hand resumed its movements. It flexed its telephone pole-like fingers, and the mucus soon formed a fist.
The target was clear from the beginning. The fist rushed towards Cadel and Lydon. The mucus that was blown away by the wind pressure poured down like hail.
‘Don't be scared.’
In the rapidly deepening shadows, Cadel stretched out his arms. Dodging would only invite another attack. If he wanted to trouble the calculating demon, he had to prove he was a formidable opponent.
‘Why did I go through all that trouble to eat a blade of grass?’
He didn't know how underestimated he was, but it was difficult to think that he was at a level where he couldn't stop even one of these things.
Kkuuu—
A pillar of fire surged forward, swirling like a maelstrom, growing in size in an instant, and soon taking the shape of a hand, bending to Cadel's will.
The [Flame Hand] appeared splendidly and blocked the flying mucus fist.
* * *
“……Hoo.”
Ergo's eyes widened as he watched. A silhouette of intensely blazing flames shone over his clouded pupils.
“For a human child, you’re doing pretty well. Tsk tsk…….”
The reaction speed was surprisingly good. While Ergo used a special method to draw out the magic prepared in advance and use it one after another, that human child was not.
‘Multi-attribute chantless magician……. I'll have to keep the possibility open.’
It didn't matter if he was wrong. Being overprepared wouldn't kill him.
After living in silence for a long time, Ergo finally raised his head. As his body condition was not in perfect condition, he had to thoroughly rule out risk factors until the seeds he had sown in advance germinated. Looking at the flames that held his own mucus perfectly, Ergo put on a relaxed smile.
‘But humans are humans, after all.’
An inferior race that couldn’t defeat demons without skill. That human child was fine now, but how long could he last?
A fishy ulterior motive flashed across his face. Ergo infused mana into his mucus once.
“Kkeoheok!”
He tried to blow it in. However.
― Die.
With the voice of a man ringing in his head, a murderous chill quickly engulfed his whole body.
* * *
Ice thorns pierced Ergo's body. Purple blood was dripping over the transparent thorns that stretched out in several directions.
It was not an attack from outside. Beyond the suddenly collapsed mucus hand, Cadel frowned as he spotted the ice thorns tangled so tightly with Ergo's flesh that he could barely see his body. At the tip of the ice thorns, which had obviously pierced the flesh, hung an unidentifiable mass of internal organs.
“Ahaha! I didn't know it would cost this much mana, but the seal is really cumbersome!”
Aside from the horrifying sight in front of his eyes, the voice coming from beside him was just lively. When Cadel turned his head, Lydon, who had finished his chant at some point, was smiling.
“It took me a while because it's the first time I've ever planted mana in a demon. Cadel, have you been through a lot?”
“Been through a lot…… What the hell was that? How did you do that?”
Planting mana into someone else's body? He couldn't even guess the principle. When Cadel asked, stunned, Lydon shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing.
“It's a technique called Soul Killing Ice Thorns. You tighten your body, then tilt your head.”
“……You call that an explanation?”
“Ah! You have to open your eyes too. You have to stare directly at the target. It's pretty easy.”
He was capable of all this, and yet he had been chasing Cadel through the Forest of Enchantment. Cadel rubbed his goosebumps arms, unnecessarily creeped out, while Lydon, staring at Ergo across from him again, muttered lightly.
“Umm……. As expected, it’s too much while being sealed like this.”
Cadel followed him and looked back at Ergo. He was shapeless and ruined. Although the internal organs caught on the tip of the thorns seemed to imply Ergo's perfect death.
“At least we bought time, and that's all that matters.”
Unfortunately, Ergo was not dead.
「Time remaining 34 : 8 : 05」
The existence of the system window, which had always been on Cadel's nerves, and the swamp still located behind Ergo proved that fact. Cadel began his analysis calmly, appreciating the work created by Lydon.
‘From the beginning, Ergo had the worst balance to the extent that he was nicknamed the cursing generator. The difficulty of the skill, as well as the regenerative power unique to the demons…… It was fraudulent.’
If it was an ordinary enemy, he would have been doomed by Lydon's [Soul Killing Ice Thorns] skills. If Ergo hadn't boasted the highest level of regenerative power among the demons, there would have been a match right here.
Unfortunately, however, Ergo was no ordinary enemy. He was alive. Still, the fact that he suffered life-threatening fatal injuries did not change.
‘This is an opportunity.’
He was the one who showed great interest in Lydon from the beginning. Ergo's excited senses after completing regeneration were more likely to be concentrated on Lydon.
If so.
“Lydon. Do you think you can use the illusion?”
“Umm, what do you want me to show him?”
“I just need you to show that I am not moving from this spot. Like in the Forest of Enchantment.”
“Haha! It was really fun then.”
“Yeah, yeah. Can you do it?”
Lydon paused for a moment, rubbing his eyes. His lips curled in thought, and then he nodded approvingly.
“All right, so let's do it as soon as his eyeballs resurrected.”
Follow current nov𝒆ls on freew(𝒆)bnov𝒆l.(c)om