Ch#154
The Ring of Covenant was placed on the child's wrist.
A fearsome magic artifact capable of cleanly severing a person's wrist was now fitted on Tie's hand.
"You filthy bastard not even a beast would eat—!"
However, as Veil lunged toward Tese tan,
"Calm down a bit."
Someone blocked his path.
The one gripping Veil's shoulder was Victor, a member of Trebaga.
Veil snarled fiercely at Victor, who had a slender build and his long navy hair tied back in a single ponytail.
"......You gonna move that hand?! Should I cut your wrist off before I go for that bastard's neck?"
An intrigued smile spread across Victor's face.
"Quite the foul mouth. Of course, I don't mind beautiful women. If you want......"
Before he could finish, Veil punched Victor square in the cheek.
Victor, hit right on the corner of his mouth, continued in surprise.
"Your fists pack a punch too, huh?"
"You son of a bitch, thinking you can get away with it just 'cause I've let you slide!"
"Hey! You gonna get off Victor?!"
Libia rushed over to them as well.
She held a peculiar weapon with the blade curved inward.
"Why attack someone else's executive and start a fuss?! Are you crazy?!"
The furious woman thrust her weapon toward Veil.
Veil didn't back down and stepped forward instead.
"What's with the head that looks like monster guts? Who's the one who started the trashy shit first?!"
"M-Monster guts?!"
The atmosphere froze in an instant.
A precarious tension hung between the two mercenary groups.
"Talking through that hole you call a mouth, huh? Damn......"
As Libia ground her teeth and shoved her face toward Veil,
"Come any closer, and I won't stay quiet."
This time, Basto stepped forward from behind Veil, wielding a warhammer.
As he set the hammer down, a thud echoed, and dust rose from the ground.
"You want a brawl? If that's it, we'll take you on without holding back."
Libia glared with bulging eyes.
"Yeah, you wanna keep acting like this? Perfect. My body's been itching anyway."
A dagger spun tautly between her fingers.
"Sick of butchering monsters every damn day. Been a while since......"
"Stop! Stop stop stop!"
But someone hurriedly wedged themselves between Trebaga and Agavert.
"It's Tie's fight!"
The one shouting with a terrified expression was Tie.
Basto and Veil stared at the surprised Tie in shock. Trebaga's members halted and looked at her too.
Tie continued in a trembling voice.
"It's a fight between Tie and, and that person. We agreed to duel fair and square!"
A hollow laugh escaped Veil's mouth.
"For real, from earlier...... Who doesn't know that? Fine, duel whatever. But that psycho bastard put a dangerous thing on you......!"
"Don't call him a bastard."
Tie's voice quivered like she was about to cry.
For some reason, her nose was red as she looked up at Veil.
A faint whirlwind of mana stirred around the child.
"Don't say bad things! That person is......"
The child, who had clamped her mouth shut, added,
"Tie's duel opponent."
Libia furrowed her brow.
Basto and Veil fell silent, at a loss for words.
Tese tan's face subtly stiffened.
'Even a baseless duel opponent gets respect, huh?'
But respect was usually mutual. Not one-sided from one party.
Tese tan had arbitrarily grabbed the Necromancer King's wrist and fitted the Ring of Covenant just moments ago.
He knew full well that touching another's body without permission was an insult and breach of etiquette.
There were two reasons.
First, suspicion that the Necromancer King might dodge the Ring of Covenant,
and second, to deliberately create a hostile atmosphere and induce a light skirmish before the duel.
But the Necromancer King neither avoided nor shook off Tese tan's hand.
On the contrary, she let him put the ring on willingly, and now was personally stopping her own members from charging at him.
'Did she read my intent?'
Tese tan judged that draining the Necromancer King's strength before the duel would raise his win rate.
The Necromancer King was a mage, and mages had a fatal weakness.
Mages typically became combat-incapable the moment their mana depleted.
"Everyone back off. No interfering!"
But the Necromancer King didn't fall for his scheme.
She must have glimpsed his intentions, yet showed not a shred of agitation.
"Tie, you......"
Agavert's members' faces went blank.
Tese tan glanced at them before turning back to the Necromancer King.
Tie.
The Necromancer King's true name, which he'd heard before, still sounded feminine.
It didn't suit the title 'Necromancer King' at all—bland, just like her appearance.
"Tie, why on earth......"
A few Agavert executives approached the Necromancer King.
But she scurried away from them and,
"Ppuppue!"
suddenly shouted into the air.
Soon, dark red mist enveloped the surroundings.
Victor, Aleric, and Libia quickly backpedaled as the smoke obscured their vision.
Tese tan frowned and drew the sword at his waist.
"We promised!"
A choked voice came from beyond the mist.
The hazy Necromancer King gazed at him with a complicated expression through the fog.
"Loser obeys winner completely!"
Tese tan lowered his gaze.
Silver light emanated from the Ring of Covenant on his left wrist.
Proof that the oath was established.
Tese tan smiled readily and assumed combat stance.
"Fine."
Then he muttered lowly to himself.
"If I kill you today, I reclaim the top spot, right?"
Golden energy gathered on his sword.
Sword energy shot out soon after, cleaving the red mist.
* * *
"What do we do?"
Leonardo asked.
Valentis couldn't answer.
Before their eyes.
Explosions, smoke, and unfamiliar mana waves swirled in the open ruins.
"Leader! You're doing great! Keep pouring it on!"
Trebaga's members shouted excitedly.
Valentis swallowed dryly as he followed their gazes.
Golden light flashed amid the impenetrable mist, illuminating everywhere.
Tese tan was firing sword energy to locate the Necromancer King's main body.
In that instant, the red mist converged at the center of the ruins.
The mist surged like a massive tidal wave, then began rising toward the sky.
"......!"
Tese tan's relentless sword energy halted at the overwhelming sight.
He stared up at the rising mist in combat stance.
Soon, the mist morphed into the shape of a beast.
It charged at Tese tan without hesitation, jaws wide open.
"Leader!"
Ignoring his members' cries, Tese tan raised his sword vertically.
Through Sacred Poem Awakening, Valentis saw Tese tan's sword energy realigning.
'......Theseus, you.'
The hairs on his nape stood on end.
Until now, Tese tan's sword energy had been split into multiples.
Remaining unstable and explosive, it had formed a wide attack pattern to find the Necromancer King hidden in the mist.
But the moment the Necromancer King's mist bore down on him.
Tese tan gathered his scattered, sand-like sword energy at an unimaginable speed.
And in the blink of an eye, condensed it into a single point.
Valentis clamped his mouth shut.
It was a talent unbelievable even upon seeing it, an overwhelming and destructive power.
The sword energy clinging to Tese tan's blade sharpened visibly to the naked eye.
'......So that's it.'
The first sword technique of Tese tan that informants often mentioned.
The Breaking Strike that could cleave even stealth-type monsters notorious for being hard to kill in one blow.
Kwa-gwang-gwang-gwang-!
Astie's mist split left and right without a shred of resistance.
