Ch#155
The smoothly cleaved mist lost its form and flowed down.
It resembled blood trickling from a monster split in two.
"So that's where you were hiding."
Tese tan murmured, pulsing his sword energy once more.
His gaze was directed at Astie, who had revealed herself amid the mist.
Tese tan readjusted his grip on his sword and assumed an attack stance again.
Valentis tensed his legs, preparing to leap forward.
Interfering in another's duel was originally taboo.
But he couldn't just stand by and let Tese tan harm Astie.
Kagagagang-!
However, before Valentis could move.
Tese tan's sword strikes gathered in midair scattered futilely.
Something entered Valentis's vision as he tracked the situation.
Above Astie's head.
Astie's summon that had neutralized Tese tan's attack floated there.
[Now!]
As Lucarion shouted, a fierce gust blew along the barrier enveloping Tie.
The cloak flapped, repeatedly covering and revealing the child's face.
Black energy began to ripple at Astie's feet.
The energy instantly blanketed the ruins before suddenly sinking into the ground all at once.
Kugugugugugu-
The earth trembled as soil burst upward.
The army only the Necromancer King could summon, the undead, revealed themselves.
However, they differed in appearance from the rumors heard so far.
A hint of tension flickered in Tese tan's eyes.
'Because the location is ruins?'
The first skeleton in view held something peculiar on one arm.
Likely a relic that had slumbered in the ruins for a thousand years.
The ancient magic artifact that activated ancient magic, the Rod.
Bang! Bang-!
As the skeletons swung their Rods, clumps of mana shot toward Tese tan.
At the same time, the rest of the skeleton army charged at Tese tan all at once.
* * *
Tese tan kept swinging his sword.
His sword strikes extended in the shape of the blade, felling dozens of skeletons.
But it was futile.
Kugugugugu-
The skeletons that had vanished underground reemerged fully restored.
Bang! Kwagwang-!
From the sky, massive fireballs poured down relentlessly.
The skeletons wielding Rods were mages.
Moreover, their magic was quite advanced.
Mostly elemental magic centered on elements, but the spells were operated so tightly with high-level incantations that finding weaknesses was difficult.
Meanwhile.
Tie gathered her hands, enduring the mana pounding through her body.
Her breath came in gasps, as if forcibly enduring immersion in scalding hot water.
Yet it was still not enough.
Tie watched her dad moving at unbelievable speed from within Lucarion's barrier.
The claim that he was the strongest in this world was no lie.
Dad was truly strong.
Stronger than Uncle Basto, stronger than Brother Veil.
No, stronger than all of them combined.
Tie amplified her mana even further.
And let the surging power move freely as it wished.
As if it had only been waiting for that, the mana began pouring into the ground like a waterfall.
It felt like standing atop a giant bathtub with the plug wide open.
The earth vibrated, absorbing Tie's overflowing mana.
Wraiths from the surroundings began gathering in the sky.
[Enemy.]
[Protect the master.]
[Obey the command.]
The unique murmurs of the wraiths rang in her ears.
Everything around froze rapidly in the cold they emitted.
'Dad......'
Tie prayed, forcing strength into her shivering body.
Her eyes fixed on Tese tan, unwilling to miss a moment.
But Tese tan, standing opposite, showed not even a hint of panic.
"You're doing far more amusing things than the rumors."
Tese tan swept away the charging skeletons in one strike and swung his sword in a wide circle.
Golden holy power coalesced into a ring shape before exploding in a brief instant.
Kwang-!
Several skeletons in front of Tie staggered from the thorn-like debris.
Shattered bones poured onto the ground in heaps.
The Rods they held met the same fate.
Tie sensed the number of skeleton voices from underground decrease.
The damage this time was considerable.
It meant her bone friends would struggle to regenerate their bodies again.
[This won't do.]
Ppuppue muttered from the side.
Ppuppue stared at Tese tan discontentedly in human form.
He spoke to Lucarion, who was activating the barrier high in the sky.
[Lizard. You've seen that guy's sword strikes, right? There's a weakness.]
Red mist wrapped around his tall frame, fluttering like a robe.
[The problem is that his sword energy is stronger than the sword itself.]
Ppuppue extended both hands forward.
Red orbs gathered above his palms, forming a massive vortex.
[After unleashing a full strike, his sword enters a brief silence. Probably to recover on its own.]
Ppuppue's gaze sharpened.
[I'll trap him in subspace again.]
He looked at Lucarion with arrogant eyes.
[You strike the moment after my subspace is cleaved, when he's in that silence.]
Lucarion, who had been thinking, nodded.
Ppuppue wasted no time.
He promptly spread subspace in a net form and unleashed it toward Tese tan without hesitation.
Tese tan flinched at the massive vortex descending from the sky to engulf him.
Of course, the agitation was brief.
Tese tan focused his mind and opened his mind's eye again.
Then he swung his sword fluidly, slicing through the subspace without much trouble.
But he had overlooked something.
"......!"
Beyond the bisected subspace.
Things he hadn't seen emerged.
Peculiar clumps of light poured down like arrows on a battlefield.
"Leader-! Dodge!"
Tese tan's eyes widened.
Beyond the strike, he saw the black silhouette at the source of the light.
It resembled the legendary young dragon in appearance—that was the Necromancer King's summon.
The being that had repelled all his attacks since the duel began.
'The summon's power is this much?'
A hollow laugh escaped involuntarily.
No matter how much, he couldn't deny it—the Necromancer King was strong.
The Necromancer King's summon possessed destructive power far exceeding expectations.
That unidentified light would shatter him to pieces.
It would likely inflict fatal wounds with high probability.
Tese tan twisted his body quickly to evade the bombardment.
However, that wasn't all.
The last one struck his shoulder hard at the final moment.
"Ugh......!"
Tese tan swallowed a groan and rolled across the ground.
Red blood poured from his gripped shoulder.
His vision blurred from the pain like his arm was severed.
Tese tan bit the flesh inside his mouth and lifted his head.
Then, forcing a crooked smile, he barely said.
"This much... is nothing."
Enduring pain was something he had done to the point of boredom.
It had become as natural as breathing, no longer surprising.
So the problem lay elsewhere.
It was that the Necromancer King's summon was preparing a second strike despite unleashing such a blow, still having power left.
Tese tan focused holy power on his shoulder to staunch the bleeding and fell into thought.
'I can dodge this one too.'
At least some of it.
But the rest he couldn't dodge would damage his body.
'......Not ideal.'
He was already injured.
Any more damage would worsen the bleeding.
Moreover, he had already consumed more stamina than anticipated.
In the end, there was only one solution.
Tese tan clenched his jaw.
'Round and round, back to a breakthrough battle.'
A fight standing on the edge of survival, betting on how long he could endure with mental fortitude.
At the end of his gaze stood the Necromancer King, alone.
Since the battle began, the Necromancer King had maintained the same posture.
Even the strongest necromancer must find activating such magic burdensome, as her eyes were tightly shut.
Tese tan thought.
'No helping it.'
He would dodge the summon's strikes as much as possible.
The rest, he would take on non-vital areas.
His left arm might become rags, but saving the right would allow him to swing his sword somehow.
Eventually, even a monstrous Necromancer King would hit her limit.
There was no retreat in this duel anyway.
Leaving the Necromancer King be would lead to Trebaga's downfall.
And Trebaga's downfall was something he could never accept, even if it meant death.
The summon's attack launched toward him.
At the same time, the Necromancer King opened her eyes.
Tese tan deliberately did not avoid the clashing gaze.
Because he wanted to show the Necromancer King.
How he had survived until now.
How tenacious and persistent he could be.
How dirty and desperate he could get for survival.
But what happened next was utterly unexpected.
"......No!"
The Necromancer King cried out in a terrified voice upon seeing her own summon's strike.
"Lucarion! Stop!"
At the same time, the summon's attack hurtling toward Tese tan halted in midair.
