NOVEL NEXT Chapter 77
“Those bastards I couldn’t kill just now. I remember all your faces.”
Grumble.
Suppressing my anger, I took out a low-grade potion and a basic potion from my backpack and handed them to several people.
Splash.
I approached the person who seemed to be in the worst condition and poured my only medium potion directly onto their wound.
“Th-thank you! Thank you for saving me!”
I responded with a vague gesture and turned to leave when…
What’s this…? A seal? A mark?
Something small caught my eye. A mark in the shape of a marionette was left on the wound inflicted by the thread.
And some of Irmela’s traits were censored puppet ○○.
…Could it be?
As a sinister thought flashed through my mind, Irmela raised her voice, loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Oh dear, it seems the level of those gathered here is higher than I expected? Quite persistent. Then… hehehe.”
“Laughing, huh? You crazy girl! How long do you think you can hold on, huh?”
“The enemy of Medeia. I will end your pitiful life with my sword.”
Boom!
Shhh!
From afar, observing the battle scene, I could see the boisterous twins and A-san had already used up most of their mana in the performance and were barely squeezing out what little they had left.
“Oh, Light God! May the light dwell in this fist to eradicate evil!”
Boom!!!
At least the Monk, the muscle man, was continuing the assault with the support of the Guild Leader and the Mystic Wizard. But…
“Tehelum told me to gather as many sacrifices as possible with this body, so it’s time to move on to the next!”
Bam!!!
With a clap of her palms, Irmela summoned a giant tentacle and pushed everyone back with a shockwave.
Her eyes shone in a sickly purple hue.
[Irmela casts ‘Puppet Manipulation’.]
Damn. As expected, it’s a trap.
“I’ve been caught! Everyone, fall back from the injured!!!”
“What?”
“What’s that?”
Screak.
I heard an ominous sound as if rusty gears were meshing together at Irmela’s gesture.
Thud!
The wounded individuals who were either lying down or sitting for treatment, or who had lost consciousness from excessive blood loss, suddenly began to rise up like zombies.
“A-son?”
“Helen! You’re awake!!”
“No, I told you to fall back!”
They weren’t standing up on their own after being healed. Couldn’t you see those vacant eyes?
Wham!!
Crack!
“Guahhh─!”
“Guhk… why?”
Those marked with the seal, having lost their minds, were attacking their closest companions without regard for age or gender.
They aggressively bit and clawed or thrust their limbs toward others, leaving most in shock and unable to react.
The guy I had healed with the medium potion before was no exception.
Was he a thief of some sort? He pulled a dagger from his waist and charged at me.
Clang!
Shit, am I just supposed to kill him? But he’s being controlled, it’s not intentional hostility. Do I have to find a way to incapacitate him somehow?
After a moment of contemplation, with no clear solution—
“Slice the skin with the black mark to incapacitate them!!”
“Just knocking them out once is enough for them to not get back up!”
Surprisingly, some seasoned adventurers who had managed to regain their senses shouted out how to counterattack in that short span.
Great. Let’s do this.
Eagerly honing in on the fatal neck of the thrall with no sense left in him.
Swish!
I narrowly dodged with just a hair’s breadth as I twisted my body, striking his solar plexus with the pommel, ultimately knocking him out.
Thud.
Others who had learned the counter method also desperately tried to bring their loved ones down to safety with tears in their eyes.
“Ughhhhh! They said to expect something after the show, and what’s this?!”
“How long has it been since the potion healed him, and now my brother’s down again! Heal him! Heal him!”
Thwack. Thwack!
…Time to move!
“Everyone, pay attention─! I am Valiant, the instructor of the Swordsmanship Guild! I just got in touch with the Guild Leader, so if we can hold out just a little longer, there will be a way to survive! So let’s do our best!!”
“The Guild Leader of the Swordsmanship Guild…? If that person is coming!”
While everyone was starting to succeed in knocking out the thralls, a middle-aged man shouted as he protected his family.
‘The Guild Leader? I don’t know who they are, but they must be a high-ranking adventurer!’
It seemed everyone shared the same thought, with or without knowing the Guild Leader, all faces lit up with hope as they responded affirmatively.
“I’ll cast a protection spell in a wide area first, so those capable of something similar should follow immediately! To subdue the thralls, we must push them back all at once!!”
Hmmm─
“Let them all be protected by sacred light and grant holy rest to the wicked!”
[Divine Field.]
Boom!
“Dragon of the icy breath, roar! Let the Ice Dragon’s roar echo!”
Roar!!!
[Verdolf casts ‘Warrior’s Roar’.]
Kaboom──!
While the adventurers gathered here were mostly common low-ranking ones,
even so, many strong adventurers, along with a select few, pushed back against the rushing thralls and fought valiantly.
Now’s our chance!
“Ughhhh!”
“Rather than fussing about knocking them out, just tear their flesh apart!”
They successfully knocked out or incapacitated all those frozen, toppled over, or restrained.
The Barbarian leading the charge swung his gauntlets and shouted,
“Only those who are weak enough to be slaughtered like ordinary folks can stay! The rest, follow me!!”
Great. Now there’s just Irmela left.
While excluding the fainted ones and those incapable of aiding, we had at least a dozen left on our side.
With nothing left to hold us back, we could rush in, clash, and buy time until that so-called Guild Leader arrives. If all went well, we might kill her before that.
As I glanced to the front, I saw that our members were struggling one by one as well. We need to hurry!
“Charge─.”
But just as we were about to all head toward the center of the stage,
Kaboom—!
What the—
[Gregory casts ‘Pair of Wide Benefits’.]
[Verdolf casts ‘Bear Skin of Defense’.]
Wooosh!!!
Thud.
“Cough…!”
“Gulp. Cough.”
The Paladin wrapped in great wings of light and the Barbarian with brown skin were the only two up front, managing to block a swift torrent of flames that shot out in a straight line without warning.
‘What the hell? A breath attack? Is there another enemy besides Irmela?’
Wait. If it’s a breath attack—
As an unexpected attack struck, our side and even the central arena where the struggle between our members and Irmela had been occurring became eerily quiet,
A figure walked into the Coliseum.
“Haha! It seems the infestation has finally ended, huh? I was wondering why it was taking so long!”
“Sh, Shurika?!”
Yes. It was none other than Shurika.
‘No way. Can I still call her the initial performer Shurika?’
Her crimson blade-hair was interspersed with purple, blurring the line, and those eyes gleamed with a wicked purple glow like Irmela’s tentacles.
She had changed drastically.
Moreover, the fire breath she had just unleashed was identical to what the spirits had shown during their performance, meaning she had clearly become an enemy for some reason.
“What the hell did you do to end up like that…? You damned devil!!!”
Thud!
The Monk charged forward, white divine power enveloping his fist towards Irmela.
“Don’t!”
Gak!
Seeing that, Shurika mumbled and waved her hand, and a much larger fire lion materialized, slamming him.
Boom!!!
Gah! Thud.
The Monk was blasted away, charred, and writhing on the ground in pain, while Shurika let black tears flow from her eyes.
“P-please kill me.”
─Woof woof.
─Keening!
─Bwooou!
Behind the despairing Shurika, spirits who also shed black tears appeared one by one, crying.
“W-what’s that?”
“Now we have to face the Spirit Master too?”
“Damn it, is that the issue right now? Look at her! She looks like she wants to die right now! Clearly the servant of the Evil God’s scheme!”
Seeing Shurika, who had looked confident just hours ago, and spirits who had joyfully danced before the crowd reduced to this state,
an indescribable unease surged in everyone’s hearts.
Snicker.
You’re laughing?
“Pwahaha! Just look at that expression. It’s a masterpiece!”
Snap.
Irmela’s laugh, filled with amusement, united us all as one.
“I’m going to catch that bitch no matter what.”
“I agree. That’s pure evil. An evil we must absolutely eliminate.”
“Then shall we finish this before more interruptions arrive?!”
[Irmela casts ‘Tehelum’s Bridge’.]
Fwoosh─!
A heartfelt spectacle of gigantic tentacle bundles and gleaming black threads, along with the fire emitted by Shurika’s spirits.
It was a life-or-death moment where we desperately needed to clash against them.
That was what I thought.
“This is just chaotic, isn’t it?”
“…!”
A chilling voice rang out suddenly in my mind, almost stunning me.
As if I was facing the wrath of Ivelyn, furious over what happened to Yeriell.
In this slowed-down world, I was barely able to glance around.
Are they allies? Is that the Guild Leader?
Someone wearing orange sunglasses and wielding a sword appeared in front of the stage.
The palpable presence was so overpowering that it created a hallucination that pushed away the surrounding darkness, making everything appear pure white.
Swish.
She placed her hand on the handle of the sword at her waist.
Hiss. Huh.
Taking a step forward.
[Sena casts ‘Horizontal Cross Slash’.]
She slashed from left to right.
────.
A loud rift echoed. A huge movement. Pulsating mana.
…None of these were appropriate descriptors.
Swish.
It was just one shining slash delivered horizontally.
That single cut erased all the giant tentacles, black threads, and flames without leaving a trace.
‘What just happened?’
“Ohh.”
“Huh? Huh?”
“The Guild Leader!!!”
The middle-aged man who had claimed to be her instructor was waving his arms in exaggerated movements above his head.
“Yo─! Sorry. Am I late?”
She smiled nonchalantly as if nothing had happened just now.
Tap tap.
“Turns out those damned Evil Gods spread the warp gate’s spell in District 5 beforehand, huh? Those creepy bastards are always thinking about bad things, aren’t they?”
Thud thud.
“Thanks to that, I couldn’t wait for the cleanup and just ran all the way from District 4. Haha!”
With her playful laughter, the tense atmosphere began to ease.
If she’s here… we might have a fighting chance!
Afterward, the flames of hope started to rise in everyone’s hearts.
Huh.
What I had just witnessed burned intensely in my mind, and I found myself inadvertently fixating on her, wishing to know more.
[The trait ‘Martial Arts’ is nullified by Chaos.]
“Hmm?”
Oh no.
It was the first time I had ever experienced not just partial reading but complete nullification of my status.
“Gah!”
Before I knew it, the Guild Leader—or rather, Sena—had approached me and tilted my chin up, lifting her sunglasses to stare into my eyes.
How many seconds passed?
As I broke out in a cold sweat, staring into her eyes, she chuckled before stepping back.
“Interesting, huh? Cute little one. I think we need to have a little chat.”
Swish.
“For now, we need to take care of that.”
“Has it been too long? I didn’t expect the interference to show up this quickly!”
Seeing Sena, Irmela bit down on her lower lip.
“…Ugh! You’re full of yourself! I’ll gladly make you a special offering to Tehelum! Die!!!”
Whoosh!!!