Chapter 143: But I’m So Pretty!
From the mont we arrived in Blyer to reuniting with Lochter and attempting our escape, there wasn’t a single mont of peace.
The mories flashed through my mind like a reel of my life before my eyes, but none of it brought comfort.
Crisis after crisis.
The path we walked was drenched in blood.
The Mad Butcher had been relentless, and the enemies we faced were powerful.
Though we overca one hurdle after another by working together, our final plan had been exposed, bringing us to the brink of disaster.
A hopeless situation.
We were on the verge of despair, forced to gamble on our survival when—
Craaaaang!!!
“...”
The situation flipped in an instant.
A thunderous roar tore through the air.
Through the pouring moonlight, a massive black beast descended from the sky, ripping through the golden mannequins.
It spewed fire from its jaws, tore with its fangs, and slashed with its claws. With every attack, the mannequins were shredded, crushed, and spewed gold coins.
The once nearly indestructible mannequins now shattered even under light impacts.
I wasn’t imagining it—the mannequins had weakened.
The light of moonlight, a cold and radiant aura that froze darkness itself, had bathed the battlefield.
It was a blessing of the light attribute.
And then—
“A red ribbon.”
The mont I saw the symbolic ornant and the black beast before , I was certain.
It was Lily Base, the Witch of the Moon.
She should have been in the Ordor Forest, yet here she was before my eyes.
The story had completely deviated from its course.
But I didn’t care why she had appeared here or why she was helping us.
“Karl! Lochter!”
There was no ti to think—only to move.
At my call, the two responded. I could hear their voices.
The suppression of sound caused by the sorcery had lifted as soon as the moonlight poured down. The darkness obscuring my vision had dissipated as well.
The light of moonlight had begun to scatter the black fog, and the battlefield beca visible all at once.
By the river, the shamans scrambled in confusion. The Van Dyke puppets encircled us nacingly, while the golden mannequins clashed chaotically with the black beast.
This was our chance.
“Burst Strike!”
Boom!
The mont I exhaled, my vision tunneled forward.
Signaling to the others, I launched myself like a bullet toward my target—the shamans.
The desperate plan I had envisioned in the worst-case scenario was now coming to life. But the situation was completely different from before.
The need for a reckless physical enchantnt was gone, and with our coordination restored, we could launch a combined attack.
“Hah, this is seriously exhausting.”
“Move. You’re falling behind.”
“Damn it, how am I supposed to keep up with that?!”
With Lochter’s help, Karl evaded the Van Dyke puppets and charged forward, ignoring everything else. Lochter followed closely, and the two of them sprinted after , tearing through the air.
But my speed was far too great, and the distance between us quickly widened.
“Th-that’s him!”
“Get it together! Form up!”
The shamans, thrown into disarray by the sudden turn of events, noticed and hurriedly prepared a counterattack.
At the center of their formation was a shaman wielding a staff adorned with a skull.
He was the leader.
As soon as he began chanting, crimson energy erupted from their formation.
Squelch—
The ground beneath churned, surging upward like a muddy wave that engulfed everything in its path. Its range was too wide to avoid.
But I had no intention of dodging.
There was no stopping or turning back with Burst Strike.
Only forward.
With a splattering sound, the viscous mud enveloped like a landslide, weighing down and pulling toward the ground.
It was a spell designed to bury its target alive.
But they underestimated the power of Burst Strike.
[Break through.]
“Hraaagh!”
With a shout, I stomped hard, and the clinging mud ripped away from in shreds.
A piercing charge.
The distance to my target was now ten paces.
Clenching my fists tightly, I targeted the shamans.
Their leader moved his staff frantically, and a crimson magic circle appeared before .
Buzz!
The circle activated, and my body was suddenly suspended in midair.
Before I could react, crimson tendrils shot out, wrapping around and binding tightly, leaving only my face exposed.
It was a sorcery trap.
Had they prepared it in advance?
It didn’t matter.
The shamans were already within my range—just five paces away.
As the tendrils began to cover my face, additional strands erged from the trap to restrain Karl and Lochter, preventing them from approaching.
The leader of the shamans, Caspello, smirked and approached .
“Foolish brat. Did you want to die so badly?”
“Did you really think you alone could defeat all of us? I’ll make sure to tear apart your mind before you die.”
“What?”
I narrowed my one visible eye and sneered at Caspello.
“I never planned on winning in the first place. My plan was to kill all of you.”
“Arrogant fool. I’ll pluck out that defiant eye of yours first.”
“Can’t you see it already with that eye of yours?”
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
The crimson tendrils binding began to tremble violently. Caspello flinched and stepped back, startled.
The other shamans realized too late what was happening as golden light began to seep through the cracks in the tendrils.
Only now did they realize that the domain of the dead had been broken.
“Moonlight—it’s devastating, isn’t it?”
The radiant energy of order, Sacred Power, filled the air.
Flash!!!
The golden light surged, tearing apart the tendrils binding . The brilliant wave of light engulfed everything around it, scattering the shamans’ formation.
The power of the ancient glyph, amplified by Burst Strike, had been pushed to its limit.
I had even used latent energy to compensate for my lack of mana.
Because of this, my arm trembled uncontrollably as though it might burst.
Clenching my teeth, I endured the pain.
“Hraaaaaah—!”
The shamans scread as the sacred light retaliated against their dark sorcery.
My face twisted in agony, and I staggered backward, spitting out blood.
“Now!”
At my cry, Karl and Lochter broke through the golden light and charged into the disoriented shamans.
Karl gripped a dagger in his teeth, and Lochter’s weapon radiated with the aura of his Aura Sword.
“Die!”
“Raaaaahhh!”
The two plunged into the shamans’ ranks, and the massacre began.
For a brief mont, I felt relief. But when my gaze fell upon a specific spot, I gritted my teeth and summoned the Ring of Blood again.
“...Cough!”
[Do you think you can endure using it again?]
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll do it anyway.”
[How intriguing.]
This insane bastard of a ring.
Can my body really survive this?
From the mont I unleashed Burst Strike, I knew I was pushing my limits.
My body, still reeling from the aftereffects of the previous burst, wasn’t fully prepared for another.
Huff—
A ragged breath escaped .
This was my last shot.
“Ugh!”
“Argh...! Gaaahhhh!”
The shamans, powerless without their spells, were no better than ordinary people. Half of them fell in a single strike, coughing up blood.
There was no rcy in our attacks.
Yet despite their best efforts, Karl and Lochter’s expressions beca increasingly strained. They were already operating at the edge of their physical limits, and it showed.
The two n pushed through with their last reserves of strength, cutting down every shaman in their path. Finally, they both aid for Caspello.
Please, just die!
Karl’s silent plea echoed in the air as their blades targeted Caspello.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
“...Ugh!”
“Ahhh!”
The shamans’ corpses exploded one after another, sending both Karl and Lochter flying backward.
Karl collapsed and couldn’t get back up, while Lochter barely managed to stand, staggering as he moved forward. His bloodshot eyes locked onto Caspello, the only remaining shaman.
Lochter limped toward him, but crimson tendrils shot out from the ground, wrapping around his arms and legs.
“Gaaaah!”
He struggled desperately, his raw strength pitted against the magical bindings.
Caspello, groaning in pain, clutched a dagger embedded in his shoulder. It was the last attack Karl had managed to throw before collapsing.
“Vermin...”
The crimson glow from the skull staff in Caspello’s hands began to push back the golden light that filled the battlefield.
He needed help, but all the other shamans were already dead.
Staggering, he retreated toward the riverbank, where he had prepared an escape plan for this exact situation.
Now that he had a mont to breathe, Caspello activated his communication orb.
[Report.]
“Um...”
He quickly relayed the current situation—the complete annihilation of the shamans, their overwhelming disadvantage, and their need for reinforcents.
The communication orb fell silent for a mont, the air growing heavy with tension.
As Lochter slowly broke free of the tendrils and moved closer, Caspello’s face twisted in fear. He anxiously awaited further orders.
Finally, a voice ca through the orb:
[Summon the King of the Dead.]
“...What?”
[Offer the totem as a sacrifice. Do it quickly.]
“Understood.”
Summoning the King of the Dead to this domain was nothing short of madness, even to Caspello. But it was an order from his lord, and he had no choice but to comply.
Believing there must be more to this plan, he retrieved the totem from his belongings.
It was an ominous object, radiating a sinister energy.
As Caspello began the incantation, the totem floated into the air.
The black beast, sensing the malevolent energy, let out a panicked roar and charged toward the totem with ferocious speed.
It must have recognized the aura emanating from the totem.
Caspello quickly commanded the Van Dyke puppets to intercept the beast.
“King of the Dead, Jess—”
But before he could finish speaking, a blinding golden light pierced the battlefield.
His vision filled with radiant brilliance.
It was the last thing Caspello ever saw.
Thwack—!
A massive golden arrow tore through him, obliterating his head and chest.
His lifeless body fell into the river, the crimson blood from his wounds spreading into the rushing water.
Splash! Splash!
With my body trembling from the strain of battle, I forced myself to approach Caspello’s corpse.
“...Hah... Hah... Hah...”
My vision blurred as I struggled to stay conscious.
Every muscle in my body felt like it was locking up, stiffening as if preparing for an inevitable wave of excruciating pain.
The aftereffects of Burst Strike would only intensify from here.
I wanted to collapse then and there, but sothing caught my eye—a faint red glow near Caspello’s body.
Summoning the last bit of my willpower, I pressed on.
“Just... a little more...”
Finally, I collapsed right next to his corpse, coughing up blood. The icy river water jolted awake, but my body refused to move.
“I... I need to... tell that bastard...”
As I reached for the communication orb, which floated on the water’s surface, flashing faintly, I felt a gentle pressure.
Splash.
Soone stepped into the river and placed the orb into my hand.
Long hair brushed against my forehead, tickling , and a fragrant scent—sothing between perfu and costics—wafted past my nose.
“It seed like you needed this.”
A soft, youthful voice whispered into my ear.
Clear and lodic.
I didn’t need to look to know who it was.
The person holding not just my life, but the lives of my entire group in her hands.
“Huh? Oh, is this not what you wanted? Then how about this?”
She placed a wooden totem into my other hand.
The symbol of the domain, the artifact used to summon the King of the Dead.
Its ominous energy seeped into my body, making shiver.
At the sa ti, a warning erupted in my mind.
[Let go imdiately!]
“Ugh!”
For the first ti, Reto’s voice sounded truly alard.
I flung the totem away and gripped the communication orb tightly.
One thing at a ti.
After taking a mont to catch my breath, I leaned into the glowing orb and spat out a curse.
“You bastard villain.”
[...]
“You thought you had cornered, huh? Stay right there. I’m coming to kill you.”
Smash!
I crushed the orb in my hand.
My strength drained from my body like a deflating balloon, and my face hit the river with a splash.
“Damn it... I don’t care anymore...”
The world went black.
***
Lily gazed down at the unconscious Arthur, her expression serious.
She glanced at Keros for answers, but he was fast asleep, slumped over her shoulder, likely from the strain of his transformation.
In the end, she was left to make sense of the situation alone.
She had handed Arthur so items she thought he needed.
One, he threw away.
The other, he smashed to pieces.
And then ca the barrage of curses:
[“You bastard villain.”]
“Hmm, I’ve heard humans say that about a lot before... but how did he know sothing I haven’t heard in years? I thought I killed them all.”
Looking down at Arthur’s face, Lily began to wonder what she had done wrong.
She had been standing over him as he’d ntioned, but what exactly had he been so happy about? It certainly wasn’t enjoyable for her.
“Is he going to try to kill ?”
Pondering the idea seriously, Lily pulled out her mirror.
Under the soft moonlight, she examined her face, her expression growing puzzled.
“How could anyone think of killing when I’m this pretty?!?”
She couldn’t understand him at all.
But then again—
“What... what is she even doing...?”
Lochter, sitting slumped on the ground and watching Lily’s actions, found her just as incomprehensible.
She was a strange woman indeed.
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