Chapter 246 - The Beast Reappears
“Skeleton Soldiers? Are you looking down on me right now?”
Ten Skeleton Soldiers had formed around Youngest Son.
Pale’s face twisted into a sharp scowl, but Youngest Son let out a hollow laugh.
“Eastern sorcerers and borderland knights alike look down on Skeleton Soldier sorcery. That is refreshing in its own way.”
“It is such ordinary sorcery that even I, who live shut behind the borderland wall, know of it. If I have been underestimated that much...”
GRRRRRRR—
The mana that had shimmered like a heat haze over his sword spread through his entire body.
The keen edge that the sword had possessed, the edge that only a sword could possess, now dwelled in the knight’s body as well.
It felt as though I were facing not a person, but a single sword. That sharp edge made my entire body prickle.
“From this point on, I will wield my sword, not my body.”
The borderland knight held his longsword neither low nor high and finished taking aim with its point.
At the same time, a smile spread across the Margrave’s lips.
“That boy. His rate of growth has increased lately, and now there are no openings in his stance.”
Though it was unintentional, his murmur naturally reached Youngest Son’s ears.
‘Lately...?’
[Do you even have the leisure to look elsewhere?]
He had not turned his gaze elsewhere, but Enad knew he had been distracted by another thought.
Since Enad had emerged into the world, no longer as Runes, and was now in his hand, he sensed it all the more clearly.
[He is coming. Prepare yourself.]
—I know.
The knight kicked off the ground.
BOOOOM—!
He was sharp and precise like a bolt loaded into a crossbow, but the pressure of his charge was like a cannonball.
[How is he that fast?]
Because a thrust was the fastest straight-line attack a sword possessed. Of course a knight who had elevated his entire body into a sword would be fast.
That was the answer I meant to give. If Pale had been even a little slower, I would have replied by telepathy.
But in this duel, everything was measured in seconds.
It took one second to gather the Skeleton Soldiers I had deployed in advance, link their bones together, and form a shield.
“…….”
Pale thrust his sword in without the slightest emotion, as though such a thing did not inconvenience him at all.
Naturally, the Skeleton Soldier shield shattered on the spot. Yet it did not end with its breaking.
Because my Skeleton Soldiers were ‘special.’ The epithet of the Skeleton Soldier I had just created came to mind.
──「True Skeleton Soldier」──
[Description]
: A special Skeleton Soldier obtained through a challenge. What exactly is special about it? I do not know either! The important thing, however, is that it is special!
[Effect]
: The limits of the skill Skeleton Soldier disappear.
*Expanded interpretation becomes possible.
───────────
It was a True Skeleton Soldier.
As expected, a True Skeleton Soldier differed from an ordinary soldier. Even before the next Margrave’s sword, it rose once more.
After the next Margrave brushed past its shattered body, it rose and seized him.
“…….”
Pale fell silent once again as he faced the Skeleton Soldier.
But the meaning within that silence was no longer disdain, as it had been before.
“You were honestly a little surprised, weren’t you?”
Youngest Son smiled broadly.
Instead of answering, Pale looked at the bones holding his arms, body, and even his legs.
The problem was that all those hands had emerged from a single Skeleton Soldier.
The soldier, which had four pairs of arms on one body, seized the knight with bones of extraordinary thickness.
That thickness came from the other bones that had been shattered moments earlier.
“Say you were surprised if you were surprised. Then I will let you go.”
“...Hold on as tightly as you can. I will shake you off now.”
CRUNCH—!!
The battle continued just as he said.
When Pale exerted his strength again, the hands shattered once more.
Of course, the white-haired knight was not the only one who could say such things.
“Even so, you will only be caught again. To me, even the bone fragments under your feet are materials.”
In no time, a new Skeleton Soldier was created. By now, it was so large that the word “soldier” no longer suited it.
The Skeleton General, born with shattered fragments as its armor and helmet, stood before Pale.
“Now then. Try breaking it again.”
“...You truly fight in a vile manner.”
“Thank you for the high praise.”
***
The number of Skeleton Generals gradually increased.
More precisely, Youngest Son never allowed a Skeleton General to grow beyond a certain size.
The moment a Skeleton General’s size began to resemble a giant, that knight would undoubtedly awaken all of a sudden.
Although he had grown rapidly of late, he was still an unripe stalk of rice. He was still far from turning golden.
The Margrave knew that as well, so he raised his hand.
“That is enough, both of you.”
Pale’s sword came to a halt in midair.
The swords of the Skeleton Generals did the same.
One longsword and dozens of Bone Swords. They were still evenly matched, truly evenly matched for now.
But if the situation continued to the end from here, the result was obvious.
“Pale, unless you use the ultimate essence of your swordsmanship, you cannot defeat Fifth Son. Meanwhile, Fifth Son plainly seems to have many hidden cards.”
“Does it seem that way? That is a relief. My hand was just about to be exposed.”
With the moon already tilting lower, if the duel had gone on even a little longer, I had been going to detonate Exploding Bone.
The Training Hall would have become a mess, but I had no desire to keep this farce going all night.
“My nephew, your eye for talent has already surpassed mine. That too must be a great blessing for the Empire.”
“Thank you. It was also a truly valuable time for me, as I was able to glimpse at least a little of the next Margrave’s skill.”
“...I can only apologize for showing you inadequate swordsmanship.”
Pale observed proper courtesy before the Crown Prince and sheathed his sword.
What followed was courtesy toward his opponent.
“I learned a great deal from you, my lord.”
“What did you learn?”
“I learned that when an opportunity presents itself, a sorcerer’s neck must be cut down in a single stroke.”
Youngest Son nodded.
“You learned something valuable. Unlike me, you will not have wasted tonight.”
Youngest Son’s eyes turned to the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness. I have to take care of these undead, so please go in ahead with the Margrave. I will come to the social gathering hall shortly as well.”
“Mm. Very well.”
The Crown Prince wanted to go with him, but his desire to tease the Margrave at once was stronger, so he accepted it.
“Knight, you go as well.”
“...I am your escort.”
“This recovery process involves secrets of the East. That is why. Go with them.”
“…….”
The effect of the sparring soon became clear, for that iron-willed white-haired man followed the Margrave.
“Now, then...”
Youngest Son stood with his weight on one leg and returned to the thought he had set aside earlier.
The Margrave had said Pale’s achievements had surged recently. Moreover, it was not only Pale.
‘Seeing how they are mastering the Six Paths far faster than expected, my blood kin must be experiencing the same surge in growth.’
The question was whether this pleasant development was happening only to us.
As could be seen from the borderland alone, the answer was no.
‘The West’s forces must have increased considerably as well.’
A so-called balance patch.
Now that the game had essentially entered Act 2, the war between the Great Families, it was a period when all the major NPCs were growing.
The most immediate thing I could expect was...
‘First Daughter Cos may have reached the 7th Circle.’
[You said you were going to start a recovery process involving the East’s secrets.]
The Magic Sword picked a fight in its usual flippant tone.
[When are you doing that? Let me watch too.]
Youngest Son’s face, however, was serious. The reason was not the increase in forces that would occur in the West as well.
“Enad. Do you not smell something familiar?”
[Was that not your smell?]
“As if.”
Because this was the smell of a Main.
BOOOOM—
A beast flew in, drawing an arc against the night sky.
The monster, whose arms and legs were grotesquely long and thin, had skin of a strange purple hue.
“Mm, I see. You lot have been developing in some dank sewer too.”
I first saw beings called Main in the kingdom that staged a Coup d’état with Reggie as king.
That had been the first time I saw one with my own eyes, and that monster had remained strongly etched in my memory.
For players, there had been several troublesome problems besides the war against the Great Families.
“But... of all the filthy methods of development, you chose one that was especially filthy. Well, it is largely my fault for not paying attention to it. You are unlucky.”
I clicked my tongue as I looked at the Main wearing an eyepatch. When I saw the pattern on the back of the Main’s hand, a sigh followed.
“The Black Cross Order, of all things. Why did it have to be you?”
[What is that?]
“A group with vile tastes.”
I answered and snapped my fingers.
SNAP—
Twenty Skeleton Generals rushed at the Main.
***
Although more than half of the Skeleton Generals created during the fight with Pale had been broken, they achieved their purpose.
I could tell from the swords embedded in the Main’s back and limbs.
In addition to these puncture wounds, I had already inflicted a cartload of physical attacks.
“Your regenerative power is only a little below mine. Why is your combat power increasing too?”
I let out a hollow laugh as I approached the fallen Main.
There was not much I could do to this thing. Even now, its body was boiling.
[...It is similar to the Main that your family’s elder transformed into in the kingdom, but this one is somehow different.]
Enad, too, began to get a feel for the Main of the Black Cross Order.
Since he had also faced and clashed with a Main directly before, it was even easier for him to spot the differences.
Among them, there was one greatest difference.
[These things are being controlled by someone.]
“Correct.”
At the same time as I answered, I drove my fist into the Main’s head.
[...Are you trying to show off that your regenerative power is higher?]
“What do you take me for? I am not that childish.”
[Judging by the battle of nerves you had with that white-haired fellow a moment ago, you are childish enough.]
“…….”
Youngest Son, who had lost a war of words for the first time in a while, soon pulled his hand out. It was covered in burn marks.
It would heal before long, so what I had to focus on now was the thing I had pulled out even at the cost of burns.
“Fortunately, I salvaged one drop.”
A single purple drop of blood floated above Youngest Son’s index finger.
It was the only evidence of existence that the Main left behind in the world.
Except for that single drop of blood, the Main’s body liquefied and vaporized, giving off only a rotten stench before disappearing.
Now I would use the blood as a basis to find the mastermind behind the assassination.
[Bloodhound-(bloodhound)]
A magic circle made of blood rose above Youngest Son’s hand.
It was one of the Pursuers’ secret spells that my Clone had learned from a prisoner. It unfolded from the hand of my main body, far away in the Empire.
‘The controller’s mana, engraved deep inside the Main’s blood. Even a single speck of it will be enough.’
DRIP—
I let the purple drop of blood fall onto it.
Like ink dropping into a glass of water, the purple blood spread through the magic circle.
Watching the magic slowly begin to operate, Youngest Son recalled the prisoner’s explanation.
“If it can take up to thirty minutes depending on the person, then for me now, it will be about that long as well.”
It was also the first time I had cast this magic with my main body, and the blood not being normal was a problem as well.
For one thing, a Main’s blood differed from ordinary blood, and I had somehow managed to preserve it when it nearly bounced out of the magic circle.
If I had not been a Blood Noble, I would have failed.
HISSSSSSS—
The magic manifested.
Soon, the magic circle vaporized like smoke, becoming red smoke that stretched somewhere.
The more I moved along it, the denser the smoke gradually became.
“So this is how it works.”
The mechanism was easy to understand, so I quickened my pace.
Even now, I could see with the naked eye that the smoke was thinning. I had to catch the mastermind before it scattered and vanished completely.
[Are you not going to fly?]
“It may look as though the magic activated once and ended, but I am maintaining my concentration. If I fly, that concentration will break.”
This too would cease to be a problem once I became proficient.
So for now, I ran.
Toward one of the main villain scenarios, toward the lunatic entangled with the Black Cross Order.