28. Cunning
From the talisman, a ring came out. A ring with a Red Alchemy Stone that was given to me by the old man.
I put the ring on my right index finger, put in Red Mana, and the ring glowed red.
The ability of <Osiris Orb>, was to greatly enhance one’s physical ability in exchange for Red Mana without using any Blue Mana. However, as a restriction, this ring couldn’t be removed until the Red Mana inside the wearer’s body dried up, and so, the wearer’s Red Mana would endlessly continue to be squeezed.
Once the ring was fitted, Red Mana rose so much until it was visible clearly. The skull-shaped steam that gushed out of the ring wrapped me around.
Four red and black lines extended from the ring, and a line was drawn to the right shoulder. It stretched like a tattoo and gradually shrunk. This line showed the remaining amount of my Red Mana. In other words, if all of this line disappeared, the remaining amount of my Red Mana would be zero.
Judging from the length of the line, the time limit……. 2 minutes.
“What….. what happened! What is that Mana?!”
The {Corpse Emperor} said so with a surprised voice.
I kicked the ground and disappeared.
BAM!!
I make a hole in the chest of the corpse standing in the front, a muscular man, with my right fist.
A splash of blood splat on the feet of the corpse.
“Prepare yourself, King of Corpses. I’ll bring an end to this fight soon.”
“Shut up… SHUT UUPPP!!!”
The {Corpse Emperor} dismantled the throne and used the bone to attack me.
I destroyed the flying bones with my fist.
Then, I accelerated in a straight line toward the {Corpse Emperor}.
“What?!”
However, my rush was stopped by the corpses who strengthened their bodies with the Mana of Strengthening.
But one step,
I finally could make a step ahead of the bone ring he made.
“It’s possible……!”
“Magician!! Do something!!! “
The {Corpse Emperor} moved his arm.
As the others were pulled all at once, now, only two corpses holding me were left around me.
I quickly crushed the faces of the two. But then,
” [ ‘O, The Sword of Water, Be the Courage for the Younger Princess. O, The Spear of Ice, Be the Hope for the Warrior’――]”
“A magic with chant…!”
A woman corpse who had been pulled to the back of the {Corpse Emperor} was chanting.
Certainly, based on what Ash told me, chanting before releasing a Magic means, that person has a high skill!
It’ll be bad to just take it without prevention, but the distance between us is far! I can’t stop it in time!
“[――’Hyousuirasou’ !!!!!!]”
There were 5 corpses left.
3 men and 2 women.
The woman who chanted the Magic and another woman were equipped with a water sword.
And the three men were equipped with ice spears. Everyone breathed in, pointed their weapons at me, and threw them.
――I don’t have much time…!
If I take it easy, my Red Mana will be eaten by the God of Death (Osiris) for nothing!
“Get out of my way!”
I destroyed all ice spears flying from three directions with the dagger in my hand.
I dodged the thrust of the sword of water.
Seeing the opening, I kicked the belly of the female magician.
4 left.
At that point, the {Corpse Emperor} turned his back on me and started running away.
“Are you running away?!――Where is your pride as a king?!!!”
“Escape is not a shame! Kneeling is not a shame! The only pride of the king is to keep reign!!!”
Still, run away huh… to where?
The toes were pointing to the place where I was blown away.
“If I eat that, my Mana will be recovered!”
The place he plans to go is… the food store ――!
“Bastard……!”
He plans to recover his Mana by eating the human corpses.
“Don’t think that I’ll just stay silent!!!”
I kicked the ground with my strengthened body and tried to approach him. However, four living corpses appeared in front of me like a wall.
” ―― <Lion Spear> !!!”
I unsealed the Lion Spear. Grabbed it in my right hand. Held the spear and thrust it continuously. It pierced the head, neck, and heart accurately. Thus, I broke through the meat wall.
Following behind the {Corpse Emperor}, I put in Green Mana to stretch the <Lion Spear>, but the spear didn’t stretch.
Apparently, I had no more Green Mana ―― the Mana of Creation.
“Why now…?!!”
“Well, well! Let me praise you for cornering me this far! Sealer!!!”
The {Corpse Emperor} touched the ground and put in Mana as much as he could.
” ’Shishiranran’ !!!!!!” [TN: if I were to put it in English maybe, ‘Bone Storm’]
A tornado of bones appeared between me and the {Corpse Emperor}.
“Tch!”
――Should I jump in?
――No, if I take any more damage than this――
“Idiot! What’s the point of thinking too much now!!!”
I jumped into the tornado.
The blade of the bone hit my whole body. However, Red Mana completely protected my body. It only scratched me.
I passed through the tornado and stood in front of the building.
――I was too late.
Overflowing Mana was emitted from the building.
“Fufu. Fuhahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!”
The {Corpse Emperor} with fresh blood on his mouth came out of the building.
His belly was bloated. The swollen belly stretched sideways and sat loosely on the ground.
The half part of his body, which was bone, was also somewhat swollen. I could see a black bag through the gap between the bones.
…is that his stomach?!
His belly was about 20 times larger than it was originally. Perhaps he ate all the corpses stored in the building.
“It’s ugly, but don’t worry the digestion will end soon. Aaah, I can feel it, come! The torrent of Mana!!!”
A wave of Mana shook the village.
This is bad. I’ll definitely die if I get closer now ――
If only, if only I have more time…!
“Are you in despair? Sealer…”
With a relaxed look, the (Corpse Emperor) walked towards me, dragging his drooping belly.
“Do you understand now? This amount of Mana… The corpse in that place was modified to keep absorbing Mana. I was planning to eat it after it ripened.”
From the ground, horse-shaped bones and giant-shaped bones… {Orobas} and {Troll} were constructed.
“I let the other corpses carry their corpses. This way, I could recover their corpses without having to go directly! “
Blood, Mana, flesh, and skin… slowly covering the bones.
The two bodies I saw before…… Even though it had some cracks in the whole body… stood in front of me.
Now, three threats were lining up in front of me.
“Back to the beginning, huh…”
A gust, a giant fist, and a tornado full of bones.
Three types of attacks came to me――
The <Osiris Orb> had lost its light.
…Well, is it impossible after all? I just don’t have enough time.
Thinking so, I fall on one knee and was about to give up, but,
“Hmm?”
A spear of ice and a sword of water rushed out of the shadow of the tree, aiming at the back of the {Corpse Emperor}.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, General!”
“Let’s finish this!”
Carrs and Ignacio.
“You guys……”
Apparently, the corpses sent out to retrieve, carried not only {Orobas} and {Troll}.
“Just small fry”
The surprise attack of the two was easily caught by the {Corpse Emperor}.
However, A Water Magic was shot at the {Corpse Emperor} from a hill at the moment when he was being distracted.
” ‘Aqua Shooter’ !!”
A blow of water magic hits the {Corpse Emperor}’s head directly. But ――
“You call this Magic? Not even worth my attention.”
It didn’t hurt him at all.
“A bunch of mobs…! You’re not on a level to challenge me!!!”
{Troll}’s fist hit Carrs.
{Orobas}’s Wind Magic blew Ignacio away.
Bone spines that crawled out on the hill hit Frederica’s entire body.
“Carrs! Ignacio! Frederica!!!”
In a matter of seconds, Carrs was being blown to the roof of the hut in the center of the three lined-up buildings, Ignacio was being blown into the forest, and Frederica fall to her knees on a hill. Everyone… fainted in an instant.
But when the {Corpse Emperor} almost smile, he became alert.
A black flash shone in the forest behind him.
” ――Coloring, ‘Black’. ‘Roiro Inadama’ ” [TN: Roughly, Black Thunder]
A black lightning bolt erased the {Corpse Emperor}’s face, half of it.
Smoke rose from the face toward the sky.
“Hooo…?”
But, the {Corpse Emperor} was someone who could regenerate again, and so it regenerated right away.
“Ash, is that you…?!”
“Well, at this level, I guess you can call it Magic.”
The {Corpse Emperor} snapped his finger, and a bone dragon rose behind him.
The bone dragon attacked the forest behind the {Corpse Emperor} and returned with a girl in its mouth.
The girl, Ash, fell from the air to the ground in front of the {Corpse Emperor}.
“Ugh…?!”
Being hit at the back of her head, Ash lost consciousness.
“―――― !!?”
I stopped my foot that almost moving by itself toward her.
…No, wait, calm down!
Thus, I looked at the eyes of the {Corpse Emperor}…
… that’s not the eye of someone who wants to kill.
“You ―― you have another one, inside.”
The {Corpse Emperor} tore Ash’s clothes and exposed her navel.
He laughed as he observed the exposed belly of Ash.
“Hah! ‘The Curse of Ra’ huh?! There are three curses by God in this world, but the one from ‘Ra‘ is rare… I’ll not take your life until you get to the 《Gray Zone》. “
The Corpse grabbed Ash’s neck and threw her behind him.
“Well, with this, everything is settled. But it seems that you all are still breathing ―― I’ll kill all of you except that little girl. But! first of all, You. Sealer……”
The {Corpse Emperor} walked between the corpse of {Orobas} and {Troll}, approaching me.
Raised his right hand to create a bone sickle. A long bone sickle. A sickle that could drop my neck while keeping a distance.
His bloated belly had deflated and now returned to the previous slender state.
“It was a good exercise. Thanks to that, digestion is over faster.”
Finally, huh?
It was so long…
“What’s wrong?… Why don’t you say some nonsense like those idiots?”
“Well… Then, there’s only one thing I want to say…”
I raised the corner of my mouth.
“Remember well, You Damn <JINMA>―― If you eat humans, your stomach will get upset…! “
“… Mmm?”
The {Corpse Emperor} looked down at his right hand.
“What……? My Mana is disturbed??!”
The corpse of {Ororbas} and {Troll} collapsed.
The bone sickle turned into dust.
I looked up and laughed.
The {Corpse Emperor} looked at me, muttering, “No way…..”.
The worst situation that came to my mind in that food store was… He managed to eat those corpses, and regained his Mana.
That was why I put ‘it’ in the corpse. If he ever swallowed it. A poison… pebbles engraved with pentagonal characters, would disturb his Mana and sucked it.
Sure, it took some time for that pebble… that fifteen pebbles to erode his Mana, but seems like it was activated safely.
“No, no way…! Something like this――”
“That’s not the end, oh {Corpse Emperor}. What do you think will happen when your Mana is sealed and the vessel dissolves in your gastric juice? “
BAM!!
…A hole was made in the belly of the corpse.
A pebble filled with Mana, once it dissolved completely by the gastric juice and the Mana that was absorbed and was being sealed would be released at once. And the Mana that was once being absorbed wasn’t something under his control anymore. It became under my control, But I couldn’t do anything from here, so the Mana that had lost its place would go out of control and burst.
“Argh――gah! Bas, tard――! Did you put a seal on the corpse …?! the humans, the same race as you?! Even though it’s a corpse, how could you use it as a trap?!! You heartless!!!”
“Shut up! I don’t want to be told by You Bastard!”
I threw away my weapon and held my fist.
All I have to do now, is to punch him.
“Surely my Mana will soon disappear! But!!!!”
A huge tornado wrapped him around.
” ‘Fire, Water, and Ice. Cannot be melted, the sorrow of all creation!! Show yourself under the King, Prostate, and prepare to be punished!!!!―― Prison Gate, No. 7! ‘Punish Gate’ !!!!”
A Magic with a chant!
The {Corpse Emperor} mobilized all the remaining Mana and reveals a huge bone. In the center of it, fire, water, and ice were being mixed.
A huge whirlpool was floating above him.
“Seriously, it’s time to give up, You Damn Bastard!!!”
“Well, in the end, it’s my win! Even if there’s no Mana left and my body is destroyed! I could just be reborn again! I’ll come back soon!!!!”
A bunch of bones crawled on the ground, urging me to go to the whirlpool.
There was no more way for me to avoid it.
And, it was absolutely impossible to block it.
“……?!”
Thus, the whirlpool filled my field of vision.
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“You greedy b!tch! You activated my trap card(talisman)!”