I can’t believe it was this close.
Was the elevator that seemed to be stuck somewhere earlier this creature’s doing?
Why on earth didn’t I notice?
Perhaps the slight intoxication from the mist I had a little earlier dulled my senses?
Abomination.
That unpleasantly mixed monstrosity seemed to perfectly showcase the creator’s horrific artistic sense.
Its body was disproportionately large compared to its head, with human faces sporadically embedded throughout its form. Its lower half was a cluster of numerous arms and legs twisted together, forming a shape similar to a centipede, while its two arms morphed into a giant figure made up of countless hands and arms.
And the most terrifying part was its face, which looked like a jumble of eyes, noses, mouths, and ears haphazardly placed in what seemed to be their original positions.
Overall, it looked as if many corpses had been mixed together, their body parts classified and rearranged to form the visage of a massive giant.
—–!!
“Ugh…!”
Luke frowned at the cacophony of screams and shouts erupting simultaneously from the multiple mouths of the abomination.
The sensation of his sensitive hearing being shaken so close was extremely unpleasant.
He wanted nothing more than to block his ears, but since he couldn’t afford to show any openings, he had to settle for merely moving his ears to cover them.
In this cramped space, making a reckless move could lead to his downfall.
Seeing this, the dark mage, Seyeo, smiled and suggested.
“Well then, what will you do? I have an abomination, but you have no puppet left, and you can’t use magic either. Do you still think you have a chance? If you surrender quietly now, I promise I won’t hurt you too much.”
The suggestion that came through the muffled ears was not worth considering, so Luke let out a hollow laugh as he replied.
“Ha, interesting.”
“What’s interesting?”
“You proposed the same thing before. Of course, I refused.”
“Hmmm, so what about this time?”
With a look that seemed to question what answer he expected, Luke responded as if stating the obvious.
“Of course, I refuse.”
“Too bad.”
Just as Luke finished his reply, the abomination made the first move.
Reading its motion, Luke quickly inhaled.
“Whoop!”
—!
Soon, it swung its gigantic arm.
It was heavy, but not clumsy in its attack.
Luke focused on its movements, circulating mana throughout his body.
The Circle enables many things.
“Haist, Enhance Body, Strength, Sharpness.”
He circulated mana in his body to enhance his power, increase his speed, and sharpen his senses.
At the same time, Luke stepped back and assessed its attack trajectory.
Now, it was time to act.
This was the best he could do for now, but he wanted to avoid using his hands against that filthy monstrosity.
“Hmmm, I’m not a fan of hand-to-hand combat, but…”
However, there was a significant difference in their physical sizes between Luke and the abomination.
Therefore, to deal a proper shock, speed and balance were of utmost importance.
Then…
-Thud!
Luke stepped down just a moment before it did.
With the powerful impact concentrated in one point, his foot sank into the ground.
Having solidly planted his pivoting foot into the ground,
-Whoosh-!
He spun his body to narrowly evade the attack.
“—!”
Simultaneously, utilizing the momentum from the pivot of the foot he planted on the ground, he twisted his leg to land a kick.
-Crack, Bang!!
A neat and precise kick.
If the attack had struck a vital spot, it had enough force to kill most living beings instantly.
—-!!!
The abomination, holding its broken arm, let out a painful scream.
The sound of dozens of mouths crying out in agony was akin to the wails of hell.
“Hmmm…”
However, Luke was not satisfied with the power of his blow.
What he intended was not a fracture, but a dismemberment.
“Hmmm, the abomination seems hard to subdue with just blunt force…”
As expected.
The creature appeared to suffer slightly, but its skin was contorting, gradually mending the broken bone.
And that regenerative ability was one of the reasons it was difficult to kill.
Luke’s Circle was designed from the outset to be a complete mage’s arcane structure.
It was perfectly specialized for handling the mana and phenomena outside the body, rather than those within.
If he could have separately formed an “Aura Circle” to assist in strengthening his physique like the former swordmaster did, he might have been able to exert a more powerful force, but he lacked the time to enhance his Circle until now, so he had to put that regret aside.
In any case, since the cut from his blow had failed, he was left with three remaining options.
First, he could overwhelm it with firepower.
However, that was somewhat problematic due to the mana-blocking mist surrounding this area.
With the environment now resembling that of the Demon Realm, to project sufficient firepower to kill the abomination here would require a long casting time from Luke, and he could not be sure whether it would remain idle during that time while facing him and Seyeo.
Second, he could use holy power to purify it.
The holy power, which governs the undead that defy the will of the gods and the very belief in divinity itself, is a potent counter.
Thus, if he were to unleash his holy power, obliterating the monster without a trace would be an easy task.
However, the problem lay in what would happen afterward.
He could not predict what actions he might take while under the influence of holy power, which would impair his judgment.
And even if he were to eliminate the abomination, Seyeo was not just any ordinary undead, so it was uncertain whether the holy power would work effectively on them.
Therefore, if the holy power did not annihilate Seyeo as well, there was a high possibility he would end up in an extremely disadvantageous situation afterward.
Third, he could kill Seyeo.
If he could eliminate Seyeo, the one giving orders to the abomination, it would lose control.
And a rampaging monster without purpose would be far too easy for a mage to deal with.
After creating some distance, he could leisurely cast spells to incinerate it.
The problem was that he did not know what tricks Seyeo might still be holding, and the abomination would certainly not sit idle watching.
Luke examined the now-screaming and writhing abomination in pain.
But the abomination was still clutching its broken arm, squeezing tears from its many eyes.
Did it still have sense in its newly created form?
It was quite the melodramatic display.
“Or perhaps, it could be the influence of the Dragon Fear?”
Luke had not been controlling the Dragon Fear at all up to this point.
He had felt anger at its atrocities and did not see the need to keep it in check.
Perhaps because it was a hasty creation, its instinctual aspects had not been entirely removed.
If that were the case, the abomination, being a creature with strong animalistic senses, would likely struggle to withstand the pressure from an upper being.
“If that’s the case, that would be the best.”
At that moment, a slow clapping sound echoed from a corner.
-Clap, clap, clap.
“Impressive! Who would have thought such strength was hidden in such a small body! It seems you had a trump card up your sleeve, even without being able to use magic!”
“……”
It was as if Seyeo were watching an amusing spectacle.
“What kind of composure do you have, Seyeo?”
Luke turned his body towards Seyeo, leaving that motionless creature behind.
-Spurt-.
Retrieving the foot he had planted into the ground, Luke began to approach Seyeo.
“It’s time to return your words back to you.”
One step.
“It seems your creature has no intention of moving to protect you… And you can’t use magic either, can you?”
Another step.
“So, what will you do now?”
Yet another step.
As Luke slowly approached, taking measured steps, Seyeo waved a hand dismissively.
“Hmm? No. Wait a moment. There’s one thing you said that’s incorrect.”
-Clink-.
A strange metallic sound emerged from Seyeo’s robe.
And…
“When did I ever say I couldn’t use magic?”
–Bang!!
Suddenly, a deafening explosion resonated throughout the space.
“……What?”
Luke was taken by surprise.
Magic, how?
That’s impossible.
It couldn’t be real.
If it were magic, he would certainly have noticed it with his Magic Sight.
But no information appeared in his Magic Sight.
Luke could not detect any signs of magic or any anomalous phenomena.
What kind of magic was this?
He had no idea.
He could not understand anything at all.
“……”
As a warm sensation brushed against his cheek, Luke slowly raised his hand to touch his cheek.
Could it possibly be… no way.
In the next moment, as he brought his bloodied hand in front of his eyes after wiping away the sensation, Luke furrowed his brow deeply.
“……!”
But it was, as he had feared, blood that was undoubtedly from himself.
“My shield… has been breached?”
The solid belief that he would never be harmed was shattered before his eyes.
