Chapter 271

Shaking my head slightly to clear the dizzying thoughts.

The old memories that resurfaced after so long sink back into the depths of nostalgia.

I missed them, but… now wasn’t the time to dwell on such sentimental feelings.

Isabella’s fourth power, “Black Repose,” still dominated my consciousness.

I had broken through the trap of regret and longing that held my ankles, but that wasn’t the end. To completely shatter this power, I had to take one more step and drive Isabella, who had infiltrated my mental world, out.

It didn’t seem too difficult, though.

“How dare you…! How dare you pull such a disgusting trick? I won’t let you die easily! I’ll tear you into a thousand pieces, then skewer your flesh and slaughter you again!”

The barbarian lady was throwing a tantrum, unable to contain her anger.

Well, thinking about how I escaped Black Repose, she must’ve had to kill someone with her own hands too.

…Someone she really didn’t want to kill.

There were probably only one or two people who meant that much to Hersela. Just my guess, though.

Considering how she used to have fits whenever her mother was insulted…

It was painfully obvious what kind of emotions she’d show toward the witch who made her kill her own mother.

“Jin Yeol-yun (殄䂱輪)!”

With a roar full of hatred, a storm of crimson life force split into a hundred strands surged forward. Sharp as a blade, flexible as a whip.

Hersela, wielding the power of life force in her full, uninjured state, was like a wheel of blades.

An unstoppable, relentless wheel of slaughter.

The insect monsters Isabella hastily summoned were torn to shreds by Hersela’s charge. Even the spells woven in the air were shattered and scattered by the red whip.

Without even swinging a sword, she mowed down dozens of monsters like they were nothing, charging forward.

Hersela, unleashing her full potential, displayed overwhelming might against multiple enemies.

…If she fought like that, I guess my way of fighting would seem frustrating in comparison.

Compared to her, my combat style was pretty straightforward.

– Swish!

With a light swing, the giant mantis’s foreleg was sliced in half.

The slash grazed the monster’s body, and the severed insect collapsed.

– Crunch.

My outstretched hand pierced the beetle’s armor, and I yanked out its nerve.

Whether it’s a person or a bug, pulling out the central nervous system makes them tremble all the same.

– Whoosh!

The Up-hwa I ignited burned the surrounding flying insects.

Moths, mosquitoes, and bees mixed together crackled and burned, falling like sparks.

Most of the life force was dispersed to Hersela, so the flames weren’t as fierce as before… but it was more than enough to burn these small fries.

“Elpinel must’ve gone mad! No, she was always mad, but…! To make ‘this thing’ her knight? This monster!”

Isabella pointed at me… no, at us, shouting incredulously.

What’s she talking about?

Monster?

“Calling someone else a monster, why don’t you take a look in the mirror?”

A witch who looks like a mix of a person and an insect is calling someone else a monster.

“You know nothing. How laughable, you monster!”

Isabella unleashed her dark energy once more.

—

Perhaps because it was a mental world and not reality.

Isabella summoned even the bugs she had released in the Benes territory, coming at us with everything she had.

But most of them were just monsters that didn’t even come close to master-level.

There’s no way those puny things could hold me and Hersela back.

“Is this all you’ve got, Isabellaaaa!”

“You crazy bitch—!”

Isabella swung her hand, and a barrage of dark energy rained down from the magic circle in the air.

A black meteor shower pouring down indiscriminately.

Back in the waterway, I struggled to block all of that… but now, there’s no reason to, right?

There’s no ally behind me to protect.

Dodging and deflecting the meteor bombardment, I charged toward Isabella.

The stray dark energy collided with the bugs, exploding and scattering shell fragments everywhere.

Instead of harming me, the bombardment only wiped out her own minions in droves.

To make such a blunder, she must’ve been really flustered…

Was breaking through the dream of repose that surprising?

Or was she frustrated that her one-on-one combat power now had to face two strong enemies?

Well, whatever.

A panicked mage is a perfect prey for a warrior!

It took less than thirty seconds to break through the swarm of bugs.

“The death you deserve has finally caught up to you! Isabella Benes—!”

Toward the witch I finally reached, the gleaming blade of Durandal swung like a constellation.

The centipede-like tentacles that tried to block Durandal from her outstretched left arm—

Before they could even emerge, the sword slashed through her arm at the shoulder.

“Ugh…! You monster…! Just you wait—!”

Gritting her teeth, Isabella stepped back and stretched out her right arm.

Countless mantis forelegs overlapped, transforming into a massive blade as thick as my torso.

Just as the giant blade was about to swing—

“Where are you looking—!”

A ferocious roar.

Before Isabella could turn around, the strands of life force shredded her blade into pieces.

Hersela, dyed in rage and hatred, bared her fangs and laughed as she charged at her enemy.

Thousands of teeth—

In a monstrous, red, grotesque form.

“Eek!”

Isabella also let out an awkward groan, seemingly startled.

And for good reason. Even I found the sight utterly terrifying. I wonder if those nobles who screamed at the sight of my face felt the same way back then.

“A mere ghost dares to…!”

Perhaps feeling humiliated by her own words, Isabella contorted her face and gritted her teeth.

She’s quite skilled, really. Even in that state, there was still room for her face to twist further.

I don’t know why she muttered “ghost” while looking at Hersela instead of me.

Did she think I was the real one?

“I’ll tear you apart!”

“Just die already!”

Facing warriors brimming with killing intent from all sides.

In a situation where death could come at any moment, Isabella chose a strategy no different from any other magician.

In other words, she fired a shockwave.

“Get back!”

A wave of magic energy surged, tearing through the surroundings and pushing bodies away.

If swept up, it felt like you’d be flung dozens of meters.

If swept up, that is.

You’re in a hurry, aren’t you, Isabella? Did you really think this would still work?

We’ve already seen this trick a few times!

I crouched low, firmly planting Durandal and the Ice Blade into the ground.

Though I’m not sure if this entirely white surface can even be called ground.

And then, the shockwave hit.

It was indeed as powerful as it seemed. My hair and armor fluttered wildly, and it felt like my body would be sent flying.

However, Durandal’s blade, deeply embedded, held firm, acting as an unyielding support.

Hersela simply drove her Life Force blade into the ground and held on.

“Y-you monsters…!”

Isabella, clearly not expecting us to withstand it barehanded, looked quite flustered.

“Monsters—”

“You’re the monster!”

Two longswords flew toward her, crossing paths like scissors.

—

A slash delivered at point-blank range.

Unfortunately, it fell just short of taking the witch’s life.

Though it did inflict a near-fatal wound.

“Ugh, huff…!”

Isabella, barely dodging, gasped for breath as if trying to endure the pain.

Her form had returned to that of a human, not the writhing nest of bugs from earlier.

It seems she no longer had the strength to maintain the “wriggling nest,” nor the bugs she had gathered.

Considering her injuries, the lack of bug arms to pull out must be quite critical.

After all, Isabella no longer had any arms or legs.

My reverse heavenly slash had cleanly severed both her legs, and the Up-hwa fire magic burned them to ashes.

Hersela’s blade had turned her remaining right arm into dust.

Now, Isabella was left floating with just her torso.

She looked like some kind of male-only doll, really.

“Looking good. The men would love this, wouldn’t they?”

“…No, we’re still far from done. This is just the beginning.”

Hersela, standing beside me, raised her blade toward Isabella.

She seemed to have regained some composure after slaughtering the bugs and cutting down Isabella, but a thick aura of killing intent still radiated from her.

“More importantly, why are you still taking my form here? It’s utterly disgusting.”

“…I don’t know either.”

Honestly, it’s a blessing.

If I had appeared in my original body, I’d probably be bug food by now.

Even if I managed to fend off the bugs, Hersela would’ve gone berserk upon learning my true gender.

“Don’t get cocky, you monster—!”

Isabella glared at us with venomous eyes.

No matter how much magic she tried to muster, her limbless state made it all seem laughable.

—

From then on, it was less of a battle and more of a hunt.

Dodging or shattering the spells Isabella cast, chasing after her floating torso as it darted through the air.

“Where do you think you’re running?!”

Hersela’s blade storm shredded the black tendrils rising from the ground.

“Just die already!”

Durandal severed the chains of darkness, and the Ice Blade tore through the vortex of ghosts.

The difference in power was overwhelming.

There was nothing more Isabella could do in this place.

All she could do was barely evade fatal blows, fleeing desperately.

Her body, now reduced to just a torso, was further cut down, leaving only her upper half barely intact.

The fact that she still hadn’t released the “Black Rest” in that state suggests that once activated, it can’t be undone at will.

It would be best to kill her now, but with her flying around like that, it won’t be easy.

“You’re dodging like a fly! How long do you think you can keep running?!”

Clearly at the peak of her irritation, Hersela roared once more.