Chapter 47

□【Holy Knight】Ray Sterling

A few minutes after the battle began, the fight between us and the 【Wraith Bull】 Gouzmaze was extremely intense.

I was searching for the position of its core, while it was trying to crush me.

If either of us succeeded, we could kill the other in one move.

Our attacks were powerful enough to surpass the other's vitality.

Especially its attack power was terrifying.

While it didn't use undead control or status-altering magic skills like a maze, its physical strength was incomparable.

Even if I was hit or kicked, a single direct hit would leave me near death.

In contrast, my trump card could only unleash its attack power once.

The situation was disadvantageous.

"Slash!"

I cut at its leg with Nemesis, enveloped in the Holy Silver Light, to intimidate and destabilize it.

"GDESAAAAASAAA!!"

As it roared in pain, I jumped backward.

The moment I gained distance, its leg swept through the space where I had been. By then, its leg had already healed.

This had been repeating, but I had also come to understand something during this process.

"I was wondering how it could heal wounds inflicted by the Silver Light, even though it's an undead... but now the mystery is solved."

Around its wounds, there were small pieces of flesh attached.

At first glance, it seemed like the flesh had stuck to its leg when I cut it, but that wasn't the case.

Those were pieces of flesh it had cut away from itself.

"Apparently, it cuts away the area around the wound and then regenerates the cells to heal."

For an undead, wounds inflicted by a weapon imbued with the Silver Light are incurable.

So, it kills the cells around the wound, cuts them away, and turns the damage into something manageable.

Since the body is still fresh and the cells are still alive, it can regenerate and seal the wound. That's the logic.

It's likely using the energy of its grudge to heal.

Additionally, it's preserving the living cells to keep them from dying.

This is a feat that can't be done by mostly dead cells like those of a 【Zombie】 or a skeleton that's just bones.

However, the energy of a grudge seems to be quite versatile.

Both Dryves and necromancers would consider using it.

"Living cells... The fact that it still has a sense of pain despite being an undead is a disadvantage, isn't it?"

"Seems so."

Including my experience in the Tomb Labyrinth, I've fought undeads a fair number of times.

In all those battles, the undead monsters never seemed to care about their own damage.

So, this is a characteristic of this one, including its sense of pain.

"Is it also trying to heighten its grudge with the pain from the damage?"

"Indeed. It's not just a disadvantage; it's calculated to this extent!"

Before I finished speaking, I jumped to the side. A moment later, its hoof aimed at me.

As I successfully dodged, I thrust my greatsword to gouge its hoof.

The wound was shallower than before.

However, if it had to cut away the area around its hoof to heal, it would naturally lose balance.

"Inferno Flame!!"

I scorched its leg with the flame from the Cursed Flame Gauntlet to finish it off.

"HOOOSSDAASAAAAA!!?"

It stumbled, shaking the ground as it fell sideways.

"Charge!!"

Simultaneously, I leaped into its chest and thrust Nemesis, transformed into a black flag spear, toward its heart.

The Silver Light burned and melted its human-faced skin and the rotten flesh inside, reaching the heart behind the ribs.

"GEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?"

It let out a particularly high-pitched scream and started thrashing.

However, its movements didn't seem to have slowed down at all.

The moment I pulled out Nemesis, the flesh and skin had already healed. The heart probably had too.

"The heart isn't the core, it seems!"

"The real target is the head, isn't it?"

Logically, if it were to place its core, it would be in the heart, the skull, or the abdomen like in the case of the Galdoranda.

It wouldn't place the core in a part used for attacks, like the legs or arms, because it would be equivalent to hitting itself with its own organs.

"Or something like hitting with its testicles?"

That analogy is not appropriate.

"Well, if it's the head, that's good... but if it's the abdomen, it's a bit troublesome."

Including the horse part, this thing's abdomen has a considerable volume. Finding and destroying the core there would be a challenge.

If possible, I'd like to use "Vengeance is Mine" to make contact with the core.

"Why? With the damage accumulation you've built up, you could destroy a considerable area with one hit."

That's true. In the case of Galdoranda, a single hit to the head also blew off the chest.

However,

"Given that it can cut away parts of its own body, there's a risk of it becoming ineffective."

For example, if I hit a part near the core, and it immediately cut away that part, the damage propagation would likely stop there.

From my experience of using "Vengeance is Mine" several times, no matter how much damage I inflicted on the opponent, there was almost no shockwave to the surroundings.

It's a skill that returns the damage to the opponent alone, not a physical destructive force.

Therefore, if it cuts away the contact point the moment I hit it, even a massive amount of damage might not reach the core.

I can't afford to mess up this one chance.

"The best option is to use the skill after piercing a core it can't cut away... Next, I'll aim for the contents of the skull!"

"Understood! First, we need to destabilize it again!"

Gouzmaze had already healed the damage to its legs and chest and was standing up.

I need to knock it down again and observe its reaction when aiming for the head...

"Guu………………"

Gouzmaze stopped moving.

Then, it turned its gaze away from me and looked at something in the distance.

"Master"

"What's wrong, Nemesis?"

"The damage accumulation I was tracking has disappeared."

"Hey, that can't be..."

The moment I realized what that meant, Gouzmaze was already moving.

"GIUUJJJAAAAAAAA!!"

Unlike before, it ignored me and ran in the direction the carriage with Hugo and the others had fled.

The answer was clear from its actions and what Nemesis had told me.

"Damn it...!"

The grudge controlling it has switched!

Perhaps because the total amount of grudge had decreased due to continuous healing, or because I destroyed its heart.

In any case, what's moving this body now is not the grudge of the Great Lich, but another grudge.

Given that it's chasing Hugo, it's likely the grudge of someone Hugo killed.

Or perhaps it's planning to replenish its grudge by killing the children.

"What do we do!?"

"What can we do?"

To defeat it, we need to bring out the grudge of the Great Lich again, but I have an idea.

"Where was it...?"

I picked something up from the ground and put it in my pocket, not in the item box.

This will do. The next problem is catching up to it.

Finding a way to reach the massive horse body before it attacks Hugo and the others.

There's no time to hesitate.

"Silver!"

When I called, Silver, who had been waiting, immediately stood beside me.

"...Again?"

"That's the only way. Well, it's a bit better than before."

I placed the armor plate I had picked up from the ground—peeled off from the Marshal II—under my feet.

Then I gripped Silver's reins,

"Go!"

At my command, Silver kicked off the ground and started sprinting.

I moved with it, the armor plate under my feet acting as a board to slide on the ground.

Fortunately, the path Hugo's carriage had taken was a dirt road without trees.

Of course, the armor plate didn't have wheels.

The shock absorption was only slightly better than sliding on my feet.

But that was enough.

With this method... I can catch up!

"Be careful with your HP recovery!"

"I know."

I had already cast First Heal.

Otherwise, the cumulative damage from my feet might have left me unable to move by the time I reached it.

This land ski (land version) puts too much strain on my feet.

I don't even want to think about what would happen if I turned on the pain setting right now.

"...I wish I could just ride Silver."

"We'll ride Silver after this battle is over..."

Hey, stop setting up a death flag.

"...I see it!"

"Ah!"

It's a centaur-like giant, but perhaps because it's being moved by a grudge other than the Great Lich's, its speed isn't very high. We managed to catch up with Silver.

However,

"Bad, the carriage with Hugo and the others is only a hundred meters away from it."

"If we keep going... the Cursed Flame Gauntlet's flame blast!"

"It won't work."

I can't fire the Inferno Flame because Silver's speed is faster than the flame's speed.

If I fired, it wouldn't reach the target and would only burn us.

However, Gouzmaze will reach the carriage before we reach it.

No... wait a moment.

"...I still have some left."

While holding Silver's reins with my right hand, I searched my item box with my left hand and took something out.

"That's...!"

"It should be useful even if it's a leftover!"

I threw the item I held in my left hand—the leftover Gem White Lance I used against Spirits in the Tomb Labyrinth.

The thrown Gem transformed into a spear of light in mid-air and flew toward Gouzmaze's right hind leg.

The Gem is a simple attack magic substitute item available on the market, containing a low-level skill.

However, this Gem White Lance is an attack magic for undeads.

What happens when you throw it at a running leg from behind?

A fist-sized hole was punched through its leg... and the running Gouzmaze lost its balance and fell over.

"Go!"

At my command, Silver closed the distance to Gouzmaze.

I held Nemesis, enveloped in the Silver Light, in my left hand and rode parallel to the back of the fallen Gouzmaze.

As Silver ran, I plunged the Silver Light-imbued blade into its body.

The silver blade cut through the human faces covering its skin and sliced through its back.

From the horse's back, the junction between the human and horse parts, the human back, and even the spinal cord inside.

"GEIIURUUUUEAAAAAAA!?!"

It screamed and writhed, trying to crush me, but Silver adjusted the distance to keep it from hitting me.

"Not yet!"

The blade reached its back, neck, skull, and brain,

"g!?dasq!!!?as!wqA!Q"

It let out an unprecedented cry and forced its body to jump up.

The momentum made me lose my grip on the reins, and I slid a few meters before landing.

The impact also canceled the Silver Light.

But.

"That reaction...!"

"I found it!"

A completely different reaction from the previous damage, no doubt.

The core is... in the skull!

"Then, I'll end this here."

First, I threw something I had taken from my pocket into the air.

It was a shard of the crystal.

A fragment of the Wraith Crystal that the Great Lich had cherished.

"HEEIYAAASAASAGAAAAAAA!!!"

Gouzmaze let out a roar different from before the moment it saw the shard.

Desolation, frustration, and regret were evident.

"The damage accumulation counter has returned! The current content is it!"

Bingo!

"I'll cut it down!"

"Right!"

Reactivating the Silver Light and adding the STR bonus from the Cursed Flame Gauntlet to my right foot, I jumped with all my might.

The impact of the jump created a crack in the ground near my right foot, but I ignored it.

In an instant, I covered more than ten meters and was at Gouzmaze's feet.

"Thrust...!"

The backlash from the full effort was tearing my muscles.

My right foot felt numb.

But, even so... I'll decide this here!

Using my left foot as a pivot, I transferred the impact and speed of the jump to the greatsword and swung it at Gouzmaze's right front leg.

"Cut it down, damn it!!"

The sound of the slash and the Silver Light's burning echoed... the blade cut through its skin, flesh, and bone in one go.

I completely severed its leg bone.

The leg, connected only by the flesh and skin on the opposite side of the cut, couldn't support its body, and it lost balance.

Naturally, it tried to cut away the wound and heal, but...

"OoRaaaaa!!"

Before it could, I delivered a follow-up slash to the wound... and the leg, which was already about to break, completely severed.

Losing its right ankle, it lost its balance and fell to the right.

I jumped back with my left foot and then ran to the position where its head would fall.

I would strike the fallen head with "Vengeance is Mine."

"Here...!"

This is it, this will decide the battle, this will end it.

—Was that what only we thought?

As the distance between me and Gouzmaze's head closed, I felt a chill for the umpteenth time.

It was the same presence I felt when I was about to deliver the final blow to Galdoranda.

Our gazes met with its eyes and the third eye on its forehead.

No, that wasn't an eye.

It was a stone, like a gem but without any shine, exposed from its cracked forehead.

What is that?

No, I know.

That's the core.

Gouzmaze's core.

But why would it reveal it to us, who are about to shatter it?

"...!"

The answer was the massive energy swirling in its forehead.

The same oppressive presence of a great magic I felt just a moment ago.

It was the power to convert grudge into destructive force.

—Deadly Mixer

The great magic used by the Great Lich, with overwhelming power.

I was careless.

I thought it couldn't use this because it didn't use undead control or status-altering magic skills.

But, as Hugo said, if Gouzmaze can convert grudge into energy—this skill, based on the same principle, isn't surprising!

As it fell, it aimed at us approaching its head.

It, too, was waiting for the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to me.

Despite being a grudge, or rather, because it was a grudge... it gathered its shattered intellect to take a life, I realized.

"DEDDDDDDDRYYYYYYYYYMIXIIIIIIISAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

The great magic that converts grudge into destructive force was immediately released from the grudge mass that is Gouzmaze.

"Counter Absorption!"

I immediately aimed Nemesis at it and used the last stock of Counter Absorption.

This would protect me from the Deadly Mixer.

But, I also knew I was in a bind.

Because the distance between us was closing.

To the point where "its arm could reach me."

My body, unable to move to defend against the Deadly Mixer.

Its massive fist, like a boulder, swung at me,

In the next moment, my body was airborne—and my consciousness faded.

To be continued

The next post will be at 22:00 today.

(￣(エ)￣)＜Due to the break, it's a double post again

(=ↀωↀ=)＜Is the current stock enough?

(￣(エ)￣)＜It's fine. No problem (deadpan)