Chapter 159: Grave Part 8

The hero who descended with radiance.

Theseus briefly scanned the surrounding situation and then frowned.

Well, it was a scene hard to make sense of.

Nearby, the Judge and the Great Sage were blowing everything up as they fought; his younger brother had turned into an undead, and we were complete strangers.

“So you’re alive… Ms. Cattleya.”

“I didn’t know you cared whether I lived or died, Theseus.”

Correction.

At least Cattleya seemed to know him.

Then again, since she was the fiancée of his younger brother and from House Tales, it wasn’t too surprising.

“And you’re… oh, you’re the one they say is Lobelia’s…”

“Let’s stop right there.”

“Well, it’s not really important.”

Is there anyone this guy doesn’t know?

“Alright then.”

Flash!

A brilliant red light blinked before my eyes.

I squinted momentarily at the dazzling light that stole my vision for an instant.

When my vision cleared again, we were far from the center where Tillis and Faust were fighting.

In other words, Theseus had broken through Loki’s encirclement and moved us behind him in an instant.

As expected of Theseus.

Despite his somewhat naive nature, there’s a reason Abraham considered him the next successor.

This overwhelming strength.

“Now then, Loki. Mind explaining just what the hell this is?”

“Ah, Brother. Really, you always…”

Loki let out a hollow laugh as he looked into Theseus’s unyielding eyes.

“Even in a situation like this, you ask for a reason? Even after seeing all this?”

“Loki.”

“Do you not know me well enough that you need to ask for a reason? Or do you know but just want to pretend you don’t?”

“……”

“I died once. Thanks to those two over there.”

“…Yeah.”

“So, are you going to take revenge for me now? Of course not, right? If you were, you wouldn’t be standing in my way.”

If Theseus’s eyes held unwavering conviction, Loki’s eyes were murky and filled with hatred. Like a swamp.

It was clear just how starkly different the two were in nature.

“You know, Brother. You just didn’t want to see it.”

Loki stretched out his hand.

Fenrir who responded to Loki’s command charged toward Theseus.

“You said I crossed the line? You’re wrong. That line was crossed long ago. What you’re seeing now is just the result!”

“……”

Slash!

Fenrir was split clean in two in an instant.

Theseus, who had cut down Loki’s ultimate move in a single strike, closed his eyes with a heavy expression.

“How are you any different from the First Princess? You’re strong, sure, but you live in a fantasy just like she does.”

Fenrir’s body reattached itself, and Loki’s magic rained down on Theseus.

Theseus simply swung his sword, effortlessly blocking it all.

“Loki, I…”

“Save it! You filthy hypocrite!”

Loki burst out in rage.

It was the cry of a villain who had no strength and so had to be cruel and despicable.

“How long do you think you can keep clinging to that flimsy sense of justice?!”

It was a one-sided assault.

Loki poured everything he had into it.

But even that fury wasn’t enough to overwhelm Theseus.

“This isn’t good.”

“What do you mean?”

Only then did I realize how dire the situation really was.

Theseus is strong. Ridiculously strong. There’s a sense of security that’s just on a whole different level from when Lobelia protected us.

Not a single attack strays our way.

Theseus fights with no restraints, brushing off everything lightly.

But…

“Theseus is at a disadvantage.”

“Why?”

“Because he has a no-kill policy.”

There are only two conditions for defeating Loki.

One: prepare an antidote strong enough to withstand Loki’s mood poison.

Two: possess the firepower to break through his defenses and land a decisive strike on his body.

Fortunately, Theseus has that overwhelming firepower.

But Theseus will not kill Loki. His convictions forbid it. And if the enemy is family, that conviction only becomes stronger.

Yet Loki is a man whose obsession will not end, even in death.

Like water drops wearing down stone, the outcome of this struggle is already set.

In the end, Loki will defeat Theseus.

Even if it takes a long time, it is far from impossible.

“Hoo…”

Theseus took a deep breath.

Skaak!

His figure vanished.

Fenrir was split apart, Loki’s spell burst, and the shield surrounding his body shattered.

Theseus’s sword cut through it all and sliced into Loki’s flesh.

But…

“Ha!”

It wasn’t a fatal blow.

And now that Loki has become undead, he cannot be subdued.

A wound that would kill any other man was nothing more than damage to him.

To kill Loki as he was now, one must utterly destroy him.

But can Theseus who hesitates even when attacking a person truly crush Loki’s heart, shatter his skull, and obliterate his very soul?

No, it’s impossible.

Even if his limbs were severed, Loki was the kind of man who would sink his fangs into his foe’s throat if that’s all he had left.

In this kind of battle of attrition, only Loki has the advantage. No matter how strong Theseus was, fighting Loki for hours would eventually lead to poisoning.

Time is on Loki’s side.

“Cattleya, hand me the gun.”

“Here.”

That’s why killing Loki isn’t Theseus’s role.

It’s ours.

Well, it’s like killing a younger brother in front of his elder brother. But that should be fine.

The guy has become undead and is slaughtering people, yet Theseus was floundering, unable to kill him. And this guy thinks he can kill us?

Theseus was hopeless. This is exactly why I hated that bastard…

Ugh, how frustrating. If you’re going to be a pacifist, at least pick the right people to spare.

“Hmm…”

Wait a second.

Maybe I could just leave this to Cattleya? She’s already dying to kill Loki, so letting her have the glory wouldn’t be the worst idea.

I’ll just craft the weapon and let Cattleya land the final blow.

The one who makes the weapon isn’t guilty, after all. Obviously.

“First things first…”

I took out the items I had on me.

Thankfully, since my dorm room was destroyed, I’d grabbed a bunch of stuff, so there was plenty that looked useful.

What I was missing, though…

“I’ll go see that guy.”

“Who?”

“That Ex Machina researcher I coaxed over earlier.”

“Rick?”

“I don’t plan on memorizing the names of dead people, so just think of it that way.”

“You’re seriously trash.”

Wait, am I the weird one here?

If I went around remembering every single one of them, my brain would fall apart.

It’s better for my mental health to just treat it all as fleeting encounters and erase them from memory.

Anyway, I’ll make good use of the guy’s belongings.

I needed to do some modifications on Cattleya’s gun, but even though my major was alchemy, I specialized in pharmacology, so I didn’t have many tools.

“Jeez, this guy had quite a bit of cash in his wallet. You bring too much money for the afterlife and people start giving you dirty looks, so I’ll be taking some of this too.”

Alchemy, at its core, began as the pursuit of gold.

There’s no rule saying you have to keep your distance from it.

Sheesh, I’ll put it to good use. Uh… what was his name again? Mick? Whatever.

“Whew, I’m not usually like this. It’s just….well, you know, Loki’s poison. I’m not in my right mind, so I trust you’ll understand.”

After gathering various tools and while I was at it, helping myself to his wallet….I walked back over to Cattleya.

She was still sitting on the ground, maybe still affected by the poison.

Guess that’s what happens when you’ve lived as a commoner too long. She had no hesitation about plopping down on cold stone like that.

Well, not that I mind that sort of thing either.

I sat down next to her and picked up my tools.

“Jeez, Nick, this bastard… did he only use Phillips screwdrivers or something?”

“It’s Rick, not Nick.”

He really should’ve carried a flathead screwdriver too. To be way more versatile.

“I’m going to modify your gun now. That okay with you?”

“That thing’s expensive.”

“I know.”

It’s custom-made, after all. But if we want to survive, we don’t have a choice.

Right now, Theseus may be overwhelming Loki, but in the end, the goddess of victory is bound to side with Loki.

It’s just a bad matchup in every way.

How are we supposed to trust Theseus when he becomes useless against an undead?

If we want to blow away half his torso in one go, this is the only way.

“Hah, this thing’s expensive…”

“……”

I muttered, staring at Emily’s magic engineering battery.

In the end, she’s the only one who actually gives me practical help.

Also the only one who stalks me this obsessively…

It’s weird. Is there some rule that says the more helpful someone is, the more they have to stalk you?

It’s like she stalks me exactly as much as she helps. Maybe it’s just in my head?

“Phew… Cattleya.”

“Hmm?”

“That… ah, never mind. It’s nothing.”

“Huh…?”

If this goes wrong, we could both end up blowing ourselves up and taking a peaceful little trip across the Jordan River together.

Well, if that happens, I guess we should just go quietly.

It’s not like this would’ve happened if Cattleya hadn’t kept Loki alive in the first place.

If I die, I’m not dying alone.

“Come to think of it, this whole mess is your fault. Why’d you keep Loki alive and let things get this bad?”

While I was at it, I scolded Cattleya. All that fuss about torturing him instead of finishing him off…

The one-time bomber was ready.

Well, it’s not that complex. Basically, when the gun fires, the bullet is designed to drag the magic engineering battery along with it.

Once the bullet hits Loki, the safety on the battery will release, and the explosion will trigger.

“You’ll only get one shot, so make it count.”

This was our only chance.

It was only when Theseus scattered all of Loki’s attacks once again, broke through the barrier, and tore through his robes.

“Alright, leave it to me.”

Cattleya staggered to her feet. Loki and Theseus were still locked in battle.

Well, if you could even call it a battle.

It felt more like Loki was launching a one-sided barrage, and Theseus was effortlessly deflecting every bit of it.

If I could just strike in that opening and land a clean hit, I was sure we could kill Loki.

***

Holding the gun Johan had handed her, Cattleya moved forward.

She suddenly began walking straight toward the center of the battlefield.

Her actions were so blatant that even Theseus and Loki noticed. And the moment Loki saw what she was doing, he immediately moved to eliminate her.

Skak!

Theseus swung his sword, intercepting the attack headed for her.

Cattleya didn’t stop walking. Even as the two fought and kept attacking and defending with her caught in between…. she never stopped.

“Cattleya?”

“Johan, you were wrong.”

Seeing her suddenly walk toward the enemy with the gun he had just given her, Johan blinked in confusion.

“I’m human too, you know. I have my moments of doubt.”

“Huh?”

Johan had made the right call.

Theseus couldn’t kill Loki, so it made sense that they should handle it themselves.

But Johan’s thinking had been a bit too simple.

“I feel fear too. Oh….but I don’t mean fear of death.”

Even now, she was staring straight at the magic hurtling toward her.

Although Theseus was blocking everything for her, this was still a situation that would make any ordinary person’s knees buckle.

And yet, her steps did not waver. Not even death could bring her to a halt.

Even someone like her had something she feared. That was precisely why she kept walking.

“If I only get one shot at this, the least I can do is make it count.”

Hitting the target.

If there’s no other way, then failure is not an option.

She couldn’t rely on her shooting skills alone. Nor could she ignore the possibility that he might dodge.

The only way to kill him. If she was going to use it, then there was only one method.

“Cattleya Tales…”

“Hello, Loki.”

Gripping her trembling hand, she pointed the gun at Loki.

The cold touch of the barrel against his chest sent shivers down Loki’s spine.

“This time, I’ll make sure you die.”

She knew exactly what it meant to fire a shot that was meant to explode at point-blank range.

“At this distance, there’s no way you can dodge. Am I wrong?”

Even if everything else failed, revenge would not.

And in the face of that, her own death was a small price to pay.