“Oooooooaaaaaaah!”
The moment Ruby decapitated Catherine, Claude let out a wrenching scream. The scream was so piercing that we instinctively covered our ears. I felt like my eardrums, which shouldn’t even exist, were about to burst!
But Claude’s reaction was not limited to screaming. Several severed heads with helmets fell out of his ribcage and turned to ash in the air. This ash swirled around Catherine’s body and head before miraculously reattaching the severed neck as if time was rewound.
“No way! Isn’t that cheating?!”
“NOOO! Stay away from meeee!”
Catherine, seemingly in a panic, screamed and flailed her hair. That would have been tolerable on its own, but then a dome-shaped barrier formed around her.
The dome, with a radius of about ten meters, exuded a dangerous aura with its eerie purple color. It was undoubtedly a special skill. It was possibly [Queen’s Majesty] or the [Undead Queen’s Cursed Domain]… probably the latter?
“Ugh?!”
“Ruby?! Run away, now!!”
Ruby who was within the dome’s area of effect began to suffer damage. When I looked at her, it was clear her marker was alight with an array of status ailment icons, more than one could count!
“I can’t move… I can’t use the talismans either…?!”
“Damn it! Short Teleport!”
Talismans unusable?! Could it be that items were rendered ineffective too? The situation was not merely about being afflicted with status ailments; it was exceedingly troublesome.
More importantly, I needed to save her immediately. I immediately used a Short Teleport spell to get to her side, scooped her up, and fled out of the dome’s reach. Once I was safely outside, I tried to dispel the status ailments with a Dispel spell. It turned out that the status ailments were indeed caused by a curse, and fortunately the Dispel was successful.
“Haah. That was close! Thank you!”
“No need for thanks. It was my error in judgment that put you in danger.”
“But what do we do now~~ssu? If they regroup, I fear the vanguard will be overwhelmed~~ssu…”
I agreed with Shio’s concern that she voiced amidst releasing arrows. The main issue was how Ruby was instantly afflicted with various status ailments.
To prepare for the fight against the undead, everyone except Hanna and me, who have [Status Immunity] was equipped with a “Black Light Amulet”. Normally, there would be almost no need to worry about status ailment attacks from undead below level 70.
Contrary to expectations, the space created by Catherine, who was only in her 50s in level, managed to break through our resistance. The exact mechanics were unclear, but entering that space meant that everyone would be weakened. Even though Catherine was only crouching at the moment, her mere presence close behind Claude could reduce Jigoro and the others in the vanguard to mere fodder.
“That seems likely. Someone will have to continuously keep her in check.”
“But isn’t just entering that creepy space risky? To restrain someone there…”
“Yes, only a few can manage it. Probably just Hanna and me, who have [Status Immunity].”
I went into that space to rescue Ruby. Yet, I wasn’t afflicted by any status ailments. This was likely because my [Status Immunity] couldn’t be overcome, even there. If so, Hanna and I could fight as usual.
However, Hanna was indispensable on the vanguard, alongside Roja, in pinning down Claude. We couldn’t afford to pull her away from there. That left only one choice by process of elimination.
“Iris, I’m leaving the command of the rear guard to you. I’ll try to handle Catherine.”
“…I understand. Please give her a thorough beating!”
“Alright, I’ll do my best!”
Bolstered by words of encouragement, I charged into the cursed dome-like space. It seemed that Claude made a move to block my approach, but he was forced to deal with the fierce onslaught of Jigoro Genjuro who saw this as an opportunity. This allowed me to attack Catherine without any interference.
“Ooooooooooooooh!”
“What’s that?”
“Did… a helmet just fall?”
At that moment, Claude let out another scream. Severed heads with helmets fell from between his ribcage onto the ashes below. Then, surprisingly, the ash transformed into headless human figures and placed the fallen heads on themselves!
These clones of Claude were created and charged ferociously towards me. Was this his way of guarding Catherine with clones since he couldn’t do it himself? What an overprotective guy!
“Magic circle activation, spell adjustment, Air Hammer… No good!”
I struck one of the clones with a blunt weapon made of compressed air. This alone was enough to scatter the crude ash body. However, the ash quickly reassembled into a new form. It didn’t seem like I could easily defeat the king, or rather the queen like this!
It appeared that while I couldn’t use items, magic could still be used inside the dome-like space. So what about martial techniques? Surrounded as I was, it was worth a try.
“Spinning Slash! Yes, it activated.”
The martial technique that swept through my surroundings was activated without any problems as it sliced through the ash bodies horizontally. The clones immediately returned to normal, but this proved that my martial techniques could easily destroy them. This meant that there were multiple ways to approach the battle.
The strategy was clear: aim for the head. The ash bodies regenerated too quickly, and the head seemed to be the weak point. However, if the helmets were made of the same material as the armor and shield, magic would likely be less effective. Physical attacks seemed to be the key.
“I’m not fond of this approach, but… no choice. Dispel magic. Then, Strength Boost, Strength Boost, Agility Boost, Dexterity Boost, Dexterity Boost. Here we go!”
I removed the enchantments I had applied before the fight and enhanced my stats for close combat. I didn’t increase my defense because Jigoro once advised, “If you get hit, you’re as good as dead, right? Better to enhance other areas than to be stingy with defense.” It seemed wise to follow the valuable advice of my close combat mentor, Jigoro.
Facing Claude’s clones, who wanted to surround and crush me without weapons…. let’s just call them “ash vanguard” for now. I scattered these ash vanguards with wide swings of my scythe. Even without the use of martial techniques, the ash vanguard were fragile and crumbled with a single blow, which was convenient.
“This is it! Tail Bite!”
I tried to crush one of the helmeted heads with the dragon-like tail that had transformed thanks to Karl, complete with a bony head. Although I could feel the helmet deform under my increased power, it wasn’t enough to crush it in one blow.
But I feel that if I keep biting like this, I might somehow make it work. So, I’ll just keep trying as many times as it takes!
“Aaaagh!”
“Tail Whip! Spinning Slash!”
But if I concentrated too much on one head, I risked attracting the attention of the other ash vanguard. I fended them off by whipping my tail like a whip and sweeping with my scythe. I didn’t forget to bite with the tip of my tail as well.
Crack!
The continuous biting with my tail finally caused a crack in the helmet. Once that happened, it became fragile, and I could now crush the head inside without the need for martial techniques. The biting and chewing with my tail, even though it was my own, felt too brutal.
Even as the heads of their allies were destroyed, the movements of the ash vanguard did not change in the slightest. They just kept charging and trying to overwhelm me with their numbers. Perhaps because they were merely part of Claude, they lacked precise control.
Or maybe, they were struggling to focus on me because the main body of Claude was currently fighting with Jigoro and Genjuro? Either way, this was good for me. I’ll just keep taking them down one by one.
“Oooh…”
“Small fries, back off!”
Perhaps sensing the danger after I had defeated one of them, Claude began to drop helmets from the gaps in his ribcage with increasing frequency. Each of them transformed into ash vanguards before charging furiously towards me.
As they attempted to bypass our vanguard, Jigoro was seemingly annoyed and crushed the head of one with a kick. Although it didn’t seem intentional, the fact that he lightened my burden was a welcome relief.
“I guess I’ll have to make an effort not to lose to these small fry…”
If I were to be defeated by what Jigoro called small fry, one could only imagine the kind of remarks that would follow. To avoid any embarrassment, I resolved to put forth my utmost effort.
From then on, it was a long battle with unfavorable conditions. Jigoro and the others were constantly on the defensive, facing Claude who could turn a momentary lapse into a fatal blow, while I had to deal with the seemingly endless waves of ash vanguards.
“Aaah, looking down on mee?!”
“The weight of your attacks seems to have lightened?”
When I finally managed to crush the head of the tenth ash vanguard, Jigoro and Genjuro noticed a change in Claude. Jigoro who was driven by anger delivered a powerful kick, while Genjuro slashed at Claude’s shins and scraped off the surface.
A quick glance at Claude revealed that he still had about 90 percent of his health left. Although this was quite disheartening, it was clear that the power of his blows had diminished. Previously, a failed attempt to deflect with his shield would have sent Eiji flying, but now, while he was still being pushed back, he was no longer sent flying.
“Everyone! Claude’s level has dropped!”
“He’s down to level 90 now! His race hasn’t changed, though!”
“His level… dropped?”
It appeared that Iris and Shiitake had been using the [Appraisal] skill in between their attacks. According to them, while his race remained the same, his level had reverted to what it was before his evolution.
What could be the cause? But I had no time to think about it. My focus was on avoiding being surrounded while staying close enough to Catherine and fending off the ash vanguards. Whenever there was a chance, I also aimed at Catherine herself, but all my attempts were thwarted by the ash vanguards shielding her and preventing any of my attacks from landing.
“Decapitation! Followed by, tail thrust!”
I decapitated one of them with my scythe, then targeted the gaps in its helmet with a spear-like spine that extended from the mouth of my dragon-like tail. Ah, it seems to have hit. A solid response traveled up my tail which confirmed the success.
By chance, I managed to smoothly take down one, creating a significant gap in the enemy’s encirclement. It was an opportunity too good to miss!
“Star Magic Circle, Spell Adjustment, Wind Blade!”
“Kyaaah?!”
Five blades of wind slashed through Catherine. Her defense against magic seemed strong; the damage wasn’t as significant as expected. The ash vanguards were also approaching, but now was the time to press forward, not retreat!
“Fivefold Slash! Tail Cut!”
“Aaah…”
The successive attacks with my scythe and tail inflicted considerable damage on Catherine’s slender frame. Could this be enough to bring her down?
“Oooaaahhhhhhh!”
Claude let out another scream when Catherine was in a tight spot. And after the same phenomenon happened as before, Catherine’s wounds healed.
Guh! Are you saying I should land a lethal blow with one strike? To unleash that level of firepower would require considerable preparation. And given the current circumstances, it was nearly impossible.
“Ah! His level dropped again!”
“It seems like his level drops whenever he heals the Queen or we destroy those leaking brains of his.”
I see, that’s how it is. There must be a limit to how quickly he can heal. It seems the more resources Claude allocates to heal or protect Catherine, the more he weakens.
So, the outcome of this battle hinges on how much I can injure Catherine while swiftly defeating the ash vanguards. The responsibility is heavy, but… let’s do this!
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