Chapter 121 Death Fight or a New Flag Raised
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I ran forward with the words of the Undead King ringing in my ears and brought my hammer down to hit him. The Undead King put away his Mana Gun (magic gun) and reached with his free hand to grab the head of my hammer.
I threw in a Heavy Strike (skill) on reflex to smash that arm. It worked, but it left an opening and the king hit back.
I could not dodge the Mana Gun shot. The bullet glanced off at an angle, but my armor dented. I could not take many more of those.
”That Adamantite (hard metal) is poor quality. Want me to lend you some?” he said, smiling.
”This isn’t Adamantite. It’s Demonsteel (demon metal),” I answered.
”Demonsteel… I have not heard of it. Is it a local product?” he asked.
”I made the new material myself,” I said.
”…Why would a researcher go on an exploration?” he asked, a little surprised.
”There are many reasons. Many,” I said.
He spoke like he wanted to be kind. That pity looked wrong on him, and it made me uneasy. He started to look less like a monster and more like a strange, wild person.
Yohira and Tatia leapt in from my side and began to cut at the Undead King’s life force. Yohira is the one who brings the big damage.
”What’s wrong? You have not lost ten thousand yet?” the king asked.
”There’s no way we lose that much in such a short time,” Yohira snapped.
I slammed my hammer into his cheek in anger.
Yohira moved with a quick chain of strikes. I could see, in each hit, the king losing life, not just on the surface but deep inside. Yohira’s blade found many roots of life under the body. It looked strange, but it worked.
”Have you grown a bit stronger, girl?” the king asked, amused.
”Sorry, I don’t have time to chat with my enemy,” Yohira said, and cut off the Night King’s head. The head came back the next moment, but that attack must have taken about twenty life points away. It was small each time, but it would add up.
I took a Magic Device (special gun) from my inventory and gave it to Dahlia. It was an improved model, something I had not made recently. I pushed its tip into the Night King’s chest.
I pulled the trigger. The gun sent out an iron stake and drove it through the king’s heart. Steam rose as Auto Eizul (auto device) cooled its mechanism. This model needed outside power to run, but my Genbu (armour model) used the Alchemist’s Egg (mana core) so it could supply mana. That let this improved device fire again and again. I kept pulling the trigger, driving stakes one after another.
The stakes hit and the king’s heart broke. The device heated up from the friction, but I did not care. When I tried to fire again, my Genbu armor went through a short power drop. I had pushed past the mana limit the Egg could give, and the recoil threw me off balance. I accidentally stepped on Tatara and was forced back.
”Haha, a fine weapon. It is fit to kill us vampires,” the king said, pleased.
”This weapon was made for Golems. Why does it have twice the defense of an Orichalcum Golem?” I muttered, fixing a bent part with my crafting skill while watching the Undead King. I guessed we had taken maybe a hundred life points since the fight started. We still needed many more. The end was far away.
”Tatara, I don’t know if your HP will hold,” I said.
”I can’t help if I run out of Elingium (special ammo),” Tatara answered.
Yohira and Ethelena sent those words into my head. Tatia looked tired when I glanced her way. Should I pull the others back and struggle alone?
”Then I’ll buy time. Yohira and Tatia, take a short rest,” I said.
”What?” Tatia answered.
”Ethelena, sorry. Use Lonisera (disruption shot) to block his attacks. If we can’t keep killing him, retreat will be hard,” I said.
”Tatara, are you trying too hard?” Tatia said, worried.
”If we don’t push now, we’ll die,” I said.
They waited, but I knew they would not be patient forever. Once you meet him face to face, you must keep attacking, or you will lose.
The Undead King stood still, checking his Mana Gun. He showed no sign of being badly hurt. It was crushing to see him so whole, after we had killed him many times.
”What’s wrong? I (Watashi) still have plenty of strength,” he said, taunting. Then he bowed to the ladies in a strange, polite way. “Please, let me enjoy the change of clothes, ladies.”
”Hahaha… my apologies, young women,” he said, laughing.
”For a while, I’ll deal with him with my fiancé,” he added, smiling.
I stepped forward while giving Yohira and Tatia items to recover their skill power and mana. The Undead King looked at me with a kind of strange pleasure. As always, he did not try to dodge before I struck. He seemed to expect to be hit.
I used a Combo Attack (skill) with my hammer and hit him many times. The Auto Eizul had hurt him more, but I kept attacking anyway. Ethelena’s Lonisera shots kept interrupting his moves, so it was easier to focus on attacks.
We kept hitting him, and the slow work of breaking him continued. We had no choice but to keep going.
I kept using Combo Attack even though my skill power was running low. I had to take even one more piece of the enemy’s life. The end was still far, but I would not stop.
”Hm. Your attack is getting simple,” the Undead King said.
”I’m bad at fancy moves, so don’t ask for them!” I shouted back.
His teasing voice annoyed me, so I swung and smashed his cheek as hard as I could.
My blow sent his head flying again, taking one more life. This was starting to feel like a comedy act.
”That tsukkomi was a bit too strong. No one but me can take that,” he said with a grin.
”You’re way too relaxed,” I said.
His head grew back as if nothing had happened. My head hurt just looking at it. Maybe a Heavy Strike to the side of his face could land an instant kill?
”You have a strong heart, but that alone will not beat me,” the king said. “Is it not time to fall into despair, human?”
”I started in despair already,” I answered.
He tried to break my heart with his words, but I looked straight into his frown and answered clearly.
”I’m still fighting even after that. Don’t look down on me, monster.”
For a moment, he stared at me in surprise, then burst into loud laughter. Was what I said really that funny?
”Ah, wonderful. Humans are truly amazing,” he said.
”If you think we’re weak and foolish, then just say so. You want us to accept death, right?” I asked.
”No, of course not!” he shouted, truly shocked.
I could feel that he meant it. He was not lying.
”To take in despair, to face death and still want life… is that not amazing?” he said.
It sounded like a question, but he was clearly telling his own view. What did a monster far beyond humans think about? I stayed quiet and listened.
”You have no special strength or talent, yet you know that and use tools to fill the gap. You stand before a much stronger monster and still take many of my lives. If I do not accept that, then what kind of monster am I to be defeated?” he said.
Maybe this was a monster’s pride. Maybe the Undead King grew stronger so that, one day, someone could kill him. Still, from my side, I wanted to say, “Go easy on us, idiot.”
”That stake attack before was great. With that, you could kill almost all vampires, except me!” he said with joy.
He reached a hand toward me with a dreamy look, but a shot from Ethelena knocked his hand away.
”Don’t touch my Tatara, baka,” Ethelena snapped.
Her jealousy warmed my heart a bit, but seeing the Undead King act like it didn’t bother him at all drained that warmth fast.
”Wonderful. Wonderful, Tatara Julon!” he said.
I thought I saw a strange light in his eyes. I chose to ignore it. After living so long, maybe he no longer cared about gender. I did not want to know.
”My greatest foe, my still-weak Hero,” he said.
The king put away his Mana Gun. Great… so now he was going to get serious.
”Live and kill me. If you kill me ten times, I will step back,” he said.
”Fine. I’ll kill you right away,” I said.
His smile grew, and then his fist was already in front of me. Ethelena fired to push it aside, but he ignored the hit and kept coming for my face.
”Taah!” someone yelled.
Mini Tatara jumped out from my inventory, slammed into me, and pushed me away. The fist hit her instead. Even with mithril-level toughness, she could not stop the force. Her body bent and she flew back hard.
I used the time Mini Tatara bought and struck with Heavy Strike and ambush together, aiming straight for the Undead King’s heart.
My hammer landed, smashing into his chest bone. The Undead King coughed blood.
”So, you have a follower, Tatara Julon!” he said.
”She’s a Golem, but she has a will!” I answered.
Not a kill. Then I would just use Auto Eizul again on his heart!
I held the hammer in one hand, took out the Auto Eizul with my right, and thrust it toward his heart.
The hit should have landed, but it passed through empty space. He had turned into a cloud of bats to dodge, breaking the “hit” that the world itself had shown.
”You’ve got to be kidding!?” I shouted.
”Sorry. Monsters lie and trick people. You learned something, yes?” he whispered at my ear from behind.
Cold ran down my spine. Also, why was his hand on my waist? That was scary in too many ways.
”No weird touching Tatara!!” Ethelena yelled.
Lonisera shots flew like a storm. They slammed into the Undead King and knocked him away from behind me. He made a small “oof” sound. When I looked up, Yohira had already rushed close and cut into him. Right after he returned to form, Tatia charged at full speed and pierced his heart.
”Haha, you are serious now!” the king said.
”Don’t turn Tatara into a man-lover!” Yohira snapped.
”Tatara-dono loves us! Stop that man-love talk!” Tatia added.
…Right. That’s what they were worried about?
The Undead King also looked confused. He never thought this would be the reason for their anger, I guessed.
”First of all, Tatara likes big breasts!” Yohira shouted.
”Don’t stab your companions like that,” I muttered.
Did they have to yell my preferences in a place like this?
”Hm, but I have big ones too,” the king said.
”Yours are chest muscles. Ours are breasts!” Tatia shot back.
”But that swordswoman does not seem very large. In fact, I might be bigger,” the king said.
”Say that again and it’s war!!” Yohira yelled.
This was getting silly. Still, while they argued, I rested and let my stamina recover. I looked over and saw Mini Tatara was already fixed. It seemed HP Recovery V had worked well.
Now that I had a moment, I prepared for my next move. He had turned into bats to dodge, using one of his Special Abilities at last. That meant things were harder, but also showed a way forward. Those bats felt only a little stronger than a Giant Bat on the upper floors. If I could still land damage while he was in that form, we had a chance.
’Ethelena, listen without reacting. I’ll use Auto Eizul again and aim for his heart. If he turns into bats, burn them with Gloriosa’s Special Ability bullet,’ I said through mind-speech.
’Understood. Leave it to me,’ she replied.
Even while arguing with the others, Ethelena answered my mind-speech like a skilled actor. Yohira and Tatia read the plan and raised their weapons to distract the Undead King from me.
I took one deep breath, held it, and ran.
I closed the distance in a blink. He should have lost sight of me, yet his reflexes were unreal. He turned into bats again. But Ethelena’s fast shot hit the bats with the Special Ability bullet, and blue flames spread through them.
I got caught in the blast too, but I had expected it and put mana into my guard.
The shock was harder than I thought, but the bats around us burned away. As the Undead King began to form again from the ashes, I thrust Auto Eizul straight at his half-shaped heart.
The hit landed, a clean instant kill. One more life gone.
”You are quite the planner,” he said.
”That argument was real though,” I replied.
His praise felt strange, but it was true—we had taken another life.
”A reward then. Take it,” he said.
I barely dodged his strike. His arm had turned into a dog’s head. So he was unlocking more Abilities now.
Yohira cut off the dog head arm and then sliced him in half with her katana. She really had to stay our main attacker.
”You will not take my gift? How cruel,” he said.
”If I take it, I might die!” I shouted.
”We are in a fight to the death. You may be killed too,” he said.
”I can’t deny that!” I replied.
I tried to steady my stance after that dodge, when the Undead King caught my eyes. Not good.
”Hm. Do not move,” he said.
A strong charm—a kind of sex sorcery—hit my mind. Of course a vampire would have that, but using it now was dirty. I pushed mana through my body to resist, but that moment became a deadly opening.
”Here, a reward this time for sure,” he said.
”Tatara!” Yohira screamed.
She could not reach me—summoned dog familiars blocked her way. Tatia rushed in front of me.
The dog head bit into Tatia. She took most of the damage, but pain still hit me too. I was thrown back and slammed into a wall.
”Release Tatia!” Yohira shouted.
In the next breath, she cut down all the familiars and sliced off the Undead King’s arm. She grabbed Tatia and leapt away.
”Heh, is the tide turning?” the king asked, sounding excited.
I had no air in my lungs and could not move. Ethelena fired Lonisera to pull his focus, but he only laughed and turned toward her.
Ethelena was in danger and I had to move—but my body failed. Move, you useless trash. Move, or you will lose the one you love most.
My legs shook as I forced myself up. I leaned on the wall, weak and slow, but I could move.
’Tatara, rest for a moment,’ Yohira said in mind-speech.
I pushed my weak body forward. Yohira stood before Ethelena, cutting the Undead King away from her.
’I will protect Ethelena. Tatara, think of a way to turn this,’ Yohira said.
Yohira read the King’s moves and blocked them all with Temari-bana. She went for his life when she saw an opening, but his familiars kept interrupting. Even with Concept Appraisal, I could not track them all.
A way to turn this… what could I do?
My skill was making things. Could that help?
Red caught my eye—my own blood. It dripped from my cut forehead.
Blood. Vampires wanted blood. They fed on it. Their mana stones also held it inside them.
I took out Noble Blood from my inventory. It alone was not enough to craft the monster weapon Kaziklu Bey.
But why did I keep trying to fit a monster weapon into one fixed form?
I could design and make new Magic Devices. I did not need to stay within the old limits of monster equipment. Noble Blood was a high-density mana stone—there had to be more ways to use it.
I took all the Noble Blood I had and the same number of mithril ingots. The hot blood in my head cooled as my focus sharpened. With Crafting and Alchemy, I raised the mithril to a higher state. The metal turned the color of blood—blood-red mithril. Blood Mithril, I decided to call it.
I changed all the mithril and all the Noble Blood into Blood Mithril.
Then I crafted the Blood Mithril into one spear.
A red magic spear, like liquid blood shaped into a weapon. I named it—
”Magic Spear Warakia. That is your name,” I said.
The spear pulsed in my hand in answer. Feeling that, I used it as a staff to stand. My mask must have fallen off, as I could not see it nearby. I would find it later. For now, I leveled the spear at the Undead King.
He turned and looked at me.
”Oh? A spear this time. And I finally see your face. You are quite a handsome man,” he said.
”Thank you. My parents gave me this face. It’s one of the few things I’m proud of,” I answered.
The Undead King showed a strangely gentle look at my words, but I had no room to care. I pulled a blessed healing potion from my inventory and drank it in one go. The Maiden’s blessing washed through me, and my body returned to full strength.
”I have no talent for battle. Fighting skill is far from me. I am a crafter… a maker. So I’ll make the weapon that will defeat you, right here,” I said.
I was never meant to be a fighter. I was born to create. If I forgot that, I would never beat the monster in front of me.
Not a Hero, but the one who makes the Hero’s weapon. My job was to create the vampire-killer the Hero needed.
”Then, is that spear the answer?” he asked.
”I don’t know yet. I’ll prove it now,” I said.
I drew in all my strength and readied my thrust. I would pierce his heart with everything I had.
”Very well. I will take it. Come, Tatara Julon,” he said.
I answered by opening the boosters of my Genbu model armor at full power and charged. I twisted my whole body and let all the force and the booster’s push flow into the magic spear as I drove it into his chest.
The spear pierced his chest bone, heart, and burst out his back—then shattered. My trial of skill had loaded all of the spear’s endurance into that single attack, breaking it.
”Heh… you used the whole durability of your equipment as power. But I am not dead yet,” he said.
”Yeah… but it’s over,” I said.
The broken spear glowed red. It drank the blood of the enemy it pierced and changed shape. The shards linked together, then melted into his veins like tree roots spreading—piercing him from the inside.
The spear drank the Undead King’s endless blood and grew. It reached every capillary, and thin red points grew out across his entire body.
”This is my weapon to defeat you, the magic spear Warakia. I changed the ‘life-drain’ of the vampire weapon Kaziklu Bey into self-regeneration, self-strengthening, and self-expansion. It drinks your life and keeps killing you from inside,” I explained.
I stepped back, looking at the twisted red roots that wrapped the Undead King.
”I’m bad with any weapon that isn’t a hammer. When I give my all, I break the weapon. So I made a weapon that shows its true power after it breaks, and I borrowed your strength to do it,” I said.
I knew he could still hear me, so I kept speaking.
”We humans are weak and unfair, so I used the pride of a strong and kind monster. You let us use our ideas and craft. That’s why it worked.”
I let out a breath and spoke my last words to him.
”Thank you—and I’m sorry. I had to use such a dirty trick.”
Leaving those words behind, I ran to Tatia. She had been stabbed by the King’s fangs, and I had to heal her.
”Tatia, can you move?” I asked.
”Tatara… dono…” she whispered.
Her voice was muffled by her mask, then she coughed. She must have organ damage. I removed her mask at once and tried to give her a healing potion, but she couldn’t swallow. So I held some in my mouth and passed it to her. After a short freeze, she swallowed slowly.
The effect was fast. Tatia’s wound closed. I felt huge relief and thanked the Maiden.
”…Forgive me, Tatara-dono. I am your shield. To fail like this…” she said.
”What are you saying? You protected me. It’s an honor’s wound. Even if a scar stays, I’ll take responsibility, so don’t worry,” I said.
”…Yes,” she whispered, a small smile on her face.
Still, after fighting a monster with special abilities like this, I needed to make an upgrade for Tatia’s aura. And my Genbu armor needed stronger plates too.
While I thought about that, a shadow fell over us. Someone stood behind me. Tatia’s face showed not shock, but despair. I understood at once and shoved her aside.
A cold pain hit my back, then a blade burst through my stomach.
”It was a good idea, you know,” I said, blood rising up my throat.
I was bleeding inside badly. Before the blood spilled out, those words fell from my mouth.
”Yes, it was a very fine weapon. It would have been fine if I had died then… but not enough,” he said.
I fell to the ground. I heard the familiar voice above me. I forced my head to turn. The Undead King stood there, still in his red cloak but now wearing full black armor, a sword in hand.
Far away, Ethelena screamed. I had to stand… I had to be near her so she would feel safe.
”Your spear took about a hundred of my lives. It held me down, ate my life, and killed me again and again… a fearsome weapon,” he said.
He grabbed my hair and lifted me. The pain felt distant now. The burn in my belly was worse, so maybe my brain shut the rest out. I was so tired. So sleepy.
”But I still will not die. Tatara Julon, what will you show me next?” he asked.
My thoughts swam. Nothing was clear. Sleepy… but I couldn’t sleep. I had to stay awake.
”If you close your eyes, you’ll sleep,” a voice in my head whispered. But I must not. I must not.
”Heh, yes. You will keep fighting. To kill us monsters. To protect the ones you love. It is your fate to struggle!” he said.
Don’t decide my fate for me. My fate is Ethelena. My fate is to live with her.
I forced my mind awake and armed the zero-range fuse. Target: the bastard right in front of me. We were both stubborn, but I was done with this.
”Don’t decide… my fate for me!!” I shouted.
Blood burst from my mouth and hit his face, but I didn’t care. The plates on my shoulders opened, and thirty-six projectiles fired point-blank and exploded. I planned to blow us both away, but the Undead King wrapped himself over me, taking the full blast alone.
…Did he protect me?
I tried to gather strength, but my mind was at its limit. I could not think.
”Tatara Julon. For now, I will leave. This battle thrilled me. As a reward, I will spare your lives,” he said.
Could he really spare my life while my belly was torn open? Ugh… I was done.
”Your blood is very sweet. It has been a long time since I tasted such pure human blood. It almost makes me drunk,” he said.
Good for you…
”Then, until our fates cross again. Farewell,” he said.
The pressure around my body vanished. The Undead King must have teleported away with some Ability. I understood that much—and then the darkness pulled me under.
Notes:
• Yohira – Torakuma’s first name. Oni warrior.
• Dahlia – The automaton.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply