Chapter 131-132

Chapter 131 – It was a forbidden art!?

"…!? Wind!"

As the ashes turned into black mist, I raised my hand towards Oren and unleashed wind magic.

Both Oren and the black mist were clearly a threat. And I had to attack quickly.

However, Oren hadn't done all of this without planning. This was evident by the fact that he already had Shield up.

The others around him were also sending energy to him.

However, my wind was still strong enough to throw Oren off of his feet and slam him hard into the wall of the storage house.

"That hurt… But it's too late. You cannot stop it now. Killing me won't make any difference."

Oren said as he crumbled to the floor. However, he was smiling with pleasure.

Of course, he was talking about the black mist that he had unleashed.

He saw that I was trying to use fire magic on it next, and he said,

"I told you. It's no use, Heal. That thing is a ghost. It cannot be defeated by mere magic."

The black mist then covered the man who had fallen on the ground earlier.

Oren smiled merrily upon seeing this.

The man was struggling as if in pain. His eyes were wide as he looked at Oren.

"Ah-ahhhh! Your Highness! What is this!?"

"It needs your flesh and blood. Isn't this wonderful? You were able to be useful in the end, just like you wished."

"No-no! Ahh…ahhhh! Uh-aahhhhhhhh!"

Once the mist had enveloped him completely, the screaming stopped.

Oren's face was filled with elation as he said,

"Now, Heal… It's time for a tearful reunion."

Just then, the black mist exploded.

I used Shield to protect the nearby crew.

"What!?"

"His-His Highness, not again…we're in danger!"

As the men began to panic, the mist started to settle again.

What I then saw was not the man who had been there a moment ago, but a creature that was a giant humanoid with a sheep's head.

Its body was covered in black hair, and it had tattered black wings on its back.

I felt bad for thinking about it, but this creature was much more ominous than Baris.

The giant's red eyes looked across the room.

"Wh-what is that…"

The crew looked on in shock.

I too felt overwhelmed by its presence. However, I also noticed the abnormal amount of magic energy.

Elto… No, it had even more magic than her.

"All of you, get out now!! Hurry!"

I shouted at them, and the crew quickly fled from the storage house.

As if trading places, I heard Ashton's voice as he came running in.

"Lord Heal! What is that!?"

"Ashton! Evacuate everyone to the cave!"

"B-but I must help you!"

"There's no time! Take them now!!"

"Ye-yes!"

And with his clear voice, Ashton began to order the others to evacuate to the cave. And in answer, the evacuation bell began to ring in the tower.

That's when Oren got to his feet and smirked at me.

"Ah. It looks like you've realized that you haven't any hope of winning? Well, this is a rather special monster."

"Oren…what did you do?"

"What did I do… I told you that it was a ghost. Surely you've guessed it by now? It's necromancy."

"Necromancy!? But that has been banned in Sanfaris."

Necromancy was an art that involved the dead and using corpses.

For instance, it allowed you to create skeleton monsters and undead.

It was categorised as a type of magic, due to the magic energy that was required. But unlike most magic, the incantation was very important.

Most people considered the acting of damaging corpses to be foul.

And so it was a forbidden art in Sanfaris. Even researchers were not allowed to use it.

However, Oren sounded very calm as he replied.

"And I will lift that ban when I become king. So what's the problem if I do it now?"

"You're wrong…"

"Wrong? Why? You can fight all you want without losing soldiers. And they are stronger than humans… Lopez. Can you hear me?"

As Oren called, the giant who he called 'Lopez' turned its red eyes towards him.

Lopez. The ashes from that vial… It was the name I had given the monster that Oren killed. I didn't even know that Oren knew about that.

Oren saw my reaction and laughed as he slapped Lopez on the back.

"Hahaha! Aren't you happy, Heal? He must have been your very first friend! However, he is just my toy now. Hey, Lopez. I want you to… Bbbbffaaa!?"

Suddenly, Oren went flying into the air and was slammed into the wall once again. While it had been too fast for my eyes to follow, it seemed like Lopez's fist had shot into Oren's stomach.

Blood ran from Oren's mouth as he glared at Lopez.

"Y-you…!?"

However, Lopez just glared right back at him.

At the same time, I could sense immense energy expanding from Lopez's body.

"Ah-ah… It-it wasn't me! I wasn't the one who killed you! It was Heal!!"

Oren's shoulders began to shake violently as he pointed a finger at me.

And then Lopez's face turned to look at me.

"Are you…really Lopez?"

The Lopez that I knew was smaller than a dog. And he wasn't nearly this ominous.

Lopez stood in front of me quietly. He stared as if remembering something.

Oren screamed with a frantic expression.

"Lopez. Don't you remember!? Who was reaching out towards you right before you died!? Who was the last person you saw!?"

Upon hearing this, Lopez's hands held his head and he began to groan as if in pain.

I wasn't sure if he understood.

However, if he really did have those memories of when he was alive, then he should know that it wasn't me who killed him.

Yes, it wasn't me. However, in the end, I had…

Oren continued to shout.

"He was standing right in front of you, wasn't he!? It's him! Heal is the one who killed you!!"

"No! Lopez, I was trying to…"

I suddenly choked on my words.

The sight of Oren burning Lopez right in front of me suddenly entered my mind.

–I hadn't been able to save him.

Oren's voice boomed.

"Kill him, now! Kill them all! Remember what you are! You are the Demon King who massacres!!"

Lopez let out a great roar. His wings began to beat the air, and the walls and roof of the storage house were blown away.

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Chapter 132 – It was a tragic battle?!

Oren's laugh echoed around us as he watched Lopez rise into the air.

"Ahahahaha! Heal! I won!"

As the walls crumbled, Oren's men began to shout.

"Your-Your Highness! This place is too dangerous! We must escape! Ah!?"

The man suddenly grabbed his throat and then collapsed on the ground.

It wasn't just him. The others began to fall as well.

As I sensed magic coming from Oren's hand, I cast Shield.

However, he wasn't directing it at me.

"Oren! You!"

I quickly tried to cast healing magic on the men.

However, this time they were all dead.

"I've prepared the highest quality ingredients. You better make the most of them."

Oren said with a cool expression. And with that, the corpses were swallowed up by darkness.

When the darkness faded, devils that looked just like Lopez were now glaring at me.

There were four of them in all. And they wielded swords and shields with the mark of a skull carved into them.

Aside from them, numerous other dark shadows began to appear around us…and these transformed into white bones…skeletons.

They were equipped with swords and spears.

"…What are they?"

"Thralls of the Demon King. They kill humans and use the bodies to summon their thralls. I wasn't actually too confident about this part, but it worked quite well."

"You killed your friends…just to do this?"

I asked. Oren's mouth twisted into a mirthful grin.

"Friends? They are no more than pawns. More importantly, Heal. You better hurry. Or everyone on this island will become his thralls as well. If you don't kill Lopez soon, your precious new toys will…gaaahhh!?"

Oren was bashed by one of the devil's shields, and he went flying into the air again. He was thrown to the ground and lay limp.

I would not be treating him. I turned away and called out to Lopez.

"Lopez!! You are Lopez, aren't you!? Do you remember me!? I'm Heal!"

However, Lopez only glared at me silently.

A long time ago, I had read a story in a book about a human who had been brought back from the dead through Necromancy.

A man had lost the bottom half of his body during a war, and he died shortly after. However, his wife had brought him back. But the lower half of the man's body was a grotesque clump of flesh. Even his top half looked sickly, and he could barely be called human.

And though she tried to speak to him, he never spoke back. It was said that he reacted to certain words, but it was only with painful moans.

The wife was filled with so much despair and regret over her actions, that she killed him and ended her own life shortly after.

This was a story that was spread far and wide in order to persuade people of the dangers of Necromancy.

The thing that was most notable here, was that those who returned through Necromancy seemed to lose their memory. Or perhaps, they only kept a small part of it.

Lopez had been holding his head as if in pain earlier. What if he did remember…

However, as if to crush all of my hopes, Lopez swung one of his arms.

At the same time, the devils and skeletons raised their weapons and charged at me.

"…I have to fight then."

I had no choice now, and so I met them with magic.

"Fire!!"

My magic was so hot that the skeletons melted one after another.

However, the devils had strong shields, and the fire did not get through them.

In the meantime, Lopez unleashed a torrent of black mist at me.

I blocked the attack with fire, all the while sending more energy into Shield.

Once the black mist made contact with Shield, it exploded. However, Shield was able to block it.

Perhaps Lopez had decided that magic was not going to be effective, as he suddenly jumped towards me while swinging a fist that was enveloped in darkness.

Shield was able to block this too, but the pressure was so great that it shattered in a violent explosion immediately after.

"Tsk!"

I pulled myself off of the ground and entered a defensive stance. It wasn't hard, as I had gone through swordsmanship training.

However, his power was so great. I had blocked all kinds of attacks with Shield up until now, but none of them had packed so hard a punch with just one hit.

I could see that incredible amounts of energy were surrounding Lopez's fists. He had probably focused all of his magic there.

I had felt a little hesitation towards attacking Lopez.

But against someone with this much power, holding back was not an option.

"Fire!!"

As I unleashed more fire magic, Lopez did not even bother to dodge it. He faced it head on with a raise of his hand.

And yet, his body was completely undamaged.

If not fire then lightning. And if not lightning, then ice. I unleashed my magic on him.

I didn't want to do this. But if I didn't go all out, the others would suffer. And so I gritted my teeth and attacked Lopez.

However, try as I might, he blocked all of these attacks with his hand. Not only that, but Lopez was also able to dodge them as he moved on light feet.

After that, he directed his fist at me again.

"Magic has no effect…tsk!"

Lopez's fist sent me flying into the air again.

This attack was followed by a kick. I braced myself and then unleashed magic as a counterattack—like this, the battle continued for a while.

Was the energy resting in his palm what was blocking my attacks? In any case, these head-on attacks were not working.

Perhaps one of Elto's spells would be effective. Something as powerful as Hell Explosion, for instance.

However, that would easily destroy the entire island.

Lopez raised his hand again.

And like that, his thralls suddenly turned their heads towards the cave, and they started to march towards it.

"No! I won't allow you!"

I tried to attack the thralls with magic, but Lopez's fist came flying towards me again.

"Shit!"

I would be blown away again–I unleashed wind magic towards him and tried to stop his fist.

This worked, and I was able to keep my feet on the ground. Lopez quickly followed the attack with a punch of his other fist, and then a kick. However, I was able to block those as well with wind magic.

Alright, I could block them… However, the others were still in danger. The thralls had already reached the defensive walls.

It was then that I heard a voice echo from the sky.

"Master! Leave this area to us! I will ensure that everyone remains unharmed!"

Elto shouted from the air as she waved a hand at me.

On further inspection, the walls were lined with armed monsters as well. And I could see Rienna and Erevan with them.

"Fire! Don't let the enemy get close!"

Erevan said. And the air was filled with magic and arrows.

Yes, Elto and Rienna's Shield would protect the others. Besides, the other enemies weren't nearly as powerful as Lopez. They should be able to deal with these thralls just fine.

And so I turned back towards Lopez.

"Lopez… This was not the reunion I would have hoped for."

But he did not react to this. Instead, he raised his fist and prepared to swing again.

I dodged the attack and launched boulders at him from my Inventory.

It wasn't just boulders. I also sent iron and metals such as Orichalcum at him. Every kind of rock that I had was used in my attacks.

However, he remained unscathed. Even if he didn't block them with his hands, they did nothing to his body.

He continued to chase me and swing his arms.

"…Just what I wanted."

I used a certain stone—the Teleportation Stone, and activated it.

Suddenly, Lopez's back was in front of me.

By scattering the stones around him, I would be able to come up behind him immediately.

Just as I raised my pickaxe into the air, Lopez's face turned towards me.

But it was too late. The pickaxe slammed into him, and he went flying into the air.