LS – Chapter 273: As such, checkmated

Previous Chapter l Next Chapter

◇◇

“Are you okay?!” (Ekdoik)

“Somehow…”

My surroundings were protected by chains faster than it took Ekdoik to shout.

I managed to protect him quickly because I caught sight of that.

There was no mention on the way here that the wide area of effect attack of Raheight would have this vast of a range, but I could infer it.

“The crystals around Ilias were slower to appear, most likely because of the magic seal stone embedded in her sword.”

“It is partly because of that, but it is most likely that he can’t cast crystals in the places where the mana of others is flowing.” (Ilias)

Crystals don’t appear again in the locations where they have already appeared.

I brought him closer to my bosom and slashed the crystals that appeared without hesitation to keep the damage to the bare minimum.

“He created crystals to a degree where it covered the whole space, huh… Even though creating this much in an instant should be a pretty big burden on the body.” (Ilias)

“Raheight can return to a healthy state in an instant. In that case, he should be able to ignore the limit of his body with each spell. Moreover, while ignoring his own safety.”

The higher the output of mana, the more careful you have to be when using it.

My mana strengthening is not only purely to increase my physical capabilities, I also need to strengthen my defense to endure that physical strength.

The ratio is almost the same.

Raheight doesn’t need to worry about his own body, so that should in essence mean that he can output double the power.

“I see. That is indeed troublesome…” (Ilias)

“Also, sorry, but can you loosen it a bit? Your armor hurts.”

I hugged him strongly because I had to protect him on the fly, but I have mixed feelings when told this so straightforwardly.

I loosen my arm and he exhaled heavily before standing up on his own feet.

“Ilias, is Shishou alright?!” (Wolfe)

I hear the voice of Wolfe from the other side of the crumbling wall of crystals.

Wolfe can also destroy the crystals that appear to create a safe space.

“I am okay! What about you, Ekdoik?!”

“I am fine here, too. But I saw Raheight himself being caught in the attack just now…” (Ekdoik)

“That’s right. The power lowers when I include the factor of protecting myself, so I have to do this with the intention of destroying everything without thinking about anything, you see?” (Raheight)

The unscathed Raheight shows up from within the scattering crystals.

I don’t feel a decrease in his mana at all despite having used a spell of that scale.

Are you telling me that resurrection magic can even return the mana of the person to a perfect state, too?!

“He has completely stepped into the realm of the inhuman. Now then, Ilias, Wolfe, can you hang on for a bit?”

“Y-Yeah…” (Ilias)

“I can!” (Wolfe)

“Alright, then please continue fighting Raheight within bearable bounds. It would be great if you were to deal close to fatal damage a number of times. Ekdoik, please concentrate on protecting me.”

There’s blood flowing out from his shoulder with just that exchange.

The wound must have opened because I moved him forcefully.

The chances are high that he would die instantly just from a single hit of Raheight landing.

There’s no doubt in his eyes despite the attacks being at a scale that fills up the whole room.

“We can win, right?” (Ilias)

“I will be analyzing that from here on.”

“…From here on?” (Ilias)

“It won’t be long. Counting on you to buy time.”

I would like to hear about it in detail, but I doubt Raheight will allow it.

Then, I should swing my sword while believing in him.

I moved to the side of Wolfe after confirming that Ekdoik got closer and began to deploy his chains around that man.

I doubt Raheight will only attack me and Wolfe, but there’s no one more reliable than Ekdoik when it comes to concentrating on defense.

“I thought you would retreat, but you plan on facing me? It is weird to say this myself, but I don’t think there’s a way for you to win, you know? Even if you have prepared a Mana Eater like how you did with the Scarlet Demon Lord, it won’t work on me. This body regenerates in the place my soul is in. I can escape as much as I please if I just retreat from this place with my soul alone.” (Raheight)

“I did think about that too, but our relationship with Serende will turn hopeless if we use that. And most of all, I would like to avoid the possibility of my allies dying accidentally.”

He brings out a stack of parchment from the mouth of Kutou, and flips through them.

It is different from reading what’s written. It is more like he is just looking at it…

“What point does that serve?” (Raheight)

“We will be able to see whether it will serve any purpose from here on. We will run away if it doesn’t work, so allow us to struggle until then.”

“…You think I will let you do as you please?” (Raheight)

Judging from the eyes of Raheight, he also has no idea what he is trying to do, but he must have felt something ominous from it, he directed clear killing intent towards us.

“Wolfe, we are going in!” (Ilias)

“Yes!” (Wolfe)

It will be dangerous to create situations where Raheight can concentrate on attack with him being able to output mana that surpasses the limits of his body.

We should increase the number of moves here as much as possible and divert his attention to me and Wolfe.

“Shallow. —Area, set.” (Raheight)

“Too slow!” (Ilias)

I jumped in range faster than he could activate his spell and erased the construction of the spell with my mana seal stone.

I finish the swing of my sword just like that and slice off the head of Raheight.

“Too slow? No, no, your mere attacks can’t get in my way. See, there…” (Raheight)

“—?!”

I directed my gaze in the direction Raheight looked at, and noticed that it was a trap.

The already severed left arm of Raheight was laying in the opposite direction, and magic was being weaved with that as the center.

I dash towards where that left arm is laying while slashing up the crystals filling up the space.

I have a complete grasp of how this spell works now that I have seen it twice.

Raheight wrapped the magic construction to create crystals around the left arm as if it were a plant, and sent the order to activate the spell with the arm as the center.

When it is a specific point, it is concentrated on that spot; here and there on the ground when it is the field; the air around when it is area.

I can destroy the construction with a magic seal stone, but it is scattered into the air in an instant, so it is not possible to negate all of them.

That’s why, I won’t be able to stop a wide area of effect attack if he sends the order to deploy onto his arm that’s far from my sword.

Moreover, the crystals that appear in the surroundings reach me as physical attacks even if I can negate the construction of the spell in my immediate vicinity.

“Are you okay, Ilias?!” (Wolfe)

“No issues. What about you, Wolfe? You don’t have any mana seal stone equipment, right? Can you deal with it?” (Ilias)

“Yeah, I can see something similar to seeds when I concentrate! I can move to a certain degree if I blow them away before they sprout!” (Wolfe)

Wolfe should be able to deal with them using her reflexes as long as she can see through how it works.

But what’s difficult is to prevent those attacks from being directed at him.

I look at that man through the openings of the crumbling crystals. It seems like the attacks didn’t reach him.

There’s chains of Ekdoik broken around, but it looks like he managed to block the attacks with something else.

It is most likely the invisible chains that he can create with the Eyes of Blindness.

It is not suitable to defend for long periods of time, but it is far sturdier than the full power barriers of Rakura.

You could say there’s no better choice than this one to obtain the time that that man wants.

“—Those eyes… I see. You use an interesting technique. So you are utilizing a power from monsters instead of a technique from humans.” (Raheight)

“Don’t think you can get through this defense so easily.” (Ekdoik)

“It is not that difficult, you know? See, no matter how proud you are of its sturdiness, it is in the end still chains, right? There’s openings everywhere.” (Raheight)

Something similar to mist begins to waft around Raheight.

It must be controlled by the will of Raheight, it spread in the blink of an eye and reached where I am.

I don’t know what’s this, but I could tell by instinct that touching this mist would be dangerous, so I tried to clear it with the wind created from the swing of my sword, but crystals appeared on the tip of my sword.

“This mist is grains of crystals?!” (Ilias)

The crystals that appeared at the tip of my sword exploded, and the rain of fragments showered at me.

I managed to block it with my armguard, but it easily pierced through the barrier I casted on the surface of my armor.

“Can you prepare an even stronger defense while keeping that special defense up?” (Raheight)

“Ekdo—”

“No issues. If you are going to get through the openings of the chains, then just protect with something aside from chains.” (Ekdoik)

The mist heading towards that man and Ekdoik changed directions.

The shape of this invisible thing was made clear thanks to the mist being blocked by it. I can tell that it is a barrier that covers the surroundings like the one Rakura uses.

“You can now deploy other things aside from chains?!” (Ilias)

“I learned about how to use my devil powers from Dyuvuleori. I could only materialize chains which were like my symbol, but now I can recreate things that are etched in my mind.” (Ekdoik)

“…Fine. Deploying a barrier so sturdy on all sides shouldn’t last that long anyways.” (Raheight)

The mist is drifting around him and Ekdoik even now.

The mist moved freely even if we tried to clear it away and surrounded it again.

Wolfe and I might end up touching the mist if we concentrate too much on those two.

“I will continue maintaining the barrier like this. I will tell you when I am close to my limit. You two fight without worrying!” (Ekdoik)

“Okay!” (Wolfe)

Wolfe skillfully controlled the mana spewing from her gauntlets to blow the mist away.

Looks like I can concentrate on myself.

I tighten the grip on my sword again and charge towards Raheight.

I blow away the mist with the wind pressure of my sword and create a path all the way to Raheight.

“You still keep on despite knowing that it won’t work? Fools.” (Raheight)

“I don’t plan on wrapping this up with one pattern!” (Ilias)

The mist gathered at the front, so I moved to the back of Raheight, and slash off the arm of Raheight while blowing away the mist that’s between Raheight and Wolfe.

“There!” (Wolfe)

Wolfe predicted this action of mine and dashed in, punching the chest of Raheight.

The moment I heard the sound of bones breaking, meat tearing, and entrails bursting, the body of Raheight swelled unnaturally. |

“Move away, Wolfe!” (Ilias)

Wolfe used mana to propel herself away and take distance in one go.

The body of Raheight exploded the moment that happened, and the shockwave reached all the way here.

To think he would use his own body as a disposable weapon…!

“—I have treated my body crudely a good number of times before, but it is amusing how I can do so in such a carefree manner.” (Raheight)

And then, Raheight stood there as if nothing happened.

In contrast to that, Wolfe…isn’t heavily injured, but there’s blood flowing here and there on her body.

Some of that is the blood from Raheight, but I can tell from the expression of Wolfe that it is by no means injuries that can be taken lightly.

There’s a high chance he will detonate himself in such a manner when I charge at him.

How should I stop it in those times…?

There may be no issues if it is a few times, but…the damage would definitely accumulate.

“Good grief. Even though the slightest wound could be fatal for me. It would be better for you to treasure your body more, Raheight.”

That man who continued looking at the parchment spoke.

The stack of parchment he was reading until now is scattered on the ground, and there’s only one parchment held in his hand.

“Oh, is reading time over?” (Raheight)

“It wasn’t much anyways.”

“So, the preparations to lose are over now?” (Raheight)

“Yeah, the time until now wasn’t a waste at least. Kutou, please bring out page 318.”

“Yes, Master. Ready!” (Kutou)

Kutou brings out one other parchment and gives it to him.

That man is the only one who understands the meaning of this action.

The parchments that are scattered on the ground also have an excessive amount of things written on them, but I don’t feel a single hint of magic from them.

“What makes you dangerous is your ability to see through the heart of other people. But right now I have no issues in having my mind read. You won’t be able to shake my heart no matter what you say, you know?” (Raheight)

“You can only say that kind of stuff after seeing through all the hand of your enemy or the only thing you will end up doing is embarrassing yourself, you know? Well, it is already a checkmate anyways. Say whatever you want.”

“I am telling you such bluffs don’t work on me. What sort of meaning is there in a parchme—?!” (Raheight)

The moment Raheight directed his gaze at the parchment scattered on the ground…his face froze.

Is there some sort of meaning in what’s written there?

What’s written on the parchments isn’t text but a line of characters…

Are those names?

“You went as far as exchanging me for the body you used to sneak into the Yugura Church, right? It must have been a body you worked a lot on, but putting that much work on it means that there was some sort of emotion there. That’s why I investigated the origins of that body. The first body you stole was most likely that of a friend or someone close, right?”

“Could it be…” (Raheight)

“It is the same method as how Ritial found Illegitimate. The countries and villages where Illegitimates cause problems will create a decent amount of rumors. I narrowed it down to those places and pinpointed it…the name Ralheight Parenza.”

“!”

“Ralheight was born around 30 years ago in a certain village in Torin. I investigated the names of the people that were born in that village and the neighboring ones within 10 years of this. It is great that Torin is a country that properly keeps records of births. Depending on the case, I would have needed to use the power of Blue to revive a person of that generation and have Dyuvuleori read their memories after all.”

He shows the contents of the parchment that he was holding before towards Raheight.

There’s countless names written on it, and there was a single spot that was unnaturally empty.

“There’s one spot that has disappeared in this list that I left no spaces in, right? Your name disappears from all of history in this world when you pay with your name to become a Demon Lord. There was the name of someone here not that long ago. That’s right, your real name.”

“…Then, the one other parchment you are holding…” (Raheight)

“A simple copy of it. However, in Japanese. A language that’s not of this world.”

He flipped the one other parchment and showed it to him.

A bunch of characters that are written in a language I can’t read at all.

There’s no spaces in that one at all.

Everyone here understands what that means.

“Resurrection magic only takes away the name of the things in this world. Basically, your real name has remained in this fashion with Japanese writing just like it did with Blue’s name. That’s why I investigated the list of names written in the language of this world, and then compared it to the page written in Japanese after finding the empty space and…I will be able to learn the name that you offered for the resurrection magic.”

“No way… With such a method…?!” (Raheight)

Composure left the face of Raheight.

The way of killing Demon Lords that we learned from the Colorless Demon Lord in Taizu.

If he learned of this information by himself or heard it from Seraes, it should be clear for him in what kind of situation he is in right now.

“The effect of the resurrection magic is lost the moment what you paid is taken back. What will happen with the accumulated debt…? I don’t even want to think about it.”

“—D-Don’t joke around!” (Raheight)

Raheight tried to shoot a spell at him, but Wolfe and I got in between to block it.

There’s also the protection of Ekdoik, so it would be impossible for Raheight to destroy this formation in just a few seconds.

“By the way, I don’t think running away will do you any good. What I will be saying won’t be directed at you, but an action to return to the world.”

“S-Stop! Don’t move your mouth! There’s no way a man like you taking everything away from me can be allowed! You shouldn’t have that authority! Stop… Stop! STOOOP!” (Raheight)

“As if I care whether I have the authority or not. Return to being a human, —–”

That man ignored the screams of Raheight and spoke a single name.

Previous Chapter l Next Chapter