Chapter IX
The huge hamster and the bony necromancer barely even glanced at those who left as they entered battle mode.
Seeing a strange creature standing against him with the will to fight even if its master had left, Khajit murmured:
"So he's not just an idiot, but an idiot who really owns this mo—"
"An idiot?! To call that my kind and powerful master, how offensive that it is!" Its whiskers twitched.
"What's wrong with me calling the one interfering in my plan an idiot?! But you stupid beast are going to be dead before you can even recognize my strength for what it is! My preparations are already complete! I have gathered enough negative energy! behold the power of this supreme jewel!" Khajit held up the stone in his hand.
It was a plain jewel with a gleam like black iron, neither polished nor cut. Raw ore were probably the words that came closest to describing it and Hamsuke thought to see it pulsing.
Suddenly, six of the dead disciples sluggishly stood up. These motions were not willed by life but ruled by undeath. They moved on unsteady feet to stand up between the Wise King of the Forest and Khajit.
Being a living creature, Hamsuke did not like undead, but looked quizzically at Khajit. "You're making this one fight against a few zombies, that you are?"
"Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha! That's exactly what I'm doing. That will do! Attack!"
Zombies were the lowest tier of undead and had no magic ability. The former leading disciples came clawing at the gigantic Djungarian Hamster, but it sent forth the sweeping tail with speed and strength, crushing the bones of all the attackers without even moving its feet and resorting to its magic or claws.
Although Hamsuke had mopped them all up with ease, it was far from relaxed
and wondered, Create Undead, the spell master used, didn't have the power to turn multiple corpses into undead at once. Did he use another spell or what? Its eyes flicked to the black lump in his hand. That item probablly allows him to create and control multiple zombies at once.
Khajit shouted with joy. "That's plenty! I've absorbed enough negative energy!"
The black lump in Khajit's hand looked like it was absorbing the darkness of the graveyard and giving off a faint glow, and it was pulsing more obviously than before, beating quietly like a heart.
There'll be trouble if I don't get him right now, Hamsuke decided as its tail danced. Just as it was about to make her move, the giant hamster's fluffy ears heard something slicing through the air. Remembering its master's words, in a moment it jumped clear.
Something enormous buzzed the spot where it'd been standing before pulling up to hover in front of Khajit and landing slowly.
It was an agglomeration of human bones over 3 m tall. Made up of countless pieces, the form it took on had a long neck, four legs, and wings—a dragon. Its tail, composed of innumerable bones, gave the ground a heavy whack. It was a monster called a skeletal dragon.
Although The Wise King of the Forest did not know how strong it was, it felt the skeletal dragon would not be an easy opponent.
"Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Khajit's unhinged laugh echoed throughout the area. "Skeletal dragon, kill that creature!"
The undead tried stomping on the magical beast with its front legs, but the giant hamster slipped neatly past them, showing great agility despite its size. The silvery hair waved in the moonlight and in the gust of air created by the attack as it dove for the undead's chest. Hamsuke jumped up mustering all of its strength and curled up forming a sort of wrecking ball.
The skeletal dragon may have been over 3 m tall, but it went unwillingly flying. A moment later the vibrations of its impact reached them with a giant thud.
"What?!" Khajit was astounded.
Skeletal dragons were lighter than they looked, since they were made of bone. That's still lighter, though. Seeing it be knocked back showed to Khajit that the quick, hard tail of the monster was not its only strength.
Hastily moving behind the skeletal dragon for cover, Khajit cursed. He used up a huge amount of negative energy and spent about two months performing a long, difficult ritual to create a skeletal dragon. Was it going to be defeated this easily? In the final stretch of his multiple-year plan?
As Khajit's face grew blotchy with rage, the skeletal dragon slowly creaked and squeaked its way to its feet. There were large cracks in the bones making up its chest, and many broken pieces were crumbling out. He couldn't let it be hit again.
"No, you can't! I won't let you! Ray of Negative Energy!" A black beam shot out of Khajit's hand and hit the skeletal dragon, rapidly healing the wounds with all the negative energy.
"You had high hopes for this horrendous monster, but I see you must to heal it after a single hit by me, that you must!
Khajit ignored the quip and cast a series of spells. "[Reinforce Armor]! [Lesser Strength]! [Undead Flames]! [Shield Wall]!" All of those buffed the skeletal dragon. Its bones grew harder, its strength magically increased and its body was enveloped in black flames that would drain life energy. Then, an invisible wall formed to cover one side of its body like a shield.
"Two can play at that game, enemy of my master! [Reinforce Hide]! [Lesser Strength]! [Protection of Energy Negative]!" The Wise King of the Forest cast a handful of spells as well.
Once they had both protected themselves enough, they returned to fighting as if the bell for round two had rung.
The skeletal dragon swung a front leg and missed as Hamsuke deftly jumped to the left. Part of her hair caught the dragon's black flames, but [Protection of Energy Negative] blocked them and they disappeared immediately. Without the extra defence, the Wise King of the Forest would have taken some damage in spite of dodging the attack.
But that did not happen, while the snakelike tail whipped hard the bony face of the skeletal dragon, almost cleaving it in two pieces.
"Ray of Negative Energy!" Khajit sent another beam to heal the dragon's wounds.
This caused Hamsuke's brows furrowing. Even if the giant hamster managed to hurt the undead monster, Khajit would just heal it from his position in the rear. But it was impossible to attack Khajit first as long as that huge pile of old bones was stuck right between them.
Then how about some magic?
Another of the runes on her body gleamed as "Charm Person!" was unleashed.
"Undead Mind!"
Khajit cast that a split second afterwards. The spell that would charm humans was blocked by a defensive spell that allowed defence from psychic magic. As a result, Khajit flashed a triumphant smile, while Hamsuke deeply frowned and agitated his tail. He was distracted by that devious smile as a shadow fell over the hamster.
Its entire field of vision was taken up by a white mass and evasion seemed too difficult.
Its mind immediately raced and the Wise King of the Forest brought its paws in front of the face to instinctively protect it. The thundering impact sent numbing vibrations through to the hamster's whole body which went soaring into the air. A powerful tail attack aimed right at it face had sent the magical beast flying. But it had curled up in midair and rolled farther away without injuries, then it unfurled and Hamsuke went back to its feet.
It would have been the perfect time for the skeletal dragon to follow up the attack, but it didn't. It had to protect Khajit, so it couldn't stray too far. Keeping an eye on the dragon, the hamster tried to shake the numbness and pain out of its body.
Then, Khajit peeked out from behind the undead monster. "Acid Javelin!"
His green spear went flying straight at the giant hamster, which barely dodged: his hair was almost wounded by the spray of acid. Angered, the Wise King of the Forest counterattacked. Let us see if you can still aim after this, enemy of mine… [Blindness]! the magic bolt that sprang from Hamsuke went for Khajit, but it hit the skeletal dragon which moved to block it.
"Hahaha! A fool you are, now the monster won't be able to see me, it won't!"
"You are the fool, stupid beast! Skeletal dragons have absolute protection from all magic, your spells will be nullified!"
The two adversaries glared at each other. "Why don't you coward quit hiding and come out here, why you do not?"
"Why should I have to do that?"
"Whatever your plan was, it'll go haywire if you're tied up fighting, will it not?"
Hamsuke was right. Khajit narrowed his glare while the hamster just smiled.
"…I see I have no choice." Having made up his mind, Khajit squeezed the strange sphere once again. Then, he held it up high. "Behold the power of the Jewel of Death!"
The Wise King of the Forest lost balance, proof the ground was shaking hard. It was a sign that something bvery big was coming. A moment later, the ground cracked open and something bony white slowly climbed out.
"…Another one?"
"Hmm! I'm already out of negative energy. But if I kill you and your friend and then spread death throughout town, I should still be able to make a Spiral of Death!"
Khajit was yelling furiously and Hamsuke nervously silent, but determined not to give up. It exhaled sharply and broke into a run faster than any Khajit had ever seen. The man was caught off guard and didn't have time to react, but his two minions would.
As the giant hamster entered the skeletal dragon's range, it tried to attack with its front legs. Hamuske went right to slip past their stomps, but then the other dragon's tail came to sweep.
The Wise King of the Forest jumped clear, not a second too soon. Right below her, the tail plowed noisily through the spot she'd been standing. But it quickly changed directions and whipped into the air to swing down again.
The tail's strike shook the ground, but Hamsuke had managed to dodge to the left, except the dragon on the right closed in to hit from above with a front leg.
"Guh!" She took the forceful hit rising up its own front clawed paws. This time it knew how strong the blow would be. It was stopped and then shoved back. The attacking skeletal dragon retreated, creating another brief interlude in the fighting.
"What are you?! To be able to block those attacks—"
"I am Hamsuke, the Wise King of the Forest and a loyal servant of master Momon!"
It puffed out and sent at Khajit such a strong gaze that it gave him the chills and the necromancer took a step back. The legendary Wise King of the Forest! Why is that ancient, powerful creature here? As if to shake himself free of his fear, he gave an order. "Rip it apart, skeletal dragons!"
The two undead, maintaining proximity to Khajit, attacked together. The Giant Djumgarian hamster dodged one blow and tried to move in but lost her chance evading a second. In the midst of that back-and-forth, Khajit made a decisive strike.
"Acid Javelin!"
The magic spear flew straight Hamsuke that jerked away, without thinking, to dodge it. The harmful spell was avoided, but another blow came.
With a screeching noise, Hamsuke's view abruptly changed as everything flew by sideways. After a moment of weightlessness, it crashed into the ground. The Wise King of the Forest had taken a swipe of a skeletal dragon's tail to its left side but still tumbling over and over, it couldn't tell what had happened.
Thanks to the multiple defensive spells and its hard hide there was not much pain. But Hamsuke was with his back on the ground and before its eyes there were two skeletal dragons brandishing their front legs.
It seemed like the end of the line. Normally, it would be.
"If you surrender, I'll spare you!" Khajit, sure of his victory, grinned sadistically. Surely he had no intention of sparing the opponent. The grin spoke louder than his words: he would simply savor the look on the enemy's face as he crushed it after the life pleading.
Even if Hamsuke dared not move, its face was twisted in anger. "Vi… sc…"
"…What?"
She glared at him. "Vile scum, Hamsuke will never surrender to you, she will not!"
Certain of his victory, Khajit screamed an order. "Crush the beast, dragons!"
It was still with the back on the ground, and the dragon legs seemed like they were about to crush her. One blink of an eye and the hated animal would be stomped flat. But it cast a spell—
"Fly!"
The item still around its right front leg gleamed and Hamsuke's view changed quite quickly from ground level to high in the sky. The wind roared past the hamster that no longer hesitated to fly. After dodging the four draconic limbs that shattered the ground, the Wise King Forest hastily made a beeline to the necromancer. Khajit ordered the two skeletal dragons to stop it, but they had put all their strength in the last attempt and were unbalanced: there was no way they could block the hastily soaring hamster.
He had no choice but quickly cast a spell against the incoming monster and he tried [Acid Javelin] once again. But this time the Wise King of the Forest did not make any attempt to dodge: its claws wide open and its long tail twitching, the flying hamster took the spell head on. Though the pain was weakened by [Harden Hide], it still assaulted Hamsuke, but it did not break its resolve nor its concentration. So close to reaching the enemy, it kept going at him who desperately placed the Orb of Death between the incoming beast and himself, hoping it would do something to save him.
The item gleamed, but even if it was about to do something, there was not enough time. A sort of dark green-brown snake appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. A heavy blow sent the Orb of Death flying while the Wise King of the Forest was about to landed with its sharp claws on the necromancer.
Scenes of his past flickered before his eyes like the shadows of a revolving lantern.
Khajit Dale Badantel. Given life as the only child of a robust father and a gentle mother in a remote Slane Theocracy village, he had quite the normal childhood.
He started down the path from then to his current self when he found the remains of his mother.
That day as the sun was low on the horizon Khajit had been racing toward his house. His mother had told him to be home early, but he was late for some reason he couldn't even remember anymore. Thinking his mother would scold him, he'd flown into the house and seen her sprawled on the floor. Shocked, he panicked and even more as he found out she was dead.
The clergyman said the cause was a lump of blood that formed in her brain. In other words, it was no one's fault. But Khajit felt there was someone to blame: himself.
If he had gotten home sooner that day, would he have been able to save her? There was a huge number of faith-magic casters in the Theocracy, including several in his village. Had he gone to them for help, would his mother still be alive and smiling?
The face of his precious mother twisted in pain… a crime he had perpetrated.
Khajit made up his mind. He would live to right his wrong: to bring his mother back to life.
The more magic and knowledge he acquired, the bigger the obstacles he faced.
There was a resurrection spell on faith magic's fifth tier, but he couldn't bring his mother back with it. During the resurrection, the deceased consumed a vast amount of life force; if the body didn't have enough, it would be impossible to resurrect and turn to ashes. His mother didn't have the life force in her for that.
But he didn't have enough time to develop a new resurrection spell. So, he would give up being human and turn undead to buy the time. That was the conclusion he came to.
He abandoned the faith-magic path he'd been walking and turned down the path of using necromancy and becoming an undead, but he was confronted with another wall.
It would take an extremely long time to plow ahead as a necromancer, to quit being human and become a powerful undead. Then, there was also the hurdle of talent and ability: it was possible he wouldn't be able to become an undead.
The breakthrough plan he conceived was to gather a vast amount of negative energy, the amount that killing every person living in a city would generate.
Why, at the moment his desire would be realized, was there someone getting in his way?
Why should you have the right to make all my five years of preparation in this city, the feelings I can't forget even though it's been more than thirty years, all for nothing?! You are just a mindless beast that came out of nowhere!"
He whispered, "Mother…" and that was the last word of Khajit Dale Badantel.
After that, claws harder than steel repeatedly cut into him until the man fell to the ground in pieces.
Breathing hard, the Wise King of the Forest murmured, "[Light Healing]" and its injury was healed, then it quickly turned around. Even if happy about taking the life of the one who dared insulting his master and who had been cowardly fighting, Hamsuke could not perform a victory dance just yet.
For the two creatures the necromancer had been controlling were now going wild. Those two screeched as if to rejoice at being free, then glanced at the huge hamster. Even if they knew it was strong, having been fighting it for quite a while, it was the closest and only living being they could sense: all of their undead instincts were triggering them to kill that creature and then feast on its body.
Sensing the two skeletal dragons were still going to fight, the Wise King of the Forest quickly jumped back while thinking a new battle plan. Since being one versus two had Hamsuke at a disadvantage, the hamster quickly ran to the uncovered left side of the undead at its right. While it turned in that direction, the other skeletal dragon was blocked by its companion's huge body. Taking advantage of that, Hamsuke charged forward.
After having repeatedly seen how suddenly the giant hamster could change direction, the skeletal dragon tried to sweep the ground with its bony tail and then catch the prey in mid-air as it jumped up to avoid the powerful blow. But once again Hamsuke borrowed the great power borrowed by master Momon: it flew up, zigzagged to confuse the enemy and then whipped at its head twice. A tail harder than steel came crushing down on the skeletal dragon whose head loosely wobbled and the third blow completely shattered the human bones. The remains of the undead's skull fell to the ground together with the rest of its now limp body.
But another body hit Hamsuke and hit hard. The Wise King of the Forest found itself soaring through the air, now unwillingly. It barely managed to curl up in a ball of fur and rolled away while softening the impact. Then it went back with its feet solidly on the ground and his gaze pierced the incoming skeletal dragon which was now attacking in a frenzy, without caring for anything but slaughter. Determined to live, take down the last enemy and gloriously return to master Momon, Hamsuke also attacked, but being just as careful as the opponent was careless.
The greatest of all hamsters dodged a bony tail sweep and a clawed paw, then its scaly tail wrapped around the wide open jaws of the skeletal dragon as the Wise King of the Forest jumped up. Its sharp clawed fingers scratched the skull of the undead until it was no more.
Both creatures fell down, one to never rise again, the other as a winner and it indeed landed with a victory pose, despite the fatigue.
Because of that, it was necessary to cast [Heavy Recover] and thus using all of the runic slots on its body. Hamsuke could not cast any spell until the next day, but with the battle being over it imagined there was no need.
Fresh as new as the effects took place, the Wise King of the Forest strode off to the direction where Momon and Clementine had gone to fight. As it happily walked, a gleam attracted its attention. It was the Orb of Death, still slowly rolling around on the battlefield.
Hmm, master will be glad I won and emerged unscathed, but this powerful gem might be the honey on top of the nuts. If I bring it to him, Lord Momon will praise me even more, oh that he will!
Thinking about that, Hamsuke carefully approached the dark round gem and smelled it, then slightly touched it with the point of its tail. The Orb of Death did not seem to respond, so the relieved Wise King of the Forest grabbed it with its claws and then, wondering why it was so similar to nuts, decided it would be funny to hold that as if it was one. With the gem that loved to feast on unlife pressing on the inside of its left cheek, Hamsuke gingerly hopped in the mist to go join master Momon.
After the rogue and the Dark Warrior had taken some distance, the sound of a loud impact filled the area they had just left. So it begins, they both thought. As if that was their cue, Momon and Clementine stared each other down.
"So, were the adventurers I killed in that shop your friends? Are ya mad 'cause I killed your buddies?!" She continued in her mocking tone, "Ah-ha-ha-ha! That druid really cracked me up, believing until the very end that someone'd come… Oh, maybe you were the one who was supposed to save them? Sorry but… I've killed 'em all!"
Momon shrugged in response to Clementine's taunting laughter.
"Oh? What a bummer. Getting people who are all pissed like, How could you?! to surrender is just hilarious! Why aren't you mad? That's no fun! Weren't they your friends?
"…I might have done something similar under certain circumstances, so it'd be pretty hypocritical to come down on you for it." Momon slowly moved into a fighting stance. "However, they were tools I was using to build my reputation up. They were supposed to gossip about my exploits to the other adventurers when we got back about how I'm a hero who has subdued the Wise King of the Forest. The fact that you upset my plans is extremely displeasing to me."
Perhaps picking something up from his tone of voice, Clementine grinned.
"I see. Oh nooo, you hate meee! By the way, coming over here was a mistake. That beast'll never beat Khaj. Maybe if the pairings had been reversed it would have had a chance, but… Well, nah, it wouldn't be able to beat me, either!"
"Oh, I'm pretty sure Hamsuke could beat you." Actually, I'm not, but still…
"Don't be ridiculous! That fluffy animal couldn't win against me! I just swoop in and shoonk! That's how it ends! Always is!"
"Ah, so you're a very confident warrior, then…"
"Of course. There aren't any warriors like you and I in this country who could beat me!… Well, almost none, anyway!"
"Okay, then, I have an idea. I'll give you a handicap. That'll be my revenge on you."
Clementine narrowed her eyes; it was the first time she looked uncomfortable. "According to the intelligence gathered by the Windflower Scripture, there are only five warriors who could put up a decent fight against me: Gazef Stronoff, Gagaran from Blue Roses, Louisenberg Arbelion from Drops of Red, then Brain Unglaus and Vesture Kloff Di Laufen, who has retired. But ya know, they don't really have a chance, even if I did throw away the magic item my country gave me…"
She looked at Momon with lips drawn so far back her smile was disturbing. "I dunno what kinda piece of shit ya got for a face under that helmet, but Clementine doesn't lose! I've entered the hero realm!"
Compared to Clementine's fury, Momon was infinitely calm. "That's why I'm giving you a handicap. I refuse to take you seriously."
"You're crazy! I'll show you!"
"Ahh! I'm tired!" Clementine commented loud enough that Momon could hear. After several minutes of action, Momon's great swords hadn't so much as graze her. "But ya know, ya do seem pretty strong. You're probably pretty proud of that, but—" Her smile turned carnivorous. "—are you some kinda dummy? You're just swinging those swords around with brute strength. You have zero technique! you're like a kid swinging a stick around! I mean, it doesn't do you any good to have a sword in each hand if ya can't use'e right; it'd be smarter to use just one. I dunno if you appreciate the complexities of being a warrior!"
"Then maybe you should attack me. All you've been doing this whole time is evading. You're the one who's deeper in trouble the more time goes by, right?" Momon sneered.
Clementine scowled. It was true that she hadn't attacked him even once; she'd just been dodging. Faced with his superior physical abilities, she hadn't been able to find an opening without martial arts. In other words, she wasn't having such an easy time, either. Her irritation at herself stemmed from her earlier bragging.
"I thought there weren't any warriors who could beat you! Where'd that confidence go?"
"…" Finally, allowing Momon to successfully provoke her, she drew a stiletto.
Clementine made a subtle move. It could have been a feint, but it wouldn't be only a feint. If a warrior showed a talented adversary a weak spot, they could bet that advantage would be taken.
Momon thrust his left hand's great sword out like a spear as a threat and held the one in his right hand over his head.
Clementine's weapon was a stabbing weapon; it didn't have the variety of attacks a cutting weapon did. Stab: that was all it could do. And her stilettos were delicate, not sturdy enough to clash with a great sword.
So with his left sword up, making it difficult for her to approach, he just waited for her.
"Do you have a way to close that distance?"
"Oh, I dunno…" Her casual attitude, relaxed appearance, and flippant smile told him she wasn't lacking ideas.
Slowly her posture changed. It was as if she were crouched and on her mark but standing up, an odd posture. In a way, it was kind of a funny pose, but it definitely wasn't a stance that could be taken lightly.
Then, she moved. To Momon's alert eyes, she was like a spring that had been compressed to its limits and sprung. She was racing directly at him at a speed that was hard for Momon to believe real; it seemed beyond what humans were capable of.
Like a storm moving in to swallow everything up in a moment, Clementine closed the distance in the blink of an eye and slipped past the pointed great sword without losing speed.
Her movements were like a snake going in for the kill. Startled, Momon swung his right arm with his immense strength. The mighty attack seemed to cut the very air and was accompanied by unimaginable destructive power.
He had less than a split second but noted the fissure-like smile on her face intensify.
"Impenetrable Fortress!"
Beholding something that should have been impossible, Momon shivered in astonishment. The slim stiletto had taken the full force of the blow from his great sword, more than ten times its weight.
That sword taking Momon's glorious attack should have snapped in half, or at least even if by some miracle it didn't, Clementine should have gone flying. On the contrary it was Momon's sword which bounced hard as if he just hit a solid castle wall.
Clementine jumped at his wide-open chest like a lover slipping into a hug. Her well-formed features and the smile widened across them loomed large in his field of vision.
The attack came well before he could retreat. Uniting her full-throttle sprint with the strength of all muscles, she took advantage of her body's momentum to deliver a strike that deserved the word meteor.
The sparkle of a flourish and the awful kreeeee of metal scraping metal echoed loudly through the graveyard. Momon hastily swung his left great sword, but Clementine jumped aside.
He knew her trick. A martial art. They were moves to be careful of, skills that didn't exist in Yggdrasil, a sort of warrior magic. It must protect her sword and give her physical indomitability. That had to have been how she'd repelled Momon's attack.
"…Tough stuff! What's that armor made of, adamantite?"
There wasn't any pain at all, but at the time of that abrasive noise, he'd felt something with a sharp point stick into the area near his left shoulder. Shocked, he looked at his shoulder and discovered a slight dent. It may not have had any special magical powers, but this was armor made by a level-100 caster and it was proportionally hard. The fact that Clementine had managed to damage it spoke volumes to her destructive power.
"Well, whatever. Just next time I gotta hit somewhere less heavily protected. Awww, but I wanted to chip away at ya till ya couldn't move and torture you! Too bad, what a shame."
Hearing that she attacked his shoulder not by chance but because she was aiming to incapacitate his arm caused Momon to respect her, just a bit, for the first time.
Momon always ended up swinging with causing damage in mind. That was sufficient enough when one sound hit would kill his opponent, but against a tougher one, he had to think about how the battle would play out. A good lesson to learn…
"Okay, here I go!"
While he'd been admiring her, Clementine had once again taken the odd bent-over posture from before. In response, Momon raised the great sword in his right hand. But this time he didn't thrust out the left sword.
Seeing that, Clementine smiled and rushed forward. She was moving so fast, even Momon's dynamic visual acuity couldn't make her out. If she hadn't been coming in a straight line, he might have lost sight of her.
She flew at him like a sinister arrow, and in response, he carried out his planned attack. The great sword in his right hand swung and—
"Impenetrable Fortress!"
—it bounced back against the same martial art from before. But he'd expected that. The previous time he had swung as hard as he could so the rebound had broken his stance. This time he didn't use as much force.
The shock felt like hitting a hard wall, but he overcame it with the strength of his arm and then swung his left great sword. He was confident she couldn't withstand two of his transcendent full-power blows.
"Before he could connect, she used another martial art. "[Flow Acceleration]!" It made something mind-boggling happen.
It was almost as if she had manipulated time. In this sluggish space where everything moved as if it had fallen into a highly viscous fluid, Momon's great sword moved at a snail's pace.
Only Clementine maintained her speed in this quiet world; she easily evaded his counterattack and slipped right in front of him.
Perhaps it was in Momon's head. He was wearing rings against time manipulation and that hindered movement to prevent external forces from slowing him down—not that this couldn't be something new…
It must have just been her sudden acceleration causing him to perceive things that way in his heightened battle mode.
After all, he'd seen this martial art before, and it hadn't affected him like this.
"Gaze—" It was a martial art Gazef Stronoff had used.
Before he could get the shout out, the stiletto stabbed at him. She'd aimed for the narrow slit in his helmet—his eyes.
Momon shook his head away and avoided getting it stuck in the slit, but the sound of metal grating on his helmet was horrible. Before he could feel any relief at having dodged, he caught Clementine in the corner of his vision holding her stiletto back, as if she were coiled and ready to spring.
"Tch!"
Even taking into account their difference in strength, Clementine's direct line of attack was faster than the arc of Momon's sword. This time she didn't miss, and her sword stabbed into the slit of his helmet.
"Huh?"
"Guh!"
The puzzled question and flustered grunt occurred at the same time.
Pressing his helmet with the hand that held his sword, Momon retreated quite a ways without countering.
Watching him from the corner of her eye as she looked curiously at the tip of her stiletto, she joked, "Better stop talking about handicaps—if ya don't start fighting for real, you're gonna die!" Momon didn't say anything, so she asked a question to clear up her doubt. "But how did ya not take any damage from that attack before? I thought for sure it'd be a pain parade!"
"Sheesh. I've learned…a lot during this fight—first about a new martial art, and then about how important it is to use your whole body for balance and not just swinging your weapon around."
"Huh? Are you stupid? You figured this out now? Some warrior you are! Well, you're gonna die now, anyway, so it doesn't matter. But I did kinda want you to answer my question… Was it a defensive martial art?"
Sensing her extreme annoyance, Momon smiled wryly under his helmet about his qualifications as a warrior, she was right. "Ah, I really came underprepared. I apologize. But we're running out of time. Let's stop playing games."
Ignoring the confusion on Clementine's face, Momon spun the hilts of his swords till their blades pointed down and thrust them into the ground. Putting his empty hands out in front of him, he beckoned her gently. "Now come at me like you're ready to die."
She mocked him: "Are you serious? How can you possibly win against me with no martial arts or any decent skills?!"
"You talk a lot of crap for a wimp."
You're the wimp! she nearly raged but instead calmed her seething heart. The man before her had little skill as a warrior, but his physical abilities seemed to easily exceed the ordinary humans' realm of strength. As far as she knew, it was surpassed by only two demigods: the Black Scripture's extra seat and its captain who occupied the first seat. But unlike those two excellent fighters she could never hope to rival, this one simply swung his sword around how he felt like, which made both his offense and defense sloppy, Also, he was in danger of being dealt a fatal blow almost at any time she used martial arts.
Clementine put on her usual sneer and taunted him. "…Well, I do agree that we should settle this."
Momon the warrior merely shrugged in reply.
She coolly observed the way he carried himself. He was full of holes, but that couldn't be true. It had to be a trap, she just could not believe a warrior with such an excellent gear and a powerful magical beast as his mount was unable to properly fight.
But she didn't have a choice, time was running out. She figured she could have escaped on a skeletal dragon, but that meant convincing Khajit to give it away. It would take ages and she could not afford to lose any more time. Even if it was to throw off the Windflower Scripture members who had come to the city, playtime was going a little long.
She slowly moved into a crouch and tightened her grip on her stiletto. She wanted this critical clash to be short: if possible, over in one hit. She had no time, but the other thing was that the warrior seemed to be getting better and better the more the fight progressed. It was safer to crush him before he grew into a monster she couldn't handle.
With a sharp exhalation, Clementine charged while hissing: "[Stride of Wind]! [Greater Evasion]! [Ability Boost]! [Greater Ability Boost]!" She used the very same four martial arts she had used before to dodge Momon's mighty but quite clumsy blows, but this time she activated them all at once to get her physical ability even a little closer to his. Regardless of how Momon had fought so far, there was still a high possibility he could use martial arts, or so she thought.
In her accelerating world, she could see her opponent's every move. He was going to take his swords out of the ground and attack. Or use a martial art, or hand-to-hand combat, or a hidden weapon, maybe a throwing one. She could think of a zillion ways he could attack her, but she was confident she could prevail over any of them.
Then he betrayed her expectations. He's not doing anything?!
The dark warrior just stood there, arms open, as if welcoming her attack.
A chill ran up Clementine's spine, it was fear of the unknown as he was acting completely outside the scenarios she'd imagined. Should I keep charging… or retreat? Those were her only two options.
Clementine was cold-blooded and cruel, but she was not stupid. In the split second left, she calculated out countless possibilities and countermeasures. What gave her the push to continue was the self-confidence and pride in her abilities.
Even though she'd betrayed them, she was a member of the Slane Theocracy's strongest special-ops unit, the Black Scripture, she could count the number of warriors powerful enough to defeat her on her fingers. There was no way she could run from this Momon who had no reputation and so far, little skill.
Once she'd made her decision, the rest happened quickly. Hesitation vanished and, having regained the cool composure befitting a top-class warrior, she leaped in close to Momon's chest.
"Die!"
The stiletto she thrust, mobilizing all her body's muscles, stabbed into the slit in his close helmet. Then, she twisted it. She increased pressure to reach the back of his skull and then wiggled the blade to break the nearby blood vessels so the wound would be fatal beyond a doubt.
An armored arm wrapped tightly around her body, but she paid it no mind and followed up with another attack. Responding to her desire to make him very dead, the magic power contained in her stiletto was unleashed: [Lightning]. An electricity bolt coursed through Momon's entire body.
Clementine's weapon was invested with the power of Magic Accumulation. The magic was drained in one shot, but it was possible to load up all different spells over and over. One could prepare according to their specific needs, so it was a really easy power to use.
She'd stabbed to the back of his skull and left him a lightning souvenir.
He's so dead. But I'm not done yet!
"[Flow Acceleration]!" Clementine got faster, whipped out another stiletto, and stabbed that through his helmet slit as well. On top of that, she unleashed the [Fireball] spell it contained. She imagined Momon's flesh burning up from the inside out and had the feeling she could smell the meat grilling.
Instead, her eyes widened in shock at how wrong she was.
"Hmm. Yggdrasil didn't have many magical weapons like these. The more you know!"
As he spoke at leisure with a stiletto still sticking out of each eye, she realized it hadn't been a coincidence that blood had not sprayed out during her earlier attack.
"No way! This can't be happening! Why won't you die?!" She'd never heard of a martial art that made the user invincible. Was there something protecting him from stabbing? Even then, how did he block the magic follow-up? Even a high-class veteran warrior like Clementine did not know the answer.
"?!" She was pulled in close. Their bodies bumped together, and her adventurer plates jangled.
"You want to know if you got the answer right?"
The raven-black armor—poof—disappeared, revealing Momon's horrifying body and the face on it. A skull with neither flesh nor skin. Stilettos were stabbed into both his vacant orbits but he didn't give any sign he was experiencing any sort of pain.
That appearance rang a bell for Clementine. "An undead… An elder lich?!" "Well, I sure have some questions for you, but meh. Let's just say you're close." And then…"
She shouldn't have been able to read an expression from a face with no skin or flesh, but she had the feeling he was wearing a wide grin.
"So, how does it feel fighting a caster with a sword? And how does it feel to not have it end with a swoop and a shoonk as usual?"
"D-don't make fun of me!" Clementine struggled violently to get away, but it was as if she were bound to him by sturdy chains, and she couldn't.
An elder lich was certainly a mighty undead, good at using magic and so on, but it shouldn't have much in the way of physical ability; in a comparison with Clementine, she should come out on top. But…
"Wh-why?!"
I can't get away.
Her entire body went cold when it dawned on her that his incredible power and physical ability wasn't due to some magical effect in his armor. The image that ran through her mind was of a butterfly caught in a spider's web—a helpless creature.
"This was the true nature of your handicap. Basically, you weren't an enemy I had to take seriously enough to use magic on."
"You piece of shiiiiiiiiit!"
"Well, now that the cat's out of the bag, let's begin after I get these out of my way." There was a dragging noise as the elder lich pulled a stiletto out of his head and threw it away. Clementine was still struggling as he removed the other, but it seemed even one of his hands far exceeded the strength of her entire body and she couldn't budge in his embrace.
Once the stilettos were gone, the sinister red flames in his empty eye sockets turned to Clementine, who was breathing irregularly as she strained against him.
"Okay, let's begin."
Begin what? thought Clementine as the already intimate distance between her and the elder lich shrank even farther. In her ears was an unpleasant creaking noise. When she realized what he was trying to do, she felt as though she had been stabbed in the back with an icicle.
"You aren't…? You can't be…! Youuu!"
The noise was the shriek of her armor beginning to dent.
He's trying to crush me against his chest.
The elder lich should have been getting squashed against the armor as well, but he must have made his body more powerful somehow. It was immovable and made her think of a thick wall.
"If you were weaker—"
The elder lich took a dagger out from somewhere. The blade was black and there were four jewels set in the hilt. "I had considered ending your life with this, but I figure there's not much difference between dying on a sword, getting snapped in half, or being crushed. You're dead no matter what."
Her whole body shuddered. Throughout his commentary, the pressure was gradually increasing. The strange weight on her chest was becoming oppressive. Ping! Ping! Unable to bear it, the plates of the adventurers she'd killed began popping off her armor and falling to the graveyard ground as if they were finally being interred. The first to go were the ones she had most recently acquired.
It got harder and harder to breathe. This is awful.
She hated the arm wrapped around her back.
She blamed herself for wearing light armor in order to increase her evasion and be able to attach the adventurer plates.
Having learned that swords had no effect on the elder lich, she began beating his face with her fists, half crazed. She was hitting so hard she was hurting herself, but she wasn't at leisure to feel the pain. Then, she drew her morning star and began frantically pounding with that, but she couldn't do it right and only ended up wounding herself.
It was easy to imagine the fate that awaited her. The choking breaths, the weight on her chest, and her breaking armor made it crystal clear what would happen.
"Don't struggle so much. If the position of my arm slips, it'll end too simply. You must die as slowly as possible…" Clementine desperately continued her attacks. She tried pushing off of his head with her hand, scratching at him till her nails peeled back, biting him with her front teeth… None of it worked and the pressure continued increasing.
No matter how much she flailed, there was no escaping the jaws that were his arms. She still fought. Even as her breathing grew more difficult and her field of vision began to shrink, she fought for the chance to survive.
"La Danse Macabre?"
She couldn't even spare the effort to hear that quiet remark.
There was a gurgling sound and Momon was splashed with vomit and filth. Something dark flashed through the red flames in his vacant orbits.
Clementine, who had flailed and tried so desperately to escape, had devolved into something that could only convulse.
But Hamsuke didn't let up. On the contrary, he increased the pressure.
Eventually Hamsuke felt the crack of a thick bone snapping against his arm. He let go of a body that was no longer even twitching.
Clementine's corpse fell to the graveyard's ground with a thud, like a bag of garbage. Her face looked ghastly, distorted by pain and fear. Like a deep-sea fish that had been reeled in all at once, her innards were poking out of her mouth.
As Momon took out his Bottomless Pitcher of Water to wash the vomit and filth from his body with its endless stream of fresh water, he spoke quietly to Clementine, who could no longer reply. "Oh, I forgot to tell you—I'm extremely vengeful."
Shrinking from his clothes that were sopping wet after their cleansing, Momon sensed that something large was scampering his way. When he looked, it was Hamsuke, as he'd thought.
Its combat ability was far inferior to what he had hoped, but by New World's standards, it was quite strong. Seems like the gamble of having it fight against the necromancer paid off…
Momon was a little depressed he was able to read the subtle change in expression (concerned for her master's safety) on the super-giant hamster's cute face.
Having no idea her master was feeling that way, Hamsuke ran over surprisingly quickly and scanned the area. When its eyes met his…
"Blegh!" She keeled over belly up and continued shouting. "There's some kind of crazy monster here, that there is! Masterrrr! Masterrrr!"
Steeped in the torment of full-body weariness, Momon held his head. Now that he thought of it, he had never shown Hamusuke his real face. But he couldn't leave it like this. When he looked out at the wall in the distance, he saw there were some adventurers battling his wraiths. He wanted to think they couldn't be overheard at this distance, but he couldn't say for sure.
"…This is like a bad comedy routine. Would you cut it out?" Momon scolded in his dignified tone.
"Oh? That magnificent, valiant voice… Could it be…? You're my master, are you not?!"
"Yes, so could you keep it down?"
"What! Your appearance is so far different from my most wild imaginations! I thought you possessed great power, but…now I will be even more loyal to you, that I will!"
"Uh-huh. More importantly, I'll say it again: Keep it down."
"M-master, you're so mean, that you are! I would like that you not dismiss my oath of devotion so casually, that I would!"
Another voice resounded.
"Obey, ball of fur. I'm hungry, if you don't obey, I'll grill you!"
"Don't, Oshiku-san..."
"Relax, I was joking. Seems like I got late to the party. Well, I've had some fun with those others, so never mind."
"Well, I'm glad you're here now, we don't have much time. Start looting these guys. Assuming the peacekeepers in the city will request us to turn the bodies in, we need to check for valuables first. Your rule, finders keepers."
"Got it. What about you though…"
"I'm going into the mausoleum to get Nfirea. I'll leave the cleanup to you two."
"You sure we shouldn't take the corpses to Nazarick?"
"No. Thanks to you, we have enough bodies. We need these here to point them as the masterminds behind this incident. Just strip their gear."
"Ok, you're right."
Momon entered the mausoleum while Oshiku and Hamsuke cleared the enemy pockets. After a while, the giant hamster spoke.
"I'm astonished by our master's new and powerful appearance, that I really am. How magnificent!"
Oshiku's bored expression softened into a smile. "Yeah. Momon-san is truly wonderful to behold… If you understand that, you might have a pretty good eye." He chuckled.
"I thank you, that I do…
Oshiku didn't even bother to look up, but he'd have liked to raise a board with sarcasm written all over it.
"… But if my master has a true form, do you have another form as well, hm?"
Now he did stare at the magical creature.
"… Yes, but now's not the time to show you. Anyway, I'm a demon."
"O-oh, I didn't know, that I did not."
"Don't worry, I promise I won't eat you…"
Nfirea was inside the mausoleum. When Momon saw him, the red sparkles in his orbits grew dark. He was wearing some strangely transparent garments, but what Momon was looking at was his face. A cut had been made straight across it, and the trails of hardened blood like reddish-black tears showed that his eyes under their lids had been sliced. It was clear he had been blinded.
"Well, blindness I can fix… Magic is so handy."
The bigger problem was his mental condition. He was standing stiff as a rod and hadn't reacted to Momon's presence. Even if he couldn't see, he should have been able to tell if someone was standing right in front of him. As he did not, it meant he was being mind controlled.
"It has got to be this." Momon was looking at the spiderweb-like circlet all around Nfirea's head. There was nothing more suspicious around. He casually reached out to remove it but stopped. Interfering before he understood what was that caused this state was too risky. He faced the circlet and used a spell.
"[Appraise All Magic Item]"
In Yggdrasil, the spell would tell who made an item and what it did. It worked in this world just as well. Actually, it worked even better. Some things he never would have learned in Yggdrasil popped into his head.
"…A Crown of Wisdom…I see. But hmm, considering what it does, this couldn't exist back in Yggdrasil, I guess." He thought, impressed after acquiring general knowledge about the item. Then, he thought about what to do next.
The most important thing he considered was the argument for taking Nfirea to the Great Tomb of Nazarick just as he was. Getting control of a rare item and a rare talent was huge.
But he only wavered for a moment. "Deliberately failing at a job I have already undertaken would be a disgrace to the name of Ainz Ooal Gown. So, crumble away… [Greater Break Item]!"
Momon's spell shot at the circlet and it elegantly dissipated into innumerable tiny sparkles. He gently caught the boy as he slumped over, then carefully laid him down and looked at his face. "All that's left is…to fix his eyes. I guess it'd be far better to do that somewhere else, though…"
Stroking his bony chin, Momon stood up. The undead he'd summoned hadn't been
wiped out, but some of them had been destroyed. There was no doubt that the reinforcements, or better the meddlers, would reach this place at some point. He had to recast his illusion and recreate his warrior gear before it happened.
And they had to finish looting. Momon experienced a dark joy in the simple act of robbing all of a corpse's gear at once, something that hadn't been possible PK-ing in Yggdrasil.
As he thought to go help the other two with that, his best friend appeared at the entrance to the mausoleum with perfect timing. "Oi, Momon-san."
"What is it? Did you take all their stuff? Money, too?"
"Yes, everything. And your pet found this." He went in the mausoleum with a black orb in his hands. It wasn't a very nice-looking stone, it seemed like the type of rock one could find on the shore of a river. It certainly didn't look valuable.
"…What is it?"
"I could find out, but this belonged to the necromancer Hamsuke defeated, so it is definitely your field. I didn't want to spoiler it. Anyway, the hamster proved its worth, I didn't think he could come out unscathed from a fight against two skeletal dragons and a necromancer."
"Oh, yes, it did good, I'll give Hamsuke a treat. Now, gimme that…"
Momon took the gem and used the same spell as before. "[Appraise All Magic Item]!"
The red sparks in his eyes burned brilliantly.
"What is this? A Jewel of Death? And it's an intelligent item?"
For having such a grandiose name, it wasn't such a fancy item. It augmented the user's ability to control undead and allowed them to cast a fixed number of ghost magic spells so many times per day, neither of which powers held much fascination for Momon. The downside was it could control a human in possession of it, but Momon and Oshiku were protected against mind control and the jewel couldn't control subhumans or grotesques anyhow.
"This is a pretty meh item, but…" There was one thing about it that interested Momon, and that was that it was intelligent. When he poked it, as if telling it to say something, a voice echoed in his mind.
"We meet for the first time, O great King of Death."
Momon stared at the stone. This was a world with magic and monsters, so it did not surprise him that something like this would exist. "Hmm. You really are intelligent, huh?" He deftly rolled the stone in his hand and then stared at it again, but it didn't seem like it was going to say anything. He wondered what the deal was but then had an idea. "I permit you to speak."
"I humbly thank you, O great King of Death."
That response reminded him of the ardent devotion of the Nazarick NPCs, and Momon smiled faintly.
"I revere and worship your majesty's presence of absolute death."
He was pretty sure he had all his auras turned off, so why was this item calling him the King of Death? Considering Momon was undead, he figured it was flattery at best. "Go ahead."
"Thank you, Being of Profound Death. I thank all death that exists in this world that I should get to meet you, whom I worship."
For brownnosing, those were pretty serious words, and despite feeling self-conscious Momon puffed out his chest.
"And? Do you have anything to say besides flattery?"
"Yes. I am deeply aware how impertinent it is of me, but please, I beg that you would grant my wish."
"What is it?"
"I always thought I was born into this world to bestow death upon the largest possible number of people. But now that I have met you, great King of Death, I realize the true reason: I was born to serve you, your majesty."
"…Hmm…"
"O great King of Death, please accept my loyalty. And I humbly request that your majesty count me among the lowliest of your faithful servants." It was a sincere voice. Had the jewel had a head, it surely would have been bowed low.
Momon curled his right hand and placed it near his mouth while he thought about whether he should make it one of his subordinates or not, about whether he could trust it or not.
After a time, he slowly returned his gaze to the item. To be safe, he should destroy it, but it seemed like a waste to destroy any more things that hadn't existed in Yggdrasil.
After casting some defensive spells on the orb, he went to the entrance of the mausoleum and called out to the giant hamster. "Hamsuke!"
"Master, what is it, hmm? did you like what I found"
"Yes, good job. As a reward, I'll let you keep it for the time being."
Momon tossed the orb and Hamsuke nimbly caught it.
"Can you use it?" Momon asked.
"Hrm? …It seems I can, that it does! But how noisy it is! It clamors to be returned to you, master, it does. Well, it'll shut up sooner or later. Thank you, master!"
Hamsuke, with a lump in her cheek pouch (slightly smaller than a human fist), made a dignified bow.
As Moomon was giving the two of them the order to withdraw, the red of his cape caught his eye. Feeling a bit playful, he grabbed the edge of it. "Since you're done looting, let's take Nfirea"—he flourished his cape—"and make our triumphant return!"