Right, this was the church that had become the entrance to the Tomb of Death.
It hadn't faded at all. It was pristine, as though it had just been built moments ago.
And from the tip of the bell tower on the church roof, a red light was being emitted.
All of us understood. The King of Death was inside that church.
No. That wasn't right. It was different.
On the hill leading to the church, there was a bridge. A bridge over a dried-up river.
Right in the middle of that bridge, a knight stood.
There was something deja vu about the scene.
But the knight wasn't wearing black armor — their appearance was indescribably bizarre.
It was black-and-white armor, but every pattern and ornament across the whole body spiraled, arced, and twisted in distortion.
The horned ornament on the helm traced a spiral, and the faceplate itself was warped into an eerie vortex.
Truly strange. They were letting a yellow cape flutter behind them.
A greatsword was planted in the ground, and they stood with both hands pressing down on the pommel.
"What the hell is this guy?"
Agaro expressed open disgust. Yeah, it really was unsettling.
I'd never seen armor this strange and grotesque before.
"Um, um, that, that, that strange knight… they're absolutely incredible…"
Juicy said, trembling with fear. I'd never seen Juicy like this.
The strange knight raised its vortex-like eerie faceplate, and a voice was heard.
"I am the King of Death."
A low, calm voice. It came from the strange knight.
After announcing itself, it raised its greatsword. A strangely warped black greatsword, twisted from hilt to blade.
"Huh? Who the hell are you?"
Agaro readied Flametongue.
"The King of Death!?"
So this was the King of Death.
"Well, well, the King of Death. We're witches, you know."
"Fools. Rise. My enslaved army. Red Puppets."
Dozens of red winds lightly swirled across the ground, then took human form.
Each one held a weapon made of red wind.
"Now then, everyone. Could you buy us some time?"
"Sure, I guess."
"Um, um, understood."
"Oh, and one more thing — Agaro, I'm counting on you for the King of Death."
"...For how long?"
"Well then, for as long as you can manage."
"Telling me to do the impossible... oh well, I'll give it a shot."
Agaro raised Flametongue and quickly closed in on the King of Death.
Their greatswords clashed, and a fierce sword fight began.
Both swung their swords at invisible speed, their bodies moving like a dance.
Only the sound of clashing steel echoed through the air.
— Wauu-wauu! Deadly brain-stem lacerating flying kick!
Juicy sent the red-wind humanoid—the Red Puppet—flying with her disturbingly named technique.
I fought the Red Puppet with Banish and the knife Agaro had given me.
We weren't just standing around watching either. The two of us had taken down nearly ten, but there were still more coming.
The Red Puppets weren't that strong on their own, but their red-wind weapons were terrifying.
Agaro fought the King of Death while we took on the Red Puppets.
In the gap, the witch pulled a staff from her pouch.
A creepy thing—a tattered, rusted metal rod wrapped with pulsing black vines.
I'd never seen anything like that before. Was that the witch's OOPArt?
— Well now, it's been a while. ⟨Lin⟩
The witch began to chant, then struck the ground three times with the staff's butt.
She swung it sideways, circled it around, stomped her feet, and traced a ring.
— ⟨Shara. Jara. Shararasharara. Jaraajaraa. Sing. Chant. Recite. Sleep. Sleep. Source of the distant great river. Bottom of the abyss. The black, deep sea of darkness. Sharashara. Sharara. Sharara. Sharashara. Jarajara. Jaraajaraa. Sharara. Sharara. Jara. Shara. Jara. Jara. Jaraajaraa⟩
The witch danced. Sang. Danced. Sang.
She stomped her feet, perked her fox ears, wagged her three tails, and traced characters in a circle with her staff.
It reminded me of the dance I'd once seen Pakira perform.
Could it be—a binding Relic!?
— ⟨Sing. Chant. Sleep. Sleep. Bottom of the abyss. Source of the distant great river. The black, deep sea of darkness. Sharajara. Shararajaraa. Shararajaraa. Shararajaraa. Sharashara. Jarajara. Shara. Jara. Sharajara. Shararajaraa. The black, deep sea of darkness. Fill the depths⟩ — ⟨Ginnungagap's Hidden Sovereign!⟩
When the witch finished her chanting and dancing, a heavy thud boomed through the air.
Instantly, Jushii shouted.
"Um, um, uh, Lord Wof. Something's coming!"
"Something? Wha—"
Jushii grabbed me and forcibly yanked me clear. Impressive jumping power.
Come to think of it, dogs were pretty good at jumping.
Our dog back home had once scared a cat that was sitting on top of the wall.
"Whoa—what the—?"
Once Agaro had moved clear too, the ground had gone pitch black.
What the hell is this…
Something resembling a black swamp had spread across the ground in a perfect circle.
The Dead King, slow to escape, sank into the black ground, and the Red Puppet army sank along with him.
"Whoa, what is this?"
Something heavy and black was raining down from the ceiling, but only into that circle.
It smeared the Dead King and the Red Puppet army black and dragged them into the ground.
"Hmm, hmm. Haven't used it in a while, so the accuracy's a bit off."
The witch wore a slightly dissatisfied expression.
I kept my guard up against the sinking Dead King and Red Puppet army as I asked the witch.
"Is that a Binding Relic?"
"Yes, that's right. A Binding Relic called Ginnungagap's Hidden Sovereign. Hmm, hmm.
Sacred Verse Chant
"Maybe you got the dance steps wrong. Was it two rings, or a jangling sound?"
"Hey. If you're gonna use that thing, give me a heads-up first. I almost got caught in it myself."
Agaro grumbled. The witch gave a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, sorry. If I give a signal, they'll catch on, you know."
"Um, um, um — it's completely sunk."
The Dead King and the Red Puppet army were gone. And then the black something vanished too.
Was that it? It felt almost too easy. Anti-climactic.
"Um, um, um — did you defeat them?"
"What do you think?"
We all looked at the witch. The witch smiled.
A bright, refreshed grin that filled her entire face. A bad feeling crept over me.
"Hmm, hmm — looks like, looks like… sorry about this. It seems I failed."
"Huh?"
A sharp, crackling sound — a strange fracturing noise — filled the air.
"What was that?"
The next moment, wind blew. Strong wind. I couldn't keep my eyes open and shut them in a hurry.
Carried on the wind, a voice rang out.
"I am the wind of death. The wind that calls death. The wind that carries death. The wind that sweeps death along."
"There —!"
Agaro sized up his target and swung Flametongue. The flames of annihilation scorched the wind to nothing.
Just like that, the wind stopped. When the air went still, a figure revealed itself.
"I am Hargan, King of Wind of Death."
There stood a skeleton draped in yellow robes.
It wore no strange helm — instead, the skull bore a crown.
The tips of the faded golden crown spiraled into points.
The skull was split diagonally, cracked unevenly as though cleaved by a blade.
Something — a murky, crimson orb of light — was visible through the fractured skull and empty eye sockets.
Both arms were wrapped in a blustering red wind. It writhed like a gale the color of blood.
"...Hargan..."
The name rang a bell somewhere.
"Well, well — Hargan, King of Death. I take it 'the Hidden Monarch of Ginnungagap' didn't sit well with you?"
"Come on. Do you really have time to be taunting him?"
There was no time for that. Hargan spoke in response to the witch's provocation.
"Insolence. Foolish witch. You shall both become offerings to death."
Hargan casually swept his arm.
The red wind coiled around his arm lashed out like a flashing blade.
Without even touching them, the mere passage of it caused white flowers to wither and die.
"Annoying!"
Agaro extended Flametongue long and swept it in a horizontal slash.
The wave of extinguishing flames collided with the red wind and burst apart.
"Guaaah!"
"Kyahn!"
The impact sent Juicy and me flying.
We hit the ground and tumbled. Brutal.
I could faintly make out the Witch and Agaro somehow managing to hold their ground.
"My my, now that's quite the trump card!"
The Witch hurled something at Hargan.
Before it could reach Hargan, the red wind intercepted it and it shattered. A bottle.
In that instant, the red wind dissipated, and the liquid rained down on Hargan.
'NUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!'
The Death King Hargan began writhing in terrible agony.
This might actually work. Hargan was screaming, buckling under the pain.
"Hey. It's working. What did you throw?"
"Hehe. Hehe. It's an elixir, dearie."
"Come on!? That's way too much of a trump card, no matter how you look at it!?"
Agaro was absolutely stunned.
What the Witch threw must have been the small vial I'd given her before the investigation.
In fact, I'd handed out the same small vials to Agaro and Juicy as well.
Agaro hadn't noticed.
But I hadn't defeated him.
Hagen seemed to be suffering, but it didn't look like he'd taken any fatal damage.
Even so, why couldn't I stand up? I was lying face-down and couldn't even lift my head.
Juicy was the same. She was on her stomach behind me.
"Um, um, Wof. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, but my body won't move."
"Um, um, I'm the same. I can't move a single finger..."
"Agaro and the others can move though, so why..."
Why was this? It didn't feel like paralysis.
There was a numb powerlessness, like tastelessness itself. I just couldn't muster any strength at all.
Why? I had no idea.
Meanwhile, Agaro was deflecting the red wind with Flametongue's annihilation flames.
Hagen looked composed, but Agaro was struggling.
He was being pushed back hard. Every time the red wind blew, the ground withered away.
The Witch was watching and waiting. Being this close made it dangerous to move rashly.
But she always seemed to be scanning for an opening.
"Fufufufufufu... Foolish. How foolish. Humans never change. Irrational and immature."
"Shut up. Don't go flapping your bony jaw."
"Wait, wait, wait. Wasn't Hagen the name of that cult village chief?"
"Indeed... I was once the head of a village."
Oh, right. I only knew his name as the village chief.
"Now that you mention it, that does ring a bell. If you got wiped out in a large-scale subjugation, then just stay wiped out. How'd you end up becoming the King of Death?"
That's Agaro's take. Fair point, honestly. A cult village chief becoming a king — now that's one heck of a promotion.
Hagen reacts to the phrase "large-scale subjugation" and starts muttering under his breath.
"Large-scale subjugation... Alhazad Abramirin... Arthur Abramirin... Twelve Tassan... Alexander Hanzake"
"Wuf, wuwan. Um, um, Twelve?"
That's Juicy's ancestor, then. And Alexander — so he had a last name.
Wait, but Hanzake was... an alias, wasn't it? The giant salamander's.
So Arthur, being an Abramirin, must be the name of his dead son. Got it.
The witch answers breezily.
"Yep, yep. The old Abramirin geezer is still stubbornly alive and ugly. Alexander's still alive too."
"Is that so. Then there's always the pleasure of killing him someday."
Hagen sneers.
"That's exactly why I can't stand a bunch of chattering skeletons!"
Agaro imbued Flametongue with a pale blue flame and slashed.
Consumed by rage, he wielded the sword recklessly, swinging it down with brute force as if trying to smash his opponent into the ground.
Hagen, in turn, blocked with his red wind and deflected the blow. Agaro stumbled back and clicked his tongue.
"Foolish. And immature, and weak. Four of you, no less. Only this many and you reach the deepest depths of my Tomb of Death. How foolish. You fools. Come. My thralls. Red Puppets."
The red wind took human form once more. Not an army — just three of them.
And this time, they each held a spear of red wind.
Then I pressed the blade against my back and Juicy-san's neck.
I held the Witch's blade of red wind against her as well.
"You bastaaaaaards!! That's cowardlyyyyy!!"
Agaro was furious. The Witch also wore a troubled expression.
Though that troubled look was directed at me. Meaning, do something about this.
"This isn't a hostage situation. It's an execution."
If this kept up, it was bad. We'd be killed.
Was there anything I could do to create even a momentary opening? Ah, there was.
"Haagan. Did you know that the Tomb of Death was sealed?"
"I'm aware of it, much as I despise the fact. And that I could do nothing about it. What of it?"
"I'm the one who unsealed it."
"What?!"
"Wafu?"
"My, my, so the secret's out, huh."
"As expected, you're a fool. Who would believe such a lie? To unseal it means you defeated the undead of that Alhazard's dim-witted son. Defeating that one is beyond even the reach of this King of Death."
"Then let me show you."
"Oh? Young fool. Show me what?"
I'd made up my mind. If not now, when would I use it?
"Ahhh, damn it, fine. If not now, when would I use it, right?"
I went to activate [Generous] but——I couldn't.
Before that, Agaro grumbled something like it couldn't be helped and pulled something out of his pouch.
A small, sinister-looking horn. A charm? He swallowed it whole without hesitation.
Oh, right. I remember now. That's what Pece, the Kuun Hunt hireling, had swallowed.
Right, it was Amalthea. The legendary that grants infinite power to Fawn. You've got to be kidding.
"Gwaaaooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Agaro suddenly let out a scream, buckled at the knees, tilted his head back toward the sky, and began writhing in agony.
His red hair grew longer, and a black horn enlarged and split into four branches.
"That, that, the thing is—"
"My, my. Well, well, that's a terrible blunder. Agaro of the Doom Sword."
"Nah?"
Agaro. Anything but that. Please, anything but that.
Halgan laughed. A rattling, clattering, cackling laugh. A mocking laugh.
"Foolish. Utterly foolish. You drink Amalthea, you fool. That cursed horn may well grant you immense power. Infinite power at that. And so, perhaps, you could defeat me—this Death King. But that is all. There is nothing easier to hunt than a beast that has lost its self. How foolish. Utterly, incomprehensibly foolish. A human vessel cannot withstand infinite power."
His last words were filled not with contempt but with sorrow.
He's right. As much as it stings, Halgan is right. Pece couldn't endure it.
And it wasn't just Pece. No one could.
A human soul, not a divine one, simply cannot contain infinite energy.
Agaro. What are you doing, no matter the circumstances… Isn't there anything I can do with the elixir?
But first I need to be able to move! Why can't I move!?
"…——That's exactly why you're so damn annoying. Doom. Sword."
In that instant, all three Red Puppets were engulfed in black flames.
—————
Thank you.
I've posted a little something in my status notes.
Feel free to check it out if you'd like.