Chapter 129: Morgue of the Headless Prince (part eight)
There are seventy-two wands.
Less than twenty scrolls.
A hundred bottle of potions.
Various magic tools.
Various alchemy materials.
Food, blankets and other household goods.
When I turned over my leather bag, a lot of items came out like an avalanche.
From those things, I packed the wands of Crystal Cluster into my glove of storing, wand-holder, my robe pockets, etc.
I made preparations and checked the battle situation once again.
Chloe is having a fierce battle against Lièvre’s tentacles.
Chloe excels in terms of instantaneous speed, but Lièvre is compensating it with the sheer amount of tentacles.
Although the paper-thin balance is still being maintained, I don’t know what will happen if the battle is prolonged.
Tirnanog is overthrowing the Hounds one after another.
But, while protecting me from the pouncing Hounds, he seems to be having difficulty giving support to Chloe.
“Wait a minute! Listen to me! Let’s settle this peacefully, alright?”
『Alright? Please wait and listen to me.』
『Let’s settle this peacefully? Alright?』
『Please?』
Some of the maws that grew on the tentacles spoke in a voice similar to Lièvre’s.
They used a tone of voice that felt similar to the usual Lièvre.
“Please, how about you calm yourselves down? I’m sure we can reach an understanding!”
『We just want to secure the sacrifice in a peaceful way.』
『Surely, surely, surely, you must understand.』
『Please, calm down? Please, calm down? Please, calm down?』
The voice of the usual Lièvre, who was gentle and brimming with curiosity.
The woman who said she wanted to hear the song of the spiders once again.
Although it is too late, I have come to a realization.
Lièvre’s human nature was turned into a plaything by this vampire.
I don’t think I can reach a mutual understanding with this predator, and I don’t want to reach an understanding.
I gauged the right timing to kill the vampire.
I cannot afford to fail.
While I was observing the two people closely and looking for an opportunity, Lièvre’s scream resounded.
“......Hiie!!”
Chloe pierced Lièvre’s chest.
Is this it?
However, with a squelching noise, Lièvre’s chest swallowed up the long snowsilver sword.
When Chloe pulled it out forcefully, the sword was chomped in the middle of the blade.
The other half of the blade was expelled as if shot from the maw which opened on Lièvre’s chest, and Chloe jumped back to avoid it.
“This is vexing. So vexing! Even though I have gathered all 12 people—somehow I’m very hungry right now that I can’t stand it!! This is truly vexing!”
While shouting such things, black meat overflowed from underneath Lièvre’s skirt like a torrent.
Her lower body turned into innumerable tentacles of about three or four meters in length.
It seems that the vampire, who was getting worked up about the battle and whose reason has collapsed, is giving priority to appetite over rationality.
Even though her long sword was destroyed, Chloe pulled out a new dagger without delay.
She cut away Lièvre’s tentacles with both the dagger and the broken snowsilver sword.
Chloe continues to avoid at the last moment, but it is clear that she is getting pushed back unlike earlier.
The fact that the number of tentacles on Lièvre has increased several times after the distance was reduced is fatal for Chloe.
If her opponent were a young vampire about a couple hundred years old.
If the number of souls captured were small, Chloe would probably have won.
However, if the previous anecdotes are true, this vampire that has turned into Lièvre is old.
All human souls captured over the span of five hundred years must be killed, or else I won’t be able to kill that thing.
If Chloe’s strength is exhausted by then, no one can protect her.
That’s why—
“Chloe-san, please! Move back as far as you can!”
The moment Chloe immediately jumped back, I rapidly fired at Lièvre.
A total of two-thousand crystal spears were released simultaneously.
However, the spears that were supposed to pulverize the enemy were all crushed at once.
The maws that are growing without a break on the tentacles and the lumps of meat that compose those Hounds chomped the crystal spears and swallowed them.
Up to this point, it is still within my prediction.
I knew I couldn’t beat that monstro with an attack only of this level.
But that was not my aim anyway.
“This is......”
Lièvre, who noticed the crystal stake stabbed on the altar, glared at me reproachfully.
Her tentacle pulled out the stake and bit on it.
“So this attack on the altar was your true aim, and the rest of the attack was just a distraction? That was extremely underhanded—”
Before Lièvre could finish her sentence, I fired larger crystal clusters towards both Lièvre and the altar.
This time she also reacted immediately; she did not only stop the ones that were aimed at herself, but also stopped the crystal clusters that were aimed at the altar.
“You understand well what’s important to me, huh. Hey, please, stop this?”
Instead of replying, I shot a log-sized crystal spear towards the defenseless altar.
Then, the area from Lièvre’s chest to the part of her foot turned into a huge maw, opening like a red flower.
The huge maw easily swallowed the log-sized crystal spear, which enabled me to take a good look at the chewing process.
In the back of the red mouth bordered by white teeth, there was a dark, bottomless space.
I confirmed it using Glam Sight.
As I thought, there is a space-expansion magic within that darkness.
“You should have included that attack in your first surprise attack. It’s regretful, but that kind of attack won’t work on me anymore. I, I don’t want to get angry. So let’s end this fruitless effort, okay?”
“Oh my, are you scared?”
I built up the final blow.
Even if its speed and penetration ability is low, it’s already sufficient and the aiming ability is unnecessary.
As long as it’s big and heavy, it’s fine.
Destroy the floor and the ceiling, mix in those rubble into the crystal, and create a crystal pile as huge as possible.
Two meters in diameter, fifteen meters in length.
While crystallizing the huge crystal pile, I kicked my empty leather bag into the crystal while mixing it with the rubble.
In exchange for its inefficiency, this is the most likely winner.
“Although the altar is important, it can’t be more important than your life. I think if you’re truly the monstro in the legend, this kind of attack should be no big deal for you, but—”
I cut off my words and laughed.
“If you’re not, then how about you roll up those ugly tentacles and run away?”
“......!!”
The face of the vampire, who was in the form of Lièvre, stiffened.
Good, she seems to be frustrated.
I think that was a cheap provocation even if I say so myself, but it’s a point for me if it affected her emotion even a little.
“I will give you two choices: to receive or to avoid. Choose the one you like, vampire!”
The huge crystal pile with my leather bag inside was shot towards the vampire.
The vampire who chose to swallow it without avoiding it turned her whole body into a huge mouth.
The dark oral cavity swallowed the huge crystal very easily, despite the swirling air caused by the huge mass.
She was the anomalous monstro in accordance with the legend.
Even with the blow I prepared with all my might, it seems that this ancient vampire did not get a single wound.
The vampire who returned to her original form laughed with a calm expression.
“See, do you understand now? You should give up obediently......guh!?”
Her composed expression was distorted suddenly and the vampire began to tremble.
It seems that the large trap was effective.
“You, what did you do......?”
“It was said that the those who covet death hold an infinite space inside their body, so I tried to seal my space-expanded leather bag inside the crystal and threw it in.”
The vampire widened her eyes.
“What...are you stupid......do you understand, what kind of thing will happ—”
When another expanded space is put into an infinitely-expanded space, a collapse of space occurs centered around the latter.
Klaus said that.
If so, even a monstro with an infinite space inside their body will collapse.
All maws screamed in agony.
『Ah! Ah! AaAAHH!』
『Aah, aaah, aaaaAAAAAHHH!!!!』
『Ah! Aaah, aaAAAA!』
『NooOOOOOoooo!!!!』
Immediately after that, the maws were drawn inward all at once, as if their screams were being inhaled.
A big crack appeared on the space around the abdomen of the vampire’s body.
The vampire dragged out lumps of meat resembling the Hounds that were bulging out unnaturally from her abdomen.
As the lumps of meat became separated from the vampire’s body, they collapsed and disappeared as if they were inhaled into the center of the body.
“No, no!”
『No, no, no, no, no, no!!!』
“Impossible, I can’t make it in time!!!
『No, no! AAAAaaaaaahhhh!!!』
The vampire seemed to be trying to separate her interior space to avoid her own collapse.
However, her efforts were in vain, and finally the arm of the vampire which was thrust into her own abdomen got swallowed into the crack in space.
The vampire’s face froze in fear.
At the same time, the space where she was present broke like shattered glass.
Soon the landscape was restored, but the vampire’s figure was gone; neither her shape nor her shadow was anywhere to be found.
When I looked closely, the walls and floors were distorted and disconnected, as if the very space where she was had been hollowed out.
The remaining Hounds and black tentacles gradually lost their power and returned to mere masses of meat.
“That was pretty abrupt......”
Tirnanog turned around, shaking off things that were once Hounds which had bitten his arms and neck.
『It seems that was the end.』
“Yes, it seems that way. Say, Tir, will you return to your smaller size again?”
『Is that okay?』
“If we show that we have no hostility towards her, she should understand.”
『I have a lot of doubts about that conclusion......that’s just the kind of girl you are.』
When I made a request to him, Tirnanog glanced at Chloe and then returned to his smaller form.
Then, I took Tirnanog and approached Chloe.
Chloe was putting away her sword which was broken from the middle into its sheath carefully.
When our eyes met, she quietly hung her head down.
“I’m sorry, for the thing just now.”
“It’s okay, it couldn’t be helped. I admit I was very suspicious.”
Or rather, I feel like I have become even more suspicious now.
There’s no way I can explain why I have such a golem or a large number of offensive wands.
But I hope she won’t press me about it.
“Well, what should we do now? First thing first, how about we return and report to the academy?”
“Yeah, you’re right. And this place should be purified properly.”
Hearing Chloe’s answer, I nodded.
Explaining the course of tonight’s events to others would be hard, but it has to be done.
At that time, I heard the sound of the door opening.
It was Auguste and Klaus who appeared from the other side of the door.
“Erica! Are you safe?”
“What the hell happened here. Erica!”
“It’s amazing that both of you managed to get here in such a short time! As expected!”
When I saw them using the Eyes of Overworld, they should have been on the uppermost layer, their moving speed is amazing.
As expected those two are cheat characters.
“I was surprised when we found out that you were in such a deep place without us.”
“More importantly, what did you do. The room and space here are messed up.”
“Oh, that’s......um......”
When I glanced at Chloe, she nodded with a troubled expression as if saying it couldn’t be helped.
While concealing the delicate matter—the matter about Chloe’s older brother, should I explain what the vampire did?
“Were you fighting? We also encountered some monstro before we reached this place.”
“It should be a phantom beast that manipulates spatial magic. Why the heck did you fight such a dangerous phantom beast?”
“It was an emergency, so it couldn’t be helped. The altar was at risk of being corrupted by a vampire.”
“......a vampire, you say?”
Blue sparks came out from Klaus’ body.
When he heard the word ‘vampire’, Klaus became quiet, but the agitation of magical power that couldn’t be repressed expressed his fury.
Speaking of which, ‘vampire’ is the number one keyword that cannot be said in front of Hafan people!
Ah, this is bad.
With things being how they are, am I going to be scolded after this—?