Grave of Death ⑧ – Genesis Combination.
The three Red Puppets that had their blades pointed at us are engulfed in Black Flame and disappear.
What in the world… Mr. Agaro slowly stands up.
His red hair grows longer, and his black Horns become thicker, longer, branching into four.
But they aren’t growing uncontrollably. They stop at a certain length.
And one of his eyes was a burning red.
Furthermore, the Flame Tongue grasped in his hand had grown longer, swelled, and was enveloped in pitch-Black Flame.
A tongue of Black Flame.
『What… is happening…?』
“You’ve been noisy for a while now. Shut up, you damn skeleton!”
Looking displeased, Mr. Agaro swings Flame Tongue up and lunges at Hargan.
『Don’t underestimate me, fool!』
Hargan releases blades of Red Wind in a cross formation.
That immense Red Wind boasted power like a gale that scraped the earth and invited death.
But that red gale of death vanished into the spreading Black Flame that seemed to engulf and devour it.
“Oraaahhh!”
Flame Tongue’s blade closes in above Hargan’s head.
『Nuu!?』
Hargan layers dozens of Red Winds to form a shield, blocking Flame Tongue.
However, that only lasts an instant. It’s shattered with surprising ease.
Hargan groans, leaps backward, manifests a large scythe of Red Wind, and grips it with both hands, taking a stance.
“Don’t you run away, King!!”
Mr. Agaro. He charges forward with incredible force.
『This is absurd…』
Hargan blocks Mr. Agaro’s charge with the large scythe.
But from there, he’s subjected to a chaotic onslaught like a red beast, and the large scythe is finally burned through.
“———Ruinblade Karma———”
In the blink of an eye, Hargan is cut clean in two by Flame Tongue.
『Guooooooooooooohhhhhh!』
Cut in half, Hargan screams as he disintegrates along with the Black Flame.
Hargan was defeated.
Then, Mr. Agaro laughs, saying “Serves you right,” and collapses on the spot.
“Mr. Agaro!?”
Kuh, my body won’t move!?
I thought I’d be able to move once Hargan was defeated, but I guessed wrong.
The Witch, the only one who can move, checks on the collapsed Mr. Agaro.
“My my, you really overdid it.”
The Witch gives a wry smile and pours something on Mr. Agaro. A liquid?
Before my eyes, Mr. Agaro’s hair shrinks. At the same time, his black Horns return to normal.
“Witch. Mr. Agaro…?”
“He’s fine, he’s fine. He pushed himself a bit too hard, but at this level, his Life isn’t in danger.”
“At this level…”
“Well well, setting this drunkard aside. Wof boy. This is where the real challenge begins.”
“The real challenge?”
“Na?”
“Wafu.”
Why, even though we defeated him? The Witch looks down at me.
“Well well, Wof boy. Do you understand why you can’t move?”
“Not at all.”
“Um, um, um, why can’t I move?”
“Yes, yes. That’s because— Oh, are we out of time?”
『Fuffuffuffuffuffuffuffuffuhhhhh… Fools.』
Hargan’s voice echoes from the void, and the Red Wind gathers, forming Hargan once more.
“Hargan…!?”
“Just as I thought, he turned into wind. Or perhaps he has a Relic or Legendary that allows it.”
Did he escape by turning into wind?
Revival or something like that feels wrong. Is he immortal because he’s Undead?
Being able to become wind seems more natural, I guess. What’s natural about that?
『Fools. I was slightly surprised, but that power is indeed too much for humans. Know the fate of fools. However, I will no longer be careless.』
Hargan’s body swells and bulges.
His arms increase to four, and his yellow robes become like a scarf and hood.
Naturally, his Bone body is exposed, and he gains extra cloven-hoofed legs.
He somehow resembles Saturnus.
Only the scar on his skull remains the same. Deep within the skull, a dull red, glowing orb floats.
The Red Wind swirls and becomes a large scythe.
『I am the Wind of Death. The wind that carries death. I am King Hargan, who governs the Wind of Death.』
He’s become like a strange form of a death god, somehow.
“Well well, I suppose this is his third form?”
『Foolish Witch.』
Hargan’s hand turns into wind and grabs the Witch’s neck.
“Uuhh…!?”
His other hand grabs Mr. Agaro’s neck.
He lifts them up just like that.
“Witch! Mr. Agaro!”
The Witch went limp.
“Grrrrrrrrrrrrr, let them go!!”
Juicy-san roars, her hair, ears, and Tail turning pure white as she stands up.
『Hoh. That form… I recognize it.』
It’s the Pseudo-Deification Relic, [Fenrir]. A divine white wolf, beautiful enough to be called godly.
She glares at Hargan with moist purple eyes.
“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, I won’t forgive you.”
『The Pseudo-Deified of the White God Wolf… Tasan, was it? Foolish. That power has a time limit.』
Five minutes. The cooldown is one day.
“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, I’ll kill you before that!”
『Foolish. Tasan’s woman. Have you forgotten there are hostages?』
Juicy-san moved. In an instant, she closed in on Hargan.
Before he noticed, she severed both of Hargan’s Bone arms with a claw strike, grabbed the Witch and Mr. Agaro, and returned.
Just before that. Hargan summoned a Red Puppet holding a spear of Red Wind.
The Red Puppet points the tip of the spear at my back.
“…”
Somehow, he used the same tactic on me. Hargan was completely underestimating me.
Also, his words and actions… Hargan isn’t very kingly.
He’s small-time, like Pies. Village chief suits him better.
Never mind that. Setting that aside, I couldn’t move while the Witch and Mr. Agaro were in danger.
No, I was ashamed of myself for not moving. Deeply ashamed.
I was surprised by Mr. Agaro’s actions, and now, remembering my earlier self-righteous behavior, I hesitated.
None of that is an excuse.
I still have no idea why I couldn’t move, but I figured out how to move.
Juicy-san retrieves the two in the blink of an eye.
Hargan was surprised but then grinned. Of course.
He has me as a hostage. No, had me. Right.
『Foolish. Even if you retrieve those two, have you forgotten that over here is a pathetic, fragile fool who cannot move at all due to my wind?』
“Wafu, wan. Lord Wof!?”
Wind? Is that it? No, what does that mean?
Could it be because I touched the Red Wind? Does this happen if you’re properly exposed to it?
『This is the fate of a fool. Become an Offering of Death.』
“Wawan, Lord Wof!!!!”
The Red Puppet vigorously thrusts the spear of Red Wind to stab me, but the spearhead vanishes midway.
『What…?』
Furthermore, the Red Puppet disappears.
“Wafu, Lord Wof?”
『The Red Puppet vanished… you say?』
Hargan can’t comprehend what happened. He’s wide open.
I push myself up from my prone position onto my knees, raise my hand, and say.
“[Phantasmagoria].”
Countless 【Vanish】 assault Hargan.
『Nuoooooooohhhhhh!?』
Hargan defends with the Red Wind.
The shield of flowing wind is holding back the countless 【Vanish】.
“…”
『Don’t underestimate meeeee!』
Hargan forcefully spread all four of his arms wide.
The barrier of Red Wind bursts, and I barely manage to dodge it.
I quickly stand up and try to draw Agaro’s Knife, when…
“Na!”
“Dagaa!?”
Dagaa entered my hand on its own. Then, the Dagaa Knife transformed.
It’s simple, without even a sword guard, but it becomes more knife-like, and the blade extends.
『Don’t screw with me! What is that form!? Purple hair and eyes… Unforgivable! Fool! Fool! Fool! Foolfoolfoolfool… FOOOOOOOOL!!!!』
Hargan swings the large scythe of Red Wind, driven by rage.
I calmly and carefully evade.
『Foolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfoolfool Aaaaaahhh!!』
As the large scythe is swung wildly, blades of Red Wind fly out haphazardly in all directions.
I advance while dodging them using the horizontal and vertical steps that evolved and became practical through the Witch’s special training.
While dodging, I somehow thought this resembled a death game from my past life memories.
Come to think of it, Hargan’s strange form and the techniques he uses are also similar.
That doesn’t mean this world is a game, though.
My past life memories also include memories of similar worlds.
This world is harsh and cruel.
The value of human Life is desperately low, death is always close, side-by-side with life.
No matter how many memories I have from my past life, it doesn’t amount to much.
But more than that, it’s fun, precious, warm, and overflowing with hope.
Yes, it’s always overflowing with hope, no matter what.
Dodging and advancing, Hargan is getting closer.
“Na!”
“Eh, what? 【Vanish】?”
“Na!”
“Are you sure?”
“Na!”
“Alright. Dagaa. Let’s go!”
“Na!”
I Enchant the Dagaa Knife with 【Vanish】.
Its blade shines brilliantly purple. I close the distance in one go.
『You fool!!』
“Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!”
I dodged, evaded, parried, and dispelled the flurry of Red Wind, arriving right before him.
『Foolish. Your attacks won’t reach me. Fool!』
Hargan created a barrier of Red Wind. This was what I’d been waiting for.
I leaped forward powerfully, swinging the Dagaa Knife down like Mr. Agaro.
I poured everything into this single strike.
“Vanish Slashhhhh!!!”
I cut only Hargan’s barrier of Red Wind.
And the moment I cut through, a single gleaming arrow struck deep within Hargan’s cracked skull.
It pierced the murky red orb of light.
『Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!?』
As Hargan let out a great scream, the murky red orb of light cracked and shattered.
『Foooolishshshshshshshshshshaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhh』
Instantly, Hargan slowly crumbled, turning not into Red Wind, but into ash.
That ash scattered in the gentle breeze like white flower petals.
This time, I had truly defeated Hargan, the King of the Wind of Death.
“…Phew.”
I let out a breath. Then, I noticed my gauntlets.
Huh? Wait, my gauntlets!?
The color of the [Gauntlet of Still Saint] was the same, but its shape had subtly changed.
Moreover, they were asymmetrical.
The right one was split down the middle, fastened with a metal ring.
The left one covered up to my shoulder.
Could this be because I became [Generous]? Can that cause such a change?
“…Ah, so this is it. The [Gauntlet of Still God].”
Juicy-san approached, slinging her bow onto her back.
She stopped. What’s wrong? I’d braced myself for her to pounce on me.
“Um, um, um… Lord Wof. Is that… really you, Lord Wof?”
“Yes. It’s me, though.”
Ah, right. Right now, I have purple hair and purple eyes.
I’m in my [Generous] form. I was also using [The Silent One].
But Juicy-san doesn’t know about any of this.
“Um, wof. Is that form… [Generous], Lord Wof?”
“…Yes, it is.”
“Um, um, um, Lord Wof! I got a new Relic! It’s 【Genesis Combination】!”
I knew it.
Perfect synchronization means the other person must have the same Relic.
I thought back. It was when I became [Generous]. A voice had resonated in my soul.
【Genesis Combination: Usable only when a Pseudo-Deification Relic is active and the [Gauntlet of Still God] is equipped: Allows perfect synchronization between Pseudo-Deified individuals for perfectly timed combination attacks: Cooldown 7 days】
Using this, I perfectly synchronized with Juicy-san, and we were able to defeat Hargan.
First, that murky red orb of light inside Hargan’s skull. I’d been quite curious about it.
That was probably his Core.
I thought if I destroyed it, I could defeat him.
The plan was very simple.
First, use 【Genesis Combination】 to perfectly synchronize with Juicy-san.
I break through the barrier of Red Wind. In that brief opening, Juicy-san shoots the Core with her bow.
It was the exact same strategy we used on the Curse Slime.
However, we had to do it with just the two of us.
But even if we defeated him with normal attacks, Hargan would just turn into Red Wind.
The Core would also become Red Wind. So, it would only work while he was materialized.
Also, his Red Wind guard was powerful.
In fact, even 【Phantasmagoria】 had been blocked.
[Arms of the Cosmos] specializes in physical attacks. Against Undead, its Red Wind effect deals almost no damage, and defeating them with it just turns them into wind.
I had no choice but to somehow cut through the Red Wind barrier.
I was prepared to break the barrier even if it meant sacrificing Mr. Agaro’s Knife.
But then, Dagaa came out on its own. And it transformed.
Moreover, a voice in my mind told me to Enchant it with 【Vanish】. But I hesitated.
Then, I remembered that 【Vanish】 hadn’t worked on Dagaa before.
Still, Enchanting the Dagaa Knife with 【Vanish】 was a gamble.
I’m glad it succeeded safely. I was able to sever the Red Wind barrier.
I carefully cut only the Red Wind barrier, making absolutely sure not to hit Hargan himself.
This level of precision was thanks to [The Silent One]. For some reason, 【Silent Move】 wasn’t available.
After that, Juicy-san fired an arrow from her Elixir-coated bow.
The arrow, launched with the strength of 【Fenrir】, was like a beam of light.
With exquisite, absolute timing, she brilliantly shot through the Core.
This successful subjugation was also only possible because of the Relic 【Genesis Combination】.
But the one who contributed most wasn’t me, nor was it Juicy-san.
“Um, um, um, Lord Wof! Lord Wof! Wof! Wawan! Wan wan!”
“Juicy-san! Calm down a bit, calm down!”
She charged at me still in her 【Fenrir】 form, but I was in my [Generous] form.
I managed to catch her, but Juicy-san was still frolicking excitedly. She really is a dog, huh?
As I somehow managed to hold her back and was patting her head, saying ‘good girl’.
“What’s with you guys…? Is this that ‘image change’ thing that’s popular lately…?”
The greatest contributor, Mr. Agaro, woke up and said something half-asleep.