Chapter 30: Holy Knight vs Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life (Part 1)
The moment I awoke, I shot up, checking myself for injuries, poison, curses, or anything else that might have happened to me. I quickly assessed my situation.
As I looked around, an unsettling feeling washed over me in various ways. This was a place I recognized.
“This is the Arcana Royal Castle.”
It was the very castle where I had been summoned and taken care of for a month. However, the colors of the walls, floors, and decorations were clearly different from what I remembered, all of them shrouded in dark, muted tones.
It was likely not the real thing. Perhaps it was—
I walked down the corridor, lined with a ridiculously extravagant carpet that I recognized. As if guided by some unseen force, I made my way toward the King’s Chamber, which should have been upstairs.
I opened the heavy doors that lay ahead, just as I remembered. The creaking sound echoed unnaturally in the almost silent room, filled only with my breathing and footsteps. Upon entering, I was overwhelmed by a suffocating malice that filled the air. In front of me, there was a throne.
Seated there, leaning on his elbows and exuding an air of arrogance, was the Reverse Dead.
He was clad in armor that was a stark contrast to the ragged clothing he had worn last time, now adorned with a chaotic and grotesque design—radiating a malevolent aura.
“You’ve come quite a long way.”
A heavy, evil voice resonated in the King’s Chamber.
“Don’t act like you brought me here! You’re the one who summoned me!”
I was putting on a brave front. I couldn’t show any signs of fear.
“Do you not think this castle is a fitting abode for me?”
I wanted to tell him to listen, but the thought never left my lips. It felt futile to engage in conversation. He spoke clearly enough, but it was evident he had no intention of communicating. He was a distinctly different intelligent being, one that was clearly not human. Faced with his demeanor, I felt a chilling unease that was more akin to fear than anger.
“You’re making too much noise. Let’s get this over with quickly. I’ve defeated you once before, after all. It’s a given that a resurrected monster is weaker, right?”
I said it to bolster my own resolve. Though I was already on high alert, the overwhelming malice radiating from the Corpse Person was pressing down on me. The creature before me loomed as a complete superior, glaring down at me.
“Yamada Ichiro, I have not been defeated by you. The Reverse Dead you once vanquished is no more.”
Then, what is that form—
“I am a higher existence, a fusion of the Sealed Labyrinth, Dead Release Dead, and Reverse Dead, elevated into one.”
Reverse Dead—no, that was not right.
He—the King of the Undead—rose from his throne.
My throat instinctively tightened at the sight. He was far larger and more muscular than when he had been the Reverse Dead, now at a level that seemed otherworldly. Moreover, he was clad in equipment that screamed “mythical” at first glance. His light armor absorbed the light around it, and the wicked great sword he wielded was so long it surpassed his height, radiating a malevolence that made it believable that it was forged from pure malice.
“Rejoice, Yamada Ichiro! I, a higher existence that you humans should never encounter, have personally chosen you!”
There was no reason to rejoice. Cold sweat poured down my back.
“My name is Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life… I will annihilate you and bury every living being in this world.”
He drew his sword. The sound of metal scraping against metal echoed ominously—gigi gigi gigi. I looked at the blade, which was serrated and wickedly sharp.
“Agghhh!”
I saw nothing.
The blade of murderous intent sliced through my side.
☆ Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life ☆
Having lost nearly all its power, the Fog that awaited its demise in the Sealed Labyrinth, which should have birthed the Dead Release Dead through the Resurrection Orb, instead gave rise to the King of the Undead.
His form was constructed from the Reverse Dead, rooted in the fear of Yamada the Holy Knight, and his consciousness was a blend of the original Reverse Dead, the Dead Release Dead, and the Sealed Labyrinth, forming an entirely new personality.
He was also the embodiment of an absolute will to completely eradicate Yamada Ichiro, the Holy Knight who had once destroyed him, and to annihilate all life that exists in this world.
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All I Need Is Kill All of you.
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