Chapter 522 – Beyond Eternal Sleep (8)
I’m used to the big stage called Laliluru.
It’s partly because of her job at the circus, but it’s also true that her personality is that she doesn’t mind standing in front of others.
Of course, I’m not the type to accept the criticism or contempt that often pierces the stage, but maybe it’s because of that kind of life story.
Even on the stage of the competition watched by hundreds of thousands of people, there was no tension in her heart as she stepped out into the arena.
At the emcee’s loud relay, Lari Lura went on stage waving her hands everywhere like her occupational disease.
The other side had already set up their golems and were on stage. He was a large man in a robe, but his face was clearly visible. He didn’t have a very eager look in his eyes.
‘Senior… There is none.’
Lari Lura, who cast her eyes on her VIP seat, silently pouted her lips.
I know that she ran to a place that is busier and more important than here. Perhaps there will soon be a fight on the other side as well.
Her role is to gather people in this arena and reduce the citizens in the battlefield where a person called the lord’s deputy has bitten the crowds. I know that well, but there was a big difference in her motivation between having and not having someone she wanted to show off.
‘Just leave it to others and stay calm. What if I get hurt?’
It was understandable, but it wasn’t a sincere complaint.
Since he is a person who cannot live so selfishly, she has a crush on him.
─Shureuk!
Lari Lura, who had been grumbling, slowly stretched the thread of her mana. Her sisters who glanced at her shook her hand, which cheered her up a little.
Last match of the night tonight.
The audience shone in the eyes of the finals to determine the semi-finalists. The few gold leaves that Ralilura and Lingling attached to No. 6—her husband’s fame and the peculiarity of being a metal golem—appeared to have raised expectations.
If so, wouldn’t it be her duty to repay it with a little showmanship?
The Nords confined the area where the battle took place as much as possible with their magic, and said that they would quickly subdue it——but there are few places that can keep citizens safe as much as this arena with barriers.
The opposing player also stretched the mana thread toward the golem.
It was deep purple, very dark mana.
《The match——Start!!》
When Lari Lura frowned at her unknown deja vu, the moderator announced the start of the game without delay.
Last time, we showed off our defensive power on the defensive, so let’s actively attack this time.
Ralilura went on the attack according to a pre-determined strategy, or rather, a publicity method. She would have to do it quickly.
─Thump thump thump thump!!
Thanks to the ability of the artifact, Lingling dashed at a speed that was not suitable for the material, and No. 6 folded his fingers like a beast’s jaws.
It is a martial art using the fingers that the Nords showed. If it was the 6 that fires
– Booung!!
However, the opponent’s golem evaded it with agility of No. 6 or higher.
I saw the tactics of that attack and defense in the first round. Since it was a workshop where artificial mithrils were not available, it was a method of making a wooden golem as light as possible and attacking with the instantaneous power of the core.
If it’s eye-to-eye, it won’t matter if you get hit by an attack, but if it’s to show off your performance, avoid it——
《—-Huh?! What is this!!”
The emcee’s embarrassing screams represented Lalilura’s state of mind. The enemy golem recklessly attempted a frontal attack.
─Kwajik!
It was good to make use of the speed to dig in, but No. 6’s arm, bent like a beast’s jaw, lightly grabbed the enemy. Regardless of the difference in performance, it was at the end of the attack that the self-killing number was placed.
In the audience, a middle-aged man who seemed to be the head of the El Pex workshop screamed as he pulled his hair.
‘Did you give up the match?’
Can I end it like this? Should I just let it go on purpose as a tease and give the enemy more chances?
It was when she, Lari Lu, was contemplating while examining the enemy golem.
─Suddenly!
The man’s fingers flipped the golem’s lid back. The buzzing core emitted a strange glow and howled.
〈… No!〉
Realizing what her opponent was up to, Lari Lura squeezed her puppet’s output to the max.
When her doll with her arms crossed used the built-in magic circle to unleash the shield magic, the golem in the El Pex Workshop exploded.
Kwaaaaang——!!!
The shield reduced the power by more than half, but the aftermath of the explosion spilled over the audience. Without the barriers of the arena itself, the number of casualties would have reached three digits without a doubt.
《Mo, Morius player!! What are you thinking!! I self-destructed the golem and attacked not only the opponents but also the audience!!”
The relay of the moderator, who was slow to understand the situation, was annoying.
In fact, he couldn’t even understand the meaning of the words, but if Ralilura was in his position, he would have induced him to evacuate. However, he did not seem to have commanded the evacuation, seeing the audience screaming and not knowing what to do.
“Ah, Farah…〉
Contrary to her grumbling mouth, Lari Lura, who let out a groan, calmly took out the doll at the waist.
─Poron!
It looked like a stuffed toy, and the moment it imbued her with mana, she regained her original identity.
A small metal puppet about the size of a human head.
A prototype that went through for a while before making the all-metal puppet No. 6. Lingling was number 5.
It was an equipment that could be entrusted with the role of protecting Ralilura’s bare body exposed during battle by reducing its size and leaving only its core functions.
– Dumbly.
The clown puppet with built-in Puppetry magic rose to the surface like Fran’s knife.
According to the rules of the tournament, using two types of golems—or puppets—was a penalty for losing by foul play, but it wasn’t the time to discuss that.
‘I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s not something a person who wants to win in the contest I just started would do.’
Are you targeting not only the opponent’s golem, but also the players, and even the spectators?
In addition, he even exploded a golem, which was used to appeal to his workshop skills. It’s not something a sane person would do.
─Whoops! Lalilura made Unit 6 kick off the smoke.
The man in the robe who attempted a lethal attack on Lalilura stood there silently.
“I am also very surprised. It was so powerful that I couldn’t survive with your skills that I remember.〉
The fluent Romanian language and the content of the reply made Lari Lura half-open her eyes. It was her tone as if she had seen her before.
At the rather sly tone, Lari Lura bit her tongue.
The man pointed to the thimble that Lari Lura had put on her finger. 〈… 20 years?〉 Ralilura’s eyes widened. The thing she had on her finger was the belongings of a warlock she had defeated with him in Romania earlier. She took a deep breath, drawing out her lack of concentration. An unpleasant tension stiffened her limbs. It’s a bad sign. I relaxed on her shoulders, conscious of the taste and premonition similar to when she failed her craft. 〈… Who are you?〉 “Didn’t you say that you couldn’t remember even if I told you? Then there is no reason to explain. It’s just that thanks to your hand habits, I was able to recognize the real faces of you and your man, so I’m grateful for that.〉 My back was soaked with confusion and chilling forebodings that I couldn’t express in words. Lalilura forced herself to laugh. 〈Aha♡! Do warlocks these days even know how to pick up ashes and revive them? If you’re an impostor, this is your last chance to confess? ‘Her hand is shaking. Is it so surprising that the one who should have been burned by four men’s flames has reappeared like this?〉 … Chet. Lalilura, unconsciously, evaded her trembling fingers by squeezing them into her fist. ‘… Since when?’
Since when did you dress up as a player and hide in the competition? Lalilura quietly peeked at the audience.
‘The senior said that he placed a member of the Satis cult among the audience.’
I heard that it was intended to prevent warlocks from sneaking into the tournament at all costs. Satis’ hounds would be aware of the presence of a warlock lurking nearby.
However, the man appeared confidently.
A regular member of 〈Immortalis〉 Beyond a mere warlock.
Had Optum’s subordinates been killed and turned into undead?
At that time, like the Janus Church paladin who lost his life and lost his skin while serving Primor?
‘──Stop it.’
I cut off the branch of thought that extends to unnecessary places. It was easy to stop unnecessary thoughts. Concentration was her specialty.
And, there was no other time when concentration was needed as much as now.
“Life is just a variation of death. If you can control death, you can control life.”
─Exactly! When the man snapped his fingers, the barriers in the audience seats disappeared. He had already stretched out his hand to the equipment of the arena.
The din of the confused audience and the din of the emcee’s urgent restraint pierced one ear and escaped the other. Said Lari Lura, nailing her eyes to the enemy’s every move.
‘It’s sophistry that even an unlearned clown like me won’t be fooled. Who else taught you that nonsense?”
‘I’m curious about something trivial. If you really care, you should die once and come back to life.〉
─Charleurreuk!!! The mana thread extending from his hand split dozens of strands. The thread of purple mana pierced the necks of the soldiers who rushed in to end the situation, the spectators who tried to escape, and the adventurers who were watching.
《Kwaaaaagh!!》
The screaming citizens flew and plummeted to the stage as the man swung his arm around like a pebble tied to his thread.
Magic that controls people by turning them into undead. It was a technique favored by a certain warlock who fought in the past.
〈… Awesome!〉
Lalilura, who had bitten her lip at the massacre that happened in an instant, noticed that she was complacent in her expectations as she watched the human puppets rise slowly.
─Kuddeuk, kudeudeuk.
Although they kept their mouths shut and moved like a puppet, the eyes of the citizens were disturbed by confusion and fear.
‘I didn’t make them undead!’
Do you mean controlling your body from the neck down, leaving your consciousness and body alive?
It wasn’t even that. ─Sureung!! Citizens being manipulated each took dozens of martial arts techniques with their bare hands or with the weapons they had.
The arrogant martial arts, which even the Nords considered threatening in terms of the power of a single blow, were unleashed on the hostages regardless of whether they were destroyed or not.
Even if they didn’t understand the tricks in martial arts and showed gaps, the only ones who would be destroyed using that method were puppets——in other words, only those who were manipulated.
‘This… How do I do this… ‘
Lalilura’s eyes trembled like aspen trees.
The arena, which was the safest bunker, turned into a slaughterhouse at the point of invading one of the enemy’s leaders.
All captured citizens and soldiers were weapons and hostages of the enemy.
Do you fight while killing the hostage being manipulated?
Are you embarking on a defensive battle with an obvious ending to save the hostage?
This slaughterhouse was Lee Ji-sunda in that sense.
This behavior of not respecting human life at all and treating it only as a tool or means.
Although Lari Lura had been through many brutal warlocks, she knew only one of them who would ‘use’ human life in this way.
Crutus = Corvona.
The warlock of
He was a man who killed his newlywed husband to infiltrate the Senate family, killed a paladin who risked his life to serve the heir of the family, and disguised himself as someone else by wearing their skins.
‘… ‘Kuh!’
Realizing the identity of her nemesis, Lari Lura, she threw the doubts and biological fears that accompanied it from her mind.
The apostle of death, who had been buried in her memory, had awakened from an eternal sleep and appeared in front of her again like this.
So, for now, I had to put all the others aside and come up with one way.
——What should I do to send that man to hell once again?
‘You will know when you rise from the dead like me. That eternal rest is never the final rest.〉
Creutus said while stretching dozens of threads from her fingers.
〈… Aha, well? Even after I die, I think I would be happy if I could only be by the side of the people I love.”
Cold sweat broke out on her cheeks from the never-nice situation, but Lari Lura skillfully faked a laugh. 〈──As for our senior, he must have forgotten something like your name a while ago?〉 〈… So? I’m really looking forward to that. I’ll ask later if it’s true or not. She grinned as if she finally liked Corutus. The human skin on top of her was distorted. “Of course, by ‘using’ your mouth.” ─Kwaaaaagh!! The hostages, manipulated by her mana threads, rushed at Lari Lura like moths ready for her death.
