Chapter 184: The True Climax
Tempest Cliff, within an area near the territory where Chonk’s army resided quite some time ago.
Just as Argentum thought that he was about to strike a deal with Chungus, who seemed to be greatly interested with the rewards he would obtain in exchange, an external element he did not even expect had come into the scene, hastily sucking all of the fluids in Chungus’s body, leaving a dried husk of a rabbit on top of the magic circle it previously controlled.
Since he saw it happen in front of them, Argentum could not help but be visibly shaken by the fact that something that he could not even see had sucked the vitality of that Rank 0 Animate just like that. Although most of his mind wanted his body to go ahead and run back to where his original body was, there was a stray thought that wondered if running away would make him a target of that external element as well.
Eventually, that stray thought won over the majority of his mind, prompting him to stand up and let out a deep breath even though he was still extremely afraid of what could happen inwardly. He then went ahead and scanned his current surroundings, wondering if the external element was aiming for the magic circle the rabbit had created on the ground.
Not long after, an aura that surpassed his started to emanate from a location near him, forcing him to muster up his courage as he looked at the origin of that aura. It did not take long for him to find out what kind of being emanated that tyrannical aura, the sight of a mosquito the size of a large spider flying a couple of meters away from him.
‘That big mosquito…killed Chungus? How did it do it?’ This was the thought that was going through his mind, understanding the fact that a mosquito from this world could possibly have its bloodsucking abilities exaggerated to a great degree, but he could not fathom the fact that it did not even have to touch the rabbit’s body to suck its blood.
Nevertheless, ignoring the fear Argentum held towards it, the mosquito started to talk with him.
“Hello there,” it said. Not long after, it added in a slightly cold yet malicious tone, “Care to have some fun?”
Hearing the question asked by the mosquito, Argentum could not help but hastily conclude that the word ‘fun’ the mosquito said was pertaining to the fact that it was going to suck his blood. With that in mind, he hastily raised his arm as he chanted the incantation of a certain spell, increasing the density of the Wind energy particles in the area he was at.
“[Tempest’s Envoy]!”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
At the instant he was finished casting the spell, he then went on and chanted another incantation, chanting the most basic attack spell he had in his arsenal, [Nature’s Wind Bolt]. As for the mosquito, who noticed the instant increase in the density of the Wind element, it could not help but look at what the human in front of it was doing, noticing that the faint glow emanating from the human’s raised hand had the intent of destruction.
It was then that the mosquito knew…that the human was going to kill it.
“Am I really that bad at introducing myself?” the mosquito could not help but ask itself before letting out a sigh, mustering all of its strength to hastily fly towards the human’s body, poking its proboscis on the human’s back not long after.
“[Selective Stun Imbuement].”
“Mouth.”
Fwoosh!
Just as the human was about to finish casting its spell, its eyes grew wide as it noticed that the mosquito had easily made its way towards its back. Unfortunately for the human, even though the spell on its hand was almost finished, a foreign fluid coursed throughout its body, stopping its mouth from moving any further.
Pssshhh…
Due to the incantation not being finished, the spell was unfortunately dispelled, increasing the human’s fear towards the mosquito that was on its back.
…
Buzz…
‘How the…am I seriously going to die?’ Since his mouth was sealed from moving thanks to the fluid that was injected on his body by the mosquito, Argentum could not help but close his eyes, deciding that it was better for him to not see what killed him before he truly died.
But then, what he heard next made him confused.
“To be honest, I didn’t really want to do this. You were aiming to kill me. I was just acting in self-defense,” the mosquito said after retracting its proboscis from his body, heading towards his field of vision. Not long after, it added, “Anyways, the situation you’re in is quite interesting. After that magic circle stopped getting any power, it actually increased the intensity of the aura of one of the entities from that other place.”
In response to this, Argentum tilted his head to the side as his eyes widened. Noticing this, the mosquito let out a laugh before saying, “It seems I’ve gotten your attention. I’ll unseal your mouth as long as you don’t kill me. Do we have a deal?”
Argentum pondered over the mosquito’s statement for a bit before deciding that it would bring him more good than harm if he agreed to the mosquito’s conditions. He soon nodded his head, with the mosquito muttering a few words in response not long after.
Psshhh…
In an instant, Argentum felt that the muscles that moved his mouth were loose again, taking in a deep breath of air before letting it out soon after. He then lightly stretched his body as he looked at the mosquito and asked, “Why did you kill that rabbit? We would have turned the tides if it wasn’t for your meddling.”
“Well…” The mosquito pondered over its answer for a bit before replying, “Why not?”
“The magic circle that rabbit was controlling significantly decreases the combat power of a being. If you didn’t kill him in the middle of our conversation, then we could’ve killed Chonk already,” Argentum said in response, letting out a sigh not long after.
“Chonk…is that the name of that entity with the incredibly strong aura?” the mosquito could not help but ask Argentum, to which it added not long after, “If it is, then I could kill that being without even getting close to it.”
“…” In response to the mosquito’s words, Argentum stayed silent because he knew that it was true. The aura that the mosquito radiated a while ago had surpassed the intensity of his aura, and when he compared it to Chonk’s aura, he found out that even with his coat of armor, the mosquito’s aura was still slightly stronger than Chonk’s.
Argentum pondered over what he could do next for a while, scratching his head furiously with his head down before letting out a sigh. The mosquito looked at what Argentum was doing, slightly confused. Not long after, it picked up a few words coming out of Argentum’s mouth.
“It seems I have no choice now, huh.”
“Hey, mosquito. What’s your name?” Argentum raised his head to look at the hovering mosquito, with the mosquito radiating an aura of annoyance as it replied in a slightly haughty tone, “I don’t like the way you talk, human.”
“Well, you killed the variable that could have allowed us to win the war,” Argentum said in a slightly haughty tone in response before adding, “Do you really expect me to be polite to you after what you’ve done? Although I know you have more power than me, I still have some tricks up my sleeve.”
The mosquito soon heard Argentum’s words, letting out a soft sigh as it realized that it indeed had no reason to be overbearing in the first place. With that in mind, it changed its tone quite a bit as it said, “Alright, I apologize for what I’ve done. Anyways, my name is Bell. You?”
“Argentum,” Argentum replied to the mosquito’s question before asking him, “What are you doing here?”
“To be honest, I don’t know either.” Bell let out a sigh before replying to his question. He soon added, “I entered this place through a rift. I just thought that what was happening in this area was quite interesting.”
“Wait…rift?” Argentum could not help but ask. But just as Bell was about to expound on it, Argentum interrupted him, saying, “Not now. Let’s save the banter for later. For now, help me out in killing Chonk.”
“Well…before you even requested that, I was planning to suck that being dry anyway,” Bell soon responded to Argentum’s words. Not long after, he asked, “Do you want me to kill that being right now?”
“Nah. Not right now,” Argentum replied as the aura radiating from him gradually took on a hint of malevolence. He soon added, “I must make him feel what the other two alliances in Tempest Cliff had gone through thanks to what he has done.”
Listening to his words, Bell could not help but interpret in any other way, letting out a malevolent laugh as he asked Argentum, “So…are you planning to torture the being before you kill it? If so, I have my ways to make the experience better.”
Just as Argentum was about to ask Bell as to how he had gotten to that conclusion, Bell hastily went up to his ears and whispered what he had in mind, making Argentum’s eyes widen as a cruel grin gradually crept up his face.
…
Tempest Cliff, between the alliance base of the Tempest Branch Alliance and the territory where Chonk’s army resided quite some time ago.
Whoosh!
At this moment, Herellia had broken away from Horell’s clutches once more, radiating an aura of killing intent as she hastily made her way towards Chonk, manifesting a blood-red tendril that would slash at his body, only for her attack to end up futile as a beam struck the tendril, deflecting it.
“Horell, when will you stop hindering me from killing Chonk?!” Herellia could not help but shout as a beam was shot towards her body, sending her flying a few meters back from where Chonk was. Not long after, a being appeared in front of where she landed, letting out sounds of exhaustion as it replied, “As long as I still have an ounce of energy within me, I shall never let you get close to Master!”
On the other hand, Chonk, who was watching this unfold a certain distance away from him, could not help but praise his servant inwardly for protecting him every time Herellia was about to attack him, thinking to himself, ‘Once I unleash this ultimate move to kill Herellia and the alliance, I’ll definitely let Horell become my right-hand man.’
Of course, Horell and Herellia, who were still fooling Chonk up till now, conversed through a strand of energy, with Herellia asking Horell, “Quite some time has passed since Aurus has been flung away by your beam. Do you think he dispelled the magic circle already?”
“Highly unlikely,” Horell replied to her words before adding, “He’s up against an Animate. Even though it’s Rank 0, the gap in strength between an Animate and an Inanimate is just insurmountabl—”
Whoosh!
Just as Horell was about to finish what he was about to say through the strand of energy, the aura radiated from Herellia had intensified multiple times, reverting back to the intensity that it was previously at before she and Aurus were debilitated by the spell. Of course, being the recipient of such an increase in the aura’s intensity, Herellia was left speechless for quite a bit, taking some time to snap back to reality before laughing out loud in pure surprise.
Not long after, she sent a message to Horell through the strand of energy that connected them, saying, “So? What were you saying?”
In response to Herellia’s words, Horell let out an awkward chuckle through the strand before saying, “I take my words back. Aurus just seems to be making miracles every time, even when we think that it’s impossible.”
Just as the two were about to continue chatting with each other, a familiar voice resounded in their minds at the same time, prompting them to look at Chonk, who had an expression of shock written on his face.
The voice said, “I’ve dispelled the effects of the magic circle. Horell, it’s time to sever your ties. Herellia, it’s time to retaliate at full power.”
“As for me…I’ll come there as soon as possible.”
…
Whoosh!
“Hm?” Hearing the breeze flowing through the area they were in, Chonk could not help but be a bit curious as to where it came from. But just as he was about to continue wondering as to where the breeze came from, something else took up his attention, prompting him to look at the two Pseudo-Animates a decent distance away from him, especially the Pseudo-Animate that he had debilitated a while ago.
“That can’t be…” Chonk muttered in disbelief as he could sense the aura radiating from that Pseudo-Animate quite well. Sensing this aura, he knew very well that the effects of the magic circle had been disabled, thinking about the possible reasons as to why it had been disabled.
‘Did Chungus die?’ This was the first thought that came to his mind, hastily concluding that it was impossible as the Tempest Cliff was a place where Animates were rarely seen. Moving that thought aside, he then wondered, ‘If he didn’t die, then…did the alliance persuade him to disable the spell?’
“If that’s the case, then who—” Just as this thought came to his mind, he remembered a certain being of the alliance he was fighting against being flung far away from where he was. At that moment, he realized…
That he was being fooled all along.
“HORELL!” Chonk shouted with intense rage, radiating an intense aura incomparable to the aura he was radiating a while ago. Without hesitation, he dashed towards where Horell and Herellia were, condensing all of the ominous aura circling his body towards one of his front paws.
While dashing towards where they were, he continued to shout.
“I TRUSTED YOU!!! I THOUGHT YOU WERE ON MY SIDE ALL THIS TIME!!! AND THIS IS HOW YOU PAY ME AFTER WHAT I’VE DONE TO YOU?! I SAVED YOUR LIFE!!!”
In response to Chonk’s shouting, Horell let out a sigh as he responded, “I am indeed thankful to you for saving my life, but you didn’t have to make me your slave, no? Think of this as atonement for what you’ve done to everyone in your army.”
Just as Horell was about to retaliate against Chonk’s imminent attack, Herellia hastily moved in front of Horell, sending a message through a strand of energy.
“Enhance my abilities as much as possible, Horell. You don’t have enough strength to defend against his attack.”
Not long after, Herellia’s voice could be heard, saying, “I’ll make sure he feels regret for what he has done.”
Horell pondered over Herellia’s words for a split-second before muttering, “Alright. Punch her for me.”
“Alliance Leader.”
“[Imbuement Mode: Mana Ascension].”
“[Imbuement Mode: One with Mana].”
“[Mana Power Transfer].”
Whoosh!
In an instant, the aura radiating from Herellia had intensified yet again by multiple notches, making Chonk feel slight intimidation. Nonetheless, due to the rage that was overflowing throughout his body, he continued with his advance, raising the front paw which he imbued all of the ominous auras around him before swiping down with his full strength.
Looking at this attack, Herellia could not help but feel that time has slowed down for her. Not long after, she let out a sigh, muttering, “I wish Aurus was here to see this. I’m sure he’ll be shocked to see that that wasn’t my full power.”
“[Forbidden Sanguine Arts: Crimson Spirit Zero].”
Whoosh!
…
…
“[Reverberation].”
…
…
Bang!
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