Chapter 38: The Monstrous Man [2]

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Tisha swung her divine blade with all her strength. A vertical slash erupted—a potent shockwave of divine ice struck Soma with tremendous force. The Priest smiled wickedly as he pushed it back with all his Abyssal Hands—only for them to freeze and shatter.

A gigantic dragon claw descended, formed of Ice Mana and Ice Ki. It froze the ground and Soma’s entire body in place, then shattered—revealing Soma completely unharmed.

“You’re going to need much more than that to harm me, Anomaly!”

“Stop calling me that. I hate it!”

Tisha rushed forward, swinging her sword downward. Soma evaded by a hair’s breadth. His entire body began transforming as countless shadow hands covered him and merged with his skin.

Yet the Ice Elf swung her fist down, smashing his face and sending him flying. He felt his nose break and teeth scatter.

“Kuaaah?!”

As he flew, Tisha pursued instantly, stepping forward and becoming an azure blur. She swung her sword with full strength. A shockwave of frozen energy exploded outward. The skies darkened and snow began to fall.

Soma crashed into the ground, forming a giant crater. Ice blanketed the surroundings. His Abyssal Hands froze instantly and exploded into fragments—saving many knights and agents who had been moments from death.

“Hahah… impressive, most impressive! You’re truly a strong individual…!”

Soma rose; body covered in bruises. Black hand tattoos appeared across his skin. His torn clothes revealed a muscular frame beneath, and his beating Fantasy Heart—visible through his chest.

“A Corrupted Fantasy Heart…!”

Louis, charging energy for a decisive strike, noticed Soma’s heart: a black and red crystal growing from his chest, studded with sharp spikes.

Corrupted Fantasy Hearts were those that had begun devouring their user. The Fantasy overwrote their sanity and sense of self completely, driving them slowly insane.

Untreated, they would eventually transform into Grievances capable of summoning Dimensional Rifts.

“I’m not done yet!”

Tisha appeared behind Soma. His eyes widened as another sword strike cleaved him in half…

Only for him to re-form behind her, composed of countless black hands—then rapidly re-materialize.

“I see what you did there. It won’t work.”

Tisha struck the ground instead, freezing the Miasma. Louis, Mirai, and Catrise destroyed it immediately afterward.

The Miasma he had spread was part of his Domain. Within it, Soma could teleport by turning himself into pure black ichor—a monstrously painful technique he had clearly mastered.

“Ah, how boring!”

Soma remained calm and composed as he groaned and complained. He raised his hands and distorted space around him. Eternal darkness and countless red eyes poured out once more.

“Now face this! The almighty divinity of my beloved mother goddess!”

She wasn’t present yet, but Soma summoned a small fragment of her Intent carried within his Fantasy Heart. Everyone’s bodies writhed in agony and struggled.

Except for Tisha—and one other in the crowd who had just finished her conjuration.

“It’s done, Tisha!”

A rabbit-kin woman with long brown hair and big fluffy ears stepped forward. She touched the ground and unleashed a powerful Spiritual Formation. Dense Spirit Magic condensed around Soma, consuming his Fantasium and turning it into Spirits that attacked him relentlessly.

“W-What is this?!”

Soma was shocked by the strange magic, which called upon the power of the planet and nature itself—shaking him to his core.

“This is the power of Divine Spirit Magic, Soma! This is the might of Yggdrasil!”

The rabbit-eared woman roared, revealing herself to the crowd. Many recognized her instantly. She was Pekorine, Druid Headmaster of the Frostbane Kingdom’s Royal Magician School—a renowned Druid and Shaman, direct subordinate of the Dragon King, and Anastasia’s second mother.

“Divine Spirit Formation – Yggdrasil’s Fantasy Realm!”

The formation was fully activated. Soma screamed in agony as his Fantasium drained from his body. From the formation, a blooming tree of crystallized Fantasium manifested—growing larger and larger, spreading spiritual roots everywhere to harness and distribute the power.

“Everyone, power up!”

Pekorine flicked her fingers. Everyone connected to the roots simultaneously, surging with renewed strength. Far away, the black ichor amassed into an ocean of darkness and formed countless Abyssal Hands, rushing at the knights and agents—who now fought back bravely, filled with power once more.

“A-Amazing!” Mirai exclaimed in shock. “Do we even need to do anything?”

“I had underestimated the strength of the Knight Captain and the Magician School Headmaster,” Louis admitted with a disbelieving smile, eyebrows twitching. “They’re always so busy I’ve never witnessed what they’re truly capable of until now… but Soma is…!”

A grimoire within Soma’s soul began beating like a heart. A black sea of miasma poured from every orifice, covering the formation and destroying its runes one by one.

“Face the Pain that my Goddess has accumulated all these years…! Face the Agony of Humanity, Anomalies!”

Soma roared as he vomited black miasma everywhere. The formation destabilized. The giant tree trembled… it would not last long. Yet even in this state, Soma was clearly struggling.

It was now or never.

“Go!!!”

Tisha roared, charging at Soma alongside Louis, Mirai, and Catrise. Their Auras surged in their signature colors.

Louis gripped his crimson and white spear. Red flames and pale white light encompassed each side of his body as he unified them, holding both spears together with ghostly flames and ashen frost.

“SOMA!”

“Hahah… Oh, Prince Louis!”

Soma laughed as Louis pierced his head with the spear, injecting explosive energy and blowing it apart on the spot!

BOOOM!

At the same time, Mirai struck his chest, aiming for his Fantasy Heart. Her demonic claws plunged into his heart and soul, tearing everything apart.

Catrise summoned the Will of Benladra. A giant Holy Dragon roared and unleashed a potent dragon breath of divine light, incinerating Soma’s entire body.

Tisha swung her sword and began cutting through him, freezing as much as possible.

“Hahahah…! Oh my goddess! OH MY BELOVED GODDESS!!!”

Soma endured blows that would have been fatal to anyone else. As a Tier 4, he could survive even without a head, a crushed heart, or an attacked soul.

Yet each strike still counted. Soma could not keep up with the healing. His Damage Transfer remained temporarily deactivated while sealed within the formation.

Pekorine clenched her teeth, maintaining the formation as long as she could despite the backlash, blood streaming from her eyes.

“Pekorine?!” Tisha grew worried, but Pekorine smiled fiercely.

“Don’t worry about me, Tisha!” Pekorine roared. “We’re fighting not just for the Kingdom but for our kid! Don’t falter! We knew what we were getting into when we came here, right?!”

“…You’re right!!!” Tisha roared, swinging her sword toward Soma’s Fantasy Heart and Soul. Countless Abyssal Hands emerged from his wounds—even his destroyed head—punching her back relentlessly. “RAAAHHH!”

She channeled her full power, manifesting the almighty Ice Dragon Blade Art once more.

“Ice Dragon Blade Art.”

“Third Form.”

“Mountain-Splitting Fang!”

“Fourth Form.”

“Heaven-Splitting Claw!”

“Fifth Form.”

“Soul-Severing Dragon Jaws!”

Consecutive forms unleashed one after another as Soma and his countless Abyssal Hands fought back desperately! Louis and Mirai synchronized, flying around, dodging hands, reaching Soma, and attacking with everything they had.

“Holy Dragon Lance Style.”

“First Form.”

“Radiant Fang!”

Louis unleashed Radiant Fang repeatedly, piercing Soma’s monstrous body, which kept mutating and growing larger to escape the formation. Countless holes of bright white light appeared across him, burning his insides.

Ashen Frost spread through his wounds, inhibiting regeneration. Ashen Runes pulsed with Mana, exploding and dealing constant damage so his healing could not keep pace.

Mirai had gone completely berserk, roaring like a beast as she slashed with long demon claws and even bit apart Abyssal Hands with her fangs.

Her vast reserves of Demonic and Chaos Energy erupted from her body like a volcano. She channeled it into her claws and unleashed it as a massive beam of destruction.

Everyone was giving their all. Everyone was fighting. Everyone was doing their utmost.

Yet Louis could not shake the gnawing feeling that something was terribly wrong.

Soma was not dying despite everything!

“Wait…!”

His eyes widened as he glanced behind him. Zorba was nowhere to be seen! Where was he? Hadn’t he been fighting Soma earlier? Shouldn’t he have joined the pursuit?

“Zorba? Where are you, Zorba!”

“Master…! Louis…!”

Then Louis heard Zorba’s voice from below on the crater. He could not go there—he was locked in combat with Soma.

But then…

“The Soma you’re fighting is not the real one! He’s…! Ungh…!”

“What?!”

Louis broke off and flew in the opposite direction. He saw Zorba on the ground, impaled by countless black stakes and dying. A pitch-black figure covered in miasma stood over him—Soma.

“Huh?! But he was…! Did my father and aunt Helena not realize this yet?! Everyone! That Soma is a fake!”

Louis roared. The revelation shook everyone. Yet the Soma they fought remained as powerful as ever, laughing as he shattered the formation and miasma poured from his body into torrents.

“Hahaha! Oh mother! Thank you for blessing me with this power! Oh my dear mother!!!”

“There’s two Zorbas?!” Gustaf wondered, looking down. “What’s going on?”

“This must be another power of that Spiral!” Helena exclaimed. “Damn it! Spiralwalkers are so unpredictable!”

“Zorba!”

Louis rushed toward the “real” Soma killing Zorba. He pierced the figure’s chest with his blazing spear and sent him flying. The body exploded into writhing masses of black miasma and hands—shocking him.

“What? He wasn’t the main…! Right, Zorba!”

“Behind you, Master Louis!”

Zorba was not worried about himself but the black figure emerging from Louis’ shadow. Rashid suddenly appeared, striking Louis’ neck with his dagger.

“R-Rashid?! What’s going on?!”

“I can’t stop! I can’t stop!!!”

Rashid screamed monstrously as miasma poured from his mouth. Louis clicked his tongue. Whatever this was, it seemed a form of brainwashing. Without hesitation, he swung his claws—tearing Rashid’s body apart and sending him flying.

“Forgive me.”

“Uuaaagh!”

Rashid burned to ashes in Louis’ fiery ki. At the same time, Louis turned the ashes into Ashen Frost and fired it at the Soma approaching from behind once more.

“Who are you, Soma?! No—what are you?!”

“I am but a humble priest…”

“Yes, a humble priest of the goddess…”

“Our beloved mother desires nothing but your salvation…”

“Please, give up and accept her kindness and love.”

Dozens of Somas emerged from the black miasma everywhere. They were not mere masses of darkness but people Soma had possessed—followers of his cult, captured thugs, and more—all transformed into “him.”

“He likely has…! Ugh…! Some kind of Spell or Ability that spreads a fragment of his Consciousness to those affected by his Mind Corruption! It’s like… Ngaaah! A damn virus! My head! You won’t get inside, bastard!”

Louis fired dozens of Ashen Icicles at the incoming Somas, then reached Zorba. He tore away the black stakes and forced three tonics down his throat, helping him heal slightly. Handy appeared and offered light assistance.

“T-Thank you! I would have died without your help once more, Master Louis…”

“Can you fight?”

“I can fight even without a single Enslaved Soul, my lord. You trained me after all.”

Zorba swiftly controlled dozens of undead bones, shaping them into a bone scythe blazing with ghostly flames. He stood at Louis’ side, covering his back as dozens of Somas summoned Abyssal Hands toward them.

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