Valley of Souls (2)

Moltazar, having spotted Ian approaching from the horizon, was lost in thought.

‘Before that guy gets any closer… Should I make the first move to block him?’

Ian was still far away, shrouded in thick fog.

But who knows what he’ll do the moment he gets close to the fortress walls.

Hadn’t he already completely destroyed two other Necropolises on his way here?

He might even bring out those mysterious monstrous tentacles right away.

‘That can’t happen…!’

Within this Necropolis, Moltazar had stored everything he had accumulated over 500 years of life.

Books organizing his knowledge of necromancy, remains of heroes and mystical beings he had collected over the ages, and…

The thick demonic energy and souls that lich Moltazar had spent a lifetime gathering in order to break through to a higher state.

His life vessel could not withstand all that overwhelming deathly energy, so he’d divided it among several highest-grade mana crystals and stored them here. If that guy destroyed this Necropolis with those mysterious tentacles, everything Moltazar had built over his life would be lost.

‘Isn’t there any way to avoid this fight…!? Is there really nothing!?’

He didn’t want to fight if he could help it.

Facing a completely unknown foe, one with no advance information or preparation, was not his way.

Moltazar’s style was always to thoroughly discover his opponent’s weaknesses, ruthlessly target only those weaknesses, minimize the cost of battle, and maximize the spoils.

That’s how he had sneakily and cunningly hunted down one hero, one mystical being at a time, reaching the 8th Circle.

That’s how he ended up ruling one of Valley of Souls’s Necropolises.

But now an unidentified monster had suddenly shown up, threatening to obliterate everything he had worked so hard to build.

‘Is negotiation possible…? Or is it impossible?’

That monster must have some purpose for attacking Valley of Souls.

If only he could figure out that purpose, maybe he could even propose a deal.

‘Let’s at least try. After a few words, communication might be possible in an unexpected way.’

– Saaaak!

Moltazar gathered demonic energy in his right hand and summoned a skeletal bat.

It was a messenger meant to deliver his words to Ian.

He flew the skeletal bat toward Ian, who was still approaching on the horizon.

But—

– KWAJIK!

“… Huh?”

As soon as the skeletal bat got close to him, Ian simply smashed it apart with Vladiark.

“… What!”

He hadn’t even uttered a word, and Ian just smashed it outright!

Did he not realize it was a messenger!?

“Damn…”

Moltazar clicked his teeth in annoyance and reached out to revive the shattered skeletal bat.

At the very least, he wanted to exchange a word.

But—

“…?”

Moltazar’s blue glowing eyes wavered.

‘W-what!?’

He couldn’t feel any soul from the skeletal bat.

‘The soul has dissipated…? Just from a single swing?’

Even though the skeletal bat had no combat ability, as undead it was not a creature that could be easily destroyed.

To eradicate it, one had to remove the soul bound to the core with demonic energy, so unless there was holy power that could directly cancel out demonic energy, extremely high-concentration magic power to push away and sever the demonic energy, or another necromancy that could absorb it, there was no way to destroy his skeletal bat.

‘But how did that guy…?’

He had just swung that gigantic sword without imbuing it with any kind of energy.

And yet, he had erased his undead on the spot.

‘W-what the hell is he!?’

Despite having no flesh, Moltazar felt a chill run through him.

‘Something is wrong! This is dangerous!’

He couldn’t assess the opponent’s abilities or the source of his power at all.

That meant it was impossible to respond.

‘This is not the time for negotiation!’

His intuition of 500 years spoke to him.

‘If I carelessly try to stall, I’ll just get killed!’

He had almost no chance of negotiations working in the first place.

Yet, just in case, he tried to speak to him, but now he realized that even that sliver of a chance could end up getting him killed.

‘I should drop the thought of negotiation cleanly.’

Now, only two choices remained.

Attack first, or escape immediately.

‘…….’

Moltazar hesitated for a moment.

And then he came to a decision.

‘Attack.’

Even if he tried to flee immediately, he could only take about 20 percent of his assets.

In other words, if he simply ran now, he would lose 80 percent of his wealth.

‘If I’m going to lose this fortune anyway, then I’ll just pour everything I have at him here and now.’

Besides, if he was ever going to escape, he needed to at least tie the bastard’s feet for a while.

Who knows—maybe the bastard was a lot weaker than he appeared, and would die easily.

Then he wouldn’t have to abandon Moltazar’s precious assets at all.

“My apostles.”

Moltazar spoke to the apprentice necromancers standing behind him.

“Yes, master.”

“Send Bartol’s Ashen Lion and Belmore’s Last Knight at that bastard.”

“…!”

“!?”

At those words, the necromancers exchanged startled glances.

Bartol’s Ashen Lion was a bone beast crafted from the diamond-hard bones of a massive monster that used to run rampant across the continent’s southwest 300 years ago.

Belmore’s Last Knight was none other than a death knight made from the remains of a grandmaster-level knight.

They were Moltazar’s trump cards, each requiring the souls of 20,000 people to operate even once—ultimate evil weapons.

Each of these ultimate undead weapons required sacrificing 40 percent of the souls stored in this Necropolis.

“And…”

Moltazar wasn’t finished.

“Prepare the Death Cannon as well. So it can be fired at any moment.”

“…!!”

“………!!!”

At that, the necromancers’ eyes grew even wider.

The Death Cannon was not just the Necropolis’ ultimate weapon, but the final weapon of all.

It was a dark magic cannon that fired a mass of resentment amassed from the pain and death of 50,000 humans in a single moment.

Its destructive force could blow away a mountain and change the very geography around it, so to be told to ready it meant…

Depending on the situation, even Moltazar’s favorite works, the Ashen Lion and the Last Knight, may be sacrificed.

A life-or-death gamble.

“Hurry! He’s coming!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

“At your command!”

Moltazar’s apostles immediately formed a circle around the magic circle and began chanting a wicked incantation.

Soon, a sinister energy seeped into the circle, glowing violet.

– TO-wong!

– TONG!

The Ashen Lion and the Last Knight, who had been slumbering deep somewhere in the Necropolis, awoke and shot toward Ian like projectiles.

– KWAaaaaang!!!

Ian and the two undead began clashing the moment they met—sword and claws colliding.

A massive explosion erupted on the horizon, and the earth trembled.

“……”

Moltazar watched the scene with nervous tension.

‘Those two are my greatest masterpieces.’

Not just in Valley of Souls, but in the entire world, very few could face those two undead monsters at once, alone.

Truthfully, you could count them on one hand.

‘But…’

His opponent had already destroyed two other Necropolises.

There were perhaps just as few who could accomplish such a feat.

‘Granted, the lords of those places are several notches below me…’

Still, they weren’t so weak that they’d disappear without doing anything in half a day.

‘That swordsman is a monster—that much is certain. I mustn’t take him lightly.’

Those two undead, when fighting together, could suppress even a grandmaster mid-rank swordsman. Yet maybe, right now, just holding that monster in place was the best he could hope for.

‘Then I have no choice but to make up my mind.’

He’d use his greatest creations to immobilize him—

‘While that guy can’t move…’

He’d fire the Death Cannon and turn the mysterious monster swordsman into dust along with his own masterpieces.

‘Maybe…!’

If even a fragment of that monster swordsman’s remains and soul were left, he could piece them together into a new masterpiece.

‘Sacrificing two masterpieces to create one super-masterpiece…’

For a flash, expectancy crossed Moltazar’s blue eyes.

But less than three seconds after he began hoping—

– KWAAJIK!

“W-what!”

He thought they could last at least two hours, even at the worst.

But the outcome was already being decided.

– KWADDDDDEUK!!!

“UOOOOOO…!”

The Ashen Lion’s skull cracked wide open as it staggered.

Normally, damage like that would have regenerated in an instant.

But somehow, the monster swordsman’s attack kept it from recovering, and the Ashen Lion staggered before falling—

– KUUUUUNG!

“……”

And it never rose again.

‘… Th-this can’t be!’

Moltazar reached out, trying to revive the Ashen Lion, but the demonic energy and soul were completely gone.

‘This is c-crazy!’

The Ashen Lion’s soul was so powerful that if its core broke, it would explode catastrophically, devastating the whole area.

Yet, it vanished without even an explosion.

Which meant—

‘He didn’t just break its demonic core to release the soul…!’

He’d sent the soul somewhere else entirely.

Maybe banished it to an unknown dimension. Or…

‘Devoured it along with the demonic energy…!’

Moltazar’s blue eyes flickered like candles in a gale.

‘This is bad! If this keeps up, I won’t last!’

Belmore’s Last Knight was struggling mightily against Ian.

– BANG! KWANG! KWAAANG!

With every strike, the sword broke, armor shattered, and limbs flew apart.

Meanwhile, Ian swung Vladiark leisurely, as if he could have finished things even faster if he wanted.

“Grrrk…!”

– BADDDDD!

Moltazar ground his white teeth together.

He couldn’t just stand by and watch his masterpiece get trampled like this.

“The Death Cannon! Fire now!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

He was commanding them to destroy the works he’d poured his life into, but even the apostles understood now—after witnessing the Ashen Lion’s utter annihilation—there was no time for hesitation or method.

– KUGUGUGUGU!

As the apostles once again encircled the magic circle and chanted, the green crystal floating atop the spire started to rotate like a drill, pointing its sharp tip at Ian.

– SWAAAAAA!!!

The force of the spinning sent a gale roaring through the spire, shaking the whole tower and city.

– KWADUK!!

Around then, Belmore’s Last Knight was sliced in two and fell.

Moltazar hastily reached out toward the knight, but once again—

The demonic core and soul were gone; it couldn’t be revived.

“Grrrk!”

Moltazar shouted through gritted teeth.

“FIRE!!!”

Even though his masterpieces hadn’t even managed to slow the enemy’s advance, he’d at least bought time for the Death Cannon to charge.

Its firing speed was close to that of light itself.

No matter how transcendent that guy might be, he couldn’t dodge it so easily.

And if the Death Cannon scored a direct hit, not even a grandmaster of the highest rank could avoid serious injury.

Of course, to wield such immense destructive force, he’d had to sacrifice 50 percent of the demonic energy and souls stored in this Necropolis.

‘No matter!’

Even if it took a long time, even if it was arduous, it would be better to gather souls and demonic energy from scratch than to die here.

– PAAAAAA!!!

The Death Cannon fired.

– SWAAAAAA!!!

With a speed that seemed to tear through not just air but space itself, the green crystal hurtled toward Ian.

– JJOOOOOOONG!!

The Death Cannon, moving faster than sound itself, collided with Ian’s Vladiark.

“Oh.”

Ian felt the sheer weight of demonic energy contained in the Death Cannon.

It was a moment where Vladiark got to gorge itself on an immense feast of demonic power.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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