Chapter 50: Uh, This is Eating? (2)

While Gluttony was feasting on a huge jackpot, Sylvia and Randolph’s tag match was slowly reaching a conclusion. Naturally, the Elder Lich was the one pressing his growing advantage. Trying to battle an immortal monster with mere 5th Circle magic was nigh unreasonable.

[Rot away!]

The 6th Circle magic, Life Drain, sent out a wave of dark mana that rotted everything it came into touch with, organic or inorganic. The air turned into poison in the same breath that the ground turned into a swamp. Even aura users would die in these conditions.

Sylvia reacted almost instantly. “Freeze!”

The air and ground froze in moments, stopping the pollution from spreading any further. Sylvia was barely holding on with the speed that Jack Frost’s Staff gave her and her high sensitivity to magic. Other magicians would have run dry long ago, but she had been extremely efficient with her magic power. Nevertheless, she was running on fumes.

She panted. “Hah...! Hah...!”

Her hair was plastered to her head as rivulets of sweat ran down her face. She swiped at her forehead as she glared at the floating skeleton in front of her. She was facing the most formidable opponent of her life. The Elder Lich boasted a formidable well of magic power and could cast just as fast as her. The added bonus of immortality defied any attempt she could make to damage her opponent.

Nearby, Randolph was facing a similar situation.

Kliiing!?

Two falchions met twin swords in a flurry of sparks. Their blades moved faster than sound as they swiped through the air. Randolph’s left falchion sliced deep into the skull knight’s shoulder while the skull knight’s sword grazed Randolph’s neck. The lightning quick exchanges were causing gusts to fly around the two opponents.

The skeleton’s swordsmanship was almost robotic, so Randolph took advantage of that lack of flexibility to create and exploit gaps. At the same time, the skull knight’s speed and strength were no joking matter.

This damn old geezer!

Randolph broke a triple thrust with a fluid slice of his falchion, and blasted his sword pressure outward.

Keeng!

The skull knight retreated three steps and raised its guard. It was a textbook defensive stance. If Randolph’s opponent hadn’t been a tireless undead, Randolph would’ve been done with this battle long ago.

Still, it’s not without hope.?

The skull knight was using an outdated sword style from a hundred years ago, and Randolph had done enough testing.

[Young Lady.]

Randolph used a technique that transmitted his voice to Sylvia.

[I will create an opportunity for you, so play your trump card!]

He didn’t wait for a response as he lunged forward like a ferocious tiger. The skull knight met his advance squarely, but for the first time in the battle, the skull knight was thrown back by pure strength.

The blue fires in the Elder Lich’s eye sockets flickered as he started chanting a new spell.

[That’s not…]

If a technique was lost a hundred years ago, a new technique would rise to stand in its stead. The skull knight’s memories of the Randolph family’s swordsmanship didn’t contain Randolph’s new combat stance. As the skull knight tried to reconcile this unfamiliarity, it unwittingly revealed a gap in its defenses.

Now!

Randolph’s two falchions flashed through the air like twin fangs!

Gwarurung!

Light peeked out from the cracks that covered the two falchions as they accelerated through the air. The skull knight’s reaction was just a beat too slow as Randolph’s killing thrust struck its chestplate like a thunderbolt. The impact sent the skull knight flying right at the Elder Lich.

The Elder Lich hesitated for a moment as the skull knight flew toward him. If he cast the spell he was preparing, it would destroy his skull knight. It was a mere skull knight at the moment, but the base materials were valuable enough to someday upgrade it to a death knight.

That moment was a fatal error.

The genius of the Blue Tower completed her spell without hesitation. “Master of the cold, Ymir! I beseech you!”

It was the same spell Sylvia had used against Theo in the tournament, but she had polished it even further. The skull knight’s sudden appearance in their duel prevented the Elder Lich from forming any countermeasures.

Blizzard!

A blue whirlwind swallowed the two undead.

Crackle! Pop! Klick!

The cave was wreathed in ice as the dense dark mana was violently expelled by ice mana. The skull knight turned into a frosted statue as it tried to regain its feet, while the Elder Lich was frozen within a huge ice block.

Sylvia had made the best choice in the situation. There was no way she could destroy the Life Vessel if the Elder Lich was free to attack her, so she chose to restrain the Elder Lich as much as possible.

[Hahahaha! Truly excellent skill, girl from the Blue Tower.]

However, the Elder Lich’s attitude was unchanged. He was still relaxed, since he had calculated that there was no way for him to lose. His Life Vessel could never be harmed by such weak opponents, so everything they did only prolonged their inevitable end.

[Nevertheless, you can’t escape from death. Savor it well… since your last moment will come when your magic power runs out and this ice dissolves!]

“Ach, barking till the end,” Randolph murmured as he sheathed his falchions. He had realized that this was fundamentally a battle he couldn’t win. At the very least, he would go out on his feet.

Sylvia’s frown deepened as her magic power finally gave out and the ice trapping the two undead began to crack.

Crack….

The cold air thinned, and the ice block exploded into shards and mist. As the two humans swayed from exhaustion, the skeletal undead appeared out of the mist.

[This is the end… Rejoice, for you qualify as servants for the great death!]

Sylvia and Randolph had no power to resist or run. The two gritted their teeth as the Elder Lich’s dark mana reached out in tendrils of black mist. They knew that it would rot their bodies in an instant, and they would be reduced to a skull knight and a banshee.

But at that moment, a rather curious noise echoed through the dungeon.

Gulp.?

The dark mist froze, and the Elder Lich looked up.

[What?]

He felt a strange sense of loss, like something important had just disappeared forever. In fact, the soul of the grimoire’s host, the magician Giovanni, had inexplicably ended up in a certain grimoire’s stomach.

As such, the magician’s end was inevitable.

[Gaaaahhh!]

The Elder Lich writhed in the air as the magician’s soul dissolved away. The skeletal fingers of the Elder Lich trembled as dark mana fell away from his body like tattered rags. He turned furiously on Sylvia and Randolph, but his body started to dissolve into ash.

Sylvia and Randolph stared in absolute amazement as the Elder Lich transformed into ash before their very eyes. It was the fateful end of the newly born Elder Lich, Giovanni.

Pusususu...

It seemed that victory had been decided somewhere else.

***

Any dungeon that lost its core would collapse, and the Elder Lich’s dungeon was no exception. The dungeon began to shudder as it transformed back into a cave that was only a few meters wide and a few hundred meters deep.

Kukukukukung...

The core room that Theodore was trapped in followed the same principles. The core room had originally been a remodeled space within the cave, and returned to its natural form.

Theodore realized where he was as he looked around. “Indeed, this is the room from the report.”

He recognized the antiques and ragged parchment paper scattered across the ground. Giovanni had reported a room full of treasures that included Randolph’s heirloom swords.

He nodded while looking at the antiques and ragged parchment paper on the ground. According to Giovanni’s report, he had found a room full of treasures, including Randolph’s heirlooms.

But I don’t see anything that resembles a sword? Is it stashed elsewhere??

The items may have been shifted around during the dungeon’s creation and subsequent destruction. Theo shrugged as he placed the antiques into his dimension pocket and turned to rejoin his party.

Wuooooong!

A flash of warning from his new instincts was all that saved him. Theo rolled to the side as a chain of dark mana missed him by mere centimeters. Theo’s eyes followed the chain back to a book hovering in the air. It had chains of dark mana floating around it as it seemingly readied itself to whip more chains at him.

Theo blurted out instinctively, “Grimoire!”

A hole opened in Theo’s palm as if it had been waiting for his word.

-

Huhu, you found it!

Leave it to me from here on, User!

Gluttony’s usually emotionless voice was filled with a fierce joy. The tongue extended, grabbed the dark grimoire and smacked it against the ground in one quick motion.

[■■■■■■■...!]

-

A smartass, huh?!

Gluttony ignored the eerie scream coming from the grimoire and continued to smack the book with its tongue. The grimoire was caught on Gluttony’s tongue like a fly caught by a toad. The grimoire’s chains of dark mana occasionally tried to hold onto the cave walls or attack Gluttony’s tongue, but Gluttony just continued to smack the grimoire against the wall without pausing.

[■■…■■■…]

Gluttony’s attack proved to be effective as the dark mana fell away. Theo almost felt sorry for the grimoire as he watched it getting thrashed. The grimoire had probably been bounced off the walls about thirty times before Gluttony took a break and let it go.

-

You wanted to take over my user? You impertinent fellow, it would have been better to pick a random rat if you wanted to scurry away.

Gluttony cackled evilly. It seemed the grimoire had attempted to steal Theo’s body to use as a host. The grimoire admitted defeat as it rolled pleadingly in front of Gluttony.

Gluttony’s tongue latched onto its cover again. This time, the grimoire’s information appeared in Theo’s head.

[Death’s Worship]

[This grimoire contains the soul of the legendary warlock, Jerem. As a 9th Circle necromancer who joined demons in attacking mankind, Jerem will steal the body of any creature who reads the grimoire and turn them into an undead. He dreams of the perfect resurrection as his soul awaits in the abyss.

* The rating of the grimoire is Legend.

* When consumed, there is a very low chance of absorbing 50-100% of the abilities possessed by the warlock, Jerem. The owner will also obtain the Negative Dimension and Jerem’s undead.

* When consumed, there is a very high probability that the warlock, Jerem, will rob the owner's body. If the owner wants to hinder this possibility, release another one of Gluttony’s seals and increase the owner's achievements.]

“...9th Circle?!” Theo let out a shocked cry.

The 9th Circle magicians who had reached the peak of magic had disappeared from the continent nearly a millennium ago. Only the Blue Tower Master and the Red Tower Master had reached the 8th Circle to become transcendents who dealt with power beyond the limits of humans. They were the reason why the Meltor Kingdom had been able to hold their own against the much stronger and larger Andras Empire.

But if a single 9th Circle magician reappeared, they would be able to single-handedly run roughshod over the entire continent. Alas, the advice in the explanation suppressed his greed.

Theo looked skeptically at Gluttony. “... Hey, you can’t eat this now.”

-

Let’s see?

This is an extremely rare chance.

Isn’t the opportunity to become a?

9th

?Circle magician worth the cost to your life?

“... You’re a terrible comedian.”

Theo could tell from Gluttony’s behavior that there was a solution here. Gluttony wouldn’t have prevented the grimoire from eating Theo if it didn’t have a method to capture or suppress the grimoire.

So he asked openly, “You, do you have a way to handle this grimoire?”

-

Yes and no.

It was a vague answer, but that was enough. Theo closed his eyes as he started thinking. It didn’t take long for him to find the answer. He had to feed Gluttony the dimension pocket and open the hidden feature. That was why Gluttony had told Theo about it without exacting a price.

He snorted. “A hidden feature. Right?”

Theo might be imagining it but Gluttony’s mouth seemed to distort.

-

I can’t answer that,

Ah, and I can only hold the grimoire for another five minutes. I just wanted to let you know, so don’t worry.

Theo’s eyelid twitched. “You absolute bastard…”

The grimoire had neatly tied Theo’s hands. If Theo didn’t unlock the hidden feature, the book would escape from Gluttony’s grasp and find another host. Once that host’s will was eroded away into nothing, another Elder Lich would rise and cause an unprecedented catastrophe. He didn’t even have time to consider the value of the dimension pocket he was about to sacrifice.

In the end, Theo’s right hand reached into his robes.