Chapter 209: Two Graves (3)
“Uooooo──!!”
Letting out a thunderous roar, Toric kicked off the ground abruptly.
At the same time, bone fragments lying on a table near Stras assembled themselves, taking shape and blocking Toric's path.
Crunch!
The violently swung axe smashed those two skeletons at once.
Toric did not stop and rushed toward Stras.
『I curse thee!』
In that time, green beams of light shot out from Stras's two hands, having finished casting.
「Death Ray」.
It was necromantic magic that slowly weakened the one hit, eventually leading to death.
As soon as he saw this, Toric quickly raised his axe to block it, and as a result, the ray hit the axe, not a lIbing creature, and was neutralized as is.
However, the ray was intended to stop Toric like that from the beginning.
In that very brief moment when Toric stopped his charge to block the 「Death Ray」, Stras immediately cast another spell.
『Arise, dead ones!』
「Animate Dead」.
Simultaneously with the casting of this spell, dozens of corpses scattered throughout the torture chamber began to stand up all at once.
They generally had the ‘appearance’ of humans, but some corpses with the appearance of demons were also seen occasionally.
Though they were all so damaged that one wouldn't be able to tell the difference if not for the horns or tails, or rather their traces, remaining.
Traces of cruel torture remained on the bodies of the corpses.
Body parts being bizarrely twisted was basic, internal organs were exposed, and there were even corpses that looked like anatomical models with all skin completely flayed.
But forgetting all such pain from when they were alive, they awoke from death again for Stras, who had made them into such a state.
“…Disgusting bastard.”
Seeing those appearances, Toric clicked his tongue loudly, tsk, not hiding his disdain.
Amidst that, feeling a sense of déjà vu from the appearance of one of the corpses, he began to closely examine the ‘form’ that barely remained.
“Ah, that guy?”
Noticing that gaze, Stras let out a scoff, smirk.
Although it wasn't maintaining the same appearance as before completely, it was definitely one of the ‘elite soldiers’ encountered in the previous battle with Etian.
“There’s no way I wouldn't interrogate a disgraceful bastard who abandoned his master and ran away to survive.”
He had caught the one who barely survived that battle and fled, and extracted information.
“Well, still, thanks to that I learned about you guys, so he was somewhat useful.”
Stras, giggling, continued speaking.
“Those brats you travel with were sent to the Demon King, and it seems only you, still bound by the past, came seeking revenge like this?”
Saying he already knew well enough about your ‘party’.
“Isn't that too harsh, Toric? Sending the brats who followed you to their deaths again like that. You really haven't changed one bit, you bastard.”
“…What does a bastard like you know to babble.”
“Oh, I know well. Toric Silverhand. Just how contradictory a bastard you are.”
Suddenly, an undead approached Stras's side.
“…!”
Wearing a necklace engraved with the symbol of the Kapers.
“I want to ask if you remember this guy, but well, since you won't remember at all, it's probably a meaningless question.”
Since the face isn't remaining either.
Stras added and giggled.
“Even if it remained, would you even remember? You, who claim to protect justice but don't care in the slightest about the truly weak, being the strong one.”
“…….”
Strength gathered in Toric's hand holding the axe.
“Always, left them to die.”
Watching Toric's two hands beginning to tremble like that, Stras continued his mockery as if getting more excited.
“You will lose precious existences by your side again. Because you were blinded by the opponent in front of you and didn't care.”
With these words from Stras, the undead beside him pulled the Kapers necklace around its neck itself, snapping it.
“Don’t worry. No matter how smashed those brats get by the Demon King, I can revive them.”
Then, flames flared up in Stras's both hands.
“So together with those guys, serve me.”
In one hand, black 「Hellfire」.
“Didn't I tell you?”
In the other hand, a green flame filled with the power of necromancy.
“If you hadn't killed your wife and child with your own hands, you could have all served me together in harmony.”
“…!”
At the same time, Toric's two eyes also began to blaze with red flames.
Crackle!
Current flowed through the axe of the 「Enraged」 Toric.
“Kuaaaa──!!”
As if he couldn't hold back anymore, Toric rushed toward Stras and struck down with his axe powerfully.
Kwaang──!!
Current bursting from the struck-down axe spread in all directions.
Undead soldiers who rushed toward Toric simultaneously were swept away by the explosion of that current and pushed back as if flying.
However, Stras, who had disappeared like ‘smoke’, or precisely became smoke itself at some point, had already escaped that blow and was standing behind Toric.
『I curse thee!』
The 「Death Ray」 shot as soon as he noticed this was deflected by Toric's fierce axe swing.
Then the moment he quickly rushed in and swung his axe again.
Clang!
Steel clashed.
An undead soldier who was clearly sent flying by a direct hit of electricity rushed in as if nothing had happened and swung a large polearm.
Not stopping there, an undead soldier who rushed in together immediately thrust a spear.
Crunch!
Instead of dodging that spear, Toric snatched the middle of the shaft to stop it, then broke it in two with force just like that.
Then, swinging the axe held in one hand, he smashed the head of the undead soldier, and abruptly stabbed the broken spear into the abdomen of the undead soldier rushing in from the side.
Of course, that alone couldn't make the undead stop.
The undead soldier tried to pull out the spear deeply embedded in its abdomen.
As if not to allow this, Toric pushed with more force, but the spear blade didn't move even a little.
Seeing the appearance of that undead not being pushed back at all even by his ‘strength’, Toric became flustered for a moment.
It was general knowledge that most undead become much weaker than when they were alive.
But it was not being pushed back at all by Toric's ‘Strength’—which had reached 20, known as the limit for mortals.
“Ah, that guy.”
Seeing this, Stras spoke leisurely.
“Even when alive, he was a guy with immense strength. ‘White Wolf Mercenary Corps’, have you heard of it? He was the leader there.”
His voice was excited as if he were a child introducing his favorite toy.
The ‘White Wolf Mercenary Corps’ was a highly renowned mercenary corps active based in the North.
So if he was the leader there, it wouldn't be strange even if he possessed ‘Strength’ comparable to Toric.
But currently, he was an undead.
That was the problem.
Eventually, while he abruptly kicked it away instead of continuing to push the spear, a hammer struck down by an undead rushing from behind hit Toric's helmet hard.
Clang!
Toric staggered briefly at that blow, but quickly regained his posture and swung his axe, cutting off the neck of the undead who swung that hammer.
“That guy was a high-ranking knight of Mordan.”
Of course, just having its head fly off didn't stop its movement.
Whoosh!
Toric barely blocked the hammer striking down fiercely, cutting through the air once more by hitting it with his axe.
“Keuk…!”
At the ‘strength’ carried in that hammer, Toric furrowed his brow.
“As you all see, their strength was immense. Enough to be fully comparable to that brute strength of yours.”
Saying they are all his collection specially prepared for you, Stras distorted his pale mouth.
『I curse thee!』
Along with this, when he shot the 「Death Ray」 prepared again, Toric barely blocked it by using another undead beside him as a shield.
“Ever since you cut off my head, your friends all thought I was dead and stopped paying attention. Thanks to that, I had the leisure to study my magic more deeply.”
Looking at Toric, who had no leisure at all dealing with the undead rushing in without stopping, Stras mocked him once more.
“Now, reproducing the strength the corpses possessed in life intact like this is nothing.”
So, thank you.
“You made me, who was always weak, into a strong person like now.”
“Kuaaaa──!!”
As if to deny this, Toric let out a roar and began to spin a violent 「Whirlwind」.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The axe blade cutting through the air as if tearing it smashed the upper and lower bodies of the undead rushing toward Toric just like that, cutting them in two.
And Toric didn't miss that single moment of gap when the offensive poured by the undead stopped.
Kwaang!
The instant he stopped the 「Whirlwind」, Toric kicked off as if breaking the ground and rushed toward Stras.
Stras reached out his hand as if to respond to this, but Toric's axe was one step faster.
Slice!
The sharp axe blade mercilessly cut off Stras's neck.
Eventually, Stras's pale head fell powerlessly and rolled on the floor.
Thud, roll.
Just like in the past.
However──
“──Ha.”
Unlike back then, Stras's head burst into a scoff.
Toric raised his foot high as if to completely smash that head, mocking him, but was hit by a large iron ball flying from behind before he knew it and ended up falling on the floor.
In the meantime, Stras's body left alone picked up the head rolling on the floor.
At the same time, the undead that had been cut in two quickly returned to their original forms as if such a thing never happened and rushed toward Toric.
Although he quickly got up from his spot, due to the interference of those things approaching immediately, Toric had to just watch Stras placing his cut head back on his neck like that.
“Who would say you aren't a berserker. Since there's nothing in your head, can you not even learn?”
Putting his head back ‘together’, Stras showed a fishy smile again.
“Even if you cut my neck a hundred times, do you think I would really die?”
Then as he shot a 「Death Ray」, Toric immediately swung his axe to deflect that beam of light.
But because of that, he couldn't deflect the hammer swung together from the side.
“Keuak…!”
Eventually, hit directly, his body floating in the air was blown away by the belated shockwave.
Crack!
Toric's body, blown away like that, smashed the table it hit and was flung to the floor.
He tried to get up again propping himself up with the axe he immediately set up, but it seemed his body became very heavy due to the damage accumulated so far.
Sure enough, at the barrage of attacks poured by the undead who didn't care at all even if their bodies or necks were cut, eventually Toric knelt again.
Seeing that appearance, Stras lowered his hand trying to cast 「Death Ray」, showing a satisfied smile as if sensing his victory.
And then he slowly approached Toric, who was gasping for breath.
“Finally. That Toric Silverhand, has come to kneel before me.”
Stras reached out his hand as if to stroke Toric's head, but didn't actually touch it.
Instead, he just gestured lightly as if scanning the surroundings.
“Don’t worry. I will cherish you specially.”
It was then.
“……Me.”
Toric squeezed out a voice with great difficulty.
But even in the situation where he approached close like now, only the end part was heard properly.
“Hmm?”
Interested by this, Stras leaned his body as is and approached even closer to listen.
As if showing off that he wouldn't die even if he smashed his head that approached like that anyway.
“What did you say?”
Thanks to that, he could finally hear Toric's muttering fully.
“…Didn't I tell you.”
His words returning exactly what he had said in the past.
Stras, who didn't understand that intention, showed a puzzled reaction.
“What does a bastard like you know, to babble…!”
A moment later.
“Toric sent us to die?”
“……!”
Turning his head in the direction where a certain voice was heard.
“──No.”
Seeing the appearance of the ‘brats’ who had entered this torture chamber before he knew it.
“Yo, you bastards…!”
Until he came to understand the meaning of those words.
Held in the hand of the one grinning with raised corners of the mouth among them.
“Sent us, to kill you.”
Seeing his ‘heart’.