"How dare you...!"
With the Turncoat Queen's scream, petals of bone scattered through the air.
"Oh-ho, where do you think you're going?"
["K-kindred… must… protect…"]
Turncoat Rook and Turncoat Knight blocked the Queen's path.
Under normal circumstances, they would never have been able to stand against her. But after the battle with the Bone Lord, the power gap between them had narrowed significantly.
They might not be able to guarantee victory, but they could certainly keep her occupied for a while.
"Move."
"Can't do that. If you really want through, try forcing it."
Turncoat Rook grinned savagely.
The Turncoat Queen no longer smiled.
"…Then there's no need for more words. It's a duty of elders to discipline unruly children."
"Elders? Please. I've devoured enough myself. Come on, bring it."
"My, how impudent you've become. Did you eat something bad while I wasn't looking?"
"Oh, I ate something alright. But I don't feel like it was a mistake."
"That is your mistake. And now, I'll correct it, Rook."
As bone flowers began to bloom rapidly around the Queen, Rook and Knight braced for a clash.
Meanwhile—
The dark-glinting spear remained lodged in the Turncoat King's right shoulder.
The ambush had been successful.
Evidence of that was clear: the King staggered slightly after pulling the Spear of Ankelenth from his shoulder.
"..."
Normally, that alone wouldn't have harmed him, but after absorbing a part of the Bone Lord, the evolved Spear of Ankelenth seemed to have made an impact.
Holding the spear he'd just removed, the Turncoat King gave it a cold glance and slowly spoke.
"This power… is not meant for humans."
"You were human once too, weren't you?"
"That is not my essence."
The spear in his hand disintegrated into dust.
I had reverse-summoned it before he could absorb it.
"Do you know what this power is?"
"Hmm, should I answer that?"
"So, you do know."
The King's gaze grew heavy.
"Dangerous. Both this power… and you, the human who brought about this situation."
Wooooooom…
A threatening aura began to surge from the Turncoat King.
["…He's coming. Be careful."]
'I figured.'
Just as I considered the Turncoat King a threat, he now saw me the same way.
Perhaps, from the start, one of us was fated to die.
'Prepare, Esther.'
["What kind of hell did I get dragged into with this master…!"]
Which of us would survive was unknown.
All we could do was struggle with everything we had.
[Stop?]
[Stopping. Stopping. Stopping. Stopping. Stopping. Stopping. Stopping. Stopping. Stopping. Stopping. Stopping. Stopping. Stopping. Stopping. Stopping…]
[Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come. Don't come…]
A violent ether storm howled around Esther and me.
And then, the Turncoat King struck—his massive bone tendrils forming a siege weapon came rushing toward us.
SCREECH, SCRAAATCH—!
The ether barrier caused his weapon to halt mid-air momentarily.
But only for a moment.
Click—
A Zeus-444 Railgun was already in my hands, aimed squarely at the Turncoat King.
[Lv.7]
Output level 7.
I wanted to fire at max power, but if it missed, the risk was too great. Level 7 was ideal for pressure.
'Using level 7 just to buy time… not exactly efficient…'
But this was the Turncoat King.
Even I, obsessed with efficiency, knew holding back now would be foolish.
Click—
Ammo Loaded: 120mm shape-memory shatter shell.
The trigger was pulled.
The shell collided with the King's siege weapon mid-charge and exploded.
BOOOOOM!
A cloud of white smoke—
Bone dust, from the King's shattered weapon.
The 120mm shape-memory shell was designed to be effective against regenerative targets, and sure enough, the King's bone spear failed to regenerate.
'Hmm.'
But unfortunately, the King himself remained nearly unscathed.
Even a direct hit from a level 7 Zeus-444 had only scattered a little bone dust.
That's how absurdly durable he was.
I had bought some time, but there was no chance to relax.
His next wave of attacks had already begun.
'Janus!'
[Skree!]
While I had both ether and firearms, Janus was just as important.
No—he was the main reason I'd come here in the first place.
[SKREEEE!]
With a howl, Janus mirrored the King's siege weapon.
CRACKLE!
Weapon clashed with weapon, scattering bone shards in all directions.
In the past, Janus's spear would've snapped like a twig—but now, it was managing to connect.
"You dare… imitate me?"
[Skree!]
The King roared, and thick bone tendrils began to sprout around him like spikes.
A bone armor covered in iron thorns.
It was a visual manifestation of the Turncoat King's overwhelming presence.
"Come."
"…Anytime."
Simultaneously, we clashed.
Another furious exchange began.
[DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE—!]
Ether compressed into a fist smashed into the King, but his armor didn't even flinch.
I hadn't expected it to.
Instead, I kept pulling the trigger of the Zeus-444.
[Lv.5]
Level 5 wouldn't pierce his armor, but it was enough to irritate him.
I was conserving energy—saving the highest levels for the right moment.
[Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die—!]
Esther controlled two kinds of ether:
Her own innate ether, and mine, which she could also command with permission.
Usually, she handled things on her own—but in all-out combat, she used both.
Of course, that required my permission—but now was hardly the time to refuse.
[SCREEEEE!]
Through the ether storm, Janus and the King's bone weapons clashed.
A single hit from either would be deadly.
I flew between them, using Wings of Ankelenth, the Z-74 Jetpack, and reinforced greaves.
SWISH!
SHREEEE!
Spears grazed my head, close enough to cut hair.
Janus was shielding me, so I wouldn't explode from a single hit—but each attack was still deadly.
I stretched out both hands.
Then, drawing the Spear of Ankelenth, I deflected the King's bombardment.
KAANG!
At first, I was only parrying.
But soon, it became an integrated offense and defense.
Spear against shield—each clash erupted in sparks.
'Hnn…'
Each exchange shredded my grip, my palms slick with blood.
Though it looked like I was holding my own, I was using Janus, Zeus-444, and Esther—just to stay alive.
The King was not an easy opponent.
Yet—
Even after a few exchanges, I could tell:
'He's more manageable now… compared to before.'
Back when I first faced the Turncoat King alongside the Immortal, he felt like an insurmountable wall.
A walking calamity I had no hope of defying.
But since then, Janus had devoured countless beasts and monsters.
From parts of the Immortal, to top-ranked, even higher-class enemies.
'But… even with all that, I'm still not strong enough.'
The King still had reserves of strength.
Whereas I—besides a few trump cards—was already at full power.
'And we can't keep ignoring the Bone Lord and the Church of Morte.'
For now, we were outside the Bone Lord's attention.
But he was still watching for an opportunity.
The King's restraint likely stemmed from that knowledge.
Meanwhile, the Church of Morte had already swept through the outskirts and begun advancing deeper into the Bone Lord's domain.
Clashes were inevitable.
With both the Bone Lord and the Church of Morte.
So, the only choice was: decide who to face first.
'Time to move.'
I would've liked to settle this with the King here and now—but the timing was bad.
No matter.
If the situation was spinning out of control, I would use that chaos.
'Rook, Knight.'
[Screek! Screeee!]
At Janus's ultrasonic signal, Turncoat Rook and Knight disengaged from the Queen.
The King turned to speak—but was interrupted by a sudden wave of bone tendrils from the Bone Lord.
The silent Bone Lord had begun moving again.
[ROOOOAAAAAR!]
Waves of bone surged forth.
Like a tide, devouring all in its path.
"..."
The Turncoat King, too, summoned bone armor and shields, bracing himself.
"Damn it, it's coming!"
Rook shouted and raised a bone shield—but I stopped him.
"No need."
"…What?"
Everything was ready.
Now was the moment to execute.
At last—the opportunity I'd been waiting for.
One that could flip this entire battle.
Ssssssss…
The color of Janus, and the outer armors of Rook and Knight, began to change.
Like a chameleon.
And what were they mimicking?
No one other than—
"This sensation… no way…! This crazy bastard…!"
Rook's face twisted in shock and awe as the bone wave swept across us.
CRASHHHHHH!
The sea of bones rose high, but it never touched us.
'Success.'
It was a gamble—but it worked.
We didn't block it.
We didn't dodge it.
The Bone Lord simply chose not to strike us.
["What? What just happened? Why didn't he…?"]
Esther was dumbfounded.
"It's nothing. We just… imitated."
["…Imitated? What?"]
"What do you think?"
Esther's face turned pale.
["Don't tell me—"]
"That's exactly it."
Who we mimicked had been decided from the start.
The Bone Lord.
We imitated him.
More precisely—a part of him.
===BREAK===
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