Baluka leapt onto the insect, cut across the top of its neck, then jumped over to the next insect and drove Flambeju in.
It looked extremely dangerous, but Baluka had no reason to fear death.
Karkash was surrounded by a swarm of Shaiov. His entire body was being chewed apart.
However, he too did not fear death. He did not feel pain either.
CRAAAACK!
He split a Shaiov with his axe.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
With his tail, which had all kinds of sharp things embedded in it, he swept away the Shaiov.
Even with giant insects dangling all over him, Karkash did not fall. The Shaiov’s sharp teeth and claws stabbed into him, but Karkash did not budge.
CRUNCH!
When his left arm was torn off, Karkash brought the axe in his right hand down on the head of the Shaiov that had bitten off his left arm.
CLAAANG!
The axe lodged in the Shaiov’s head.
Karkash drew in a deep breath, then swung his axe repeatedly and smashed two more heads. Then he swung his tail and sent three flying.
His entire body was torn and gouged by the insects’ teeth and claws, but Karkash did not collapse. His heart had not moved from the beginning, and his body moved only by will.
Meanwhile, Baluka moved across the insects as if dancing.
As if he grew more accustomed to hunting Shaiov as time passed, he bounded between the insects as if harvesting them.
Baluka launched himself like a spring and landed on a Shaiov’s back.
In that instant, Flambeju flashed like lightning.
SLAAASH!
The insect’s neck was severed, and red mucus sprayed. Taking advantage of that opening, Baluka leapt again.
However, the dead spirit was reaching his limit. The proof was that Baluka’s form had grown faint.
“Baluka!”
Hearing my shout, Baluka kicked off a Shaiov’s back and flew up. He looked back toward me, his expression as if he had foreseen his own future.
Baluka squeezed out the last of his strength and cut an insect’s neck, then threw Flambeju toward me with all his might.
Then Baluka was surrounded by insects. The bastards diligently worked their jaw joints to kill Baluka, from whom they could obtain not a single drop of blood or piece of meat no matter how much they chewed.
SQUELCH!
Flambeju stabbed into the ground at my feet.
The moment I picked him up, I murmured a necromantic secret art.
“O dead spirit who has crossed the threshold of death, O vengeful soul who yearns for life. O Viceroy lurking at the boundary. Here, I command you: become the shadow of a world filled with light. Necromantic secret art, Spirit Invocation!”
I immediately called back Baluka, whom I had sent off to the afterlife.
As long as I paid enough blood as the price, Baluka could be summoned any number of times.
―Thank you, Master!
Baluka smiled brightly, looking satisfied, and I held out a pair of daggers to him.
Flambeju in my hand changed into his usual longsword form. Unlike before, the incantation of the necromantic secret art was engraved into the blade.
The Restriction of Perception secret art had been engraved into Flambeju. From now on, no matter whose hand held him, the Restriction of Perception would activate along with it.
“Protect me, Baluka.”
―Yes! Master!
Even by then, Karkash had not died.
His torn-off left arm had even regenerated, and he was swinging his axe with both hands.
Life Force Absorption!
If the Restriction of Perception had been engraved into Flambeju, Life Force Absorption had been engraved into Grok Naal.
Every time Karkash bit into a Shaiov that was vividly alive and rampaging, his wounds recovered rapidly and vitality sprang up.
Shaiov corpses overflowed in every direction. I pushed into them and shouted,“Abdul, collect the corpses and return to your world!”
Abdul ran into the extremely dangerous battlefield. A black membrane covered his body, and perhaps thanks to that, he blocked a Shaiov’s headbutt.
After storing the corpses lined up everywhere in the Dead-Spirit Realm, Abdul vanished.
Now that I had confirmed the Shaiov’s spore attacks did not work, there was no reason to fear them. However, the Poison Goblins were wary of Shaiov.
“Karkash!”
Karkash glanced back this way, then swung his tail broadly and drove back the Shaiov swarm. Then he ran straight toward me.
I climbed onto Karkash’s shoulder and shouted,“Run to the Poison Goblin settlement!”
―Run! Master!
Karkash ran without hesitation. Fast as he was, however, he was not as fast as the Shaiov.
The bastards flew in with buzzing sounds and annoyed me.
Red solid lines!
The lines repeatedly appeared and vanished from moment to moment. It was because their movements were quick.
‘I can see them.’
The important thing was that they were opponents on whom I could see solid lines.
Their thin shells could not block Flambeju.
SLAAAAASH!
Even if I did not create a trajectory along the solid line, the Shaiov’s bodies would surely split apart.
Even if they did not die right away, they would only fall to the ground, flail, and remain alive for a short while.
The bastards charged to kill me, and those creatures grazed past me and fell. Some part of their bodies had been cut.
From that point on, it was a chase and a pursuit.
Fortunately, the Shaiov were persistent. They did not give up avenging their kin.
To provoke the Shaiov, Baluka even ran while dragging along an insect that was still alive.
How long had we run?
“Kieeeek!”
The squawking cries of Poison Goblins could be heard.
―A human! An intruder!
Piiiiiiiii!
The sound of a horn rang out.
A Poison Goblin sentry had informed its kin of my approach.
However, they could not come near me.
Because of the spores filling the area around me.
Using barbarians against barbarians!
It meant repelling barbarians with barbarians.
Few things could be as beneficial to humans as defeating monsters that threatened humanity with other monsters.
“We’re almost there! Push on, Karkash!”
―Push on! Karkash!
Karkash did not tire, but for some reason, his speed was gradually falling.
It seemed his body was under strain.
“Baluka, throw that!”
When Baluka threw the Shaiov in his hand, Karkash caught it and put it in his mouth.
CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
Each time Karkash chewed, the Shaiov convulsed. It was because it was still alive.
Once it soon went limp, Karkash tossed the corpse aside as if he had gotten everything he needed.
Having finished Life Force Absorption, Karkash seemed filled with strength and sped up again.
“We’re here! It’s the Poison Goblin settlement!”
Goblins filled the area around the tall fence. Gripping spears, they were covered in animal hides and blood. It seemed they had devised their own measures to resist the spores.
The number of Poison Goblins looked to be at least 500.
It was a number that seemed double that of the Shaiov.
The spores struck the Goblin settlement first, and the Orcs began opening their eyes wide one by one. They breathed roughly, then rolled their eyes back and began swinging their spears wildly.
They had begun seeing hallucinations.
Having arrived at the Goblin settlement along with the spores, I summoned Abdul Alhazard.
“Necromantic secret art, Spirit Invocation!”
Abdul, who had grown considerably younger, appeared with his back straight, and I ordered him.
“Can you store this fence in the Dead-Spirit Realm?”
―A clever plan, Master.
Abdul Alhazard smiled faintly, then struck the tall fence with his staff.
Then the bundle of wood occupying one corner of the fence vanished abruptly.
It was making use of the Dead-Spirit Realm’s characteristic of being able to store anything as long as it was not a living being and there was enough space.
In only a few attempts, Abdul erased around 10 meters of fence, but no Goblin charged at him to catch him.
It was because of the thickly spread spores.
“Take out the stored fence, throw it away, and pull out more of the parts stuck in the ground!”
Abdul faithfully followed my order. He was stripping away the protective facility absolutely necessary when fighting the Shaiov.
The Shaiov swarm infiltrated through the wide-open gap.
The bastards who had chased us chewed the heads of the Goblins rampaging in madness and drove their claws into their torsos.
That was when it happened.
WHOOOOOSH!
A wind blew in and pushed away the spores. Along with it, crimson energy swept over the Poison Goblin group.
―It is a Goblin shaman! Master, find and eliminate the shaman first!
Flambeju advised me, and I threw Flambeju to Baluka as I ordered,“Kill the Poison Goblins!”
Right now, the more evenly the two forces matched each other, the more advantageous it was for me. I simply had to work to maintain an appropriate tension between them.
Because Baluka and Karkash had greatly reduced the Poison Goblins’ numbers, the Shaiov became overwhelmingly advantaged.
“Pick out only the Shaiov and kill them!”
When even I joined in and hunted the Shaiov, the Goblin force’s defensive posture became considerably sturdier.
In intelligence, the Poison Goblins were overwhelmingly superior to the Shaiov. When we attacked the Shaiov, they immediately changed their stance and stopped attacking us.
“Abdul, you may use these corpses!”
―I was waiting for your order, Master.
Abdul Alhazard picked up the Necronomicon and hurled it with all his strength without a moment’s hesitation.
When the Necronomicon burrowed between the piles of corpses, extended its tentacles, and began sucking blood, Abdul drove his staff into the ground.
Black energy that began from the end of the staff spread out in a circle, and before long, it encroached upon the surroundings.
Poison Goblins floundered in the ground that had become sticky like a swamp, but their numbers were not great.
Perhaps the Shaiov felt unease as well, because they did not dare approach Abdul.
That was when it happened.
Before I knew it, dusk had settled.
No, night had not come.
It was, literally, a dusk that rose from the ground.
The sticky ground hardened, but something even more dangerous burst out from within it.
Black tentacles shot up and stabbed the Shaiov and Poison Goblins.
What looked like shadows was a condensed mass of magic power. Whenever it touched a Shaiov, an explosion erupted, and the bastards convulsed and fell.
Abdul Alhazard had used a necromantic secret art.
―Necromantic Secret Art: Tendrils of Black Darkness
Pierces enemies with spears of magic power and makes the magic power rampage, causing it to explode. A high-level secret art that causes not only physical damage, but also spiritual impact, shaking even the soul. It also requires blood sacrifices, and each tentacle moves according to the user’s will.
It consumed all the blood of the corpses we had gathered so far, but the effect was certain.
Spears of magic power rising from black ground that looked like a giant hole pierced the monsters.
And the Poison Goblins, sensing death, tried to use their final measure.
They began scattering poison mist comparable to the Shaiov’s spores.
Spores and mist swirled, and I hurriedly picked up the Necronomicon.
What the effect of the Achievement could block was hallucination. And the Necronomicon absorbed negative things such as poisons and diseases.
Sure enough, every bit of the Poison Goblins’ poison mist that touched me vanished.
However, the Shaiov were swept up in the poison mist and their movements dulled, and one by one, some began falling because they could no longer flap their wings.
Amid that chaos, the wind that had been pushing away the spores abruptly stopped.
―Done! The shaman has been killed! You massacrer bastard, you are useful at times like this!
Baluka had used Flambeju to split the Poison Goblin shaman vertically in half.