KEH-KEH-KEH. GRRRAAAGH.
The zombies struck by the flames stood in place and made incomprehensible noises.
Unable to control their burning bodies, they flailed wildly.
But the ghoul was different.
It continued swinging its sickle-like claws at the tree, unconcerned that the thin hide covering its back was burning.
SLASH—!
SLASH—!
But the tree binding the man did not budge.
In the meantime, all the flesh on the ghoul’s body burned away.
Unlike a skeleton, the ghoul’s remaining bones were noticeably thick in several places.
Terlo’s eyes widened slightly as he watched.
‘Its flesh….’
It’s growing back?
The process was slow, but the gaps between its bones were clearly filling in.
The zombies had already burned away completely.
Terlo thought he understood why his skeletons’ attacks had produced so little effect.
‘It could regenerate.’
Only weakly, but still….
It possessed both remarkable mobility and regeneration.
The ghoul before him was undeniably appealing.
Terlo recalled the moment the ghoul and zombies had been summoned.
The instant when the man’s dark mana and mental strength had intertwined.
‘I might be able to do it if I imitate that.’
But that was as far as he allowed his thoughts to wander.
He could not test it immediately.
Had he not learned by now that lowering his guard was forbidden at any moment?
To finish the ghoul, he would need to strike it with enough force that it could no longer regenerate.
‘That spear might be enough.’
The long, sharp black spear he had seen inside More’s building.
If he used that, he should be able to deal a decisive blow.
But the spear left enormous traces behind.
‘I should avoid using anything that leaves obvious evidence.’
That would be safer.
Even if he did not use it now, another opportunity would come.
Terlo sensed that it was time to finish things.
He was about to cast Connect on the sword-wielding skeleton when—
“…I was going to take it easy, but you’ve gone too far. Forget the credit. I’m killing you.”
A voice filled with murderous intent reached him.
The man bound by the tree had stopped moving.
‘He’s dead.’
Terlo had not intended to kill him from the beginning.
But the unexpected appearance of the ghoul had forced him to reveal a great deal.
It could not be helped.
If they were captured by Hook’s side and talked, it would create many problems.
As Terlo looked at the dead man, the other one screamed furiously,
“Tear him to pieces!”
SKREEEEEE—!
The ghoul turned and began running on all fours.
Watching it charge, Terlo considered testing one more thing.
He wanted to cast Connect not on one of his own skeletons, but on his opponent’s ghoul.
Black forms had been visible beside the ghoul and zombies from the beginning.
He had refrained from using Connect only because there had been two opponents.
If Terlo had revealed that he could control the ghoul, the dead man would not have stood by and watched without acting.
‘But can I control someone else’s summon?’
<Connect.>
Terlo linked himself to the black form beside the ghoul.
Then he teleported behind the man who had summoned it.
WHOOSH—
‘Since I’m testing it, I might as well do it properly.’
Could an undead harm the summoner who had called it forth?
No matter how Terlo controlled the ghoul’s hands and feet, the man before him was still the one who could command it.
What would happen when the ghoul came face-to-face with its own summoner?
“Do you think hiding behind me will save you?!”
SKREEEE—!
Just before the ghoul lunged, the man teleported to the side.
Terlo and the man continued teleporting around the rampaging ghoul.
The two appeared and disappeared in turns several times.
The scene looked almost like a game of tag.
It was an extremely bothersome method, but….
It was the best way to bring the ghoul and its summoner face-to-face.
After several more exchanges—
‘Got you.’
Terlo and the man appeared at the same time.
Having identified the man’s pattern, Terlo had moved one step ahead.
As the man tried to teleport again, Terlo caught him from behind with a whip.
SWISH—!
“You worthless bastard!”
At that moment, the ghoul kicked off the ground and charged.
Still cursing Terlo, the man rapidly created a dagger.
Rather than stopping the ghoul, he seemed intent on cutting himself free before it arrived.
That would increase the chance of Terlo being attacked instead.
But the thick whip was not as easy to sever as he expected.
“Damn it!”
The ghoul stopped dead just before reaching them.
The man seemed to have ordered it to stop so that he would not be struck as well.
At the same time, he twisted around and drove the dagger down toward Terlo.
“Diiiiie—! Ghk…!”
But the attack struck the shield Terlo had placed around himself in advance.
Instead, the ghoul’s claws pierced through the man’s stomach.
The man vomited blood and stared down at his abdomen with a trembling expression.
“Cough… Wh-What is this…?”
‘So I can still control it even after he orders it to stop.’
That meant once Terlo regained his full ability, he would be able to control an opponent’s summons however he wished.
As Terlo gained this new understanding—
SQUELCH!
“Ghhk…!”
The ghoul pulled its claws from its summoner’s stomach.
That was not Terlo’s doing, but the man’s direct command.
The man staggered, then sank to the ground.
Gritting his teeth, he glared at Terlo.
“…I’m not… dying alone. Ghk.”
It was an injury that could have dropped him at any moment.
Yet he was not merely enduring it. He was still maintaining the ghoul’s summoning.
His mental strength was truly remarkable.
‘Can he still make it attack?’
Moving a summon required even more mental strength than maintaining it.
As Terlo watched, the ghoul began running while scattering blood across the ground.
SKREEEEEE—!
It was clearly slower than before.
Even so, its ferocity remained unchanged.
The man continued glaring with blood spilling from his mouth.
‘It feels almost wasteful to finish him like this.’
Terlo had intended to kill him and leave because of the time.
But would attacking someone who endured this much not be unfair?
It was only proper to answer undead with undead.
After a moment’s thought, Terlo released Connect from the ghoul.
Then—
‘Target its torso with the sword! Use Black Ball on its limbs!’
[Sword. Torso. Limbs. Black Ball.]
He connected himself to the sword-wielding skeleton.
He ordered the remaining skeleton to assist.
The connected skeleton moved to block the ghoul’s path.
CLATTER!
The ghoul swung its claws.
But the skeleton’s sword stopped them.
The skeleton knocked the claws aside, twisted its sword, and cut across the ghoul’s torso.
Then it created a black sphere against the ghoul’s other incoming arm.
‘Create some distance and fire!’
The skeleton threw itself sideways.
At the same moment, the sphere struck the ghoul’s arm.
Attacks after Connect clearly had an effect.
The ghoul held its wounded left arm still and began running on three limbs.
SKREEEEEE—!
‘Now fire in its torso!’
Still lying down, the skeleton created another sphere and launched it.
WHOOM—
THUD!
Unable to evade, the ghoul was driven backward.
As it braced itself against the force, its long claws carved marks across the ground.
‘Run!’
At Terlo’s command, the skeleton sprang to its feet and charged.
The ghoul raised its right arm while being pushed back and flicked its tongue.
But an attack made while it was still sliding posed little threat.
The assisting skeleton’s black magic struck the arm hard enough to knock it aside.
In that opening, the sword flashed toward the ghoul.
SWISH—!
The ghoul’s tongue dropped to the ground.
Then—
FWOOSH—!
With the hand opposite the one holding its sword, the skeleton created a flame and fired it.
The black-burning flames filled the ghoul’s mouth.
Smoke leaked out with them.
KRA-KRA-KRAK!
Its vision clouded, the ghoul shook its head at unnatural angles.
Its movements resembled those of something broken.
The man controlling the ghoul also had unfocused eyes, the life rapidly fading from them.
‘Is that the end?’
Only the finishing blow remained when murmuring arose nearby.
The delay had apparently allowed reinforcements to arrive.
Judging by the noise, there seemed to be a considerable number of them.
‘Damn it.’
Terlo withdrew the tree wrapped around the dead man.
The corpse fell to the ground with a thud, and the other man visibly wavered.
He was nearly dead himself, but there was no telling what might happen.
‘Someone might still be able to save him.’
Terlo attacked him without hesitation.
It was not the conclusion he wanted, but it could not be helped.
The man collapsed weakly beneath the attack.
“There he is!!”
The arriving group spotted Terlo.
‘The two bosses at the front, and….’
How many of them are there?
As expected, there were far more than one or two.
It was already too late to leave unnoticed.
‘I should’ve gone earlier.’
But even if he returned to that moment, Terlo would make the same choice.
The man’s mental strength had been too impressive to ignore.
‘Now that it’s come to this….’
I’ll have to escape through the shopping district.
<Teleport.>
A little farther ahead lay a crowded street.
Its confusion and complexity would make it easier to lose his pursuers.
The problem was that Ina’s organization members were there.
‘Are they fighting the gangs by now?’
It would be troublesome if everything had already been settled.
For Terlo, it was better if they were still in the middle of fighting.
That way, they would pay a little less attention to their surroundings.
Even so, the noisy group following behind made it likely he would draw notice.
‘I don’t know whether I can get out without being seen.’
Terlo began considering every possible situation.
What if he ran directly into Ina’s organization members?
What if he escaped without meeting them, but someone saw him?
What if he escaped unseen, but his pursuers went around describing his appearance?
Any of those would be enough to arouse suspicion.
He could simply deny everything, but was Hook the sort of man who would let it go easily?
He would likely decide there was something more and investigate relentlessly.
‘That would become troublesome.’
It would not necessarily be bad if Hook learned about Ben or the preservation potion.
They could work together as they had when capturing More.
The problem was that Terlo’s actions would become restricted.
In front of Hook, he was still performing the role of an incomplete genius.
It was too early to abandon that role when he was not yet certain he could defeat Hook.
While teleporting, Terlo noticed a side road branching away.
‘It’s probably still too risky.’
He did not know how far Raunz and Basley had traveled.
Rather than take that risk now, it would be better to accept the inconvenience.
Having decided that, Terlo turned his gaze forward again.
Before long, people appeared in the distance.
‘I’m almost there.’
Resigned, Terlo looked back at the pursuers.
The two bosses at the front began shouting curses, demanding that he stop.
Terlo wondered whether their throats did not hurt from yelling so loudly.
Then—
‘Wait. Come to think of it, I’m being chased.’
And they don’t know why I was there in the first place.
After considering the situation from several angles, Terlo realized there was no need to leave the shopping district at all.
The problem could be solved simply by remaining inside.
‘And there’s no reason Ina’s side can’t see me….’
I can just join them like this, can’t I?