Chapter 46

Ch . 46: Starting Battle

Shaynas body floated above the altar, with the hem of her dress swaying .

Her shining golden hair that was full of youth earlier before, lost its glow and was now looked cold and lackl . u . s . ter .

Her half-opened eyes were vacant and unfocused, and from her small, weakly open mouth sounded an unpleasant moaning that would make one plug his or her ears .

White mist continued to seep out of her pale, sickly looking skin, and it flowed along Shaynas body and onto the altar, then to the ground .

The object on her chest that had been releasing a blinding light was now emitting a faint, hazy glow, which gave Loren a bubbly sensation on his skin .

Ahhthis, this is the work of my masterunmistakably, the true king of the dead

Shutels voice quivered, most likely due to her joy .

Since she was already undead, she couldnt feel what Loren, who was still living, was feeling from Shayna .

This is the worst . Yes, definitely the worst .

As Lapis took a step back, like she was getting pushed back by Shaynas presence, grinding her teeth, Shutel announced triumphantly with her voice still quivering from her joy .

This is the end! The time has come, when everything will bow down to the great works of my master!

Youre making it sound like a single > is going to end the worldWell, if something like this is ma . s . s produced, maybe that might happen, but there is a flaw in your thinking .

Shayna, who was now a No Life King, didnt look like she was going to start moving anytime soon .

Lapis raised a finger and pointed it at Shutel while standing a few steps behind Loren, who had his great sword raised and facing Shayna despite being a . s . saulted by a chill that sent shivers down his spine .

Flaw? What are you even?

Thats!

Lapis lowered her finger as she raised her voice and interrupted Shutel .

As Shutel stopped talking unthinkingly at Lapis loud voice, Lapis took the opening to point out the fact to her .

The existence that appeared here is definitely a > . But about this > . Is this a being that is controllable in any way?

What?

Looking at Shutel, who responded with confusion, Lapis became certain of one fact .

But it was a useless fact for them, and at the same time a very crucial problem for Shutel .

Please dont tell me that you summoned a > in an uncontrollable state .

T-thatsNo, but the > should only target living beings like you! Im already undead so

Oh ok . I got it . Youre a braindead idiot!

Shutels face turned blank at Lapis sudden cursing, even forgetting to get mad .

Lapis then followed up in an even louder voice and pointed at Shayna .

That over there is a >! It is the highest ranking undead that drags everything in this world into death and reigns over it as its king! Theres no way an undead with free will like you will be allowed to exist!

Whahh!?

In dismay, Shutel took two, three steps back from the No Life King floating next to her and glanced up at Shayna .

Coincidently, her gaze met the hollow eyes of Shayna .

Eeek!?

Shutel let out a small cry .

She was an undead so she shouldnt feel any fear, but her body was tense with definite fear and while she was frozen in place, Shayna slowly raised her hand towards her .

Stop! Im

She didnt get the chance to finish her sentence .

As soon as Shaynas attention focused on Shutel, something that looked like white flames erupted from Shutels feet and then engulfed her body .

When the flames disappeared, Shutel had a blank expression that was void of any will at all .

She was bowing down, as if she were a subject bowing before the authority of a king, and from her mouth was a growl that sounded nothing like words . The yellow fog around her body disappeared, and she stopped emitting it as well .

Unbelievable . She drained the wights power and turned it into an ordinary zombie .

What can we even do about that thingwait, does that mean I have to kill Shayna?

Loren understood that his opponent was the highest ranking undead > .

But it still looked like Shayna, and when he asked himself if he could raise his sword against it, he was at a loss of words .

If you could cut it down, I would like for you to do it, but our opponent is a > you know? It has multiple layers of magic and physical defenses and has a constant energy drain field around its body . If you can manage to kill ituh, wait, umm?

Lapis stopped talking and started thinking, but before she could finish, the zombie that was Shutel sensed them and climbed over the altar towards them .

In the situation that an enemy came towards them and was trying to grab onto them, Loren swung his great sword and cut it into two, slantwise from its shoulder .

c . r . a . p! It faced this way!

His action caught the attention of Shayna and her hollow gaze was now facing Loren, and raised her palm, as she did with Shutel moments before .

Loren guessed that if he got hit with the white flames, he would turn into a zombie as well, so he quickly dashed towards the side to dodge what was coming .

At the same time Lapis darted in the opposite direction of Loren to try to throw off Shaynas aim .

>

White flames burst from the ground that Loren stood on a heartbeat before .

Seeing that the flames disappeared without catching Loren, Shayna, still above the altar, slowly turned and started chasing after Loren with her gaze .

Loren understood that as soon as he stopped the flames would come for him again, so he continued to run, stepping to the left and right, trying not to run in a straight line . Shayna seemed have found out Lorens motive, as she moved her lips to form a different word .

>

She lightly waved her hand and flames erupted from it, flying towards Loren in the shape of a fan .

Loren dodged it by leaping backwards in a hurry, but by doing so he lost all the distance he had slowly been gaining on her .

I cant get close! Being able to cut her down or not isnt even the problem here!

Dont you have any knives left!?

I used them all up on the zombies!

NuuuLost ones, return to where you belong . >

Lapis groaned and then used an exorcism spell . Shaynas body glowed for a moment, but immediately disappeared, and it didnt look like she took any damage at all . She didnt even try to face Lapis, but instead was focused on Loren, who was zig zagging his way towards her .

Of course, it would get resistedIt didnt even tickle her .

Maybe you dont have enough faith!?

If theres a priest who could exorcise a >, bring one here right now!

As soon as Lapis shouted, she dove away, and white flames erupted where she had stood .

Shayna wasnt looking at Lapis, but she knew she was there .

She tried to attack Lapis when she was caught off guard, so she pulled a feint, looking at Loren while attacking her, but Lapis wasnt an ordinary being either .

Stones of red, strike the enemy >

The spell that Lapis used while dodging shot four bullets made of fire from her fingers, and all of them hit Shayna in the face .

It was an attack that wouldve seriously injured a person, but when the flames cleared, Lapis saw that it didnt even leave a burn on Shaynas face and growled .

I guess an elementary cla . s . s spell wont even leave a mark .

As Lapis muttered under her breath, Shayna looked away from Loren and faced her, finally acknowledging that she was an obstacle .

As Shayna slowly raised her palm towards Lapis, Lapis stood still and looked straight back at her with a sly smile .

Are you sure? That its okay to look away from him?

The moment that her attention moved away from him .

There was no way Loren would miss such an opportunity .

Shayna was in the middle of launching an attack on Lapis as well, so he dashed straight towards her, knowing that this was his only chance to close in .

You can hate me for this!

Loren brought his great sword down from over his head, straight onto Shaynas forehead, but the blade couldnt capture her .

It was because Shayna sensed Lorens attack and leaped down from the altar, whilst casting > at Lapis . Lorens attack caught the hem of her dress and crashed down onto the altar, destroying it .

Lapis!

Loren continued with a scooping stroke from under, but Shayna dodged it again .

But Loren was determined to stick close to her and went in for another strike, but he saw Lapis being engulfed in white flames, and shouted in surprise .

Im fine! One hit wont do anything to me .

When the flames died, although she was breathing heavily, Lapis wasnt turned into an undead .

It was an attack that even a wight succ . u . mbed to, but if she was able to withstand it, didnt that mean Lapis was tougher than a wight? The thought crossed through Lorens mind for a moment, but his body was still moving to keep within attacking range of Shayna, launching strike after strike with his great sword .

Loren be careful! What shes using isnt magic so theres no need for her to chant spells! The attacks will come suddenly!

Isnt that impossible to be careful of?

Currently Shayna was raising her palm before she attacked, but according to Lapis that wasnt a necessary action, so if she stopped doing that, there was no way for Loren to know that an attack was coming .

Rather than that, Loren thought bitterly .

It was hard to believe that Shayna had battle experience, but Loren was astonished at the fact that she evaded all his blows .

He guessed that since she was a > her physical abilities would be considerable, but her dodging his every attack whilst floating made it feel like he was fighting against smoke or a heat haze, and although he was keeping her down, Loren felt panic slowly rising inside .

Loren! Aim here!

Lapis voice reached his ears .

While continuing his attack, Loren faced Lapis and saw that she was pointing at her chest .

The place where its glowing! Normal > dont have anything like that! Im not sure what will happen, but its worth a shot!

It was where the > had been .

Although it was feeble, there was a light coming from Shaynas chest, and Loren wondered whether he should do as Lapis said, but when the No Life King heard what Lapis said, it reflexively covered its chest with its hand . Seeing that, Loren decided what to do .

Youve seen a regular > before? Well, seems that Lapis is right and aiming for it is worth a shot .

Of course, there was no response from the No Life King .

Instead, still covering the glowing part with its arm, faced Loren with its hollow gaze and let out a sharp screech .

It was loud enough to make Loren want to cover his ears, but if he did it would mean that he would have to stop attacking and would give the No Life King an opening to recover .

Loren decided that he should endure it and keep attacking, but then he felt a strange sensation in his arms and legs, making them heavy and sluggish, slowing him down and slowing his attacks as well .

Loren! The > strengthened its energy drain! If we dont hurry it will overcome the protection that I cast on you!

So, were running out of time

He had to strike the chest of an opponent that he couldnt even land a single blow on until now, so Loren didnt have time to consider his options .

He decided that he didnt care if he blacked out later, and he heard a click in the corner of his mind, like a piece fitting into place .