BXBX NOVEL Book 2: 359
Lukas forcibly suppressed his heart which seemed to want to leap out of his throat.
Standing in the centre of the clearing was a white skeleton wrapped in a ragged black cloak which rippled like a shadow.
…Diablo.
“…I think he knows we are here.”
“That’s probably the case.”
“Hmm.”
Iris made a soft sound in her throat before stepping forward into the clearing without any hesitation. Lukas followed her.
[…]
As they expected, Diablo wasn’t surprised.
He just turned his flickering eyes towards them.
“Are you pretending to be the God of Death in the moonlight? Diablo.”
[I despise the word God. Honestly, I’d prefer if you called me the Guide of Death instead.”
“Hmph.”
Iris still had a smile on her face, but her displeasure was obvious.
“It’s been a long time since we were able to meet like this.”
[That’s right. Because I didn’t want to take part in your little tea party.]
“…I’ve been trying to understand just what’s going through your head, but I can’t. So this is your chance to tell me yourself. Why the hell are you doing this? Is it a pursuit of nihilism? A desire to see the end of all life?”
[Even if I explain it, you won’t understand… None of you will ever understand.]
“You didn’t even try to explain. That’s all your own assumption. Typical lunatic logic.”
It was at this moment that Lukas muttered in a soft voice.
“Be careful.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Diablo is a thorough man. There has to be a reason why he chose to appear so openly.”
“You talk as if you know him.”
“…”
“In any case, I know that already. But this time is different. Diablo has too much confidence in his own power. It is overconfidence.”
No. That wasn’t the case at all.
Lukas was well aware of how powerful Iris was.
Black magic, demon summoning, and authority over space. While none of them were special in their own right, her level of skill with them was by no means small.
However, when it came to black magic, Diablo was no less knowledgeable than Iris was.
Her demon summoning ability would also be of no use in this situation. To be a threat to Diablo, the demon would have to at least be on par with the Lords of the Demon World, but they couldn’t be summoned since they had all died during the war with the Demigods. Several high level demons would not be enough to threaten Diablo.
And finally, her authority of space could be considered the most powerful among the group, but 9 star Wizards had some level of resistance to it… but that wasn’t all.
Part of the reason was the strange feeling that Lukas was currently experiencing which he was almost reluctant to put into words.
This was his first time facing Diablo since his return.
As he stood in front of him with his weakened body, he was suffocated by the death energy that simply exuded from Diablo’s body, and his muscles began to twitch uncontrollably.
He was strong. So strong that it instinctively filled him with a nauseated and uncomfortable feeling.
However, apart from that, there was one thing he was absolutely certain of.
‘It’s impossible that Diablo is alone.’
Although he was strong, it would have been impossible for him to defeat Snow on his own.
He was able to confirm this fact after meeting him personally.
In other words, it wasn’t ‘Diablo’ that pushed Snow to the brink of death.
In the fierce battle in the underground cave, there was a being who managed to suppress Snow.
And that being was probably…
‘Here, too.’
He was only able to prepare for what happened next because of that prediction.
In the next moment, the sound of something falling from the sky filled the clearing.
Boom!
Dirt and rock fragments, which were scattered by the impact, shot out in all directions, and a thick cloud of dust filled the clearing. (TL: Death by allergies)
In it, a lone undead slowly straightened its bent knees.
The only thing that was visible in the billowing dust was the shape and colour of its armour. The armour wrapped around its body was as black as the night sky.
Although it was clearly an undead, its death energy was very faint, almost unnoticeable.
Despite the sudden entry of another enemy, Iris’ response remained calm and accurate.
She hadn’t expected Diablo to be alone either. From the moment she stepped into the clearing, she’d been on the lookout for an ambush from the front, back, left, right, and even the ground beneath them.
Therefore, she wasn’t that surprised by the appearance of an enemy from the sky.
Srrrng.
The sound of a sword being drawn filled the clearing.
The undead, which drew its sword in an instant, then charged towards them.
It moved so fast that it could only be described as a flash of black light. The undead appeared in front of Iris in the blink of an eye.
Firstly, she tried to widen the distance between them with a space leap.
Crackle-
But her authority was stopped before it could activate.
For a moment, a puzzled expression appeared on her face.
‘…Absolute?’
The power of a 9 star Wizard.
It was a power that gave them dominion over a certain portion of space.
However, was that really enough to interfere with her own authority?
“Kuk.”
Just as Iris was about to hurriedly use a black spell, the dust settled and the undead’s face was finally revealed to them.
—And Iris froze.
“…Lucid?”
The colour quickly drained from her face.
Why the hell… was he like this?
As if oxygen stopped being supplied to her brain, Iris’ thoughts were completely paralysed.
This created a small, but nonetheless fatal, gap.
At the very least, the gap was enough for a Sword Master like Lucid to take his opponent’s life.
After that, everything happened in a blink of an eye.
Paak!
Iris felt someone push her, causing her to roll several times across the ground. Her hair, which had always been perfect, was messed up.
“Ugh…”
Staggering, Iris got to her feet.
“Were you hurt?”
She heard Lukas’ voice.
He had saved her. Her pride was bruised once again, but now was not the time to argue about that.
Iris answered with a cough.
“Yeah. Thanks. You saved my life.”
“…right.”
But at that moment, Iris felt something damp on her palm.
It was warm.
This…
‘Blood?’
Both of her palms were covered in bright red blood.
Of course, it wasn’t her blood.
Iris’ quickly raised her head.
She immediately caught sight of Lukas’ pale complexion which was no different from that of a corpse.
“…still.”
His bloodless lips trembled.
“You still dislike unexpected situations.”
“Ah…?”
His lips were stretched in a gentle, bloody smile.
The now bloodied Lukas Trowman looked into her eyes.
“…but… I’m glad you didn’t get hurt.”
And with those words, he collapsed to the ground.
(TL: Which death number is this? Anyone keeping track?)
(PS: 4 Chapters to go before you guys finally start getting the uncut chapters.)