novelWhen I Met Someone Who Was Dead (3)
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Chapter 38 - When I Met Someone Who Was Dead (3)
Amongst the party, Azell was the only one who wasn't intimidated. He asked a question towards the black haired woman with a confused expression on his face.
"Why are you wasting your mental power in disguising yourself as a human? Do you hold some attachment to looking like a human?"
"... what are you saying, Sir Azell?"
Arrieta was surprised, so she looked at Azell. However, Azell didn't answer her. He just stared at the black haired woman.
The black haired woman also showed a hint of surprise.
"That is surprising. You are the first human to see through my disguise."
"It seems you haven't met that many humans before... Is my guess wrong?"
"Hoo hoo. I heard you are a genius in getting on other people's nerves. I guess they were right."
"Don't think of it as a compliment, you of the Dragon Demon race."
"Dragon Demon race?"
Arrieta was surprised. As if she couldn't believe it, Arrieta looked at the black haired woman. No matter how much she looked at her she only possessed a strong magical energy. She didn't feel any Dragon Demon magic emanating from her.
However, Azell was sure the enemy was disguising her looks.
Azell had trained his Dragon Demon Magic through the Dragon Slayer's ritual, and in the process of training his Dragon Demon Magic, he had attained the 'Eye of Truth'. He was able to see through every illusions.
'Since it is still working, the technique hasn't disappeared even if I lost my Dragon Demon Magic. '
The 'Eye of Truth' wasn't a special ability. It was a state one could also reach through Spirit Order. Even if one didn't train in Dragon Demon Magic, one could train and pursue the Absolute Sense to achieve this technique. Of course, once one reaches this stage, it wouldn't just disappear.
She spoke.
"My name is Niberis."
At the same time, her appearance started to go through a change.
Two black horns grew on top of her ears. Like Arrieta's horns, it looked like an item crafted from glass. However, her two horns curved towards the sky, and it looked menacing. Moreover, her ears were much longer and pointier than a Dragon Demon. On the back of her hand, a red Dragon Demon stone emitting a bright light appeared.
That was it. Dragon Demons and human weren't that different in appearance. This was the same for those from the Dragon Demon race. However, one could tell at a glance that she wasn't human.
At the same time, the feel of the magical wave completely changed.
It was a power that could control the reality through one's will. It was the Dragon Demon magic.
"You, whose name is seeped in sin, should be honored at hearing my name. As you enter the road into the after-life, this is my present to you, but it is probably too expensive of a gift for you."
"Ho-oh."
Azell's eybrows lifted.
"It really drives home the fact that I've met someone from the Dragon Demon race when I listen to your rude words."
"Hoo hoo. You have experience fighting someone of the Dragon Demon race? Well, just by looking at how you speak, you probably are experienced at running away in fright......."
"I'm experienced in killing them."
Niberis closed her mouth when Azell spoke in an indifferent manner. She furrowed her eyebrows.
"You are a worthless sinner yet you have a big mouth."
"Well, I don't care if you believe me or not. No, I insist you don't. Just keep thinking I'm lying. You can come to your senses after you die."
"Hoot."
Niberis laughed. However, her anger was contained within it.
Kwa-roo-roong! Kwa-roong!
In the next moment, lightning struck. The blue lightning strike poured towards Azell, and a cloud of dust rose into the air.
Arrieta was dismayed.
'Too fast!'
No spells were used. Moreover, she barely showed signs of using magic, so she couldn't even properly detect it.
So how was she able to use such a strong magic?
However, something more surprising happened in the next moment.
"Kee-ehhhhhhk!"
"Koo-ahhhk!"
The screams rang out from close by?
Arrieta looked around in surprise. Before she knew it, Azell had traveled across the darkness, and he was already within the midst of the monster, who were maintaining the perimeter. No one had thought he would ambush them like this, so the monster fell in droves.
Niberis raged.
"You dare ignore me!"
Azell didn't even answer her. He used his Instantaneous movement to crisscross the terrified monsters as he delivered deathblows!
From the darkness, he appeared like a faintly visible ghost. One could see his afterimage as he repeatedly appeared and disappeared. Before his after image disappeared, the monsters' blood flew into the air. The monsters collapsed as if they were drowning from the beads of blood raining down on them.
Niberis raged at his attitude. He had completely ignored her.
"How dare you!"
She casted her magic. At a glance, one could tell it was a powerful magic.
"You, who aren't affiliated with the darkness, should die."
The ground lightly shook, then a wave of darkness started to spread. It was a powerful curse aimed towards a person that fulfills a specific condition. This allowed one to kill only one's target when enemies and allies were all mixed together in a jumble. The spreading wave of darkness stopped expanding at a certain point, then it quickly converged on a single point. Of course, its target was Azell.
Arrieta shouted out a warning.
"Look out!"
At the same time, she activated her Dragon Demon Magic and she tried to cut the wave of curse closing the distance towards Azell. However, Niberis' attack ignored her attack as if it was a hallucination.
"You are a Dragon Demon, who doesn't know about the true strength of magic. Yet you dare point your dirty sword towards me?"
Niberis taunted Arrieta.
At the same time, Azell snorted.
"This is it?"
Pooh-hwahhhhhk!
From within the darkness, a gruesome sound of destruction rang out. Seven fountain of blood shot into the air, and seven monsters fell as they lost their lives.
The curse struck and exploded on the culprit, who was causing death.
Ooh-oong.......
However, nothing happened.
Niberis was dismayed.
"What?"
She didn't make a mistake. Her curse was perfect.
It was a magic she had used to kill many high level Spirit Order practitioner up until now!
Azell looked up at her with indifferent eyes.
"Look here. For a change, I thought I had come across the real deal. However, it seems I have come across a cub, who learned a little bit of technique. You were being so overbearing with only this much skill?"
"What... did you say?"
Niberis' voice shook from anger.
She had never been ignored all her life. At the Plains of Darkness, every one of her instructors praised her as a genius, and she had easily dispatched any humans or Dragon Demons she had come across on her missions. Yet a mere human, whose magic didn't look too strong, was ignoring her!
She was about to attack on an impulse, but Niberis stopped herself.
'What method did he use?'
Even though she was considered young amongst the Dragon Demon race, she was still a high level magician with a good deal of battle experience under her belt. She used her powerful self-control to reign in her impulse then she used her cold judgement.
'It is a method I have yet to come across. However... If he was a high ranked Spirit Order practitioner, then he probably has techniques that could rival great magical spells. '
Spirit Order practitioners were basically warriors. It was easy to see them as simple brutes, but their techniques focused on their mind and senses instead of the physical body. This is why their techniques were as diverse and profound as magic.
After she regained her countenance, Niberis spoke.
"... it is as Regina had said. I cannot tell where the floor is with this man."
"I thought you would give into your impulse and go on a rampage. It seems you aren't too green, Miss."
"If one meets an enemy one can't comprehend.... One has to get a taste of them first."
Niberis spoke.
When she raised her hand, the darkness vibrated.
Woowoowoowoowoo...... !
Azell clicked his tongue when he saw this.
'Chet. Was I too obvious? I mad a mistake. '
He had made a mistake. He wanted Niberis to get angry, so she would show her weakness. At the same time, he wanted to decrease the number of monsters, so he attacked them. However, his avoidance of the curse magic caught her attention, and now it much have awakened her sense of caution.
The barrier technique Azell had used was simple. Niberis' technique destroyed those 'who aren't affiliated with darkness'. He materialized Darkness energy, and he surrounded himself with it.
Of course, it sounded simple, but it wasn't a technique anyone could do. During the Dragon Demon war, he learned how to materialize his magical energy into magic. Then he had learned a technique that was capable of changing the attribute of the magic to anything he wanted.
'If she found out how I did it, it wouldn't be a problem... This is getting dangerous. I should be fine, but the others.... '
He continued to make fun of her, but Niberis wasn't an easy opponent. She had cut them off from the outside for a radius of several hundred meters. She had created a magical domain only she could use. Even if she had prepared this beforehand, this required a massive amount of magical energy. However, he couldn't see any signs of strain from her.
At that moment, Niberis spoke the words he had been worried about.
"Go block the man with the name soaked in sin. I'll capture the Dragon Demon princess first."
Then Niberis flicked her fingers.
"He might be too much for you all, so I'll give you a helper."
A dense evil energy that made one's blood freeze swept across the floor. Then it started gathering the dead corpses of the monsters in one location.
When he saw this, Azell's eyes widened.
'Maybe this is....... '
It was as he feared.
The corpses were dragged into the center, and a ripple of purple light was expelled. Then a swamp of darkness appeared.
The color of the swamp was something that couldn't exist naturally in this world. The corpse of the monsters continued to be dragged within, and they became part of the swamp.
Googoogoogoogoo.......
As the ground shook, a figure of a giant started rising up from inside the swamp. It was made out of pitch black darkness, but a purple colored flame burned across its entire body. It was a bizarre being. The awareness of this unrealistic difference made one feel extremely repulsed. It made one's chest feel uncomfortable.
"You raised a corrupted being. It seems you are a pretty accomplished black magician."
Azell tensed.
This was a Great Magic even a high level black magicians couldn't easily use.
He guessed she had prepared the spell beforehand for a situation like this. Still, if one wanted use it as easily as Niberis, one had to possess a massive amount of magic, and the quality of the magician casting it had to be very high.
The pain and regret left by the dead, and the corrupted energy created by death was used as foundation to dissolve the bodies. Then a black magic construct, a corrupted being, was raised.
This world wouldn't tolerate such a corrupted being, so it could only exist for a limited time inside the darkness. Of course, this meant its strength was superb.
Niberis put on a cold smile.
"It seems you have a little bit of a discerning eye. You are not wothy of being shown a magic like this."
Gwuhhhhhhhhhhh!!
The corrupted being had a silhouette of a giant, and it let out a cry. The sound carrying the rough vibration attacked everyone standing on the earth. It didn't discriminate between allies and enemies. In a flash, everyone's movements were paralyzed.
Niberis spoke.
"Hmmm. I forgot about that detail."
Niberis saw her allies frozen in place, so she added additional magic to it. This caused the corrupted being's roar to only target Azell's party.
Azell was amazed.
'It seems she isn't normal?'
Niberis easily fixed the problem as if she had forgotten something minor. However, she had used a very advanced magic. She took the 'sound' attack, and it was modified to be able to discern between her allies and enemies!
Googoogoogoogoo...... !
Then the corrupted being started moving towards Azell. Even though it was over 3 meters tall, it moved creepily towards him as if it was sliding across ice.
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