Book Eater

Chapter 136: The Goal is the Port (2)

However, it only took one night after leaving Sipoto that Theo had to admit that his prediction was wrong. The first one to recognize the presence wasn’t the almost master level swordsman, Randolph or the 6th Circle magician, Theo. The crow, Hugin, cried out from the roof of the carriage as it discovered something strange on the horizon.

Kyaack-!

Thanks to the summoning magic, Theo could see through Hugin’s eyes.

Theo closed the book he was reading and shouted at Randolph who was in the driver’s seat, “Randolph, stop the carriage!”

“What? Why?”

“Hurry!”

Randolph heard the urgency in Theo’s voice and tugged hard at the reins. The well-trained horses deftly brought the carriage to a halt, stopping in less than thirty meters. Randolph turned to ask about the sudden order, but he quickly swallowed his words as the ground behind the carriage began to shake.

Ku ku ku kung...!

“W-What, this feeling?!”

“-Mitra!”

Unlike Randolph, Theo had another helper who had long range sensory abilities. The little girl appeared at Theo’s feet.

[Deo, you caw?]

Yes. I’m sorry, but can you go into the ground? I need to know what is going on.

[Yes! I noe!]

As always, the girl replied brightly before diving into the ground with her distinctive hoing.

... Okay, so there are two of them.

As Mitra’s senses expanded, Theo sensed two beings from Hugin’s eyes and Mitra’s ground vision. He was a little rattled by the two different sensory inputs, but thanks to his mental training to handle Umbra, Theo remained composed. Eventually, the source of the earthquake was revealed.

“No way. Sand worms?!”

Theo was flabbergasted. Sand worms were a type of insect monster that mainly lived in the desert. Their bodies were several dozen meters long, and moved quicker than their huge bodies seemed to allow. However, their skin was soft, so they couldn’t move around in rockier terrain. However, these sand worms seemed to be ignoring these constraints.

Kududuk! Kudududuk!

The sand worms continued advancing despite the rocks, gravel, soil, and sand tearing their skin. They didn’t seem to care about the blood that spilled or the internal organs which sometimes fell out from the torn wounds. It did not seem like something living sand worms could endure.

“Undead. Using zombie sand worms as a means of transportation... Isn’t this quite creative?”

It was rather ingenious. A zombie sand worm could move anywhere under the surface of the ground, no matter how painful the journey was. According to some researchers, a sand worm could move at nearly sixty kilometers an hour. Furthermore, it could run without feeling any fatigue because it was an undead.

This way, it wasn't unreasonable for Theo’s pursuers to have caught up with Theo. As they circled around to intercept the carriage, the movement of the sand worms caused the ground to crack.

The sand worms broke through the surface of the ground, causing blood to soar and splatter.

Kuuuuoh...!

It was a frightening roar. Theo and Randolph weren’t scared of sand worms, but they couldn’t prevent shock from appearing on their face as undead started to leap out from within the sand worms.

[Kill… them…]

[Living… but…]

[Die… together…]

They were so saturated with black magic power that their bodies were closer to metal than actual flesh. These were intermediate ranked undead which could reproduce some of their original physical abilities and skills. The mumbling meant that they were still somewhat intelligent.

Theo could only wonder which kingdom these soldiers had belonged to in life…

The skeleton soldiers, armed with armor and spears or swords, started advancing toward Theo in formation. This wasn’t the chaotic assault of a corrupt group but a corps with proper tactics, and there was someone controlling them from behind.

“Sheesh, this type of offensive is annoying,” Randolph grumbled as he walked forward.

“Then I’ll increase the number of allies.”

“Eh?”

Theo tapped his index finger instead of answering.

Clack!

There was a sharp sound as the bracelet around his wrist sparkled. Six Living Armors suddenly appeared around Randolph, who laughed and unsheathed his double falchions as he felt their incredible presence.

“Ohh, then this is a different story.”

Now that they had seven more combatants on their side, the total sum of combat power hadn’t changed much, but they no longer needed to fear being surrounded.

Randolph’s role was to act as Theo’s escort. It was the magician, not the swordsman, who played the protagonist in these types of battlefields. The essence of Theo’s ability as a magician was to dominate the battlefield with overwhelming magic power.

“Please escort me well, Captain Randolph.”

Theo pulled out his staff, which he had never used before.

***

Kaack!

The spines of five skeletons snapped with an eerie crack. They might have been reinforced with black magic, but they still couldn’t endure Randolph’s aura. He rampaged through the battlefield like a wolf among sheep. Shields and armor broke and shattered beneath his two falchions as the intermediate ranked undead were powerless.

Over a hundred skeleton soldiers perished, crumbling into gray ash. Meanwhile, the six Living Armors were also quite successful. The poison on the skeleton soldiers’ weapons were made of black magic and only affected the living, so the Living Armors were a steel wall between the undead army and Theo.

“... Isn’t this going easier than I thought?” Theo muttered as he raised his staff.

Memorize. All Slots Open. Fireball Sixfold.

He invoked the spells without a word. If another magician witnessed this, they would be foaming at the mouth. Theo’s fire magic, enhanced by his high sensitivity and maximized fire attribute affinity, was already beyond the standard of the Circles. There were six Fireballs, each with the power of a 4th or higher level Circle. He was also benefiting from the assistance of a staff that he didn’t normally use.

The undead fell apart under the catastrophic bombardment.

―――――――――――!!

In a split second, anyone caught in the center of an explosion was annihilated, and charred bones became ashes. The pure destructive power of six rounds shook the entire battlefield. A skeleton soldier would normally be able to endure half a dozen ordinary 3rd Circle spells.

However, Theo’s eyebrows twitched when he saw the result.

What the hell are these guys? Why are they so weak?

If the warlock in the distance heard Theo’s mumbles, he would be shaking in shock. The skeleton soldiers the warlock led were the remains of the elite army of an old kingdom. It was an army strong enough to compete with senior undead such as a death knight or a dullahan.

This was a force much stronger and more capable than the corpses Theo had previously encountered at the Miller Barony.

No, is it just my perspective that changed?

After all, Theo was ten times stronger than he had been at that time.

Kwaang! Kwang! Kwaang!

He simply shot Fireballs at ten second intervals, but he steadily decimated the opposition. The sight of the skeleton soldiers collapsing like scarecrows must be a nightmare for the warlock. The stalemate was quickly broken as gaps appeared among the ranks of the skeleton soldiers. They may have seemed endless, but in the end, all warlocks had a limit.

It didn’t take long for Randolph to have nothing to do.

“Ah, Young Master is still absurd.”

The skeleton soldiers were being destroyed faster than they could emerge from the sand worms. The front line was being quickly pushed back, and there was no further need to defend Theo from the front. Randolph just watched mournfully as Fireballs continued to impact the battlefield.

However, it was at this moment that...

Ku ku ku kung...!

Another sand worm suddenly burst out of the ground behind Theo. It was different from the other sand worms; this one was meant to be a ghoul instead of a zombie.

“What?!”

Randolph and the Living Armors reacted to the assault a beat too late. The ghoul worm moved like a killer whale on the hunt as it sped forward.

The worm’s jaws widened, and a warlock in black robes sprang out. “-Kuhuhu! You weren’t alert, you fools!”

Randolph was able to realize right away that the warlock standing in the distance was a fake, while the real one had secretly approached in order to catch Theo unaware. He lunged forward, but the black magic spell was completed several beats faster.

“Evil spirits from the abyss, slay him...!”

The black magic curse, Doom Wight, summoned wraiths that couldn’t even be compared to specters or banshees. The warlock had formed the curse by gathering at least ten thousand spirits, creating a mass of malice which could kill any living creature with the slightest touch. The most frightening thing about it was that defense magic or physical resistance was no use against it. However, for all its fearsomeness, it was a spell that could only be used by using up all ten thousand spirits.

Dangerous!

The moment the reddish black magic power sprang up like lightning, a drop of sweat rolled down Randolph’s neck.

... That son of a bitch was analyzing Young Master’s abilities.

Theo had torn apart the undead army with fireballs and showed no signs of fatigue despite the constant bombardment. The warlock had seen this and didn’t hesitate to ambush Theo. He then prepared a spell dangerous enough that he was certain he could kill Theo. Was it possible for Theo to survive this surprise attack?

Of course, it was.

“Was this why you wanted me to wait?” Theo muttered under his breath.

Had Theo gone crazy after seeing impending death before his eyes? The warlock scoffed when he heard Theo muttering to himself.

- That’s right. I was waiting for this.

However, Theo was talking to someone else. Between Alfred’s perception and Mitra’s detection ability, very few things could surprise him. Nevertheless, there was a reason why he had waited for the warlock to reveal himself and allowed the warlock to complete the spell—Doom Wight, a black magic spell composed of evil spirits.

It meant...

“Eat.”

It meant this was Gluttony’s prey.