Book Eater

Chapter 329: The Night that Swallowed the Sun (5)

The lightning in Theo’s hand was the first blow, as it collided with Jerem’s shield.

Kwarurung!

The lightning spear was forced down and exploded on the ground. If this had been in the desert, then the sand would have been turned into glass. However, a huge dust cloud rose from the explosion and covered the battlefield. Nonetheless, Theo did not hesitate to advance. His eyes weren’t covered by the dust, and he felt like this was his last chance. His super sensitivity had started pinging again after being silent in Nídh?ggur’s presence.

Jerem’s magic power isn’t infinite. The level of the undead has fallen, and my side has a chance to win.

Now that Nídh?ggur was moving energetically, the burden on Jerem should have increased multiple fold. So his strength would be more tied up, while Theo was still hiding a few trump cards. For example, what about the magic scrolls he had gotten a while ago?

“Gluttony, release number 112 to 119 from the inventory!”

- Understood.

Eight magic scrolls popped out of his left hand. He had received them as part of the rewards from Paragranum after going to Paracelsus’ laboratory. There were twelve scrolls of 7th Circle spells, and he had chosen eight he thought would be most useful for combat. He invoked all of them without any hesitation.

Wuooooong!

Overwhelming magic power shone from the scrolls.

Someone else might think this is a waste of money!

A 7th Circle scroll could buy a small territory, and now eight of them were being used at once.

The scrolls floated in midair and fired the 7th circle spells. One unleashed a storm, while another exploded to reveal tongues of fire. Still another shot out lightning bolts, while the fourth froze space. The rest were miscellaneous attack spells that managed to strike Jerem. There was a loud explosion, and the earth trembled. If they were used properly, this could kill a swordmaster in one go. However, Theo plunged into the storm he created without expecting much. This much wouldn’t destroy the wall of darkness or Jerem’s immortality.

But it’ll be enough to stop him for a moment.

Unsurprisingly, Theo caught sight of a shadow standing tall in the storm. The eyes of the death knight, an undead strong enough to survive 7th Circle attack spells, glowed brightly. However, its body was covered in wounds. Theo blocked the sword aiming at his throat and pierced the death knight with Soul Caliber. The death knight’s immortality was completely destroyed and it crumbled away. The death knight had been at a level to completely endure the power of the 7th Circle magic scrolls, but it couldn’t avoid the spells due to the presence of its master behind it.

Theo called out, “... Being used as a shield? It was a vain end.”

However, Jerem’s thoughts were a little different. His white jawbones moved as he spoke, “A servant should be satisfied if it protects its master. Everybody has a place and role. Its role was to sacrifice itself for me.”

“Ha, is that so?” Theo laughed. “Then isn’t the role of the evil warlock to fall before me?”

“Let’s see?” A red light flashed in Jerem’s eye sockets, and he raised thin bony fingers as he pointed at Theo and declared in a loud voice, “True evil doesn’t disappear.”

That was enough conversation, as they had nothing more to say to each other. Jerem chanted a short spell before Theo could act. Translucent evil spirits rose from the ground, grabbing at Theo’s ankles and body. They coiled around him and started sucking out his vitality.

This was Drain Specter, which took away the vitality of a living being through contact.

[Huhu, how ridiculous!]

Something like this was a parlor trick to the heroes of legend.

Kiiing-

Soul Caliber flashed a few times, cutting through the necks of the evil spirits that tried to approach Theo. Even the spirits under the ground were destroyed.

“I see, that sword is a special spell that kills the soul. I now understand why the Four Horsemen couldn’t defeat you.” Jerem’s black magic bubbled around him. “It isn’t effective against physical defenses and can’t be used if you aren’t in close range. It would be an impossible feat if it wasn’t for a variant like you.”

Theo frowned. “What, variant?”

“A magician who can use a hodgepodge of things. Was it Gluttony’s ability? Hahaha, you really are lucky to eat everything...” Jerem raised his finger, setting up a barrier of bones around him. He looked like a reaper beckoning from across the river of death. “Come, my last adversary.”

At that moment, Theo’s body turned into a blue flash.

Kwarurung!

He closed the thirty meter gap between them with his lightning body. But Jerem used four black magic spells before Theo arrived.

Call of the Living Dead.

The undead appeared in front of Teo without any warning, tangled in curses. Well, they were curses to the living, but powerful blessings for the undead. The undead reached master level in a few minutes and roared loudly,

Kuoooooooh!

Tch, annoying.

Theo stopped and stared at them.

These undead have excellent physical abilities and are hard to defeat with Soul Caliber. It would take a few minutes to get rid of them using normal methods.

However, Theo had Gluttony. He had no problem communicating with Gluttony in this accelerated state. The speed of his consciousness was faster than lightning.

Gluttony. Number 238!

- You are going big.

A scroll popped out from his left hand, and he threw it forward. There were five magic scrolls with 8th Circle magic. The scrolls that he hadn’t been able to use so far due to lacking power now saw the light.

“Open, Basilisk’s Eye!”

The special 8th Circle spell shot out rays of petrification that hit the lumbering bodies of the undead. The muscles, skin, and bones of the undead were defenseless in front of the petrification! They were relatively resistant to magic, but the undead couldn’t hold on for long and soon turned into stone.

Theo ran past the stone bodies. It might look amazing, but the basilisk’s petrification wouldn’t last longer than five minutes. He needed to finish it before they broke free, which meant he needed to force a decisive confrontation.

Lightning shot out from Theo’s left hand and struck the defensive wall made of several layers of bone. Time froze for a moment as the two opposing magic powers collided. Space itself tore apart as the battlefield descended into silence. Theo extracted a tremendous amount of magic power from the dragon heart and increased the size of Soul Caliber to nearly three meters. He was prepared to cut Jerem’s body at any time.

“Jereeeeem!”

“Theooooo!”

The heavy silence was broken, and spells that no magician in this era could produce lashed at each other.

Fire, lightning, storm, darkness, light, and space…

The attack spells tore the air apart, and the aftermath turned the wet soil to laval. Two minutes hadn’t even passed, but the fight was several times more violent than what had come before it.

Theo’s Soul Caliber cut off Jerem’s left arm. Jerem’s Arrow of Corruption struck Theo’s stomach. A shadow blade pierced through Jerem’s feet from below. Ancient magic interfered with the blood flow in Theo’s arteries.

It was a breathtakingly fast sequence of attack and defense. Theo’s body was racked with wounds while Jerem’s immortal body was slowly paying the price for overextending itself on magic. The durability of the undead was their strongest advantage in combat. It was clear that Theo wouldn’t be able to finish this in five minutes.

... That is….if Jerem hadn’t made a mistake.

“Grudge of the Afterlife, curse him!” Jerem had Theo’s memories and knew most of Gluttony’s functions, but he didn’t know about what had happened after he’d acquired them.

Hall of Fame was a special ability that allowed the user to borrow the power of registered magicians and receive their teachings. A few minutes ago, Theo asked for help from a great man. It was Abe no Seimei’s Curse Protection, a fraudulent help that blocked all curses at the 8th circle and below.

Now!

Theo’s body moved the moment the curse was cast. He didn’t avoid or block the curse and instantly closed the last gap between the two magicians.

It was checkmate through a foul!

“―What?!”

As Theo raised his right arm, the shocked Jerem canceled the follow up spell he was casting and his jawbones moved. It wasn’t too late to use an Order. Although it might not have as much power as before, it would be sufficient to stop Theo for a moment.

「Закройте (Shut up)! 」

Theo’s Dragon Words landed first, and Jerem’s jawbones snapped shut. Theo revealed his trump card against Jerem’s Order at the most critical moment. A magician who couldn’t cast lost half his power. The sword of the soul fell like a guillotine toward Jerem’s head.

Kiiiiing!

Vertical and horizontal; the sword sliced at Jerem’s body from all directions.

“Urgent Order!”

The spell Theo learned from Seimei completely suppressed all the pieces of Jerem’s body. If he missed one piece, Jerem might be able to resurrect. Normally, the power of a god was needed to completely destroy a monster like Jerem. Only the power of a perfect god could destroy the immortality that came from another dimension.

In any case, it was only a matter of time now. This battle was already decided.

“... Ku, huhu... Kuhuhu... Hu...” As he hung in the air, Jerem’s fragmented jaw moved. Theo frowned despite being certain of Jerem’s defeat. His super sensitivity didn’t perceive any threat.

“What, are you going to complain?”

Jerem laughed. “Huhuhu… This great... body… frustrated by an enemy like you... Isn’t it... funny...?”

Jerem was a warlock who had reached the 9th Circle and contracted with an evil dragon from another dimension. Even if he was weakened, he was still superior to Theo. Yet he had lost, and Theo had won. That fact didn’t change, no matter what Jerem claimed.

Jerem screamed out in desperation, “Nastrond’s demon king! The snake that kills the world tree! Take this body and make it your food! I offer you this body!”

Theo didn’t even have the chance to do anything as an ominous purple magic power wrapped around Jerem’s crumbling body.

As the purple magic power covered Jerem’s skull, he left one last resentful threat.

“To those who block me, I place an eternal curse on this world―!”

Only a pile of ashes remained of the warlock, Jerem. It was a chilling dying cry, but Theo didn’t sense anything different. He stared at the pile of ashes at his feet with a bewildered expression.

“What the hell...?”

At that moment…

- Theo! Are you listening??

Alucard’s urgent voice came from Ratatoskr. Theo quickly replied through the neural network.

What is it? What’s going on?

- Look up at the sky!

The sky?

Theo’s eyes widened as he looked up. After Hraesvelgr and Nídh?ggur had soared into the sky, he had focused on his fight and lost track of them. There was no way a mortal could interfere in a struggle between transcendents. Therefore, he was shocked when he looked up.

“... What is it this time?”

The sky was slowly tearing apart.