DAKU
Even though the enemy was cut off to two, the three still struggled to fight Hirako's two mutated pawns. And it looked like he was enjoying the show. I was pretty sure that the thing that he did to the two was the Rupture Magic he was referring to earlier. And I remembered seeing the same thing in my memories. What was Thelah thinking and giving me such forbidden magic? I thought it was forbidden, yet she allowed that information in my head.
Was she trying to tell me to use it? Or was it just an accident? Maybe it got mixed up with the other techniques and gave it to me accidentally. Right! I must be it.
"Kenshi and Mr. Kenro! Cover me!" the King favored, and the two agreed. The King backed up a few blocks from the frontline and held his sword vertically in front of his face. I didn't see it, but I knew he was chanting a skill spell. A golden magic circle appeared underneath his highness, along with the crackling of electricity.
"Shit! Your Highness!" Kenshi's father, Mr. Kenro, was alerted, but the King was too focused on his spell. The enemy who evaded Mr. Kenro jumped and launched itself toward the oblivious old man.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the King disappeared from his spot along with a thunderclap and found himself a few meters from his original position with his sword in the air. A second later, the monster who attacked him suddenly went silent and fell to the ground, sliced in half. Due to this, Kenshi got distracted and was catapulted to the edge of the arena.
The comrade of the deceased monster got enraged, changing its target from Kenshi to the King. But with the King's skill still in effect, he easily ran his sword through the monster's neck, decapitating it. The head fell first, followed by its lifeless body.
But with the King's age, his old body couldn't keep up with his skill's strength. He fell to his knees with his sword as support. Luckily, he was still under my mana transfer and healing magic, so it didn't take long for his weakened body to regain its strength.
"As expected from a former adventurer! Didn't expect you to still have that much strength left in you. I thought you were already rusty," Hirako stated. The remaining two of his pawns neared him, which he touched individually. "But what I sent you earlier was just a test. This time, I'm getting serious. After so many trials, I've perfected the art of transfiguration. With my Rupture and Healing Magic, and our lord's Evil Remnant, a flawless abomination is born."
Just like the first two earlier, the bodies of the remaining two throbbed and jerked in a weird way until their whole body fully changed into an entirely new appearance. They grew several inches from their original height, and their hair shed off like leaves during the fall season. Their brown skin suddenly became black, and their faces had been removed from the organs such as the eyes, nose, and mouth. It resembled a black blank canvas.
The length of their arms was not proportioned to their body, and they only had three fingers left with sharp tiger-like claws. Their torso looked like goblets because their abdomen were so thin that only the spine was left visible. Their legs didn't deform that much, except for the toes, and only two of them remained with claws similar to the fingers.
Hirako was right. These two monsters were much different than the previous ones.
"Now go rampage, my perfect abominations!" Hirako ordered, and in just a snap, the two monsters disappeared from their place.
"Where are they?" Shino asked while wandering her eyes.
A high-pitched scream echoed throughout the arena that catching the attention of everyone. I pivoted when I figured out that the noise came from behind me. And there I saw the two monsters holding civilians in both arms. Without hesitation, the monsters tighten their grip, breaking the civilian's frail body and killing them afterwards.
"Stop them!" the King ordered, and the guards and adventurers present, whether wounded or low in mana, attacked all at once. With my instinct, I put all of them under my magic, which recovered their body and mana from being injured and drained.
But in just a swift swing of their hand, those who were within range had their heads cut off from their body. The scene was gruesome to watch, and this inflicted great fear and terror on everyone. So much fear that the remaining guards and adventurers hesitated to continue the fight.
"Back off, everyone!" one of the guards shouted. The others retreated from the monster and prepared for the monster's next move.
"Aren't they gorgeous?" Hirako exclaimed, followed by a sinister laugh. "Who's the weak now?"So that was his motive all along. To get revenge on those who thought of him as weak.
"Still you are," I announced. Hirako looked at me with a smug face. "You think killing these people made you strong? The fact that you do this just to serve yourself justice from the belittling of other people has made you weak. You may be strong in terms of power, but your mind is weak. You let vengeance get the best of you!"
"And what about it? A weak mind is nothing that I should be worried about?"
"You should be worried about it," I corrected. "A weak mind affects the body."
"Wanna test it out?"
All of a sudden, I felt an evil presence behind me. I was about to look at it when something hard hit my body. The attack was so fast that I never got to cover my body with healing magic. The force of the attack was so strong that my entire system was flooded with a painful sensation. I gasped as my back hit the walls of the arena.
I heard multiple voices calling my name, but I was too busy healing myself to discern their identity. The monster didn't waste any more time and dashed toward me again to strike, but someone blocked his attack with a sword.
"Thanks." Kenshi waved his other arm, releasing a barrage of ice at the enemy. The monster evaded the attack and regrouped with his comrade. Kenshi helped me stand before returning his gaze to the enemy before us.
Mr. Kenro and the King called the attention of one of the monsters, separating the two. Now Kenshi and I could focus on the in front of us without interference. Kenshi activated Vigor on himself while I backed him up with Haste. I put Haste as well on myself to boost my speed. If we wanted to win against this monster, we needed to be fast. Faster than him.
Kenshi attacked first, which I followed. Even though Vigor was in effect, it still wasn't enough to cut through the monster. Although it received minor cuts and wounds, those wouldn't do. Hirako would keep on healing them before we could land another hit.
"What made this monster durable?" the King inquired after landing a blow on the monster, but still remained unscathed.
"Since you asked so nicely, let me answer that for you," Hirako sarcastically said. "The key factor is the Evil Remnant." I couldn't help but smile because of his stupidity.
"You heard that, Daku?" Kenshi asked.
I grinned. "Loud and Clear."
Kenshi and I changed our attack pattern. I would land an attack first before Kenshi delivers his. With my hands imbued with purification ability, I could disrupt the effect of the Evil Remnant upon contact, which would make Kenshi's attack more effective.
I targeted the legs first since their mobility made them difficult to hit. I struck a hit on the left knee where Kenshi ran his sword through right after. The pain made the monster shriek despite having no mouth, and it got distracted. Kenshi and I took this as an opportunity to attack the right thigh.
As the monster limped and tried its best to maintain its balance, I sent a purifying offensive on its right flank. Kenshi hovered his palm on the disrupted area, unleashing a destructive explosion through his fire magic. Multiple palm attacks landed on the monster's back, followed but an electrifying lightning magic.
I batted an eye at Hirako's direction and saw him pretty annoyed at what was happening. An expression that made my heart smile.
The monster fell to its knees, exposing its weakened body.
"Hold it down," I mumbled, and it seemed like Kenshi understood my intention when several roots sprouted beneath the monster and held him immobile. I pulled the dagger from its sheath and imbued it with purifying healing magic. With Haste still in effect, I launched myself toward the monster and dug the dagger into its throat and through its neck. The head fell not far from the body before the torso followed.
I found out that the other monster was starting to get weak as well after receiving multiple attacks from Mr. Kenro, the King, and Shino. Some of the guards and adventurers joined as well, and even without my purification ability, they managed to inflict major injuries to the monster. It was Mr. Kenro and the King's joint attack that finished the fight.
"Looks like you're on your own now, Hirako!" the King pointed out. Hirako's expression turned his annoyance into rage. "Surrender now and we will show you mercy!"
"Surrender?" Hirako grabbed something spherical from his robe. A Dark Orb. "Only death could stop me!"
Hirako didn't hesitate to devour the orb, which immediately gave him power. His appearance changes, similar to other wielders, and his power increases tenfold. The atmosphere instantly became heavy because of the pressure emanating from his immense power.
With his Rupture Magic's ability to transfigure a body part, four black tentacle-like arms grew from his back and stretched toward the direction of the King. The King successfully evaded one of the arms, so instead of him, it caught the guard behind him. There were four of them in the hands of Hirak,o and one of them was Mr. Kenro.
"FATHER!" the son screamed, and what happened next traumatized everyone. The body of the captured, including Mr. Kenro, melted like ice in the middle of a hot summer. It was exactly the same as the one in my memory.
Everyone was wide-eyed after witnessing the horrifying scene, and I bet this time, no one would dare to fight Hirako. Now I knew why he was hailed as the Dark Healer.
"How dare yo-"
"Stop!" I shouted. "Stay out of this, Kenshi."
"Don't tell me what to do, Daku! He just killed my father!"
"I saw that!"
"You can't expect me to just stand here and do nothing!"
"I'll fight for you!" I protested. He had to understand. "You are filled with rage right now. What do you think will happen if you fight in a state like that? You told me yourself before that engaging in a fight clouded by intense rage would be the death of me, and you witnessed that back at the Geiya Village."
"But-"
"And have you forgotten about your curse? One touch of those could kill you in an instant, and I can't afford dying in front of me. You can't die, take note of that. I haven't fulfilled my promise to you yet."
I faced Hirako, who had been silent for a while now. Was it one of the side effects of the Dark Orb? I didn't know. What was important to me was to know how to win against him. I knew for myself that I couldn't win against him. But still, I had to try.
"Do you think you have a chance against me?"
"You finally talked. I thought you lost your voice for devouring such a huge object."
"Funny. Let's see if you can still make jokes once I kill you."