Bro, I'm not an Undead!-Chapter 1618: The Masked Man’s Pace (1)

’She’s loose...’ thought Rias as the Territory fell apart. His eyes kept darting over to Pherdanta. He could afford such a luxury, even while battling Uyuniya, Elita, Aurolio and the seven Generals of Boron all at the same time.

None of them could, as of yet, steal his focus from the biggest threat around – that sharp-nosed woman and her damned sword.

The masked man gave a passing glance to Nigerra.

’She was a good distraction while she lasted, at least.’

Godspeed Highway fragmented and vanished, the last bits of it overtaken by the rushing, gusting winds of Aigas, the broken sky, and a gargantuan empty where oceans had been once. Everyone who had been in the Territory was falling.

Pherdanta immediately forced her Territory to dissolve. It expended too much of her stamina and she didn’t think it was the best option she had against her next enemy – the masked man.

She held her Dance of the Necrotic Butcher tight.

’Your soul’s stronger,’ she said to it, soul to soul. ’Resist that bastard as best as you can – as long as you can. It won’t be long before I kill him.’

Her sword had resisted Rias’ powers, but that was only because she was strong enough to illicit such power from it herself. Now, she was.

Pherdanta too, was falling, but with a mere desire, she cut through the force of gravity on Aigas and stopped her descent. Just like that, she stood in the air like a dark cloud and began scanning her surroundings.

"COMMANDERRRRRR!"

Gerriey cried from the distance. She and all the scattered Stark Troops and the remaining House Heads were being kept afloat by her Magecraft.

As Pherdanta met their eyes, all chalk full of joy, relief and a staggering amount of courage, she couldn’t help but feel proud... and also guilty. A stain remained on her resume. Many people – Stark Troops, House Heads and fodder – she’d promised to restore with her Territory had died while she was crippled by the masked man’s powers earlier.

Pherdanta didn’t linger on the thought longer than necessary, though.

"Regroup!" she ordered, and the Stark Troops quickly used Granted Warp to assume a formation around her. Gerriey dragged over Illyinni Wolverik and Shura Desmonn. "Hold on. Where’re Vali and Maxim?"

No one knew. Gerriey shuddered and looked around. She didn’t have the faintest idea. In the rush that followed the expulsion of Godspeed Highway, she hadn’t taken it upon herself to account for everyone.

Pherdanta clicked her tongue. "Damn it."

A distance away from her, Kintar gave Nigerra one last look and allowed her to fall into the unending abyss below.

Nigerra meanwhile, kept her eyes on Kintar’s figure as it rose to join the others.

She had no last words, only darkness she couldn’t let loose deep within her.

She had thought her dreams to inspire feminine energy elsewhere – on different worlds – using the influence of the masked man and the Immoral would surely come to pass, but as it turned out...

’There is a will somewhere out there, stronger than I imagined. How did it make all of you so strong? Why couldn’t it have been born in my time and taken me too?’

The memory of Kintar, Pherdanta, and of course, Yuyui was the last thing Nigerra would ever remember. A part of her wished... she could have joined them under the powerful influence that made them so formidable.

Unfortunately for her, none of the combatants left on the field would ever cherish her memory – whether it be by their will or otherwise.

After all... the masked man changed the tempo yet again.

"ARRRRRRGHHHHHHHHH!!!"

A piercing scream forced all the players on the battlefield to turn urgently to the searing battle above.

Rias had slaughtered two of the seven Generals of Boron in a flash, and both of them were immediately devoured by greenish-black flames while the rest of their peers shrieked curses.

Aurolio was the first to respond to this. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Don’t let him turn those ugly fucks into allies!" he yelled as he blasted towards Rias, his Void Clot bloating twofold. Elita followed closely behind him, brandished her Broodweiler and slashed him across the back. Her precision was awe-inspiring. Instead of cutting her ally, she forced her Void Clot to infuse a harsh blunt force that propelled Aurolio faster towards the masked man.

At the same time, Uyuniya, who was much faster than both Aurolio and Elita came in from the masked man’s flank. Behind her Bare Guise was a look of dark frustration.

’Will it work this time?’

The answer to that vague question, she would never know.

Rias’ Aimon opened its great mouth and spat out miniature stars that homed towards her and Aurolio... and erupted right before either of them could snuff them out.

A staggering line of explosions brightened the night sky, making it look like a particularly bright afternoon. The shower of eruptions didn’t harm the Void Users in the least, but for a fraction of a nanosecond, they were stalled from their attack.

That was all Rias needed.

"That shroud around you makes you nigh invincible, doesn’t it? That won’t do."

The masked man flickered from existence and appeared right in front of Uyuniya. The terrestrial woman read him immediately. She made to guard her head with her arms, but Rias wasn’t deterred. His arm lost all its details – skin, clothing and colour – and become a kind of bland schematic vaguely shaped like an arm.

...!!!

Uyuniya realised too late that she wasn’t going to be able to handle the attack that followed.

It was a single backhand blow to her abdomen, but it blew through her Void Clot and blasted a hole in her torso. The damage was hideous.

While Uyuniya gaped, Rias was already meeting Aurolio, who was startled by his speed.

’This crazy bas—’

The white-haired Void user took the same kind of blow to his shoulder and ribs before getting launched back. His Void Clot had failed him, but...

’He’s surprisingly sturdy...’ remarked the masked man as he set his sights on Elita.

...But he didn’t have the chance to handle her.

’Here it comes.’

A flurry of slashes rained down, all poised to rip him to pieces.

It was Pherdanta’s [Great Vein] – a tricky technique to survive, even for a Divine.

But the masked man was ready.

Divine limbs went flying, ripped by the ferocity of Pherdanta’s slashes.

It wasn’t the masked man who was cut apart, though. The Undead corpse of the Cavern General he had just slain took his place. The masked man had fled to safety, but not for long.

Now that Pherdanta and Kintar had joined the battle, the fight’s crescendo had arrived.