Chapter 84: Shaman VS Thief ( 1 )

Chapter 84: Shaman VS Thief ( 1 )

“―― Tsk. Nah, can’t see all the way.”

I was staring down into the dark pitfall where Momokawa had fallen down along with the fatass.

It might seem like I was being too cautious, but lots of stories have it somehow turn out that they were alive after all and that crap. You’d be an idiot to believe that they’re dead without even confirming the corpse. This was something I had learned while fighting the many monsters of the dungeon. That no matter how close to death’s door they may be, never, ever let your guard down until you know they’re dead. This might be like that saying, a candle burns brightest just before it goes out.

“Oi oi, what’s the damn hold up?”

This teleport device needs a sacrifice, and offering one human is good enough to make it work. There was some more written down but that was the limit to how far I could interpret the Ancient Tongue on the monolith. Still, I thought I had it right so what gives...

“Meh, I can wait.”

I had already offered up Momokawa and Saitou, that was two sacrifices. If that still wasn’t enough, I’d just have to give up. Offering a 3rd sacrifice just wasn’t an option.

I couldn’t afford to lose Reina A. Ayase just yet. This wasn’t due to me not wanting to kill her, no, it was because fighting her with my current strength wasn’t wise. Her powers were a real pain, and I’d be killed if she really wanted me dead.

The problem wasn’t Reina herself but those Guardian Beasts under her control. They had a will of their own and could act independent of her, their master, so even when she was asleep, they’d maintain a vigilant watch. There were not animals, but Spirits as implied by Reina’s calling, so they didn’t get hungry or tired either. As long as Reina had mana, they could function around the clock. It was hard to find an opening like that.

“Hey, Thief God, if you’re listening, I killed two of them, so get me a good Skill, a’ight? Something I can use against magic, man that felt dumb to say...”

My senses suddenly shot alert. This was Search · Hi Sense, no doubt about that. I used this Skill so much, I wouldn’t mistake it for anything.

“What, the fuck is this... Something’s coming, but what...”

Momokawa did say that some powerful monster might get summoned, so was that it? Like, one sacrifice gets the transfer magic activated, but any more gets me a monster... Shit. I wasn’t even sure because I couldn’t read everything that was there.

No, this was different. I could tell.

“Tsk, the little motherfucker’s alive――”

I could feel it clearly. This ‘threat’ had a burning hostility specifically towards me, this enemy was coming for me, climbing up from the depths of that dark hell.

“Higuuuchiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!”

“Fucking had to be you, Momokawaa!!”

I could feel a boiling grudge in Momokawa’s scream as that large, dark something leaped out of the pitfall.

“I’m not dying here, and neither is Masaru――”

“Shit, you gone crazy or what... that thing isn’t alive. I killed Saitou.”

The identity of that dark something was Momokawa, directing his cheeky, stray cat-like eyes at me in vengeful rage, along with Saitou, no, something that only looked like him.

I said it looked the same, but it had some distinct differences.

Over all, it still had on the same gakuran and had Saitou’s swords hung at its waist. The most jarring difference was that its eyes showed only white, completely rolled back, as if it was dead. Because it was dead. Saitou was dead.

But there he was, still standing. Saitou, while carrying Momokawa, had climbed up the pitfall in a furious speed, and the two were now standing in front of me for a rematch.

“I’m not dying until I get to kill you, Higuchi!”

“You, raised him from the dead...”

“And I know you’ll help me out man. You and me, we’ll kill Higuchi together.”

Revenge was the only thing left to him. He wouldn’t dare rest in peace before ending the life of his killer. So what if his own corpse was used to achieve it? That just proved the depth of his grudge.

I knew this not as a Shaman, but as a fellow human being. This grudge, this hate was only human. I had to kill Higuchi by my own hands if I hoped to let Masaru pass on.

“GOOAAAA...”

Cried Rem, who had possessed, or rather, was in control of Masaru’s body. This looked different from the usual where she would compound and merge parts and ingredients into herself. It almost looked incomplete...

“This isn’t a Mud Doll anymore. It might as well be Necromancy.”

Magic that could raise the dead. It certainly felt like something a Shaman should be able to do. Maybe if my calling was Necromancer instead, I could’ve done this from the start. Or maybe a Shaman was a higher class of calling that could use Necromancer Skills too.

I couldn’t really tell whether this was Mud Doll or some new Curse magic that spontaneously happened. But the details didn’t matter right now.

The important thing was that Masaru was helping me. He was able to stop our fall by piercing into the walls, proving that this Corpse Doll had tremendous strength and reflexes.

“Let’s go, Masaru!”

“GAAAA!!”

Masaru’s Corpse Doll was even faster than the Pawn Ants in the Insect Caves, looking at the insane speed with which he climbed up the pitfall.

“Higuuuchiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!”

“Fucking had to be you, Momokawaa!!”

Higuchi was no doubt surprised by the fact that I could survive a fall like that, but his Thief senses were sharp as ever, and he had already taken a combat stance, ready to fight us.

His right hand held the butterfly knife he had used to kill Masaru, and in his left, he held a well made long knife. He held both knives in backhand grips, and his form looked practiced and refined.

“I’m not dying here, and neither is Masaru――”

“Shit, you gone crazy or what... that thing isn’t alive. I killed Saitou.”

Yeah, he was right. Masaru was dead. He had his throat slit and had bled out like a tap. It’d be strange if he was still alive.

And now, we’ll be thoroughly making him pay for giving Masaru that cruel, painful end.

“I’m not dying until I get to kill you, Higuchi!”

“You, raised him from the dead... tsk. You got another thing coming if you think you can kill me. But I’ll tell you this. Using a weak loser like Saitou was a big mistake.”

“No, with the two of us, with me and Masaru, we can, and we will, kill you.”

“Don’t get cocky, Momokawa. Don’t think I don’t have other ways to kill you――”

Even I had some ideas. He could easily tie me up and throw me into the Boss Room, for example. I wasn’t naive enough to think that I could manage something as long as I had Pain Return.

“Get ready, Higuchi. I’ll give you a painful death.”

“Hah, bring it, Momokawa. I’ll beat into you what it means to have the weakest calling!”

Oh I’ll bring it alright. I’ll use every curse I have to grant you the most painful death.

This chapter was sponsored by Nolan N. Next one isn't tomorrow but soon-ish.