Kays Translations

Chapter 17: The Strongest Onmyoji Sorcerer Heads to the Next City Again

Relying on the information brought by Fiona’s spy, we moved on to the next town.

“It seems we made it in time this time,”

I muttered on the plains outside the town.

This town was larger than the previous one.

The city walls also seemed relatively sturdy, and it appeared that casual magic wouldn’t be enough to overcome them.

However, that’s precisely why…

“It seems they brought out quite high-quality corpses.”

Already in front of me— the tips of the lances wielded by the undead cavalry on horseback were closing in.

《Earth Aspect—Tengu-Beard Technique》

Threads of volcanic rock fibers transformed into a whip were swiftly unleashed.

With a high-pitched sound cutting through the air, the heads of the four undead cavalry flew off.

Dodging the charging horses that continued their momentum even after losing their masters, I teleported behind them.

The four horses, still running for a while, eventually stopped confusedly near the city as the headless corpses on their backs began to fall with a thud.

Watching the scene unfold, I muttered,

“Horses are still alive… the undead soldiers can handle horses too.”

“Um, Seika-sama,”

Yuki spoke by my ear.

“It seems arrows have been released.”

As Yuki mentioned, among the army of corpses, undead soldiers with longbows were shooting arrows in an arc.

I diverted my attention from the horses and replied while turning back,

“I know.”

《Sun Aspect—Magnetic Cloud Technique》

From the humanoid figure I conjured, a strong magnetic field emanated.

The magnetic field affected the approaching arrowheads and points, creating small lightning bolts there. The metal through which the lightning flowed gained magnetism, repelling against the strong magnetic field of the “Magnetic Cloud.”

As a result—every incoming arrow avoided me and stuck into the ground.

Looking down at the arrows around me, I muttered again,

“The accuracy is quite impressive. Using a longbow is quite an advanced skill… the undead soldiers are capable of such tricks.”

While the techniques of necromancy existed within the system of Onmyodo, they were not as adept at manipulating corpses as what was currently observed.

The undead soldiers using magic, as seen the other day, seemed to skillfully utilize the abilities they had in their past lives. Despite being enemies, it was somewhat impressive.

Arrows were released again, but there was no need to watch anymore.

With “Magnetic Cloud” still active, I conjured a new humanoid figure. I intended to quickly deal with the remaining army of corpses—just at that moment.

Behind me, the ground erupted with a thunderous roar.

“What…?”

I quickly turned around.

A massive worm, accompanied by a cloud of dust, was rising from the ground.

I couldn’t help but be astonished.

Unlike the other creatures, this worm seemed to be alive.

Of course, worms shouldn’t appear in a place like this. I didn’t sense the flow of power, so it didn’t seem to be summoned either.

Does this mean… there’s a necromancer tamer among the army, capable of controlling creatures like this worm?

With a mixture of amazement and half-smile, I muttered,

“Well, if they can tame living horses, it wouldn’t be surprising if they could tame monsters too… anything seems possible now.”

The worm opened its large mouth, descending from a great height to attack me.

There was no need to teleport. I dodged using my feet.

The worm, having missed its attempt to devour me and crashing headfirst into the ground, burrowed back into the earth.

“…Too slow.”

Despite its considerable size, it seemed weaker than the worms I had seen in Lakana, let alone the creatures controlled by the Beastkin Tamer that attacked the academy.

I continued running into the army of undead soldiers.

Naturally, I was surrounded, and swords were thrust toward me, but I evaded using martial arts and brief teleports.

“I don’t know how the worm recognizes its prey on the surface, but…”

At the very least, within a massive gathering of similar humanoid figures, it shouldn’t be able to accurately pinpoint my location.

The next moment, the earth erupted once again. Several undead soldiers in the vicinity were sent flying by the colossal creature.

The worm, emerging at a completely unexpected location, had seized two undead soldiers in its jaws.

“You’ve shown yourself.”

I sent a humanoid figure soaring.

Sharp and swift, it flew over the heads of the undead soldiers and attached itself to the worm’s body.

《Sun Aspect—Light Thunder Technique》

From the humanoid figure, lightning was generated.

The electrocuted worm, still in an upright position, convulsed several times. After a few spasms, it slowly tilted its body and fell sideways to the ground.

The undead soldiers directly beneath it collapsed with a wet sound.

I teleported out of the army to observe the scene and groaned,

“Whoa… that didn’t go as planned.”

The disruption caused by the giant worm rampaging and dying at the center of the army had thrown the formation into disarray.

Once they scattered, the use of “Needle Storm” became less effective. The troublesome one seemed to be gone, but dealing with the now more scattered infantry became a bit more cumbersome.

I let out a small sigh.

“I should have taken down the worm as soon as it appeared… well, can’t be helped.”

As I planned to start dealing with the strayed undead soldiers from the edges of the formation, something caught my attention

—The flow of power within the army.

“What…?”

Reflexively, I turned my gaze back to the group of undead soldiers.

The flow of power continued. It seemed like magic was being used, but nothing was happening.

Upon closer inspection, I identified the source of the flow. It was a single undead soldier clad in a robe, standing near the corpse of the worm.

At that moment—the worm slowly raised its head.

“Huh…?”

Involuntarily, I widen my eyes.

There’s no way I failed to defeat it. The worm should be dead for sure.

Even if there were undead soldiers capable of using recovery magic, there’s nothing they can do about a dead monster.

In that case… there’s only one possibility.

“Could it be… necromancy?”

The worm, supposed to be dead, is now completely moving.

It wriggles grotesquely on the ground, crushing the surrounding undead soldiers, and opens its large mouth as it approaches me.

“Tsk.”

With a light click of the tongue, I formed seals with both hands, wearing a bitter expression.

Then, I infused magical power into the humanoid shapes that surrounded the army.

The next moment— all undead soldiers collapsed to the ground as if their strings had been cut.

Whether they were numerous infantry, robed undead soldiers, or even the worm, they all stopped moving and returned to corpses.

After confirming their neutralization, I released the seals and dispelled the barrier.

I let out a small sigh and muttered.

“If possible, I would have preferred to avoid this…”

“Well, that’s impressive, truly impressive.”

Sitting on the city wall and observing the battle the whole time, Ren spoke with a composed smile.

“Really, isn’t just you enough?”

In that voice, there seemed to be a hint of slight amazement.

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