Perhaps because he had already been defeated seven times, Talaje, now a pond, did not reappear immediately, merely rippling. Beside it, Prince shouted tauntingly, [What are you doing? Scared? You’re scared, aren’t you? If you don’t come out, I’m coming in!] A short distance away, Simon, who had been watching quietly, narrowed his eyes. ‘Don’t tell me...’
The thought was brief, the action swift. Simon opened his Subspace and had six Overlord blades shoot up from beneath his feet simultaneously, launching his body high into the sky. [Commander?]
[Hey, why are you going up?]
Flying through the night air, Simon gripped the hilt of his greatsword tightly and took a deep breath. Looking down, he saw the ripples of the pond growing more and more violent. ‘Here it comes!’
The pond then surged upward, and from it, a drill-shaped Talaje shot straight into the air. ‘I knew he’d come out like this.’
Biting his lip in determination, Simon swung the Greatsword of Ruin down with all his might. The soaring Talaje, the descending Simon—the two beings clashed in mid-air.
A tremendous shockwave erupted, shaking the trees and grass. Simon was descending in a downward-striking pose, and above him, Talaje could be seen splitting evenly in half, from the tip of his drill head to his feet. [Nice!!!]
[Commanderrr—!]
Prince threw his arms up and cheered. Erzebet, with an ecstatic expression, burned the image of Simon descending with his Shadowless Cloak fluttering into her eyes. ‘Just two more times left!’ Simon gasped for breath and looked back. However...
The two halves of Talaje’s body, split in mid-air, merged back into one, forming the shape of a large pond. ‘He can revive even in the air...!’
From within, the main body of Talaje, with two lives remaining, shot out. Simon was still descending and couldn’t give chase immediately. Erzebet and Prince, horrified, pursued him with their spiders and zombies. [Talaje. Unconditional survival. Mutate according to the situation.]
A membrane like a bat’s wing unfolded from each of Talaje’s arms, reaching down to his waist. He flapped them furiously as he descended. [Talaje. In case of eight deaths. Total of eleven. But all for survival.] Talaje specialized in aquatic combat, but he was not a creature capable of flight. Gliding down through the air to create a huge gap in distance, Talaje now transformed back into the form of a small, four-legged beast and ran through the grassy field. If he could just get to the sea, he was confident he could survive.
[Must survive. Must report to Magnus.] As he ran, focused only on what was ahead, Talaje’s keen senses picked up a presence. A man, his robe fluttering, was walking toward him from the front. It seemed to be one of those ‘Watchmen’ who had frequently appeared and bothered him while he was scouting this forest. Talaje’s mouth opened, and he let out a threatening roar, a warning to get out of the way. Most people would have been terrified by the roar alone and backed off, but the robed man simply stopped walking and bent his knees. It was then that Talaje realized something was wrong.
Just then, the man’s fist, flying like a flash of light, slammed into Talaje’s abdomen.
A sound of something breaking loudly came from his body. Talaje’s body caved in as he tumbled across the grass. [Warning. Stand down.] He had to get away before those 7th Legion bastards arrived. Talaje’s body swelled, transforming into a threatening, sixteen-foot-long monster. [Stand down.]
But despite the final warning, the man kicked off the ground and leaped into the air. In the air, the man’s posture was peculiar. He thrust his chest out and spread his arms wide, tilting his head back so far that his legs nearly touched the back of his head. It was a posture that seemed to be gathering power like a compressed spring.
’Kajan Original – Fang.’
From that posture, his arms shot forward, crossing in an X. Ten claw marks tore Talaje’s body to shreds, severing his torso, lower body, and even his neck. The attack completely destroyed Talaje’s body, which transformed into a pond. "Kajan!"
Just then, Simon, who had appeared by stepping on the trees from the air, shouted with a bright smile. "Thank you for coming!"
"Glad I wasn’t too late," Kajan replied. Erzebet, who had stormed in after Simon, scowled. [Is it you again?]
"It’s been a while," said Kajan. The two had known each other from their joint investigation prior to the Saintess incident. On the other hand, Prince, who arrived last, was startled to see Kajan and took a fighting stance. [A-a human?!]
"Kajan’s fine, Prince. This person is..."
As the pond began to stir again, everyone fell silent and grew wary of Talaje. "He turned into that after taking my attack just now," said Kajan. "Yes, I saw," Simon replied. Now, only one life remained. If they could just get this one, they would win. Then, Talaje’s voice came from the pond. [Talaje. In case of nine deaths. Only one left. But survival.] The pond momentarily shrank. Just as everyone gathered all their Jet-black and prepared to attack, ready to hunt down the emerging Talaje, when... the pond suddenly expanded. It engulfed Simon and the other three, stretching out for a radius of several hundred yards. At the same time, their bodies began to sink. [Ugh!]
Erzebet tried to pull her leg out, but it was no use. It was as if she were glued to the ground, unable to move.
Soon, the center of the pond rose up, and a Talaje larger than any they had seen before revealed itself. [Plan changed. Kill all, then survive.] As Talaje swung both arms downward, the bodies of Simon, Kajan, and the Ancient Undead simultaneously sank to the bottom of the pond.
Simon held his breath and looked around. He was inside the murky, foul-smelling pond. Animal bones and unidentifiable debris floated around. There was a bottom, covered in black, dirty moss that swayed with the current. It was eerie, as if human arms were beckoning them to come closer. "There’s something strange about this pond. I can’t swim out," Kajan said. He was swimming, but he was just moving his arms and legs in place, not moving forward. Simon looked up. He could see the giant Talaje above the pond, waving its Jet-black-infused arms, plotting something suspicious. [Boy! Look down!] At Pier’s shout, Simon’s head snapped down. From the bottom of the pond, from within the dark moss, countless fanged piranhas were swarming toward them like a hive of bees. It was as if a pitch-black wave was surging from below the pond. [Yikes! Why are there so many!] [I can’t even spin a web in here! What should we do?] Instead of answering, Simon slowly gripped the Greatsword of Ruin and lowered it. A deep blue gleam flared up like a flame from both Pier’s helmet and Simon’s eyes simultaneously. "Let’s go, Pier."
[Hehe!]
Simon, gripping the greatsword with both hands, slowly swayed it from side to side before forcefully lifting it into a position behind his back. He began to pour all his strength and Jet-black into the greatsword.
As the Jet-black gathered, the water churned violently. A massive flash of light erupted from the Greatsword of Ruin, illuminating the dark pond as bright as day. ‘Slowly.’
Simon’s body, carried by the pond’s fierce current, slid into a rotation. His legs, which had been pointing down, tilted to the left as his arms moved to draw the greatsword down.
The greatsword began to draw a massive circle. A huge line that cut through space was drawn where the greatsword passed, and everything that touched that line was torn in half. The swarm of piranhas was erased, and the squirming moss and the pond floor split open like a crevasse. A groan escaped through his clenched teeth from the backlash of wielding such immense power, and blood rushed to his head, but Simon gritted his teeth and continued to guide the force. The slash that had split the pond floor now began to rise upward. The final destination. Simon’s gaze was now fixed on the Talaje above the pond. ‘Cut through space itself—‘
The tip of the greatsword, swung with centrifugal force, passed the bottom and headed for the sky as Simon’s body headed down. Feeling his consciousness grow distant, Simon let out a mental roar. ‘The sensation of the slash!’
The pure white trajectory cut through the pond and the sky, passing through and slicing Talaje’s body from head to toe. The massive shockwave that followed shook the pond and the Forbidden Forest. Talaje’s two arms reached for the sky before his split body crumbled and fell apart. The four of them swam to avoid the falling debris. [Phew!]
With Talaje destroyed, they could now rise to the surface. The size of the pond had greatly diminished. Erzebet sent out a web to lift the four people floating in the pond and brought them to safe ground. Even at that moment, the pond continued to shrink until it turned into a lump of blood and remained as a small dot on the ground.
Finally, from the dot that was once the pond, a mess of mangled organs and corpses poured out, and then the pond completely vanished. [We won! We got all ten!]
[We did it!!]
Erzebet and Prince cheered. Simon was so exhausted that he collapsed on the spot. Kajan approached him. "Good work."
"Ah, thank you so much for your help." Simon managed a weary smile. He finally felt liberated from the suffocating pressure that had been squeezing his throat. [Hey! We need to do a victory ceremony!]
[To the Commander’s embrace, this maiden shall run!]
The Ancient Undead clung to him. It seemed it would be a while longer before he could rest.
Talaje, transformed into a rat, was fleeing for his life. Everything was going according to plan. For his last life, he had trapped the members of the 7th Legion in the pond while his main body escaped in its current rat form. As it was his final life, he had invested all his power and energy into the clone. He had expected it to buy him plenty of time, but when he looked back, even that powerful clone was already split in half. They were extremely dangerous. Stronger than he had ever imagined. The necromancer, presumed to be the Legion Commander, looked like a Kizen student but was already that strong. If he were to grow, he would become a great threat to Magnus. Since he had already forcibly taken an Ancient Undead of the 7th Legion, conflict was inevitable. He had to inform Magnus of this fact by any means necessary. The sea! All he had to do was get to the sea. As he escaped the forest, the beach and sandy shore came into view. The sound of the waves was incredibly welcoming to Talaje. The rat he had transformed into grew gills on its cheeks and ran toward the water. Sensing a presence, Talaje immediately hid his body behind a rock. There was a person. A black-haired girl, strolling alone on the moonlit beach at this late hour. She exuded an indescribable aura. Her face looked tired, as if she had just woken up, and she was wearing only a single white dress, barefoot. She lifted a communication crystal. "Yes, Mom."
Her voice carried on the breeze. "Yes, I’m at the place you mentioned. What is it at this hour? Ah, you’re always working me to the bone. Yes, yes. I got it." Talaje held his breath and waited. He didn’t know who this human was, but nothing good could come from being discovered. ‘Go away. Just go away.’
The girl, having thrown the communication crystal into her Subspace, walked along the beach, her black hair fluttering. "I have no grudge against you, but—"
A crimson dagger was now in her hand. "—die for me."
At the sound of the air being torn, Talaje hastily retreated. The dagger split the rock and embedded itself in the sand. [I am Talaje, of the Magnus Legion,] Talaje said quickly. [If you are a necromancer, I request that you state your affiliation.]
She approached, her bare white feet stepping on the water-soaked sand. "Affiliation?"
Her steps halted, and her eyes turned a feral, glowing red. Then, behind her, on the moonlit beach, space ripped open like a mouth, and from within the darkness, red eyes identical to hers flashed. "The daughter of a certain meddlesome mother."
From the abyss-like darkness, a pillar of immensely concentrated red energy shot out in a straight line.
The frantically fleeing Talaje was finally swallowed by one of the countless red pillars and vanished. That was Talaje’s first mission failure, and his last.

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