Chapter 183
Hrung-ga and Ungrim confronted Death Fear at close range.
As they approached, Death Fear rolled his eyes in a bizarre way and stared at Ungrim.
His gaze was fixed solely on Ungrim.
After that strange gaze crossed briefly, it was Death Fear who first spoke in the heavy tension.
-... Ungrim.
The bastard's voice felt like it resounded directly in their heads.
Perhaps it was because of the grotesquely twisted voice coming from rotted vocal cords.
That alone was enough to plant fear.
However, Ungrim responded nonchalantly, as if he was speaking to an old acquaintance.
"It's been a long time. Kroc."
At the casual exchange between the two, Hrung-ga glanced between them and spoke.
[You two know each other?]
[We knew each other a long time ago. He surely isn't the man I once knew now, though.]
[Hmm, I see.]
Hrung-ga started fiddling with his club as if realizing something. Then, with a voice tinged with pity, he continued.
[So, your old friend became one of the dead?]
[... Something like that.]
[You truly have a strange fate. Dead ones like the bastard are always the worst. Forcing people to become that way.]
[... It wasn't forced.]
[Hmm?]
[That's enough. Just watch his attack carefully.]
Ungrim let out a low breath. He rolled his shoulders and then strode boldly toward Death Fear.
As he did, the bastard's grotesque face split into a wide grin.
― KWAANG!
"...!"
Hrung-ga's eyes widened in surprise.
In the blink of an eye, the spot where Ungrim had been standing was pierced by a tentacle shooting from Death Fear's mouth.
Had Ungrim not demonstrated his skill beforehand, Hrung-ga might have suffered a fatal blow from this unexpected strike.
― HHRMPH!
Ungrim reappeared next to Death Fear. Immediately, Death Fear's shoulder twisted at an unnatural angle.
― KWADUDEUK!
He swiftly thrust a tentacle toward Ungrim. But Ungrim grabbed one of the the bastard's tentacles and tore it off.
Death Fear could extend tentacles from all over his body. Each tentacle was bizarrely powerful.
Seeing a tentacle dig impossibly deep into the ground after a casual swipe, Hrung-ga instantly knew what would happen if he took a direct hit.
'Now I understand why the bastard is called "Fear"...'
His attacks were irregular and began in completely unpredictable ways.
― WUJEJIJIK!
The destruction extended to the trees all around, showing immense destructive power.
But by looking at Ungrim facing the bastard, Hrung-ga could also see just how exceptional a warrior Ungrim was.
Death Fear and Ungrim fought nearly on equal footing.
Ungrim didn't allow a single attack to land, evading Death Fear's onslaught with speed, as if the two had fought many times before.
Then, Ungrim threw a punch at Death Fear.
However, before it could land, Death Fear's chest contracted, barely dodging Ungrim's attack.
But Ungrim lifted the corner of his lips.
― PAAANG!
With a powerful tear in the air, Death Fear's body was flung into the air.
The punch didn't connect, but the shockwave Ungrim generated tore open Death Fear's flesh.
Flung through the air, Death Fear shot out tentacles in every direction and landed gracefully, using the rebound of those stuck into the ground.
Blue blood flowed from the torn flesh as he spoke.
-... You've grown stronger.
"Strong enough to kill you."
Ungrim didn't give Death Fear time to recover.
Being at the very top among the dead, it was clear the bastard would regenerate if given an opening.
Thus, Ungrim pressed on with relentless attacks.
The bastard tried to block by contracting his body again, but even without direct hits, Ungrim's shockwaves landed effective blows.
― KIEEEECK!
Determined not to simply keep taking hits, the bastard screeched and rushed at Ungrim.
Tentacles erupted everywhere, trying to snatch even Ungrim's clothes.
Of course, none of those attacks actually managed to harm Ungrim.
However...
As time dragged on, Death Fear's wounds quickly healed.
No matter how Ungrim tried to prevent giving him time, the bastard's wounds sealed up, freezing and hardening as they closed.
Just then, Death Fear's sharp tentacle aimed straight for Ungrim's eye.
He reflexively ducked, but even then, the trajectory would have slashed his forehead halfway.
― KWAANG!
A tentacle shot up right above Ungrim's forehead. Hrung-ga's club had pierced through.
[I thought I wouldn't get it just by watching.]
[...]
A twitch flickered across Ungrim's brow as Hrung-ga, gripping his club, asked,
[... Why?]
[I don't recall becoming dumber being one of the experiments' side effects...]
[What are you talking about?]
[Nothing.]
Ungrim subtly clicked his tongue at Hrung-ga's intervention—a move meant to help him study Death Fear's attack patterns.
Yet, in the heat of combat, Ungrim couldn't help but smile faintly.
― KWAANG!
Hrung-ga's movement exceeded even Ungrim's expectations.
'He watched well enough.'
At first, Ungrim had suspected Hrung-ga joined the fight too soon to have grasped anything significant.
In truth, it was the opposite.
Hrung-ga had simply decided watching any longer wasn't necessary and leapt into the fray.
With that confidence, Ungrim boldly shifted to a full offensive position.
As the two began their joint attack on Death Fear, a seamless flurry of blows followed, so fast it prevented Death Fear from regaining his senses.
Tentacles brushed Ungrim and Hrung-ga's skin, but both dodged the bastard's attacks with great agility.
Even if Ungrim was well-accustomed to the bastard's attacks, Hrung-ga was far less so.
However, Hrung-ga's natural, animal-like instincts prevented the bastard's attacks from landing.
― CHWAAAK!
[Ugh!]
It was a close call, but Death Fear was now on the defensive. The more he lashed out, the stronger the aura of frost intensified around them.
Though the two were shrouded in aura, it didn't make them completely immune to the frost.
Ungrim and Hrung-ga suddenly noticed their movements slowing.
Ungrim kicked Death Fear back and then shouted,
[Fall back!]
Hrung-ga didn't hesitate and instinctively retreated. Ungrim raised his hand.
In a flash of blinding light, Ungrim's fist shot out.
― KWAAANG!
Just for an instant, Hrung-ga felt intense heat from Ungrim's fist.
As if to prove it, steam rose from the frost everywhere, scorched by the heat.
[... What was that.]
As Hrung-ga muttered, Death Fear was flung back. The shockwave snapped nearby trees.
― CRACK.
Ungrim clenched his fist anew, faint traces of steam billowing from it. He replied nonchalantly.
[If you punch fast enough, things heat up.]
[... Usually you don't get heat just by punching air, though.]
[Your friend manages to spew fire without any of this.]
[Well, he's not exactly human.]
Of course, Hrung-ga thought punching air to generate heat was far from human, too.
-... You'll kill me with your own hand?
"Do you have a problem with that? Wasn't it what you resolved yourself to the moment you became one of the dead?"
Death Fear steadied his half-destroyed body and rose. Blue blood dripped from the bastard's form. The bastard bared rotten fangs.
-... In the Empire there is no reward for loyalty. So there's no reason to be loyal.
"I never swore loyalty to the Empire."
-... What is becoming their dog, if not loyalty?
Ungrim didn't answer. Instead, he pulled his fist to his side.
Death Fear steadied his trembling body, plugging ruptured flesh with tentacles.
― PAAT!
Ungrim rushed Death Fear. Death Fear instantly shrouded himself in black energy.
Blown about, the black aura brushed Ungrim's skin.
And then,
― CHIIIICK.
Ungrim's skin scorched and blackened, as if being corroded.
But Ungrim ignored it and drove his fist into Death Fear.
This time, Death Fear's strange contortion failed to dodge Ungrim's blow.
― PAANG!
Death Fear's body jolted.
The shockwave that pierced through his torso continued on, plowing through the far side.
― KWAGAGAGANG!
With a thunderous boom, the landscape behind was half-destroyed.
But even this appeared to be within Death Fear's calculations as the bastard murmured coldly,
-... You let your guard down!
Death Fear's face split into multiple sections, tentacles writhing from each. Ungrim's eyes narrowed.
"You're the one underestimating."
-... What do you mean?
"I mean the recklessness of our descendants."
At that moment, Death Fear's eyes darted swiftly to the side.
Tearing through a wall of black flames, someone appeared with a visible presence.
-......!
Hrung-ga, tightly gripping his club and shrouded in biting wind, drove through the black flames.
Those black flames couldn't be endured by any ordinary human—they rotted flesh and instilled primal disgust and fear: a fire imbued with a fragment of the king's 'divinity'.
Yet Hrung-ga pressed forward, wielding his club through the black flames without a hint of hesitation.
― JJEOOEOEOK!
Just as Death Fear's tentacles were about to lash out, Hrung-ga's club slammed into the bastard's head.
If Death Fear was in his normal condition, he might've barely dodged it, but with Ungrim's fist buried deep within him, he could not move.
The writhing tentacles sprayed blue blood and shattered along with the head. At once, the black flames faded rapidly.
― CHULPHUK.
Death Fear's skeletal body collapsed into a slushy mire of melted snow.
But after pushing through the black flames, Hrung-ga's upper body turned bright red—his whole body starting to rot.
But at that instant—
― HWARREUK.
[Wah! Wh-What are you doing!]
[Hold still.]
Ungrim reached out, pressing aura like a blaze onto Hrung-ga's wounds.
Instantly, although not healed, the redness faded significantly.
[If you'd stayed like that, your whole body would have rotted away. Idiotic the bastard.]
[... Anyway, I got this one.]
[Let's say that.]
Ungrim looked down at the fallen Death Fear.
Though the bastard still twitched, there were no dead in this world that could survive decapitation.
After pondering for a moment, Ungrim spoke to Hrung-ga.
[This one wasn't forced to become one of the dead.]
[... What do you mean?]
[Death Fear only comes to be when there's a will to become dead.]
[You're saying they didn't make him like this?]
Ungrim looked around.
The white gazes of the dead glared at them.
But only for a moment, as countless hidden barbarian forces stormed toward them with a roar.
The leaderless dead were swiftly struck down and ambushed. Amidst the heart of that battlefield, Ungrim and Hrung-ga caught their breath.
During that brief time, Ungrim answered him.
[Well, something like that.]
A shadow fell across Hrung-ga's face. Ungrim, emotionless, lifted his foot and drove it down on Death Fear's neck.
― KWAZIK!
Hrung-ga watched with a dazed expression. But Ungrim, watching the dead being swept away, spoke.
[... Let's end this advance party quickly. Soon, we'll face the Lord of the Dead.]
Ungrim glanced about. There was no need to ask where the Lord of the Dead was—they both knew.
No sooner had Death Fear died than a black aura, like a death cry, rose up.
That black aura pointed straight toward the place where the Lord of the Dead awaited.
A sinister and terrifying energy could be felt, pressing against their skin.