Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Fighting Alone! I Don't Want to Die!
(Boss Second Phase battle has begun!)
A red notification appeared before her eyes. Lilu immediately cast Purification Arts on the Headless Knight—she raised her Tin Staff, and a column of Holy Light descended directly upon the Headless Knight's head. The black armor on its body hissed and seeped black mist under the Holy Light's radiance, but showed absolutely no signs of being purified.
"How can this be!"
Lilu gritted her teeth. She once again felt the hostility of this world pressing against her. The effortlessly easy life of a cheat protagonist really was just the sort of lie novels told!
"Hohohohoho!" The Headless Knight burst into laughter. "You think this feeble little light is enough to send me away? You underestimate me far too much! Equestrian Art—Death Charge!"
It clamped both legs against the warhorse's flank. The Death Warhorse let out a roaring neigh and suddenly accelerated, hurtling straight toward Lilu. Dozens of meters of distance vanished in the blink of an eye. Watching the battle-halberd swinging toward her neck, Lilu stood rooted to the spot, completely unable to move! Body—move for me, now! Lilu's heart blazed with desperate urgency. She had been locked on by the Headless Knight's killing intent and could not break free no matter how hard she tried.
At the most critical moment, Fred's figure stepped in front of Lilu. The longsword in his hand surged with tremendous force—clang!—and deflected the battle-halberd aside.
"Fred!"
"Lilu, my shoulder is dislocated—heal me, quick!"
"On it!"
Lilu immediately offered her prayer to the Goddess, beseeching her to bestow her mercy. The Goddess, who was in the middle of her own indecent activities in her private chamber with four impressively handsome gentlemen, threw down a ball of divine power with visible displeasure—and it came crashing down hard on the devoutly praying Lilu.
Boom—!
A terrifying eruption of Holy Power instantly engulfed Lilu's body. Lilu felt as though she were about to explode—her entire being overflowing with power.
"Advanced Healing Arts!" She cried out, channeling the power that had come from who-knew-where into the Hero's body. Every injury on Fred healed in an instant.
"Thanks, Lilu!"
Fred, blazing head to toe in Holy Light, charged toward the Headless Knight, and the two clashed in a ringing, clanging exchange of blows. A faint smile tugged at the corner of Lilu's mouth—then she let out a wretched blurgh and vomited up a massive gush of blood. Looking at the fragments of internal organs mixed within it, Lilu understood that her body had been completely destroyed by the force just now. A mortal body of flesh and blood simply could not withstand the power of a god—and not even the Elf Race, with its superior magical aptitude, was an exception. She let out another wretched blurgh and vomited up yet more blood, feeling as though every one of her internal organs had been shattered and was pouring out of her mouth one by one.
Just then, she felt a scorching heat in her lower abdomen. The Sacred Mark began absorbing the excess divine power, enormously easing Lilu's suffering! At the same time, the Undying Body kicked in alongside it—the tremendous Holy Power surging within her began repairing her body, swiftly dragging her back from the edge of death. Lilu wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, immediately stepped away from what she had vomited, and cast Purification Arts once more, scattering a wide blaze of Holy Light across the Headless Knight.
"Damn you! You lapdog of the Goddess! Don't push your luck!"
The Headless Knight let out a deafening roar within the Holy Light. It swung its battle-halberd and sent Fred staggering back, then seized the opening and came charging straight at Lilu! But when it locked onto its target, it was startled to discover that in different positions across the Boss Room there were now three Lilus. That's right—not one, but three! Each of them was wreathed in sacred radiance, making it completely impossible to tell which was false!
"Damn illusory trickery! Underhanded human!" it snarled in fury. "Death Charge!"
The Headless Knight picked one and charged—after all, a one-in-three chance of hitting the right target wasn't bad odds, and it figured its luck couldn't be that poor! But at the very instant the battle-halberd swung down to behead the girl, a terrifying eruption of Holy Light detonated, instantly swallowing the Headless Knight's body whole. The head it had been cradling in its arms only then realized—this was no illusion at all, but an Advanced Purification Arts with a shell wrapped around it!
A hymn of praise to the Goddess swirled above, music that would ordinarily bring peace to the soul—but to the Headless Knight it was like a hundred cats dragging their claws across glass, unbearably grating! It let out a howl like a wild beast and swung its battle-halberd, cloaked in black mist, shattering the Holy Light overhead.
"Hahahaha! Ahahahaha!" The Headless Knight laughed with wild abandon. "Goddess! You shameless wretch! What can you do besides spreading your legs for men? I curse you! I curse you with everything I have! Don't ever expect me to set foot in your divine realm!"
The shattered Holy Light left scorched marks across its black armor. The Headless Knight paid them no mind at all, hurling the most venomous curses in all the world at the Goddess, venting the fury in its heart without restraint. Lilu watched with her heart in her throat. She was well aware the Goddess was no saint—but to have made an enemy of someone to this degree, even a proper deity couldn't manage that, could they?
"Oh ho—now that's interesting," the Headless Knight suddenly went cold and calm. "Little girl! You're the Holy Maiden, aren't you? To think that wretch of a Goddess has gone and dug this Class out again—she really never learns her lesson! Hahahaha—you definitely have no idea what that wretch is really like behind closed doors, do you? In your heart she must be a perfect, flawless existence—but let me tell you…… she's been worn out long since, hahahaha, ahahahaha!"
Lilu found herself in deep agreement. Right at this very moment, the Goddess was in the middle of her private chamber with four impressively handsome gentlemen, the sounds of indecency wafting on and on without end.
"Die then! Consider it a gift to this world!" The Headless Knight raised its battle-halberd high. The black mist upon it gathered like a whirlpool, forming in the blink of an eye into a black orb of energy. "The Pitch-Black Living Sacrifice—!"
Boom! The surrounding space began to warp and crumble. A tremendous surge of death energy poured out from beneath the Headless Knight's tattered cape, and the warhorse beneath it let out a series of frenzied neighs. Lilu's pupils shook—this was clearly the wind-up animation before an Ultimate Move! Fear seized her heart and she turned and sprinted for the far end of the room.
"Ha! Found you!" The Headless Knight let out a cold laugh. "An illusion wouldn't run!"
The black orb of energy pulverized the fabric of space as it came crashing down toward Lilu. Only then did Lilu realize she had made a terrible mistake. She stared at the orb of energy flying straight for her and helplessly squeezed her eyes shut. At the most critical moment, Fred's figure suddenly planted itself in front of her. The sword in his hand blazed with a crimson red light—and in an instant transformed into a blade forty meters long!
"Crimson Lotus Slash—!"
Lilu stared wide-eyed in speechless awe as the enormous blade cleaved the Headless Knight's energy orb clean in two. Its momentum didn't diminish in the slightest—it split the Headless Knight itself in two as well! A deep furrow was carved through the center of the Boss Room, and the residual unstable energy became arcs of flickering lightning, letting out a crackling snap, crack, pop of detonations.
"Fred!" Lilu's eyes lit up with stars. "We won! You're incredible!"
"That was all thanks to you," Fred ruffled Lilu's little head with fond indulgence. "If you hadn't drawn the Headless Knight's attention, I wouldn't have been able to quietly line up my Ultimate Move. It's just that…… urk—cough, cough, cough!"
He suddenly vomited blood. Crimson red blood sprayed across Lilu's body. Lilu stared at the dagger protruding from Fred's chest, and her face drained of all color in an instant.
"Hehehehe," a hollow, echoing laugh rang out. "The joy of victory always lowers one's guard—and this is exactly the moment I have been waiting for, Hero!"
A mass of shadow rose from behind Fred. Lilu stared at the skeleton wrapped in a tattered robe, and her pupils shook with violent force. Blue-green flames burned across its body as it drifted through the air, seemingly untouched by gravity.
It was the Lich Lord!
The moment she laid eyes on the Lich Lord, Lilu suddenly realized something—the Headless Knight was never capable of commanding the Undead. The true Boss of this room, from the very beginning, had always been this Lich Lord!