The Former Child Prodigy Fights An Undead On A Star-Falling Night

“Th-that is—!?”

A vivid red radiance burst forth from the grove. The moment she saw it, Yuri, standing beside Travas, cried out in shock. Since they were atop the hill, that light overpowering the night was clearly visible.

Travas let out a small sigh.

“It seems we were too late.”

That was the radiance emitted by the “Eye of the Netherworld.” It was the light that signaled the opening of the gate to the netherworld.

“Regrettable, but it cannot be helped. We proceed to Plan B.”

With the staff in his hand, Travas pointed toward the grove glowing red.

“We will thoroughly destroy that place.”

But someone objected. It was Yuri, standing beside him.

“What about the five men you sent in as assassins!?”

“They are already dead. Or else they are in the process of dying already. In either case, they cannot be saved.”

When Travas said that firmly, a pained expression appeared on Yuri’s face.

Ignoring it, Travas continued.

“This too is something you must grow accustomed to. There are times when harsh decisions are required. You cannot save everyone. You must instantly decide what to keep and what to cast aside.”

Travas had already discarded his five subordinates.

And the “Eye of the Netherworld” as well. Even that item he had longed for so dearly as a maker of magical tools.

All that remained was to destroy everything and return it to zero.

“Open!”

Travas activated the staff in his hand. It was itself a powerful magical tool, one that supported spellcasting and made it possible to wield the vast reserve of magical power stored within it.

The instant the tip of the staff struck the ground with a sharp crack, a huge magic circle spread out beneath his feet.

A long incantation poured from Travas’s mouth.

It was such a long, long chant that it seemed as though it might continue forever, but at last it came to an end.

“O host of giant stones drifting through the heavens, answer my call! Now descend as the hammer of God, split the earth, and blow all things away!”

Travas pointed his staff toward the grove and shouted.

“Meteor Fall!”

“Interesting. There is an amusing one among you… This Undead, Ii Cherni, shall be your opponent.”

That white monster calling itself Ii Cherni had fixated on me. It was an eerie thing, pure white from head to toe. Was this the one that had nullified my Air Ladder?

…There was a fair amount of distance between us. To be honest, I wanted to run away—

“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

With that scream, I decapitated the zombie rushing in from the side. Getting harassed this frequently made it hard to gain any distance too.

On top of that, even from this far away, the pressure coming off Ii Cherni was incredible. Even if I ran in these awful circumstances, it would probably catch up right away.

Thud, thud—Ii Cherni came closer, each step heavy.

…It seemed I had no choice but to steel myself.

“Fiona-san. It looks like we have all kinds of problems.”

“W-whaaaaaaat!?”

“I am sorry, but please pray that I can win here.”

I set Fiona down. Then I stabbed a nearby tree branch into the ground and muttered,

“Field Protection.”

The air wavered softly, and a thin veil covered the area around Fiona.

“What is this?”

“I have set up a barrier with magic. Low-grade undead probably will not even be able to approach. Please do not leave this spot. If something dangerous appears and you are in trouble, call for me.”

“What about you, Ilvis-san…?”

“I am going to fight that thing.”

Fiona caught her breath when she looked at Ii Cherni in my line of sight.

“W-wha, th-that thing!? A-are you really going to be okay!? I mean, it just looks completely dangerous!?”

“That is true. But, well, there are no other options—”

As I turned, I thrust my right hand toward Ii Cherni.

“Magic Arrow.”

But the white flash I fired vanished just before it reached Ii Cherni.

“Fafafafafafa, useless, useless, useless! Magic does not work on Ii Cherni the ‘Magic Eater’!”

I did think, You do not even have a mouth, so where exactly are you eating it? But well, I supposed that was just the kind of creature it was. So that was the power it had used to destroy my Air Ladder.

I began walking toward Ii Cherni.

If magic would not work, then I would just have to beat it down with direct attacks.

The moment I stepped into the range of Ii Cherni, which stood five meters tall—

Ii Cherni swung its huge right hand down at me.

Boom!

The ground shook violently. I was standing right beside that arm. Not because it had missed, of course—I had dodged it. Quite a powerful blow. If it landed directly, I would not stand a chance.

“Ohh, you dodged it well—GWOAAAAAAAH!?”

Ii Cherni’s cheerful voice turned into a scream.

Because countless gashes opened across the arm it had just swung down.

…Well, that was simply because the slash I landed at the instant I dodged was only opening now. Apparently physical attacks worked on it.

“I am not done yet!”

I leaped onto Ii Cherni’s right hand and ran up its thick arm. Reaching its shoulder in one burst, I carved up its giant egg-like face with my dagger!

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!?”

Oddly enough, even though I was slicing it apart, no blood came out. Only more cuts kept appearing. …Did its body have a different structure because it was some kind of being from another world?

…Well, it looked like it was in pain, so the damage was probably going through.

“You bastard!”

Ii Cherni roared in anger.

Its left hand rose up and shot straight toward me, trying to seize me.

—but I was no longer there.

I had already lightly leaped down from Ii Cherni’s shoulder.

Before Ii Cherni could react to my movement—

“Wind Burst!”

As I fell toward the ground, I cast magic downward. A burst of wind blasted my body upward.

…Just as I thought. There was a time lag in Ii Cherni’s “Magic Eater.” So if I activated something instantly and caused a physical effect—in this case, rising on a burst of wind—it could not cancel it in time.

A rapid ascent from a falling drop.

Ii Cherni seemed to have lost sight of me.

Its head turned from side to side.

And I was watching that from above.

Realizing my position at last, Ii Cherni looked up.

—Too late.

I fell straight down in front of Ii Cherni. Then I unleashed a relentless barrage of slashes into its wall-like body.

Tap.

I landed on the ground.

“Damn you, flitting about like that!”

With an angry roar, Ii Cherni raised its clasped arms overhead.

“You are just too slow, big guy.”

The moment I said that—

all the wounds I had cut open split wide at once. No blood burst out, but the front of Ii Cherni’s body became covered in wounds, like roughly shredded cloth.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Ii Cherni’s scream echoed through the nighttime grove.