Lament of the Undead Master and Servant (5)

"Bwooooooooooh!"

Cal dropped Eiji, whom he had been holding aloft. Falling with his shield aimed at the floor, Eiji used a charging martial technique to plunge downward faster than free fall. He looked like a small meteor.

The shield was a drop item from the Headless Elite Royal Guard; I was using it because I had consumed too much durability on my favorite shield in the previous battle. It was quite heavy, so apparently it was difficult to use for deflecting attacks, but it was perfect for planting oneself firmly and focusing on defense.

'That shield... Did you steal it from those two? Stripping the belongings from defeated enemies—you're certainly a greedy lackey of Lichthesburg.'

"I told you, it has nothing to do with that!"

"Sometimes, it really is better to listen to what people are saying!"

Claude stepped backward to evade the falling Eiji and swept his halberd sideways. Eiji firmly blocked it with his shield, and Toji and Moc-san attacked from beside him.

Toji tried to slip his flaming curved sword through a gap in the armor, while Moc-san used his wings to deliver a flurry of blows. However, Toji's slash was blocked by a straight sword, and Moc-san was wounded instead by the armor as it bristled with spikes.

"GROOOOOOAR!"

'Guh...'

With both of Claude's arms occupied by the three of them, Cal slammed his tail down from above. Apparently, Claude could not completely block the tail, which resembled a gigantic sword. It struck his left shoulder, and the armor gave a creaking groan.

However, the damage was still negligible, and we had not managed to deal him a decisive blow. The magic, arrows, bullets, and other ranged attacks from us in the back line were also having little effect.

At this rate, it looked like we would run out of strength and be unable to move before we defeated him. Perhaps it really would be impossible to finish him off without shattering that skull, which seemed to be his true body. What should we do?

"There's no point holding back. I'll use my 'Secret Art.'"

The answer was my 'Secret Art.' It would consume one of my trump cards, but losing a battle of attrition like this would be foolish. My comrades were still holding their 'Ultimate Arts' and 'Secret Arts' in reserve, so we could respond even if our opponent still had something up his sleeve. This was the time to use my 'Secret Art' without hesitation!

And the one I would use was a new 'Secret Art' I had learned at level 60, different from the one I had used against the Thornshell Scorpion High Lord.

"Fall back, Eiji! 'Corrosive Froststorm'!"

I shouted so they would not get caught up in it, and Eiji and the others immediately backstepped to create distance. Claude tried to advance as if he would not let them escape, but Cal, who was airborne, held him back with a harassing spell, allowing them to withdraw successfully.

As soon as I confirmed that, I activated my 'Secret Art.' A small purple tornado formed immediately afterward and enveloped Claude. However, since it was only large enough to contain one person, it probably looked less formidable than Storm.

'Guh!? What is this...!'

However, this 'Secret Art' was brimming with murderous intent. A freezing blizzard raged inside it, and rather than snow, shards of ice shredded the trapped victim to death. There was no escape until the effect ended, and trying to force one's way out inflicted even more damage than enduring it inside. It was practically a trap.

Most notable was the effect of those shards of ice. Along with dealing water-element damage, they also inflicted a curse that lowered defense and had an armor-breaking effect. Since Claude was undead, the curse would not inflict a status ailment on him. But he would just have to endure this armor destruction!

"We can attack from outside. Pelt him!"

"That's one nasty technique."

"The duration isn't very long, so hurry."

"Oh, all right, then we will."

Everyone began attacking at once. Even Jigoro, who normally did not use martial techniques, was using ranged ones. The freezing storm glittered as it enveloped various martial techniques and spells, but despite having started it myself, imagining what was happening inside made me a little frightened.

When the effect ended and the storm subsided, Claude was left standing there with his bone armor battered and several ice crystals embedded in his ashen body. His two weapons and Catherine, still clinging to his back, remained intact, but his own health had dropped by more than ten percent all at once.

That was more damage than we had accumulated during the battle before I activated 'Corrosive Froststorm.' It seemed we had been right to target his armor. From here on, our attacks should be able to deal damage more easily than before.

"Charge!"

"Eat this!"

'Gwaaah!?'

Claude was down on one knee when Sei and the Kanna-Ragaa duo charged in formation, one behind the other. Sei and the Kanna-Ragaa duo used the same mounted fighting style, but the height of Sei riding Phil, a wolf, differed from that of Kanna riding Ragaa, a horse. This difference was important.

When they attacked in a line almost simultaneously, Claude was inevitably assaulted from both above and below. Since they had attacked before he could stand, he could only block Sei's club with his sword and Kanna's fangtian ji with his halberd. The spells Tess and Ragaa fired as they passed hit him head-on as well.

"I'm next!"

"Ah... Looks like he can't be stopped now. Nenashi, harass him from the side and support him."

"As you command!"

Jigoro charged before I could say anything, but once he got like that, there was no stopping him. Knowing that, I decided it would be better to send someone who could support him than to do something pointless. So I sent Nenashi, who was least likely to get in the way and could coordinate with him.

Claude's stance had been disrupted by the charge, but as one would expect from someone skilled at defensive fighting, he was responding to Jigoro's assault. He could not block the supporting spells and other ranged attacks, but they still dealt little damage because they only disrupted his ashen body. Were we really going back to another long battle?

"Pardon me!"

'What!?'

Just as I was thinking that, Nenashi wrapped a vine around the spot where the armor on Claude's shin had shattered. At that instant, Claude's shin was severed there, and he nearly fell forward.

"Gotcha!"

'Gah...!'

Jigoro was not the sort to let an opening like that pass. He slammed a sharp spinning back kick into Claude's face. I could hear the dull crack even where I stood. Had the impact shattered his jaw too, after the armor?

Part of the ash forming Claude's face crumbled away, exposing his lower jawbone. He quickly added more ash to restore the shape of his face, but that blow had dealt him even more damage.

"I see. Since his body itself is fragile, it collapses whenever an attack connects. And since there are bones only in his head, his limbs and torso can easily be cut clean in two. What supported it was..."

"That armor."

"Just like my exoskeleton."

Claude's bone armor was armor, a weapon, and a skeleton all at once. By destroying it, we had made it possible to damage the exposed parts easily.

'Don't get cocky over this! Return to me!'

As Claude trembled with anger, the shattered pieces of armor gathered around him and began regenerating. He was still exchanging blows with Jigoro, but the armor appeared to repair itself automatically.

Wait, that armor can repair itself?! We had gone to the trouble of using a 'Secret Art' to tear apart that impregnable defense...

"Oh my, oh my. Looking pretty battered now, aren't you?"

"It was damaged so badly that even if this is a Skill, it might not be able to repair itself easily."

It seemed my use of the 'Secret Art' had been worthwhile after all. The armor only appeared to be repaired; it was covered in cracks, and even the slightest graze from our magic could make it flake away. It seemed to reduce the damage, but it looked ready to fall apart again at any moment.

Even so, it apparently still retained the function of cutting Nenashi's vines, since Claude had not fallen again after that. An enemy who adapted so quickly was unbelievably troublesome.

"Are you really that worried about your feet?! You're leaving yourself wide open!"

'Guh!?'

However, against Jigoro, being too wary of Nenashi's restraints on his legs was a mistake. Jigoro's fist slipped through a tiny gap in the hard defense and drove into Claude's abdomen. His iron fist easily shattered the weakened armor, pierced through the abdomen, and emerged from his back, on Catherine's side.

"What the hell!?"

The instant Jigoro pierced Claude, Jigoro's health began dropping at an unbelievable rate. In the blink of an eye, it had fallen to the brink of death. What on earth had happened!?

"Tch, old man! Switch out!"

"Sure, sure. Leave it to me."

Jigoro drove a front kick into Claude's chest, aiming to destroy the chest armor, while quickly pulling out his arm. The kick was blocked by the halberd, but Jigoro kept pushing with it as he created distance and retreated. Genzuro's team moved in to replace him.

"Well, well, he's quite something!"

"Stop admiring the enemy and cut him first, Grandpa."

"We can cut bone now!"

The three of them, all specialists in cutting things apart, wore Claude down with magnificent teamwork. Genzuro attacked relentlessly, giving Ruby and Shifune no opportunity to defend. Their daggers and legs damaged the armor, and at last they completely destroyed the armor around his torso.

Magic, arrows, and bullets pierced the torso they had exposed once again. The vital skull was not there, but the damage was definitely accumulating. For now, repeating this strategy should work.

More concerning was Jigoro's sudden damage. Just as at the beginning, Genzuro and the other two were also taking damage, albeit slowly. The same was true of Jigoro, but the instant he pierced through Claude's body, his health began dropping at a speed incomparable to before.

What was causing it? If I had to guess, there were two possibilities: either he had touched Claude's ash, or he had touched Catherine when he pierced through the abdomen.

"Jigoro, did you notice anything strange when you pierced Claude?"

"Nah, nothing."

"Then what about when you touched Catherine?"

"Huh? Was I touching her?"

"Hmm. You couldn't even feel that you had touched her. Just like a ghost."

Apparently, even Jigoro, the one who had suffered the damage, had not realized that he had touched Catherine. He had felt nothing warm or cool, either. It seemed the damage had simply struck him without warning.

If even the victim himself did not know what had happened, it would be premature to jump to a conclusion. I would keep a constant eye on things in case Genzuro and the others ended up in the same situation.

"Here! Hah!"

"Now!"

"Hyaaah!"

Genzuro knocked the sword and halberd upward, breaking Claude's defense, and Ruby and Shifune's blades slashed deeply into him. The attacks from the rear line also prevented him from regenerating, and the damage continued to pile up.

"One more!"

"I'll smash him!"

As if to deliver the finishing blow, Sei and the Kanna-Ragaa duo charged again. This time, they struck with their respective weapons simultaneously from the left and right as they passed him on either side.

'Gwaaah...!'

Claude could not defend himself because Genzuro had knocked away both his sword and halberd. Taking the full force of their attacks with their momentum behind them, he was sent flying backward. Even so, he did not fall to the floor, continuing to stand despite staggering.

His health was just under sixty percent. I could feel that we were slowly but surely driving him into a corner. If he had another enhancement, would this be the time for it? It would be best if he had no more enhancements...

'Damn you... At this rate, I'll have no choice but to use my "Ultimate Art"! "Loyalty That Burns My Body to Ashes," activate!'

Sadly, my prediction had come true. Pale-blue flames slowly began to seep from inside Claude's body. It seemed he had used his 'Ultimate Art' as well. Was this where the climax began!?