Otherworld TRPG Game Master



81 – S2. A Grudge Confided To The Stars – 4

Was it the arrogance of the strong, or was it adapting to the mutated flesh?

The twisted figure of the cult leader did not move. If it was the latter, he should have attacked before the cult leader got used to the deformed flesh. However, Bennett ran towards Niole.

He cut off the protruding part of the elongated bone spear with his longsword and supported Niole, who was sinking down. He did not pull out the spear. There was no priest with healing abilities here, so he would not be able to handle the bleeding .

“…Can you stay conscious?”

“…”

Niole nodded with difficulty. Her body was losing strength and her vision was blurred, but the pain that seemed to be supported by a red-hot cautery made her vision clear. The pain helped her stay conscious.

Bennett picked up the Goddess’s Crystal. And, he uttered vague words.

“Niole, please.”

“…?”

Vague words that he did not know what to ask for or how.

From the Goddess’s Crystal, a brilliant golden light began to flow out. The singing colors wrapped around Bennett’s whole body and settled in every part of his body.

“Burnt offering (burnt offering) – ‘Magic Amplification’.”

The amount of magic power felt from Bennett began to increase exponentially. The magic light that leaked out through his skin shimmered. He rushed towards the cult leader, his body covered in a faint golden light.

Thud.

At the sound of something falling, Niole looked down.

The Goddess’s Crystal, which still had not lost its light. It seemed that Bennett had dropped it. She carefully picked it up and checked the remaining magic power in the crystal, and it had decreased hardly.

“…”

Was it because the Goddess’s Crystal was a battery that was almost infinite, comparable to the Dragon Heart? No, it couldn’t be. If he had that much power, he would have dropped a meteorite by now.

Bennett pretended to use the Goddess’s Crystal.

Then that magic amplification⋯⋯ He used the black magic of the necromancers, scratching his soul and using it. Bennett was burning his soul and life in real time. He was shining brighter than anyone else, but it was actually like a splendid suicide.

Niole’s heart sank.

Bennett entrusted Niole with the Goddess’s Crystal, which he did not know, without being consumed. It could only mean one thing. She had to become a deadly hidden blade.

Niole hid the Goddess’s Crystal behind her back and began to chant a spell. She watched Bennett’s battle, which was burning his life, with serious eyes.

—- —-

Catching two rabbits is a difficult task, and practicing both swordsmanship and magic was a choice that was likely to be neither. If you are not proficient in either and are ambiguous, you will not be able to do anything better than focusing on one.

The fact that there is a limit to an individual’s magic power was also a fatal problem. Magic power is consumed in swordsmanship, and magic power is also consumed in magic. If you try to use them at the same time, the consumption will double.

Nevertheless, what can a complete magic swordsman show beyond all these conditions?

“‘Red light that burns the eyeballs’.”

A red flash that bursts through the eyelids and burns the cornea, blurring the vision.

“‘Pit’.”

The ground that the cult leader stepped on was hollowed out, causing his center of gravity to be disturbed, and his right arm, which was swung like a whip at Bennett, hit the wrong place.

“‘Rock Induction’, ‘Instant Freeze’.”

When cult the leader’s right arm hit the unfortunate floor, broken pieces of stone and dust flew in all directions, and the by-products were blown into his face, causing further disturbance. After freezing the joints to slow down the movement.

Jump up.

“‘Black Flash’──!!”

He stabbed a magic blade with extremely enhanced cutting power into the nape of the cult leader, who was 3 meters high.

Organically squeezing out all kinds of magic to create variables and hitting a valid blow. The complete magic swordsman had the ability to hold back an opponent who was above him.

However.

Clack, clack, clack-!Despite being made of flesh and blood, the relentless onslaught of magic had only managed to inflict a wound the depth of a fingernail. Sufficient for a human, but inadequate against a monster.

The fact that it couldn’t deal effective damage even with all magic power amplified by the Soul Offering was a stroke of bad luck.

For a moment, Bennett envisioned defeat in his mind, but he shook his head to dispel it. It wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things.

Thud.

The Cult Leader opened his mouth. So wide that the upper part of his jaw almost fell backward. An ominous glow flickered from the depths of his throat.

A sense of crisis that made his hair stand on end.

“‘Mana Cord’…!”

Bennett, who was floating in the air, tied the Mana Cord to the hilt of his longsword and threw it like a boomerang.

The spinning longsword wrapped the Mana Cord tightly around the Cult Leader’s ankle as it circled his leg, and then Bennett pulled the attached cord with all his might, yanking him down.

Kuaaak──!!

A beam of mana shot out of the Cult Leader’s mouth, piercing through the spot where Bennett had been. The ground bubbled and boiled, and the soil evaporated into gas. In that state, the Cult Leader moved his neck to track Bennett.

Sizzle──!!

A beam that could melt even boulders chased after Bennett. Bennett stepped on the Cult Leader’s chin and jumped up, grabbing onto his shoulder blade and clinging to his back. Bennett gasped for breath.

As long as he used the Cult Leader himself as a shield, that beam of mana wouldn’t reach Bennett.

Thud.

The Cult Leader’s upper body was torn apart like thread, literally creating a hole. Bennett blinked rapidly in surprise.

“…Ugh, is his body made of slime or something!?”

Bennett pulled up with all his might on the hand that was gripping the shoulder blade. And gathering all his mana into his leg, he lifted and kicked the Cult Leader’s bent-back head.

Kwaang-! Screeech-

With a sound that could hardly be considered the noise of a head and leg colliding, the Cult Leader’s gaping mouth was forcibly shut. An explosion occurred inside his mouth, and his head burst apart.

Kuuung-!

Bennett was thrown back by the impact and slammed into the ground.

“…Cough!”

As his back collided with the ground, the air remaining in his lungs was forcibly expelled. Bennett gritted his teeth and raised his body. Normally, one would think that having one’s head burst apart would mean death.

But the Cult Leader had already transcended the realm of humanity, so he couldn’t afford to let his guard down in the slightest. While he was staggering from having his head blown off, he had to inflict even more damage.

“Ugh…”

Bennett forced himself to stand up, overcoming the shock that had spread through his body.

Bubbles boiled up from the cross-section of the Cult Leader’s neck, and his head began to regenerate. Bennett gripped his longsword and aimed for the Cult Leader’s leg. He judged that if he could reduce his mobility, he would be able to gain more initiative.

He had to prolong the battle. Since he couldn’t win in a head-on confrontation, he would have to keep up a high-stakes tightrope walk for as long as possible. That’s why he targeted the leg.

Even with the Calamity that enhanced his cutting power, he had only managed to inflict a wound the depth of a fingernail, so if he wanted to deal significant damage, he would have to use magic that required a long casting time.

Since his head was gone, he would have enough time to chant the spell….

Just as he was about to aim for the Cult Leader’s leg with ‘Lava Blade’, which required about 10 seconds of chanting, an eerie feeling made Bennett jerk his body back.

Immediately afterward, dozens of eyeballs sprouted from the Cult Leader’s body.

Whoosh-!

Tentacles that moved so fast they were almost invisible lashed out and retracted, gouging the ground.

Screech-!

Bennett’s left arm flew into the air.

“…!!”

Niore, who had been watching the battle, let out a silent scream. The severed left arm floated in the air for a moment before rolling onto the ground with a thud.

A clean cut from the shoulder as if it had been sliced off with a cleaver. Before any bleeding could occur, Bennett grabbed the cross-section and ignited it with fire. The smell of burning flesh filled the air.

A single bead of cold sweat trickled down Bennett’s cheek, which was contorted in pain. If he had been even a moment slower dodging, he would have lost his arm instead of just his hand.

The Cult Leader sprouted a mouth from the stump of his shoulder and spoke.

“You have quick reflexes.”“…What happened to your body? You’ve already given up on being human.”

“I thought you would let down your guard if your head flew off, but you seem to have a rich imagination. Still… I’ll stop with the joke. God said it was boring.”

Bennett forced the corners of his mouth to twist up.

“For that matter, haven’t you only been beaten up so far?”

“I wouldn’t describe being bitten by a mosquito as ‘getting hit’, but you look pretty worn out. Not only is your arm cut off, but your whole body is already soaked with sweat.”

“….”

Bennett wiped his sweaty hands on the hem of his clothes and held his longsword tightly with his free arm.

The leader thought calmly. Lee Hyung’s body his, given to us by God, is a masterpiece that will never be repeated in royal history. While the battle continued, I never felt in danger for my life, and I didn’t think I would ever think of defeat even if I played with that young man all day.

But.

The only thing I’m concerned about is the goddess’s crystal.

Before the battle began, the young man used some of the goddess’ power. The power of the goddess will not end there. He also received advice from God.

God told me to be careful about that, so I was taking my time grooming the young man. If you show her her her weaknesses her and don’t pull out her her her her her secret her her her even if you push her …

The cult leader turned one of his pupils. A female was seen sitting down clutching her stomach. She seemed very friendly, so maybe. Maybe she can pull it out.

The leader rushed towards Niore at a speed that was unimaginable for his gigantic body.

“…Stop-!!”

hahahaha! hahahaha! Run faster! If you’re late, this female will die!”

Speed is superior. The distance between Bennett and the leader grew, and the distance between Niore and the leader quickly became shorter. Take it out. Hurry. If you don’t want to see your comrades die──.

At that time, the cult leader pulled out his tentacle and was about to hit Niore.

From behind, a brilliant golden light burst out.

“Now I guess I can use it properly!”

The cult leader turned around and faced Bennett. He was confident that no matter what attack came, he could deal with it. If it’s a series that continues to strengthen the body like before, you can just waste it over time.

If it’s an attack you can’t handle, it would be good to twist the space to avoid it, or wrap the female around you and use it as a shield.

“…?”

Somewhere, a sense of discomfort.

The leader looked closely at the golden light emanating from Bennett’s grasp his. What he was holding was not the goddess’ crystal, but an ordinary stone. It was just emitting golden light using magic.

If the young man doesn’t have the goddess’ crystal… Where on earth?

The answer was an incredible burning sensation in my back. Niore held her goddess’ crystal and concluded her long chant.

A death sentence uttered by an ungainly voice mixed with wheezing.

“‘Purifying Fire’.”

A huge pillar of fire rose up. High enough to be seen from anywhere in the city.

—- —- —- — —-

“aaah!!!”

Inside the pillar of fire, shadows of non-human shapes danced. The cult leader changed his appearance countless times to escape the flames. Mantis, butterfly, toad, lion.

At first glance, the shadows, whose shapes were constantly changing, seemed to be dancing.

However, the speed at which the flame burned the body was faster than the speed at which the body regenerated. One by one, the cells that had received the power of the great god became charred and crumbled.

It would be better if I didn’t have the ability to regenerate!

If only it had turned into dust and scattered without any sense of pain, like an ordinary human body!

In the end, the religious leader ended up resenting the power of the foreign body that resided in his body.

It was a long, painful death.

“…It’s over.”

[It’s over, okay.]

“Can you still move?”

[I feel like I’m going to die. How about Bennett?]

“…I feel like I’m going to die.” Niore and Bennett burst into laughter as they faced each other. They looked ridiculous. One had a severed arm, and the other had a hole in his stomach.

“Don’t lose consciousness. If you move quickly, you’ll make it before you die.”

[This is literally a matter of life and death…]

As for the blood loss, they didn’t know how the emergency return of the wizard would work. If they lost any more blood, the magic would judge it to be dangerous and kick them out of reality with a blue light. They had to hurry.

“I wish I had divine magic.”

[Yes. Um, what will happen to Tara?]

“Pessimistically, they won’t treat a saint who has lost her divine power as a saint. She’ll be kicked out of the academy too.”

[Then, how about taking Tara as a servant? Not to use her, of course. I’d like her to be with us at the academy. If only Tara is okay…]

“Yes, that’s a good idea. We can’t just watch her get kicked out.”

They talked about the future for a while. The future of Bennett, the black magician, and the future of Tara were both unclear, as if covered in fog. But if they joined forces, they might be able to get through it somehow, just like now.

Their minds were at ease. The tension that had been weighing heavily on their shoulders eased somewhat.

At that moment, a charred finger pointed at Bennett.

“Be, nett, tt…”

The bishop summoned all his remaining strength to activate his magic. The power to send the target 100 years into the future. If he couldn’t kill them, he wanted to at least ruin their plans.

Niore threw himself in front of Bennett, and the two of them were caught in the magic. They disappeared as if erased from a picture.

As the caster moved to a different timeline, the ‘Fire of Purification’ also went out. However, the bishop, who had used all his strength, died without being able to revive.

And so, in the meteorite crater,

Only Bennett’s severed arm and a charred body that was unrecognizable remained.

—- —-

What was happening?

Did Bennett and Niore succeed in the ritual?

Tara couldn’t stay still and paced around the room for a long time. She was anxious. Had they got into another accident? What if they had met the bishop?

“Please, God.”

The only comfort for her, who was filled with anxiety, was that she wouldn’t die here.

If she was in danger of dying, she would be enveloped in a blue light and transporting back to her original world. So even if she couldn’t save the world, Bennett and Niore’s survival was guaranteed.

From Noble mtl dot com

It’s okay if you don’t save them. Please just let them live.

Time passed so slowly. Every minute and second seemed to crawl by, and her anxiety echoed and grew louder. Tara prayed and lamented, then looked out the window as if she were clinging to it.

The group had gone there. Right over there. In the direction that was visible from the window.

Tara waited like a stone statue.

And then, a pillar of fire that seemed to reach the end of the sky rose up.

“That’s…”

“What is that? Did Mr. Bennett do something…?”

“Sally, I have to go too. I’m going.”

“Wait, Tara! You said you lost your power…”

Tara couldn’t contain her impulse and anxiety. She slung a wooden bat for self-defense on her back, put a magic sword on her waist, and picked up three stones to throw as she set off.

No matter how much Sally clung to her and tried to dissuade her, she couldn’t break Tara’s stubbornness.

On the way to the meteorite crater, Tara walked quickly. Without her magic, her vitality wasn’t what it used to be. Like an ordinary girl, she got tired if she walked for a long time.

The weight of the magic sword and the wooden bat also felt heavy. The anxiety that the fanatics might jump out at any moment also gnawed at Tara’s mind. But, but…

She had to check. The pillar of fire that reached the heavens had vanished. It seemed the battle was over. She quickened her pace. She ignored the branches that scratched her arms and the sharp blades of grass that cut her calves.

Tara desperately hoped to see Bennett and Niobe beyond the bushes.

Bennett would surely scold her. He would worry that she had come to meet them in such a dangerous place and fret over what might have happened to her if she had encountered trouble.

But if she told him how worried she had been, he would relax and stroke her hair. Niobe would also express her concern, asking if her wounds hurt. And then, what would she say?

You two have suffered so much. You’ve worked hard. Let’s go home and have a small celebration party. In honor of saving the world.

All together.

Just like we did at Abraham’s house, laughing and chatting. Eating delicious food. Abraham is gone now, but we can remember him. We can raise a glass… like that.

“…Ah.”

Tara carefully placed her foot.

There were traces of a fierce battle. A terrible fight must have taken place here. She could not see Bennett or Niobe. Not even after looking around.

Then they must have gone back.

It seemed they had been badly injured and had to return. In that case, the celebration party… we’ll have to have it without Sally. I’ll go out there and… first, I have to tell them how hard they’ve worked.

“…Oh.”

Tara tilted her head. There was something burned black. She crouched down and examined it closely. It was someone’s body.

Most of the clothes and skin had been burned away, making it impossible to identify. Tara’s heart sank for a moment, but she rescued herself. It can’t be.

There’s a safety device.

The safety device must have been activated, and Bennett and Niobe returned safely. This isn’t the body of either of them, but someone else’s… the body of a fanatic who passed by. That must be it.

That must be it.

Then whose arm is that…?

It’s Bennett’s arm. It’s been cut off. Bennett’s sword is also rolling around on the ground.

No.

No, it can’t be.

“No…no, no, no──!!”

If the safety device had been activated, there wouldn’t be a body left.

It can’t be. Tara strained her eyes to find evidence that the small body was not Bennett’s. However, she did not have Niobe’s keen eyesight, and she could not find anything.

All she could see was Bennett’s severed arm and the charred body of someone else.

“…’Heal’.”

Tara placed her hand on the body and cast a spell.

“‘Heal’, ‘Cure Burn’, ‘Regeneration’…!!”

It wouldn’t activate. Her divine power was completely empty.

In the first place, it was impossible to revive someone who had been burned to death like this. Even so, Tara continued to cry out her divine magic until her throat was hoarse. Until the sun set and darkness fell over the world.

Tara fell to her knees and prayed desperately.

“Answer me… please answer me…”

She repeatedly pressed her forehead to the ground, desperately seeking the goddess.

“I was wrong, I was wrong. I… I’ll do it right from now on. I’ll serve you every day, praise you, and do what I’m supposed to do… as a saint.”

However, all that looked down on her were the stars and the moon.

“Answer me, please──!!!”

Tara’s screams scattered meaninglessly into the night sky.

And so, a long time passed.

Her tears had dried up. She cried out, scratching at the ground with her fingernails until they broke, but no one listened. Tara looked down at the body with a blank expression.

Of course, the body did not move. All her prayers, pleas, and threats had yielded no results. Tara felt a terrible loneliness. As if she had been dropped alone into this vast universe.

And she quietly murmured.

“You’ve already taken my family from me, and now you’re going to be late again?”

She spat out her hatred calmly. Quietly.”This time too, after I’ve lost everything, you’re going to show up and throw me a bone, like you’re doing me a favor?…”

A wildfire spreads from a small spark.

The flame that had been smoldering deep within Tara’s eyes began to seep out. It flared up like a crimson flame, consuming the remaining embers.

If you won’t answer me. If my misfortune means nothing to you.

“Then, if that’s the case──!!”

Then.

“I’ll no longer cling to you. I won’t be swayed by your sanctimonious goodwill. I will──with my own strength, with my own will──!!”

Tara stood up and drew her cursed sword.

Thorns sprouted from the sleeves of her vestments. They grew, suffused with Tara’s blood and pain, glowing red, and wrapped themselves around the cursed sword, piercing it.

-You are my new master, master, master, mas….

Creak, groan.

The thorns dug in and consumed the cursed sword. The blade of the cursed sword gradually turned red. After a moment of beautiful predation, the cursed sword became hers alone.

Tara knew that her soul had turned red.

What was wrong was my faith. My laziness in simply looking up to God and praying, without trying to grasp anything for myself. I bitterly regretted that fact.

Metamorphosis, “Remorseful Thorns”.

Tara looked up at the sky, which was turning red as dawn approached, and declared. The Twilight Order that held a grudge, the monsters, the goddess, the corrupt clergy, those who had killed her comrades, anyone who was even slightly involved, all of them.

“I’ll kill every last one of them.”

That day, many fanatics died at the hands of the fallen saint.