He glared at Iguvua with sharp eyes even though he was about to lose consciousness. Zaryusu endured this numbing pain.
He couldn’t help but scream despite his best efforts as the cold fog dominated the surrounding.
The white cold air covered everything and Iguvua laughed sinisterly when his scheme succeeded.
Ku ku, you could have won if you had abandoned your comrades.
Iguvua was completely immune to cold and electricity. He who was totally fine inside the cold gush of air crushed the ‘fireball’ spell in his hands. If he casted it, it would collide with the white fog around Iguvua and cause an explosion.
He could deal the final blow to the other two after the fog dissipated. More importantly, he needed to put down the lizardman that was still standing. As he looked around, Iguvua’s face scowled. He miscalculated something.
“Well then, where is he?”
This was a fog that concealed everything from sight.
Iguvua had the ability to see through the darkness with his eyes, but couldn’t see through objects that obscured his sight like this. He had no idea where the enemy was.
But that wasn’t a big problem. With how the lizardman was shrieking just now, he seemed to have suffered great injuries. He shot out the cold air to counter the ‘fireball’, so he must have suffered damage on the same level as taking a ‘fireball’ hit.
Suffering this injury on top of his already heavy wounds, it might had been fatal. What’s left was to crush him slowly.
Leave this foggy place first?
After considering it, Iguvua decided not to.
— If he moved now, he would be giving his position away.
The important thing was to summon undead guards. With a meat shield, victory will be his even if that lizardman was still alive.
Iguvua who was about to cast his spell heard the sound of water rippling.
— One of the four treasures of the lizardmen, Frost Pain.
A weapon made from ice extracted from the lake when it froze that one and only time. It harboured three magical powers.
Number one, the sword was imbued with cold energy, dealing additional ice damage to the enemy it attacks.
Number two, the powerful skill that could only be used thrice a day, Icy Burst.
Number three—
The sound of air being sliced echoed out.
Before understanding what was happening, Iguvua saw the tip of a sharp object.
Iguvua’s head was hit by a powerful strike.
The sword lodged into Iguvua’s right eye rattled wildly. Iguvua who finally understood what was happening screamed.
“Hyaaa! Why! Why are you not dead!”
Frost Pain pierced deep into Iguvua’s right eye socket, he could feel his health falling drastically—
In front of Iguvua who was standing unsteadily with a sword lodged in his head was Zaryusu who was covered in frost.
Iguvua couldn’t understand why Zaryusu was still standing after taking such a powerful ice attack.
The third ability of Frost Pain.
Granting the user with resistance to ice damage—
Even though Frost Pain offered resistance to the cold, it couldn’t completely negate a powerful skill like Icy Burst. The damage from the cold chilled Zaryusu to the bones. He was on the verge of collapsing, his breathing ragged and his movement dulled. His tail drooped weakly into the water. It was almost impossible to fight on when you even had difficulty just breathing. That strike wasn’t aimed carefully, but a blow thrown out by instinct using all his might.
It was a lucky hit.
Zaryusu struggled to keep his eyes open.
He gave everything he had to deal this final blow to Iguvua, and he could feel that it was a fatal hit.
Zaryusu who had no energy left to fight looked at Iguvua with a glimmer of hope.
Iguvua was wavering. He couldn’t keep his body intact as the skin fell off his face and cracks appeared on his bones. Even his clothes were rotting away. It was a matter of time before he would fade away. The moment Zaryusu was certain he was victorious—
A bony hand covered in skin grabbed Zaryusu’s throat.
“I… I am created to serve the Supreme Being… How could I be… vanquished like this!”
Iguvua wasn’t even holding him with much force and Zaryusu could break free easily, but—
“— Ahhhh—!”
— Zaryusu wailed as an intense pain permeated his entire body.
Negative energy flowed into Zaryusu’s body, robbing him of his vitality. Even Zaryusu who was trained to endure pain couldn’t withstand the feeling of the pain caused by the cold that seemed to be injected directly into his veins.
“Die—! Lizardman!”
Pieces of Iguvua’s face had dropped off, disintegrating in mid air.
Iguvua’s life was deteriorating as well, but his intense loyalty towards his master made him cling on to life desperately.
Zaryusu was struggling with all he had, but he was overcome with fear as his body refused to move as he wished.
Zaryusu didn’t have much health left. The negative energy Iguvua was injecting into him was draining his life force away.
Zaryusu’s gaze wavered and his vision blurred.
The world seemed to be covered by a thin fog.
Iguvua who was clinging to consciousness mightily had a victorious smile as he watched Zaryusu slowly lose his strength to struggle.
Kill this lizardman, as well as the other two behind him. They should be the elite of the lizardmen.
Killing these lizardmen would be the best gifts he could offer to the Supreme Being— his creator.
Iguvua’s expression was depicting these emotions strongly without words, allowing Zaryusu to surmise what Iguvua was thinking.
“Go to hell!”
His body was not reacting to him as he could feel his body temperature dropping as if a poison was spreading through his body. He could hardly breathe, and his mind was the only thing that was clear.
He couldn’t die yet.
Rororo who sprinted with all its might.
Zenberu who shielded him.
Crusch who exhausted all her mana.
Not just them, he was also shouldering the burdens of all the lizardmen who had sacrificed themselves in this war.
Zaryusu who was racking his brains for a way out heard a whisper.
— The gentle voice of Crusch
— The hearty voice of Zenberu
— The playful whimpers of Rororo
Sound that should be impossible for him to hear.
Crusch had lost consciousness and Zenberu should be knocked out.
Rororo should had been taken far away from here.
Was Zaryusu hearing things as he loses consciousness? Imagining the voices of the comrades he knew for less than a week? The call of his family?
No.
That’s right, this line of thinking was wrong.
Everyone was here with him—
“—Ahhhh… Ahhhhhh—!”
“—? You still have this much strength left?!”
Zaryusu who was on the verge of losing his consciousness roared and the surprised voice of Iguvua could be heard.
Zaryusu moved his eyeballs and glared at Iguvua. His eyes were filled with indomitable will, making it hard to believe that his eyes were unfocused just moments earlier, stiffening Iguvua’s expression.
“Crusch! Zenberu! Rororo!”
“—! What are you doing! Just die—!”
Where did such vitality stem from? The huge amount of negative energy injected into Zaryusu was draining his life force constantly. Zaryusu also felt that his limbs were heavy and his body ice cold.
Even so, Zaryusu felt warmer with every name he shouted. This warmth didn’t originate from his life force.
It came from within his chest— his heart.