I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Chapter 55 : Ritual (3)

Ritual (3)

[You...!]

Palmon's blue eyes trembled at the sight of the massive monster that

appeared before him.

He wore the expression of someone who had seen something that should never exist in this world.

[I suspected as much... You share the same blood as that one...]

Palmon could tell that the monster was Louis.

He appeared surprised and kept muttering.

[However... you've gotten much smaller. Compared to the past... you look pathetic.]

"What are you talking about?"

[And your strength... it's not what it used to be. It's not impossible for me to win...]

Even though he was told to hurry up, Palmon kept muttering to himself.

In the end, Louis, now transformed into a monster, didn't wait and pounced first.

He had wings, but didn't seem to know how to fly.

So, embarrassingly, he could only charge on all fours like a dog.

[Not a chance!]

Palmon's blue eyes flashed again.

In that moment, Louis was slammed by intensified gravity and his movements slowed.

Thanks to his monstrous transformation, it was easier to endure than before, but moving was still a struggle.

During that opening, Palmon swung his scythe made of bone.

Although his movements slowed, his senses were not dulled.

Thanks to the extrasensory perception he'd always possessed, Palmon's actions were still obvious to him.

"What are you just standing around for?"

Perhaps as a result of the transformation, his senses were sharper than normal.

No matter how fast Palmon moved, to Louis, he seemed to be merely standing still.

Standing upright on two legs, Louis balled his furry hand into a fist.

The physical structure was different from his human form, but fortunately, his hand could still close.

BOOM!

Struck square in the face by Louis's now-massive fist, Palmon was sent flying far away again.

With a crack forming in his cheekbone from the blow, Palmon rolled across the ground.

Perhaps due to the shock, his eyes changed from blue to red.

Thanks to this, Louis was able to escape from the intensified gravity.

"Ugh!"

Suddenly, Louis felt a throbbing in his head. As expected, the destructive urge he'd sensed before surged even stronger this time.

He was now using the Chaos Dragon's strength more intensely than ever before.

Naturally, the resulting urge was stronger than ever as well.

That's why he had to end it quickly, before he was completely swallowed by his own impulses.

That was the true time limit for this form.

To keep from wasting any more time, Louis lunged at Palmon in a dirty, dogged brawl.

Feeling how little time he had, Louis had no room to fight fairly.

He mounted Palmon's body and raised his fist.

He intended to rain down punches, but suddenly his body froze.

At the same time, Palmon's eyes had turned yellow.

[As I thought... even your strength has weakened...]

This time, he couldn't move at all.

It felt as if he were tied up by ropes—Louis was completely immobilized.

[Still... you remain a threat. I will also... give it my all!!]

Taking advantage of his immobilized body, Palmon swung his scythe and sent Louis flying.

Even with his larger frame, Louis soared away like a baseball struck by a bat.

Fortunately, the damage wasn't severe, so he quickly lifted his head.

'Isn't there any way to attack from a distance?'

Palmon's gravity manipulation and movement-sealing abilities that triggered from his eyes were a real bother.

For opponents like that, ranged attacks were much more effective.

Come to think of it, when he first transformed, he'd breathed fire and turned a mountain into an inferno.

Recalling that moment, Louis tried exhaling.

'Damn it...!'

Nothing—no fire, not even the slightest breath—came out.

Just like with flying, he couldn't figure out how.

Back then, he'd only managed to breathe fire unconsciously, right as his sense of self faded.

As he hesitated for a moment, a shadow spread beneath his feet.

A giant bony palm hovered over his head.

Now five palms pressed down, slamming Louis into the ground.

[DIEEEEEEEEE!!]

Palmon's eyes flashed light as he howled, almost in agony.

The more he raged, the more force the palms exerted, corroding the earth beneath them.

Soon, an even bigger crater formed.

"ROOOOOOOOAAAR!!"

But as the palms were flung away, a beastly roar rang out.

Casting aside all five palms, Louis let out a bellow and seized one of them.

As he threw his shoulders back in a peculiar pose, Palmon panicked.

THUD!

Louis hurled the hand with all his might, producing a sword echo and a violent gust.

The hand, thrown with incredible speed, struck Palmon and shattered his skull.

[KUAAAAAGH!!]

Caught off guard, Palmon's eyes grew dim.

It seemed he had hit him right in the eyes, and his vision faded.

As a result, Palmon failed to sense Louis's approach.

"ROAAAARRRR!!"

[AGH!!]

Leaping like a wild beast, Louis clamped his jaws around Palmon's neck.

Screaming in pain, Palmon grabbed his scythe in a desperate struggle to survive.

Thwack!

Palmon's giant scythe stabbed into Louis's back.

After having suffered the five palms just now, Louis's body was already riddled with wounds.

That made his scales vulnerable, and the scythe dug in.

Regaining his sight, Palmon tried to freeze Louis's movements again with his yellow glare.

But Louis's will to survive was just as strong; he jabbed Palmon's eyes with both fingers.

[AAAAAAAARGH!!]

Before he could use his power, Palmon lost both the source of his ability and a vital part of his body—a double whammy that drew a scream from him.

Not stopping at the jab, Louis hooked her fingers into the sockets and started to lift.

At the same time, the jaws clamped around Palmon's neck twisted upward.

[Stop...!!!]

Realizing Louis's intent, Palmon howled in terror.

But after tasting a demon's blood, Louis had no thought of stopping.

RRRRIP!

At last, something tore from Palmon's body.

A round object, slick with viscous liquid, shot up into the air.

****

CLANG!

The sound of metal echoed thunderously.

Sword echoes so powerful filled the entire ruin, it was hard to believe this was merely a duel between swordsmen.

"You're good at blocking!"

"Ngh!"

Pressed by Garce's sword, Silia managed to barely steady herself by putting a hand against the ground.

Just as she tried to reestablish his stance, Garce's sword was already looming for her waist.

CLANG!

By the narrowest margin, Silia blocked the blade.

But the difference in strength was undeniable, and her arms trembled from the recoil.

"You look exhausted. Where's that cockiness you were spouting off earlier?"

At first, it seemed evenly matched, but for Silia, this was an unfavorable fight.

As time passed, Garce's swordsmanship only grew more dominant, making it impossible for her to surpass his true skill.

"Haa..."

"What are you smirking at?"

Despite the situation, Silia smirked, drawing a question from Garce.

"As I said before, you aren't the only one who misses a sibling."

"You had a sibling too?"

"Yes. I also cherished my younger sibling, just like you. They're dead now, though."

Upon hearing this, Garce's brow furrowed.

"And what does that have to do with anything?"

"If I recall, you said your sibling went missing while subjugating a domain?"

What nonsense is this woman spouting?

"That's right! My sibling disappeared while on a mission to punish a lord who committed a commander crime!"

After the stampede, Silia had investigated Louis's background in detail.

She learned he was fundamentally the son of a lord, and that all of Louis's squad members were from the same domain.

Seifert domain.

The village where Louis's father reigned as lord, until the lord was branded a criminal and the domain was ruined.

Supposedly, after being accused of embezzling from the Imperial Court, the lord lost his influence and the domain was attacked by bandits.

Normally, even bandits would not dare harm nobles.

But once branded a criminal, a noble can hardly expect help from anyone when attacked from outside.

That's why the whole episode was suspicious.

"Let's say—just for argument's sake—the lord was a criminal. But how did your sibling attack the domain right after the lord was declared a criminal?"

"What?"

"And if he really was a criminal, wouldn't it have been enough to just apprehend him? Why go so far as to disguise yourselves as bandits and annihilate the entire domain?"

If a lord is found guilty, typically only he would be taken away.

That should have been the natural course of events.

But burning down the entire domain was insane, no matter how you looked at it.

There had to be a reason for doing such a thing.

"They probably needed a sacrifice. A sacrifice to forcibly draft people into the 7th Legion."

Slave traders favor ruined places.

In such places, they can capture and sell the abandoned people like wild beasts.

"As I suspected... that's how Louis and his squad members were dragged into the 7th Legion."

"What are you trying to say?!"

"Don't you get it yet?"

The answer was already clear. What did he mean, he didn't know?

With a mocking grin, Silia said,

"Your sibling didn't do anything righteous by punishing a criminal lord. He was just trash who brought ruin to an innocent village!"

"Shut your mouth!!"

Outraged, Garce enveloped his sword in aura and swung at her.

With his aura amplified, the reach of his sword energy doubled, but Silia ducked and avoided it.

As she closed in, Garce hurriedly brought his sword up to his chest.

"Obvious."

The obvious place to guard was his chest. Expecting this, Silia targeted Garce's lower body.

Startled, Garce barely managed to retreat and avoid her blade.

He then parried Silia's next ferocious attacks with ease.

Her strength hadn't increased, nor had her movement become sharper.

Yet, Silia seemed to read Garce's every move and dodged easily.

At the same time, she threatened him by exploiting any opening.

"You wench!"

"Told you. You're predictable."

"Nonsense!"

Garce now launched a barrage of attacks, trying to intimidate her.

Sure, compared to herself, Garce was overwhelming, but something about his swordplay felt off to Silia.

The raw power in his aura matched what Commander Kelian wielded—but his movements were nowhere near Kelian's level.

He didn't have any of the refinement seen only in a master's sword.

It was like watching a child swing around overwhelming strength and agility he shouldn't have, in a wild, untamed manner.

He may have had some training as a knight, but fell far short of someone with Imperial Court credentials.

In short, when it came to everything but strength and output, he was lacking.

'That's why he's easy to read.'

So, even facing an overwhelming opponent, Silia never felt truly threatened.

Moreover, she'd grown much stronger through the stampede ordeal.

"You bitch...!"

As time passed, Silia became more attuned to Garce's movements.

Frustrated by this, Garce gritted his teeth and swung his sword more viciously—but ended up slashed in return.

"Argh!"

Silia's aura-clad sword drew a line across Garce's chest.

Badly wounded, Garce reflexively retreated as righteous anger flashed across his face.

Garce had taken a hit, but the one most battered was Silia.

Though Garce had only been struck once, Silia's body was covered in wounds.

He was an opponent she could certainly defeat, yet Garce was boiling with rage.

Not only had she wounded his chest, she also maligned his sibling as a criminal.

Simply defeating her was not enough.

The need to vent his rage now filled Garce's mind.

"Fine."

Garce fixed his eyes on something and muttered.

His eyes flashed as he charged toward his new target.

"I'll kill your squad members first!!"

Garce rushed toward Louis's squad members, who were fighting the dark mages alongside the intelligence squad.

Silia, who was nearly exhausted, couldn't stop Garce as he bypassed her and closed in on the squad members.

They looked like nothing more than ordinary soldiers—lopping off their heads would be child's play.

Thinking that, Garce slashed his sword at one of the squad members, Rio.

Yet unexpectedly, Rio managed to block his strike with her own blade.

Of course, overpowered by the force, Rio was knocked down—but Garce was momentarily surprised that such a young girl could respond to his attack.

Still, he dismissed it. It had to be a fluke.

"Die!!"

As he tried to finish Rio off, Victor and Simon suddenly stepped in.

"...!!"

Garce halted his swing at Rio to parry the ambush from the two.

"Rio, you okay?"

"Get up if you don't want to die!"

The two of them distracted Garce, buying time for Rio to rise.

But Garce only grinned madly, as if finding new prey.

"You came here just to die!"

"Eek!"

Still, stalling wasn't meaningless.

Just then, a red aura flared from Rio's body and shot toward Garce.

"What?!"

Caught off guard, Garce had to abandon them and hurriedly raise his sword.

He blocked the suddenly fired red aura, but the backlash knocked him back.

'How could it be this powerful...!'

It was too soon to be surprised. Red light shone in Rio's eyes as she instantly closed the distance to Garce.

Her next onslaught left him stunned.

With every swing, her aura—formed of blood—danced in the air.

Like a martial artist performing, her relentless attacks didn't seem possible from a mere child.

'What is this brat?'

It was enough to make his jaw drop, but that was all.

Garce gathered himself, and his sword energy clashed with Rio's red aura.

"Ugh!"

Eventually, Rio lost her sword and received a chest wound just like Garce's.

"You impious wretches!!"

Just as Garce moved in to finish her, lightning struck from above.

"AAAAAGH!!"

For the second time, Garce was struck by an unexpected attack.

Again, the power was immense, and he screamed.

"See? I told you I can't handle physical combat!"

Pram, clutching her staff, complained with a teary face.

It was nice that she'd dealt damage, but she still wasn't strong enough to take Garce down.

"You accursed things!!"

He would kill them all.

The squad members' unpredictable antics had driven Garce into a murderous rage.

Intimidated by his bloodlust, the squad members flinched.

He raised his aura to the max, intending to cut them all down at once.

But as Garce tried to swing his sword, his body suddenly went stiff.

"Huh?"

A tingling ran through his body.

His arms trembled, as if striking something.

With a click of his tongue, Garce realized it was the aftereffect of the lightning—his body paralyzed.

SHLASH!

As he stood frozen, the wound on his chest was suddenly slashed open further.

Silia had dashed in and struck the same spot with her aura-enveloped sword.

"GUAAAH!!"

Bleeding heavily, Garce collapsed to the ground.

If this wasn't a disaster, what was?

He'd been wounded by a weaker woman and struck hard even by the kids serving under her.

"Da... mn...!"

His body was still sluggish from the paralysis.

How could a child wield magic of this level?

To make matters worse, being slashed again at the same wound made it a truly lethal blow.

Humiliation boiled within him.

Unable to bear it, Garce bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

He could not let it end like this.

"Don't get too cocky yet...! Have you forgotten what's been summoned into this world?"

Indeed, the summoned Great Devil Palmon remained.

Who among them could possibly face an Great Devil?

By now, that brat Louis was probably dead, and Palmon would soon be here.

"You'll all become sacrifices for the Great Devil!!"

THUD!

Suddenly, something fell from the sky.

Right in front of Garce, a giant head landed.

"Huh?"

He found himself locking eyes with the so-called Great Devil Palmon, and his body froze.