Welcome to Hell!

Chapter 194: Karelvo the grotesque demon (3)

If we couldn’t shake off Karelvo, then my only choice was to finish him off here. During our escape, I devised a plan for just such a necessity. I would have preferred not needing it, but there was no helping it. I should just settle our longstanding grudge with Karelvo.

Given the damage Karelvo had sustained from the “Imperial Sword Knights”, if my plan worked, I might be able to defeat him right then and there. However, if it failed, I would be left without a decisive advantage and forced to flee again. I had to ensure its success. With my new resolve, I ran towards Karelvo, floating the sand pincers on either side of me.

From Karelvo’s standpoint, his most coveted prey was approaching him. He let out a roar, delighted yet filled with anger and killing intent.

“Grrraaaaaoooon!!!”

“Hmph!”

As Karelvo extended his countless arms towards me, I leaped to dodge them. However, he persistently pursued me with the other arms, forcing me to use one of the pincers as a stepping stone to jump again in mid-air.

The sand pincer I used as a foothold was crushed by Karelvo’s arm and was no longer under my control. The sand pincers were convenient, but in the end, they were mere spiritual weapons that could be recreated at any time, which is why I discarded them without hesitation.

Even though Karelvo lost his rationality, he seemed to have anticipated my movements. What my compound eyes reflected while I was in mid-air jump was a dragon’s mouth, opened as wide as possible, rushing towards me.

“It seems like your brain is still working a bit.”

“Grrrrrrrr!?”

Unluckily for Karelvo, he seemed to have forgotten, or perhaps never knew, that I could see in all directions with my multiple compound eyes. Either way, I was able to anticipate his movements in advance.

As Karelvo’s mouth drew near, I hooked my tail’s poisonous stinger onto the tip of his nose. Using the tail as a third arm, I flung myself onto the top of his head. After landing there, I raised my two swords high and thrust them with all my might into his skull.

“Grrrraaaaaghhhhh!?”

“Still lively, I see.”

The sharpness of my twin swords was intact, and the blades were embedded deeply up to their hilts. The blades pierced through scales, skin, and even the skull beneath, undoubtedly damaging the brain.

Karelvo, with his brain injured, thrashed his head around in agonizing screams. Even for a demon, a blade driven into the brain was usually a fatal blow.

Yet Karelvo was still rampaging aggressively. Given his size, perhaps the brain damage inflicted by my twin swords was merely a minor injury. If so, I decided to extend that wound.

“How about this?”

“Gagh!?”

I yanked out my swords and, in their place, thrust the other intact sand pincer after reshaping its tip into a long, slender spear to penetrate deeper inside. The pincer drove into his brain, following the path carved by my swords.

Karelvo’s response was nothing short of dramatic. His long neck, which had been swinging from side to side until now, stretched straight out and became rigid, and his mouth was opening and closing. Meanwhile, his countless arms began to twitch and strike the ground in a chaotic manner.

“That was close, huh!”

“Grrrrroooooooh!”

“That’s really tough…”

The arms had caught up to Marcellus and the others and were attacking them. Tigar, who could easily sever Karelvo’s arms with his greatsword as tall as a man, was not a problem, but Marcellus and Decius were not so fortunate. They, who were nearly taken captive, only had the straight swords commonly used by imperial soldiers.

These men were elite warriors, and they wouldn’t succumb easily to Karelvo’s arms. However, at the same time, it was impossible for them to sever the arms in one stroke like Tigar could. Neither the length nor the quality of their swords were sufficient for that.

Thus, the two were barely managing to dodge the approaching arms while slicing through them. They even incorporated some spiritual art attacks, but these seemed ineffective. It appeared that only a powerful spiritual art could quickly deal a fatal blow.

I then created more sand and applied pressure from behind the pincer. The sand spear that had pierced the brain was pushed deeper from behind. No matter how sturdy the scales or bones were, it seemed the brain itself was soft, like in other creatures.

With the sand spear deeply embedded, I grew numerous tiny spikes from its sides. This technique, which tore the enemy apart from the inside, had never failed. Indeed, it seemed to be affecting Karelvo, as his arms, which he could still move until now, became rigid and stretched out just like his neck.

Yet Karelvo was still alive. His dragon mouth moved rapidly, and I could hear his rough breathing from nearby. Unbelievably, the wound on his head was also trying to close up, and it felt as if there was a strain on the sand spear.

“Still alive, even now? Then…!”

If things continued this way, he might really heal. However, I couldn’t move at the moment. Therefore, my only option was to finish him off with a powerful spiritual art attack. I heightened my spiritual power to its limit and first created a large amount of sand.

Next, I shaped this sand into a pair of arms. I envisioned arms encased in something akin to my own exoskeleton. These hands were larger, stronger, and had sharper fingertips than the ones I created when burying the synthetic beast made by Orvo. The sand’s density was also higher.

“Haahhhh!”

“Such incredible spiritual power…!”

As I consumed a great deal of spiritual power, sweat poured from my entire body. This was probably a reaction to using spiritual power at the very edge of my limits. There was no option to interrupt the spiritual art at this stage. Marcellus was murmuring something, but I had no room to pay attention to anything else. I just clenched my teeth and continued using the spiritual art.

The pair of arms I created slowly enveloped Karelvo from both sides, like they were squeezing him. When I made the fingertips dig in, I began to twist his enormous body.

Karelvo’s body was not only large but his flesh and bones were also exceptionally tough. He couldn’t be easily crushed like Orvo’s synthetic beast. Nonetheless, I continued to apply force without giving up.

After a while, I heard the sounds of something cracking and snapping. It seemed the scales were shattering from the force of the grip and the bones were breaking under the increased pressure. The scales and bones had reached their limit.

Now, all I had to do was keep twisting with all my might. I channeled more spiritual power into the hands made of sand, tightening the grip on Karelvo’s body. Broken bones pierced through his skin from the inside, and blood slowly started to seep from all over Karelvo’s body.

However, although he was covered in blood, Karelvo was still alive. His survival meant his healing powers were still active. The parts pierced from the inside were gradually healing, with the skin starting to attach around the bones. It was clear that I needed to exert more force.

“Goboba… Gobba!!!”

“Whoa!?”

“Gross!?”

“That was close.”

As I continued to exert more force, it seemed that after the scales and bones shattered, his internal organs were damaged next. Karelvo spat a large amount of blood not only from his dragon mouth but also from the other beastly mouths on his torso. A rain of blood poured down on the ground, shocking Marcellus and Tigar.

Only Decius, seemingly aware, had hidden in the shadows to avoid the situation. Whether it was his cleverness or something else… The personalities of the three were different. Despite my focus on controlling the spiritual art, I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at their sight.

“Gobbo… Gora…”

Karelvo, spewing blood with the force of a fountain, apparently couldn’t remain unscathed with his entire body being twisted. His neck and arms, which had been taut until just moments ago, suddenly lost their strength, and his body finally collapsed.

Since I was standing above Karelvo’s head, I was thrown off by the shock of him falling face-first to the ground. I was wholly exhausted from overusing my spiritual power, so I couldn’t brace myself for the fall.

I still managed to land on my hands and knees, and thanks to my sturdy exoskeleton, the damage from the fall was minimal. However, I was so exhausted that even moving a single finger felt like an insurmountable task. I was really glad that everything went according to plan.

Yet, unbelievably, Karelvo was still alive. He appeared significantly weakened, and his healing didn’t seem to be keeping up. But considering everything that had happened, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he recovered enough to start moving again. I needed to deliver the final blow without delay.

“Sh-should deliver the finishing blow…”

“Leave it to me; heave-ho!”

I was about to stand up using my twin swords as a support to deliver the final blow, but Tigar acted first and severed Karelvo’s head with his greatsword. The moment he did, Karelvo’s bodily healing came to a complete halt. It seemed that even for this monster, the head was a vital organ.

Following Tigar, Marcellus and Decius also rushed over. Marcellus grabbed my arm and pulled me up to stand. However, my legs were still weak. I couldn’t even maintain my exoskeleton, and my skin had softened. Sensing my weakness, Marcellus wrapped my arm around his shoulder.

“To think you’d end up defeating it on your own. Your strength is just ridiculous.”

“No, that’s not true. The person who helped me has the power to obliterate me with a flick of their wrist.”

“No way… Is that true? What kind of monster is that?”

Compared to Aiwass, my own power was insignificant. I didn’t actually fight against him, but merely facing him made me realize this fact. That’s why I never became complacent; I knew there were many beings stronger than myself.

At first, Marcellus thought I was joking, but we had known each other for a long time. He could tell whether I was serious or not. With a resigned sigh, Marcellus expressed his disbelief.

“Still can’t muster your strength, Boss?”

“Yes. But a little rest should suffice.”

“Considering you’re still conscious after using such a massive scale of spiritual art, that’s impressive enough… but that’s to be expected, isn’t it?”

The four of us gathered to celebrate our victory. It was a brief but precious respite on the battlefield. During this time, I remained vigilant, using my compound eyes to observe the surroundings and paying attention to vibrations to be ready for any sudden changes.

That’s why I noticed it. Just behind us lay the severed dragon head of Karelvo that was cut off by Tigar. The eyes on Karelvo’s face, which were stuck there, were wide open as they glared at us, filled with hatred and killing intent.

“Danger! Behind you!”

“Gigeeeee!”

From the mouth on Karelvo’s face, an incomprehensible shriek erupted as the severed dragon head lunged towards us. It was clearly targeting me, and Marcellus was in danger of being caught in the fray.

However, that didn’t happen. Because… Marcellus pushed me out of the way.