Episode 410

Escape freeze tag... Now that I was more familiar with the rules, it was more natural to say escape and freeze tag. The winning condition for this unreasonable game was for just one participant to succeed in escaping.

It didn't matter who escaped. It could be me or a child. It could even be a dog or a cat as long as it was recognized as a participant. I didn't know about bugs.

Nevertheless, Berwick was unquestionably a participant. He had used Tag, which could only be used by those participating in the game. In other words, Berwick's escape meant our victory and Tantata's defeat.

"Ugh, eek, eeok, eek, kyack....!" Tantata let out a series of strange noises, and he trembled like someone suffering a heart attack.

His rippling fat and quivering flesh created a ridiculous sight.

Crack!

Eventually, ice started to form around Tantata's toes.

"N-no...!" The moment he saw the ice, Tantata screamed and went on a rampage, shattering the ice that had just appeared.

Shit. This is an unexpected development. Can this bastard even break the rule that he has set? I didn't know, but I had a feeling that I couldn't leave things as they were.

The tongue wrapped around me had lost its strength and gone limp, so I could barely move again. My physical condition was terrible, but my strength remained intact, likely because I had used Galaxy Sword instead of White Sun Eclipse. Sometimes, a martial artist could keep moving even with shattered limbs, provided they still possessed internal energy.

I narrowed the distance and struck Tantata. My charge's momentum drove my punch deep into Tantata's greasy body. It was hard enough for the shock to reach his organs, assuming he even had any.

Tantata gasped like he was going to cough up blood, and I pressed the attack with a punch and even a kick.

I wasn't consciously aware of it, but my attacks naturally flowed into a linked combo from the first move through the fourth. The first move, Scorching, struck his abdomen. The second, Fire Wheel, slammed into the center of his chest. The third move, Rising Fire, connected with his jaw. Then the fourth move struck the center of Tantata's head.

The moment I drove my heel into the top of his head, his skull collapsed into his shoulders as if it had been crushed. A fairly tough person would have died from something like that. After all, his neck bone had been shattered.

"Kekek, kek...!"

Yet, Tantata survived in this state.

Persistent bastard.

Just as I was about to unleash the next technique, Tantata's bloodstained mouth opened wide again, and another tongue shot toward me.

I expected he wouldn't die so easily, so I dodged the attack. However, the tongue wasn't the real threat. Saliva sprayed from his open mouth. Under normal circumstances, I could've blocked it without any trouble. However, I was forcibly holding my shattered body together with internal energy, which slowed my reaction speed. If Verita hadn't intervened at the last moment, I would've suffered a serious blow.

Baam!

The saliva splashed on Verita's face. It was nothing more than spit spat from his mouth, yet the sound it made on impact was heavy and dull, like a stone striking flesh.

Verita's head snapped sharply to the side from the hit.

I didn't even have time to thank her. I passed by the staggering Verita and approached Tantata again.

It was meaningless to deal an external blow. I had to smash this guy's insides.

I wrapped the essence of the Internal Heavy Strike Technique around my arms and pressed my fists against his vital points: his heart and lower dantian.

The flames surrounding me went out for a while. It wasn't that my internal energy had run out. It was like bending one's knees before a leap or the stillness before a storm. The brief pause was the preparation the technique required before its release.

The flames that had momentarily dimmed erupted again like an explosion as I unleashed the White Sun Style's 7th Move.

Double Flame Force.

The technique was from the latter half of the White Sun Style and struck from within. The attack landed directly on Tantata's body.

"Ugh, eek, kyaack...!"

Blood gushed from him as he staggered backward before collapsing with a heavy thud. After a brief pause, the ice surged forward again and rapidly consumed his entire body. In moments, Tantata vanished beneath the spreading ice.

"No, no, no...!" His arms flailed as he repeatedly broke the ice. He looked like a drowning person desperately fighting to stay above water.

Now is my chance. I tried to get up, but my legs gave out, and I collapsed. Fuck.

I was weak. I still lacked training. I gritted my teeth and dragged myself toward Tantata, crawling to narrow the distance. However, my advance was too slow, and I started to feel impatient. To make matters worse, the wounds I had inflicted on Tantata were rapidly recovering.

Surely he isn't going to just regenerate, right?

As confusion crept in, a chain shot out of nowhere and bound the demon king. Its shape and the presence it emitted were familiar.

Vine's Chains?

Then daggers plunged one after another into the bound Tantata.

The demon king's eyes widened, and he struggled, but it was only for a moment. His movements started to rapidly lose strength.

"What an absurd monster," Ludwig remarked.

"Brother," I said.

Ludwig landed beside me and clicked his tongue. "He's still moving like this after I drove ten daggers coated with Swamp Spider venom into him."

Ludwig shook his head and looked at me. "Are you okay? Should I give you a potion?"

I shook my head. "It is a wound from miasma, so it is useless."

"Ah, is that so?"

"Give me a hand."

"Yes."

I took Ludwig's outstretched hand and stood up.

Ludwig said, "I'm sorry I'm late. It seems the situation in the punishment building was more serious than I thought. Is there anything I can do to help you now?"

"There are guards and prisoners trapped under the rubble. Please rescue them." Then I pointed at the fallen Verita. "I'd also ask to treat the nun over there."

"Got it."

I kept my eye on Tantata as I spoke. At last, the ice finally devoured this tenacious demon king.

Trapped within the ice, the Green-Tongued Demon King let out a silent scream. Soon, cracks started to spread across the frozen mass.

The cracking sound didn't come from the ice alone. White cracks started to spread on the barrier surrounding us. Rays of light started to pour in through those cracks.

I had wondered how Ludwig had broken in. He seemed to have entered through that crack.

Then a deafening sound erupted, like hundreds of glass panes shattering at once. The ice and black curtain shattered completely.

A strong wind blew from somewhere and drove away the Dark Qi.

The oppressive weight pressing on my head, chest, and entire body lifted. It was as if a fresh breeze had passed through me. I finally felt lighter, so I let out a big sigh.

Now that the black curtain was gone, the sun was visible again. Simply basking in the sunlight gave my throbbing body some strength.

"How is the situation outside?" I asked.

"It is a mess."

"What is?"

"The monsters that used to intermittently appear are now pouring out in waves. Even with the forces stationed at the labor camp and the Golden Lord's private soldiers joining the fight, the situation isn't favorable."

"I see."

The Dark Pope had ordered his followers to commit mass suicide, so I had assumed things outside could have improved a bit. From what I was hearing, hell was raging out there as fiercely as it had been in here.

I suppose there was a reason we couldn't get in touch with headquarters.

I sighed and asked, "What about Father?"

Ludwig hesitated, so I pressed, "What is it?"

"He went to the underground area of the labor camp to keep his promise to the Golden Lord."

"Promise?" I echoed.

Is it the massacre of the lesser races?

I sighed deeply. "That isn't necessary. There is no need to kill them. Go and tell him. The demon king has already been summoned."

"What? Don't tell me that this piece of ice..."

"That's right. He is a demon king."

"That's crazy. Really? Crazy." Ludwig stared at the frozen figure. "Now that I think about it, he did look like a green tongue... Has the demon king already been summoned?"

"It isn't a complete summoning... In any case, that isn't important right now. Go quickly and stop him," I urged.

Ludwig's expression grew noticeably flustered. "That sounds a bit difficult."

"What is it?"

"The Golden Lord interpreted the commotion in Rahild as a sign that a demon king's summoning was imminent. To gain unclean blood to prevent the summoning, she believes it is necessary to wipe out the lesser races," Ludwig replied. "Her reasoning convinced Father. Above all, the two of them reached an agreement as Grand Dukes of the empire."

"Ugh..." I scratched my head before saying, "Give me a potion."

"All of a sudden? Didn't you say you don't need one?"

"I'm asking because now I do. I may as well indulge in a little luxury this time."

Ludwig looked puzzled but obediently held out the potion. I immediately opened the lid and poured it on my head.

Ludwig finally nodded in understanding. It was impossible to heal the wounds caused by Dark Qi, but used this way, the potion could at least stop the bleeding and restore my strength for a short time. Of course, the effect was only temporary. Given the potion's value, using it like this was an enormous waste. Only someone wealthy enough to throw money around would choose such a method.

Ludwig asked, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to stop him."

"It would be better not to do that." Ludwig's expression remained puzzled. "I heard it from Father. Did you two discuss this in advance before everything happened? If you successfully prevented the summoning, he would abandon his plan to wipe out the lesser races. But you failed."

"The demon king was summoned a long time ago. Now it's over. There is no point in killing the lesser races now," I argued.

Ludwig looked at Tantata's corpse and shook his head. "Honestly, I don't know. Is that really a demon king? The miasma is certainly thick, but I don't know if it is at the level of a demon king. Maybe it is just a similar legion commander."

It frustrated me, but Ludwig's question was valid. He lacked the overwhelming intimidation of a demon king, the damage he had caused wasn't severe, and his end had been anticlimactic.

How should I explain this? In the end, to properly explain Tantata, I would also have to talk about the Dark Pope who had been on the top floor and Obi, the priest who was dead now. However, there was no time for that right now.

Ludwig continued, "Even if what you say is true, it is still a fact that the monsters in the labor camp are active right now. So..."

He deliberately trailed off. Looking at me, he suggested, "Just get a good night's sleep, okay? You look tired."

Getting some sleep was a roundabout way of saying that, no matter what happened from here on, I'd better pretend not to see it.

I ignored Ludwig's unpleasant suggestion and put on the Linchal Mask. It didn't mean much. I only wanted to hide the injuries Luan had sustained and avoid unnecessary conflict.

"Are you really going to use that disguise?" Ludwig asked.

"Do you want to stop him yourself, Brother?"

Ludwig smiled bitterly at my words. "That is a bit... I'm not in a position to oppose Father's will. It doesn't matter what orders he gives or what thoughts he has. I'm just someone who lends him my strength."

Deep conviction resonated in his voice. It was an unshakable belief that none of the Iron-Blooded Lord's judgments or orders could ever be wrong.

"Okay, then please organize this place. It's the rescue operation I mentioned earlier. I can't sense any more miasma, but stay alert just in case."

Without waiting for his response, I left the punishment building.

Even then, Ludwig dared to say one more thing. "Luan, be careful."

"What?"

"Rebelling against the Iron-Blooded Lord is bigger than you think."

Ludwig's words sounded more like a warning than advice. That was only natural. He was the Iron-Blooded Lord's most loyal follower, a madman who had abandoned the comfortable life he could have enjoyed as a Badniker. He had even erased his former identity to infiltrate the Dark Church. In his own way, he possessed a kind of madness I could never understand.

The madman looked at me and continued, "This time, the situation is different from that dwarf village. He made a promise with the Golden Lord. The family head's reputation is at stake."

The mention of reputation was ridiculous. However, for the head of a Great Family like the Badnikers, reputation could sometimes matter far more than a promise written and sealed on paper.

I laughed at Ludwig's warning and replied casually, "I'll take care of it."

With a body and mind that felt anything but light, I headed toward the Iron-Blooded Lord.

Ludwig's sigh and murmur echoed behind me. "You live such a tiring life."