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Chapter 129

A drowsy feeling.

A jumbled landscape.

Charging through flames and smoke.

A mixed force of high-ranking adventurers and dragons.

Originally, this was a group the Dragon King had assembled to crush the mass-produced heroes.

They had demolished many bases and kept moving forward.

――I messed up.

This thought briefly surfaced in my mind before disappearing.

――What did I mess up?

――Was it that I destroyed the bases but failed to kill anyone, resulting in no casualties?

――Or was it that I somehow held back and got injured?

The injuries healed immediately. Rather, I knew they would heal.

So, was it failing to kill anyone…?

――No, no one died. Not a single one.

――That’s good.

――Huh? Why? Why is that good?

――Holding back and getting injured during a battle—what do you call that mistake?

――I don’t know.

――Why did I feel relieved despite being injured…? I don’t understand myself.

My consciousness, sinking like mud, occasionally surfaced, and various thoughts raced through my head.

――Everything is becoming irrelevant.

I should stop thinking. Anyway, thinking doesn’t help, and I can’t control my body.

――For now, I’ll just follow Moses’s voice echoing in my head.

Then, a familiar scene came into view.

「The Dragon Village… huh.」

All that’s left is to get the gemstone and finish everything.

For some reason, the sad faces of Cordelia and Lilith flashed in my mind, and my chest hurt.

As I approached the cave altar where the Dragon Ritual was performed, a familiar voice reached my ears.

「Oh, so a demon looks just like what is described in the catalog. Golden eyes, black eyeballs instead of white… You look just like a devil.」

Wrapped in a pitch-black aura and bearing black wings, I heard Liu Hai whistle as he looked at me.

A man who had honed his close combat skills to the extreme over a thousand years.

If I held back, he would devour me in an instant. But… that was before I became what I am now.

「Liu Hai? You know what demonization means, don’t you? 」

「Yeah, you’re almost invincible. But it’s just ‘almost invincible.’」

「Do you really think you can fight me in my demonized state?」

「Yeah, I can. And there’s plenty of chances for victory.」

Liu Hai smiled wryly.

「No, to be precise, if I can last a few seconds… no, if I land a single hit, it’s my win.」

「A single hit? You should know the difference in power. You can’t be that ignorant.」

「Yeah, that’s true—unless your demonized form wasn’t human-sized!」

Liu Hai roared and charged straight at me.

First, a tiger claw strike to blind me… but I’m faster.

As I slightly moved my head to dodge, a low sweeping kick came for my legs. Avoiding it, a groin strike followed.

Blinding strike and groin attack.

Really, he’s mercilessly trying to kill me, I thought as I took a right straight punch to my solar plexus.

「Ugh…!」

I took it head-on, but it was half on purpose.

The main characteristic of my demonized state is extraordinary regenerative abilities.

Even if I took a thousand direct hits, unless it was an ultra-great magic from Lilith or Merlin, physical attacks wouldn’t cause damage.

So, I took the hit on purpose—grabbed the arm that struck me, and planned to counterattack with a huge blow.

「Hey, Lute? Do you think even if you take a thousand hits from me, it won’t damage you?」

「Yeah, that’s right. In return, I’ll give you a painful blow.」

Hearing my words, Liu Hai chuckled.

「I haven’t shown you all of my power yet.

Then, I felt three impacts from behind.

「–What!?」

I turned around to see three Liuhais winding up for their next strikes. Light threads extended from the spot where I was first hit by Liu Hai, wrapping around my arms and legs in multiple layers.

The light threads wrapping around me stretched to Liu Hai’s hands, making it look just like–

「A puppet?」

「Pretty sharp, aren’t you? You’ve stopped attacking and gone on the defensive. That’s right, you’re now bound by puppet strings. The first strike was to connect these threads to your body, and once that hit, the setup was complete. Infinity has already begun!」

These three Liuhais were probably shadow clones created using immortal techniques. I could do something similar, so I understood that part. However, these clones seemed to have substantial power, about 70% of the original Liu Hai’s strength.

But… is that even possible? While I can create shadow clones with immortal techniques, the more I make, the weaker they become compared to the original. Also, the stronger the clone, the shorter its duration should be. Even if Liu Hai talks about infinity, it’s theoretically impossible to maintain clones of this level for a long time. Yet, this must be the pinnacle skill of the strongest immortal.

As I pondered, attacks kept coming. I had already taken two dozen hits, getting completely pounded.

Each strike wasn’t heavy—in fact, they were rather light.

But—what the hell is this? I can’t counterattack at all!

I’m staggered or knocked away by the attacks. Immediately after, another attack comes, further staggering me, and then another follows, always hitting when I’m unable to counterattack. Each hit drives me into an unbalanced state where I can’t retaliate. This is bad!

I can’t counterattack at all!

Is this because the four attackers are organically coordinated? Attack and defense as one… no, this barrage itself is… a single technique to prevent counterattacks?

「Hey Lute, you’re already finished. You’ve realized it by now, haven’t you? Each attack has a purpose, guiding you and trapping you in a situation where you can’t counter. And then–」

A gap opened!

From this position, I can counterattack–What!?

Liu Hai’s main body elegantly manipulated the threads connected to his hands.

Then, the threads moved my limbs, causing me to fall to the ground and crawl.

「And if things get dicey during the combo, I’ll just roll you over with the marionette strings! Hahaha! Immortal techniques really are cheating!」

This is bad. Even if I can withstand a thousand hits from Liu Hai’s attacks, this is really bad.

「The key is the combination of strings and shadow clones for an endless barrage—Ultimate Immortal Technique: Endless Marionette.」

–Solar plexus

–Kidneys

–Groin

–Liver

–Nose

–Bladder

Relentlessly, the attacks hit my vital spots. Though my damaged body parts regenerated instantly thanks to my demonic powers… How long will this barrage continue!?

「Hahaha! Each strike costs only 1 MP!」

「What?」

「As you know, my MP is about 156,000!」

Amidst the countless barrage of strikes, Liu Hai joyfully informed me.

「In other words, I have over 150,000 hits left—so, what will you do, Villager?」