Chapter 205 – The Great Scythe of Shadow Cutting

“Since you’re the only one left if you lose anyway… would you mind handling my share as well?”

Rosemary offers me a set of flask and magic stone.

“I don’t mind. Even if you accept that, it remains as we agreed earlier.”

Orjius shrugs and says such a thing.

…Completely unacceptable.

The magician who contracted with this bastard must have died long ago, yet to preserve his own enjoyment afterward, he probably didn’t set a time limit for guarding the book in the contract.

The result is what we saw in town. The remnants of people whose souls were worn down until they became mere wandering shadows. All those people challenged the demon, or gave up, dying in despair. Yet they remain unliberated, toyed with through unimaginable stretches of time.

This bastard—I won’t let him get away with it.

“…Understood. I’ll be right back.”

I deploy a Defense Field around Rosemary and accept the flask and magic stone. Reinforcing them with Earth Magic so the glass won’t break, I tie them to my waist with a cord. Then, at a deliberate pace, I walk toward Orjius.

Darkness coils in Orjius’s hand. From within it, a massive scythe is dragged out. So he uses weapons too. As if twirling a baton, the scythe spins rapidly in Orjius’s hand, cutting through the air.

I take stance with Ouroboros and amplify my magical power. The moment I brace to step in, Orjius slams the scythe’s tip into the shadow stretching from his feet. Responding to this, blades shoot out from the head of Orjius’s elongated shadow.

I stop the tip with a Shield and immediately press forward in one motion. Orjius, having withdrawn from the shadow, meets it. Ouroboros and the scythe clash, scattering sparks.

“Quite capable, aren’t you!”

Orjius’s voice sounds almost pleased at having been countered.

Despite preaching fairness, his opening move is a frontal ambush. From his perspective, even if he kills me in one breath, Rosemary remains, so he can still enjoy watching her struggle.

He said we’d fight equally, but that was a precondition. Once we face each other like this, rules become meaningless. Anything goes, as expected.

A double-edged scythe. He can freely use the inner edge for pulling cuts or the outer edge for sweeping attacks. After several exchanges of our weapons, the scythe’s butt cap flips upward. The sharply pointed tip, like a spearhead, passes through the space before my nose, then Orjius’s body spins completely. A blade attacks with a horizontal sweep from a blind spot hidden by his body’s shadow. A winding trajectory. If I step in to block, the blade will be pulled back from behind; if I distance myself, I can’t counterattack. So instead, I step in close enough to bodily crash into him.

I swing Ouroboros upward from below, aiming for the arm gripping the scythe. Striking around the elbow to disrupt the scythe’s path, I unleash a front kick. I only need to make contact. Regardless of whether defense is possible, my plan is to hammer in a magical shock at the moment of contact and then break through.

But Orjius doesn’t forcibly counter or defend. The moment his arm is struck upward, he releases the scythe and retreats significantly. A counterattack while evading. After a breath’s pause, the scythe returns, spinning from behind. I leap backward, shifting form mid-air. Clearing the scythe, I charge in by kicking off a Shield without waiting to land.

An owl’s wings appear on Orjius’s back. He flies into the sky to escape. I kill my inertia with Levitation, flying at a right angle to pursue Orjius.

“Truly, human endeavor is fascinating! Shall I ask your name?”

“Theodore!”

We clash mid-air. Several attacks cross. Ringing metallic sounds.

As we separate, Orjius makes a gesture as if sweeping upward with his wings. Feathers fly at armor-piercing speeds. A three-directional deviation shooting. I only strike down the feather coming straight at me with Ouroboros.

The remaining two feathers easily penetrated the marble floor.

We both charge into a fierce collision. We reach a deadlock, but the scythe’s blade retracts and a blade emerges from the opposite end—the butt cap side. I use a Shield like a rail to divert the scythe’s path upward as it slides and swings up from below. Into the exposed flank, I hammer the Dragon Staff.

“Guh!”

He’s knocked back significantly, but while being blown away, he scatters feathers to prevent pursuit. Form shift, form shift. Feathers thin as blades graze past, right before my eyes.

Splitting left and right with Mirage Body, we cross. No effect. I expected this since he’s a psychic lifeform… but he accurately targets me.

Multiple black spheres are released around Orjius. As if possessing will, they maintain a fixed distance from Orjius’s main body, flying around like satellites.

A black hole opens before him, and he slams the scythe into it. The scythe’s blade shoots out from a black sphere approaching in a circular orbit. Feather bullets are fired to block escape routes. I twist only my neck to evade the feathers, block the scythe with a Shield, and simultaneously counter with an impact strike. Orjius’s arm, which should be at a distance, is repelled.

The spheres tracing satellite orbits seem to pass through Ouroboros and Shield unaffected. They themselves possess no attack power—mere spheres of darkness. Their purpose is attack assistance. Probably the same technique he used initially to deliver slash attacks from shadow to shadow. Feather bullets had flown into the black spheres, but those didn’t transfer over. Whether he can’t or won’t is uncertain, but it’s definite that Orjius can transfer the scythe’s blade from shadow to shadow among those he created.

I distance myself and turn back. A hot sensation on my cheek. Seems a feather grazed me.

…He possesses diverse and irregular attack methods. Can’t let my guard down.

So, sharper and faster. Stronger, ever stronger. I’ll surpass this bastard too and move forward. Cycle cycle cycle cycle. Baring fangs in a grin, I sharpen and refine my magical power.

“I’m glad you seem to be enjoying yourself! I’m having fun too! It’s exhilarating!”

Orjius spins his scythe like a windmill. Eyes wide open, shoulders shaking.

“Kukuku! How you reached that level—my interest is endless! You—will surely become a most valuable addition to my collection!”

“Try it!”

We roar and charge at each other. Collision, impact. The scythe has no blade. It hasn’t moved to the butt cap side; instead, a dark sphere adheres to the tip, swallowing it. From another dark sphere flying from behind, the scythe’s blade emerges, aiming to bisect my body.

I deploy a Shield behind me. The moment it makes contact, I hammer in an impact, but this time, as if anticipating it, Orjius doesn’t retreat. He pins me down from the front, putting force into bisecting me from behind.

Multiple Shield deployment. As sparks scatter between Ouroboros and the scythe’s handle in equilibrium, I fire a Lightning Strike at Orjius’s face. At the exact same time, he releases a magical flash from his beak. An explosion occurs, repelling us. As Orjius retreats, the blade withdraws too. Immediate reversal. Slipping between feather bullets flying as if piercing through the blast, I fly at maximum speed, exchanging slash attacks and strikes.

Blades fly in all directions. A rain of feathers pours down. Evading, blocking, redirecting, I dive in and strike countless times. Though it should be a single weapon, Orjius’s skill in manipulating it as if separating handle and blade is considerable. Continuing to clash like this won’t get us anywhere.

Against Orjius, who blocked with the handle, I push in with my whole body and deliver a headbutt to his head. Since I’ve deployed a Shield on my forehead, I take no damage, but Orjius steps back looking stunned.

“You!!”

Fury. The scythe swings down from above. A dark sphere cuts into the slash trajectory, transferring the blade. The tip approaches directly from below. Trying to block, Ouroboros is knocked away as if being rolled up. Switching, this time the blade approaches from the side.

I raise my hand, but the Shield is penetrated. Without Ouroboros, the Shield can’t withstand it. Gritting my teeth, I receive the scythe’s tip with my palm. It penetrates my palm. Orjius narrows his eyes at the sensation.

“I’ll carve you up, arm and all!”

Saying this, he tries to put in force—but Orjius freezes. This much was within my calculations.

He doesn’t move. Gripping with my pierced palm, I fix him in place with Shields from all directions. Perfectly sealing his movements so he can neither withdraw nor cut through.

Leading him to believe the Shield couldn’t completely defend—that was my strategy. Seeing my grin, Orjius instantly releases the scythe and tries to escape. Since he can freely control the scythe, letting go isn’t a disadvantage. Precisely because of that—I anticipated he’d try to distance himself.

“Return!”

“Wha—!?”

He’s not the only one who can launch weapons. Ouroboros, charging from behind, roars as it gouges into his back from behind, pinning him and not allowing escape. Ouroboros can only move as long as the magical power I’ve imbued it with lasts—but that’s more than enough.

“Gaaah!”

Avoiding the flash released from his mouth by tilting my head, I toss the flask and magic stone with my open hand. Right in front of Orjius’s face, eyes wide in astonishment.

Clenching my fist, I deploy a Shield. Hammering in an impact strike, the flask and magic stone shatter simultaneously, green explosive flames engulfing Orjius’s face.

“Guooooooaaaaah!?”

Having his face directly burned by magical flames, Orjius writhes in agony. Covering his face, he flails his wings, trying to escape the spot while scattering feather bullets indiscriminately.

I ignore some hits. Deploying a giant Magic Circle, I charge the shortest distance. Feathers pierce my shoulder, graze my flank. Tracing an arc, I grip Ouroboros, which has now truly returned to my hand, and thrust straight—piercing through his body’s center, the solar plexus.

“Gah!”

Orjius’s body bends into a V-shape. I slam Ouroboros into the base of his wings, smashing him onto the floor. Still burning. Impressive, despite its simple construction. And—my magic is complete.

“Get crushed!”

At the tip of the raised Ouroboros, a giant rock glowing pure white appears.

9th Tier. Fire, Earth composite magic—Meteor Hammer. Matching the motion of swinging down the Dragon Staff, the boulder is fired from initial velocity with ridiculous force. The white-hot meteor approaches Orjius, shattering the sound barrier.

“O, ooooooaaaah!?”

Unable to evade, Orjius takes the boulder directly with his body. Piercing through the marble floor like paper, it collapses the throne room from the center. Engulfing everything on the lower floor, it drills straight down into the earth’s depths.