V2Ch60-Face Off

James stared down through the trees as the Kurt Ghoul shambled towards the Rodriguez camp members.

He wanted to swoop down and smash Kurt in a single motion. He would’ve wanted to destroy the Kurt abomination even if there was no pressing danger to his allies. James was beginning to find the undead rather abhorrent. It was some combination of their grotesque appearances, the fact that they preyed upon the living of their species, and their use of poisonous or infectious agents.

What gave him pause was the Mana gathering around the creature Identify had named as Soul Eater Roscuro. It was a color different from any Mana he’d seen before. Black and orange and yellow, all mixed, though the black was closer to the center of the aura than the orange and yellow. Mana with the color palette of a burning photograph.

And it gave off an odor. A smell of ozone, like the smell that preceded a storm or an electrical fire. But this clearly wasn’t fire Mana or lightning Mana; James would have recognized those.

His whole body was screaming at him to stay away from that aura. Don’t touch it! was the feeling, if he verbalized his instinctive response. So that’s quite dangerous. He ordered his body to control this response, and the tension immediately alleviated itself.

But the problem remained, as Kurt reached the humans. What do I do?

—

Kurt stood nervously between Roscuro and the humans. Well, this is it.

He knew he was bait, and he didn’t resent it. Perhaps he didn’t have that capacity anymore. Instinctively, he wished to obey the Master’s commands, and his brain invented reasons why he should be happy to do so.

At least when I die, I’ll take James Robard with me, he thought. He looked over the fresh humans in front of him. And perhaps I’ll die with the taste of fresh meat on my lips. The appetite of a Ghoul for human flesh was almost lustful. Unconsciously, he licked his lips as he looked from person to person.

They were awake, but helpless. Patricia, one of the still-living Ghouls, had bound them to the trees with her Skill. She had earned what seemed to be a unique Job before joining the ranks of the undead. Jailer.

Kurt saw Sierra’s weary, terrified eyes peeking out from the side of the tree, and he smiled.

Don’t worry, if I survive long enough, I’ll get you later, he thought. For now, he wanted her to watch him eat one of her companions. That would put her in the right frame of mind.

Finally, he reached out to grab hold of the archer. The one who’d shot all those annoying arrows at them back outside the enemy camp. He took her quivering head in his hands, easily overcoming her feeble resistance, and brought his mouth up to her neck.

Kurt barely sensed the blow before it struck him.

How? he thought. His view of the world turned upside down, tumbled and rolled as his body and his head fell in separate directions. He was vaguely aware that he was rolling in the Master’s direction as his brain shut down. But the last sight his eyes fixed on was the image of James Robard, standing impassively beside the prisoners. And the last thought he had was, How?

—

Roscuro blinked and missed the movement.

Robard had struck so quickly that Roscuro was only dimly aware that he was down a Ghoul. Kurt’s head rolled unevenly across the ground between the Soul Eater and Robard, teetering back and forth at the end of its arc until it stopped moving, eyes pointed up at the Soul Eater.

All Roscuro could stare at was his human opponent.

He’d finished chanting, though. It was time to make Robard regret revealing himself. The human kept one eye toward him, but he was using the same dagger he’d decapitated Kurt with to hack at the binding around the humans. It would do him no good.

To Roscuro’s right, Patricia stood, body shuddering slightly with every blow Robard inflicted on the binding. Each cut he attempted on the binding inflicted a corresponding cut on her body, but by the time Robard inflicted enough damage to destroy her, he would be dead.

Roscuro flung some of his magic at Robard. The Soul Eater had trained to be faster than most Mages, once he reawakened in this body. He wasn’t as powerful as he wanted to be. Not as powerful as he would need to be to pursue his revenge. But hopefully it would be enough to exterminate this human.

Robard clearly saw the attack coming from the corner of his eye, and he had a long moment of hesitation. Roscuro saw the uncertainty, not in his expression, which was perfectly disciplined, but in his posture. Roscuro had lived the life of a warrior once. He remembered those moments when it felt as if time had slowed down, and the world just stopped. Robard was having such a moment now, undoubtedly.

What will it be? Try to deflect my attack with your body, or let it strike and surely kill a human?

Robard’s split-second reaction was too quick for Roscuro to perceive. He only saw the aftermath. An object that Robard had flung out collided with the burst of Mana.

That won’t stop it all, Roscuro thought at first, excitedly. He made the wrong decision!

Then he saw how the Mana stopped moving and concentrated around the thrown object, until the object shattered and then disintegrated into nothingness.

That’s not possible, Roscuro thought desperately. Unless—

[You destroyed Ego Scorpion Shield! You gained 200 exp!]

Damn it!

And in the moment when his eyes had focused on the dead shield, the human was gone from his line of sight.

Roscuro still had Mana gathered around his body to fire more bursts of Soul Magic, but he wasn’t fast enough to turn his head as James reappeared beside him.

In his peripheral vision, the Soul Eater saw James decapitate Patricia with that vicious-looking dagger. Then, as Roscuro’s body finally moved, James vanished again.

As soon as he gets within touch range, you have to grab him, Roscuro transmitted to every undead under his command. Most of the Zombies and Skeleton Soldiers had been destroyed by James’s earlier wind-based attacks, but there were still a scattering around him, as well as three Zombies Roscuro had hiding in the water around his feet. These ambush attacks were, he had learned with experience, the slow undead’s best way of dealing with someone who moved at greater speed.

He just has to make one mistake—they just have to grab him once!

But there didn’t seem to be any openings forthcoming. All around Roscuro, Robard flashed from place to place. Wherever he stepped, Zombies or Skeleton Soldiers fell. Occasionally Ghouls. None of them were fast enough to respond to him properly.

There was a moment where Roscuro sensed an opening. A Ghoul managed to grab Robard, and Roscuro fired another burst of Soul Magic at him. But Robard managed a twirl that placed the Ghoul in the path of the attack, and that Ghoul took the attack instead of Robard.

A hideous yowl filled the air. “Eaaarggghhh!!!”

Then the undead body disintegrated completely.

Roscuro angrily swiped away the System alert telling him he’d killed his Ghoul, and he looked for Robard.

Another pair of Ghouls fell, bisected head to toe and decapitated respectively, and Roscuro scowled.

I spent so much time creating this fighting force, we were ready to take the whole region by storm, yet now it’s reduced to a mere handful at his hands. But he has to be running out of Stamina, right?

Robard appeared in midair ten feet in front of him, and Roscuro fired another burst of Soul Magic.  But Robard had apparently charged a spell of his own. A Ghoul suddenly levitated and flew from where it stood into position to intercept the attack.

The poor creature screamed the whole way. “No! Master, save me!”

Roscuro tried to guide the Mana around the Ghoul’s body, but Robard simply accelerated the Ghoul’s movement and forced the collision.

Then he darted away and vanished. Roscuro sensed that he’d moved into the trees.

I only have one more shot before I have to chant again! And it didn’t seem likely that Robard would actually run out of Stamina before Roscuro was defenseless. I need some way to deal with him once the Ghouls are gone and he can get into close range. If I’ve fired my last burst of Mana when he closes the distance, what then?

Roscuro desperately looked to his left and right. There!

He found the remains of a Skeleton Soldier just sitting in the water. The remains of all of the undead around him began to glow—Robard must have used some version of the Looting Skill that struck multiple targets at once—but Roscuro was able to get hold of the Skeleton Soldier’s body before it disappeared.

Scrimshaw! It was Roscuro’s most basic Skill, but it was also his most useful close combat ability. It instantly fashioned the skeletal remains into a weapon, in this case a sword. Roscuro still remembered how to use a sword from his previous life, though this body was far too clumsy to do it gracefully.

As the rest of the Skeleton Soldier’s body vanished, the spinal column shaped itself into Roscuro’s makeshift blade. In his peripheral vision, another Ghoul fell. Robard was taking advantage of his momentary distraction.

I should have run, Roscuro thought. I can’t win.

Robard suddenly appeared, charging at him from out of the tree canopy.

Grab him! Roscuro transmitted to his underwater undead. They were somehow unresponsive. Uncomprehending, Roscuro decided to take matters into his own hand. He fired his last burst of Mana at Robard, who neither slowed nor changed direction—and it passed right through him.

Impossible. What?

Then the figure of Robard vanished in a haze.

Another illusion, he realized.

Behind him, he heard a sickening crunch. He half turned and saw Robard holding the head of his last Ghoul in his hands, as the body dropped to the ground. Roscuro unconsciously gripped his Spinal Column Sword more firmly.

“Well, they could’ve been some trouble, eh?” the human said, smiling broadly.

Now, wait just a minute, human, Roscuro transmitted to Robard. You don’t want to be too hasty. You have me at a disadvantage now, it’s true. But I could do a great deal to help you. You desire power, yes? We have that in common. You’re clearly a skillful magic user, too. Well, I could teach you powerful magic, and help you raise a tireless army that would fight for you day and night.

“I appreciate the offer, truly,” Robard replied thoughtfully. He cast a glance at the humans tied to the trees off to the side. “But I think you’re fundamentally a pretty serious enemy of humanity. If I kept you alive, I’d always be waiting for the moment that you inevitably try to turn on me and plant a dagger in my back. You’re a great threat to my species, for what it’s worth.” The human turned his lips up as he spoke what he must have regarded as a genuine compliment.

Fine. Die, then! Roscuro transmitted the words, held his sword at the ready, and began chanting, aware that his underwater undead were still primed to grab Robard and hold him still if he got close. If Robard chose to keep his distance, Roscuro would finish charging his magic and be ready for another round of fighting. If he charged in, Roscuro’s creatures would hold him still so Roscuro could end him with the sword.

And Robard charged. Roscuro could barely see him, but he saw the blur and recognized its direction of travel.

The Soul Eater raised his sword, aiming for that most vital of all human organs: the heart.

Everything happened as he’d imagined. Robard closed the distance insanely fast, apparently ignoring the blade aimed at his heart, confident he could sidestep at the last second. And the underwater Zombies and Skeleton Soldiers grabbed him by the legs and stopped him, inches from landing his attack on Roscuro.

Roscuro plunged the sword forward, into the heart. Blood trickled from between Robard’s lips.

Yes! Yes! I won! Roscuro experienced a rush of elation. He had done the impossible. Robard would die at any moment now.

Then he felt a surge of electricity course through his body, paralyzing him.

“I win,” Robard breathed. He stepped forward, employing more force than the undead holding him could restrain. And in a movement so quick that Roscuro couldn’t react, he slashed at the Soul Eater’s throat with that vicious-looking dagger he’d used earlier.

Roscuro collapsed to the ground, clutching his neck, barely able to think. As his blood gushed out, and he fought to remain conscious for a few more seconds, he transmitted a final message to Robard.

Well done, he sent. I had so much to live for, so much to accomplish, but your superior power and skill took it all away. How exactly are you still alive?