Chapter 80: Attack of the Undead King(Part 7)

"[Fire Arrow]!" Exclaimed Ernet, charging up a Spell and firing it at Lexia, who swiftly swung her weapon across, the metal sphere striking the incoming projectile and dissipating it before she shot towards him rapidly.

He backed away a few paces before cracking his whip across towards her, before she raised her left hand and fired out a rapid bone chunk, hitting the whip as it closed in on her and killing its momentum.

Ernet's eyes widened in alarm as Lexia closed in on him, stumbling back and quickly pulling back his whip as he began to charge up a fireball in his left hand, before she swiftly fired off a rapid bone arrow from her hand, eliciting a sharp cry of pain from him as the bone struck his left palm and pierced in, the flames he'd begun to charge up dissipating as the bone got lodged into his hand.

He then gritted his teeth and began to raise his whip, before Lexia extended a dagger out of her hand and swung it across, slashing his wrist before he could swing the whip, blood pouring out as he gasped in pain and lost his grip over the handle of his weapon, which hit the ground with a thud as Lexia slammed her foot onto his stomach, knocking him onto his back as he let out a sharp gasp.

She then fired out several rapid bone shards, piercing into his shoulders and knees, rendering his limbs useless and pinning him against the dirt.

"D-damn, you-...!" He yelled, before she cut him off by swinging the bone dagger across at his mouth, slicing off half his tongue, blood pouring out of his mouth before stomping on his neck, digging her heel in and twisting it around.

"While I'd dearly love to take my time repaying all the torture you put me through, I unfortunately don't have enough time to spend on that, given the current situation. Consider yourself lucky, your death will be quick...which is a whole lot better than you deserve," She stated icily, before lowering her right hand and chanting, "[Branching Bones]."

A bone spike rapidly extended out of her palm and pierced into the middle of his torso, eliciting a sharp gasp of pain from him before the spike branched out inside his body, the bony branches violently tearing through his organs as he coughed out blood with a sharp, excruciating wheeze.

His body writhed and spasmed in agony as tears of blood trailed out of his eyes, blood gushing out of his mouth before a violent shudder erupted across his body as the branching bones reached his heart, his body seizing up sharply before going limp, slumping against the ground as Lexia detached the bone spike from her palm and stepped off him, a dark look in her eyes as she took in the sight of his corpse, feeling less than satisfied.

"Tch, if only I had the time to properly tear him apart," She thought to himself, before glancing to her left as Colt approached her.

"Looks like it's over, we should get back to the task at hand," He remarked, before adding as he glanced at the other Nobles, "Unless any of you feel like avenging this guy, that is?"

The three of them were quiet for a moment, a tension in the air as Colt and Lexia waited for them to responded, before Duchess Foxe Mozill stepped forward.

"No, there would be no point...we can't change what happened, it would only be a waste of time and energy. The city is still in the midst of battle, and from what I can tell, you two don't seem to have any malice or murderous intent towards the three of like you did with Plore, so I say we should just go our separate ways and pretend like this never happened," She suggested objectively.

"Yes, I agree," Nodded Countess Romi Brave, before adding as she glanced at Lexia, "And considering what he put you through, you were more than justified in killing him. And now that I know the vile rumors about him are true, I have no intention or desire to avenge him."

"I can't really say I approve of overlooking murder, but I also didn't do anything to stop it, nor did I feel any desire to do so," Added Duke Crowes Edge, a slightly conflicted look on his face.

"Hm...how about this? If you Irregulars manage to contribute significantly to defeating the Undead King and his army, thus saving the city, and by extension the nation, I'll submit a report claiming that I saw your group heroically putting your lives on the line and saving people. It might not have much of an impact, but you never know...your past crimes may well end up being pardoned," Offered Foxe after a brief pause.

"Huh? What're you-...?" Began Lexia in bewilderment.

"I'll do the same. It's clear that you're powerful, continuing to brand you as criminals will only serve as a detriment to the future of our nation," Mused Romi, before adding as she glanced at Crowes, "What about you? It won't reflect well if you contradict us."

"Hm...oh, very well. I've always thought that the law that those with Irregular Magic should be executed was foolish anyway, so fine," He relented after mulling it over.

"H-hold on...you don't really believe that'll work, do you? There are bound to be several Nobles who strongly oppose that, there's no way that law will get abolished so easily. And besides...after everything we've been through, the idea of becoming allies of the Kingdom isn't particularly appealing," Frowned Colt apprehensively.

"Yeah, what he said. We don't need or want your charity. And so long as the corruption in the church and Nobility persists, so will we," Added Lexia with a grimace.

"Even so, what's the harm? If there is a way to accomplish your goal without the need for violence and bloodshed, wouldn't you take it? All we're suggesting is to potentially provide you with the opportunity to do that," Pointed out Foxe.

"Hmph, do whatever you want. I really couldn't care less," Shrugged Lexia, before adding with a slight huff as she grabbed Colt's arm, "Come on, let's go."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city...

"D-damn it...," Uttered Jules through gritted teeth as she stumbled slightly, sweat pouring down her face as she struggled to maintain her focus and balance, the Miasma surrounding her taking its toll as she thought to herself, "It's no use...there's no way I can make him use up all his energy by myself, he's just way too strong."

"I don't understand where your confidence came from...this isn't going any differently to our previous encounter. How boring, not to mention disappointing...time to finish you off and hopefully find someone else who can give me more of a challenge," Sighed the Undead King, before he shot towards her rapidly.

She gritted her teeth and mustered up her strength, swinging her blade across and firing out a slashing wave of flames, but it was unstable and slow, the Undead King easily evading it before putting on a burst of speed and closing in on her, her eyes widening in alarm as he drove his fist towards her face with immense force, as she realized she couldn't evade it in time.

"Jules, no!" Siele's voice rang out from several meters away, a piercing beam of water coming shooting in towards the Undead King from the right, but it wasn't going to reach him fast enough.

As his fist closed in on Jules, a look of surprise appeared on his face as his body suddenly froze in its tracks, unable to move a muscle as Jules shakily stumbled back, struggling to catch her breath.

"Wh-what just...?" She thought to herself in bemusement, before grimacing as she collapsed onto one knee as Siele's attack struck the side of the Undead King's head and burst through, drilling a hole through his skull before it swiftly closed up.

"This feeling...so, it's you again. How nice of you to come to me...I'd planned to hunt you and your allies down once I was done razing this place to the ground. But now, I can kill two birds with one stone, what a fortunate turn of ev-...," Chuckled the Undead King, before he was cut off as his mouth was forced shut.

"Are you alright, sis!?" Exclaimed Siele as he rushed over, kneeling down beside and helping her back onto her feet.

"Y-yes, I'm fine...and it's 'Commander' while we're on duty, Vice-Commander."

"You might wanna get a bit closer to me, if you want a break from the effects of the Miasma," Remarked Aster, as he expanded his Telekinetic Zone, creating a two meter radius pocket free of Miasma.

Siele helped Jules within the bounds of Aster's Spell, who then tossed a couple of Spell Cards at them, a Healing Spell and an Antidote Spell. He then took out another Spell Card, pointing it up at the sky and running his Mana through, a red ball of light shooting up several dozen meters into the air before erupting into a bright flash of light, briefly bathing most of the city in a luminous red glow.

"I suppose I owe you a debt of gratitude, Aster Stark. Thank you for saving my life," Replied Jules as she bowed her head.

"Don't mention it, we can't afford to lose someone as powerful as you in this battle, that's all. Use those two Spell Cards on yourself, it'll alleviate the effects of the Miasma," He responded, before turning his attention to the Undead King, who was rendered completely immobile, "Now, as for you...you sure sounded awfully cocky, didn't you, especially considering how thoroughly I destroyed you last time."

"Grr...," Growled the Undead King, unable to speak since the Telekinetic Zone was preventing him from opening his mouth.

"What was that? Sorry, could you speak up, I didn't quite catch that," Remarked Aster icily, before loud crunches rang out as he severely mangled the Undead King's body...