Arrogance (4)
Pielott's aura was already closer to firing than swinging.
Swinging a sword necessarily required a recovery motion, but Pielott omitted that by not drawing his sword in the first place.
To put it crudely, it was like slashing an enemy with a sword and throwing it at the same time, only with an overwhelmingly larger number of swords.
“D-Damn it……!”
Whether due to their limited intelligence or lack of time, most of the devils were cut down before they could even flinch.
The devils, surging forward like a wave, were scattered in a circle around Pielott, who was mowing them down.
However, the circle showed no sign of shrinking.
“Kaaagh!”
“Aaaargh!!”
The devils’ screams gradually grew louder.
Ironically, the increase in their pain and screams meant that Pielott's accuracy was dropping.
The devils killed by Pielott’s sword in the beginning died almost silently. That's how cleanly he had taken their lives.
But not anymore.
The devils were now literally pouring in like a tidal wave. Pielott had no time or consideration to spare.
He was slashing indiscriminately.
However, Pielott’s aura was not infinite.
And even if he wasn't physically moving, every shot he fired felt like it was wearing down his body.
Instead of using less physical strength, it was draining his mental strength entirely.
The aura he had used on the foolish devil with the bow wasn't much, but to kill this entire army, no matter how much he tried to conserve it, it would be tremendously amount.
But strangely enough.
Swooshhhhhhh!!
The sound of the downpour gradually turned blacker as it continued.
[Pielott, how……!]
Hypnos couldn't understand.
No, he understood. The reason why Pielott's aura wasn't bottoming out.
The demonic energy contained in the arrow was being converted into Pielott's aura.
The principle itself wasn't impossible. It wasn't some complicated mathematical equation.
The problem was the spirit.
‘It shouldn't be possible for a human body to accept it……!’
Just because it was demonic energy didn't mean that all devil aura or magic was fatal to humans. Most of it was the same as that of humans.
However, just as even oxygen could be fatal to humans if concentrated in high density, mana from another world would clash with human mana.
The arrow that Pielott had been hit by, the mana contained within it was incredibly condensed.
It would make up for the lack of Pielott’s aura, but accepting it was another matter.
“……!”
In reality, the sensation Pielott was feeling now was more horrific than when he had been hit by the arrow.
Nausea that made him feel like he was about to vomit at any moment, and the body's functions clearly warning him that this was something he shouldn't accept, urged Pielott to fire.
The body’s reaction was honest. If the body warned of death, a human had no choice but to stop.
The only reasons Pielott was able to maintain this state now were his strong mental strength and the fact that,
As he converted more and more of the demonic energy into his own, a certain part of his body was improving.
‘If I leave it be, I'll die anyway.’
The demonic energy, if left alone in his body, was nothing more than poison to Pielott.
The moment he converted it into his own mana, a burning pain and nausea would wash over him, but if he minimized that time, he could minimize the damage.
It was literally the act of spitting out the poison that was inside his body. However, the risk was that the poison would circulate throughout his body the moment he spat it out.
Hypnos observed Pielott’s body.
A physical body designated by divine power. Hypnos could see the state of Pielott’s body far better than any other human could.
‘……He’s getting used to converting it into his own mana. If this continues, he’ll expel all the demonic energy without reaching a critical state.’
But the problem was what came after.
There were still many devils left.
‘At this rate, Pielott’s aura will run out before all the devils are dead.’
Pielott had reached a certain level of mastery.
Whether he could perform this divine feat again, neither Hypnos nor Pielott himself knew.
However, no matter how masterful one’s aura was, it was naturally impossible without any aura.
There was only one way to resolve this situation. The mana conversion that Frondier had done in the past.
When all the internal energy in the body disappeared, a human would naturally faint, but Frondier had done the crazy thing of converting the constituents of his body into mana instead of fainting.
However, even Frondier had been able to achieve that only after several faints. It was impossible for Pielott in his current state.
Moreover, even if he managed to do it, that too would only be death for Pielott.
[……This isn’t going to work. Pielott! I’ve seen your strength! I’ll take care of the rest!]
Hypnos spoke once more.
At this point, Pielott was the one who was puzzled.
As mentioned before, it was rare for a God to be so devoted to a human.
Would even Elodie, who could converse with her God, receive this much love?
Whatever Hypnos was thinking, Pielott felt that his God was clearly an exception.
Of course, that aside,
“You’re noisy.”
Pielott did not use divine power.
[Why are you being stubborn! Pielott! There’s no disadvantage to you!]
No disadvantage?
Well, he wasn’t wrong.
There was no disadvantage for a human to borrow divine power. At least, as far as Pielott knew.
There was the case of Senior Edwin, who was controlled by his God, but that wasn’t because he borrowed divine power. It was simply the God’s will.
[Pielott! If this goes on……!]
And at that moment,
The tide of the battle turned.
It was the moment when Hypnos said, Pielott’s aura was on the verge of depletion.
“……!”
Pielott’s next aura did not cut down a devil.
He still had a sliver of aura left.
Was Pielott conserving that aura? No, he wasn’t.
The reason was simple.
“……Grr, ugh……!”
The devils were no longer approaching.
Unlike Hypnos, the devils didn’t know how much more aura Pielott could use.
Every time that black strike flashed, a devil lost its life like a fly.
Looking around, there were already so many lives scattered about, their deaths messy and unceremonious.
How many more times would they have to repeat this?
It would be enough if even one of them survived to kill this human.
But what if that didn’t happen?
It wasn’t just one life, but an entire organization that was on the verge of annihilation.
The rage against the humans had vanished, and only fear ruled the battlefield.
According to Hypnos’s calculations, if all the remaining devils charged now, they could kill Pielott.
However, the actual battlefield didn’t work that way.
“What are you doing?”
Flinch.
The devils tensed once more at Pielott’s words.
“Come on, come get your deaths over with.”
“Y-You……!”
Despite trembling with indignation, the devils couldn’t bring themselves to approach any further.
Pielott didn’t allow the devils to encroach within a certain radius.
That radius was now visible.
With the corpses and blood of the devils. It was all too clear, how far a few meters truly extended.
Who could enter this circle? Once they stopped, they could never set foot inside again.
“…….”
The devils looked at Pielott’s face.
His face was clearly near death, undoubtedly so, and it stood to reason that he should die soon.
His face, covered in ‘arrogance.’
His gaze, seemingly looking down on them even as they looked up at him.
As if he could wipe out all the remaining devils with his remaining aura, such disdain.
“Ugh!”
The devils began to back away stealthily.
[What the……?]
Hypnos couldn’t believe the situation.
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand bluffs and lies.
If one didn’t know the cards their opponent held, bluffs could certainly work. A bluff made by a strong individual was even more effective.
However, this wasn’t that kind of situation.
Wasn’t it abundantly clear that Pielott was at his limit?
If Pielott had any hidden cards left, he would have used them already. And if they coldly considered the remaining amount of his aura, they could easily discern how much he had left.
The fact that his aura had turned black was a hint to the devils. That mana, it originated from none other than the demon realm.
And yet.
“Retreat!”
Starting with one devil’s words, the devils began to take flight.
Far away, as far away from Pielott as possible.
This human, he was insane. They had seen enough bloodshed. They had to change their strategy.
[How, how could this be……!]
As all the devils flapped their wings and retreated, Hypnos muttered in bewilderment.
“Hypnos.”
Pielott spoke.
“Why are you even a God?”
[What was that?]
“You don’t understand humans, and you don’t understand devils either.”
Thud.
Pielott finally collapsed. His knees buckled, and all his muscles lost their strength and gave way.
“Without understanding humans, how can you be the God of humans?”
[…….]
Hypnos couldn’t answer.
Because he truly didn’t understand this situation.
Pielott closed his eyes.
Just before falling asleep within two breaths, Pielott said,
“Why should I borrow the strength of,”
─You’ve been abandoned by Frondier.
“Someone who spouts nonsense at my senior?”
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Badass
ReplyDeletePielotttttttt the ACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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