"Everyone!"
The burning sensation from the marrow woke Leon, who tried to cling to the nearest rock and struggled to stand.
"Cou..cough"
Horrible sounds and thick smoke filled Leon's body, turning the bones of his body grey.
Leon stepped back to avoid a dusty hurricane that had just burst in, glanced off into the distance and dimly saw Gabul trying to dodge Beelzeb's increasingly dense tentacles.
From Leon's perspective, Beelzeb's two red-veined spherical eyes seemed to protrude. They twisted and watched carefully as the strange giant arm, shredded into pieces of flesh and blood, swayed in the air.
"So hungry..." He laughed, and in his mouth was a thick drool with a hint of red blood, flowing in a puddle on the ground. His white teeth were sharp, and his long tongue kept flicking back and forth as if longing for it.
"Rrrr..." the fleshy arm was torn into dozens of smaller pieces of flesh, which he tilted his neck up and placed firmly in his mouth to chew, terrifying Leon.
Leon covered his mouth, trying to suppress his nausea at the terrible smell of blood that filled the air.
"Leon! Hurry up... Draw ... sword ..." Gabul's hurried voice rang out, making Leon jump.
The words were suddenly interrupted as he was bound by what looked like an iron coffin. The large steel plate slowly closed, covering Gabul's entire body, no matter how much he struggled.
The surrounding space flashed for a moment, then distorted until it was impossible to breathe.
Leon didn't have time to calm down for long as he was stunned to see a statue in the shape of a very large priestess that had just appeared. The highlight of the statue was the rows of blood-red water oozing from the three eyes at the top of her head, which were constantly turning back and forth.
"Crack..cra" The chest of the giant statue split in half, and inside were sharp spikes that approached and rubbed against the surface of the coffin.
"Huh" Leon was crushed on the head by a powerful force and fell to his knees. As he looked up in pain, he met the sharp gaze of the statue. The other three eyes no longer staggered in eight directions, but gradually converged and stared at Leon.
"What .." Leon shuddered as a cold sensation slowly froze his body.
"Sprinkle... Sprinkle."
Leon felt as if every vertebra in his back was broken, a terrible pressure on his neck and he couldn't move.
"Sprinkle" a small tentacle suddenly appeared from Leon's eye socket. It didn't hesitate, but immediately plunged deep into his chest, oozing out a thick black liquid. It mercilessly boiled the flames, melting and turning the upper part of Leon's body into an extremely large round hole.
A swarm of baby maggots began to emerge from the small pieces of corroded bone. They moved and covered Leon's entire body, turning him into a 'breeding nest' at a terrifying speed.
"Huh" Leon awoke as he felt the spiritual fire burning him from within his chest. He soon realised that everything he had just seen was just a hallucination. No, not everything, just the cold and the oppression that was always around him.
"Found it"
Leon was startled and turned away.
What caught Leon's eye was the image of Beelzeb with a devilish smile, two rows of red-stained drool running down his white face, expressing extreme glee. His former left arm had become a strand of flesh surrounded by a pinch of blood-red nerves. This haunted Leon from the depths of his dream, causing him to clutch the sword tightly in his hand.
The indescribable shudder of being stared at by the statue's red eyes and Beelzeb's haunting laughter made Leon unconsciously draw his sword.
(Note: The Knight's [Holy (Error)... Revelation] profession was [Error]... was [Error]...) The error message line flashed in front of Leon, with sticky and flashing phrases.
Half-silver, half-solid black chains bound and clung to Leon's bones, turning his vision grey with occasional flashes of red like a fire alarm.
The sword, with its terrible weight and purple characters, encircled Leon's arm. To Beelzeb's surprise, it pulled him away, and the tip of the sword flew out of control, plunging straight into the statue's left eye.
At that moment, the sword dragged Leon along like a powerful rocket, easily penetrating the centimetres of iron block and causing the statue to shatter and collapse.
Leon fell free in the air before coming face to face with Gabul, who reached out and touched him.
"Thanks, Lich"
"Gabul, you're flying ?"
With the [Dimesion Move], Gabul could run in the air, and his speed made a reincarnated human like Leon feel spectacular.
"Careful, keep your head down," Gabul turned to dodge some of Beelzeb's giant tentacles. His speed increased each time.
After many missed catches, he exploded. He grimaced, gritted his teeth in hatred and vowed to go all out against both of them.
"Stay focused, Leon. We're still in this fight"
"I know. But... but what can I do?"
"Hold on to me and do as I say"
"Huh...?"
"Come on, Lich" Gabul urged with an excitement that made Leon blush, his hands clenching his sword at its wind-whipping speed.
"Lich, slash hard at the tentacles when they appear"
"Slash hard ?"
"Now!" Gabul roared.
"Use all your strength"
A tentacle emerged from the eye in the ground, Gabul slammed on the brakes, giving momentum to Leon's first powerful slash.
"rrrrr..."
"Very good" Gabul shouted, pieces of tentacles that had been neatly cut off behind him, "Lich, hurry up and get ready for the next one."
[Dimension Move]
[Accelerate]
[Accelerate II] (Advanced Magic)
Gabul located each tentacle and appeared in a flash. Everywhere he passed, the tentacles were withered and drooping, and some were burned in the powerful blue flames.
"Bastards, stop!" Beelzeb muttered in pain. He tried to locate the two of them, but couldn't.
"I tell you to stop" he screamed like a caged animal, his pupils swollen red as if protruding in anger.
"Gabul, attack his eyes"
"Very good idea, Lich"
After calculating something, Gabul leapt into the air, the [Sun Shield] emitting a powerful light source that temporarily stunned Beelzeb, who staggered before he saw Leon rush towards him in a glowing silver-white armour, a warrior spirit appearing with a jet-black holy sword in his hand, swinging towards him.
"Give my friends back their lives!" Leon shouted angrily.
"Lighting Slash"
"Rumble"
A deep cut tore through the white skin, burning every bundle of the Cardinal's flesh.
"Huhhh..AAahhh" Beelzeb clutched his left eye tightly, the liquid from the huge tear spilling to the ground.
"Impossible. Are you him? Impossible..." - Beelzeb took a few steps back, his voice shaking, and pointed frighteningly at Leon.
The feeling of instinctive trembling before the one who had once defeated him had returned. It was the image of a white knight who had burned his entire congregation with unstoppable destructive power.
"I didn't know what kind of demonic knight I was..."
"But !"
"..."
"Gabul, his other eye, help me"
"Okay" Gabul swooped down from the sky and dragged Leon away in an instant. Mixed with [Dimension Move] at a terrifying speed, the two of them appeared in Beelzeb's blurred vision, causing him to be in a state of extreme panic.
"It's him..." Beelzeb muttered, his mind gradually clouded by a feeling of uncertainty.
"Dia-sama, what should I do?" The tentacles that he had once been so proud of had been slashed away, the amount of magic that had been rapidly depleted by the holy sword's sealleft him unable to cast any viable counterattack magic.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
[Chain Dragon] - Gabul.
As soon as he noticed the appearance of a black bolt of lightning, his eyes were ripped apart, sending shards of flesh and blood flying everywhere, a red colour covering the room from his huge body. Beelzeb quickly lost his balance and fell to the ground.
Despite the pain of the burning blue flames, his mouth did not stop cursing both of them.
"Damn knight. You can steal our power, destroy our great plan. But this time... "
"It's not over yet. This is not the end of me, not the end of my life..."
"I am a god"
Beelzeb roared and tried to stand again.
"Unleash"
Immediately, his body swelled at a terrifying rate. As soon as it reached the ceiling of the cave, it caused a tremor and exploded into fragments. At the centre, where the pressure had been suppressed to prevent distortion, only a dense atmosphere remained, surrounding a huge eye, with dense blood vessels connecting it to a heart.
For some reason, the faint sources of light were able to penetrate the heart like a layer of reflective glass, with countless hands scratching at it as if trying to escape. Beelzeb fell silent and his deep black eyes slowly opened. He turned his red pupil and stared defiantly at Leon.
"This could be his original form. Underneath that eye is probably the heart that holds the souls of the creatures he absorbs"
Gabul stepped out of Leon's shadow, his mouth clenched tightly against the holy sword, and he muttered something about throwing the sword in anger.
"Can we talk later, Gabul?"
"I need your help"
"Come with me to end this fight !"
Gabul was uncomfortable with Leon sitting on his back, holding the sword with his red eyes and a fierce murderous aura. Leon pushed Gabul to charge straight at Beelzeb, screaming and slashing hard at the thick veins.
[[Deadly trap]]
Beelzeb's black eyes closed.
"Rumble!"
"Boom" a huge blast of air tore through the ground and surged upwards. Its force was so great that Leon was thrown out of Gabul. Every bone in his body was crushed and broken by the terrible pressure before the eye reopened.
A compressive force crushed Leon's will in an instant as he faced Beelzeb's eye, which were as deep as a black hole, as if there was no end.
"What just happened?" choked Leon, "My body is too heavy..."
Pain rushed through Leon's mind, his parts separating and shattering.
"What... what the hell?"
The feeling of being squeezed in the head and stretched in the legs made Leon unable to breathe. In Leon's eyes, the illusion of thousands of flies appeared at that moment, clinging to every bone in his body and eating it away, no matter how much he struggled.
"Lich, swo... sword"
Just below Leon, half of Gabul's body was also ripped off.
"I... I'm trying" - The weight of the whirlwinds made Leon almost give up. The sword in his hand left him, his last hope fading with each passing moment.
[Arm Enhance] Gabul shouted.
Leon's arm glowed, it became a little lighter, at least light enough for Leon to re-grip the sword and deliver the final blow.
"Hurry and push the sword towards me!"
"Come on..." Leon gritted his teeth and used all his strength to push the sword forward before his arm was completely torn apart.
[Dimension Move]
[Acceleration I]
[Acceleration II]
[Acceleration III]
Gabul used the fastest speed he had. Now he was no longer running, he looked like he was teleporting through space. The armour on his body radiates heat, and the friction with the whirlwind creates a lot of sparks, turning him into a living torch that burns red.
When he was only about a touch away from the sword, Gabul concentrated all the remaining strength in his body towards the hilt of the sword!
"Pay the price, Gluttony!"
[Wrath of the Dragon]
"RRR... Rumble !"
The sword flew as fast as lightning, screaming in a thunderstorm. It turned into fiery red dragon blood that bent both space and time, its absolute power helping it to pierce through the enormous pressure coming from the eye, ripping open the pupil with blue flames that instantly flared up.
The pressure was so strong that it shook the ground, causing the huge rocks nearby to collapse.
.........
"The Lord of the Flies.."
"..has been defeated again ?"
"Impossible..."
"Impo...ssi"
"ble"
Beelzeb cried out before his heart stopped. The intact half of of the eye gradually turned to stone, withering away in the direction of the whirlwinds he had created.
"Sprinkle... Sprinkle"
"Sprinkle"
The invisible chains surrounding the heart that had stopped beating were shattered as soon as it appeared. The purple heart fruit faded and cracked.
"Pop... pop"
A sound of footsteps stepping on the blood spilling from the heart, then two footsteps, three ...
◇
In a badly damaged wall, boulders press against a shattered skeleton. It is silent and does not stir, does not struggle.
The heat from the spiritual fire in his chest, which had seemed to have faded, began to radiate strongly. It was no longer the pale yellow it had been before, but had changed to a dense blue, the blue of the deep ocean.
"Lich"
There was a sense of relief that Leon had never experienced before. In the coma he had just woken from, he involuntarily clenched his palm and then relaxed. He was surprised by the sincerity that came from the feeling of the grip, it was like a human hand in the flesh.
Leon's body was so comfortable that he couldn't believe he had just been seriously injured. Each of his broken bones had healed, and they looked shinier.
(Announcement: [Undead Leader] has just been used)
"Huh..."
"using ... it?"
"When..."
Leaving the confusion behind for the moment, Leon tried to push out the huge rock that was pressing on his body.
"Well, it's really heavy" he staggered, standing up like a sick man who had just recovered, dusting himself off and admiring his strength.
Leon instinctively walked towards the faint sound in front of him, glancing around with his two eye sockets, which now and then turned a magical purple. Leon himself was unaware of the colour change in his own fire.
He stood for a moment as he saw a scene he had never seen before in his life, not even in the fantasy novels he had read when he was in the afterlife.
Leon was standing in the middle of a high ledge, surrounded by tens of thousands of other desiccated skeletons standing upright in a row. They didn't move, they didn't do anything, they just stared at Leon, which made him shiver. The only thing that distinguished them from statues or specimens was the light emanating from their eyes. It is light blue, and the outer rim is full of magical white flames.
From a distance, Gabul slowly approached Leon, his mouth clenched tightly against the holy sword, his eyes following his every move.
"I didn't think you could cast such terrible magic" Gabul paused, letting the sword fall into Leon's hand.
"I really don't know anything..." Leon was a little confused.
"Don't try to hide me" Gabul murmured, "there is no reason to explain this phenomenon other than your unique skill, Lich."
"But I, I..."
Ignoring Leon, Gabul turned and stared indigo at the dense skeletons below. The cold and demonic scene that appeared from the bone army made even a person who had seen many battles like Gabul feel a little shiver.
"Lich, this is the biggest army I've ever seen !"
Gabul said as he looked at their blue eyes, and the more he looked at them, the more he saw that they were very similar to the flames burning in Leon's chest.
"Wait, the 'Leader of the Undead' can only be used when souls appear around a Lich" Thinking about it, Gabul said involuntarily, "No way..."
"No ... way"
"Lich, I just realised something... Gabul's voice suddenly became deeper, his gaze changed from excitement to fear and he looked at Leon.
"This army is actually... "
"..."
◇
"I, the one who made the temporary contract with you, I will remove the chains around your necks. Now you will be free for yourselves" Leon put his hand to his chest, he stared directly at the skeletons kneeling below with eyes gleaming with indescribable grief.
Perhaps Leon was blaming himself for implicating his friends, or simply his desire to see them again, but under better circumstances.
The words that had just ended were Leon's dark thoughts about his past. He remembered the friends who had accompanied him throughout his adult years, the friends he really valued had unfortunately left him to go on different paths. Every human being or creature born has its own destiny, they have their own life, where no one can intervene or change the path they have chosen to take.
Perhaps it is a coincidence that friends meet at a certain crossroads, accompany each other for a short distance and then are separated by time. No one can predict who people will meet in the future and what they will experience.
For Leon, time brings happiness and joy, but it is also a time that ruthlessly robs people of everything.
"Leon, look at them..."
"The joy of being liberated after hundreds and hundreds of souls have become bright stars in the night sky" Gabul came to Leon's side and tried to comfort him.
Every soul, every human being escaped from the dry skeletons that had been eroded down to the marrow. There are many souls holding hands, dancing and celebrating after hundreds of years of imprisonment, gradually turning into small bands of light.
"Lich-sama, Thank you" a little girl's voice rang out, catching Leon and Gabul's attention. It was a faint image of a girl with very beautiful blonde hair. She wore a crimson silk shirt full of threads, the edges of which were still muddy. She looked at the man beside her and smiled. Perhaps it was her father.
Leon looked up at the dense points of light melting from her bright smile spreading through the room, his heart tightening.
"Leon, thank you for rescuing us."
A very familiar voice suddenly echoed from a corner. To be precise, it was coming from a pile of ruined, white-edged boulders, beads of light glittering around them like little fireflies.
"Himmel !"
"Are you Himmel?" Leon looked around, clenching his hands.
Despite Leon's best efforts, the room quickly returned to its original quiet appearance. For the moment, apart from an aimless void of white light, there was only the sound of a skeleton digging in vain.
As he lifted a stone filled with something that looked red but had dried up, Leon knelt down, his hands hanging down.
Himmel's sword was broken in half and lay on Kate's staff. Zwerg's forging tools were smashed, piled on top of each other and covered in a fishy-smelling liquid.
"This is..."
On the deepest side was Zwerg's cloth bag, soiled with mud. The inside was a bit messy, the mineral ores were deformed, and some lumps had spilled out, looking like they had been cleaned up in a hurry.
Leon sat in a daze from that moment on, his breathing gradually losing its vitality.
...
"Leon, we have to get out of here right now, the foundation of the cave has been destroyed" Gabul ran over from behind, his panicked expression on his face, his body covered in fine dust on the outside, "Hurry on my back, this place is about to collapse.
"Hey, hear me "
"Hey..."
At the bottom of the foot, the surface of the rock was cracked with a few small aftershocks. The particles of light faded as well, plunging Leon's vast surroundings into a deep darkness.
With Leon's lifeless gaze and silence, Gabul couldn't wait any longer.
....
"Boom"
"Rumble"
A huge, deep hole appeared shortly after the rock on the ground was swept into the centre of the crack, causing the wall to fail and collapse. The space quickly filled with dust, and the characters written on the rock deep below burned violently, filling the air with a terrible burning smell.
The buzzing of a few small flies flew from the hole into a prison-like room where a dry skeleton in the Cardinal's robes was revealed, bound by chains.
Almost all of the small flies were quickly destroyed by the earth and sharp stones that rained down like rain. The others were more fortunate, dodging through every crevice and following the path left by the horse's footprints.
◇
After the aftershock had opened a large crack, Gabul escaped from the prison of suffering. The sacred flame in Leon's chest had returned to its original state, the same original state as the feeling of being overwhelmed when he first appeared in this cave. Still a familiar scene, still the primeval green of the lush ecosystem, still huge insects busily extracting honey from the huge heavy flowers. They still work and grow quietly, oblivious to what is happening around them.
What will he do next? Leon himself hadn't thought about it yet.
Don't know when, but a starry sky full of seven moons appeared clearly before Leon's eyes.
Despite Gabul's comforting words, his mind and emotions continued to tremble. The two of them had crossed many streams, many hills, many vast and wide steppes, admiring many beautiful natural landscapes, full of the vitality of this fantastic world.
"Leon, this seems to be the highest hill around here," Gabul paused after a long walk.
"Gabul,Thank you" Leon's voice was quiet, his eyes blank.
Leon slowly climbed down onto Gabul's back, carefully took the dwarf's treasure bag and asked Gabul to dig a small grave.
"May you all rest in peace" Leon trembled as he placed their belongings in the earthen hole, folded his hands and looked at the sun shining in the distance.
"clack"
As a final farewell, a strong wind blew small yellow clouds that touched every cold bone in Leon's body, and the first rays of sunlight began to shine down, warming every drop of glistening night dew that remained on the green grass.
"I promise to take care of everyone's mementos"
"Goodbye, Owl!"
"The best party of the best people" Leon clenched his hands, knelt down and touched the stone stele without saying anything more.
____
(A week later)
"Gabul, where shall we go?"
"A human town, perhaps?" Gabul whispered, his voice blending with the rustling of dry leaves, mixed with the chirping of birds in the early morning, combined with the murmur of a large waterfall that had just appeared nearby, like a wonderful symphony of nature.
After an unannounced gallop, Gabul transported Leon to a very special place. It was a street filled with yellow maple leaves that swayed in the wind. The 'mischievous' colourful butterflies appeared more and more densely, clinging to Leon's white bones.
◇