Next Life – Chapter 109

“Radius!”

Marius once again uses a first-class light-elemental magic.

“Hahaha! Futile! Futile! Futile!”

Only the clones could be defeated by the torrent of light, and even then, only about a thousand. Marius reconfirmed that Mergen was not within range of his attacks from this location.

“Unfortunately, my skills are effective even on clones! That means I’ve learned even more!”

Mergen’s statement wasn’t entirely a bluff, but Marius didn’t overlook the fact that some of the undead were still taking damage.

“Is there nothing you can do? Then perish.”

Mergen seemed confident of victory, but Marius wasn’t flustered yet. While this world differed from games in many ways, they shared the commonality of being devoid of invincibility or omnipotence. Marius had already confirmed the drawbacks of the Learning skill in his battle with Decarabia. It took time to achieve significant results, its effect was halved in close combat, and Annihilation could negate it. Furthermore, it was effective against magic, skills, and techniques, but not against natural phenomena or simple objects, making it useless against Forbidden Spells that manipulated nature. There was also the simpler method of crushing opponents by controlling massive rocks or mountains. Moreover, it couldn’t completely nullify damage, so even reduced damage could still be fatal. In other words, Learning should only be used as a means to mitigate damage, not as an invincible armor. His use of “Radius” just now was to confirm this.

However, what bothered Marius was the number of skills Mergen was using. Mergen’s skills, along with those of Samuel and Decarabia, allowed him to hide in places Marius couldn’t detect or attack, and likely also enabled him to control the undead. Marius was also using multiple skills simultaneously, but Learning was supposed to have a restriction: it couldn’t be activated unless other skills and magic were not in use. Marius recalled that Decarabia was no exception. Why was Mergen alone able to escape this restriction? Was it due to the skill “Sharing,” which Marius didn’t know about?

“Well, I’ll think about it after I defeat him… There’s also the option of asking Zofi or Barra.”

Marius abandoned his thoughts and focused on the battle. As usual.

“You want to know my skills, right? My skills are reduced magic power consumption and increased magic power. They can overlap with the effects of equipment. In other words, I can produce powerful results with little magic. Just like before.”

In the end, he chose a brute-force approach. Using Forbidden Spells was risky because Frederick and his daughter were not far away. Powerful physical attacks capable of destroying millions seemed difficult, and close combat would be a wasted effort. Although it seemed like a single pattern, he had decided this through elimination, but the narrow scope of his options inevitably led back to the same pattern, which was one of Marius’s weaknesses.

“…What?”

Meanwhile, Mergen couldn’t understand what Marius was saying. “Reduced magic power consumption” and “increased magic power” were both within his expectations. If Marius claimed these were the reasons for his strength, Mergen would have readily agreed. But what had the man in front of him just said? He had never gone all out until now?

“What do you think would happen if I poured magic power into it normally?”

Marius was intentionally voicing what didn’t need to be said, to mentally shake Mergen. Mergen tried to laugh off Marius’s words.

“Don’t bluff. You’re saying you’ve been conserving magic power until just now?”

Mergen concluded it was a bluff, but his voice was strained. Marius’s intent had hit its mark. Defeating Demon Lords like Rubense and others while conserving magic power was unthinkable. He had used purification magic to obliterate millions of zombies with a single blow, but how could that be done while suppressing magic consumption? If he could do that, it would mean he was on par with Auraniess, not figuratively, but literally. Marius offered no reply. This unnerved Mergen, and he shuddered.

“Th-that’s impossible.”

He felt pathetic for his voice cracking. As a true Demon Lord, letting himself be swayed by a bluff was utter incompetence. Just as he was about to command the undead, including his clones, Marius spoke a moment sooner.

“Exorcism!”

Unlike before, a sense of fatigue enveloped Marius’s entire body. This was only natural, as Marius had been stacking the magic power consumption reduction effects from his personal skills and equipment. Without them, of course, the magic power consumption would skyrocket. What appeared was a massive sphere of light, comparable to a miniature sun.

“Wh-what the hell is that!?”

The single orb illuminated the land of Misra, and a storm-like tempest of light purified the evil. Zagan, Decarabia, Rubense, Albert, Franklin… if they were alive, they might have been able to do something. But now, they were undead that could only move at their caster’s command, and they were swallowed without a chance.

“L-Learning! I can withstand it with Learning!”

He desperately tried to cling to the hope, only to realize it had vanished like smoke. Because he was constantly controlling them, he would immediately notice if something happened to his undead. The undead had all been annihilated by the previous magic.

“Aaaah… Im-impossible.”

Stunned and terrified, his words became jumbled. One million eight hundred thousand undead, including the Demon Lord undead who should have had resistance due to Learning, wiped out in a single blow.

“Wh-why… Why did this happen?”

The effect of Sharing was incredible. It allowed one to possess all of another’s skills, both innate and acquired, and also to share its effects with others. Mergen was using six skills. Franklin’s reduced magic power consumption and constant mana recovery allowed him to command many undead, while Decarabia’s Learning gave the undead resistance to Marius’s attacks. Samuel’s Division maintained the vast number of clones, and Zagan’s thought division controlled them. Gerik’s Transform allowed him to become part of nature. This was how he could command the undead and remain unharmed even when attacked by Marius. The Sharing skill grouped these skills together and allowed them to be used as a single skill. Mergen was convinced it was a king’s skill, unfitting for anyone but himself, yet Marius was unfazed. It was utterly absurd. Naturally, Marius didn’t care about Mergen’s feelings.

“Now, where could Mergen be?”

Even though he had rendered Mergen powerless by annihilating the undead, it wasn’t even a temporary measure. It was possible he was dead since his voice had disappeared, but when dealing with necromancers and liches, it was necessary to be cautious.

“Aspiration!”

This was a type of teleportation magic that pulled a target to a designated location. It could bring distant enemies or objects closer, push them away, or even move allies. While there was a limit to how many could be moved at once, it was a versatile spell.

“Whoooaaa!”

Mergen was pulled up by an invisible, tremendous force, letting out an involuntary scream. He had transformed into one of the stones in the ground beneath Marius’s feet. However, he couldn’t escape Marius’s “Aspiration” and was dragged out onto the ground.

“I see, you were underground.”

Marius was more impressed than surprised. It was only natural that his attacks wouldn’t hit if Mergen was at his feet.

“D-damn it all…”

Mergen reverted to his lich form and glared at Marius with hatred.

“You are Mergen.”

“Y-yes. Just you wait! I’ll ask Auraniess to defeat you!”

With that parting shot, he escaped via Teleport. He fled to the coast of the Kingdom of Vester. Even as a lich demon, he didn’t have the strength to cross the sea. He needed to acquire a ship. As he frantically scanned his surroundings, he heard a sound behind him.

“N-no way…”

An ominous feeling struck him, and he turned around to find Marius.

“I-eeek…”

Mergen stumbled backward violently, losing his balance and falling on his rear. It was understandable, as he hadn’t known Marius was there, but once he had met him, escaping Marius was extremely difficult.

“P-please, help me.”

For some reason, Mergen put his hands together and rubbed his head in the sand.

“It was just a momentary impulse. I-I won’t do it again, so please let me join you and spare me.”

Marius said nothing and closed the distance. Hearing the sound, Mergen cowered further.

“I-I swear… I’ll turn over a new leaf. I regret it. Please, forgive meeeeee.”

He pleaded endlessly. Anyone who saw this, a simpleton unaware of the truth, might sympathize with Mergen and deem Marius the villain. To the lich, Marius eventually spoke.

“Annihilation.”

“Wh-what?”

Mergen was engulfed by the wind of destruction and vanished. Marius couldn’t trust someone who would gloat while controlling the corpses of his former comrades. No matter what magic, skills, or items Mergen might have used to revive himself, it would likely be nullified by Annihilation. As Marius thought about returning to his new wives, a chilling premonition, like being doused with ice-cold water, washed over him. Casually glancing up at the sky, he saw three shadows descending.

“See, there’s someone who fits the description. Just as I said.”

They descended from a height that made them appear like mere specks to Marius. The one who landed gracefully and began speaking nonchalantly was a beautiful woman with black hair, tanned skin, and purple eyes.

“Impressive.”

“As expected.”

The beauties with blue and red hair, who descended with her, chimed in with a tone of resignation. All three were exceptionally beautiful, the black-haired woman in the center perhaps even surpassing Lovisa. Witnessing such stunning women simultaneously, the usual Marius would have felt a lustful appreciation and enjoyed the view. However, he didn’t feel that way now. His instincts screamed with unprecedented urgency. He was made to understand that his battles with Decarabia and the hundred demons he had just annihilated were trivial matters.

“Well then… I am Auraniess. What is your name?”

Marius felt as if a giant tornado had descended after a typhoon had passed. It seemed unlikely he would be able to have breakfast anytime soon.