Past Life Returner
chapter-440

A small light burst from Yeon-Hee’s neck, then disappeared. Her mental strength had been further enhanced.

[Master! It is unfair for Doom Man’s priest to wear my, Lu-neah’s, necklace.]

The bastard objected toward the curtain, but of course, there was no reply. I returned to my spot from the judgment stand. Yeon-Hee had been solely focused on the bastard after landing. Her will to fight against the bastard was strongly conveyed even to this distant place.

However, it was not the case with the bastard. It was facing Yeon-Hee, but its gaze was fixed only on the necklace she was wearing.

“What the hell are you whining about? This one? You can take it back if you knock me down.”

The bastard ignored Yeon-Hee and yelled at the curtain again.

[Okay, fine. Then, please promise me that Doom Man will not intervene.]

[Is it really okay if I, Lu-neah, kill that audacious girl? Please confirm that. I, Lu-neah, will not be responsible for the outcome of this matter.]

It also sent me messages.

[I wonder if Doom Man has tears. We will find that out soon.]

[Prepare to hold a funeral. You must have underestimated me so much that you sent such a girl. I am certain that you will regret… ah!]

The bastard’s message was abruptly cut off as Yeon-Hee lunged at it. Her eyes were filled with pitch-black darkness.

“You should focus on me!”

***

No one could peek into a mental world. Even for Doom Kaos, it was impossible unless it directly entered the world. Therefore, I couldn’t tell how long Yeon-Hee and the bastard had fought. But I could tell how intense their fight had been.

Yeon-Hee was flung away with a distorted expression, and the bastard that collapsed similarly was missing one wing. That was why it was falling uncontrollably in the air without being able to maintain its balance. However, its fall was slower than Yeon-Hee’s because the remaining wing was still flapping.

Yeon-Hee couldn’t find her balance until she hit the ground. Her forehead first hit the bottom step. The sound of the impact echoed through the space, making me flinch momentarily.

She stood up with a shimmering barrier around her entire body. The barrier didn’t absorb all of the impact. What she spat out before she looked up was mixed with dark red blood. The fortunate thing was that her internal damage wasn’t as severe to the point she needed to use a recovery skill, so she didn’t activate Mary’s Touch.

Sheeek!

She once again threw herself at the bastard, and she was targeting its remaining wing. Her dagger was so fast it left a trajectory. However, the bastard had been watching her all along, so it managed to dodge without a problem. It narrowly forced its way into space. Then, it appeared, creating an exit in the direction of Yeon-Hee, while simultaneously generating pressure that condensed the space.

Yeon-Hee’s reaction was incredibly swift. It was definitely challenging for her abilities to respond so instantaneously, but she managed it smoothly. She had anticipated the bastard’s counterattack.

Nonetheless, the same applied to the bastard. Just as Yeon-Hee had an idea of the bastard’s next action, it was also adept at evading her dagger. They attacked and dodged several times. During this time, neither of them managed to land a hit. Only the two trajectories, Yeon-Hee’s dagger and the bastard’s, intertwined.

The fight seemed far from over because they were now familiar with each others’ capabilities through the mental world. However, there was a very slight difference. Yeon-Hee was the one leading the attack! The bastard was primarily counterattacking.

Then, when their gazes directly clashed, the bastard’s appearance changed in an instant, as if a part of a video frame had been cut out. One of its wings that was there just a moment ago had vanished. Also, there were multiple wounds on its body, caused by being stabbed and cut by the dagger.

The bastard yelled out as it collapsed.

[Master!]

[Why are you not lending me your power?! Please allow me to summon the original body!]

[That girl is also wearing Lu-neah’s necklace!]

***

The bastard was non-material, so the stairs couldn’t be explained by common sense. It collided with the staircase and bounced off. It fell again and bounced off again. As this repeated, the height at which it bounced back naturally decreased.

When the bastard could barely stick to the ground, Yeon-Hee came into my view. She didn’t collide with the ground this time as she was able to regain her balance during the fall. There was no problem up to this point, but she was barely standing. She was wrapping her head with both hands, including the one that was holding the dagger.

I couldn’t see her face from where I was standing. However, I could tell just from the strength in her fingers how much she was grimacing in pain. She was undoubtedly in agony and struggling. She seemed consumed by a pain that felt like her skull was going to break, unable to focus on anything else.

[Please allow me to summon the original body! That too is the power of Lu-neah!]

[This is not a fair fight, Master. I, Lu-neah, cannot accept this.]

The bastard writhed from where it had collapsed. Then, it suddenly became quiet and looked at Yeon-Hee. It stared for a long time. Despite this, Yeon-Hee only put more strength in her hands to hold her head. Then, the bastard stood up and walked stealthily like a mouse going to put a bell on a cat’s neck. As it approached Yeon-Hee, its stride, and speed decreased. Then it tilted its head and looked up at me.

[Oops, what should we do? I think I, Lu-neah, won! (๑☉ᴗ☉)۶ ]

[Don’t blame Lu-neah. You should have considered Lu-neah’s full capabilities before trying to take away my position. Did you really think that a mere priestess could take down Lu-neah?]

[If you are thinking of intervening, don’t even dream about it. Master is watching us right now.]

[Okay, then~ How should I kill her? Should I tear her eye muscles and make her blind first? (◐.◑) Nah, that is lame. I should do something more than what Doom Man has done to me… Please let me know if you have a great idea.]

[I, Lu-neah, am ready to accept any idea~♪ ]

[Hey, why are you so quiet? Where did the torturer go? The newbie is eager to learn, hehe.]

Fucking piece of shit. Such a persistent asshole. It wouldn’t be enough even if I crushed it right now.

[Don’t get too angry. I’d really want to kill you too.]

[I will offer you something that you won’t be able to refuse.]

[In return for sparing the priestess, give back the three Books of Death and what you took from Lu-neah. Make a vow of the soul right here while the Master is watching.]

[That is all I want. Lu-neah is at a loss. Lu-neah is being too generous. Someday, this good nature will be a big blow. Isn’t that right? Isn’t Lu-neah being too kind?]

The bastard didn’t stop talking.

[...But Doom Man is too evil. The priestess is your girl, right? It is really wicked to abandon your lover for a mere item. Am I too honest? Oopsy.]

[Anyway, there is nothing I can do if you don’t answer. It’s finally time for death!]

[Do you really want me to kill her?]

I was focusing on assessing Yeon-Hee’s condition, but the bastard’s messages kept interrupting.

[Hey, Lu-neah is deadly serious. Should I actually kill her?]

[Should I? Should I? Should I? Should I? Should I? Should I? Should I? Should I? Should I? Should I? Should I? Should I?]

However, the bastard was just circling around Yeon-Hee without getting closer to her. Its messages felt like cries for a ceasefire. I could finally see Yeon-Hee’s face from afar as I stepped down the stairs to where Mount and Caso were standing. Although she was wringing her head, her eyes were following the movement of the bastard circling around.

[Really… I can’t help it. I don’t know why Lu-neah is so kind. Okay, I will stop here.]

[Let’s untangle the emotions between Doom Man and Lu-neah this way since Lu-neah spared the life of Doom Man’s priestess.]

[Doom Man better hurry. Tell the Master before Lu-neah changes his mind. Hurry. I am still debating.]

The bastard was deliberately avoiding Yeon-Hee’s gaze.

[The fight is over. Doom Man’s priestess failed the challenge.]

Does it end if it says it is over?

The bastard shouted the same thing towards the curtain above, but Doom Kaos still didn’t answer. Doom Kaos was definitely making the same judgment as me.

[Oh, my! You guys are so frustrating! You really want to see the end, right? Okay, got it!]

[I, Lu-neah, will blow that audacious girl’s head!]

The bastard’s face finally became serious. It pointed at Yeon-Hee’s neck with a tiny finger. There, it condensed the space and let the power burst. Yeon-Hee’s head was thrown back violently, and her pair of earrings shattered. It seemed to have affected the other pieces of her equipment as well.

Nonetheless, when Yeon-Hee’s head returned to its place…

Pat!-

She rushed towards the bastard. Her arms, which had been holding her head, were moving according to her own acquired swordsmanship.

Ah! This is why I didn’t want to mess with her! Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!!!

That was what was written on the bastard’s face for a second.

***

The bastard could no longer fly, but it was able to move freely through space. However, its movement had noticeably slowed down. Although Yeon-Hee’s facw was contorted in pain, she was working its socks off. She was aware that her end was nearing.

The battle did not last long. Yeon-Hee predicted the direction from where the bastard would emerge from space and landed her attack. The dagger flashed ominously for the first time, but the negative effect from the dagger was apparently not effective on the bastard. The real deal was when the second attack landed.

The trait, Death! Black energy spread all over the bastard, centered on the cut spot. It almost appeared like veins that were prominently filled with a black substance, and it was then without a doubt that the bastard realized it couldn’t confront Yeon-Hee in a physical battle. Until now, it had been avoiding a mental battle with Yeon-Hee, but from that moment, it no longer avoided her gaze.

A few seconds later, the spectacle of the bastard entering Yeon-Hee’s body and being bounced out was clearly captured when I heightened my Sense. The scene of it entering was not important. When it came out, it looked horrible, like it had appeared when it had to endlessly roam the infinite stage by my order before, having lost its wings.

Now! This is the perfect timing!

I screamed inwardly as I hoped Yeon-Hee would finish the battle without further delay. She screamed as she bent her waist, falling onto the bastard.

“Aaaaaaargh!”

Yeon-Hee’s dagger, which was quickly reversed in her hand, was aiming directly at the bastard’s face. It was probably because her scream was tormenting me as well. The series of movements of her falling towards the bastard and stabbing its face with the dagger appeared to be seen frame by frame.

Then, it was the last frame. In the scene after, she twisted the dagger that had been thrust the bastard’s face with all her might, the bastard shattered like glass and fell into pieces. Those pieces began to disappear into thin air like smoke.

[Doom Lu-neah has died.]

[Doom Mary has succeeded the position of Doom Lu-neah.]