Chapter 151: Golden City (2)

A death knight clad in black armor.

Only red eyes glowed proudly from the helmet covering her face.

A cloak burning with black flames.

Sharply honed claws on her hands and feet.

The glossy armor writhed as if it were alive.

It was the symbiote breastplate, which transformed into a form suited to its wearer.

Now, it had been reforged into a shape specialized for extreme murderous intent.

Then.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud—

As Jeanne stepped forward, the surrounding gold began to crumble into black dust.

A death aura spread out in all directions.

The monsters recoiled in fear, stumbling backward.

Then came the dark elf’s bellow.

“You idiots, what are you standing around for like morons! You can’t even kill one little wench and you’re slinking away with your tails between your legs? Are those things in your hands weapons or just decorations? Are you scared of dying to that bitch? If so……”

Shing—

The dark elf drew his sword from his waist.

“If any of you are trembling and running from a mere wench like her, I’ll kill you myself right now.”

Dry gulps echoed from all around.

Then.

“Uwooooooo—!”

Three orc warriors charged forward with roars.

Axes hurtling toward Jeanne.

But.

Clang—!

The axes that struck the symbiote breastplate shattered into pieces instead.

Immediately after, Jeanne’s hand blade sliced through the air in front.

Slaaaash—!

Blood sprayed along the black trajectory left in the void.

One severed orc head fell to the ground.

The orcs were shaken by their comrade’s death.

But only for a moment.

Crunch!

Jeanne’s fist exploded the second orc’s head.

The third orc roared and began swinging his fists.

“U- Uwooooo~!”

But not a single one of the orc’s attacks landed.

Instead, every time he threw a punch, Jeanne’s blade severed his tendons.

Slice— Slice— Slice— Slice— Slice—

Wrist, inside of the elbow, armpit, shoulder, side, groin, thigh, calf, ankle……

Muscles, tendons, and arteries were cut as cleanly as if measured with a ruler.

All while precisely avoiding the vital points.

It meant that the person who got every question wrong knew all the correct answers in reverse.

Once a certain amount of bleeding occurred, oxygen would run low, consciousness would grow hazy, convulsions would set in, and death would follow.

In that process, the victim would feel themselves dying very slowly and very clearly.

Then.

Thump!

The orc lost its balance and collapsed.

Blood gushed out from its entire body like a fountain.

“K- Kuaaaaaak~!”

The orc began to thrash around, letting out pained screams.

At that moment.

Slice!

A sharp blade cut through the orc’s throat.

Air escaped from the orc’s mouth with a hissing sound, along with bubbling blood foam.

“…..For the likes of you, even screaming is a luxury.”

Then.

“Grrrrraaaaa—!”

A fist as heavy as a boulder came crashing down toward Jeanne’s head.

An ogre that had approached at some point swung its fist.

But.

……Thud!

The ogre’s fist was stopped by a single one of Jeanne’s index fingers.

At the same time.

—Thwack!

A large hole was punched through the ogre’s chest.

On Jeanne’s palm lay a massive heart that was still beating vigorously.

Thump!

As the ogre’s massive body fell, the ground shook.

A fountain of blood shooting up from the corpse was dyeing the golden road a crimson color.

At that moment.

Swooooosh— Thud!

An arrow flew in from somewhere and struck Jeanne in the face.

A goblin archer raised his bow and shouted.

“I hit it! I hit it!”

The goblin archer immediately nocked another arrow.

Dark blue venom dripped from the arrowhead on the bowstring.

Soon, the other goblins began cheering one by one.

“Kuil’s son, Kui did it!”

“It’s Deathmamba’s poisoned arrow! Even an ogre would die from that poison!”

“You die after counting to five! Let’s count! One! Two! Four! Three! Five!”

Regardless, Jeanne stood motionless.

Then.

Crunch~! Crunch~! Craaack!

A sound like something hard being chewed echoed.

The goblins’ faces drained of color when they saw it.

The arrow hadn’t struck Jeanne’s face.

It was being chewed in her grotesquely opened mouth.

Munch— Munch— Munch— Munch— Munch—

Teeth as densely packed as a shark’s were grinding the poisoned arrow to pieces.

Purple liquid mixed with venom and blood dribbled from Jeanne’s mouth.

Killing intent exploded from her piercing eyes.

Then.

“K- Kiiik! It’s a mon— monster!”

“I don’t want to die! I want to live!”

“Mommy! Mooooooom—!”

The monsters scattered in panic like field mice fleeing from a black panther.

At that moment, Jeanne’s black cloak began to split apart.

Rip— Riiip— Riiiiip—

The cloak tore into dozens of strands.

They moved like tentacles and began hunting down the fleeing monsters.

Slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice slice!

The monsters had their limbs torn off.

Flesh, blood clots, roars, and screams dyed the golden city with death.

Then, the dark elf stood tall before Jeanne.

“Now I remember. That pretty face of yours…… You were the princess of Ravianglily, weren’t you?”

[…….]

“You challenged the Death Lords without even knowing your place and ended up with your body and soul violated, reduced to an undead thrall. So how did you regain your freedom again?”

[…….]

Jeanne stared at the dark elf without answering.

The dark elf snorted and continued.

“Well, I’m not curious at all, actually. Whatever happened to you doesn’t matter to me. This is perfect timing, though…… It was my dream to violate a princess of a nation. I wonder what kind of expression the princess will make when she’s pinned underneath me?”

“Your tongue is long. I’ll cut that first.”

“Haha—! Consider it an honor to cross swords with Luhan Gerd, patriarch of the Gerd family, the strongest swordsmanship house among dark elves. Inferior species!”

The dark elf charged, swinging his sword.

Then.

—Clang!

The two blades collided.

The screech of metal rang out sharply.

“Not bad, princess! To react to my strike! Your skills are far superior to those of Ravianglily’s female knights! Now try blocking my next—”

—Ptoo!

Jeanne spat into the dark elf’s eye.

“K- Kuaaaaaak~! My— My eye~!”

The dark elf clutched his left eye and staggered back.

Purple liquid was flowing from the corner of his eye.

Jeanne had been holding the venom she sucked from the goblin’s poisoned arrow in her mouth.

The dark elf’s left eye began to swell darkly.

“You cowardly bitch! Resorting to such dirty tricks……? It seems becoming an undead has stripped you of any honor!”

At that moment, Jeanne closed the distance right in front of the dark elf’s nose.

“……Huk!”

“I have no intention of dueling someone like you with honor on the line. And……”

At the same time, Jeanne kicked up a chunk of gold from the floor.

“Does a being who takes pleasure in killing the weak have any right to speak of honor?”

Crack—!

The golden chunk smashed into the dark elf’s face.

The skin on his nose bridge tore, spraying blood everywhere.

“Kuaaaak~! You filthy wench—! I’ll kill you……”

“I haven’t even started yet.”

A fist flew toward the dark elf’s face with ferocious momentum.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Throw away the prejudice that a swordsman must always use a sword.”

“You— you son of a bitch—!”

The dark elf swung his sword wildly.

Jeanne lightly created distance.

Then, clutching his face, the dark elf said.

“You lowly inferior species……! Fine, as you wish, I’ll treat you like a beast!”

The dark elf pulled out a whip from his waist.

But before he could swing it.

—Stab!

The sword pierced through the dark elf’s groin.

“Kuaaaak~! The— The sword……”

“I never said I wouldn’t use a sword.”

Immediately after.

Stab! Stab stab! Slice! Slash~!

Eyes, ears, solar plexus, sides, heart area, temples, throat, and so on.

Unrelenting sword strikes began shredding the dark elf’s entire body.

Especially focusing on his groin.

When the dark elf tried to swing his sword.

Slash—!

Jeanne scattered the golden powder she held in her hand into the dark elf’s eyes.

Then the sword strikes continued.

Like a cat toying with a mouse, Jeanne drove the dark elf into a corner.

At that moment, the dark elf poured all his strength into one strike.

“Die, you rag-like whore……!”

But.

Whoosh—

Jeanne easily dodged the fist.

At the same time.

Crack—!

A heavy kick landed squarely in the dark elf’s waist.

“Kuh— Kuhuk……!”

His spine bent in the opposite direction.

The dark elf collapsed, his limbs trembling.

A wet liquid flowed from his groin.

Then, Jeanne stomped on the dark elf’s crotch and said.

“Now, it’s your turn.”

“K- Kuuuugh……”

Her black eyes glittered with madness.

“……Beg. Ask me to spare you.”

The dark elf’s face twisted in terror.

***

The golden city dyed crimson with blood.

Corpses with torn and severed limbs lay scattered everywhere.

Then.

—Crunch!

A dull impact sounded.

Soon, a voice that sounded like it could fade at any moment followed.

“P- Please…… stop……”

Silence fell over the golden city.

The dark elf was in an indescribably horrific state.

He was completely slumped over, unrecognizable, with broken bones protruding through his skin all over his body.

Nevertheless.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Jeanne continued pounding her fists with an expressionless face.

With all his muscles and tendons severed, the dark elf could only take the beating without resistance.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The gruesome sounds continued to echo.

—Crunch!

“Sp…… are…… me……”

Crunch!

“Spare…… me……”

—Crunch!

“Pl…… please…… spare…… me……”

—Crunch!

“Spare…… me……”

—Crack!

“Please…… spare…… me……”

The dark elf’s tongue had been cut out and all his teeth knocked out.

His pronunciation was so slurred it was hard to understand.

Meanwhile, the symbiote had disappeared from Jeanne, revealing her face clearly.

Jeanne spoke quietly.

“Try a little harder.”

[…….]

“Hm? ‘Please spare me.’ Say it properly.”

[…….]

“Try doing it like the people of Ravianglily did.”

Crack—!

Blood and tooth fragments scattered into the air.

Trembling, the dark elf said.

“Kill…… me, please kill…… me…… please.”

He put effort into every syllable so his pronunciation wouldn’t lisp.

Jeanne answered with an expressionless face.

“No thanks.”

[…………]

“Why should I grant your request?”

“I lost…… I admit defeat……”

Jeanne tilted her head.

Then.

Crack—!

She drove her fist into the dark elf’s philtrum.

“I can tell you lost. Does that mean I lost too?”

The dark elf’s jaw trembled as he spoke.

“I- I’ll apologize for everything I did…… I- I’m being sincere. So please…… stop now……”

“What meaning does your apology have to me?”

Crack—!

Jeanne began striking the dark elf’s face again.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Blood sprayed in all directions.

Shattered tooth fragments and torn lip flesh flew about.

“St- Stop…… Please stop…… I lost, I admit I lost……”

“I know. But why should I stop? You lost, that’s that. There’s no reason for me to stop.”

Crack~! Crack—! Crack~! Crack~! Crack—!

“K- Kuuugh…… Wh- What do you…… w- want…… exactly……”

At that moment, the punching stopped.

Jeanne stood up and said.

“Now we can have a somewhat constructive conversation.”

The corners of Jeanne’s mouth slowly curled up.

It was a cold smile that could freeze blood.

Then, Jeanne spoke softly.

“……Where is your boss right now?”