I narrowly dodged the slash attack of the mysterious skeleton. The sword speed is faster than I thought. Moreover, it is troublesome because the attack is launched at different time. If I dodged the first attack, the second one will anticipate where I’ll dodge and attack from there. If I dodged that attack, the other one will once again attack in pursuit. They are indeed a legacy of a superpower that once ruled the world. These skeletons are also good at cooperative play.
“They are great, isn’t it? Their performance remains undiminished even after 5,000 years. This is the ultimate weapon born of the wisdom of ancient civilizations.”
“It seems so. But, do you really think you can defeat me with something like this?”
I dodged their sword strike and threw my fist at the two of them. Both of them slammed into the wall and fell to pieces on the floor. They are certainly a good weapon but they are only a little stronger than my Homeless Skeleton. They are no match for the current me.
“Gufufufu. You seem to be underestimating ancient weapons.”
The king’s fearless smile made me brace myself. Then, the skeletons, which should have been shattered to pieces, assembles on its own and points their sword at me again.
“How could it be!? I should have defeated them.”
“As I said, they are the fruit of the wisdom of an ancient civilization, you cannot defeat an immortal soldier.”
A coordinated attack of the two skeletons started once more. I am racking my brains as I dodged their attacks. It would be terrifying if they were truly immortal. But no matter how I look at it, the king is lying. This is because there is a big contradiction to his words, it lies in the fact that only these two bodies in front of me still exist. If so, there is definitely a way to destroy it. No doubt about that.
“Fuu! Teiii!”
When one of them loses its balance because of my foot kick, I finished it off with a kick and elbows the other one who was right next to it. The two bodies were scattered on the floor. This time, I took a closer look. The scattered bones of the skeleton gather and stick together from the head. Maybe they are deliberately dismantling their bodies to escape the impact. But it’s now clear. The head is their core.
I slipped between the two bodies of the ancient skeleton. It’s easy to forget, but I possess a skill called theft. This makes pick pocketing better. The most noteworthy point is that I can take their belongings without the other party noticing. When I turned around, I saw two headless figures, wandering around, losing sight of the direction they were going. The stolen skull shows no emotion as it roams its blue eyes around quickly.
I don’t think they are as cute as Suketarou and the others. I rolled the two heads on the floor and stomped on them vigorously. With the nucleus destroyed, the bodies of the two skeleton fell to the floor as if the batteries have run out.
“Damn! How dare you do that to my immortal soldiers! I guess I underestimated your strength too much.”
King Logas stands up and picks up the spear that was displayed near his throne. It has a hologram pattern from the handle to the blade, and there are carvings in places that are reminiscent of water. A shining blue sphere was embedded in the blade and the spear itself was wrapped in a strange atmosphere.
“Gufufu, are you curious about this spear? I know you are. It’s one of the five great treasures in the world after all.”
“One of the five great treasures?”
“That’s right. This is one of the treasures called the Spear of the Water God. It is the strongest spear made of adamantine and equipped with a water magic jewel. Let’s see how far you can resist with that meager sword of yours.”
I didn’t think that one of the five great treasures would come out here. This is not looking good. He’s right, I’m not sure if the bull king sword will be able to hold against it.
“Here I come!”
The king swings his spear down with a light leap. I rolled on the floor to avoid it, then got up and drew my sword. The impact and thunderous roar rushed up immediately afterwards.
“Don’t dodge. Take my attack!”
There was a large crack in the place where I had been earlier.
In just one swing… that power…
I can’t let my guard down.
“Hoh-, how about this then? Water Magic Jewel, give me strength.”
The blue magic jewel responded to his voice. A blade of water shot out of the spear that the king swung. I rolled on the floor to dodge. The king then fires more blades in pursuit.
“I’m sure you will be honored to be executed by me personally! Rejoice!”
I counterattacked while avoiding his slash. A metallic sound reverberated in the room as swords and spears clashed.
“I didn’t expect that a great treasure would recognize someone like you. That was very surprising.”
“Gufufu, did you really think this thing has a human-like trait? Let me tell you, anyone can become the owner of a great treasure if they met the conditions. However, with your average ability, I doubt if you can even touch it.”
“I see. Thanks for that pleasant info.”
I grabbed his shoulders with my sub-arms and then I threw him flying towards the wall. The king crashed into the wall and was buried in the rubble.
“You have an invisible arm huh. As expected of a Homeless Emperor.”
He rose from the rubble unscathed.
“Have you seen my status?”
“Unfortunately, I only know the name of your race because I didn’t have enough rank. But no matter what skill you have, you can’t hurt me.”
So much complacency. He must be very confident in his impact nullification and slash nullification skill. Then again, it seems that it is also due to the fact that he does not know the skills I have.
There are several ways to defeat him. The first option is to wipe him out with my King Dragon Breath skill. The other is to kill him with my Life or Death Technique. The last one is to deal damage on him with my magic jewel of thunder.
Of the three, the most troublesome one is the King Dragon Breath. The reason for this is that there is a risk of destroying the entire castle. Because it is too strong, the places where it can be used are limited. Therefore, I judged that it is more appropriate to weaken him with a lightning strike first and stop him with the life-or-death technique.
“Don’t think you’re the only one with a magic jewel.”
The crackling sound of purple lightning runs through the blade and burns the air. King Logas had his eyes squinted, and the corners of his mouth were lifted.
“Bull King’s sword with the magic jewel of thunder huh. Seems like you possessed something unworthy of you. As a king, this is unacceptable fact.”
He fires a blade of water. On the other hand, I vaporized it with a lightning strike. Due to explosive evaporation, a large amount of water vapor fills the room.
“Hmph!”
The king jumps in through the steam. I caught the swinging spear with my sword and tried to grab him with my sub-arm again.
—But what I grabbed was the king’s hands. When I looked closely, I saw that a second pair of hands grows out of his back. The sudden turn of events confused my mind.
“Are you surprised? The same move won’t work on me!”
“What’s going on? How did you grow arms?”
Swords and spears pressed each other, and above our heads, our other arms were interlocked and were pushing against each other. In that moment, another arm grows out of his flanks. It stretched out and tickled my side.
“Gahahaha! Uh-, that’s co-cowardly!”
“The king is allowed to do whatever he wants!”
When my strength loosened, he threw me against the wall. I was buried in the rubble but I quickly got up because of my impact nullification skill.
“Is that your racial trait?”
I was surprised to see the king’s current appearance. The king’s body was as large as a dragon, and his muscles were as swollen as a dwarf’s. His ears are long like those of an elf, and his back is covered with black feathers like a winged man. His hands and feet were as sharp as those of a beast man, and his face was as hideous as an orc’s.
……Ah, no, the face is the same. I got it wrong there.
“Primordial human is a race that does not have a fixed form, which means that I can be a dragon or an elf. It’s literally the basis of the race.”
“Then, wouldn’t it have been better if it wasn’t in a human form?”
“I am the king of humans after all. Besides, even if my race changes, I will never lose the meaning of my existence.”
I kind of understand what he is trying to say. To be able to be anything means to become nothing. I guess he stuck to his original form so as not to lose sight of himself. Well, as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter.
“You talk too much though. I think it’s just your appearance that has changed. It’s not like your abilities have changed either.”
“Do you think so? Then taste how serious I am.”
The strength of his legs had increased many times, and the thrust was so fast that it was almost invisible. The spear easily pierced my right chest. No, the correct word should be, it penetrated my chest. It happened so fast that I didn’t even realize what was happening.
“Guaaaaaaaaa!?”
“Did I miss the heart? I still have a long way to go huh.”
Blood dripped from the drawn spear, and I dropped to my knees on the floor in pain. The king grabbed me by the hair and pulled me up forcibly.
“Hmm, is it around here? No, it should be around here. That’s not right though. Hmmm….Is this the heart?”
Searching for my heart, he thrust the spear into my body. Over and over again. He should know the location, everyone knows where. He was delaying the final blow just to hurt me. If he just stabbed me, I could withstand it, but he slowly rotated the blade as if gouging out my wound. I was in a severe pain, it’s like a nerve had been exposed and scraped with a knife.
“How do you want me to kill you?”
“Gu..…”
“If you beg me, I’ll do it at once. Gufufu.”
“D-… Die…”
My finger touched the hilt of the sword.
“You’re the one who dies!!”
Violet lightning surges and burns King Logas’ entire body. Probably because he was getting an electric shock, his body is convulsing. It was quite funny looking at his trembling appearance.
“Uaaaaaaaaaaa!?”
With white smoke billowing in the air, the king stepped back.
Freed from the pain, I stood up and brushed the dust off my clothes with one hand.
“H-how?…. You were on the verge of dying…”
“That’s just your misunderstanding. Look at me carefully.”
“W-what are you talking—, y-you don’t have a wound!?”
Kukuku, I have self-regeneration skill after all. No matter how much it hurts, the wound will be closed in an instant. However, it’s still unclear how effective the skill is, so it’s a blessing in disguise that I wasn’t beheaded.
“Aquarius Recovery”
He uses water magic to heal the damage. We’ve fought to this point and I realized that King Logas is a more troublesome opponent than what I have thought. If I don’t kill him in one blow, he can heal his self as much as he wants with magic, and with his great treasure and high physical ability, I won’t be able to get close to him easily.
If I could press the death acupuncture point with my Life or Death technique, the battle would be over. However, there is only one death acupuncture point displayed on his back. It is difficult to press.
“What are you looking at, are you finally ready to prostrate yourself?”
“What a joke. How to say…. Hmmm… I just feel the emptiness of killing someone who isn’t worth killing.”
“Gufufu, the way you put it is as if you can kill me.”
“It’s not ‘as if’, it’s a fact.”
I immediately activated my paralyzing eye and binds him in a circle with spider silk ejected from my fingertips. I started running as if kicking the ground and jumped into his back.
“Won’t happen! I won’t let you!”
The king’s body deformed and slipped through the threads like a starch syrup, dodging the attack. The king, who had formed a shape in a distance, glared at me.
“What are you trying to do?! I can feel my pores closing in fear!”
Surprisingly, he got good intuition.
Even if he is rotten, he is still the king of a kingdom huh. The king, who has become increasingly vigilant, raises his spear to keep me in check.
“I should be invincible! I shouldn’t be afraid of you!”
“Then let us strike each other up close. Don’t hold back. I’m going to fight with dignity.”
“Then what’s with that left hand just now? It looks like you’re trying to do something!”
“That’s just your imagination. Alright, I’ll come closer.”
As I slowly approached, the king stepped back in the same way. My left hand seems to be bothering him a lot. I grinned at the situation.
“What’s funny!? Do you think I am scared!!?”
“No. I just thought I’d tell you one thing.”
“.….?”
“I’ve been going easy on you all this time you know. I was getting your attention without even using my enhancement skills. Do you know why?”
“What do you mean you’re going easy on me!? Stop kiddi–”
My clone jumps down from directly above him. In his hand, he held the bull king knife, and he quickly stabbed the blade deep into the King’s back. At that moment, King Logas’ pupils opened wide and he falls to the floor.
“I was creating a clone with my division skill at the time of the steam explosion you see.”
“I was so nervous that he would notice me, who was stuck to the ceiling. But thanks to him stopping in his track, I was finally able to deal the final blow.”
After I absorbed my clone, I received the race and slash nullification skill from the dead King Logas. I then created a clone again and instructed him to change to King Logas’ appearance.
The primordial man is a race that can impersonate others. With that race, I can freely shape my body and even change height. King Logas, I mean, my clone, pick up the crown that had fallen to the floor and put it on.
I’m quite grateful to the King for having such a convenient race.
“Your Majesty! Are you okay?”
The royal knight guard rushes inside the throne room. As soon as he saw me, he drew his sword.
“Calm down. I’m still alive and well.”
“B-but this man is a rebel… w-what’s with that monster!?”
The knight is puzzled when he saw the corpse of the original king. My clone nodded silently and pointed at me.
“That very good adventurer over there has taken it down. There must be no disrespect to those who saved me.”
“I, p-please pardon me. I didn’t know that it was like that! I don’t know who you are, but I appreciate your courage!”
Looking at the knight that kept bowing deeply, the clone let out a long sigh at the long life he was about to lead as a king.
Well, I am deceiving the entire nation and there is no way that my conscience won’t hurt. While apologizing in my heart, I put the great treasure that was lying on the floor inside the bangle.
“Ah- right. I had something to do so please excuse me.”
“Oh, at least give me your name!”
“No, no, it’s fine. Well then, Your Majesty, I look forward to seeing you again!”
I slipped out from the castle as if running away and takes off into the night sky with the griffon waiting for me. With a whistle, the skeleton army began to retreat.
Thus ended the little war between the kingdom and the Homeless.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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