Chapter 1264 (2/2)

This battle…

….we are finally having fun again.

Yet the Ghosthound wasn’t going to let go of this opportunity without punishing the Ogre Lord for being taken by surprise. His horrendous aura of heaviness blasted outward with enough force to knock the stumbling Ogre Lord off his feet and to the ground. Then the Ghosthound reached out and seized one of the tips of his spear that he had let go of earlier, yanked it, stared intently down at the Ogre Lord, then grabbed the spear precisely at the spot of the grip.

In a movement that didn’t seem possible, the Ghosthound adjusted his lance and thrust it toward the Ogre Lord’s chest before he could react. That strange, dark energy seemed to be seeping out of the Ghosthound’s body and into the surrounding air. The Ogre Lord felt his chest constricting as the strange energy suppressed him. His lungs struggled feebly even as his three heads scrambled to think of a countermeasure to this attack.

After being stunned from the punch previously, the central head finally recovered. It opened its eyes and glared up at the Ghosthound. Let’s see which of us can afford to bleed more, Ghosthound.

The blue crystal ax flashed upward toward the Ghosthound’s side. In exchange, the Ghosthound’s lance slid into the thick muscles of the shoulder that wielded the ax. Almost immediately, the power of the Ogre Lord’s simultaneous attack dropped by half. Yet the weight and momentum of the strike couldn’t be stopped as it slammed into the Ghosthound’s side.

The Ghosthound grimaced. And then he continued to attack. He flicked his wrist and threw himself downward toward the Ogre Lord to strike a more decisive blow while his foe was pinned to the ground. For the Ogre Lord’s part, he looked on in disbelief as his blue crystal ax had cut a divet in the Ghosthound’s dark grey armor but otherwise hadn’t managed to pierce his defenses.

Still, this was enough of a chance that he had been waiting for. While the Ghosthound was rushing midair down toward the Ogre Lord’s chest, the right-most head abruptly turned and released a brown beam of decay toward the Ghosthound. Mid-air, it was impossible to-

The Ghosthound’s emerald eyes slid sideways to the right-most head and narrowed. Then his body seemed to suddenly blur about the edges, contorting in a way that shouldn’t be possible. The brown beam slid harmlessly past and the Ghosthound kicked off his lance and landed a few meters away. Emerald and orange fire seethed around him, igniting that dark energy his physical body created to produce a horrible wave of oppression that pressed the Ogre Lord to the ground.

The Ghosthound’s face twisted into a grimace. “So you want to compete with some Mana Skills huh? Then let’s-”

But the Ghosthound abruptly stopped speaking. For the first time, the Ogre Lord saw genuine shock on the Ghosthound’s face. The man hopped a meter back away from the Ogre Lord and twisted to look toward the gate that connected the Ogre world to Earth.

Randidly Ghosthound stared that way with a grim expression for several seconds. “...it was dumb of me not to realize that he could do that as well. But still…”

The air around the Ghosthound rippled and then a monster stepped out of the dark energy aura the Ghosthound produced. Its right arm was simply a long protrusion of bone, stained with dried blood. Its left arm was a monstrous claw with five talons. Two tails flicked impatiently side to side, one at the base of its head and a larger one growing from its tailbone. And most disturbing of all, it wore the Ghosthound’s face.

“Go to the stadium. Don’t interfere with the Nemesai… just kill the duplicate.”

The monster tilted its head to the side in askance. Gritting his teeth, the Ogre Lord used his good arm to seize the lance that still pinned him to the ground and pulled it out. Blood gushed out of the wind, creating a veritable creak of crimson liquid that ran away from the Ogre Lord’s wound.

The Ghosthound glanced at the Ogre Lord’s movements but didn’t bother to do anything about it. Instead, he kept looking at the monstrous image that he had separated from himself. “This is my fault for not thinking this through… but this is also the fault of the people of New Earth. If they hadn’t allowed the rot to settle in so deeply… would the Nemesai get this chance? If I save them from themselves now… how will they learn?”

The monster nodded and disappeared. As the Ogre Lord staggered to his feet, he was surprised to find that the image’s departure had taken a lot of the pressure out of the air. He could breathe normally once more. But more than anything, the Ogre Lord could see the exhausted expression on the Ghosthound’s face. The words he had said to his own image had drained him deeply.

Perhaps this is my chance, The Ogre Lord decided. Despite the wound, he felt wonderful. Better than ever. He felt like he had finally recovered his mentality from the old days of conquest. If he diverted a portion of his strength to deal with something on Earth...

“Are the petty squabbles of those beneath you truly so important?” The Ogre Lord asked with derision.

The Ghosthound shook his head and then turned to face the Ogre Lord. And at that blank and focused look, the Ogre Lord’s instincts screamed again that he had to run as far away from this man as possible. “It’s time to stop playing around and finish this.”