Chapter 108: Biu! Biu! Biu!
"Haah... haah... haah..."
The Dullahan was panting heavily, his spirit weakened from using his curse skill on Darkness too many times, which had consumed too much of his mana.
I don't get it! I completely don't get it! What is going on? What in the world is going on with this town? It's too strange!
A brain-damaged Archwizard from the Crimson Demon Clan whose Explosion magic was super powerful and cast super-fast. An Archpriest who could instantly and completely purify his proudest and most proficient curse skill. And a Crusader who, after enduring the curse and purification countless times, felt no pain and even seemed to be enjoying it.
Who in the world were these people?!
"So tell me, are you guys really novices? This is just too weird!!!" he couldn't help but roar.
But in his angry voice, there was a tremble that could not be concealed. He was probably in a panic.
Although one could understand his confusion, everyone present, except for the goddess Aqua, was a genuine novice to him.
Aqua taunted, "What, what? Is that all you've got? You're too weak! This is hilarious!"
Hearing her words, the hand pointing at her trembled, and he couldn't help but roar at her, "You're the strange one! Your mana pool is ridiculous! Can a normal person cast that many purification spells?!"
He had gotten one thing wrong. She wasn't an ordinary Archpriest. She was an Archpriest who also happened to be the Goddess of Water!
"Pfft pfft—, what, what? Is that enough to scare you? That's just too funny!"
Aqua covered her small mouth and continued to taunt him.
Although she wasn't good at her goddess duties, her taunting skill was top-tier. It always managed to provoke Kazuma into a fiery rage, and the inarticulate Dullahan was naturally no exception.
"H-how dare you look down on me! If I got serious, I could kill every single resident in this town!"
He held the head in his hand and glared at them viciously, his words full of threat. But it just felt like he was a paper tiger, putting on a brave front.
Aqua, on the contrary, was annoyed. She pouted and said, "Just a mere undead, and you dare to be so arrogant!"
With that, a large amount of divine power gathered in her hand.
"Hmph, a novice adventurer like you can't possibly harm me!" the Dullahan said with full confidence.
"Take this! Purify!"
"Aaaah!!!"
Caught off guard, he didn't dodge at all.
The Dullahan, having been hit, let out a howl and rolled back and forth on the ground as if trying to extinguish flames on his body. He probably never expected this skill to bring such immense pain, and what's more, this skill had also completely purified his mount.
"Ah, his horse is fucking gone," Kobayashi couldn't help but comment.
Aqua looked at the Dullahan, who was standing up again from within the smoke, and said in a panic, "Hey, Kobayashi! My skill doesn't seem to be working!"
"Mmm... indeed."
The idiot goddess's skill was very powerful; one shot had almost sent the Bone King to heaven. But the Dullahan only seemed to be screaming in pain. It couldn't mean that he was stronger than the Bone King, could it? It was probably because their attributes weren't a complete counter.
"No, no, no, it looks very effective, doesn't it? He even screamed 'Aaaah!'" Kazuma said from the side, puzzled.
Aqua, however, said anxiously, "It's completely different, okay! Kazuma, where's that little knife of yours that can kill people in one hit? Hurry up and take it out and kill him!"
"No, no, no, the Dullahan is already dead. The knife won't work on him at all."
Kobayashi advised her not to do that. This was the limitation of [One-Hit Kill]. It was very powerful in a normal world, but when it came to the realm of the dead, it was helpless. It wasn't a Zanpakutō, after all.
In the field, the Dullahan was extremely troubled.
He stared intently at them and once again issued a soul-searching question. "Y-y-y-you... are you guys really novice adventurers?!"
"Take this! Sacred Purify!"
Aqua gave him no chance to explain, and her magic descended upon him once again.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
The Dullahan's screams were even more miserable than before. But apart from looking miserable, he had no injuries at all. After a short roll, he stood up again.
This time, he was really angry.
He cautiously approached them, his body exuding an aura as terrifying as the abyss.
"Oh no, it really has no effect!"
"Wh-what do we do?"
"Is this the end?!"
"Haaah— haaah—"
Aqua's purification couldn't cause substantial damage, Megumin's explosion couldn't penetrate his armor, Kazuma's [One-Hit Kill] was useless, and Darkness not only couldn't hit him but was also just getting worked up over there.
Suddenly, the four of them turned their heads in unison.
"—Kobayashi(-senpai)! Do something with your invincible RyuZU(-san)!" x4
...H-huh?
Although I understand that I've long since built up an image as a reliable leader, the four of you saying that in unison has an indescribable comedic feel to it.
Unfortunately, RyuZU couldn't make a move this time either.
Past enemies had all been easily killed by her by having their heads taken off. But the Dullahan had taken his own head off in advance, leaving her with no recourse.
Well played, Dullahan.
"However, it's not like there's no way."
As he spoke, Kobayashi suddenly made a move. A shining magic burst forth from his right hand. He aimed at the Dullahan and shouted, "Steal—!"
Kazuma's eyes lit up at the side.
"That's right! We still have this move!"
Too many things had happened just now, and he had forgotten about the skill that could steal an enemy's weapon. Although it might not change the current situation, they had to give it a try!
However—
"As I thought. It's no use..."
Kobayashi looked at his empty hands, a look of regret on his face.
The Dullahan said with disdain, "Hmph. Because the level gap between us is too great, your skill has no effect on me."
As expected of a general of the Demon King's army. He had tried his best to level up, but the gap between them was still very large. It seemed he would have to work even harder in the future.
"Hmph hmph hmph, you look a little different from the others, but to me, who is already on alert, you are no threat at all!" the Dullahan belittled him loudly, as if to bolster his own courage.
The person being belittled, on the contrary, was smiling, looking as harmless as could be.
He looked up at the azure sky and said to the Dullahan, "Mmm, the weather is really nice today. It would be great to have a water gun fight. Do you like playing with water, Mr. Dullahan?"
"Huh... what are you suddenly talking about?"
The Dullahan probably couldn't understand his disconnected train of thought.
But he didn't speak. Instead, he suddenly formed a gun shape with his left index and middle fingers and shouted an onomatopoeia.
"—Biu!"
A stream of water shot out from his fingertips towards the Dullahan.
"K-Kobayashi-senpai?!"
Kazuma cried out. He had thought he would have some good method to turn the tide of the battle, but he hadn't expected it to be just a basic water stream spell.
Against a general of the Demon King's army, no matter how you looked at it, it seemed ridiculous. It might even provoke the other party.
However, it was this very ridiculous little stream of water that made the Dullahan jump to the side in fright, afraid of being soaked.
"Y-you... what are you suddenly doing?! Don't tell me you think this little stream of water will have an effect on me!" the Dullahan roared.
But Kazuma's clever little brain had found the blind spot. He excitedly shouted to the mages in the distance, "That's his weakness! The Dullahan is afraid of water!"
"That's right."
Kobayashi's lips curled up. He looked at the Dullahan with pure malice and said with a wicked smile, "Mr. Dullahan, let me ask you one more time. Do you like playing with water? Biu! Biu! Biu!"
The water gun continuously shot at him, forcing him into a state of constant dodging.
"Y-you bastard... you're a despicable villain!"
"Thank you for the compliment."
He was not ashamed, but proud. He formed guns with both his hands and continuously squirted water at him. The other mages followed suit, shooting clear streams of water from all directions.
As the number of water streams increased, it became more and more difficult for him to dodge. In a stalemate, he would surely be the one to be miserably defeated.
After thinking for a moment, he already had the thought of escaping.
However—
"Don't even think about it."
A purple light flashed. Taking advantage of him dodging an oncoming stream of water, Kobayashi's figure instantly appeared at his side and rear and struck.
The Dullahan hastily turned to block. The greatsword and longsword collided in mid-air, creating a bright spark.
"Hey, a sneak attack is too much!"
"Oh my, has Mr. Dullahan not heard of a righteous gang beating?"
Kobayashi flashed around him.
Their weapons continuously collided in mid-air, and he had already formed an effective suppression. It was just that the Dullahan could always dodge in time. The head in the sky, which could see the whole situation, was very troublesome.
He shouted to his companion in the distance.
"Kazuma!"
"Got it!"
Kazuma raised his longbow and shot one at the Dullahan.
—[Snipe]!
Normally, an ordinary arrow couldn't harm it. But having exposed its weakness of having no resistance to water, coupled with its inability to dodge in mid-air, it was shot down by a [Water Arrow] from Kazuma, who had previously learned attribute arrows.
"Hehehehehehe—"
Kazuma picked up the Dullahan's head, which had an arrow in its forehead. The sinister and wicked smile on his face gave the Dullahan a bad feeling. For a moment, he couldn't tell which of them was the real demon.
"Since that's the case—"
The Dullahan tried one last counter-attack. And Kobayashi, taking advantage of the opening in his defense, plunged his longsword, which contained high-quality water-attribute magic, into its chest.
"H-how could this be...?!"
"I told you not to even think about it."
As he increased the water-attribute output, he shouted to the goddess who was still having fun on the side, "Aqua, do it!"
"I've been waiting for this for a long time!"
Aqua also looked at the Dullahan with ill intent. If it weren't for the sacred power continuously gathering on her body, he would have suspected if she was really the Goddess of Water.
"I'm throwing it!"
"—Sacred Purify!"
As Kazuma threw the Dullahan's head over, Aqua poured a massive amount of divine power into its body. After a brief struggle, it was completely purified.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
The Dullahan roared as it dissipated into thin air.
...
...
After a brief silence.
"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!!!" xN
"We did it!!!"
"We succeeded!!!"
"To think we could defeat a Dullahan... I can't even imagine it!"
The adventurers cheered. The town gate became a sea of festivity.
Having smoothly defeated a strong enemy, Kobayashi, on the contrary, felt no excitement at all. He disappointedly flicked his longsword.
It couldn't be helped. Just like in an RPG, no matter how difficult a boss is to beat, once you know its weakness, you can defeat it with ease. Defeating an enemy by exploiting an attribute weakness leaves one with no sense of accomplishment. This was a common problem with this type of game.
Kazuma asked curiously, "Kobayashi-senpai, you don't seem very happy that the Dullahan was defeated."
"Mmm, how should I put it... I feel a little sorry for him."
He had done nothing wrong. He had originally followed the Demon King's command to investigate the beginner town. Thinking that the adventurers here were all novices, he had wanted to leave them alone. He never expected to be bombed to near-death by Megumin's Explosion magic every day. He had no choice but to come out from his castle to give a warning. And even though he had done nothing wrong, he was still defeated.
"Poor Dullahan. May there be no Crimson Demons or idiot goddesses in heaven. A...men... AQUA!"
"Don't say such scary things, Kobayashi-senpai!"
Kazuma could already imagine what kind of torture it would be for the Dullahan to run into Aqua again in heaven.
"But I will make good use of your bounty."
In a daze, Kobayashi seemed to hear the Dullahan's thanks.
—Thanks a lot!
(End of Chapter)