Battle Against Lord Lazar

8. Battle Against Lord Lazar

Hades gripped his scythe with both hands, using all his strength to withstand the opposing lord's blow. The two of them were locked in a bitter deadlock.

Herrela's figure gradually disappeared into the distance. Hades secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but against the Psychic Lord Lazar, he could not let his guard down no matter what.

The gap in strength between them was simply too great. One mistake would mean paying with his life.

As if he had seen through Hades's little scheme of sending Herrela for help, Lord Lazar's twisted, ugly face formed a grotesque expression that was almost mocking.

"You fragile piece of trash, you won't last until that monster arrives! I'll tear your pathetic little body to shreds!!!"

Hades gritted his teeth. His entire body trembled from the strain, but he still forced out a few words.

"Lazar, but you've already lost, haven't you?"

Lord Lazar flew into a rage. His battered, bloodstained body proved that he had been the disadvantaged side in his fight against Mortarion.

Another claw suddenly burst from the lord's body, which was as large as a compact car. Carrying a bloody stench, it slashed down at him with lightning speed!

Fuck! I shouldn't have provoked him! Why did I have to run my mouth again?!

Hades immediately hooked his scythe to redirect the force, spinning the shaft to deflect the massive blow. At the same time, he leaped back and to the right. The hook-like claw, gleaming with green-black poisonous light, barely swept past him.

That was close!

That bastard's claws were definitely poisonous. One scratch and he would probably be done for!

Damn it, the enemy was a max-level enchanted melee mage. What was he, someone fresh out of the tutorial village, supposed to use against him?

Adrenaline roared through him as Hades's mind rapidly spun through possible strategies. He carefully observed the terrain and his opponent, analyzing the current battle situation.

They were on a narrow mountain path. On one side lay a bottomless cliff, and on the other rose a towering rock wall. Loose stones littered the trail, while several dead trees jutted out from the mountainside.

Other than perhaps gambling on jumping off the cliff to escape with his life later, the terrain offered him no advantage at all. He even had to watch out for the lord throwing him off the edge.

He fixed his gaze on Lord Lazar again. Lord Lazar was a beast that resembled a grotesque fusion of man and tiger. His ugly, bloated human face was covered in saliva-soaked whiskers, and strange hollows covered his compact-car-sized body. The claw that had just burst forth had emerged from one of them.

Moreover, a fist-sized, bizarre stone was deeply embedded in the densely pitted area of his back. It was currently emitting a dim green glow.

According to the Death Guard rebels' prior investigation into Lazar, it was some kind of Psychic Power amplifier that this brutal lord had obtained through human sacrifice.

Lazar had originally been nothing more than a minor lord in a remote area. After obtaining that stone, he had won numerous wars between lords with his powerful Psychic Sorcery, gradually gaining control over the Morar Region.

What puzzled Hades, however, was that Lazar had not used Psychic Sorcery in either of his last two attacks. He had attacked using only his physical body.

It was strange behavior. It did not match their previous investigation of Lord Lazar at all.

Hades quickly formed two theories. The first was that Lazar was deliberately using physical attacks to lure Hades into lowering his guard against Psychic Sorcery.

The second possibility was that Lord Lazar had been severely injured in his earlier battle with Mortarion and was currently unable to use Psychic Power.

But Hades knew that Lazar had just lost to Mortarion. Fleeing in such a hurry, he would not have the inclination to reserve Psychic Power as a contingency against an insignificant soldier like Hades.

So it was highly likely that Lord Lazar had been wounded in his battle with Mortarion and could no longer wield Psychic Power.

Hades secretly prayed for the second possibility. Fighting a melee mage with low health and an empty mana bar was still possible for him.

At the very least, his chances of escaping would be better.

His mind raced furiously, but Hades did not stop moving. He adopted a proactive defensive strategy, comically hopping around the cramped mountain path platform to evade his opponent's attacks.

He swung his scythe, its massive blade breaking apart most of Lazar's attacks. Claws clashed rapidly against the fine-steel blade with sharp clangs, scattering sparks everywhere.

When Hades truly could not evade, he used his reinforced elbows and shins to take the attacks. Bright red blood and green-black venom splashed together, mixing with Lord Lazar's blood to stain the gray-yellow mountain path.

Unlike Hades, who had resolved to defend solidly and stall for time, Lord Lazar became increasingly frantic.

Time was running out! He could not let this soldier stall until that monster Mortarion arrived! He had to escape quickly!

If his Psychic teleportation had not suddenly been interrupted midway before he could react, he would never have allowed that other soldier to get away!

Lord Lazar was panicking as well. The Witchcraft he had always taken pride in had been crushed by that monster Mortarion's masterful use of a massive physical scythe. Knowing another battle would only lead to death, he had immediately searched for an opportunity to teleport away with Psychic Power.

So what if Mortarion was powerful? Without Psychic Sorcery, he could only stare helplessly while Lazar escaped with Psychic Power.

Yet Lazar's prized Witchcraft had suddenly developed a problem. He had set the other end of his teleportation at the foot of the mountain, but midway through the transfer, he suddenly felt his connection to the Warp weaken.

Barbarus had originally been a planet with a very thin barrier separating it from the Warp. This allowed the lords who used Psychic Power there to draw strength from the Warp with ease.

But all at once, that sense of connection to the Warp was severed. The increasingly solid physical laws of reality pressed down on Lord Lazar, forcing him to halt his teleportation midway.

He was squeezed out of the Warp during the short-range teleportation, and when he emerged, he saw Hades and Herrela behind him, clearing out deserters.

What the hell was going on?!

Not only that, he discovered that his connection to the Warp was growing weaker and weaker! He could not even gather enough Psychic Power to cast a simple psychic spell!!!

No! That couldn't be!!!

What the hell was happening??!

As Lord Lazar fought Hades, he split his attention and immersed his thoughts in the countless forbidden books he had once studied. One taboo term after another flashed through his mind.

At last, deep within his memories, he found a word—

"Untouchable"—Blanks.

Could that trash on the other side be a Blank???!!

No, impossible! Blanks were nothing more than old legends. Even in the fabled Golden Age, there had not been a single mention of them!

Lazar was not an Alien Lord who believed in legends, but his increasingly fragile connection to the Warp reminded him of the possibility every moment. He could even feel that ever since he had started fighting the opposing soldier, his soul had slowly been drained away.

No!!! Impossible!!! Other than monsters like Mortarion!!! No lowborn human could threaten Lazar!!!

They were trash! Weak insects!!! Weeds that grew everywhere!!! They could not be the beings from those rumors!!

Lord Lazar's abnormally keen senses had already felt the tremors of Mortarion charging down the mountain path in the distance. Time was almost up!!

This damned pest that kept jumping around! A mere mortal who could only use weak physical attacks!!!

I, Lazar, am an existence far above you!!!

Die!!!

Ignoring his already weakened connection to the Warp, Lazar extended a pale hand resembling a human's from a hollow in his back. Space beside it began to distort, and eerie white light crackled as it gathered in that hand.

He would tear this pest apart in one strike!!!

Hades stared intently at the white light in that hand, raising his scythe to protect his vital areas.

Because of his earlier time with Typhon, Hades knew very well that if he turned and ran downhill now, he could not possibly outrun the range of that Psychic Power attack.

But... perhaps he could try—

—running upward!

He assumed a defensive posture, while secretly keeping the dead tree growing from the rock wall beside him locked in the corner of his eye.

The moment that attack was unleashed, he planned to leap up, hook the dead tree with his scythe, then use his momentum to swing upward and avoid the blow!

If the Psychic Power attack was powerful enough, its shockwave might even carry him to the safe ground above!

Lazar definitely would not turn around to finish him off, because he was running for his life too!

Although Hades had blocked most of Lord Lazar's attacks, his cut limbs had begun to twitch weakly, and the heavy blood loss was making him dizzy.

He gritted his teeth and did not let it show, but Hades knew he could not hold on much longer.

If Mortarion had not arrived to support him within another two minutes, Hades would absolutely choose to jump off the cliff.

In other words,

their next moves would determine the battle situation.

However, something neither side had anticipated occurred.

As Hades focused most of his attention on that point where Psychic Power was gathering, in a dimension beyond his awareness, the spherical Black Hole covering his entire body and resembling a Blank began to change. The pitch-black void twisted as though it had come alive, slowly writhing and extending forward.

If one looked at Hades from within the Warp, one would see a pure, dense black humanoid figure at the center. Like an incredibly tiny star, he radiated black light—black, black light—and everything it touched was devoured.

But as one looked farther away, the black light became weaker and weaker until it completely blended into the impure darkness of the Warp.

Since everything was black, it was difficult to notice that tiny black humanoid figure in the Warp.

At this moment, Hades's black void slowly and irreversibly changed shape, swallowing the yellow-green light belonging to Lord Lazar beside him, along with the tiny fragments of pus and flesh floating around that light.

Grandfather Nurgle muttered softly in his dream.

Hades stared fixedly at Lord Lazar.

Suddenly!!! The violently unstable white light in Lazar's hand vanished in an instant, as if it had never existed, while the stone on his back shattered at the same time. A massive shockwave erupted from Lord Lazar!

The rolling shockwave surged toward Hades as well. Without the slightest hesitation, he used its force to launch himself into the air. He raised his scythe and hooked upward with all his strength, the iron-plated section behind the blade catching firmly around the base of the dead tree!

Hades exerted force with both hands and swung on the momentum! Using the dead tree as the center, he traced a perfect arc!

His blood splashed out as he swept through the air, painting Hades's path across the sky.

His senses sharpened to their limit, and time became like a thick swamp. Hades clearly heard his heart beat slowly once.

He was now diagonally above Lord Lazar. That monster had still not died after suffering the bizarre explosion. His back had split open, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

But he was not dead yet. Hades could clearly see his struggling limbs and clearly hear the monster's dying wail.

Perfect chance!!!

Without a moment's hesitation, Hades released the tree branch with his scythe. Still in midair, he swung it heavily toward that monster's head.

At the same time, "Hades!!!"

Mortarion and Herrela suddenly appeared on the mountain path above, and with them came a dagger Mortarion hurled at Lazar.

However, Hades, suspended in the air, noticed none of it.

His mind had gone blank, every ounce of his focus concentrated on the scythe in his hands.

Then Hades brought down the full-moon scythe that reaped death and harvest—

—head and blood flew together.

He was Death Guard. He was humanity's scythe.

The protagonist's constitution was similar to that of a Blank, but later, for convenience, it would simply be described as being a Blank.

For now, everyone could think of the protagonist as a somewhat overpowered mutant Blank.

There was a small plot hole here. Given an ordinary woman's physique, Herrela probably could not keep up with Mortarion running at full speed. But I felt it was necessary for the girl to see the protagonist looking cool, so maybe it was the power of love. Maybe.