“―― Tsk. Nah, can't see all the way.”
I was staring down into the dark pitfall where Momokawa had fallen down along with the fata.s.s.
It might seem like I was being too cautious, but lots of stories have it somehow turn out that they were alive after all and that c.r.a.p. You'd be an idiot to believe that they're dead without even confirming the corpse. This was something I had learned while fighting the many monsters of the dungeon. That no matter how close to death's door they may be, never, ever let your guard down until you know they're dead. This might be like that saying, a candle burns brightest just before it goes out.
“Oi oi, what's the d.a.m.n hold up?”
This teleport device needs a sacrifice, and offering one human is good enough to make it work. There was some more written down but that was the limit to how far I could interpret the Ancient Tongue on the monolith. Still, I thought I had it right so what gives…
“Meh, I can wait.”
I had already offered up Momokawa and Saitou, that was two sacrifices. If that still wasn't enough, I'd just have to give up. Offering a 3rd sacrifice just wasn't an option.
I couldn't afford to lose Reina A. Ayase just yet. This wasn't due to me not wanting to kill her, no, it was because fighting her with my current strength wasn't wise. Her powers were a real pain, and I'd be killed if she really wanted me dead.
The problem wasn't Reina herself but those Guardian Beasts under her control. They had a will of their own and could act independent of her, their master, so even when she was asleep, they'd maintain a vigilant watch. There were not animals, but Spirits as implied by Reina's Job t.i.tle, so they didn't get hungry or tired either. As long as Reina had mana, they could function around the clock. It was hard to find an opening like that.
“Hey, Thief G.o.d, if you're listening, I killed two of them, so get me a good Skill, a'ight? Something I can use against magic, man that felt dumb to say…”
My senses suddenly shot alert. This was Search · Hi Sense, no doubt about that. I used this Skill so much, I wouldn't mistake it for anything.
“What, the f.u.c.k is this… Something's coming, but what…”
Momokawa did say that some powerful monster might get summoned, so was that it? Like, one sacrifice gets the transfer magic activated, but any more gets me a monster… s.h.i.+t. I wasn't even sure because I couldn't read everything that was there.
No, this was different. I could tell.
“Tsk, the little motherf.u.c.ker's alive――”
I could feel it clearly. This ‘threat' had a burning hostility specifically towards me, this enemy was coming for me, climbing up from the depths of that dark h.e.l.l.
“Higuuuchiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!”
“f.u.c.king had to be you, Momokawaa!!”
I could feel a boiling grudge in Momokawa's scream as that large, dark something leaped out of the pitfall.
“I'm not dying here, and neither is Masaru――”
“s.h.i.+t, you gone crazy or what… that thing isn't alive. I killed Saitou.”
The ident.i.ty of that dark something was Momokawa, directing his cheeky, stray cat-like eyes at me in vengeful rage, along with Saitou, no, something that only looked like him.
I said it looked the same, but it had some distinct differences.
Over all, it still had on the same gakuran and had Saitou's swords hung at its waist. The most jarring difference was that its eyes showed only white, completely rolled back, as if it was dead. Because it was dead. Saitou was dead.
But there he was, still standing. Saitou, while carrying Momokawa, had climbed up the pitfall in a furious speed, and the two were now standing in front of me for a rematch.
“I'm not dying until I get to kill you, Higuchi!”
“You, raised him from the dead…”
That was all I could think of to explain it, and that was how it looked.
All around Saitou's corpse, I could see parts of that Mud Doll, Rem, stuck to it like pieces of armor. He had the Mud Doll's skull fixed on his head like a biker's helmet, and its arms, legs and shoulders were covered in that tough, green armor. To top it off, it even had a long mantis scythe growing out of its right hand.
It appeared as if Momokawa was controlling the corpse through his Mud Doll. And the fact that it could climb out of the pitfall meant that it wasn't weak. The walls along that hole were the same stone walls as in all the rooms here. They were flat enough that any normal human would never get a firm grip, but it could be dug into using sharp enough claws.
So the only reason it could've climbed back up so fast, was with inhuman strength and those sharp claws I could see on its fingers, likely fas.h.i.+oned from Mud Doll parts.
“Tsk. You got another thing coming if you think you can kill me. But I'll tell you this. Using a weak loser like Saitou was a big mistake.”
“No, with the two of us, with me and Masaru, we can, and we will, kill you.”
“Don't get c.o.c.ky, Momokawa. Don't think I don't have other ways to kill you――”
Like tying him up and throwing him into the Boss Room. If it works, then the Boss will die when it kills him, I can get the core and be on my way.
Plus, throwing knives wasn't all I was capable of. Like him, I also had a pretty good binding Skill.
“Get ready, Higuchi. I'll give you a painful death.”
“Hah, bring it, Momokawa. I'll beat into you what it means to have the weakest Job!”
To be frank, it was a miracle that this even worked. That, or the sheer depth of Masaru's regret as he died made it possible. It worked so well, that I almost thought his spirit was still helping me.
“――Vile Mud Doll!!”
I cast my Curse, all the while falling closer to the bottom of the dark pit.
For ingredients, I had my blood, Rem as the base, and a set of new parts, Masaru… Masaru's corpse. I was sure it'd work.
I was attempting to reform my Mud Doll on the fly. I had already done it once when I solo battled a Knight Mantis. I had put Rem in Rotten Bog and recast her creation spell which had caused her to combine with the Bog. With that as a precedent, I knew that the process took only an instant. If it took any longer, I'd likely go splat at the bottom of this abyss.
Higuchi's biggest mistake was using a pitfall this long. If this was only as deep as human hands could allow, I wouldn't have had the luxury to conjure up countermeasures.
“GU, GO, GAGA…”
Clacked Rem. Both Rem and Masaru's body were instantly swallowed up by a familiar chaotic shadow substance. They had turned into a swirling glob of Curse for only a moment before the end result was revealed.
The chaos vanished, leaving Masaru with Rem's parts stuck on to him like armor.
Masaru quickly righted his body while mid air, grabbed me with a hand, and used the claws on his other hand to latch onto the pitfall wall. It seemed as though Rem's bony hand had fused with Masaru's, making those claws sharp and metallic in nature. The claws released sparks as they dug into the walls, slowing our descent.
“T-that was scary.”
I muttered after we'd finally stopped. I was clinging on to Masaru's back while he was using both his arms and legs to grab the walls like a bug.
Looking down, I could actually see a glimpse of the bottom now. Long, conical spikes were lined up at the very bottom of the pit, ready to kill anything that fell in. I was close. Almost too close.
“Masaru, no, I guess you're Rem now.”
Of course, I knew that already. I hadn't resurrected him. This wasn't that sort of magic. This was the same old Vile Mud Doll, in other words, Masaru was only used as parts.
“Sorry, Masaru… I'm a Shaman after all, this is all I can do.”
There might be something really f.u.c.ked up about me if I had to use my own friend's body in this kind of ritual. But it's because I'm his friend that I could understand how he would feel about this.
“And I know you'll help me out man. You and me, we'll kill Higuchi together.”
Revenge was the only thing left to him. He wouldn't dare rest in peace before ending the life of his killer. So what if his own corpse was used to achieve it? That just proved the depth of his grudge.
I knew this not as a Shaman, but as a fellow human being. This grudge, this hate was only human. I had to kill Higuchi by my own hands if I hoped to let Masaru pa.s.s on.
“GOOAAAA…”
Cried Rem, who had possessed, or rather, was in control of Masaru's body. This looked different from the usual where she would compound and merge parts and ingredients into herself. It almost looked incomplete…
“This isn't a Mud Doll anymore. It might as well be Necromancy.”
Magic that could raise the dead. It certainly felt like something a Shaman should be able to do. Maybe if my Job was Necromancer instead, I could've done this from the start. Or maybe a Shaman was a higher cla.s.s of Job that could use Necromancer Skills too.
I couldn't really tell whether this was Mud Doll or some new Curse magic that spontaneously happened. But the details didn't matter right now.
The important thing was that Masaru was helping me. He was able to stop our fall by piercing into the walls, proving that this Corpse Doll had tremendous strength and reflexes.
“Let's go, Masaru!”
“GAAAA!!”
Masaru's Corpse Doll was even faster than the p.a.w.n Ants in the Insect Caves, looking at the insane speed with which he climbed up the pitfall.
“Higuuuchiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!”
“f.u.c.king had to be you, Momokawaa!!”
Higuchi was no doubt surprised by the fact that I could survive a fall like that, but his Thief senses were sharp as ever, and he had already taken a combat stance, ready to fight us.
His right hand held the b.u.t.terfly knife he had used to kill Masaru, and in his left, he held a well made long knife. He held both knives in backhand grips, and his form looked practiced and refined.
“I'm not dying here, and neither is Masaru――”
“s.h.i.+t, you gone crazy or what… that thing isn't alive. I killed Saitou.”
Yeah, he was right. Masaru was dead. He had his throat slit and had bled out like a tap. It'd be strange if he was still alive.
And now, we'll be thoroughly making him pay for giving Masaru that cruel, painful end.
“I'm not dying until I get to kill you, Higuchi!”
“You, raised him from the dead… tsk. You got another thing coming if you think you can kill me. But I'll tell you this. Using a weak loser like Saitou was a big mistake.”
“No, with the two of us, with me and Masaru, we can, and we will, kill you.”
“Don't get c.o.c.ky, Momokawa. Don't think I don't have other ways to kill you――”
Even I had some ideas. He could easily tie me up and throw me into the Boss Room, for example. I wasn't naive enough to think that I could manage something as long as I had Pain Return.
“Get ready, Higuchi. I'll give you a painful death.”
“Hah, bring it, Momokawa. I'll beat into you what it means to have the weakest Job!”
Oh I'll bring it alright. I'll use every curse I have to grant you the most painful death.
This chapter was sponsored by Nolan N. Next one isn't tomorrow but soon-ish. It's for faster chapters. Before paying, be sure indicate a series. If not, the money will go towards chicken nuggers. Shaman/Jujutsus.h.i.+ - 30
Kuro no Maou - 30
Nidome no Yuusha - 23
Nii-san - 27
