Chapter 30: Chapter 30: "Overlord"
Around Renji Kuroda, a mysterious blue magic circle rippled like water, layer upon layer, nested within each other, forming a complex and ancient pattern. As his deep and rhythmic chant resonated, the air became charged with increasingly dense magical fluctuations.His five bony fingers slowly waved through the air, and magic gradually gathered above his fingertips, coalescing into a scimitar shape that shimmered with cold light.Renji Kuroda fiercely swung out this scimitar, condensed from pure magic, cutting open a gap in the void.
Beyond the gap was the familiar street. Time was still within the Eternal Devil's stomach space, and the outside scenery was exactly the same as when they had entered—almost unchanged.
"Ex… exit...? The exit!!!"Kobeni's voice became sharp from the overwhelming surprise. She reacted almost instinctively, rushing toward the gap, scrambling to escape the terrifying space.
But the gap Renji Kuroda had cut was narrow. Kobeni's upper body barely squeezed through, but her lower body—especially her butt—was awkwardly stuck.
Arai Hirokazu followed closely. Seeing her struggle, she quickly stepped forward, grabbed Kobeni's leg, and tried to push her out. But no matter how hard she pulled, Kobeni wouldn't budge.
"Renji Kuroda, are you… alright?"The magic circle gradually faded. Hayakawa Aki walked up beside Renji Kuroda, staring at his skeletal form with concern.
"I'm fine. I'll change my appearance now."
With a flash of golden light, Renji Kuroda shifted from his Ainz Ooal Gown appearance to that of Arthur Pendragon.
The system allowed users to freely role-play any character they'd learned skills from. The character Renji Kuroda had just embodied was Ainz Ooal Gown, the protagonist from Overlord, and he had purchased one of his skills.
Magic Skill: Current Severance.
In the world of Overlord, Dimensional Slash was a top-tier special ability known only to the most powerful World Champion warriors.Current Severance was a high-level magic spell that mimicked Dimensional Slash's concept through arcane simulation. Though not as devastating as the original, it retained a critical feature—the ability to cut space itself.
While not capable of slicing through entire buildings, it could easily cleave through a wall—and that was what Renji Kuroda valued: its utility, not its raw power.
He had considered various ways to escape the Eternal Devil's trap. Among them were:Using a space-cutting technique to rip open the devil's stomach,Or borrowing borrowed skills to launch a direct attack on the main body.But after browsing the shop, he settled on the most affordable spatial skill available.Skill: Current Severance, costing only 180 points.
With 861 points still saved, Renji Kuroda planned to use them later—either for emergency lifesaving abilities or devastating AoE skills.
Walking over to Kobeni, he motioned for Arai Hirokazu to step aside and grabbed Kobeni's leg. Despite her panicked screaming, Renji Kuroda calmly and decisively pulled her back.
"Don't rush. I'll make the gap bigger, then you can go out."
As he spoke, the blue, nested magic circles reappeared around his body, and the magical fluctuations intensified.
"It hurts... it hurts... it hurts so much!!!"Suddenly, the twisted Eternal Devils in the corner of the lobby became agitated. Dozens of mouths let out guttural roars as their twenty-odd arms pounded the ground. They surged toward the group like a collapsing wave.
"Denji!""They're coming!"
Denji answered the call. She stepped forward to protect Renji Kuroda, pulling a chainsaw from the gelatinous flesh of his chest. It buzzed violently, and another burst from her head with a spray of blood.Laughing maniacally, Denji charged straight into the grotesque creature.
"Hahahahaha! Kill! I'm going to kill too!" Power wasn't about to be left out. She gripped two short blades formed from hardened blood and leapt at the Eternal Devil, cleaving open one of its monstrous heads.
Seeing this, Hayakawa Aki quickly joined the fight. Himeno extended her right hand, clenched her fist mid-air, and parts of the Eternal Devil's body began collapsing inward. Giant handprints formed on its mass, and blood spurted from its many screaming mouths.
Witnessing this, even Kobeni and Arai Hirokazu mustered their courage. After a glance at each other, they joined the fray.
Meanwhile, Renji Kuroda continued chanting, cutting through the void multiple times. The opening had widened enough for anyone to pass through.
He called out loudly:"Quick, get out now!"
Everyone responded immediately, passing through the exit in an orderly rush, escaping the collapsing hotel.
Renji Kuroda brought up the rear. He tightly gripped his laundry pole, channeling magic through it. With a single slash, he severed a withered giant hand that had reached out to grab his calf—then leapt forward, bursting out of the hotel like the others.
But before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the Eternal Devil's main body began to stir.
The entire building groaned as if losing its structural integrity. It tilted violently, and the ground-level environment shifted grotesquely. From the main entrance, a massive head emerged—shaped like a Möbius strip, endlessly looping back into itself.
Its mouth yawned open. Inside were endless spiraling hotel doors—each door opened into another, creating infinite, nesting layers of first-floor corridors.
Hayakawa Aki spun around. She extended her fingers in a practiced motion, forming the fox hand sign toward the building.
"Thud!"
A sharp sound rang out, followed by splintering cracks spreading across the hotel's walls. Glass shattered in a chain reaction. Steel bars twisted and burst from concrete like jagged thorns. Then suddenly—Boom!An invisible force tore the structure apart. Walls and the roof exploded outward simultaneously.
From within, a colossal fox head emerged.
The Fox Devil's enormous, gaping maw—dark as an abyss—descended and swallowed the entire lower half of the hotel, including the Eternal Devil on the first floor, in one clean bite.
The devil's massive head hovered ominously above the group, blocking out much of the sky. Renji Kuroda looked up—and met one of its glowing, orange eyes.
For a fleeting moment, their gazes locked. The giant pupil began to tremble. The fox's eye twitched violently as if in shock, then dilated sharply in alarm.
"You…"
It hadn't finished speaking.
Suddenly, all the eyes on the Fox Devil's massive head turned sharply—toward the street behind the group.
In the next instant, the entire fox head began to vaporize.White smoke billowed from every part of its head, curling and expanding, dissipating swiftly into the air.
When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left—only an empty sky and faint, vanishing wisps of vapor.
Crash!!
With a deafening roar, the hotel—its lower half devoured—began to collapse. The ground shook. Dust and debris surged into the sky, engulfing the area in a gray cloud.
From the street came the wail of sirens.
Public Safety Devil Extermination Special Division vehicles arrived in force. They braked to a halt at the curb, red and blue lights flashing in unison. Officers poured out, quickly stringing up cordons and blocking off access.
The rear door of one vehicle opened slowly.
Makima stepped out.
Her presence, serene and composed, cut through the chaos like a knife through paper. She walked forward a few paces, then came to a sudden stop.
Her gaze shifted—upward, to the top of a nearby building.
There, a woman stood, her posture relaxed, head tilted slightly, observing everything on Renji Kuroda's side with quiet interest.
Noticing Makima's gaze, the woman slowly turned her head.
Their eyes met.
P@treon Rene_chan