So you're being manipulated…!
He clicked his tongue in his heart.
What do I do?
The thoughts kept circling in his head. At most, he can wield the Dáinsleif three more times.
The enemy was before him.
But…
What can be done about this person who was tangled in his legs? Grinding his teeth, Jack opted to dismiss the pain in his leg. In a desperate attempt, he seized the Dáinsleif and pulled himself up, shouting incomprehensible words.
"I won't let you!"
Jack screamed out in extreme pain. His bloodshot eyes widened and he let out a yell.
"I won't let you torture these kids any further!"
In his eyes, another massive swamp serpent emerged from the swamp, its head raising. On its head was the Red Queen. The Nightmare sneered in a shrill voice and pointed at Jack with her cane.
"What can you possibly do!" The Red Queen scoffed. In a shrill tone, she growled at Jack. "You little human! Powerless human! What can you accomplish with your scummy, trash-like life!"
"…!"
Through gritted teeth, Jack rose up, leaving Albert entangled in his legs. He then positioned his Dáinsleif at the swamp serpent that was about to launch itself at him.
"Nothing can be done! The correct answer is 'nothing can be done'!"
The Red Queen waved her cane with a snicker cloaked in madness. The swamp serpent dragged its body out of the swamp with a slipping motion. Then it appeared above the ground completely and swung its huge body, tens of meters long, and its tail at Jack like a whip.
Jack let out a scream and swung his Dáinsleif at it. This was the second blow. It ripped the body and tail of the swamp serpent apart and blasted it away. And with a burst of air, it burst into flames.
However, the swamp serpent scattered into pieces and began to regenerate itself as it hung to the ground. As if playing a video backwards, it slowly crept up and returned to its original form as if the Red Queen was the central core.
"You! You can't do anything!" The Red Queen sneered. When he heard the screeching voice of the Red Queen, Jack suppressed his heart, which was pulsating at a ridiculous speed as if it was about to shoot out from under his clothes.
Then he gripped his chest tightly. Blood began to trickle down from his bloodshot eyes and from his nose… His forehead was covered with veins, and his clenched teeth made a chattering sound.
Yet again he grasped the Dáinsleif firmly and swung it straight down without hesitation. Perhaps not expecting that, the Red Queen's eyes widened.
The third slash flew precisely towards the Red Queen, but Nightmare twisted her body to dodge it just in time. However, a swirl of air grazed her right arm and with terrific force, it was twisted off.
"Gyaaaaaaaah!"
With a dismal scream, the Red Queen tumbled off the top of the swamp serpent's head. A beat later, with a thud… and her right arm rolled to the ground. Jack gnashed his teeth as he shot to his feet and stomped on that arm.
"No! You're wrong!"
His shout cut through the air. The Red Queen faced up, pressing down on her shredded right shoulder and breathing in a peal of sobbing laughter. Jack glared at the Red Queen, his face full of wounds, but his eyes gleaming. At the sight of that fierce glint in his eyes, the Nightmare gasped and backed away.
"I am! We are!"
Jack readied his Dáinsleif once more.
"I will not be defeated… by the unreasonable! I am! I will… kill you! … Kill you!"
With his legs entangled in a corpse of white bones, Jack unleashed his fourth slash at the Red Queen. Swinging down from the top, it flooded towards the Red Queen, grinding the ground.
The Nightmare screamed and waved her cane. A number of swamp serpents jumped out of the swamp and lunged towards the slash. The surrounding area was engulfed in a cloud of smoke and flames.
Halfway through the slash, several of the surviving swamp serpents stormed towards Jack. One of them pierced deeply into his abdomen and passed through to the other side.
"Ga…"
Jack stiffened momentarily and coughed up a great deal of blood. Upon seeing this, the Red Queen opened her mouth and laughed.
His face slowly tensed in fear. With his abdomen pierced by the swamp serpent, Jack hesitantly raised his Dáinsleif even further.
–It was the fifth blow.
A vortex of air swept across the Red Queen's abdomen as she shrieked and tried to flee; a filthy scream reverberated throughout the area.
Smoke and flames appeared. After a few seconds, Jack's body, which had been supported by the swamp serpent that had slithered out of his abdomen, collapsed and he fell weakly to the ground.
A little further away, the Red Queen was convulsing, her abdomen severed in two. Albert's mouth detached from Jack's leg, as if his ability had been terminated. The right leg that had been bitten was torn to shreds, revealing his bone.
"Gugu… gege…"
The Red Queen was still moaning, but she was apparently still alive. Jack grinned at Iberis, who stood dumbstruck a few steps behind him with a bloody face. Iberis staggered and crawled closer, collapsing into the side of Jack and Albert.
"Ah… ah…"
The girl could only moan.
–It was a fatal wound.
Reaching out with a trembling hand to Jack, whose abdomen was bleeding unceasingly, Iberis managed to suppress the wound. One after another, the blood flowed out.
Jack raised his bloodied hand and gently stroked Iberis' face. He then grabbed Albert's body and held it for Iberis.
"Ah… u… ahhh…"
Unable to utter a word, all Iberis could do was moan, Jack smiled once more and… pushed her body away strongly. Iberis rolled backwards, hugging Albert. In her eyes, she spotted Jack flicking the switch on the explosives he had taken out of his pocket.
–And screamed.
Several columns of fire erupted in front of Iberis's eyes. As the explosives exploded around Jack and the Red Queen, the shelter began to collapse.
With the ground crumbling before her, Iberis could only watch as Jack was engulfed by it. Jack plunged to the bottom of the ground with the Red Queen. He smiled at Iberis again, just before his vision was blocked by the cave-in.