The Golden Gravekeeper - 137 Chapter 137

“Bankai,” I intoned. “Zetsumetsu Ketsuryuu (Total Annihilation Blood Dragon).”

Blood dripped from my sword, my sleeves, my Redwood jacket…everywhere. In a flash, the entire space around us was engulfed in dark red blood.

“W…what the hell is this?!” Kobayashi shrieked as he backed away instinctively in fear. Despite his supposed Almighty Emperor special ability, he couldn’t help but dread the new domain he now found himself in.

“I wonder?” shrugging, I approached him casually. Blood continued to drip off the blade of my Blood Dragon Sword in rivulets, hissing as they touched the ground. “I guess it’s something like my ultimate technique? What, you didn’t read Bleach?”

“Who the hell would read manga? What are you, a middle schooler?!”

“Reading manga is good for you.” I grinned ominously. “If you have, you would have understood my ability more.”

As it was, I had no intention of explaining the details of Zetsumetsu Ketsuryuu (Total Annihilation Blood Dragon) to him.

“Don’t think that something like this is capable of stopping me!”

With a roar, Kobayashi lunged forward. His feet splashed against the sea of blood that was gathering on the ground, hissing dangerously. For a moment, he stumbled, the bottom of his trousers melting away and his feet being eaten away by the corrosive blood.

“Ugh! What?!”

I didn’t reply, instead I just dashed forward and stabbed him with my Blood Dragon Sword.

“AAAAAAH!”

Kobayshi screamed before he frantically retaliated with his sword, blasting me at pointblank range with golden mana. I staggered backward as the golden energies seared through my body, but my corrosive blood flowed forward and healed my wounds instantly.

“H…how?!”

Unlike me, Kobayashi was being damaged further by the corrosive blood, more of his flesh melting away to reveal the white bone underneath. He desperately tried to summon more of his golden spikes, but they melted away under the effects of the corrosive blood.

“Why…why can’t I summon anything!? Why aren’t my abilities working in here?!”

“Oh, well…you said earlier that you’re a god in your own domain, right?” I smiled and gestured to the enclosed, crimson and black space around us. “Well, we’re no longer in your domain. This blood sphere is my territory.”

“?!”

Kobayashi looked terrified as he glanced around, slowly comprehending the predicament he was in. He tried to draw more golden mana into his sword, but it flickered away, eaten away by the rain of corrosive blood that crashed down from above.

“Ah…aaaaaah!”

“Not just that,” I continued. “Inside this territory…there’s a lot of people who have a grudge against you.”

“No! NOOOOO!!!!”

Kobayashi’s helpless howls disappeared under the growing pile of blood ghouls. With one frantic maneuver, he blasted them apart with a single divine spell of golden destructive energy, but they simply regenerated once again.

“What the hell are these!?”

“Heh? You don’t know? I thought you thoroughly researched my abilities.”

I shook my head mockingly and waited for the blood ghouls to wear Kobayashi down. They weren’t just dangerous in large numbers. Made from the same corrosive blood that now layered the entire space we were in, even the slightest touch from their claws or bodies was highly dangerous. More of Kobayashi’s clothes and flesh were disappearing as the blood ghouls flung themselves at him.

“Ah! Noooo! Argh!”

Kobayashi was slowly dying, and without the help of his healers, he was unable to halt the inevitable progress of his death.

“Please! Stop this! I’m begging you!”

“Oh?”

I cocked my head at his pleas and then shook my head.

“You’re asking me to stop now?”

“Y…yes!”

Kobayashi was blubbering, tears running down his cheeks. Or what was left of his face, anyway. It was mostly a skull, what with most of his skin having melted off due to the corrosive blood. His eyes, which were slowly dissolving, stared at me imploringly.

“I’m begging you…please! I’m sorry! Just…just stop this!”

“Then let me ask you this. Did you ever stop, even once, when I asked you to?”

“T…that’s…!”

Kobayashi wasn’t able to reply. No, he knew the answer, but he just wouldn’t say it because it would further seal his doom.

Instead, he pressed his face to the ground and cowered.

“I’m sorry! I won’t do it again! Please! I’m begging you! I swear I will never bully or hit you again! I’ll never scheme against you again!”

“Really?”

I watched as my blood ghouls mercilessly tore him apart, limb from limb. Kobayashi wailed and trembled violently, his body flopping helplessly on the ground.

“Do you think I’ll believe you?”

“Ugh…no…! I’m telling the truth! Really!”

Tears were springing unbridled to Kobayashi’s skull-face and he wept unabashedly.

“No, that’s not the truth now…is it?”

I gestured and one of the blood ghouls sank its claws into Kobayashi’s scalp. His thoughts echoed throughout the blood sphere.

“Do I yield? Impossible.”

Despite Kobayashi struggling against the blood ghoul with everything he had, his deepest, unfiltered thoughts leaked out for everyone to listen to.

“How dare this weakling…this pathetic loser stomp all over me, as if he’s superior. He’s inferior! I don’t know how he did it, but…I’ll just lower my head for now. I’ll do anything to survive for now. As long as I’m alive, there’s still hope!”

That much was true, I would have to grant him that.

“I am nobler than anyone else. I am a person who rules over others. How dare that guy act like he’s above me? I’ll kill him! Kill him! Kill him! I’ll absolutely kill this pathetic loser and show him his place! I’ll make sure he regrets ever hurting me!”

“…huh. So those are your honest thoughts, huh?”

Kobayashi’s eyes widened when I said that. He shook his head frantically, struggling wildly against the blood ghouls. I merely shook my head and gestured for them to intensify their efforts.

“Feast on him.”

“NOOOOOO!!!!!!”

With a strength that even Kobayashi himself didn’t know he possessed, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Humanity emanated a blast of golden mana that sent tremors throughout the blood sphere. Hundreds of blood ghouls vanished, disintegrated instantly by the blast. The next thing I knew, Kobayashi was whole again, his body completely restored.

“Tanaka! You…! You bastard!”

Howling in unadulterated rage, Kobayashi grabbed his corroded, smoking sword and infused it with his mana. Using his newly reinvigorated strength, he lunged toward me, seeking to pierce my heart with his final, last-ditch attack.

“Ho…so you still have some fight left in you after all.”

I parried Kobayashi’s strike with my Blood Dragon Sword. Yelling incoherently, Kobayashi slashed, going berserk with his attacks and attempting to slice me apart with large, powerful swings. I meet each and every strike of his with my blade, exchanging tremendous blows that sent waves of corrosive blood splashing all over the blood sphere in huge waves.

“DIE! DIE! DIE!”

Kobayashi’s mind had vanished, his eyes rolling up in their sockets as he bellowed furiously at me while swinging his sword and delivering powerful strikes that sent shudders throughout my arms. Such were the power behind his blows that my arms began to feel numb.

“Tanaka, you bastard! I’ll definitely kill you!”

He slashed at me again, but I parried his strike. Getting impatient, I sent a hook with my left hand and struck his cheek. There was a deafening crack before Kobayashi was thrown across the blood sphere and collided with a bloody wall. Smoke emanated from his back as the corrosive fluids went to work.

“Ugh…!”

“Time to give you a taste of your own medicine.”

“…fucker! I can easily deal with garbage like you!”

Screaming, Kobayashi raised his sword and conjured a devastating spell. Golden mana accumulated at the point of his blade and grew rapidly into a single beam.

But I merely raised my sword and pointed it at him. Instead of casting a long-distance spell like Kobayashi, I conjured a hail of blood spears from the sea around us and impaled the unwary Emperor. Kobayashi screamed and dropped his sword as he was hoisted high into the air, stabbed in multiple places by my blood spears.

Ironically enough, this resembled the scene from earlier where Kobayashi was gloating triumphantly when he had me crucified by his golden spikes.

“You’re still deluding yourself, huh?”

Strolling over, I hammered him in the face, breaking his nose. Kobaysahi emitted a nasal shriek as his head snapped back from the blow, the blood spears cracking from the impact as his body was flung across the space again.

“Ugh…! How?!”

“I told you, this is my territory.”

I stepped over the trembling Kobayshi, whose powers were waning now. The corrosive blood began to regain their appetite and melted away his skin. Unable to bear the pain, Kobayashi toppled over into the sea of blood, thus worsening his condition. He wailed, trying his best not to roll about.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

“No, you won’t.”

At least he was more honest than earlier, where he tried to lie to me to get me to spare him. Not that I ever planned to show him mercy.

“Fucker!”

With a cry, Kobayashi retrieved his melting sword and lunged at me. But with his flesh dissolving in the corrosive blood and his muscles and tendons eaten away, his movements were a lot slower. I merely stepped to the side, avoiding his sword, and then kneed him in the gut, causing him to double over.

I then stepped in and rammed my elbow into his already injured face, breaking his nose a second time and causing him to topple over in the sea of blood. He writhed about, unable to withstand the agony as his back and limbs were dissolved.

I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Nonetheless, I altered the properties of my corrosive blood and healed Kobayashi a little. Not enough that he could fight back, but sufficient enough so that the pain would stop and he recovered a little of his skin.

“You…?!”

Kobayashi was caught off guard by what he perceived to be a small mercy. I smiled at him and then raised my sword.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The moment I stabbed his crotch and castrated him, severing his male organ from his body, Kobayashi let out a high-pitched shriek and clutched desperately at his groin. Blood was spurting from his nether region and tears sprang to his eyes. His mouth opened and closed desperately, but no sound other than the high-pitched scream from earlier emerged.

I’ll never forgive you! You…you…bastard!

Thanks to Absolute Appraisal, I was somewhat able to read his lips and make out what he was trying to say.

I grinned.

“Like I said, Kobayashi, you don’t have the balls to face me like a man. I’m just making that a reality.”

Kobayashi whimpered as he shut his eyes, tears still leaking from them as he struggled to endure the agony and humiliation. Gritting his teeth, he mustered the last of his strength and grabbed his sword before throwing himself up to stab me.

The guy was hoping he caught me off guard and sought to deal a single, fatal attack.

Unfortunately, with the amount of damage he received, his movements were far too slow. I would have to be blind and mentally disabled to not be able to dodge such an obvious and slow attack. In fact, I didn’t even need to evade it.

“I really need to disarm you.”

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With that, I loped off his arm, sending both his limb and sword flying into the air. His amputated arm crashed back into the sea of blood before dissolving almost immediately, the corrosive blood eating both flesh, bone and fabric ravenously.

“Ah…ah!”

Kobayashi was seething and cursing, but he hadn’t given up. Golden mana gathered in his remaining left hand as he threw it forward in hopes of dealing one final attack.

I didn’t wait for his strike to reach me. I stabbed him first, using the superior length of my Blood Dragon Sword to my advantage.

“Guh?!”

Blood dribbled out of Kobayashi’s mouth as he stared stupidly at my sword, which was protruding out of his chest. However, he tenaciously clung onto life and continued swinging his glowing hand forward, ready to unleash a single devastating blast with what remained of his dwindling mana. Even though it was greatly diminished, the amount of mana he had accumulated in his hand remained significant. If I let his attack land, Kobayashi would at least deal a severe injury to me.

I never gave him the chance to do so. I refused to grant him the satisfaction of at least retaliating or landing a single consolation strike.

“Shadow Dragon’s Annihilation Lunar Fang.”

Kobayashi exploded into countless bits as the crimson and black energy blast detonated within his body. Corrosive mana chewed and disintegrated his corpse, eating the little pieces that were left of him and rendering him into nothing. Within seconds, there was nothing left of him.

I had won. I had finally taken my revenge. My goal was fulfilled.

“…”

Well, that was anticlimactic, but it was finally over. I had finally won. Had I known, I would have used this from the start, but I guess Midorikawa and Yoshida would have intervened to stop me from dealing a fatal blow, and would have continued to heal Kobayashi.

With my archenemy dead, I had no reason to maintain the blood sphere, so I dismissed it and exited into the open. By then, Lilith and the remaining Iron Knights had just finished dealing with Ishida Ryuuji.

“You…!”

Ishida was still stubbornly clinging to life despite having Lilith’s spear pierce his chest. It was evident that she had used her ultimate curse, but at great cost. Lilith, Aoyama, Hoshizaki and Domon all looked pretty beaten up.

Wow, Ishida must be really strong to be able to take on all four of them and deal that much damage by himself.

Secretly, I was glad that I didn’t have to face him. It did feel a little unsatisfying that I wasn’t able to personally take my revenge on Ishida, but he was nothing compared to the big prize that was Kobayashi Kenji.

“No way…did you kill the leader?!”

“What do you think?” I responded wearily.

“GWAAAAAAH!”

Ishida let out a ferocious cry and broke away from his four, shocked opponents. Grabbing his sword, he lunged at me, seeking to kill me.

However, my Blood Dragon Sword was still in Bankai mode. I swung it, unleashing a colossal wave of corrosive blood that seared the flesh away from Ishida and turned him into nothing more than a skeleton. Despite that, Ishida kept going and pierced my chest with his sword.

“G…got you…” he snarled.

“You have indeed,” I agreed as blood dripped from my mouth. “Victoria Imperialis. Your special ability that allows you to achieve victory no matter the odds.”

“Heh. This is why you’ll never win…us heroes will always prevail…!”

“Yes. You’ve won for now,” I acknowledged. “But your victory came at a price.”

“It…doesn’t matter.” Ishida’s smile was creepy, especially since there was nothing left of his face but a skull. “As long as I kill you…it’s our victory! My death…my sacrifice is worth it!”

“Indeed. Now you can die.”

Zetsumetsu Ketsuryuu (Total Annihilation Blood Dragon) finished off what was left of Ishida, turning him into nothing and erasing his existence from Restia. I dropped to the ground and yanked his sword out of my chest.

“You did indeed win against me…for that moment. At the cost of your life.”

However, the fatal injury that Ishida did to me instantly regenerated, closing up and mending rapidly.

“But I somehow survived the defeat.”

“You…!” Lilith stared at me, massive relief showing all over her face. “You had us worried for a moment!”

“Always so reckless, aren’t you?” Aoyama shook his head in disapproval.

“But…you did it.” Hoshizaki looked dazed. “We…did it.”

“Of course. I never doubted Tanaka-kun for a second.” Domon sat back tiredly, a weary smile spreading across his face.

“…yeah.” Pushing my glasses up my nose, I turned to leave the throne room. “I’m going to inform my army, and the whole of Havia City. The Emperor of Humanity is dead. The humans have been defeated. This war is finally over.”