HP9 Chapter 41: The High King vs. Gabri

“What did you do to her soul?! Give it back to her, now!”

“Kukuh, sorry, but that’s outta the question. Any soul that’s extracted by the Soul Absorption spell’s automatically sent to the Luminous Fort o’ the Seven Stars, see? It ain’t around here anymore, at least.”

The Luminous Fort of the Seven Stars… is that their base of operations?

“Hey, look, I didn’t wanna do this either, okay? It’s just that Ceal ordered me to, so I got no choice either way. Come on, show me some sympathy!”

Gabri’s words are mixed with bouts of flippant laughter. It doesn’t take much to figure out that he’s lying.

“Ceal… Is that the Seven Angel’s leader?”

“Sure is. That Soul Absorption spell? That thing’s actually hers, originally.”

Even that fits with Khiel’s guesses. It sounds to me like this Ceal figure used some way of sharing their Soul Absorption spell with the other angels. They’re probably using a spell that’s similar to my Grant Ability spell, at least in execution.

“So you’re not the only one who’s going around stealing souls?”

“Right on the money! There’s actually two more angels out there huntin’ souls. So come on, you ain’t got the right to just put the whole blame on one guy, right?”

One of those angels has to be Ceal. The other one though has to be some other member of the Seven Angels.

“Why are you people doing this, anyway? What could you possibly have in mind that needs you to steal human souls?”

“Whoa there, hold up, you’ve done nothin’ but ask questions! I ain’t your teacher, got it? What, ya think I’ll answer every question ya got?!”

Doesn’t look like he wants to give me a straight answer. Well, it doesn’t matter.

“Oh, right. I’ll give ya that woman’s body if ya want. She ain’t got a soul or a consciousness, you can just grope her tits all day, and then some! If ya can get away from me, that is.”

“…Get away? Who should get away, exactly?”

I confront Gabri, face-to-face.

“Well well, ya already saw what we can do and you’re still gonna face off against us? Look who’s got guts. Not that it matters. Can’t let ya live, now that you know who I am.”

“How considerate of you. Also, shouldn’t you be thinking about running too?”

“…What?”

A vein pops on Gabri’s forehead.

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“Wanna repeat what ya just said? Ya get that I’m one o’ the Seven Angels o’ the Stars, right? I’m high-tier, even for an angel! I’m so far outta your league you can’t even imagine it!”

“Oh, I know that. That’s why I asked: shouldn’t you be thinking about running?”

The popping vein grows even more prominent.

“…Riiight, I see what this is. Ya got so scared ya lost your mind. So, please, lemme give ya the wake-up call ya need!”

Gabri’s eyes turn bloodshot, and he swings his arm in a wide arc from right to left.

“Crescent Moon Slash!”

The arc of his motion transforms into a slashing attack that heads straight for me. In response to all of this, I just calmly stick out my right hand.

“Incantation: Absolute Barrier!”

In one of my bolder moments, I don’t even try to dodge and let the absolute strength of my barrier take care of Gabri’s Crescent Moon Slash. At the same time, the use of my spell relieves me of my transformation.

“Wha –!?”

An expression of bafflement dawned on Gabri’s face now that I returned to my original form.

“You lil’… Don’t tell me…!”

“Pardon the late introduction. I am the High King. The man who reigns supreme over all creatures in this ecosystem.”

Alright, that might have been a little too much exaggeration from me. Not that it means much.

“Kukuh… Hahahahah! AHAHAHAHAHAAH!”

Once the reign of a short silence passes us, Gabri begins to laugh his heart out.

“Well, ain’t this a surprise?! Runnin’ into the High King here, of all places! Seriously, a real honor ta meetcha!”

Gabri doesn’t seem to fall prey to fear, even after I out myself as the High King.

“Who’da guessed, though, that ya’d actually transform into a human! Don’t ya have any pride as the High King?!”

“I’d rather not be lectured on matters of pride by someone who steals human souls.”

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“Hah, you’re not wrong.”

A brief look of recollection crossed his face.

“Oh yeah, Uriel was killed by ya, wasn’t he? Let me tell ya right out: don’t think you’re hot stuff ‘cause you did. He was the weakest of the Seven Angels.”

So he really was the weakest, huh?

“It is true that I have lain him to rest. If you wish to strike me down as you would a foe, then so be it.”

“Keh, please. Who’d even fight for his sake, huh? Imma fight you outta my own damned free volition!”

I really owe Uriel some sympathy, though I’m not quite sure if that means much, being his killer and all.

“One more thing, then. Do you not wish to run away?”

“Looks like the High King needs ta get off his high horse. Listen, yer fated ta lose to me. I’m sure that your soul’d be worth tens o’ thousands o’ human souls…!”

And now it looks like Gabri’s set on taking even my soul.

“Okay, let’s get this fight started! Incantation: Moon Gravity!”

With his casting of the spell, it becomes clear that his entire body’s suddenly become much lighter.

“The Moon Gravity spell reduces the gravitational pull on all things within a one-kilometer radius to a sixth of its original pull! Ya think ya can fight under these conditions?!”

The sudden change in gravity actually does impede me, and my body doesn’t quite move the way I want it to. Gabri, who must’ve gotten used to this gravitational setting, makes use of his newly found light body to leap from the wall of one building to another.

“Crescent Moon Slash!”

Once he manages to maneuver his way behind me, he lets loose another Moon Slash that impacts explosively against my body.

“Kuh…!”

HP: 9,999,999,432 / 9,999,999,999

My HP’s actually taken quite the dip.

Why won’t he use the soul absorption spell on me? If he manages to steal my soul, then this fight would be over in an instant. There’s a reason, I just know it. Maybe it’s just the way he is, and he’s the type to enjoy playing around with his food. Alternatively…

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“Incantation: High Conquest Orb!”

I waste no time in creating a purple substance that encapsulates the approximate size of a football, then fire it towards Gabri. The High Conquest Orb hits him dead on.

“Hahahahah! Come on; I barely felt that one!”

Doesn’t look like Gabri took too much damage from that, though.

“Okay, my turn! Incantation: Moonlight Cannon!”

Something not too dissimilar from a laser-beam shoots from the palm of his hand and hits me right in the abdomen. I stagger greatly and find myself forced to take a knee.

“What’s wrong, huh?! You’re nowhere near as tough as I thought ya’d be, O High King! Did you seriously beat Uriel like this?!”

That’s when Gabri raises his right hand and holds his fingers as if he means to snap them. Is it coming?!

“Let’s call it quits here, eh?! Incantation: Soul Absorption!”

Uriel snaps his fingers with a resounding crack. Then, just like it happened with the girl from earlier, a pale-colored crest manifests around me. I immediately stand up and step outside of its range. The very second I do so, the crest fades away.

“Ah, come on, I messed it up. Guess it was a lil’ too early to bring out the big guns, huh?”

“…As it seems to me, there’s quite the interval between the crest’s activation and one’s soul being taken.”

“Yep, you’re gettin’ full marks for that! Takes about three seconds, actually. It’s why we have to knock the people around a little first, injure them to the point that they can’t really move. Pretty big hassle, but then again, stealin’ souls wouldn’t be fun if it were easy. I guess I don’t really mind it that much.”

So that’s how it works. I’ve been waiting to have that titbit confirmed for a while.

“Well, you’re certainly more than happy to be of help, aren’t you? Are you sure you want to be so polite as to explain everything to me?”

“Why not. You’re gonna wind up grovellin’ before me ‘fore long anyhow, right before I get ta pull out your soul.”

Gabri, it seems, is completely assured of his impending victory. I can’t hide a small chuckle.

“Then I thank you, Gabri. It is thanks to you that I can once again move at my fullest.”

“…Say that again?”

“This farce is over. Incantation: Weakened Body – release!”

I lift the enormous debuff to my stats and return them to their full glory.

“Well then… It’s time for a very one-sided game.”