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The Paper User: Exiled for a ‘Trash Skill,’ Awakens True Power and Rises with Two Unique Skills - Chapter 42

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Chapter: The Flameburst Bomb

An hour later, Piln and I were on the run, being chased by dozens of skeleton soldiers.

As soon as we ducked into an alley, I conjured a paper wall behind us to block the path.

“Piln! This way!”

We turned right at the intersection and dashed through a narrow passage.

The paper wall would vanish in about ten seconds—but that was all we needed.

We slipped into a building and hid in the shadows.
The skeleton soldiers clattered past on the road outside, not noticing us.

“Looks like we’ve drawn a good number of them,” I whispered.

“Indeed. Just as planned,” Piln grinned, showing off her sharp little teeth.

“It’s easy to run with you making those paper walls.”

“Yeah, especially around here. These narrow, winding streets make it easy to block paths.”

“Your paper powers really come in handy.”

“Lately, I’ve started thinking that too. Being a ‘Paper Mage’ isn’t a weak skill at all.”

“Piln knew it ever since we took down the Crystal Dragon together!”
She puffed out her chest proudly.

“Yakumo is strong and has excellent fashion sense. He’s a fine man!”

“Haha, thanks.”

I gave her a gentle pat on the head.

At that moment, I heard Almina’s voice through the magical badge pinned to my collar.

“Yakumo. We’re ready over here.”

“That was faster than expected.”

“Everyone from the Moonlight Brigade helped out.”

“All right. We’ll head to the coliseum now.”

“Thanks. I’ll let Milfa and the others doing decoy work on the west side know.”

“Okay! Let’s move, Piln!”

Piln and I stepped out of the building and raced toward the coliseum, a swarm of skeleton soldiers chasing behind us.

We ran down a narrow tunnel that opened into a wide, sandy arena. Yellowish soil covered the ground, and supplies were stacked in several spots.

From another passageway, I could see members of the Moonlight Brigade already fighting off skeleton soldiers.
Milfa was among them.

“Yakumo!”

I looked up to see Almina waving from the stepped spectator seats.

“We’re all set!”

“Got it!”

I ran toward Kinako, who had just leapt down from the stands.

“Kinako! A whole bunch of skeleton soldiers are heading this way!”

“Just like we hoped.”

He glanced toward the narrow entrance where the soldiers were beginning to pour in.

“All right, leave it to me. I’ll hold them off until the numbers hit critical mass.”

With that, he launched forward and smacked a skeleton soldier with his paw, sending it flying.
Piln swung her magical hammer, felling another as it emerged from the corridor.

From here on, timing would be everything.
If we lost anyone now, the whole plan would fall apart.

I scanned the arena.

Already, over fifty skeleton soldiers had made it inside.
Kinako, Piln, and the others from the Moonlight Brigade worked together to keep them at bay—but more kept coming.

Soon, the count passed one hundred.

It was nearly time.

I focused my energy and conjured a stairway made of paper, leading up into the spectator seats.

Once I confirmed even more enemies flooding in, I shouted:

“Everyone! Get up to the stands!”

At my signal, Milfa and the others rushed up the steps.
Kinako and Piln followed right after them.

Perfect.

I readied my Devourer Dagger and began ascending the staircase as well.
Skeleton soldiers followed, chasing me up.

Once I had cleared the top, I erased the lower portion of the paper stairs.
Three skeleton soldiers tumbled to the ground below.

“Almina! Everyone’s clear!”

“Roger that!”

Almina scanned the arena floor, gauging the enemy numbers.

“Looks like just over two hundred of them.”

She pulled a black cylinder from her pocket and pressed down on the end with her thumb.

In the next instant, a massive explosion roared out, and flames surged across the circular ground.

The fire didn’t just spread—it hunted, surging toward the skeleton soldiers like it had a will of its own.
Their white bones blackened, and fire burst from their mouths and eye sockets.

“G-ggaaah…”

Their movements slowed and staggered.
Then, one by one, they collapsed.

We watched from above in stunned silence.

Over two hundred skeleton soldiers—wiped out in mere seconds.

What an unbelievable weapon.

“…Incredible,” Milfa whispered beside me, her voice hoarse.

“I’ve never seen, or even heard of, a bomb with this much power…”

The rest of the Moonlight Brigade stared, slack-jawed, at the smoldering remains of the enemies.

“Worth every bit of those five large gold coins,” Almina said quietly.

“With this, we wiped out a huge portion of their forces.”

“Yeah. Kinako and the others took down around forty before the explosion, so we eliminated at least 240 of them.”

I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.

“Everyone, let’s move,” Almina said, raising her voice.

“All that smoke’s going to bring Daglud here in no time.”

“Right. Let’s go!”

The seven members of the Moonlight Brigade, along with Piln and me, sprinted toward the coliseum’s exit.


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