Conscious Ego

,Ross…!

,Lily-nim!

Estelle and Amber rushed to my side to support me, but I couldn’t help but writhe in agony as if my insides were burning. When I spat out the blood pooling in my mouth to breathe, screams flowed from deep within my lungs.

,Potion…! Get the potion out!

At Estelle’s urgent cry, Lloyd hurriedly took out a potion from the bag he was carrying, but it wasn’t easy to control me, who was losing my mind and going berserk in pain.

,Just subdue him!

Estelle kicked my knee from behind. As I lost my balance and my body tilted, Lloyd threw himself and pinned me to the floor with his weight.

While Amber was holding my arms, Estelle grabbed my hair roughly and tried to pour the potion into my mouth, but I pushed Lloyd and Amber away with tremendous force and swung my fist with the intention of smashing Estelle’s head.

Estelle quickly pulled her body back to avoid the fist and shouted.

,You crazy bastard! I’m trying to help you!

I know. But I’m not in my right mind right now. The thought of killing everyone around me is all that fills my head.

[Authority – Combat Continuation is activated.]

[Berserker effect is activated.]

This was because the indomitable courage that would prevent the berserker’s penalty was not activated. With a scream, I swung my fist at Estelle with all my might, and suddenly my vision went dark.

I felt like my body was being sucked somewhere. What I saw in front of me when I came to my senses was a world entirely made of black and white.

It’s not an unfamiliar place. I had visited this place before. This place was the mental world I had met Ross in.

But this place was so different from before. In the world made of black and white, unidentifiable vortexes were spinning endlessly, and something like souls were floating in the air.

And far away, I could feel something repeating creation and destruction. Strangely, I felt an instinctive attraction to it. The moment I tried to take a closer look at it, a voice came from somewhere.

[Kuhaha- I’ll finally get a body! I’m glad I planted a terminal of my part in the Shadow Spear! I expected you bastards to be greedy again someday!]

Something began to take shape in front of me. It was the appearance of an old man with peeling skin and black wings on his back. The old man, who wriggled his body like intestines for a moment, shouted while drooling black saliva.

[I am Uricus, the demon of all directions, and will be your master!]

,Uricus…?

I’ve never heard that name before. It must be a demon that wasn’t even mentioned in the novel. At my mumbling, Uricus flapped his wings and looked at me with a bewildered expression.

[Huh…? How are you maintaining your sanity? Just looking at my main body should make a human lose their reason?]

Uricus, who was muttering to himself, smiled hideously at me with eyes shining with greed.

[Well, it doesn’t matter. If only I can get out of this damn seal! You are mine!!!]

Black intestines poured out from Uricus’s back and wrapped around my body like whips in an instant. The skin that touched the intestines rotted black, and I felt a pain as if my flesh was burning.

,Ugh…! Let go of me!

I couldn’t break free with strength alone, so I struggled using even the Formless Breath, but I couldn’t break free, only the intestines wriggled.

[Kuhuhu, you can’t escape. The moment you grabbed the spear, you were already caught in the trap! Now, I’ll savor this long-awaited meal very slowly.]

Uricus’s black intestines covered my eyes. My vision went dark, and I screamed in the excruciating pain as if my eyes were burning. I felt something digging into my brain through my eyes. I couldn’t even tell if it was a liquid or a bug because of the pain.

,Kuaaaack…!

Realizing that I would really have my body taken away by Uricus if I stayed like this, I desperately resisted using the Formless Breath until the very end.

,Get out…!

[Kuhaha…! It’s no use struggling! This is your mental world. No one can help you! I’ll digest everything about you and make it mine!]

Something that was rummaging through my brain strongly tightened a certain part. In the pain as if my head would explode in an instant, I screamed with all my might.

,Kkeuaaaaaack…!!!

I’m really going to die!

At that moment, the screaming voice disappeared. The pain I felt all over my body disappeared without leaving even a faint trace. It felt as if the pain I had felt just a moment ago was an illusion. When I was feeling strange about my condition, Uricus’s scream suddenly rang out.

[Kuaaack…! Wait… this doesn’t make sense…! H, how can a mere human…!!!]

Someone answered Uricus’s words.

-A mere human…?

I could only realize it then at the voice flowing from my mouth. I was pushed back by something and lost control of my body. The owner of the voice now is not me…!

I speak in a dry voice without emotion, intonation, or even pitch.

-It’s not something a dummy created thanks to plausibility should say.

[Don’t be ridiculous! Do you think a mere insignificant human can deceive me…!!!]

Uricus spewed out tremendous magic power. Uricus, who had inflated his body to the point where it wasn’t enough to occupy my entire vision, hurled the Shadow Spear at me.

[Die…!]

Just before the spear touched me. I felt a strange feeling that the corners of my mouth went up for a moment.

-Pukpukpuhuk!

With a manic laugh, I reached out and waved my hand forward. With just that simple act, Uricus’s huge body exploded and burst out. Uricus, who had been shattered into pieces, let out a scream of pain.

[Kuaaaaaack…!!!]

I felt pure joy at that sight. It’s not a calculated act like revenge. It was just the joy of the act of killing the opponent itself.

-Pukkeukeu! This merciful body will fulfill your insignificant dream.

When I spread my palm, black energy suddenly soared from my palm, and the Shadow Spear created its own form.

When I, holding the Shadow Spear, drew up magic power, the pieces of Uricus began to be sucked into the Shadow Spear.

-But this time, you will never wake up… Pukpukpuhuk!!!

[N… No…! Stop, stop…! Please stop…!!!]

I didn’t stop even at Uricus’s plea. Uricus’s fragmented body was all sucked into the Shadow Spear.

And silence came. I, who had been staring at the Shadow Spear that had been humming and vibrating for a while, opened my mouth.

,Uricus was eaten by the Shadow Spear. Don’t worry and use it now.

I realized that those words were directed at me.

,Who… are you?

The current me has the same tone as Ross wearing the mask I met back then. Is the cult leader’s trap still left inside me? More than that, if it’s a trap, why would it have a reason to help me?

,Pukpukheu! Hey, the order is wrong. The cult leader’s trap is not me.

I couldn’t help but be startled by those words. This bastard is reading my mind!

Like a gourmet in front of a dish with a blissful taste, the other me trembled finely.

,Pukkeukeu… You’ve gained a lot to lose in the meantime. You’ve even learned emotions you shouldn’t have experienced. Pukheuhehehe!

People who had a connection with me began to come to my mind. The club members, Estelle, Roel, and the girlfriends. The images of Navier, Estelle, Rotten, and Lycan flashed by.

Only then did I realize that this guy was scanning my memories.

,Stop it!

,Don’t you still know that the more connections you build, the longer your fall will be, Pukpukpeuhe…!!!

Strange things come to my mind. The club members dying in my hands, me collapsing in despair. Even Roel, shedding tears and trying to kill me inevitably.

,Stop…! Get out of my head…!

At my cry, the other me grabbed his stomach and laughed like crazy.

,Pukheuhat…! Do you want to deny your essence that much? If I hadn’t stepped in, you would have had your body taken away by a mere demon like that and died to Roel again!

Those words were true. If it wasn’t for that guy, Uricus would be controlling my body right now.

But from my point of view, this guy or that guy is just a guy trying to manipulate me.

As if he read my thoughts, I sighed deeply and said, hitting my forehead with my hand-!

,Okay, you stupid bastard. I’ll step aside for now as you want. But you’ll have no choice but to accept me.

,Don’t be ridiculous. That will never happen.

,Because everything ultimately started from me! I’ll wait for the moment you regain your true essence! Pukpukpahahpuk!!!

With a mad laughter echoing, I felt my body being sucked somewhere rapidly again.

The laughter and the black and white world disappeared, and a pure white world unfolded before my eyes. I staggered and stood up from my seat. I had regained control of my body.

What on earth saved me from the mental world? What on earth does it mean that the order of the traps was wrong? Doubts began to soar endlessly.

While I was lost in thought for a moment, something poured down from the sky and tapped my head. Thanks to that, I was able to wake up from my thoughts.

,Ah….

What was pouring down were small beads. The penalty for Combat Continuation had been activated.