Episode 16: The Ordinary and the Demon King [End]

 

My vision is red.

“Ugh… What is this? It’s incredibly disorienting.”

Through the unfocused vision, something keeps coming into view.

Perhaps it’s because I inserted a newly acquired fragment of Mephisto into my eye-it feels like being reborn.

-Vwoooom…!!

An overwhelmingly powerful mana, incomparable to anything before, courses through my body.

-Crackle..!!

Just lightly moving my hand causes the nearby cave rocks not to shatter but to crumple.

‘The ability… seems quite useful.’

“Hah, at least there don’t seem to be any major side effects… *cough*?!”

I didn’t expect there to be no side effects at all.

‘Anyone who thought shoving a final boss’s body part directly into their eye would be fine is insane.’

“*Cough*, *cough*!”

Unconsciously bringing my hand to my mouth, I see a handful of dark red blood pooled there.

“*Cough*, what is this suddenly… *cough*…!”

Compared to the pain of inserting the eye and everything I’ve endured so far, this feels like a tickle-almost negligible.

The only problem is that I expected it to just hurt, but my vision keeps shaking and gradually darkening-an added side effect.

“Ugh… This side effect is completely trash…”

-Thud!

…

…

After some time passed, I regained consciousness to find myself collapsed on the ground.

“Ugh… That was not a pleasant experience.”

Seeing the dark red blood smeared near my mouth, it seems I vomited blood and blacked out during the seizure.

An ordinary person would have died instantly from this side effect, but thanks to Recovery (S), it was mitigated to this extent.

After wiping the blood stuck around my mouth with a tissue from my pocket, I quickly began assessing the situation.

“Status window.”

‘If this ability turns out to be useless, I’m just going to rip it out and leave.’

No matter how high the probability of an overpowered Evil Eye might be, if I can’t deal with Shena outside, it’s utterly useless.

‘I don’t need something with a high ceiling. What I need right now is a skill I can use immediately…’

As if understanding my thoughts, the information visible in the status window was somewhat useful.

 

Information

Name: Yun Se-ah

Age: 18

Alignment: Good, Chaos

Skill List

Psychokinesis (A)

You can freely manipulate telekinetic power.

Recovery (S)

You can fully heal any wound. However, you will still feel the pain.

Dulled Senses (B)

Due to prolonged experimentation, you do not feel pain well.

Stats

Strength: C+

Defense: D

Magic Power: A+-S+ (Temporary)

Stamina: F

Agility: B+

Luck: A+

 

‘My alignment has changed to Chaos. And… my Magic Power… even if it’s temporary, it’s risen to S+?!’

Characters with an S+ magic stat are rare-even Eve Maitner, who should be struggling against Shena by now, is among the few.

At the very least, it’s a stat reserved for late-game bosses or exceptional S-rank heroes.

Just by implanting Mephisto’s remnant, my magic stat, which was around A+, has risen this much?

‘How much of it was there? With this output, it’s comparable to Yun Se-ah during the boss fight era. By the way, there’s no Evil Eye-related skill?’

Ah, now that I think about it, [Hypnotic Evil Eye] was in my inventory.

“In, inventory.”

‘Please let it be something good…’

Inventory

[Hypnotic Evil Eye] (Inactive)

[Fragment of ???] (Active)

‘Ah, thank goodness.’

It’s not a skill but an equipment-type item in the inventory.

‘By the way, Fragment of ????’

[Fragment of ???] (Active)

[Magic Power increases.]

[Redacted]

[Redacted]

[Redacted]

[Redacted]

[Redacted]

…

[Redacted]

[Redacted]

[Redacted]

[Redacted]

[When the # #% and the #% sky %#, in the $$ of the un#$ that $%# thing, % shall come.]

[You can chan@$# all the ###@ you think of into real$%#.]

‘Why are there so many redacted parts?’

For now, the only clearly readable part is the short phrase about magic power increasing…

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen an item described so cryptically like this…’

Items/skills with simple descriptions can be divided into two cases.

First, something like “An old sword” or “You can create and throw a fist made of smoke”-trash-tier items/skills with nothing worth describing…

Or second, something like “If you slash, it will be cut” or “You will not die”-overpowered items/skills explained in such a way that just the concept alone is enough to understand.

“………This seems like the second case…”

For now, the situation is quite good. There’s a mountain of things to investigate about this Evil Eye, but… at the very least, the fact that it raised my magic stat from A+ to S+ is a great effect on its own.

‘With this level of magic power, I can apply [Hypnotic Evil Eye]’s effect to Shena too.’

I can even ignore her brainwashing magic.

-Krrrrumble…!!

And just as expected, as soon as I inserted the Demon King’s fragment into my eye, the space began collapsing with a loud noise.

‘Who would’ve thought I’d ever implant a final boss’s fragment myself.’

This is a first for me in any route. For now, I need to get out quickly.

‘I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but Eve’s condition is the top priority right now.’

She’s a crucial character who must remain active until the late game.

Please, just let her be alive…

With that thought, I threw myself toward the gate from inside the collapsing dungeon, rolling noisily across the ground.

-Crash!

‘Ugh, did she notice?!’

Quickly turning my head to assess the situation, a thunderbolt streaks past me in an instant.

Fortunately, since I wasn’t immediately attacked, it seems neither of them has the luxury to pay attention to me right now.

‘She’s still fine, it seems…’

Thankfully, I sensed Eve’s lightning magic and quickly turned my head toward where the bolt came from, but…

-Stab!

“*Cough*…!”

‘…….!’

Unfortunately, that lightning bolt was her last desperate act. Immediately after, Eve’s entire body was impaled by black tentacles.

“Wow, that was really close. If this space had been just a little wider, I’d have been fried in two seconds. You couldn’t go all out because of the kid who went inside the gate, right?”

“Ugh…”

-Stab!

“…….!!!”

Eve is suffering so much she can’t even scream.

“Since you’re going to die soon anyway… I’ll tell you. That kid is probably dead by now-what’s inside there is part of our Demon King’s remains.”

“Re…mains?”

Shena sneers and mutters mockingly at Eve, who struggles to speak.

“No human could withstand that overwhelming demonic energy! They probably got corrupted by it and died in agony the moment they stepped inside. That little girl must have died instantly without even time to suffer~”

As she says this, Shena uses her tentacles to pull Eve closer and sinks her fangs into Eve’s neck, beginning to suck her blood.

-Gulp!

“Ugh…!!”

“Your blood is delicious… It’d be a waste to kill you. Once I’ve drunk all your blood, I’ll just toss you into a nearby goblin or orc nest, so don’t worry too much. Or would you rather be my blood bag?”

‘……Damn it, can I do this?’

Judging by the stats in the status window, I have a trump card that could subdue her… but if Shena dodges it, it’s game over. With Eve so close, she might get caught in the attack too.

-Click

“Ahh… I was so annoyed by that pesky brat I thought I’d go crazy. But now I’ve found such delicious blood and the Demon King’s remains. Today’s my lucky day!”

Fortunately, Shena is so engrossed in savoring Eve’s blood that she hasn’t noticed the gate disappearing behind her.

The harpoon gun in my hand could safely separate Eve from Shena, though with some pain.

‘……Alright, think of this as a newly released boss dungeon.’

Using psychokinesis, I create a semi-transparent wall and look at my reflection in it.

‘This isn’t reality. It’s just another dungeon in a full-dive machine game-nothing special.’

Good, my trembling hands are finally steadying.

No, it’s more than that.

My body moves better than usual, and I feel like I can do anything right now.

-Twang!

“…What the?!”

In an instant, Eve is impaled by the harpoon and torn away from Shena, who looks stunned.

‘Good, the usable time for Mephisto’s fragment… let’s assume about 20 seconds. Based on when I collapsed earlier, that should be possible.’

“[Hypnotic Evil Eye], activate!”

-Whoosh!!

Using psychokinesis, I lift the dust on the ground to create a smokescreen-like effect, then combine the harpoon’s retrieval function with my psychokinesis to fling Eve toward the dungeon entrance.

This would have been impossible with my usual psychokinesis, but with overwhelming mana, everything becomes trivial.

“Wh-what’s this?!”

‘She must be thinking, “That was the first taste of a top-tier hero’s blood-no way I’m letting go so easily.”‘

“Don’t move, Shena.”

“………….!!!! You?!”

At my words, Shena freezes in place as if struck by a dragon’s command.

‘Got her.’

I clasp my hands together and imagine Yun Se-ah’s appearance from the game.

In reality, I wouldn’t have been able to do this… but this world is inside a game, just an ordinary dungeon, right? Let’s just assume Yun Se-ah was made playable.

‘Now, then…’

The tables have turned, you bastard.