episode_0092

Chapter 92 – Companions

For a moment, the sensation in my shoulder vanished.

As I realized I was addicted to that unfamiliar feeling, the chimera swung its tail and slammed me against the wall.

Crash!

“Gasp!?”

Even as I groaned in suffocating pain, I hugged Deborah tighter.

Thanks to that, much of the impact seemed to be absorbed, and Deborah was perfectly fine, without a scratch.

“R-Ruan! Are you okay?”

She staggered to her feet and shook my body.

That seemed to make my blood circulate faster, causing the poison to spread quickly, so I wished she’d stop.

“Ugh… Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

“That’s a lie! Don’t move, stay still! I’ll defeat it!”

Deborah, who didn’t believe a word I said, faced the chimera with a determined expression.

If you were going to do this, why did you ask?

─Screech!

While I grumbled inwardly, the chimera roared and charged, as if confident of victory.

Though it was supposed to have no damage, perhaps Deborah’s concentration had broken due to the previous impact, causing the magic to unravel, as the monster was perfectly fine again.

‘This won’t work after all.’

Realizing the plan had ultimately failed, just as I was about to use Avatarization—

“You absolutely won’t touch Ruan!”

Deborah stretched out both hands and activated a spell.

A mass of violet light, rising like mist, filled the passageway and encroached upon the chimera.

Its eyes turned blood red, then suddenly its two heads faced each other, splitting left and right to fight.

─Screech!

The passageway instantly became a chaotic mess.

“Haa… Haa!”

Deborah, looking strained from maintaining the magic, furrowed her brows yet let out a sigh of relief.

Hope and a sense of accomplishment were visible on her face.

I, too, couldn’t help but smile as I looked at her.

Normally, casting would take over 30 seconds, but she had activated two spells simultaneously in just a few seconds.

That meant only one thing.

‘She did it!’

Deborah had finally surpassed her limits and reached Level 150.

When a mage reaches Level 150, they become capable of using 5th-tier magic, and also gain the ability to double-cast.

The problem was that using two 5th-tier spells simultaneously consumed a large amount of mana.

As if to prove this, the red light in the eyes of the blood-splattered chimera gradually faded, and the frequency of their attacks on each other decreased.

Eventually, before long, they completely escaped the magic’s influence.

─Growl!

The two pairs of eyes of the mangled chimera simultaneously glared at Deborah.

“Ugh…! No, no.”

Deborah tried to activate a spell once more, but as if her mana capacity wasn’t enough, she continuously failed to cast.

Just as her face was tinged with despair.

“Deborah. Step back.”

I stood up, passed by her, and blocked the chimera’s path.

Deborah grabbed my wrist.

“Ruan! It’s dangerous!”

She looked with concern at my shoulder, which was already black and necrotic.

That itself was proof that I was severely poisoned, and moving recklessly like this could cause the poison to reach my brain at once.

I let out a small laugh and soothed her.

“It’s fine. Just watch.”

“But…”

“You don’t trust me?”

My gaze met Deborah’s.

Finding eyes full of conviction and confidence, Deborah slowly released my wrist.

Completely free again, I gave one last smile before turning my head forward.

─Screech!

As if it could no longer wait, the chimera roared and brought its fist down.

I raised my hand and gripped my heart.

“Awaken.”

Thump!

With a fierce throb of my heart, the Taegeuk coiled in my middle dantian began to rotate.

The two flames, which had been maintaining balance, furiously blazed and gradually uncoiled. The flames, forming a typhoon-like shape, extended through the mana-roads across my entire body, meeting the lower dantian and finally becoming one with my physical form.

Whoosh!

With a powerful flow of flames, an avatar was born.

I gasped softly at the overflowing sensation of omnipotence and looked up at the chimera.

At the same time.

Boom!

The chimera’s descending fist abruptly halted in mid-air, and a belated shockwave swept through.

Its eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck.

Currently, the chimera was experiencing extreme fear. Under the gaze of the pinnacle of living beings, the absolute one, it was utterly powerless.

Unable to withstand the unprecedented aura that heavily pressed down on its entire body, it ultimately staggered backward and collapsed.

Its tail was coiled around its body to hide its head.

“Huh? Wh-what is this?”

Deborah’s bewildered voice echoed.

I calmly walked slowly towards the chimera.

“So, your survival instinct remains, huh?”

Dragon Fear.

This innate ability, possessed by dragons from birth, stimulates the instinctive fear of living creatures. Merely being in its proximity tested the limits of one’s mental strength.

And the chimera was merely a defective product clumsily sewn together from various monsters.

I clenched my fist.

“No need to drag this out.”

Whoosh!

Two streaks of rapidly surging flames intertwined in a helix, enveloping my fist.

I focused on a single strike.

‘Taegeuk Avatar Art, maximum output!’

The currently mobilizable mana was about half of my total. Even that alone exceeded 200, which was beyond my current level to use.

All that mana condensed into my fist.

The accumulated flames surged past my fist, engulfing my entire forearm.

Finally, when control reached its limit.

─Screeech!

The chimera, sensing death, fell into a panic and threw a punch.

I countered in kind.

Ruan Style.

First Form.

Crush.

Blaze!

Crash!

The two fists collided.

For a mere instant, the chimera seemed to hold on, but it crumbled before the pure flames that excluded all, and the destructive flames that annihilated all.

The swirling fiery fist surged from my fist, traveled up my forearm, and instantly engulfed its entire body.

The chimera vanished, not even leaving behind a scream, turning into a handful of ash.

“Haa…”

Confirming victory, I took a deep breath and quelled the flames that had taken over my entire body.

As if time was reversing, the Taegeuk rotated in the opposite direction, withdrawing the fully extended flames and containing them back within itself.

Soon after the Taegeuk’s movement ceased, the avatarization was released, and an immense sense of exhaustion washed over me.

“Ugh…!”

With the sensation of my muscles instantly vanishing, I began to stagger.

Deborah, who had been staring blankly until then, startled and helped me up.

“R-Ruan! What’s wrong? Are you injured somewhere?”

While asking questions, she half-laid me on the floor and took out a potion from her spatial pouch, feeding it to me.

I, who had been drinking the potion like a baby, explained briefly as soon as I had the leisure.

“I’m just exhausted.”

“Really? It’s so sudden!”

“It’s because I used a special technique. It consumes a lot of stamina.”

“Then that’s a relief.”

Just as I told Deborah, Avatarization consumes too much stamina. Perhaps as a price for granting power that transcends limits for a moment, the backlash comes all at once after use.

It’s certainly better than nothing, but it still needs to be used cautiously.

“More importantly, congratulations, Deborah.”

“Huh?”

“You gained enlightenment, didn’t you? Congratulations on reaching 5th-tier.”

Did she not expect to hear that in this situation?

Deborah’s eyes widened, then she soon smiled brightly and nodded.

“Thank you! Ruan, you were amazing too. By the way, what was that just now? The chimera couldn’t move an inch!”

Deborah’s eyes sparkled brightly.

Her eyes usually sparkled like stars, and I wondered how brilliant they would be if she took off her lenses.

“It’s just because I took a spiritual elixir during vacation. It’s related to the fire attribute, which allows me to control flames.”

“I see. This has to be a secret too, right?”

“Of course. I’ll avoid using it in front of others as much as possible.”

“Hehe! So you’re only allowing me to know?”

“That’s right.”

The fact that we shared a secret only between us further strengthened our bond.

After savoring Deborah’s warm presence for a moment, I pushed her away and stood up.

“Well, now that things are settled, shall we go check out the rewards?”

“Yes! By the way, is the poison okay now? Your wound is gone too?”

A soft hand caressed my shoulder.

I rotated my shoulder to emphasize its normalcy and started walking.

“I also have regeneration and detoxification abilities. It was all healed a while ago.”

“That’s amazing! It makes sense that it consumes a lot of stamina. I definitely need to use it carefully.”

Deborah muttered something, seemingly convincing herself.

I casually brushed it off and entered the space beyond the hollow.

It was a laboratory.

Centered around a massive broken isolation wall, from which the chimera seemed to have burst out, all sorts of magical equipment and documents lay scattered chaotically.

Among them, I headed towards a private living quarter and picked up a book.

[The Materialization of Illusions – Bren Benedict]

This is a magic book written by Bren Benedict, a mad mage who delved into the realm of creation.

Holding the magic book, I exited the room and approached Deborah, who was absorbed in looking around, and handed it to her.

“Here, take this.”

“Huh? What’s this?”

“A magic book. It’ll be helpful to you. I’m taking the rest instead.”

“Huh? Oh, yes, yes!”

Deborah, whose curiosity seemed to have been piqued by just the title, immediately opened the book, gave a perfunctory reply to my announcement, and plunged into reading.

It was truly befitting a mage to immerse herself in study again right after gaining enlightenment.

Leaving her behind, I then began to systematically collect everything in the laboratory.

What’s here is quite valuable, you see.

*

Late Sunday afternoon, we were finally able to return to the capital.

“We finally arrived!”

Deborah let out a cheer.

Perhaps because she had endured two days of intense practical combat, she seemed desperate for rest.

‘Yesterday was a complete mess.’

When I said we had to clear another dungeon, she complained, asking if I wanted to go through that hardship again after barely defeating the chimera.

Of course, she quickly quieted down at the justification that it was to save her master.

In any case, we gained so much from this journey, so it was all good.

“Deborah. We’ll be raiding dungeons like this occasionally from now on, so always be prepared. Understood?”

“Huh? Again?”

“Did you think this would be a one-time thing? To get stronger, you have to push yourself to your limits. Don’t worry. You won’t die.”

Instead, you’ll experience something quite unpleasant.

As I swept my gaze over Deborah’s entire body, she, feeling my gaze, hugged herself.

“Pervert! You’re thinking something weird.”

“Weird thoughts? I’m just thinking of the last resort.”

“You told me about that last time! You said it would be meaningless because I couldn’t hate Ruan anymore!”

“That’s right. But there is a way.”

Since she roughly understood my circumstances, she knew that even if I ‘violated’ her, the ‘degree of rape’ wouldn’t be satisfied.

But that’s only presuming normal sex.

If I were to poke her anus like I did with Pernia, even a kind Deborah wouldn’t be able to help but hate me.

As if instinctively sensing danger from my gaze, Deborah trembled.

“Wh-What are you thinking?”

“Nothing much?”

“It’s not ‘nothing much’! Tell me right now! Otherwise, I won’t cooperate!”

“That would be even better, actually.”

“Seriously!! Stop joking around and hurry!”

I stared at Deborah for a moment, then decided to just reveal my thoughts.

Even if she knew beforehand, there’s no way she’d easily permit that kind of penetration. Conversely, precisely because she wouldn’t want that, she would exert her full power in the dungeon raid.

It’s not a bad outcome.

“I just know that a woman doesn’t only have one hole.”

“H-Hole? Not just one, what… C-Could it be!!”

Deborah, who had tilted her head in puzzlement, wore a shocked expression as her thoughts seemingly reached her anus.

She couldn’t seem to accept this reality, shaking her head and stammering her question.

“N-No, right? It’s not like that, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know what I mean! Th-That place isn’t it. Right?”

Humans are truly foolish. They cannot accept with their hearts what they’ve understood with their minds. Such escapism doesn’t help in solving problems.

So, I made her face reality.

“It is, though?”

At my refreshingly simple answer, Deborah’s brow furrowed terribly.

“A-Are you crazy? That place is dirty! How could you even think of doing that there?”

“Don’t worry. I can just clean it thoroughly with magical cleanser before penetrating.”

“That’s not what I mean! Absolutely not there. I won’t allow it!”

“Suit yourself. I can just do it by force.”

I supported Deborah’s will.

The more fierce her resistance, the higher the ‘degree of rape’ would become, making it easier to meet the conditions.

However, Deborah seemed to find that truly exasperating.

Her skin flushed bright red all the way up to her neck, and she trembled, then began to curse me.

“Y-You, you, rapist! Trash!”

But perhaps because she wasn’t used to swearing, the intensity of her curses was truly weak.

I picked at my ear and agreed.

“Yeah. You’re right. I’m a rapist and trash, so I’ll just penetrate your anus.”

Then, without lingering, I turned my back and headed towards the academy.

“W-Wait a minute. Where are you going! St-Stop right there! I said stop!”

Deborah’s urgent shouts from behind tried to stop my steps, but I paid them no heed.

And so, another day came to an end.