Ch.110110. Poison Counters Poison

# Chapter

Tatiana gently caressed the necklace around her neck.

Before her was Allan’s body, with tentacles embedded throughout, writhing. As the turquoise light leaked from the necklace, the movement of those tentacles grew increasingly violent.

She could hear sounds transmitted from beneath the sea. An eerie voice echoed in her ears.

‘Forward, a little more.’

There wasn’t much left before she could summon the being she served.

With that thought, Tatiana took a deep breath and accelerated the progression of the ‘ritual.’

Considering the one-day grace period they had originally agreed upon, this was essentially stabbing them in the back.

But.

‘…If I don’t do this.’

She couldn’t be certain that she could kill that man.

Though she hated to admit it, Darwood Campbell was a terrifyingly capable human.

Even though she hadn’t seriously tried to kill him yet, that man was someone who had fought and achieved victory against ‘that’ Boy King.

In terms of power, he was among the strongest few even among the “Enlightened Ones,” the most powerful of the Cultists of the Demon.

Very few could face him head-on and win.

[Hey, Apostle.]

“…”

But.

Speak of the devil.

A person who could almost certainly match that Boy King in direct combat was now sending her a communication.

Tatiana painfully raised her eyes to look at the screen that appeared beside her.

A man adorned with all sorts of ornaments hanging from his body. While his outward appearance made him look like some nouveau riche, for Tatiana who knew this man’s true nature, it was a laughably thin disguise.

[Is it difficult? Want me to help?]

His tone was insufferably frivolous.

It conveyed a clear sense that he found her current state—performing the ritual with all her might—utterly pathetic.

As if to say, why waste so much energy on such a trivial task?

“…”

However, instead of getting angry at him, Tatiana kept her mouth shut.

The “worst human in the world,” as acknowledged by the Luminary himself.

A villain who made even the Luminary—who dreams of reviving the demon that would exterminate humanity and destroy the world—shake his head.

This man was the embodiment of such “evil” and “karma.”

In other words.

It also meant he possessed unbelievable power to have survived long enough to earn all those titles.

The greatest linguomancer in history.

The one who caused the Boy King to drift for ages, carrying an entire kingdom.

“…What do you want, Talker.”

[Well, just a message from the boss.]

The man called Talker grinned as he continued.

[Do whatever you want, but don’t forget your original purpose.]

“…”

[Killing that man is one thing, but we didn’t give you the ‘sealing artifact’ just for that. You know that, right?]

At those words, Tatiana glanced at Allan’s figure.

There lay the means to temporarily ‘control’ the demon should it go berserk.

The relic that had been implanted in place of this man’s extracted heart.

It would probably be a one-time use, and even then, it wouldn’t hold for long.

But it was a powerful relic capable of restraining the Grey Demon inside the Tristan duchess’s body should it go berserk.

And she clearly remembered what the Luminary had instructed her when handing it over.

[You just need to play your part as the water ghost properly.]

Talker continued with a smirk.

[The boss and I will take care of what’s really important. Got it?]

Tatiana bit her lip until it bled.

The Luminary had instructed her to merely ‘hold onto’ that man. That was his directive.

Perhaps he was implying that even if she tried her hardest to ‘kill’ him, that would be the expected outcome at best.

Tatiana, the Apostle of the Inverted Tide, would never be able to kill that man no matter what abilities she used. That’s what it sounded like.

Almost as if he had a certain trust in that man.

“…”

The Luminary regards that man suspiciously… ‘importantly.’

As if, despite clearly not having met face-to-face for long, he had known that man for a very long time.

‘…Originally.’

She should have been the one receiving such attention.

She should have been the one earning that level of trust from him.

Such thoughts pounded wildly in her head, but Tatiana’s voice remained emotionless as it left her lips.

“I know, Talker.”

[Hey, is that all? It’s been a while, shouldn’t we at least greet each other warmly—]

“If you’re going to talk nonsense, I’m done.”

With that, Tatiana terminated the communication.

This frivolous man strangely tends to get more flirtatious when he sees women. Is he really trying to act according to his appearance?

There are more important matters at hand than talking with such a man right now.

She formed a curse seal in her hand.

It was a spell that showed video footage of a predetermined location.

Probably, the cursed Kraken, the vanguard of the Deep Spawn that would attack this academy and cause chaos, would appear there—

“…?”

—it had appeared.

The problem was that it had been transformed into completely shattered, massive chunks of flesh.

Tatiana’s expression instantly went blank.

“…”

What is this?

What’s going on?

Those creatures should have easily penetrated the academy’s defensive line—they were powerful beings.

At least, there shouldn’t be anyone in this academy who could easily handle them.

Maybe Kasa Garda in her prime could, but that woman has long had her limbs cut off as per the Luminary’s orders to prevent her from exercising her power.

Who on earth could have done this?

“…”

Fortunately, that question was answered not long after.

As she moved the screen around, she soon caught sight of a human running across the sea.

Tatiana’s eyes widened when she saw the ‘blue energy’ emanating from his entire body.

She knew well what that meant.

Malicious magical energy so vicious it could only be seen from a Demonic Vessel on the verge of going berserk.

‘…Darwood Campbell.’

This crazy bastard…!

Tatiana gritted her teeth.

She was well aware that there were several Demonic Vessels in this academy besides the Tristan duchess.

But she hadn’t thought for a moment that he would go that far.

After all, isn’t his goal to ‘survive’ too?

‘How does he plan to contain that…!’

When the “Demon of Wrath” is enraged to that extent, the survival rate of the human who becomes the target of that wrath essentially converges to zero.

There’s a limit to pissing where you stand. Is he making the demon go berserk just to stop her attack?!

‘…Damn it.’

If he commits such a crazy act, it’s actually this side that becomes anxious.

At the very least, that man needs to stay alive until she kills him.

Only then can she fulfill the mission given to her by the Luminary. Only then can she properly demonstrate her ‘abilities’ to him.

‘…Don’t die, Darwood Campbell.’

Tatiana gritted her teeth and began adjusting the formation she was creating through the ritual.

She was concentrating all the monsters—which she had originally planned to summon to surround the academy from all sides—in one place.

She needed to slow down his pace, even if just a little.

‘Stay alive until I kill you!’

…Tatiana clearly felt something was strange, but.

It was also obvious that she had no choice.

●

-She’s likely thinking the same way.

So the summoning path of the monsters will probably be heavily concentrated in the direction Riru is approaching.

If I die within the grace period she gave me, she’ll fail the mission the Luminary assigned her.

< Quest Info >

[ Main Quest ] 〖 Chapter 3 – Apostle of the Inverted Tide 〗

[ 15H remaining until the ‘Grand Duel’ event! ]

[ The boss battle will commence immediately after this event! ]

As evidence, the time limit on this window isn’t decreasing with any urgent messages or anything.

For at least this time, Tatiana will actually try her hardest to stop Riru.

Talk about a win-win situation.

[…You’re truly devious.]

“…”

[Is that it? Because she’s a woman, enemy or not, you can manipulate her as you please—]

You, shut up.

I transmit those words into the Soul Linker and continue my sentence.

“…And that concludes my explanation.”

I stop manipulating the simulation after finishing the explanation I’ve been giving.

The tribal chiefs nearby were all silent.

They seem unsure how to react to what I just said.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“…”

It seems they weren’t unsure how to react—they were just dumbfounded.

Judging by how everyone seems to agree with Hatan’s incredulous voice, that’s definitely the case.

“The plan itself makes sense, I’ll give you that.”

“Yes. Honestly, it’s an impressive plan—so thorough that I wonder how an outsider could know every single function of our academy in such detail. But.”

Hatan continued with a sigh.

“You just said those wrecked Krakens were the ‘first summon,’ right?”

“Yes.”

As I mentioned earlier, the Apostle of the Inverted Tide boss battle takes the form of a defense scenario.

After those, other monsters will be summoned in succession to attack this academy.

“Right. I understand that even more powerful creatures than those ‘things’ will appear.”

Hatan continued in a voice of disbelief.

“And how many people did you say would be deployed there?”

“Five.”

Me. Elia. Yuria. Saint Lucien. And Talion.

Not Elnore. The opponent has probably ‘prepared’ something in anticipation of her, so it’s certain.

For her… it’s better to leave her be, thinking about what comes ‘after’ the boss battle.

“…Five students are going to take that on.”

“Yes.”

“Are you joking right now? How can just five—”

“No, that’s not it.”

I cut off Hatan’s question with a definitive answer.

“It’s not ‘just’ five. It’s five because five is enough.”

“…”

At my confident response, the surroundings fell silent again.

[…Now I understand why Luca was saying those things.]

The sentence that broke the long silence came from Utad.

“Pardon?”

[He told me to keep an eye on you. Said you’re not just any ordinary madman, but if I watched you carefully, I’d definitely learn something.]

“…”

Was he saying things like that?

“…Have you learned anything?”

[Yes, definitely. I’ll tell you later.]

Utad said with a grin and continued.

[For now, I’m in favor. We probably don’t have the right to refuse anyway.]

“Utad. Seriously?”

[I am serious, Hatan. I want to bet on this bold young man.]

“…Tch.”

Hatan clicked his tongue and scratched his head.

“Do whatever you want. I don’t care.”

With that as the turning point.

The other tribal chiefs also showed their agreement, each with their own reactions—sighs or whatever.

The only one who hasn’t spoken from beginning to end is Barol, but what can you do?

He’s already lost a bet to me, so he has no say.

“But while we move according to your plan, what will you be doing?”

At Hatan’s question, my expression immediately soured.

“…I have something I need to do.”

“And what would that be?”

“Finding a way to survive.”

Even though Tatiana might slow down her approach a bit.

It’s an obvious fact that Riru is currently approaching at full speed to smash my head.

I need to figure out a way to stop that.

“…Well.”

I continue in a grave tone.

“There’s someone I need to make extremely angry.”

“…What?”

Hatan responded in a voice of disbelief.

But I’m serious.

I need one more person who will get as angry as Riru, no.

Someone who will get even angrier and come running to kill me.

< System Log >

[ Target ‘Yuria’ is becoming more adept with the demon’s power. ]

[ Target’s Stage 1 fusion rate has reached 99%. ]

[ The second fragment of the ‘White Demon’ will soon appear. Related event will be updated! ]

That’s right.

I’m coming to see you now, kid.

●