Ch.2727. The Purifier

“…wood! Darwood! Are you alright!”

The voice calling me comes from beyond my hazy consciousness.

Then I feel hands pulling me out from the collapsed building debris.

Dust and broken stones fall around my body with a clatter.

“…Elnore?”

As I’m pulled out while coughing, my eyes meet Elnore’s, who’s looking at me with worried eyes.

“You…!”

Elnore’s gaze wavers after fully seeing my condition.

Ah. I must be quite injured.

Of course I am, having been helplessly buried under a collapsed building.

“…”

I’m in this state right after the crisis didn’t trigger.

As I confirmed previously in the mock dungeon, my skills only respond to attacks with ‘hostility’ that try to kill me.

If it’s just a building collapsing from the shock wave, the one thrown into that situation is Darwood Campbell with no stat buffs, all stats F.

‘Fractures, head contusions, several joints dislocated…’

My vision wavers. Warm liquid flows down my face from near my forehead, my limbs are difficult to move, and I’m experiencing severe dizziness.

“…Hah.”

Right. This is actually normal.

All-stat F means being a bug-like human who can die very easily. That’s exactly how much I’m worth.

〚…This is fantastic.〛

Looking up at the sky with my wavering vision, I see Marquis Riverback floating in the air, his entire body already mutating.

The demonic essence he swallowed earlier is embedded in the center of his chest, pulsating like a replacement heart.

The demonic energy flowing from it and covering his entire body like armor shows he’s far from human now.

A monstrosity.

There’s no other way to describe it.

〚When the Luminary gave this to me just in case, I thought I’d never need to use something like this.〛

He grins as he looks down at me and Elnore.

〚I’ll admit it. You were a more troublesome opponent than I expected.〛

After saying that, he floated up a bit higher.

〚But I wonder if you can handle this too?〛

Right.

I’m wondering too, you bastard.

‘…A Maein right from Chapter 1.’

Nothing could be more fucked up than this.

I sigh inwardly as I watch Marquis Riverback fly away in the distance. It’s a speed I couldn’t even think of catching up to.

The “corrupted power” that Marquis Riverback was supposed to use is generally something like demonic byproducts.

It’s a power that humans researched to crudely imitate their power.

In contrast, the “demonic essence” is…

Objects containing the intact “remnants” of demons. If you consume it and become a Maein, you can use some of their power directly.

For example.

-!

-!!!

Elnore’s expression hardens at the objects suddenly emerging from the collapsed building debris.

They’ve lost their human form now, looking like grotesque melted flesh masses.

Their howls, like metal being scraped, clearly show they’re hostile to any visible life form around them.

“Hii, hiiik!”

“What are those…!”

And people who had gathered to see what this sudden building collapse was all about turn pale and start running away.

‘…This is bad.’

Demonic power tends to transform affected life forms into creatures closer to those of “Pandemonium,” the demon’s home, just by spreading demonic energy around.

And these are the demon cultists that Elnore cut down earlier.

They’re transforming into “Maneaters,” the lowest-level cleaners of Pandemonium, influenced by the Maein-transformed Marquis Riverback.

As creatures of Pandemonium, a magical realm comparable to the Otherworld, their combat power is threatening, but what’s more troublesome is that humans killed by them are resurrected as Maneaters too.

It’s a chain reaction. Like a zombie outbreak.

And our current location is a busy district. The area is already crowded with civilians due to the Full Moon Festival.

The worst place at the worst time.

[ Main Quest ]〖 Chapter 1 – The Purifier 〗

[ Defeat ‘The Purifier’! ]

[ Game over if too many casualties occur! ]

[ Reward: 1 Essence of Evil ]

[ Reward: 1 Hero Fragment ]

[ Reward: 5,000pt ]

And in this situation, the damn quest that never disappoints me appears before my eyes.

Reducing casualties even here is an absurd demand.

-!

-!!

Suddenly, a flash-like strike flies toward the Maneaters who are finishing their transformation and howling.

A textbook strike using a spear. Several Maneaters trying to stand up are pierced and sent flying.

“Brother! What on earth is…!”

Wiping away the blood flowing from my forehead, I see Talion running toward me from the distance.

So he was the one who delivered that strike just now.

“I heard a loud noise and came, but what is going on here! What are those monsters, and Marquis Riverback…!”

Right.

It’s good to see a familiar face in this situation.

Normally around this time, he should have been corrupted and ended up like those things.

“You would’ve ended up just like them if you were wearing that necklace.”

“…What?”

Instead of answering, I point to one of the Maneaters.

The black demonic energy emanating from the House of Purification’s necklace still hanging on it is obvious to anyone.

Originally, it would just make you lose your sanity a bit, but now because of the Maein’s appearance, they’ve crossed a river of no return.

Talion’s eyes widened at the sight.

“…This is.”

His expression changed rapidly as he spoke.

He’s probably quickly and coldly assessing the current situation.

“I just want to confirm one thing.”

“What.”

“…Was this orchestrated by Marquis Riverback?”

The honorific is gone. Though it’s a question in form, he seems to have already confirmed it to some extent.

After all, he would have repeatedly emphasized “make sure to wear it” when distributing those necklaces.

I look at Talion, whose eyes are filled with anger, with a smirk.

This guy is no fool.

He was designed as Elia Krisanax’s rival from the beginning. His judgment and action in emergency situations are already beyond student level.

“We can assign blame and responsibility later. Right now, if we don’t clean this up, hell will break loose here.”

I say, trying to focus my wavering gaze.

And if I’ve gained his “trust” by deliberately removing his necklace…

It’s time to fully utilize those advantages.

“Listen carefully. If you make even one mistake, it’s over.”

I lay out the instructions.

His expression was serious at first, then bewildered, and finally looking at me like I was crazy.

“…Is that even possible?”

“Yeah.”

It absolutely will work.

I haven’t been running around everywhere for nothing.

It has to work.

“Then, meanwhile, what will you do, brother?”

“I need to go handle something else.”

‘Two objectives.’

First is preventing civilian casualties in the current area.

The Maneaters’ movements are still sluggish, but as time passes and the demonic energy thickens, they’ll become faster and stronger.

Most of the “instructions” I just gave to Talion are to block that side.

And the second objective is…

“I need to eliminate the source.”

That means eliminating Marquis Riverback himself, who’s spreading the demonic energy.

That’s what I’m about to do.

“Do you know where he went?”

Elnore asked in a solemn voice.

She’s probably asking how to track him after he flew away at such high speed.

“Well, yes. I have an idea.”

Or rather, I should say I have an idea.

In fact, there’s only one place he could be.

●

Merchants are always quick with calculations.

If you were to ask why Marquis Galdier Riverback became a demon cultist, that would be the most fundamental answer.

Even though he had risen from being just a black market merchant to the position of a marquis, enjoying wealth and honor he couldn’t have imagined before. All that was just a secondary reason for him becoming a demon cultist.

‘Their power reaches every corner of the continent.’

Without even seeing their appearance or hearing their voice, let alone the Luminary, every “follower” of the demon he met possessed formidable power.

Among them, the power of the “Enlightened Ones,” the closest aides to the Luminary, was enough to boil the sea, break the earth’s axis, and split the heavens.

He is just a human, like an insect compared to them. The fact that he has survived for so long is probably because he always reminded himself of this fact.

It was after confirming this that he decided to stand on their side without hesitation.

It was the result of a merchant’s quick calculation that no one on the continent would dare to oppose them.

And now, Marquis Riverback…

Was feeling certain that his choice had never been wrong.

〚Huu…〛

A sigh full of omnipotence flowed from his mouth.

The massive amount of demonic energy boiling throughout his body.

It’s an overwhelming power that feels like it could crush weak life forms just by the pressure of its release.

This much power just from accepting a tiny bit of the “new god” demon’s grace.

〚With this much…〛

He should be able to carry out his mission without much difficulty.

To resurrect the demon, he first needs to create despair and chaos everywhere.

Kill people, kill more people, and cover it all with corpses again.

That’s what he should do right away.

The place he has arrived at now is also for that purpose.

〚Settle in.〛

He muttered as he reached out to the “barrier” in front of him.

The protective barrier near the void zone that the Lightbearer had set up.

Originally, it would be a heavily guarded place, and even if you broke through, you wouldn’t dare try to damage it.

But now it’s the Full Moon Festival period so it was easy to break through, and he currently possesses demonic authority directly.

Even if he can’t destroy it completely, it should be possible to make a tiny scratch on it.

And considering the special nature of the void zone…

That alone would cause an unimaginable disaster.

‘…This is the core of it all.’

The riot happening in the city right now is just a smoke screen.

All available armed forces are probably gathered there.

The real purpose is just this.

“Okay. Stop right there.”

Unfortunately.

It seems not everyone is a fool.

●

〚…How did you know?〛

Marquis Riverback, who was about to damage the barrier, said in a stiff voice.

“Know? As I said earlier. It’s obvious.”

Marquis Riverback is, how should I put it…

A single-celled organism who thinks he’s smart.

He’s the type who wants to feel superior to others, so he tends to try to “deceive” others first.

‘…Isn’t he an idiot?’

Honestly, from my perspective, nothing could be more inefficient.

If he had just controlled the Maneaters to push in this direction as quickly as possible, the barrier would have been damaged one way or another.

“…”

But thanks to that, an opportunity like this arises.

The part I need to stab into is that vanity and arrogance.

I organize the plan in my head.

I couldn’t have dreamed of this if there were Maneaters interfering, but now I can face just him in this situation.

“So, you.”

I realize anew that one of Elnore’s greatest strengths is her physical abilities, which seem limitless.

From carrying me, who was so injured I could barely move, and moving through this street in an instant.

“What’s the plan?”

Elnore, who brought me here without a word at my request, asked as she put me down on the ground.

Her eyes are filled with firm trust.

“There must be a reason you asked us to withdraw all support and move here with just the two of us.”

“Well, yes?”

Because time is short.

There’s no time to call anyone else. The moment he creates even a small gap in the barrier, it’s game over for sure.

People will die, Elnore will be kidnapped immediately, the Grey Demon will be released.

Straight to the bad ending.

Rather than that, it’s better to make a decision with just me and Elnore here.

“Right. So how do we defeat that guy…”

“We can’t.”

Elnore’s eyes narrowed.

“…What?”

“We can’t defeat him with just the two of us. Absolutely not.”

Yeah. That’s really true.

To face a Maein, you need Elia equipped with the “Holy Knight” to reliably handle it.

But that’s content for Chapter 4 or later. Expecting it now would be unconscionable.

In other words, the opponent is equally unconscionable.

Although he’s the final boss, Elnore who hasn’t even filled half her growth stats and me who’s groaning with serious injuries can’t even approach him.

“…”

But.

If there’s something to rely on, I have it.

-You’ve been bitten by something nasty. I can’t even see its full form but I know it’s something terribly awful. It seems to have stuck to you because of your ability.

Suddenly, I recall those words. The angel guys warned me like that before.

Yeah. I know.

I know pretty well what has “stuck to me.”

<System Message>

[ Subject ‘???’ takes interest in you. ]

I smirk looking at the sentence in the system log.

And this too.

< Gift-Related Person Alert >

♥ Elnore Erinarise la Tristan

[ Affection Level 1 ]

[ ‘Skill Copy Right’ is available! ]

The final basis is this.

Affection level “Affection.” And the skill copy right.

If I use this…

Even an enemy we absolutely can’t defeat at our current level might be manageable somehow.

While I was thinking this, Marquis Riverback was sighing and raising demonic energy.

〚…Well, it doesn’t matter.〛

Then, storm-like demonic energy residue began to leak from him.

It’s a density that’s almost visible, physically undulating, enough to make you faint if you lose focus for even a moment.

The ridiculous thing is that this isn’t even a full-scale demonic energy release – it’s just the “precursor symptom” of an attack.

〚I’ll kill you and secure the Tristan princess. This actually worked out well. You came right to me. Saved me the trouble of finding you later?〛

We’re about to fight someone like this.

Taking a deep breath, I say to Elnore.

“Elnore. Can you promise me one thing?”

“What is it?”

“It’s really going to hurt. It will be painful. You might resent me…”

“I asked what it is.”

At first glance, it might sound like irritation telling me to get to the point.

But anyone who has seen that straightforward gaze would give a slightly different answer.

Whatever you’re saying is fine.

I’ve already accepted it, so don’t worry and tell me.

That’s what it means.

“…”

I smile bitterly inside.

As always…

The level of trust this person shows me is something I can’t get used to.

So, I should live up to that trust.

“No matter what happens. Absolutely.”

I answer, meeting that gaze directly.

“I will save both of us from this place. Understand?”

“Yes. I understand.”

“So.”

I turn my head from Elnore to Marquis Riverback.

“No matter what happens, please trust me.”

Yeah. Really.

What I’m about to do is quite insane.

As I think that…

With an aura like a tidal wave rushing in, Marquis Riverback charged toward us.