Ch.504Know Your Enemy and Know Yourself, You Will Never Be Defeated.

“Well, it’s time to meet your parents!”

I charged at him, crushing the ground beneath me as I dashed forward. The distance closed in an instant. My blue-silver blade swung diagonally, carrying the momentum of my charge.

Valkers attempted to block my strike by raising his dark mana-infused longsword at an angle—

– CRASH!

In that exact position, he was sent flying and smashed into the wall of a civilian house.

The impact was so intense that the wall and ceiling collapsed, mercilessly burying his body. Dust rose like a wave.

“Huh…? Did we defeat him? Just like that…?”

Lacy, who had been tense until now, loosened her grip on her cross spear in disbelief.

Instead of pointing out that she had just recited a resurrection spell, I glared at the debris where Valkers was buried.

“No. He may be weak, but he’s still a notorious mage. He wouldn’t die from something like this. He’ll pop out soon.”

It was just a momentary flash so I couldn’t be certain, but I thought I saw black dark mana surge up when he collided with the building wall. He probably spread his dark mana like a barrier to absorb the impact. Just like I had demonstrated with my Karma of Murder.

…Though I can’t do that right now.

After Hersella awakened, the recovery rate of my Karma of Murder, which had been crawling along the floor, returned to normal, but even so, not even half a day had passed. It would take at least two or three days to properly recover.

Anyway, the possibility that Valkers had been defeated by this single blow was slim.

– RUMBLE!

See? Just as I thought.

A black sphere erupted from the pile of bricks, sweeping away the building debris.

Bricks flew in all directions, smashing into other buildings, while roof fragments that had been thrown high into the air fell back down in parabolic arcs.

From within the black sphere that swirled like a small storm, Valkers, now covered in dust, slowly rose to his feet.

“As ferocious as I’ve heard… I never expected to be sent flying with a single blow.”

“Your body was as light as a feather. Been having trouble eating? Lost some weight?”

I approached him with a quip while quickly scanning the surroundings from the corner of my eye.

Seeing that nothing unusual happened even after Valkers was sent flying, it seemed he hadn’t set up any ambushes… so was he really planning to face me one-on-one with just a longsword?

That’s impossible unless he’s insane.

Of course, Valkers is indeed insane… but he’s rationally insane, so it was hard to believe he would attempt suicidal actions with no chance of winning.

“My, looking at you up close, your face is quite lopsided. What a shame—even your parents burning in hell wouldn’t recognize you with that face.”

“What crude provocation. Unfortunately, I have no parents. I’ve never even seen their faces, so we wouldn’t meet anyway.”

“What, you were an orphan? That explains it.”

I sneered mockingly at him.

So that’s why he enjoyed destroying other people’s families and stealing other men’s women. Perhaps he was jealous of the maternal love and affection he never experienced?

“That’s only natural. After giving birth to such a maggot, his parents must have been heartbroken. Not throwing him into the sewers was probably their last act of mercy. Or perhaps… he devoured his father right after tearing out of his mother’s womb to survive.”

Lacy nodded and added her own commentary.

…I shouldn’t be the one to say this, but should a saint candidate be saying such things?

Even I was at a loss for words at her unexpectedly aggressive statement. Well… that bastard deserves such insults anyway.

“Young women with loose tongues. Are you already intoxicated with the feeling of victory?”

“No matter how green I am, I’m not as green as your mother’s corpse.”

“……”

Perhaps deciding that exchanging words would only be disadvantageous, Valkers grabbed his longsword in reverse grip and plunged it into the ground instead of responding.

– WHOOSH!

The dark mana enveloping his blade spread across the ground, casting a deep shadow. The shadow undulated like a living thing as it stretched toward me. It was clearly some kind of magic utilizing dark mana.

“They say people get angry when they have nothing to refute. Seems that’s true.”

I ran toward Valkers while keeping an eye on the moving shadow, and Lacy, reading the situation, manifested holy light to block the approaching dark mana.

As I approached, Valkers pulled his longsword from the ground. The distance between us was about twenty paces—not very far.

The moment my toes touched the writhing shadow, countless black hands shot up from the ground, trying to grab my legs. How predictable. I could see this coming from a mile away.

I leaped to avoid the dark mana’s grasp and charged toward Valkers, hopping like I was crossing stepping stones.

“Too obvious! Who would fall for such an attack?”

“Jumping around like a monkey…!”

Valkers clicked his tongue and extended his left hand forward. A black sphere formed at his fingertips, then shot toward me as a beam of light as thick as a wrist. It moved with bullet-like speed.

“Ha! Still so crude!”

I laughed mockingly and swung Durandal at the black beam. The blue-silver flash pierced through the dark mana beam like an awl, dispersing it. Black sparks scattered in all directions.

“Not even close!”

What came next was a flurry of sharp tentacles. Dark mana tentacles extended from behind Valkers. Each one was black and thick, flexible yet sharp.

[This attack style looks familiar.]

‘Indeed.’

As Hersella said, Valkers’ magic was similar to how I handled my Karma of Murder.

Perhaps memories of facing such techniques in the game remained in a corner of my subconscious. I had copied this method, in a sense.

[Hmm. Were you two actually close friends?]

‘…Stop talking nonsense.’

I’d rather die than be friends with someone like him.

Ignoring Hersella’s joke, I lunged toward the incoming tentacles. Breaking through such a familiar technique wasn’t particularly difficult.

The only truly powerful part was the tip of the tentacle, so if I could get inside and cut it…

“Elpinel!”

At that moment, with Lacy’s cry, pure white light bullets rapidly flew in and shattered the dark mana tentacles.

“Lacy! I told you to conserve your strength! Focus on mental protection!”

I scolded Lacy while continuing my charge toward Valkers.

Attack-type miracles consumed a lot of energy, and if she wasted her strength like this, she might not have enough left to deploy “White Night,” which could lead to an absurd defeat.

“It’s fine! The rate at which the blessing of White Night fades has slowed significantly!”

Lacy responded reassuringly.

I wasn’t particularly reassured. A question sparked by Lacy’s words was knocking at my mind.

If the duration of the mental protection miracle had increased… did that mean the Crossing Sound Seal had weakened? Why?

I smashed apart the dark mana scythes targeting both sides of my waist with Durandal, and avoided the black spikes shooting up from the ground with a somersault, all while pondering the reason.

Was it because I killed Dileyd? Or because I destroyed the heart of the dark demon?

…No, if that were the case, I would have felt it immediately. Why now?

While the weakening of the brainwashing technique was good news, I couldn’t completely relax without knowing the cause.

“Curious?”

Valkers, who had closed the distance, swung his longsword while addressing me. The blade, surrounded by swirling black currents, flew toward my neck. I raised Durandal at an angle to receive his strike.

– SCREECH!

The whirlwind of dark mana continuously hammered against the true blade, scattering black sparks. Durandal vibrated like a sex toy.

A technique that applies continuous impact through rotating dark mana? A mediocre swordsman might drop their sword immediately after blocking such an attack. But not me.

“Planning to tell me?”

With a sneer, I unleashed Frosting, but it was caught by chains of dark mana and stopped. The chains were weak enough that I could break them with a swing of my arm, but they were strong enough to momentarily halt my attack.

Then, Valkers extended his blackened left hand toward me. The dark mana gathered in his palm fluctuated dangerously. His intention to grab and crush my head was obvious.

I jerked my head back to avoid Valkers’ reach and kicked his side with my right foot. The concentrated dark mana acting as armor shattered at the touch of my foot.

– CRACK!

The armor covering Valkers’ waist crumpled like paper. He slid several meters, spitting blood through clenched teeth.

More black tentacles formed and tried to pierce my body, but two were cut by Durandal and scattered, while another was torn apart by Frosting.

– SCREECH!

The last one only managed to scratch the scales of my armor.

“Kugh…!”

Pushed back a distance, Valkers swung his left arm, creating dozens of black thorns in the air that rained down all at once.

…Why isn’t this bastard using his authority and fighting like this instead?

Though suspicious, I threw myself sideways to avoid the dark mana thorns. Meanwhile, Valkers, recovering from the pain in his side, wildly swung his dark mana-covered sword toward where I had leaped.

The black longsword slashed through empty space. With each arc of the blade through the void, sharp chunks of dark mana shot out like black crescents.

…I can’t do that. I’m jealous.

Unlike my Karma of Murder that extends from my body, his attacks were simply a type of magic.

Essentially, they were no different from the wind blades Ophelia had shown. He just used dark mana instead of mana to increase the power.

“Such petty tricks!”

I drew Durandal downward against the black wind blades cutting through the air, matching the angle of the dark mana’s trajectory.

– CRASH!

The true blade shattered the dark mana, dispersing the wind blades. Fragments of dark mana grazed Rurik’s leather, leaving long cuts, but it was a meaningless attack as long as it didn’t touch my skin.

“Even using the dark mana that maintained the Crossing Sound Seal, I can’t inflict a single wound… Truly a monster.”

Valkers frowned as he spat out the depleted Mana Herb along with blood. His narrow eyes trembled.

I carefully observed his face, trying to determine whether his eye corners were trembling from pain or if he was trying to open his eyes.

“Then I have no choice but to borrow his power!”

Valkers shouted fiercely as he raised his head. No doubt about it. He was definitely trying to open his eyes!

I quickly turned my head and shouted to Lacy.

“Lacy! Curse defense! Focus on the lower abdomen with all your might!!”

“Y-yes?”

Lacy, who had been watching our fight and looking for an opportunity to support, was startled by the sudden command but faithfully carried out my request.

Just as Valkers opened his narrowed eyes wide, the pure white holy light Lacy manifested shot toward me.

– FLASH!

Following that, a beam of black light erupted from Valkers’ pupils and pierced through my abdomen.

—-

The light fades. Though my abdomen was pierced by dark mana, I felt neither wound nor pain.

This was expected. The eye beam Valkers emitted wasn’t a technique that inflicted physical damage, but a type of curse.

I glanced down at my lower abdomen, where pure white holy light and black dark mana were intermingled, checking for any abnormalities.

Except for the flickering black and white radiance, there was no particular change in my lower abdomen. I didn’t feel anything writhing inside my stomach, nor did I feel my abdomen swelling.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Good, it was blocked. The timing had been a bit close, so I was slightly worried.

Eventually, the pure white holy light that had dispersed all the black dark mana formed a shape resembling overlapping crosses and circles, settling below my navel.

It looked similar to the Stigmata of Astraea, but this was merely a sign that the curse defense miracle was working properly.

“How can this be… you blocked the ‘Dark Conception’?!”

Valkers contorted his face in shock. He clearly hadn’t expected his authority to be countered.

Yes, he was bound to be shocked since I had perfectly countered an authority he had been carefully concealing, as if I already knew about it.

“Dark Conception”

While “Alpha Male” was an authority targeting men, this authority was strictly aimed at women.

It was an upgraded version of Valkers’ unique magic, “Seed of Discord,” which cursed pregnant women to give birth to dark-skinned children.

To put it simply… yes, “pregnancy beam” would be an appropriate description.

A curse that affects not just pregnant women but all females. Any woman hit by the black beam emanating from his eyes would instantly conceive Valkers’ avatar. And the child would grow to term in just five minutes.

…When I first saw it, I thought the creators must be insane. I still think so.

However, despite its absurd effect, this authority was actually specialized for combat.

The fact that it only takes five minutes until birth means that the pregnancy reaches full term in five minutes.

Women afflicted by the curse rapidly develop swollen bellies, drastically reducing their combat ability, and when the moment of birth arrives, they become completely incapacitated.

Being incapacitated before Valkers meant immediately becoming a slave to “Alpha Male.”

Except for the five-minute delay, it was an even more vicious authority than instant-death curses.

Well, it doesn’t matter since I blocked it.