Ch.5353. A True Devotee

# The Magic Stone in the Banquet Hall

The magic stone floating in the center of the banquet hall ceiling.

It was an item passed down through generations since the founding of Rubetia… something that could be considered a family treasure.

While meaningful simply by its existence, it was also prominently displayed in the banquet hall as a symbol maintaining the Imperial Palace.

There was one reason why this would later bring disaster.

All the resentment of those who had lost in wars against Rubetia was gathering there.

I didn’t know the principle behind it, but thanks to that, it was growing well as a seed of demons.

And that seed would germinate with a certain probability whenever a demon-related banquet was held here.

When that happened, some people in the banquet hall would be covered in demonic energy and become pseudo-demons.

What made this dangerous wasn’t just the transformation into demons, but above all, the completely random target selection.

Not even the Emperor or Empress were exceptions, and if luck was truly bad, the protagonist or Celia might become demons, immediately triggering a bad ending screen.

Of course, the probability of that happening was quite low. I know because I tried dozens of times for the achievement.

But isn’t it extremely absurd that such a possibility exists at all?

If it were an ordinary magical danger, the former Archmage Empress would have resolved it with the flick of a finger, but curse-like dangers like this were beyond her scope.

Even to my game-enhanced vision that could directly see dangers, it merely appeared to be surrounded by a strange aura, not particularly threatening.

Still, considering the catastrophe that would happen later, removing it in advance would give me peace of mind.

I hadn’t paid much attention to it recently… but in this world with increased difficulty, it seemed best to eliminate risks as much as possible.

‘But how should I handle this?’

Now that I was actually trying to remove it, it was quite problematic.

I was the only one who knew this thing was dangerous.

If I suddenly asked permission to destroy an imperial family treasure, they would naturally refuse.

That’s what I was thinking.

“Well, do as you please.”

I didn’t expect such easy acceptance.

“I know you’re not someone who would destroy things without reason. Or should I do it instead? That might make the aftermath easier to deal with.”

She was even volunteering to do what I was planning to do, making me wonder if she’d eaten something strange.

Celia must know the value of this magic stone too.

Isn’t she accepting this too readily?

She always said she trusted me, but I never imagined she would trust me this much.

Before I could stop her, Celia began casting a spell.

She was unusually focused, unlike her normal self, and the result was certainly worth that concentration.

‘She’s using that already?’

The magic she was using had already transcended ordinary concepts.

Basically, magic works by shooting something through a magic circle. But what she was using now was clearly different.

The magic circle was merely an input device, while the firing location was completely flexible.

It’s Bluetooth magic! You could make a Bluetooth shower with this! That’s the kind of nonsensical magic she was using.

And it was magic she had developed to become stronger after experiencing all sorts of hardships at the academy and feeling her inadequacies.

In the original story, this was something learned in the middle of the second semester of the second year. She’s really fast.

They say promising trees show their potential from their first leaves, but shouldn’t fruit come after the tree has matured?

We were still first-year students. And we had just finished our midterm exams.

Hardships? Celia hadn’t experienced any particular difficulties.

Considering that, her growth rate was astonishing. At this pace, she would soon surpass the original story, and maybe even make the protagonist unnecessary.

‘Maybe not.’

Perhaps there’s something that requires this level of growth.

While things are still following the flow I know, with the difficulty and character growth rates changed, it wouldn’t be strange if things diverged at any time.

Her growth was unbelievable enough to make me think this way.

But that’s all. Even for someone skilled, breaking that magic stone would be difficult.

There’s a reason it’s displayed so prominently. It’s protected by defensive magic.

Protective magic reinforced by the Empress herself, unparalleled in magical prowess—how could it be easily broken?

Even for Celia, it would be difficult.

Crack—

…She broke through?

How did she break through? Was the protective magic more flimsy than I thought? That couldn’t be.

I was planning to use some tricks if Celia failed, but that became unnecessary.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Did you think I couldn’t do it?”

She seemed to have read my expression and smiled contentedly.

She seemed pleased that she had exceeded my expectations.

Then she began explaining how she had broken through the protective magic.

“Ludion. Did you read the book I lent you?”

“I did. I only read a bit of the beginning though, stopping when the protagonist was about to start his journey.”

“Then you should know about ‘The Energy Distortion Hypothesis through Position Verification Methods in Resonance Mechanics of Mana Existence Location’?”

“Uh. Um. I think there was something like that.”

I vaguely remembered skimming through something like that because I couldn’t understand it.

“That’s what I applied. I always understood it in theory but couldn’t use it in practice, but something happened and now I can use it.”

I don’t know what happened to make her able to use it overnight, but it’s impressive.

So you got all your magic ideas from that book.

She was a successful fan. A true devoted fan who actually implemented the fiction written by the author.

I wondered why she liked such a difficult book, but it turns out it wasn’t that difficult for her.

I guarantee that at the point where she broke through the Empress’s protective magic, Celia’s firepower was already at late-game specs.

According to the original story, Celia would handle most of the upcoming incidents, and at this level, there’s no need to worry about the future.

I turned my head again to look at the magic stone Celia had destroyed.

Ominous energy was pouring out through the cracked gaps.

Celia didn’t seem to notice it, so perhaps only I could see it.

Not wanting her to be corrupted by demonic energy if she touched it, I grabbed Celia and kept our distance, observing the movement of the energy.

When a magic stone is forcibly destroyed, unlike what happens during a victory banquet, the results can be quite varied.

Surrounding corruption, explosions, wide-area mental attacks… things like that.

These are unavoidable side effects of forcing it to happen.

‘Still, I hope it’s something easy…’

Before I could finish the thought, I realized I had thought something I shouldn’t have.

By the time I realized my mistake, it was already too late.

The energy flowing from the magic stone like smoke soon gathered together to form the shape of a human woman… and then became a living being.

“Oh shit.”

I know the probability of a demon appearing here is about 0.4%, but this actually happened?

No, was the probability adjusted upward because of the difficulty?

Whatever the case, it was clear that something serious had happened. Demons were not something to be taken lightly.

Not knowing how it would move, I first drew my sword and examined the writhing figure before me.

I said it had the form of a human woman, but its appearance was too bizarre to be called human.

It was long and lanky, like a ghost.

“Gyagyagyagyak. Gyagyagyak.”

Its cry was just generally eerie.

It’s not a particularly strong demon. The setting is that it’s in an unstable state because it was forcibly created from a broken magic stone.

It’s classified as a C-rank demon, which is quite low-tier.

It’s so low-tier that it doesn’t even have a name set in the game.

It just appears with the word “Demon” attached to it.

But I didn’t let my guard down. No matter how low-tier it is, a demon is still a demon.

If I truly became careless, I could be taken out in an instant.

‘I do have experience defeating a demon before, but…’

The situation was different from before.

The demon Krumple that I defeated back then was a parrying gimmick boss with nothing particularly notable about its physical abilities except durability, so I dealt with it easily, but I don’t know what would have happened if it had been a boss without gimmicks.

Actually, demons that rely on pure physical strength are my weakness. I can’t spend my whole life dodging and deflecting attacks.

To be honest… fighting these demons was more dangerous than when magic bullets were raining down during yesterday’s test.

Well… I did this because I had something reliable even if the worst happened.

‘It should take about 10 minutes at most.’

Fortunately, this is inside the Imperial Palace.

If we hold out for a little while, reinforcements will arrive soon. A few elite troops from the knights should be enough to handle a demon of this level.

Frankly speaking, if Alkine had encountered this demon instead of Krumple back then, she could have handled it alone.

Going further, if the Knight Commander arrives, the situation would end in an instant.

This is a place filled with talented individuals. If we just buy time, everything will work out.

With that reassurance, I quietly called out to her, who was tense beside me.

“Celia.”

“…Yes.”

“Would you listen if I told you to run away?”

“No.”

She’s really problematic too.

Even in this situation, she gives an answer like a stubborn female protagonist.

“GYAGYAGYAGYAGYAK!!!”

It’s quite impressive to be stubborn in front of such a hideous thing.

“Then just don’t move from there.”

“Understood.”

Demons are fundamentally aggressive.

No matter how much supporting fire comes from behind, they focus more on the opponent right in front of them.

It’s a bit different for cunning demons that can mimic human speech, but this one doesn’t apply.

“Gyagyagyagyak. GYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAK!!”

It’s just screaming bizarre noises.

Then as long as I don’t run away, Celia shouldn’t be in danger.

Of course, I have no intention of running away.

“So I just need to stand still and use magic, right?”

And neither does she, it seems.

Can’t be helped. I approached the demon with my sword drawn.

The demon’s gaze fixed on me. With this, I no longer had to worry about aggro shifting to Celia.

Preparing to respond to the demon that looked ready to charge at any moment, I said to Celia:

“Don’t hit me by mistake.”

“What do you take me for? Just don’t get hurt again.”

Celia said that while instantly deploying dozens of magic circles… wow, that looks so cool.

I don’t know how she achieved such explosive growth, but it’s reassuring.

The next moment, the demon lunged toward me.