Ch.586The Power Newly Acquired Must Be Tested Right Away

“Hagalaz.”

“GYEEEEEK!”

The monster’s leg that touched my fingertips shattered into pieces, scattering into dust. Having lost its leg in an instant, the monster staggered, collapsed, and screamed.

I struck down the neck of the monster that had approached right before me with Durandal, then dusted off the black powder on my left hand.

On my way back to the territory, I was actively experimenting with two seals against monsters I encountered. To become familiar with my newly acquired power and, furthermore, to devise the most efficient way to use it.

In the past, bandits rather than monsters would have been my main test subjects, but since the monster uprising, bandits had long disappeared as if they had been exterminated.

No, to be precise, they do appear occasionally, but they’re no longer in a state that could be called bandits.

“Grrrr…”

The stench of rotting meat wafted over. A monster approaching with a weary groan, wearing tattered leather clothes. A lowest-tier undead, a Rotting Patient.

I wonder if this is what they call karma. The bandits who used to hide in remote areas and suck the lifeblood of travelers and merchants had fallen to become undead corpses, having their flesh and blood sucked by squirming maggots.

There were about thirty of them. They were so weak that I was almost too lazy to swing my sword.

“Leonore, stay behind me.”

I stepped in front of Lena and Leonore, extending my right hand toward the monsters.

“Kenaz.”

As I uttered the activation word of the seal, the surrounding mana fluctuated and was drawn into my wrist.

Now.

Just before the gathered mana transformed into flames, I added the power of Karma of Murder to the fire seal. Like the old method of forcibly awakening the seal to manifest karma fire.

If the timing of adding karma was even slightly early, it would only manifest the old karma fire, and if too late, it would only produce ordinary flames, but… this time it was just right.

– Whoosh!

A crimson sun rises in my hand. With heat incomparable to the previous karma fire. Extreme firepower burning not only mana but also the power of Karma of Murder as fuel. It was a perfect success.

“Melt away!”

I swung my outstretched right arm horizontally. The karma fire trapped in my palm was released according to my will. Flames that seemed drawn from hell swept across the front like lava.

– Roooar!

Everything touched by the wall of karma fire perishes.

Before they can even burn in the flames, they melt in the heat, boil instantly, and scatter into smoke. Both monsters and the ground alike.

Although it had the disadvantage of consuming massive amounts of mana and Karma of Murder as fuel, its power was comparable to a dragon’s flames.

Moreover, in terms of convenience, it was even better since I could control even its extinguishing with my will.

– Hissss…

As I withdrew the power of karma and imagined dispersing the flames, the fiercely burning crimson flames subsided instantly, extinguishing like a candle in the wind.

Only the heat spread in the air remained, causing a waterfall-like mirage and a fierce wind to blow.

“…That seems stronger than high-level magic. You could just quit sword fighting and go around setting fires.”

Leonore whistled in admiration. Indeed, in terms of firepower, it was beyond high-level magic. Though not enough to be used as a main technique.

“The power is decent, but the efficiency is poor.”

Like most of my techniques, the perfectly implemented karma fire was terribly inefficient. Just one manifestation drained all the surrounding mana and consumed nearly thirty percent of my Karma of Murder power.

Moreover, the speed at which the flames spread was slow enough that a hero-class expert could somehow respond to it.

This seemed more like an issue with my proficiency rather than a fundamental problem with karma fire.

—-

Unlike the fire seal, which could enhance firepower with the power of Karma of Murder, adding karma to the destruction seal was meaningless.

I tried adding the power of Karma of Murder with the same sensation as when manifesting karma fire, but instead of adding power, even the karma power itself was destroyed and scattered.

Well, thinking about it, it was natural. When firewood is added to fire, it burns more fiercely, but throwing firewood at pure destructive power only increases the targets to be destroyed.

‘Using it like karma fire is impossible.’

[Indeed. This would just be a waste of power.]

I wasn’t particularly disappointed. The newly acquired seal was powerful enough without adding extra power.

Although it had the disadvantage of requiring maintained contact with the target, once my left hand touched something, it could turn anything into dust, regardless of whether it was organic or inorganic. Though inorganic materials disintegrated a bit faster.

It seemed like it could destroy even magic upon contact, but the fact that magic touched my left hand already meant I had been hit by the magic, so that aspect wasn’t very meaningful.

Even if I tried to block lightning with my left hand, I would be electrocuted before the lightning could be destroyed.

‘Could I break Unyielding Flesh with this?’

[Well… I’ve thought about that too, but it doesn’t seem that simple. It’s a powerful force, but ultimately it’s destruction through mana. It might reduce the duration, but breaking it in one go is unlikely. That would be no different from covering something in tar and setting it on fire, wouldn’t it?]

‘I suppose…’

That’s a bit disappointing. I thought if I could destroy Unyielding Flesh with the power of the seal, fighting Orhan would be much easier.

[To begin with, you don’t need to fight Orhan.]

‘…What?’

What nonsense is that? It was such an absurd statement that I could only tilt my head sideways and ask.

[Isn’t it obvious? Defeating Orhan is my duty and the first step of my revenge. How could I entrust it to someone else’s hands?]

‘Are you insane?’

The words that escaped me involuntarily contained all my bewilderment.

‘Even with all my strength plus all your karma, I’m not sure we can win against him, and you want to face him with your power alone? Do you have a death wish?’

From what she was saying, it sounded like she wanted to take control of the body to fight like before, but that would be suicidal.

Of course, Hersella was a powerful warrior who could overwhelm ordinary heroes, and her Tale of Heros was perhaps more powerful than Defying Fate, but that alone wasn’t enough to defeat such an opponent.

Since she wasn’t recognized as Durandal’s owner, she couldn’t use even the most basic of the sword’s powers, and she wouldn’t be able to use the achievements I had accumulated or the seals on my wrist either.

That would essentially reduce her to just a hero with slightly superior physical abilities.

In the original story, she somehow managed to defeat Orhan with just that, but that happened years later, so the circumstances were likely very different from the current situation.

She probably fought after accumulating about ten times the current amount of karma power through years of slaughter. If it came down to a prolonged battle until exhaustion, she might have had a chance. In other words, it’s impossible now.

So, I had no choice but to dissuade Hersella from her recklessness.

[When did I say I would fight with my power alone?]

Hersella sighed as if in disbelief.

‘Then what do you mean?’

[Think about it. It’s true that I cannot handle your karma. That’s an undeniable fact. However, couldn’t that be resolved with your help?]

‘My help?’

[If you control my body like now, I’m bound and pushed to the back of consciousness. But… even so, I can still control the power of karma to some extent. So we do the opposite. Do you understand?]

The opposite…?

So, just as Hersella can control the tentacles of karma that I manifest according to her will, she’s asking me to control the power of achievements from the back of her consciousness?

‘Is that possible?’

[We won’t know until we try. But I don’t think what’s possible for me would be impossible for you. So, let’s practice this whenever we get the chance.]

‘Uh… sure.’

There seemed no reason to refuse. If she wants to fulfill her lifelong wish by herself, and if it’s not completely impossible, I thought I could help her that much.

—-

After that day, every evening I briefly handed over my body to Hersella and repeatedly attempted to awaken the power of achievements in that state. Since trying during combat might cause problems, we practiced alone before sleeping.

During the day, I researched ways to utilize the seals against monsters, and at night, I explored methods to enhance a body that was no longer mine with the power of achievements. There was no time to be bored.

My efforts weren’t in vain, at least for the former.

By simultaneously manifesting the power of destruction in my left hand and the power of fire in my right hand and combining them, I could create a new weapon.

On the other hand, there was no progress in manifesting the power of achievements. It wasn’t completely impossible, but it was too inefficient, and it would dissolve immediately if my concentration wavered even slightly.

‘You fool! Can’t you focus properly!’

[This is really difficult…!]

Despite Hersella’s scolding, I grumbled but closed my eyes again and drew upon the power of karma. Since I was pushed to the back of consciousness, closing my eyes was just a figurative expression of that feeling.

Anyway, handling karma while giving up control of the body was more difficult than I thought.

Hersella explained that it was similar to the sensation of infusing and handling karma in a mount, but unfortunately, that advice was of no help to me.

I couldn’t even infuse karma into a mount in the first place.

In the end, by the time we arrived at the territory, my only achievement was maintaining the enhancement of achievements for a few seconds.