Chapter 7: Blue integer

Blue Essence

As expected, I felt a sense of repulsion when I actually tried to swallow the stone.

It was like a physiological aversion as a human.

Ah, though I’m not human anymore.

The lump of stone gulped down my esophagus.

The sensation was indescribably rough.

A discomfort like forcibly swallowing sharp shards of glass.

Because of that unpleasant sensation, I could vividly feel how far the stone had gone down.

And finally, the moment I felt that lump of stone reach my stomach.

“Kugh…!”

An intense pain exploded, as if my whole body was freezing.

It seemed my side effect was a status effect, specifically a chill-type one.

Coldness penetrated my bones in real-time.

As if it meant to completely conquer my body.

It felt like thousands of ice fragments were digging into every corner of my bones.

My flesh was tearing, and my bones were shattering.

At least, that’s what I felt.

A violent pain that felt like I would lose consciousness at any moment.

At that moment, a familiar system message floated before my eyes.

[Your mind is extremely unstable.]

[Overwhelming mental power corrects the unstable state.]

“This damn…!”

It was the mental power that had helped me several times before.

But this time, curses naturally burst out.

Because the activated mental power was making the sensations even more vivid.

I gritted my teeth.

I clenched my jaw so hard it felt like it would break, but my body twitched faintly regardless of my will.

My vision turned bluish and blurred.

The mana in my body spun violently like an untamed colt.

As if it would run wild at any moment.

The mana value on the status window also fluctuated wildly like a broken gauge.

At this point, a skill instinctively came to mind: Aura.

‘Should I use it?’

Whether it would be effective was unknown.

But I felt like I had to do something.

However, using another ability while absorbing an elixir was an extremely dangerous act.

I just tightly closed my eyes.

Fervently wishing this eon-like time would pass quickly.

My vision blurred and cleared repeatedly countless times.

How much time had passed?

As I battled the terrible cold, I suddenly realized that the chilling sensation that had been pressing down on my entire body had vanished as if by magic.

Instead, a subtly different, cool yet clear mana flowed smoothly through my body.

“…Is it over?”

I gasped for breath and barely managed to get up.

It was harder to find a spot on my body that didn’t ache.

Even if I were ganged up on, my whole body wouldn’t hurt so evenly.

Then, several lines of messages appeared before my eyes.

[First absorption of Blue Essence completed.]

[Unknown energy assimilates with mana.]

[Qualitative change in mana detected.]

[New possibilities are opening.]

Setting everything else aside, one particularly unusual sentence caught my eye.

“First?”

It was a message that only appeared when the elixir’s grade was too high compared to the character’s abilities.

It was an unexpected penalty.

How to proceed with the next absorption was easy to tell.

Because I could clearly feel the condensed energy of the Blue Essence in one corner of my body.

But.

“Hmph.”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

How many more times did I have to endure this hellish pain?

I could confirm it.

This was pain that would make even a seasoned masochist shriek and run away.

Did I really have to finish it?

I checked the status window.

Couldn’t I just stop at the first stage?

What kind of crazy thing was this, to make me do this again just to raise my mana by…

The maximum mana in the status window had increased to 230.

“Before, it was definitely…”

180, I remembered 180.

And now it’s 230.

An increase of about 30 percent from before.

“This is no joke, 30 percent?”

I dashed to my room.

Enduring pain was my specialty.

****

The hallways of the Demon King’s Castle were as quiet as ever.

Sephiron glanced back.

Yuriel followed him unusually quietly.

Perhaps she vaguely sensed the weight of the report today.

Sephiron reached the massive door and lightly knocked.

Then the heavy door opened silently inward.

Lashian was already arranging documents, as if she knew they were coming, not even sparing them a glance.

“What is it?”

Her voice was as emotionless as ever.

Sephiron and Yuriel simultaneously bowed their heads in respect.

At that moment, Sephiron detected a peculiar aura.

“…What’s that?”

A strange aura emanating from a distance that wasn’t too close, but not too far either.

It was cool yet somehow irregular.

It was a type of sensation Sephiron had never felt before in his life.

“Uh, wait, isn’t that over there?”

Yuriel was the next to react.

She then craned her neck back, looking around.

Sephiron’s brow furrowed slightly at her behavior.

Yuriel’s eyes were already sparkling with curiosity. She couldn’t wait even that short time.

Just as Sephiron was about to stop her.

“I don’t know.”

Lashian said in her characteristic low voice.

At the unexpected answer, Yuriel tilted her head.

“Huh? I’ll go right away and—”

“I’ve already been.”

Lashian cut off Yuriel’s words sharply.

Yuriel’s expression froze blankly for a moment.

“Huh? What did they say?”

“Yuriel.”

Sephiron’s expression contorted.

Not only was this far off topic, but her attitude was clearly careless.

However, Lashian waved her hand as if to dismiss it and replied briefly.

“They said they were busy and not to come in.”

“Huh?”

This time, even Sephiron couldn’t hide his surprise.

It wasn’t just any demon, it was the Demon King. The Demon King herself.

Did someone dare to tell *her* that they were busy and not to come in?

At that moment.

“Wow, that’s truly something else, isn’t it?”

Yuriel finally couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

Sephiron, regaining his composure belatedly, tried to restrain her.

“So.”

Before he could, Lashian’s gaze slowly shifted from her documents to them.

“What brings you here?”

Lashian asked, setting down her documents.

Her voice was somehow even lower than usual.

Fortunately, Yuriel had at least some sense, quickly closing her giggling mouth.

Sephiron bowed his head again and cautiously got to the main point.

“There is something to report.”

“Speak.”

“It’s about Sein, to be precise.”

“I know.”

Lashian’s gaze returned to her documents.

“Huh?”

“Was it tomorrow?”

With that, Lashian casually turned a page of her documents.

Sephiron realized then.

The fact that she had already grasped the entire situation.

“…You already knew.”

“How could I not?”

Lashian turned another page of documents and continued.

“Information has come in. The Imperial forces have sent another scouting party.”

“Ah…”

At her words, Yuriel’s expression also became serious.

The Empire’s movements were always a grave matter to be dealt with as a top priority.

Lashian continued speaking in her usual calm tone.

“The urgent matter is the scouting party. I was planning to deal with them first, then resolve Sein’s matter.”

A heavy silence briefly flowed after Lashian’s words.

It meant that she intended to move personally, in some way.

Yuriel, who had been watching nervously, cautiously opened her mouth.

“Then, since Your Majesty the Demon King is busy, I’ll go handle Sein’s matter so it doesn’t get too big…”

“I’m going too.”

Lashian’s firm single sentence cut off Yuriel’s words mercilessly.

“Huh? Aren’t you busy?”

At that, Lashian’s eyes lifted from her documents.

She slowly raised her head and looked at Yuriel.

“It’s the occasion for the replacement of a Seven Great Demon.”

Lashian’s voice was resolute.

Sephiron took a short breath and exhaled, bowing his head.

“I understand Your Majesty’s will.”

Normally, it would be natural for the Demon King to oversee the replacement of a Seven Great Demon.

But now, with the Empire’s scouting party, Sein’s rebellion, and Kyle somehow strangely entangled in the midst of it all.

Several troublesome problems had erupted at once.

It would not be easy for her to handle all of them. Because she only has one body.

In other words, this was a matter of efficiency.

Sephiron quickly organized the situation in his mind and continued speaking.

“Your Majesty.”

Lashian’s gaze returned to him.

“I will go with Yuriel, thoroughly assess the situation, and report back to you. There will be nothing for Your Majesty to worry about.”

A brief silence flowed.

Sephiron quietly waited for Lashian’s answer.

She was probably worried that the situation would unnecessarily escalate.

But if Sephiron himself stepped forward, the story would be different.

He was confident he could easily handle anyone besides the Demon King.

Even if it were another of the Seven Great Demons.

And Lashian would know that fact better than anyone.

So he thought she would tell him to do so.

But.

“I told you I’m going too.”

At Lashian’s stern tone, Sephiron’s eyes subtly wavered.

“But.”

“Sephiron.”

She stared intently at Sephiron, as if she would no longer tolerate any counter-arguments.

In the end, Sephiron could only quietly close his mouth.

No matter how he thought about it, this was not like the usual Demon King.

Normally, if such a matter arose, the Demon King would surely have delegated all authority to him.

But today, she was unusually stubborn.

Thus, the conversation ended.

Lashian’s gaze returned to the documents on her desk.

Sephiron, sensing the mood, bowed his head and dragged Yuriel out of the room.

There was no point in staying there any longer if he wouldn’t hear anything good.

At that moment.

Crinkle.

A very faint sound, like a piece of paper being crumpled, brushed past Sephiron’s ears.

“How dare he.”

Soon after, Lashian’s cold voice was heard softly.

At that, Yuriel’s mouth slowly opened.

“N-me?”

Yuriel stammered, flustered.

Sephiron looked at Yuriel with a look of exasperation.

“D-did I talk too much?”

Yuriel, looking terrified, grabbed Sephiron’s arm and shook it vigorously.

Sephiron neatly ignored her.

She should have just kept her mouth shut.

There was no need to tell her the truth.

Might as well let her come to her senses.

The target of the Demon King’s anger was probably…

‘Kyle.’

What on earth did he do to make the emotionless Demon King react like that?

From start to finish, he was utterly incomprehensible.

‘Kyle…’

Sephiron repeated the name several times to himself, dragging Yuriel down the hallway.

Of course, Yuriel had no way of knowing Sephiron’s thoughts.

“Sephiron! What am I going to do?!”

Only her pathetic cry echoed through the empty hallway.