Woof woof

Woof woof

An intense vibration echoed with each step it took.

I watched the monster charging at me, swinging its arms wildly.

I’m not sure if it lost its intelligence as its body changed like that, or if its instincts just became stronger.

‘It’s like a beast incarnate.’

It was rapidly approaching me, behaving in a way that anyone would see as far from human.

I narrowed my eyes as I slowly raised my mace, observing the monster.

‘It seems impossible to inflict damage with normal attacks.’

It would be better to focus on using powerful attacks from the start.

With that thought, I manifested a magic-penetrating point explosion on the monster’s head.

Along with the sound of flesh tearing and blood and bits of flesh flying in all directions.

A powerful explosion sound followed belatedly as a massive blast occurred on the monster’s head.

… Normally, this would have been enough to cause instant death.

“Kraaaargh!”

I’m not sure what they did to it.

In the blink of an eye, I could see its head rapidly regenerating and returning to its original state.

It seems that a single point explosion won’t be enough to deal with it. As that judgment crossed my mind, I smiled amusedly.

‘That’s right.’

I loosened my shoulders, thinking that I had finally met a worthy opponent after a long time.

The appearance of an opponent who could withstand my attacks meant it was time to start using new techniques.

‘Well then, what shall we try?’

Just as I was thinking about this somewhat enjoyable dilemma.

I noticed that the monster’s hands were each forming different incantations and manifesting magic.

‘Could it be using different magic with each hand?’

Thinking this was quite impressive, I stretched out my hand.

If it was using 8 spells, all I had to do was steal all 8 of them.

Magic Interference.

Ownership Seizure.

Normally, this technique could only be used if there was a huge difference in skill level.

But by using the unique properties gained from Magic Penetration, I could accomplish this without much difficulty.

So I used this to take the opponent’s magic as it was and reverse it back at them.

“Kuaaaaah!”

Perhaps because the backlash is stronger than expected when magic explodes during its manifestation.

The monster began to writhe, letting out an even louder scream than before.

‘Looks like it can feel pain.’

As I was smiling with satisfaction at this sight.

It seems there were still some surviving believers, as they began to shout something while spitting blood from their mouths.

“Br-brothers and sisters, do not worry…! The blessing of the Heaven God is invincible! Even if this is a failure, it won’t lose to the magic of such a heretic. Do not doubt and fight back!”

At those words, the Heaven God Cult believers who had gathered at the entrance of the banquet hall at some point responded by raising their weapons and letting out wild cries.

I sneered at the sight that reminded me of fanatics.

I decided to try a new technique as I had thought earlier.

‘Until now, I’ve only applied spatial compression magic to myself or my own magic.’

Now that my magical skills have improved significantly.

Not only can I use it on myself.

But I can also apply it to enemies, so I decided to use it while drawing up mana.

‘There’s only one reason to cast spatial compression magic on an enemy.’

If used well, I can control all of the opponent’s movements at will, and…

‘Furthermore, I can inflict the consequences of magic failure on the opponent.’

It was possible to use it in this way as well.

I used spatial compression magic on the monster’s body parts like the neck, arms, and legs to create a space they could pass through.

‘The moment they pushed their body through to cross the space.’

I canceled it, forcibly separating the body that had entered the compressed space from the original body.

“……!”

At this magical technique using failure.

The gathering Heaven God Cult followers began to back away with terrified expressions.

Seeing their reaction, I sneered and cast another spell.

‘Spatial compression magic.’

In fact, even if I used spatial compression magic to sever the body, it was obvious that the monster’s insane regenerative ability would nullify this.

This action alone was meaningless.

But if I took it one step further, things would be different.

I applied the space compression magic I used earlier to each severed body part.

Then I summoned lightning to drive them downwards.

‘As the body parts fell rapidly downwards due to the lightning, the space compression magic was applied.’

Each body part would be buried deep in the ground in different locations.

No matter how strong its regenerative abilities were, recovery would be impossible.

“……”

As the monster disappeared, the noisy banquet hall suddenly became quiet.

I thought this silence was quite pleasing as I slowly looked around and picked up the mace.

“I-Impossible.”

Perhaps they didn’t expect the monster to be dealt with in this way.

The cultist who was shouting earlier denied reality, shaking his head and crying out in disbelief.

“It’s a lie… Yes, it’s a lie. All of this is just a wicked illusion created by that heretic’s evil magic to shake our faith, when in reality, he did nothing!”

I’m not sure if there’s some intention behind this or if their faith is simply too strong, causing such denial.

Thinking there was no need to listen further, I summoned lightning to thoroughly burn that cultist while continuing to speak.

“Does it still seem like an illusion?”

I asked the question towards the pile of ashes.

But since ashes cannot speak, unlike before, they simply quietly faded away.

I stepped on those ashes to ensure they were completely gone, then slowly turned my gaze.

‘Now, what’s left is…’

Rescuing the Herdi family members and eliminating the remaining enemies.

I decided to wrap things up quickly and moved on.

* * *

“As expected of my son-in-law!”

The first voice I heard as soon as everything was over was that of the head of the Herdi family.

He grabbed my hand and told those around him in an excited voice that he had marked me as Delia’s husband.

‘He must be acting to smooth over this situation.’

While it probably also includes gratitude for saving them.

Not only am I a descendant of the Lercier Family, but I’m also strong enough to defeat powerful enemies alone despite still being just an Academy student.

I thought he might be trying to salvage his position to some extent by revealing his relationship with me.

As I was smiling, thinking how ridiculous this situation was.

Delia quickly ran to me, hugged me, and said.

“Deren Deren! Are you okay?”

I don’t even have a scratch, let alone any blood on me, so anyone could see that I’m fine.

Seeing her hug me while asking if I’m okay, I wondered if she just wanted an excuse to hug me.

Thinking that I’m strangely dishonest, I pushed Delia away.

“No, why!”

Delia, seemingly developing a stubborn streak, pushed her head even more forcefully, trying to hug me.

‘Let’s just… give up.’

Perhaps because I had just gone through tiring events, I didn’t want to argue over something like this, so I let her be.

Delia, seizing the opportunity like a predator, buried her face in my body and started giggling.

‘This is troublesome.’

As I was wondering what to do about this.

Delia lifts her face as if she remembered something and says to me.

“Maybe the lucky charm I gave you before didn’t bring luck to you, but to me instead.”

I think she’s saying that because I came to rescue her…

Objectively speaking, it was unfortunate that not only was the house on the verge of collapse, but also numerous people within the family had died.

I didn’t know what to say to her.

‘Moreover, it happened partly because she got involved with me.’

Perhaps it would be more accurate to describe it as a charm that brings misfortune rather than luck.

As this thought occurred to me, I felt sorry and patted Delia’s head.

Delia, extremely flustered, says to me.

“Uh, um…? Huh?”

It seems she’s having trouble accepting this behavior from me, probably because I usually ignore her or treat her coldly.

Delia holds her patted head with both hands, looks at me.

Then she starts rambling and says something to me.

“Wh-what’s going on suddenly? Did something good happen? No, maybe not. Then, why? And if you suddenly treat me this well, n-no! That’s really dangerous, you know. So next time, you should ask for permission… No, you don’t need permission, you can do it as you like. But it would be nice if you told me in advance. No, just do it as you please!”

She starts spewing out words endlessly with a blank expression, as if she doesn’t even know what she’s saying.

I look at Delia like this and pat her shoulder to signal her to calm down.

Delia seems to have come to her senses then, and continues speaking while clearing her throat.

“… Anyway, thank you. I survived thanks to you.”

Instead of answering, I nod, and she looks at the damaged house and says.

“Don’t worry about the house. It’s not too difficult to restore it if we hire magicians, and above all, it seems the nearby annexes are still intact.”

The Herdi family, known for their wealth, seemed to have no difficulty in recovering from the damage.

I nodded, thinking it was fortunate.

Delia sighed and said.

“The massive loss of employees and guard knights… It will have quite an impact. But you don’t need to worry about that. Of course, this is a problem that the Herdi family must resolve.”

“……”

I nodded silently, and Delia gave me an awkward smile.

Although she tried to brush it off playfully, the entire situation was too serious to simply laugh about.

So, I decided to leave, saying ‘I’ll be going now’ and was about to move my feet.

Delia gently grabbed the hem of my clothes and spoke to me in a hushed voice.

“I, I’ll be the first to rush to you if you’re in danger later. So, th-thank you.”

How many times will she say thank you?

I gently patted Delia’s head once more to show I understood, then returned to the main house.

* * *

Upon returning to the main house, I noticed Rumi standing with a very stern expression.

Judging by her state, it seemed she had been standing outside since I left.

Wondering why she was like that, I approached Rumi, and she spoke to me with an expression on the verge of tears.

“… I really do like you.”

I silently looked at Rumi, not expecting such a sudden confession.

Rumi wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and continued speaking.

“… Whether I’m working or studying, I like you so much that I keep thinking about you, Deren.”

“……”

For a confession, her expression was quite stiff.

Realizing something was wrong, I was about to say something when.

Before that, Rumi continued speaking.

“… So. From now on, for your sake too… I’ll try to really dislike you.”

A calm statement.

Looking at Rumi, who seemed to have already made up her mind, I hesitated for a moment.

Then I voiced the thought that had been on my mind for a while.

“I have no idea what nonsense you’ve been spouting. If you’re going to say things that don’t make sense, you might as well bark like a dog.”

Realizing that forceful behavior had worked before, I used a harsh tone to forcibly suppress such thoughts, which made my intonation sound strange.

As I realized my mistake and was about to correct what I had just said.

Espin, who had been watching nearby, muttered in a small voice with an astonished expression.

“… Did he really like imitating dogs?”