Chapter 8: Miss Yeon (3)

“Ugh…”

As the hallucination shattered, a splitting headache surged, and my vision flipped in an instant.

“The others… still not yet.”

Ignoring the throbbing pain, I checked on the others.

They were still trapped within the hallucination.

At least there was a glimmer of hope for Rozennia to wake up, but it was impossible to predict when.

“Tch, looks like there was a contaminant mixed in.”

A small child flailing wildly, twisting their head unnaturally.

At a glance, it might not seem too strange, but—

“A lunatic.”

Looking closely, the child’s face was grotesquely disfigured.

“Since when?”

I hadn’t noticed at all.

If I hadn’t sensed the demonic energy leaking midway, I would have been killed by this thing.

“Judging by your reaction, you’re curious, aren’t you?”

The figure slowly approached, bending its limbs unnaturally.

“This place has been shrouded in demonic energy from the beginning. Had things gone according to plan, I could have been praised by Him… but you just had to bring that revolting energy with you.”

“Bullshit, you’re not even the main body.”

“Oh? How did you know that? The more I learn, the more fascinating you are.”

Of course, I had no choice but to know.

Among those who use demonic energy, there’s only one perverted bastard who turns corpses into puppets for entertainment.

‘Narvane.’

A character who appears mostly in the latter half of the story. 

A hedonist who pursues immediate pleasure, even disobeying orders from his own group.

In short, he’s someone who does whatever the hell he wants.

‘Why is he here?’

The problem was why Narvane was here.

This was a village near the heart of the Empire.

The missing children were probably all his doing.

To think he’s already pulled off something this bold…

‘…For now, let’s deal with what’s in front of me.’

That body wasn’t the main body but a puppet.

Still, I couldn’t let my guard down.

Unlike me, he was undoubtedly a formidable opponent.

“You seem lost in thought.”

Had I lingered too long on idle thoughts?

The puppet’s claws, sprouting from its fingertips, lunged at my heart in an instant.

“Ugh!”

Barely deflecting the strike with my twisted blade, I managed to fend it off.

‘Damn, he’s strong.’

The impact reverberating from the blade to the hilt left my entire body tingling.

‘Both his speed and power surpass mine.’

After a brief exchange of blows, I could tell.

There was no clear opening to exploit for victory.

The fact that a mere puppet had this much power…

“Why don’t you surrender and die quietly?”

“Spit, bastard. Would you if you were me?”

Narvane maintained a somewhat gentlemanly tone, but his actions said otherwise.

Clang!

Before his words even finished, another attack dug into my side.

“Impatient little prick, aren’t you?”

I countered with the fullest application of Alteia swordsmanship, but I was nearing my limit.

‘At this rate, my mana will deplete first.’

As the fight dragged on, I avoided fatal injuries, but minor wounds kept piling up.

At this rate, I’d collapse from exhaustion.

…I really didn’t want to use it this time.’

There was a simple way to escape this situation.

All I had to do was use the item tucked away in my chest.

It wasn’t originally meant for me, which made the decision harder, but—

‘Better than dying.’

The item I had spent EXP on to hand over to Ian when the opportunity arose.

[Tear of Brecteia]

[The Tear of the long-lost Red Dragon, Brecteia. Consuming it explosively boosts magical power.]

[EXP – 10,000]

The strongest creature on earth.

A mysterious race of dragons, said to have gone extinct long ago after the end of the Divine-Demonic War.

This object contains a significant amount of magical power, the essence left behind by those beings.

“Ah, what a waste.”

Magic is not a singular, unified energy.

Each type of magic has its own patterns and properties.

Thus, consuming an elixir like this requires a complicated process.

Just gulping it down for a magical power boost? 

That’s wishful thinking.

For maximum efficiency, it must be consumed as safely as possible.

Therefore, if I were to consume this all at once…

“I might gain immense power temporarily, but most of it will disappear afterward.”

If consumed unrefined, it will merely become volatile magic.

Very little magic would remain in my body.

“Not to mention, it’ll hurt like hell.”

If my mana circuits don’t burn entirely, I’d consider myself lucky.

I’m already prepared for some level of damage.

“Hmm…”

As I looked down, I noticed Rozennia’s fingers trembling incessantly.

“I just need to stall for time.”

She’ll figure something out when she gets up.

Though clumsy, she’s still one of the best mages in Arcane, second only to the faculty.

“Are you done already?”

“Shut up. Wait when someone’s transforming.”

“What does that even mean…”

Resolving myself, I opened the tightly sealed small glass bottle and—

Gulp, gulp.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I downed it in one shot.

“Ugh, bitter.”

“What…did you just do?”

“Who knows? Curious?”

The effect was immediate.

As soon as I consumed it, an overwhelming surge of magical power rushed in.

An indescribable, euphoric sensation consumed me.

“This…won’t last long.”

Crunch.

The joy of the surge in power was short-lived.

My mana circuits screamed as if about to burst.

My body, insufficiently trained, was already overloading.

“If you’re curious, come find out for yourself, bastard.”

Realizing I couldn’t sustain this state for long, I decided to finish him off as quickly as possible.

“Hah… To think you possess such a rare item, truly fascinating.”

I chose to ignore his words.

I didn’t have time to waste.

“Grr…”

I didn’t even have the luxury to speak.

“Judging by your speech and appearance, you’re no royalty.”

Though my movements were rough and simple compared to his, the sheer power behind them was overwhelming.

“Then again, you don’t seem to be one of those damned fireflies either…”

“Hmm, or could you perhaps be a distinguished guest of the nation?”

“Useless… nonsense…”

I wanted to hurl a string of curses at his gibberish, but suppressing the boiling magic took everything I had.

“To think such beings with divine power would arrive… This is troublesome.”

His puppet was already half-destroyed.

And with the tether to his demonic energy growing faint, he wouldn’t last much longer.

“More blessed than royalty… This is valuable information indeed.”

“Shut… up… and… get lost…”

“You’re quite an amusing person. I’ll take my leave for today. I’ve enjoyed the game enough.”

Khehehe,

Snap.

As soon as the strings of magic controlling the puppet disappeared, it collapsed onto the floor.

“Ah…”

I, too, succumbed to the aftereffects of my mana circuits expanding to their limit and fell.

“Arghhhhh!”

“Oh, come on! Stop being so dramatic, junior.”

“But it hurts…”

“Stop being such a wimp. Look behind you!”

Whack!

“Arghhhhhhh!”

When I came to, I found myself in the infirmary of the Order.

After breaking Narvane’s puppet, I collapsed. 

Rozennia had snapped out of her hallucination, contacted Arcane, and managed to escape immediately.

‘Still, disappearing without a trace…’

The residents we saw that day were not alive.

They were already severely decayed corpses.

‘That means we must’ve been under a hallucination the moment we arrived.’

Considering I was with a group of skilled individuals, it was strange that no one had even sensed anything suspicious.

If I hadn’t been there, they probably all would’ve died.

‘I can’t let my guard down.’

The peaceful days had made me forget for a moment.

This is a world set in an utterly twisted, trashy novel.

It wouldn’t be strange for characters to be wiped out at any time.

If I’m not careful, even the protagonist and heroines could all end up dead like this time.

‘I can’t blindly rely on the original story’s information.’

It seems the time has come to find a reliable informant.

“Sigh…”

After a brief meeting, Rozennia left the order.

Seated in a prepared carriage with her legs crossed, she muttered softly, almost inaudibly:

“Shadow.”

At her words, a figure cloaked in black appeared in the seat ahead.

“You called for me?”

“Can a commoner receive a blessing?”

“That would be impossible.”

“Even for a student?”

“A formal ceremonial blessing may be possible, but one infused with divine power by the High Priest is not.”

This incident was entirely her responsibility.

She hadn’t been meticulous, nor had she protected him.

She had only wanted to spend time together.

A new member?

An activity report?

None of that mattered to her.

She was someone of noble birth and lineage, capable of making all kneel beneath her feet save for one.

A single word from her, and everything would pass smoothly.

And yet, she had used such an excuse just to have a proper look at his face.

‘Damn fools.’

But she hadn’t expected those bastards to already be roaming freely within the empire.

‘And Venice, that woman…’

She understood why she had done it.

But—

‘It was way too obvious.’

Even during a royal’s blessing, that much divine power isn’t displayed.

Moreover, she was a saint chosen by God.

No one but her could lavish others with divine power and remain unscathed.

Had anyone been watching, it would’ve been discovered immediately.

‘I’ll have to give her a warning.’

Rozennia resolved to visit the imperial palace over the weekend and cut a portion of the funds allocated to the order.