episode_0019

“Damn it! What the hell is that-!”

“Heh, Bestie, I’m out of breath now!”

“Then just die! Why are you such a weakling-”

[Beep beep beep-!]

“Aaaah!!”

Allevan and Bestie ran fiercely through the deep forest.

Rudy summoned the spirit of Rose as soon as he broke the necklace.

He ordered the Phoenix to chase after them.

As a result, Allevan and Bestie found themselves in this situation.

“This is ridiculous!”

Allevan stopped running and turned around.

“…! Hey, Allevan! Are you crazy?! Hurry up and run!”

“Shut up! I don’t have the stamina to run anymore! It’s do or die at this point!”

As Allevan reached out towards the Phoenix in the air, a magic circle appeared.

4th-rank fire magic, Fire Explosion.

It was his favorite and most powerful magic, known for its explosive nature.

“Go to hell, you birdbrain!”

[……!]

Several orbs appeared around the Phoenix, exploding in an instant with a loud bang, creating a thick smoke.

As the cries of the Phoenix ceased, Allevan raised his head and laughed triumphantly.

“Hahaha! See, it was nothing special! In front of this explosion artist-”

[……beep beep!]

“…Oh shit?”

As the smoke cleared, the Phoenix looked down at Allevan without a hint of mercy.

From its expression, it seemed furious from head to toe.

Naturally so.

The Phoenix, king of the Firebirds, was a 7th-rank spirit.

And Allevan’s 4th-rank fire magic was no match for it.

…Somewhere along the way, Bestie had disappeared, leaving Allevan behind.

“That traitorous Bestie! How dare she abandon her comrade?!”

[Beep beep beep?!]

“Wait, hold on. Can’t you speak… Oh, right, you’re a bird!”

-Ku-gwak!

The Phoenix exhaled towards Allevan.

***

Allevan, now unconscious, was later retrieved by the professors.

He was imprisoned in the underground of the academy and would face various interrogations upon waking up.

But there was another problem.

[System: Lust stat activated.]

“Aaah!”

“What the hell is this?!”

The ghouls that Allevan and Bestie had left behind.

They chased after Rudy like madmen.

As if they had seen a treasure, they leaped one after another.

Realizing something was amiss in this bizarre situation, the professors spoke.

“What on earth is going on? Why are the ghouls after the Phantom student…”

“But why do some of them seem to be standing still?”

The ability of the Lust stat, one of the 7 Deadly Sins stats, was Charm.

It was helpful in diplomacy.

Unlike the other 7 Deadly Sins stats, this stat had no combat abilities and was optimized for the owner’s survival.

One of its abilities was to increase the Charm stat.

While it was useful for diplomacy even for humans, it was primarily optimized for the owner’s ‘survival’…

“Don’t follow me, you bastards-!”

“I love you, oppa!”

“Let’s hug just once.”

It had a stronger effect on monsters.

“The creator of this Lust stat must be a pervert!”

The ghouls relentlessly chased after Rudy.

But there was something strange.

As mentioned by the professors earlier, only a few groups of ghouls were chasing after Rudy, while the rest were simply watching.

There was a reason for that.

“I want to die… (I died once, but I want to die again.)”

“Disgusting appearance! (Superficial looks!)”

Yes.

The rest were ghouls who were men in their past lives.

“Thank you. The reward for this achievement will definitely be given at the academy later.”

“Huk, huk… No… I have to… Ugh!”

“…Go inside the mansion and take a rest for a bit.”

After the delayed arrival of the overflowing mana, leaving only one group of ghouls as research subjects, Rudy wiped them all out.

He staggered towards the mansion.

The news of Rudy capturing Aleban, a high-ranking member of the Eclipse Sect, would quickly spread through the Academy newspaper.

In a short time, he would receive a commendation from the headmaster.

“What’s the meaning of all this? Ugh, not now…”

Rudy’s mind was complicated.

During the Half-Hearted, things were too risky.

Even capturing a high-ranking member was not his own doing.

It was Rose’s cheat.

He handled the situation with the spirit she lent him.

If it weren’t for Rose, he would have been at the mercy of the Eclipse Sect.

With a calm breath, Rudy touched his chin and thought.

“I’m falling behind in raising my level…”

…Should I go all-in on the 7 deadly stats?

According to the original game story, his power should be at 7 stars by now.

The heroines’ power should be around 5 stars.

He was only at 3 stars.

And the heroines couldn’t even break through the 3-star level…

At this rate, the world’s destruction ending caused by the Black Dragon was inevitable.

Perhaps the key to overcoming the crisis was the 7 deadly abilities.

“Now that I have a new life, I need to be more proactive and clever in my actions.”

He was no longer the rumored Rudy.

He was Phantom now.

He needed to focus his mind.

If the world perished, he couldn’t guarantee what would happen to his life.

“Hey, wait!”

“….”

“…Phantom!”

When Rudy turned around in surprise at the sound of his name, someone was approaching.

With white hair and cold, crystal blue eyes.

Charlotte Claret, wearing a tightly buttoned shirt that couldn’t hide her desirable figure.

“What’s the matter?”

“I’ve been looking for you for a while! I…!”

Charlotte rolled her eyes down, then to the side, before finally speaking.

“…Thank you for saving me earlier today.”

“Oh, that, don’t mention it.”

“….”

“Have you been looking for me just to say that?”

“Uh, yes.”

Why was she hesitating so much?

If she wasn’t someone who could stop the Eclipse Sect and the Black Dragon, Rudy would have ignored her long ago.

She had almost made his life miserable by ruining his family.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“…When I asked the male clown mask for help last time, I heard that I would return to the world where I belong. Can I ask why I would return to you, Phantom?”

“Ah.”

Was that the reason?

‘Did I bring it up for no reason?’

He didn’t know she was holding onto that.

“I don’t really know. It must have been a slip of the tongue… I would appreciate it if you could forget about it.”

“No. You definitely said it. I heard it clearly.”

Charlotte looked at Rudy with serious eyes.

“…Huh.”

Was there a misunderstanding?

‘Wait a minute.’

Rudy had a good idea.

“I can’t help it. Shall I tell you?”

Charlotte nodded her head.

For some reason, her gaze seemed hesitant.

He knew her as someone with a cold demeanor, so it felt awkward.

“If you defeat me in a duel, I will tell you.”

“A duel…?”

“Yes. There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.”

“….”

Is he saying something crazy?

When Charlotte hesitated for a moment, Rudy turned around and said.

“If you don’t want to, forget it.”

“No, no! I’ll do it!”

A smirk appeared on Rudy’s lips.

*

“Ugh…!”

“You’re putting too much force. Use a bit more flexibility to swing.”

Backed away, Charlotte knelt down on one knee, struggling.

Charlotte was flustered by the situation she couldn’t understand.

‘What is this situation…?’

Dragged to the arena out of the blue for a duel.

After being defeated, she was receiving feedback.

“If you don’t come, I’ll go.”

“Huh?!”

-Clang!

Their swords clashed.

In the midst of it, Charlotte thought in confusion.

‘What power…!’

It was unbelievable.

Even if she was forced into a duel without any preparation.

Charlotte’s sword had never touched Rudy.

There was a lingering aftereffect from the Joker, but she didn’t expect such a difference.

“Where did the rumored special magic go? It seems like it wouldn’t be enough even if you used it all.”

“….!”

Provoked by Rudy, Charlotte suddenly became angry.

“I don’t know why you’re suddenly doing this to me…!”

Once underestimated, she couldn’t just stand still.

With one hand pointing her magic wand and the other pointing her sword at Rudy.

Charlotte fiercely charged towards him.

“Frost Rain!”

A 2nd-rank magic, Frost Rain.

A technique that freezes the moisture in the air and showers the opponent with needle-like ice crystals.

Crash!

Countless ice crystals rained down on Rudy’s head, and at the same time, Charlotte rushed towards him.

And then it happened.

Counterattack!

Unbelievable reaction speed.

When all the ice crystals were dispersed, Charlotte blinked her eyes in disbelief at what had happened.

It was natural.

Rudy was also a protagonist. He had a body blessed by the sword.

Compared to the reaction speed of a decent swordsman, it was no match.

“You should have hidden your casting movements. If you use them so openly, your movements will be too obvious. What would you have done if it were a real battle?”

“….”

Rudy’s taunts continued afterwards.

However, those taunts were not meaningless.

Each one contained a lesson.

Every time Charlotte was defeated by Rudy, she could learn a lot.

At some point, Charlotte began to follow Rudy like a mentor.

She listened to his words attentively, nodding her head in agreement.

“Pant, pant….”

“Don’t advertise your exhaustion to the enemy. Hide your breath as much as possible.”

Soon, Rudy said.

“This is the last one.”

Slowly.

A blue aura began to emanate from Rudy’s arms, enveloping his sword.

Aura.

The basic skill of a swordsman that cannot be used unless it reaches the 3rd rank.

“….!”

“You have to block it.”

Charlotte’s ice crystal-like eyes stared directly at Rudy’s aura.

***

A grand library located in the capital of the Lien Spirit Kingdom.

It was a magical library where academic books on magic, history, and the essence of magic engineering, known as alchemy, were gathered.

Rose was in a top-secret area of the library.

Taking out a few books, she was investigating a piece of information.

“Dark magic that uses life as a medium.”

Dark magic.

Although it was disturbing, dark magic was an ‘evil’ with deep roots that existed even in ancient times.

People who were not satisfied with magic were everywhere.

And even if they were not talented magicians, they could easily use it by sacrificing humans.

‘…As expected, it’s closer to sorcery than magic.’

To use dark magic, dark magic power is needed.

To supply dark magic power, consciousness is needed.

A magic circle drawn with sacrificial blood.

The younger the sacrifice, the greater the effect.

The unknown power obtained by successful consciousness.

However, what Rose was looking for was not these things.

“I found it.”

The origin of dark magic.

She was very curious about Rudy’s power that nullified dark magic.

The power of the moon… in other words, lunar energy.

She thought there must be a close connection between the origin of dark magic and lunar energy.

In search of this, Rose had been stuck in this library ever since sending Rudy to the academy.

Rose flips through the pages of a book.

And then.

“…!”

She suddenly stopped her hand on one page, surprised.

“The power of the evil spirit who fell to the Moon Goddess?”