The Power of Chaos
by Afuhfuihgs
Valentine swung his staff, filling the area within his magic’s reach entirely with crimson flashes. However, with just a simple forward extension of the black sword, the flashes split like streams of water, failing to inflict any damage on the enemy.
“…Can we even win against this?”
“…”
Valentine, having moved away to my side, uttered those words in despair. I didn’t want to give a weak answer like saying we couldn’t win. But the enemy was a monster that shattered and devoured magic. Moreover, weapon strikes were useless, and with a casual swing of the black sword, it could collapse dimensional pathways. Even with the use of Formless Breath, we could only barely keep up with its speed and power.
It’s difficult. The toughest opponent I’ve faced so far. But we have to fight. There’s nowhere to retreat, and I have no intention of backing down. Gripping the spear shaft, I recalled every attack I could possibly unleash. In the meantime, Colton and Raelan were doing a great job buying time.
While the summoned creature created by Raelan sacrificed itself to effectively hold the enemy’s feet, the mixed concoctions thrown by Colton continued to push back its approach. Swinging the black sword would be enough, but their goal was to make the enemy swing the black sword itself. Their aim wasn’t to kill, but to hold it back.
Kwang, Kwahang, Kwaaaang―――!
Using that opening, I unleashed all the remaining magic stone bombs above the enemy’s head. A heavy rumble could be felt through the soles of my boots. Not satisfied with that, I hurled a shadow spear using dimensional leap towards the enemy, whose form was only partially visible in the smoke.
Kaaaang―――!
The shadow spear, which had turned into a black flash along with flames, tumbled uselessly on the floor. It had completely annihilated the immense destructive power of the dimensional leap itself. Despite the simultaneous explosion of over 10 magic stone bombs and a dimensional leap, the enemy didn’t even have a scratch.
“So, it’s an enemy we can’t defeat with ordinary methods.”
Raelan, grinding his teeth and muttering, spoke to me.
“Is dimensional leap your strongest technique?”
Looking solely at destructive power, nothing could surpass the destructive force of dimensional leap. When I nodded, Raelan narrowed his brow and said.
“What if you amplified the destructive power using Formless Breath?”
“…I just used it.”
I wasn’t holding back. I had unleashed the best attack I could muster. Raelan, perhaps not realizing that I had even used Formless Breath, bit his lip with a flustered expression before speaking.
“I’ll create an opening somehow. It seems we have no choice but to aim for that gap with spatial magic.”
Raelan turned away, speaking as if he had no other choice. But before that, I saw Raelan glancing sideways at Ellie. It couldn’t be that Raelan was worried about the injured Lamine, so he must have been looking at Ellie. What could be the reason? Does Ellie know the solution to this situation?
Turning my head to look at Ellie, she was busy healing the injured Lamine. To save Derock, who was once again in danger, she conjured another spear and hurled it at the enemy. The enemy, who was about to finish off Derock, caught the incoming spear as if it had been waiting for it, spun around, and threw it at the adventurer who was approaching from behind.
I hastily dispelled the conjured spear, but the spear, already released from the enemy’s hand, pierced the adventurer’s heart. There were only two adventurers left now. One of them, stepping back, stared at his comrade’s corpse before turning and running towards the wall where the exit to escape the labyrinth was located.
I had no intention of forcibly stopping someone whose will had been broken. But the enemy’s thoughts were different. Ignoring all the magic flying towards it, the enemy rushed towards the adventurer who had turned his back on the battlefield, emitting a chilling, resentful groan filled with the same unpleasantness.
“Kkuaaaak!”
The arm of the adventurer, who had barely grabbed the doorknob, was severed by the black sword. As if that wasn’t enough, the enemy, with a voice full of resentment, literally tore the adventurer apart and killed him.
“…The enemy is agitated for the first time.”
I realized it at Raelan’s words. The enemy had reacted with an unusual loss of composure and sensitivity towards the adventurer who had turned his back and fled. The efficient killing had been replaced with a viscous emotion. If so, we might be able to exploit this. I approached Derock, who was sitting on the floor with a despairing look.
“I’ll block the enemy’s attacks. In the meantime, drop your weapon and run to the door.”
At those words, Derock contorted his face and said.
“…Are you telling me to be bait now?”
“That’s right, we have to do something to beat that monster. The enemy got agitated for the first time when it saw the adventurer running away. If it sees you dropping your weapon, it’ll lose its composure again and rush at you. Pretend to grab the doorknob, then turn around and counterattack. I’ll send you a weapon.”
This method is impossible without trust in me. We haven’t spent enough time together to build that trust. But I thought Derock would accept. Before being a guild leader, he was an adventurer. An adventurer’s revenge is naturally something an adventurer should do.
Derock, glaring at me with clenched jaw, sighed. Then, he got up and grabbed his sword.
“…Can I trust you?”
“No, you’ll definitely regret it if you don’t.”
“…This is fucking great. Isn’t this the kind of situation where you’re supposed to tell me to trust you, even if it’s a lie?”
I gave a bitter smile at Derock’s exasperated voice. Luna, who was the top priority in my life, trusted me and died. How can I tell anyone to trust me? I can’t even do it with empty words.
“Anyway, I trust you. You don’t want to die here either, do you?”
“…Yeah.”
Just then, Valentine, who had been firing magic from afar, ran towards us. Following Valentine, who quickly hid behind us, the enemy swung the black sword at me, who was at the front. Using spatial distortion to push back the black sword and unleashing a barrage of attacks, Derock threw his sword at the enemy and started running towards the door without looking back.
“―――!”
The enemy, blocking my barrage and deflecting Derock’s sword, emitted a chilling voice and turned to chase after Derock. I used spatial magic to stab a spear at his unguarded back, but the enemy, with its numerous eyes that left no blind spots, easily dodged the attack and approached Derock.
Seeing the black sword raised high to cut off the arm reaching for the doorknob, I immediately moved Derock’s sword using spatial magic. Derock, instead of grabbing the doorknob, grabbed the sword and stabbed it forward, dragging his feet backward.
Pook―――!
For the first time, an attack had landed on the enemy. Derock’s sword had pierced its abdomen. Avoiding the black sword swung by the enemy, who was bleeding dark red blood, Derock rolled on the floor and desperately fled.
“It worked! It felt like it went in properly….”
Derock, who had approached my side, trailed off. The enemy, having pulled out the embedded sword, instantly regenerated the wound. Raelan said to Derock, who was swallowing nervously, with a sighing voice.
“You should have aimed for the head.”
“If I had aimed for the head in that situation, I would have died instead!”
Derock is right. The abdomen was the closest place to the sword, so the surprise attack succeeded. If Derock had been greedy and raised his arm to aim for the head, the enemy would have reacted in that instant, and Derock’s head would have been severed by the black sword instead.
“It’s an opponent with regeneration abilities. The same method won’t work again. What are you planning to do now?”
“…We have to fight to the end.”
It’s not like I have a specific plan. I don’t have a walkthrough for a powerful enemy that doesn’t appear in the novel. We unleashed our attacks on the rushing enemy. But we all knew that this was just a resistance delaying death.
Even Valentine used magic scrolls, but they didn’t inflict any damage on the enemy. Colton had already given up resisting and was busy running away. In that desperate moment, Ellie, having finished Lamine’s temporary treatment, joined us. But Ellie’s magic was also useless against the black sword that shattered magic.
It’s time to make a decision. If we keep fighting, we’ll all be wiped out in the end. But I had a way to sacrifice myself to save everyone. I could use the Spear of Resolution to trap the enemy, and in the meantime, my companions could escape the labyrinth through the door. At least I could face a meaningful death.
I could abandon everyone and escape alone with spatial magic, but even then, I would never be able to reach the 10th floor with my own power. How could I, who escaped from the 4th floor, climb to the 10th floor?
Just as I was about to take out the Spear of Resolution from my spatial storage, Raelan swung his staff greatly at the enemy and shouted at Ellie.
“Are you still hesitating!”
At those words, Ellie bit her lip hard, then suddenly grabbed my arm and looked straight at me.
“The enemy is using the power of Ruin. If it didn’t have that, we could win.”
“…But there’s no way to stop it.”
“No, you already know the way. You know what power Dwinn used that the power of Ruin didn’t work on.”
“Chaos… is not something I can use.”
But Ellie shook her head. I was more bewildered by the expression full of conviction.
“You can definitely do it. The cult leader prophesied that you are the Apostle.”
“…But.”
Ellie raised her hand and stroked my mask. Then, leaning in slightly, she whispered in a small voice that only I could hear.
“We don’t need Ross right now, we need a complete Jinshian.”
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