༺ Monologue – Interlude (1) ༻
The air was chilly.
The sky was stretched out wide before Dorothy’s eyes, colored with the hues of sunset.
However, what actually lingered in her vision was the face of a young man she held hands with on a bench while gazing at each other.
Isaac.
As promised, he had returned to Märchen Academy. She knew because she had witnessed him flying on the Frost Dragon earlier. Dorothy breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Isaac seemed to be in a hurry, as if something had happened. Unfortunately, Dorothy could not chase after him.
“Kkeung… I can’t even move a muscle…”
Isaac’s hideout inside the Josena Forest. Dorothy was lying on the roof, whimpering.
The side effects of interfering in a different worldline had rushed onto her, leaving her unable to even move an inch. If she had spent a little more time in the sky, she might have helplessly fallen.
She was incredibly fortunate to have hurriedly landed back on the surface.
[You overexerted yourself. You shouldn’t have abused that power, you know?]
When Ella, the white cat familiar with a pink ribbon on her tail, scolded her with a coy voice beside her, Dorothy pouted her lips.
“You see here, cat lady. I didn’t have a choice, you know? What else was I supposed to do when I was worried about the President?”
[Worry for yourself instead… Worrying about such a powerful guy is just a waste of time…]
“No.”
[Huh?]
“President is not invulnerable. He isn’t an iron man. He is human and can break down as well… It was the first time I had seen the President, who’s always been so boringly upright, look so distressed.”
When Dorothy had encountered Isaac in the other world, his emotions seemed ashen gray. He was clearly struggling to hold onto his determination and will.
The only thought that Dorothy had was to save him as quickly as possible.
She had diligently put on a big smile, laughed numerous times, and raised her energy levels much more than usual, all because she wished to save him.
She just hoped he would smile for her.
[…Are you his mom or something?]
Ella let out a deep sigh and laid comfortably beside Dorothy. She seemed to have no intention of responding any further.
“Haaah. President, when are you coming backkkkkk…”
Dorothy tossed her head like a bored child. She wanted to see Isaac as quickly as possible.
***
Before Isaac revealed himself in the Astrea Duchy…
The Knight Order under the command of Astrea was charging towards the location of the black tower demon, riding horses and familiars.
A size that touched the sky. Swirling black clouds. There was no doubt that an extremely dangerous demon had emerged.
Kaya had created an enigma of a tree and engaged in a fierce magic battle against the black tower demon. However, it appeared as if she was getting pushed back.
Knight Commander, Sharon, had mounted a large eagle familiar and led the charge at the forefront. It was incredibly urgent. Protecting the Astrea Duchy by getting rid of the demon was a given, but more importantly, protecting Lady Kaya was none other than her lifelong duty.
She had long admired Gerald Astrea, the Sword Saint who always approached battles with eyes as sharp as a hawk. However, his demeanor changed as his bond with the genius wizard, Historia, was brought to fruition; Sharon could never forget the way he smiled proudly while gazing at the newly born Kaya.
Not being able to protect the person she served was far more disgraceful to a knight than death itself.
She had to protect Lady Kaya at any cost and with whatever means. Sharon clenched her teeth and inwardly ruminated such a determination over and over again.
“What is that?”
Suddenly, the crimson arbor gigantes disappeared and the outskirts of the desolate land of death transformed into a wall of black-red flames. It was a flame fused with dark mana.
The area it covered extended towards the heavens itself. The heat from the flames evaporated the clouds in an instant.
And the more the distance to the black tower demon shortened, the more clearly the knights could feel a powerful mana that stirred primitive fear beyond the wall of flames.
It was a mana different from demons.
No matter how weak one’s mana perception was, they would have undoubtedly felt it.
“This mana…?”
Sharon, who had served in the Imperial Knights, had been overwhelmed before by the immense mana unleashed by an Archwizard.
As such, she knew. Behind that wall of flames, there was something that equaled or surpassed an Archwizard.
“Commander, this mana…”
“Do you know something about it?”
“Previously, when I was dispatched to Antrico, I have felt something like this before.”
Sharon’s brows furrowed at her subordinate’s words.
Antrico was a port city located along the Arkins Sea. If a mana of such terrifying magnitude could be felt there as recently as his latest dispatch, then…
“The concentration of mana seems even denser now, but it’s unmistakable. It’s the ‘Nameless Hero’…!”
There was no other incident apart from the fight between the Black Monster and the Floating Island.
“What?”
One day, an unidentifiable Archwizard appeared at Märchen Academy and began to punish and eliminate demons.
A powerhouse among powerhouses, who had defeated the gigantic demon known as the Floating Island.
Saying that a vicious title like ‘Black Monster’ did not suit them at all, the world had taken to calling them the ‘Nameless Hero’ and revered them as such.
How did they… know that such demons would appear?
“…!!”
Right then, Sharon saw a girl with verdant green twintails riding a light-green wind magic to fly, with a boy and girl in tow.
The unstable flight of the verdant green-haired girl indicated that her mana was nearly depleted.
Sharon’s eyes focused intensely before starting to widen.
“Lady Kaya?!”
Fortunately, Kaya had managed to escape the battle between the unidentifiable monsters.
Kaya, too, spotted the Knight Order and descended in front of them. With her was a black-haired man who had fallen unconscious and a white short-haired girl screaming in panic.
The Knight Order all came to a halt.
As they joined her ranks, Kaya gave the Knight Order the order to stand by, saying only one thing.
The one who would defeat that demon had arrived.
* * *
“Sigh.”
As I felt the hand holding the Obsidian Blade turning into stone, I immediately stuffed the weapon back into myself; it changed into rock mana and was absorbed into me.
Once [Hunter] deactivated, my nerves eased. When I used [Clairvoyance] and saw Ian wandering around this area, I really freaked out…
I immediately sat on the ground. Perhaps it was due to the Trial of Sandstone, but my body was incredibly tired.
Until just a little while ago, I was full of life thanks to [Hunter], as if I had awakened after drinking a load of caffeine when I was sleepy.
Similarly, the enormous golem familiar, Eden – The Breaker, shined with rock mana briefly, before quickly shrinking and turning into its usual small and cute golem form.
He collapsed with his face planted into the ground emitting a groan like [Kooong…]. It seemed that he was greatly exhausted due to the counteraction of the powerful buffs wearing off.
With [Hunter] deactivated, Eden’s level dropped from a temporary level of 175 to 103. It seemed he leveled up while defeating Babel the Corrupted.
Swooshhh──.
Similarly to my stocks in Korea, the bisected body of Babel turned into ashes and disappeared.
Subsequently, the wall of flame turned into dust from the top down. I had deliberately restrained my icy chill so that the barrier could be maintained and used as cover to hide in.
The dark beads that contained countless people gradually lost their strength and settled on the ground.
Boom. Boom. Boom. As the beads burst, many already unconscious people collapsed on the ground. In one fell swoop, the dark mana evaporated from the land of death, which was dyed in black, and the entire area turned into some large-scale sleeping station.
When the Devil Pillar received damage, it absorbed the life force of the people caught as hostages and healed its wounded areas. In other words, the reason why Eden and I went for one-shot kills in both Phase 1 and Phase 2 was to prevent the opponent from having a chance to steal others’ life forces.
They would all be weak for a while, but if they ate and rested well, their strength would return.
[Babel the Corrupted]
Psychology: [Bewildered because you have become drastically weaker.]
Babel let out a Kiriririk… as it moaned pathetically.
It must be feeling aggrieved. After all, it had found out that it got absolutely wasted by some nobody who was far weaker.
‘What to do? You were just unlucky. I’m a Demon-Limited Hunter, after all.”
The bastard piercingly glared at me with a wide eye before completely turning into ash and scattering in the wind.
[Congratulations! You’ve defeated the demon [Babel the Corrupted (Lv 165)] and gained EXP!]
[Level Up!! Your level has increased to 105!]
[You have gained 4 stat points!]
[You have unlocked the achievement ❰I Shattered the Tower Before Even Ascending It?❱! You have gained an additional 10 stat points!]
In the place where Babel disappeared, ash-colored clouds rose and formed two cubes at two points in the air.
Then, the two ash-colored cubes made of mana dropped back onto the surface.
‘It’s loot.’
I stood up and moved towards them, picking up the two cubes.
[You have obtained the Loot [Corrupted Dust]!]
Both of these cubes had the same effect; they each granted a unique skill.
Since each person could only use one, even if one was mine, there was still one left. It would be better to give it to Ian, who had the light element.
I shattered one cube with simple ice magic. As I did so, the ash-colored clump of powder inside the cube seeped into my mana circuit.
[The energy of the Loot [Corrupted Dust] seeps into you…]
[Congratulations! You have acquired the Unique Skill [Domain Expansion]!]
[Domain Expansion].
Just as Babel the Corrupted turned this area into a land of death, I, too, could now establish a domain based on my elements. It was the creation of a territory completely dominated by me.
Since it was a skill, the stronger the caster and the more the skill in question was trained, the greater the range and effectiveness would be.
Right as I put the remaining cube in my pocket…
‘Ah, I’m exhausted.’
I was so fucking tired. I wanted to quickly go to some accommodation, or just about anywhere, and rest.
It wasn’t the time to leisurely have a break here. Soon, the Knight Order under the command of the Astrea Household would arrive.
I glanced at my surroundings with [Clairvoyance]. They were still quite far away.
They must have stopped briefly after joining Kaya. Nice.
They would probably come here and carry out search and rescue operations. Of course, it was probably just going to be a task of moving people, who had fallen asleep in this large-scale sleeping station, one at a time.
Anyway, it was best to run away before that.
“Eden, are you okay?”
[Kuoooo…]
Eden replied with a tired voice, feebly lifting only his right arm. He was still slumped on the ground, unable to even raise his head,
It seemed difficult for him to bear the role of a transportation shuttle, so I just unsummoned him.
“Hilde.”
I summoned Hilde in her small dragon form from the summoning circle engraved on my left wrist.
[Did you call, Master?]
“Use [Frostwind], please. Make it weak enough not to harm people. It just needs to be enough to eliminate the mana trail.”
When using elemental magic, a mana trail was left behind.
What was that, you ask?
When discarding something generated with elemental magic, it usually turned into dust and disappeared while scattering in the wind.
Unfortunately, when that dust strongly collided with other objects, it would not be able to disappear immediately, hence a mana trail was left behind.
It didn’t last long, though. When a moderately strong wind blew, it would lightly fly away and quickly disappear, just like when releasing magic normally.
I needed to destroy the evidence before escaping.
[By your command.]
Whooooosh──.
A silver wind imbued with frost, [Frostwind], trickled out from Hilde and wrapped around the area like a whirlwind. The chill and the strength of the wind were both weak. Although its color was a bit dark, reminiscent of fog, it basically just gave off a feeling of a light winter breeze.
[Frostwind] didn’t harm anyone who was unconscious; it simply blew away the mana trail scattered in the area.
Now, all I needed to do was leisurely disappear like a Dark Hero, and my painting, would be perfect.
‘…Oh yeah, how much mana do I have left again?’
Come to think of it…
Hilde’s mana efficiency was as much of a scam as she was powerful. This was probably the reason why I was still far too weak to handle an End Game level familiar.
Riding such a familiar and flying here would have consumed a lot of mana. On top of that, she used [Frostwind]… Moreover, my body kinda felt like I was driving a car without oil.
I checked my status window.
[Status]
Name: Isaac
Lv: 105
Gender: Male
Year: (2nd)
Title: Prospective Second Year
Mana: 105/26000
– Mana Recovery Speed (A-)
‘Holy fuck?!’
This was bad. My mana was about to run out!
Soon, the Knight Order under Astrea’s command would find me. I couldn’t maintain [Frostwind] for much longer. I had to leave quickly.
“Hilde! Run!!”
[Ah ah! What is the meaning of this, Master!? Don’t leave me behind!]
I cut through [Frostwind] at full speed.
༺ Monologue – Interlude (1) ༻
The air was chilly.
The sky was stretched out wide before Dorothy’s eyes, colored with the hues of sunset.
However, what actually lingered in her vision was the face of a young man she held hands with on a bench while gazing at each other.
Isaac.
As promised, he had returned to Märchen Academy. She knew because she had witnessed him flying on the Frost Dragon earlier. Dorothy breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Isaac seemed to be in a hurry, as if something had happened. Unfortunately, Dorothy could not chase after him.
“Kkeung… I can’t even move a muscle…”
Isaac’s hideout inside the Josena Forest. Dorothy was lying on the roof, whimpering.
The side effects of interfering in a different worldline had rushed onto her, leaving her unable to even move an inch. If she had spent a little more time in the sky, she might have helplessly fallen.
She was incredibly fortunate to have hurriedly landed back on the surface.
[You overexerted yourself. You shouldn’t have abused that power, you know?]
When Ella, the white cat familiar with a pink ribbon on her tail, scolded her with a coy voice beside her, Dorothy pouted her lips.
“You see here, cat lady. I didn’t have a choice, you know? What else was I supposed to do when I was worried about the President?”
[Worry for yourself instead… Worrying about such a powerful guy is just a waste of time…]
“No.”
[Huh?]
“President is not invulnerable. He isn’t an iron man. He is human and can break down as well… It was the first time I had seen the President, who’s always been so boringly upright, look so distressed.”
When Dorothy had encountered Isaac in the other world, his emotions seemed ashen gray. He was clearly struggling to hold onto his determination and will.
The only thought that Dorothy had was to save him as quickly as possible.
She had diligently put on a big smile, laughed numerous times, and raised her energy levels much more than usual, all because she wished to save him.
She just hoped he would smile for her.
[…Are you his mom or something?]
Ella let out a deep sigh and laid comfortably beside Dorothy. She seemed to have no intention of responding any further.
“Haaah. President, when are you coming backkkkkk…”
Dorothy tossed her head like a bored child. She wanted to see Isaac as quickly as possible.
***
Before Isaac revealed himself in the Astrea Duchy…
The Knight Order under the command of Astrea was charging towards the location of the black tower demon, riding horses and familiars.
A size that touched the sky. Swirling black clouds. There was no doubt that an extremely dangerous demon had emerged.
Kaya had created an enigma of a tree and engaged in a fierce magic battle against the black tower demon. However, it appeared as if she was getting pushed back.
Knight Commander, Sharon, had mounted a large eagle familiar and led the charge at the forefront. It was incredibly urgent. Protecting the Astrea Duchy by getting rid of the demon was a given, but more importantly, protecting Lady Kaya was none other than her lifelong duty.
She had long admired Gerald Astrea, the Sword Saint who always approached battles with eyes as sharp as a hawk. However, his demeanor changed as his bond with the genius wizard, Historia, was brought to fruition; Sharon could never forget the way he smiled proudly while gazing at the newly born Kaya.
Not being able to protect the person she served was far more disgraceful to a knight than death itself.
She had to protect Lady Kaya at any cost and with whatever means. Sharon clenched her teeth and inwardly ruminated such a determination over and over again.
“What is that?”
Suddenly, the crimson arbor gigantes disappeared and the outskirts of the desolate land of death transformed into a wall of black-red flames. It was a flame fused with dark mana.
The area it covered extended towards the heavens itself. The heat from the flames evaporated the clouds in an instant.
And the more the distance to the black tower demon shortened, the more clearly the knights could feel a powerful mana that stirred primitive fear beyond the wall of flames.
It was a mana different from demons.
No matter how weak one’s mana perception was, they would have undoubtedly felt it.
“This mana…?”
Sharon, who had served in the Imperial Knights, had been overwhelmed before by the immense mana unleashed by an Archwizard.
As such, she knew. Behind that wall of flames, there was something that equaled or surpassed an Archwizard.
“Commander, this mana…”
“Do you know something about it?”
“Previously, when I was dispatched to Antrico, I have felt something like this before.”
Sharon’s brows furrowed at her subordinate’s words.
Antrico was a port city located along the Arkins Sea. If a mana of such terrifying magnitude could be felt there as recently as his latest dispatch, then…
“The concentration of mana seems even denser now, but it’s unmistakable. It’s the ‘Nameless Hero’…!”
There was no other incident apart from the fight between the Black Monster and the Floating Island.
“What?”
One day, an unidentifiable Archwizard appeared at Märchen Academy and began to punish and eliminate demons.
A powerhouse among powerhouses, who had defeated the gigantic demon known as the Floating Island.
Saying that a vicious title like ‘Black Monster’ did not suit them at all, the world had taken to calling them the ‘Nameless Hero’ and revered them as such.
How did they… know that such demons would appear?
“…!!”
Right then, Sharon saw a girl with verdant green twintails riding a light-green wind magic to fly, with a boy and girl in tow.
The unstable flight of the verdant green-haired girl indicated that her mana was nearly depleted.
Sharon’s eyes focused intensely before starting to widen.
“Lady Kaya?!”
Fortunately, Kaya had managed to escape the battle between the unidentifiable monsters.
Kaya, too, spotted the Knight Order and descended in front of them. With her was a black-haired man who had fallen unconscious and a white short-haired girl screaming in panic.
The Knight Order all came to a halt.
As they joined her ranks, Kaya gave the Knight Order the order to stand by, saying only one thing.
The one who would defeat that demon had arrived.
* * *
“Sigh.”
As I felt the hand holding the Obsidian Blade turning into stone, I immediately stuffed the weapon back into myself; it changed into rock mana and was absorbed into me.
Once [Hunter] deactivated, my nerves eased. When I used [Clairvoyance] and saw Ian wandering around this area, I really freaked out…
I immediately sat on the ground. Perhaps it was due to the Trial of Sandstone, but my body was incredibly tired.
Until just a little while ago, I was full of life thanks to [Hunter], as if I had awakened after drinking a load of caffeine when I was sleepy.
Similarly, the enormous golem familiar, Eden – The Breaker, shined with rock mana briefly, before quickly shrinking and turning into its usual small and cute golem form.
He collapsed with his face planted into the ground emitting a groan like [Kooong…]. It seemed that he was greatly exhausted due to the counteraction of the powerful buffs wearing off.
With [Hunter] deactivated, Eden’s level dropped from a temporary level of 175 to 103. It seemed he leveled up while defeating Babel the Corrupted.
Swooshhh──.
Similarly to my stocks in Korea, the bisected body of Babel turned into ashes and disappeared.
Subsequently, the wall of flame turned into dust from the top down. I had deliberately restrained my icy chill so that the barrier could be maintained and used as cover to hide in.
The dark beads that contained countless people gradually lost their strength and settled on the ground.
Boom. Boom. Boom. As the beads burst, many already unconscious people collapsed on the ground. In one fell swoop, the dark mana evaporated from the land of death, which was dyed in black, and the entire area turned into some large-scale sleeping station.
When the Devil Pillar received damage, it absorbed the life force of the people caught as hostages and healed its wounded areas. In other words, the reason why Eden and I went for one-shot kills in both Phase 1 and Phase 2 was to prevent the opponent from having a chance to steal others’ life forces.
They would all be weak for a while, but if they ate and rested well, their strength would return.
[Babel the Corrupted]
Psychology: [Bewildered because you have become drastically weaker.]
Babel let out a Kiriririk… as it moaned pathetically.
It must be feeling aggrieved. After all, it had found out that it got absolutely wasted by some nobody who was far weaker.
‘What to do? You were just unlucky. I’m a Demon-Limited Hunter, after all.”
The bastard piercingly glared at me with a wide eye before completely turning into ash and scattering in the wind.
[Congratulations! You’ve defeated the demon [Babel the Corrupted (Lv 165)] and gained EXP!]
[Level Up!! Your level has increased to 105!]
[You have gained 4 stat points!]
[You have unlocked the achievement ❰I Shattered the Tower Before Even Ascending It?❱! You have gained an additional 10 stat points!]
In the place where Babel disappeared, ash-colored clouds rose and formed two cubes at two points in the air.
Then, the two ash-colored cubes made of mana dropped back onto the surface.
‘It’s loot.’
I stood up and moved towards them, picking up the two cubes.
[You have obtained the Loot [Corrupted Dust]!]
Both of these cubes had the same effect; they each granted a unique skill.
Since each person could only use one, even if one was mine, there was still one left. It would be better to give it to Ian, who had the light element.
I shattered one cube with simple ice magic. As I did so, the ash-colored clump of powder inside the cube seeped into my mana circuit.
[The energy of the Loot [Corrupted Dust] seeps into you…]
[Congratulations! You have acquired the Unique Skill [Domain Expansion]!]
[Domain Expansion].
Just as Babel the Corrupted turned this area into a land of death, I, too, could now establish a domain based on my elements. It was the creation of a territory completely dominated by me.
Since it was a skill, the stronger the caster and the more the skill in question was trained, the greater the range and effectiveness would be.
Right as I put the remaining cube in my pocket…
‘Ah, I’m exhausted.’
I was so fucking tired. I wanted to quickly go to some accommodation, or just about anywhere, and rest.
It wasn’t the time to leisurely have a break here. Soon, the Knight Order under the command of the Astrea Household would arrive.
I glanced at my surroundings with [Clairvoyance]. They were still quite far away.
They must have stopped briefly after joining Kaya. Nice.
They would probably come here and carry out search and rescue operations. Of course, it was probably just going to be a task of moving people, who had fallen asleep in this large-scale sleeping station, one at a time.
Anyway, it was best to run away before that.
“Eden, are you okay?”
[Kuoooo…]
Eden replied with a tired voice, feebly lifting only his right arm. He was still slumped on the ground, unable to even raise his head,
It seemed difficult for him to bear the role of a transportation shuttle, so I just unsummoned him.
“Hilde.”
I summoned Hilde in her small dragon form from the summoning circle engraved on my left wrist.
[Did you call, Master?]
“Use [Frostwind], please. Make it weak enough not to harm people. It just needs to be enough to eliminate the mana trail.”
When using elemental magic, a mana trail was left behind.
What was that, you ask?
When discarding something generated with elemental magic, it usually turned into dust and disappeared while scattering in the wind.
Unfortunately, when that dust strongly collided with other objects, it would not be able to disappear immediately, hence a mana trail was left behind.
It didn’t last long, though. When a moderately strong wind blew, it would lightly fly away and quickly disappear, just like when releasing magic normally.
I needed to destroy the evidence before escaping.
[By your command.]
Whooooosh──.
A silver wind imbued with frost, [Frostwind], trickled out from Hilde and wrapped around the area like a whirlwind. The chill and the strength of the wind were both weak. Although its color was a bit dark, reminiscent of fog, it basically just gave off a feeling of a light winter breeze.
[Frostwind] didn’t harm anyone who was unconscious; it simply blew away the mana trail scattered in the area.
Now, all I needed to do was leisurely disappear like a Dark Hero, and my painting, would be perfect.
‘…Oh yeah, how much mana do I have left again?’
Come to think of it…
Hilde’s mana efficiency was as much of a scam as she was powerful. This was probably the reason why I was still far too weak to handle an End Game level familiar.
Riding such a familiar and flying here would have consumed a lot of mana. On top of that, she used [Frostwind]… Moreover, my body kinda felt like I was driving a car without oil.
I checked my status window.
[Status]
Name: Isaac
Lv: 105
Gender: Male
Year: (2nd)
Title: Prospective Second Year
Mana: 105/26000
– Mana Recovery Speed (A-)
‘Holy fuck?!’
This was bad. My mana was about to run out!
Soon, the Knight Order under Astrea’s command would find me. I couldn’t maintain [Frostwind] for much longer. I had to leave quickly.
“Hilde! Run!!”
[Ah ah! What is the meaning of this, Master!? Don’t leave me behind!]
I cut through [Frostwind] at full speed.
