Ch 8
NEYMAR
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Episode 08
—From now on, we’re going to modify magic.
When I said that, I honestly wasn’t confident.
Spell Modification.
That wasn’t something you could understand just from having played a game.
The game never went into that much detail, either.
It explained the characteristics and advantages of modified spells, but never the principles behind them.
In other words, I had to figure out and apply everything myself—the necessary calculations, the flow of mana, the image materialization.
So, naturally, I had no right to be confident.
However.
I never imagined it would be like this…
Just one day into attempting Spell Modification, I realized something.
The Trait I brought with me—or rather, the magical talent contained within this body—was so immense that I didn't need to worry about any of that.
The [Magical Genius] Trait truly lived up to its name, providing an effect worthy of a "genius."
The result was this:
Fzzt! Fzzzt!
Yellow sparks of electricity bloomed at a fixed distance around my body.
I had modified lightning magic to sheath my own form.
This was a level of Spell Modification a step above what Keila had managed.
Of course, the visual effect wasn't everything.
While this modified spell was active, my physical abilities were completely different.
For instance, like this.
"Have another bottle."
Whoosh—!
The bottle of Holy Water flew at a horrifying speed in the blink of an eye.
It was too fast to even react to.
CRASH!
It shattered right where the red-haired man had been, erupting in a flash of pure white light.
Immediately after, a scream so visceral you could feel the pain just by hearing it echoed through the chamber.
“GUAAAAARGH!”
Okay, highly effective.
One bottle left.
“I-Is he dead?” Keila stammered from behind me.
“He’s not dead. But it must have done some serious damage.”
Keila wouldn't know this, but a Vassal of a Demon would never die from something like this.
Especially a Vassal of Valefor, the Demon of Greed, who was infamous in the game for being relentlessly tenacious.
No matter how much Holy Water I doused him in, it would, at best, only force him to reveal his true form.
Well, that was something, at least.
“Where in the world did you even get that…?”
“Ah, this?”
The answer was simple.
If you just thought for a moment about where we were, the conclusion that there had to be Holy Water nearby was obvious.
Sector 7 is a place that swarms with far more demons than any other sector.
To secure their safety with such a small number of people, they would naturally need Holy Water.
I wasn’t certain, but the probability was high.
Besides, I still had two unused keys.
Jingle.
I glanced down at the bundle of keys hanging from my waist.
There were four keys on the ring in total.
One was the key to this underground prison, and another was the key to the safe where I’d found the [Blinkstone] and gold coins.
I still didn’t know the purpose of the remaining two.
It was a gamble worth taking.
And more importantly… my intuition screamed at me.
The intuition that had been enhanced by my Spirit Imprint.
I have to trust my gut.
A stat of 30, boosted by the imprint, was no small number.
In the game, a character with an intuition of 30 would often find the answer on their own when faced with a difficult situation.
That’s how reliable intuition was.
“I’ll tell you later.”
There was no time to explain everything one by one.
The real fight was just beginning.
“Grrrrowl…”
Suddenly, a sound like a beast’s cry echoed out.
Right, it’s starting.
Shhh, thud.
Shhh, thud.
The man took a slow step forward.
As the pale dust settled, his form came into clear view.
I had expected it, but it was worse than I thought.
The sight alone was nauseating.
“Is that… alive?”
“…Probably.”
Holy Water has the effect of forcibly purifying demonic energy.
And that effect was laid bare on his body.
The skin all over his body had peeled away, exposing his internal organs and white bones.
His face and head had melted, leaving no trace of his former appearance.
It was impossible to believe he was alive, yet he continued to step forward.
Furthermore.
Swoooosh—.
With every step he took, the surrounding mana pulsed with a chilling, unsettling aura.
It was so foul and unpleasant that I hesitated to even get close.
“GRAAAAAH!” the red-haired man roared, as if he had lost the ability to speak.
At the same time.
Crack, crunch!
His body began to change.
This is a straight-up horror movie…
His bones and flesh twisted into a grotesque shape.
His height shot up, and soon, bones tore through his skin, jutting out.
His fingernails grew to the length of awls, and a red glint ignited in his eyes.
New flesh was already regenerating where his skin had melted.
He could no longer be called human.
He was more like a ghoul.
To think I would see something in person that I had only ever seen in the game…
“…Lord… Vale…for…” the red-haired man called his master’s name in a shredded voice.
At that moment.
His murderous gaze locked onto me.
I flinched involuntarily at the sheer killing intent.
WHOOOOM!
The mana around him churned violently.
A pitch-black magic circle materialized beside him.
My intuition screamed wildly that this was dangerous.
“…Can you even kill that thing?”
“…I don’t know.”
I couldn’t answer easily.
I didn’t know the limits of my own abilities yet.
Nor did I know how strong that bastard was.
But what did that matter?
This wasn't a question of whether I could or couldn't.
It was something I had to do.
“Di…e…”
BOOM!
An explosion erupted from his magic circle.
What shot out was a formless bullet of mana.
It was flying directly toward my head.
Can I do this?
Countless questions flooded my confused mind.
But unlike my chaotic thoughts, my body moved with calm precision.
Just before the mana bullet reached me, I kicked off the ground lightly.
The body enhancement from my modified magic combined with the awakening effect from close-quarters combat.
My body shot forward like a cannonball.
KABOOM!
In an instant, I was out of the mana’s trajectory and right in front of him.
There were no more questions.
I had already reached a conclusion.
He dies here.
And I survive here.
I… will absolutely survive.
Grip!
I poured mana into my tightly clenched fist.
Since I had focused on Spell Modification to enhance my body rather than on long-range magic, this was the strongest attack I could currently muster.
My fist, charged with condensed mana and the acceleration from kicking off the ground.
It landed squarely in the red-haired man’s abdomen.
However.
I wasn't the only one whose body had been enhanced.
CLAAAAANG!
It didn't sound like a fist hitting a torso, but like steel striking steel.
Did I push him back maybe five centimeters?
The man who had been sent flying before now stood his ground firmly.
A numb pain shot through my fist.
So this isn't enough.
“How, dar—!”
Without a moment to be impressed, his mana surged.
A new magic circle appeared above my head.
Tap!
I kicked off his torso with both feet, using the recoil to leap backward.
Simultaneously, a mana bullet struck the spot where I had been standing, and space itself warped.
Krr-shhhhk!
A shiver ran down my spine.
“…Damn, that was close.”
After a short, deep breath, I revised my strategy.
There was only one way to land an effective blow.
I wanted to save it for the very end if possible… but now was not the time.
Pop!
The cork I pried open with my thumb shot upward, and the faint scent of Holy Water filled the air.
Gurgle, gurgle.
I poured the Holy Water over my fist, drenching it.
It felt cool and cleansing, almost like pouring alcohol on it.
My wet fist began to emit a faint glow.
The moment I confirmed it, I launched myself forward again.
KWOOM!
Was he not going to fall for the same trick twice?
He deployed a magic circle directly in front of him.
Breaking through head-on was impossible.
I scanned the magic circle in minute detail.
The key was to read the flow of mana.
My senses, heightened by my Spirit Imprint, aided me.
—Accelerated reflexes and kinetic vision.
Left.
The moment I made the judgment, I rolled my body to the right.
ZZZZRIP!
The spatial magic, which had missed me by a hair's breadth, sucked in the collar of my shirt as it passed.
Thump! Thump! Thump…!
Cold sweat ran down my back as my heart hammered in my chest.
This would be decided in an instant.
Either he dies, or I die.
Once again, I focused my lightning magic into my heart and my feet.
Fzzt!
I kicked off the ground.
My body shot forward.
I aimed my fist at the same spot as before.
The abdomen—the easiest target to hit.
THWACK!
I viciously drove my fist into him.
Ssssssizzle—!
Along with the sound of something burning, I felt a squishy, melting texture on the surface.
The Holy Water was dissolving his skin.
“Guh…aaah…!” he groaned.
Thankfully, it seemed he liked my punch.
Now was my chance.
Before the Holy Water’s effect wore off, I unleashed a barrage of punches.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM…!
With each blow, his abdomen caved in deeper.
But there was no time to lower my guard.
Sinister magic was being fired at me from all directions.
Whoosh! Whooosh!
And it wasn't just magic.
He swung his overgrown claws and snapped his sharp teeth at the empty air, trying to tear my flesh.
Snap!
The more he attacked, the more I focused every ounce of my being on dodging.
Ducking my head, twisting my body, pulling back.
Swish!
Occasionally, when an attack came from an unavoidable angle, I put as much distance between us as possible to minimize the damage.
SHRED!
His claws caught my left shoulder, tearing it open.
A searing heat erupted from the horizontal gash as crimson blood flowed out.
“A-Are you okay…?”
“…No.”
…God, this stings like hell.
I fought back the dizziness and re-drenched my dry fist with Holy Water.
Then, I charged in again.
FWOOSH—!
How much time had passed?
In the middle of our fierce exchange, the moment came when he opened his mouth, aiming for my neck.
The decisive move.
I twisted my head and moved my arm.
The bottle of Holy Water in my right hand met his teeth and shattered.
CRASH!
The sacred liquid inside flowed directly down his throat.
I heard a burning sound.
Tssssss—!
“GUUAAAAAAAAAARGH!”
The moment I heard that roar, I knew I had won.
The Holy Water I shoved down his throat would completely wreck him from the inside out.
“Guh… Guh…!”
Staggering back, the red-haired man collapsed powerlessly.
A pale smoke began to rise from his convulsing body.
It was the sign of a Vassal losing its power.
Ssssssssss—!
His bloated body began to deflate.
The protruding bones, the overgrown claws—they all gradually returned to normal.
He reverted to a human form.
I picked up a sharp fragment that had broken off the wall and slowly approached him.
I met his gaze as he lay sprawled out.
A voice, on the verge of breaking, reached me.
“I… made a… mistake.”
His face looked strangely pathetic.
But I didn't feel a shred of pity for him.
If it weren't for this bastard, Keila and I would never have been in this danger.
Besides, wasn't this a guy who made a pact with a demon and thought of other people's hearts as snacks?
There was no reason to feel sorry for him.
If there was anything I had to say to him here, it was this:
“That’s how it is. Everyone dies from a mistake.”
The pompadour-haired man, the giant, the old man—it was the same for all of them.
A single mistake, a single wrong judgment, and they lost everything they had built and paid with their lives.
It was the same for me.
I had been on the verge of death because I had grown complacent.
This is how it works.
A single mistake takes everything away.
That is reality.
Therefore.
“Accept it with humility.”
“…”
This bastard’s death wasn’t special at all.
Shunk!
A faint tremor traveled up my arm.
The fragment in my hand had pierced his heart.
The focus in his eyes faded.
It was death.
Fwoom! A sound came as the area brightened.
It was the flame Keila had conjured.
A voice filled with relief came from behind me.
“Is it… over?”
I collapsed onto the ground.
There was no strength left in my body.
But.
“…Not yet.”
Clutching the blood-reddened fragment, I stabbed his heart and head relentlessly.
A confirmation kill.
Vassals of Valefor were known to revive like hell if you gave them even the slightest opening.
Stab! Stab! Stab…!
How long did I continue?
Only when I judged that even Valefor himself couldn't possibly resurrect him did I survey my surroundings.
Blood splattered on the floor, the underground prison turned into a chaotic mess.
The metallic stench of blood hung in the air.
In the midst of it all, I opened my heavy lips.
“…It’s over. Now.”
In this cruel world.
It was a moment where I had survived yet again.
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