บท 29: Chapter 29: Purifier (3)
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"This works?"
"…"
"…"
Silence spread around Iliya's words.
Perhaps it was because everyone shared the same sentiment.
Man Eaters were strewn all over the ground, wriggling about with their last dregs of energy.
'…Everyone was against it at first.'
Iliya chuckled to herself, her sword resting on her shoulder.
When Talion first told everyone about the plan, they thought he was crazy.
Even Iliya, who was urgently summoned here, would have reacted the same way if she hadn't been told that it was Dowd Campbell who came up with the plan.
In a state of emergency, with monsters appearing in the city, the standard solution would be to call the knights and buy as much time as possible until the civilians evacuated the grounds.
No matter what anyone said, the strongest force in the Empire was the knights, and there were always knights residing in and around Elfante.
However, what about Dowd's plan that Talion told them about?
'…We can deal with this with a dozen or so students, a few knights, and several Academy professors.'
Recalling the contents of the plan, Iliya still found it absurd even now and could only let out a bitter laugh.
It was basically just to round up the nearest people around and to throw them into dealing with the monsters.
To put it bluntly, it was a death wish.
It had been quite some time since the demonic power manifested, and Man Eaters were classified as the enemies of humanity.
Even if their intelligence had deteriorated, they possessed simple but brutal combat capabilities that even warriors found quite difficult to deal with.
Therefore, dealing with the Man Eaters was fundamentally based on the premise that a larger number of humans would confront a smaller number of Man Eaters.
So, the fact that less than 20 humans had unilaterally suppressed hundreds of Man Easters was nothing short of a miracle.
The motivation behind the plan was even more absurd.
'…There would be too many casualties otherwise.'
If civilians were evacuated while waiting for the knights to be dispatched, casualties would inevitably occur in the process.
However, if they just subdued all the Man Eaters before that even happened, they could eliminate such a risk.
Truly a man with great foresight.
When it came to the conviction of saving people first during a crisis, Iliya couldn't help but doubt that this man was more keen than her, despite her being the literal Hero candidate.
'Is there any special reason?'
Iliya tilted her head in wonder.
"Good job."
As she was having such thoughts, the Dean of the Knights School — Conrad Baltador, approached her and patted her on the shoulder.
He was one of the people who had supported this plan, along with Headmistress Atalante, who had also participated in the battle.
Because their influence was so strong, the plan was executed without any adjustments, shutting down the opposition altogether.
"I'm relieved that both the Dean and the Headmistress are here. If even one of you wasn't, such an achievement might not have been possible."
It really was.
No, to be exact, if even one human here was missing, this achievement would have been impossible.
"…It would have been impossible if even one was missing."
Conrad's eyes narrowed at those words.
"Yes, I share the same sentiment. Do you know why me and the Headmistress happened to be around here?"
"Yes?"
"She recommended that we eat here."
"…"
Iliya frowned at that.
"Is that so?"
"She already booked the seats, so I had no reason to refuse. But then, coincidentally, something like this happened."
"…"
A hypothesis started forming in Iliya's head.
And as Conrad continued, the more concrete the hypothesis became.
"And that guy over there, he's a student from the Monster Research Department."
Conrad pointed to Evan Kramer, a sophomore in the Monster Research Department.
Iliya remembered this face well.
Because he was the facilitator of the mock battle at the orientation ceremony that she did with Dowd.
Dowd had told Talion to find this student as well.
"We probably wouldn't have been able to achieve this result without him."
Definitely.
Apart from their brutish fighting ability, monsters also had a variety of strange and bizarre traits. Even for a knight, whose main profession was fighting against them, it was more or less impossible to memorize all of their characteristics.
Unless one was a geek who specialized in studying such things, that was...
If that student named Evan hadn't provided them with the Man Eaters' weaknesses, they wouldn't have been able to end the battle so smoothly.
"I heard that he was asked to come to the festival. He couldn't refuse because it was from a benefactor's request."
"A benefactor?"
"The Monster Research Department is the least popular department among the Knights School. We were considering closing it by the end of this year."
"…"
"But when I coincidentally checked the mock battle stage, I found capable people. So I revoked that decision."
Iliya's pupils trembled slightly.
Right, they were making it out to be a coincidence.
But it happened because of a certain person Conrad was eyeing.
Coincidentally, the student from the rarely-visited Monster Research Department happened to be nearby.
At a terrifyingly perfect timing.
Because of someone's request.
"..."
It all became crystal clear.
The students affiliated with the House of Purification foundation, who participated in this battle, were also said to have not mutated into monsters because Dowd had put some measures in place for them.
The knights who were dispatched to this scene were also people that Dowd had called upon beforehand, requesting it from the Headmistress.
"…Haa."
When viewed separately, it was a series of completely unrelated coincidences, but there was still one focal point that connected all of these coincidences into a meticulously planned event.
"Uh, Dean."
"Hmm?"
"Has that person been preparing for this a long time ago?"
Conrad laughed instead of answering.
All the actions taken up until now, the people that Dowd had met, and the resulting outcomes — all pointed to this situation.
Dowd Campbell had been designing a response to an unnoticed threat since the very beginning.
Everyone was set in their positions to respond to this circumstance.
From the beginning, that person had expected that something like this would happen and prepared for it utterly meticulously.
'It's impossible if even one person is missing.'
It was a tightly knit plan from the very beginning to end!
Iliya said in a disheartened voice.
"…Just, what kind of person is he, really?"
"I don't know. In the first place, it could really be just a series of coincidences."
Conrad replied while scratching his head.
"But if that's really the case, then I feel like there shouldn't have been one more thing."
"Yes?"
"Have you seen Talion during the battle?"
That was true.
If he was here, he would have undoubtedly been a great asset, but his absence was quite puzzling.
"What do you think he is doing right now?"
"…"
Iliya's expression hardened.
"You think he's planning something more?"
A boisterous laughter was what she got instead of an answer.
It had a carefree tone that didn't require any further questioning to answer what it might have meant.
"Seriously."
What kind of person was he?
Iliya sighed and tilted her head back to relieve the fatigue from the battle.
"Eung?"
Suddenly, her entire field of vision was covered in a shade of grey.
Like smoke that had spewed out from somewhere, it rapidly expanded throughout the area. It endlessly covered the sky, and space, and eroded everything in its path.
And then…
Everything stopped in its tracks.
Time went still.
No, not figuratively. Time literally stopped in its tracks.
"…"
Even with a hole in my chest, my consciousness remained intact and I could perceive the world clearly.
However.
Everything except my consciousness stood still.
From Marquis Riverback's twisted face in front of me, to the blood coming out of my pierced chest — I couldn't even feel the wind anymore. Even the very airflow itself had stopped flowing.
Everything was dyed in dull shades of grey.
It was frozen like a photographed landscape dyed in black and white.
"…"
Everything was frozen… except for a single thing…
And that… was…
Something was descending into my field of vision.
The figure's gentle descent was seemingly unaffected by gravity. No, even the laws of physics could not affect her for that matter.
Pure white hair flowing down to one's ankles, crimson eyes that were redder than blood itself, flawless white skin without any blemish whatsoever, and an immaculate body not even covered by a single thread.
This figure, this woman, she looked… familiar.
If given a few years to mature, Eleanor would look just like her.
But this was not Eleanor. One could tell at just a glance
Because if it were Eleanor, or simply any human...
They wouldn't exude such a level of evil.
'The Grey Devil.'
In the game, it never really revealed its true form directly. It only appeared as a form of boss battle by possessing Eleanor at the very climax.
So, the figure before me right now was basically an avatar.
The Devil's Essence that Marquis Riverback infused with his body just contained a small piece of a devil's power. When all the fragments were pieced together, the real devil could be summoned to this world.
The Grey Devil's fragments were scattered throughout the scenario, pooled together in various events within the game, and ultimately converging in Eleanor. It was the inevitable outcome.
In other words, the avatar in front of me right now was only a small part of its whole.
The authority it possessed was insignificant compared to the Grey Devil's true form, and the duration it could materialize was only short-lived, at most a few tens of seconds.
But even so…
System Message
[ A moment of danger has been detected.][ Determined the situation as life-threatening. ][ Skill: Desperation raised to EX-Grade. ]
Just by having this avatar in front of me, the deactivated Desperation skill turned on once again.
"…"
'This is ridiculous, fucking hell.'
Hervery presence alone brought the entire world to a standstill. And her gaze made me feel threatened.
In other words…
If I were to directly meet her eyes right now, I would die.
That was how vast the gap between us was.
While I was thinking like that, the devil avatar taking on Eleanor's form approached me.
At the same time.
System Message
[ ¡̛̰̖̲͉̜̿͑̈̍̕̚͟͝Ą̷̦̘͉̹͓̝́̾͂͂̂͂̅͡͝ø̵̧̡̜̲̗̳̟̀̒̽̊͆̃͒̎̚͟͟ͅ Ç̳͈̟̯̻̾̿̔͆̃̋́͌͘̕Ḁ̷͉̞͎̯̥̫̳̻́͆͊̉̀̾͘͞·̴̢̥̱̝̘̟͎͊͐͌̿̎̋̕͜͟͝͞Î̶̻̙͓͓͎̫͛́͌̀̆͊͒͆̚±̦͖̺̗͎͍̰͊̏͒̉̍̉̚͟͠×̵̢̯̥̟͖̞̔̈́̃̚͘͞·̶̛͈̪͚̹̺͖͉̪̇̎̃̏̃̎̚͡ͅ¡̴̹͉̤̭̥̒̇̎̅͘͝ͅ¹̖̯̰̰̦̝͐͆̿̌̃͂͟͠Ö̵̩̭͇̹̭̤͌͆̔̀̆̚ danger ¡̛̰̖̲͉̜̿͑̈̍̕̚͟͝Ą̷̦̘͉̹͓̝́̾͂͂̂͂̅͡͝ø̵̧̡̜̲̗̳̟̀̒̽̊͆̃͒̎̚͟͟ͅ Ç̳͈̟̯̻̾̿̔͆̃̋́͌͘̕Ḁ̷͉̞͎̯̥̫̳̻́͆͊̉̀̾͘͞·̴̢̥̱̝̘̟͎͊͐͌̿̎̋̕͜͟͝͞Î̶̻̙͓͓͎̫͛́͌̀̆͊͒͆̚±̦͖̺̗͎͍̰͊̏͒̉̍̉̚͟͠×̵̢̯̥̟͖̞̔̈́̃̚͘͞·̶̛͈̪͚̹̺͖͉̪̇̎̃̏̃̎̚͡ͅ¡̴̹͉̤̭̥̒̇̎̅͘͝ͅ¹̖̯̰̰̦̝͐͆̿̌̃͂͟͠Ö̵̩̭͇̹̭̤͌͆̔̀̆̚ ]
[ ¾̶͕̻́̊̇î̸̙̪͎̥͎͍̲͔̔̈́̀̃͗́̚̚͠͠͝͠ ̷̨̨̣̭̭͓̱̼͚̮̼̭̟̱̾̄͑̈́̋͝¼̸̢̛̞̟͓̗̙͗͊̆̓̈͘͜͠Ǫ̵̛̠̟̲͔̟̀̔̍͛̈́°̶̨̙̠͆͋̔͛̒̀̾̆̉̏̕³̶̟̝̙͔̥̖̯̠̒̈̋̃̇̾̃̽̆̅͊͆̋̋ the situation as ¾̶͕̻́̊̇î̸̙̪͎̥͎͍̲͔̔̈́̀̃͗́̚̚͠͠͝͠ ̷̨̨̣̭̭͓̱̼͚̮̼̭̟̱̾̄͑̈́̋͝¼̸̢̛̞̟͓̗̙͗͊̆̓̈͘͜͠Ǫ̵̛̠̟̲͔̟̀̔̍͛̈́°̶̨̙̠͆͋̔͛̒̀̾̆̉̏̕³̶̟̝̙͔̥̖̯̠̒̈̋̃̇̾̃̽̆̅͊͆̋̋thereatening. ]
[ ¾̶͕̻́̊̇î̸̙̪͎̥͎͍̲͔̔̈́̀̃͗́̚̚͠͠͝͠ ̷̨̨̣̭̭͓̱̼͚̮̼̭̟̱̾̄͑̈́̋͝¼̸̢̛̞̟͓̗̙͗͊̆̓̈͘͜͠Ǫ̵̛̠̟̲͔̟̀̔̍͛̈́°̶̨̙̠͆͋̔͛̒̀̾̆̉̏̕³̶̟̝̙͔̥̖̯̠̒̈̋̃̇̾̃̽̆̅͊͆̋̋peration raised to EX Class. ]
My system window was utterly broken.
It was like a part of it had been entirely ripped off by something.
"…!"
Of course, the Purifier also downgraded my Desperation, but this was in a whole different ballpark.
Just standing in front of this person...
Made it seem like the entire system had been rendered powerless.
"…"
That was right, the Grey Devil was originally depicted with such abilities.
A transcendent being that distorted even the fundamental laws of the world itself just by staying still.
The Grey Devil approached me a step further.
As she came close, she caressed my cheek.
She wore a smile that was enough to melt heat itself. It felt weird because she was smiling with Eleanor's usually expressionless face.
And...
I could see endless desire in those deep eyes of hers.
To the point that I saw an illusion, screaming that her sole existence was for the very purpose of loving me and me alone.
Then she lowered her head next to my ear.
Her lips parted.
"I¾ú´ Áö´loveÁ¦ ÇÏ¿¡you"
Just hearing these few words felt like my brain was being deep-fried. The pressure was that fucking much.
I felt my skin crawl. There was a nauseating feeling permeating my entire nervous system as if someone poured tar into my veins, causing a tingling sensation all over.
If I could move my body freely right now, I might have just collapsed and started vomiting.
As I was suffering from this horrible feeling in my body, she leaned in towards me, still smiling.
She reached towards my chest, then twisted her hand counterclockwise like she was turning a dial.
Then…
Time rewinded.
The hole that had been pierced by Marquis Riverback's demonic energy was thus healed.
"…"
The pain was gone and I felt energized.
At the same time.
A tattoo was engraved on my perforated chest.
[ Obtained The Fallen's Seal. ]
[ The Fallen's Seal Ç̳͈̟̯̻̾̿̔͆̃̋́͌͘̕Ḁ̷͉̞͎̯̥̫̳̻́͆͊̉̀̾͘͞·̴̢̥̱̝̘̟͎͊͐͌̿̎̋̕͜͟͝͞Î̶̻̙͓͓͎̫͛́͌̀̆͊͒͆̚±̦͖̺̗͎͍̰͊̏͒̉̍̉̚͟͠×̵̢̯̥̟͖̞̔̈́̃̚͘͞·̶̛͈̪͚̹̺͖͉̪̇̎̃̏̃̎̚͡ͅ¡effect of Ç̳͈̟̯̻̾̿̔͆̃̋́͌͘̕Ḁ̷͉̞͎̯̥̫̳̻́͆͊̉̀̾͘͞·̴̢̥̱̝̘̟͎͊͐͌̿̎̋̕͜͟͝͞Î̶̻̙͓͓͎̫͛́͌̀̆͊͒͆̚±̦͖̺̗͎͍̰͊̏͒̉̍̉̚͟͠×̵̢̯̥̟͖̞̔̈́̃̚͘͞·̶̛͈̪͚̹̺͖͉̪̇̎̃̏̃̎̚͡ͅ¡̴̹͉̤̭̥̒̇̎̅͘͝ͅ. ]
"…"
However, I had no idea what it was.
As I stared at it in bewilderment, the Grey Devil covered her mouth, hiding a chuckle.
Then, with a smiling face, she leaned towards me and rested her chin on her hands. Her casual attitude gave off the feeling of her asking,' Is there anything else I can help you with?'
"…"
Even though it was only a small part of the Grey Devil, the fact that one of the strongest beings in the entire world was being so friendly to me felt truly strange.
Though, I did have an idea why this was happening.
Fatal Charm[ Grade: ??? ][ Description: People with an evil alignment are more likely to get attracted to you. The more extreme the alignment, the stronger the effect. ]
The more extreme the alignment, the stronger the effect. This meant that the Grey Devil, whose very existence itself was to destroy the world, would show absolute, extreme affection towards me and me alone.
The problem was.
I didn't know how this would work out in the future.
It was just Chapter 1, dammit, and the story had already been twisted so much because I got entangled with Eleanor and Iliya.
Now, if I even got acquainted with an existence like her, what would happen to the future?
'…When did I ever start caring about such things?'
I smiled and opened the system window.
Anyway, I won't be able to get through this without her help. I better get everything I needed from her.
System Message
[ Used Skill Copy Ticket! ]
[ You can copy 1 skill from the target Eleanor. ]
The Grey Devil was currently using Eleanor's body.
In other words, from a game perspective, if I use Skill Copy right now, I should be able to copy one of her skills as she was systematically treated as one with Eleanor at the moment.
"…"
It sounded ridiculous.
Well, if it didn't work, I could still copy one of Eleanor's skills. That alone was not a loss.
Navigating through the system, a list of skills that I could copy came to mind.
'Indomitable, Supreme Genius, Mind's Eye, Warlord…'
I scrolled past Eleanor's list of skills and went straight to the end.
King of Pandemonium
[ Grade: A ]
[ Bow down to the great monarch! ]
[ Description: Embody the dignity of Hell's absolute ruler. Upon usage, grants unconditional advantage against demonic beings for 5 minutes. ]
Alright, as expected, my hypothesis was correct. This world worked like the game after all.
Just looking at its description, it was definitely not a skill that Eleanor would have. This was something only a devil boss would hold.
'…I want a lot of things.'
Despite being a mere fraction of the Grey Devil's power, she naturally had countless powerful skills.
It was just that except for this one, all the other skills had broken descriptions, making them unrecognizable. It would be basically like playing a lottery.
If it drastically cut my life force when used, or was only activated by killing someone close to me or any such horrible effects, it would bring about irreversible results.
'In the first place, what I can get right now…'
Although it was a very specific skill, this would help in the immediate situation.
With that thought in mind, I copied the skill.
System Notification[ Skill: King of Pandemonium has been copied]
As this window appeared, the Grey Devil's eyes widened.
She might not know the specifics, but in that fleeting moment, she knew that something had changed within me.
Moreover, she was looking back and forth between herself and me, indicating that she realized that I had taken something from her.
"!"
Then she clapped her hands with a big smile on her face. She was congratulating me.
It was strange seeing a more mature version of Eleanor engaging in such childish behavior.
However, when I thought about the true nature of this existence, I couldn't bring myself to laugh.
'This woman…'
She might be carefreely smiling, but she could absolutely destroy the world.
"…"
And finally, our time had come to an end.
With her time on this earth exhausted, the Grey Devil started vanishing into particles.
For one last time, she looked at me and said while still smiling.
"I¾ú´ Áö´loveÁ¦ ÇÏ¿¡you."
A voice reminiscent of a noisy radio with the frequency turned up pounded my eardrums.
"Okay¾ð¾î°¡ UC¾ð¾î°¡ Uthen ̨̝̻̂̂̈́̾̀̃̐̒̀̕"
However…
"SeeC¾ð¾î°¡ UC¾ð¾î°¡ U또C¾ð¾î°¡ U later."
She couldn't finish her last sentence as her avatar body dissipated.
"At that time, definitely. You-"
It was a clear voice that I will never forget.
As the grey hue receded from the world, giving back the world its color, time began to flow once again.
I was now back at the entrance of the academy with Marquis Riverback in front of me and Eleanor pinned to the wall.
〚…What the hell… just happened…?〛
Marquis Riverback looked around bewildered. He seemed to understand that something happened, but he had no idea what it was.
On the surface, nothing had changed.
Except for one thing.
System Notification[ Skill: King of Pandemonium is activated. ][ You have the unconditional advantage against demonic beings for 5 minutes! ][ Canceled enemy's unique ability Skill: Purification. ]System Message
[ A moment of danger has been detected.][ Determined the situation as life-threatening. ][ Skill: Desperation raised to EX-Grade. ]
Standing up, I delivered a powerful uppercut right to Marquis Riverback's chin.
〚…!〛
With a sound akin to an explosion, Marquis Riverback's body shot up several meters into the air.
Yeah, that was right.
This cool, solid feeling.
'It's been a while.'
"Hey."
I smirked at Marquis Riverback, who hurriedly regained his balance in the air.
My body was brimming with vitality. It almost felt like I had been reborn.
"Round 2. Bring it on."
No more running with my tail tucked between my legs.
It was the return of Dowd Campbell, who one-punched the Hero candidate.
Time to instill some manners in this sonuvabitch.
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