Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Translator: Penny
Episode 15: The Commoner and the Demon [2] (Warning: Some Self-Harm, Bloody Elements)
Episode 15: Commoner and Demon [2] (Warning: Contains mild self-harm and blood)
Boom!
"Ugh... Cough?!"
My head was spinning.
First, let's ignore the burning sensation in my abdomen. Whatever was dragging me along didn't seem to care about the collapsed rocks and debris piercing and battering my body. It just kept running, dragging me relentlessly.
Why is it appearing now?
This creature was supposed to be a Mid-Boss, appearing only after Yun Se-a had been defeated by the protagonist's party, and after their power-ups and leveling had reached a certain point.
Crash! Bang!
"Aaaah?!"
Finally, the dragging stopped. The Demon threw me to the ground.
Damn it, what should I do...?
Demonic Beast Information
Individual Name: Shena
Demonic Beast Form: Humanoid
Danger Level: S
Demon, Shena.
Tch, I need to get out of here fast... But even if I escape, what can I do?
Having been dragged around and repeatedly slammed into things, my entire body screamed in agony.
"Just stay still for a moment, will you? That psychokinesis is getting in the way."
Thunk!
"Gah... Aaaaaaah...!"
Whatever had been stabbed into my abdomen was yanked out in an instant, and my blood began gushing out at an alarming rate. If not for my Blunted Senses (B), I would have died from shock long ago. The pain was unbearable.
Damn it, I can't go down like this...!
I had Recovery (S), but if things continued like this, I was destined to become the creature's blood pack.
"Energy Re..."
Thwack! Thwack!
"Ugh, Aaaah!"
In an instant, wind holes appeared in my thigh and shoulder.
"Ghh... It hurts..."
Thwack!
"Aaaaaah!"
Since Yun Seong-ho's death, my once-white coat, which I had worn so often, was now rapidly staining crimson with blood. It had been a favorite of mine, equipped with protective magic.
Slurp
"Hmm... As expected, delicious. You're top-tier, you know."
The Demon, seemingly satisfied after drinking my blood, slowly gripped my neck and squeezed tightly.
"Gah... Keh-heuk?!"
"I wonder how much I can squeeze out if I push you to your limit?"
With trembling arms, my head went completely blank in an instant.
Damn it, I've never felt pain like this before!
To be fair, the game did have its share of gore. After all, Yun Se-a herself died in the game by taking the Final Boss's attack in place of the protagonist, getting split in half.
I was supposed to have Blunted Senses (B), which meant I shouldn't feel most pain very strongly. But right now, my brain was being flooded with excruciating pain signals.
"Keh... cough!"
"Hmm... it would be troublesome if you died..."
Boom!
"Ugh... cough, cough!"
My head was spinning, and I couldn't think straight.
Meanwhile, as if my blood wasn't already insufficient, the Demon grabbed my blood-soaked hair and yanked me upright.
"...Ugh?!"
Crack!
"Hmm... Let's start by slowly cutting off your finger joints. Your screams are so cute—I love them!"
How much time passed after that? I can't remember the details clearly.
I felt no pain. Through my blurry vision, I could only see my fingers being chopped off like thin slices of scallions and the Demon's face, grinning with delight as he watched the blood gushing from my body.
And then...
KABOOOOOM!
Golden lightning struck the Demon's face.
And for some reason, my vision was engulfed in the light of something shimmering like a Gate before fading into darkness.
Crash! Bang!
"Ugh... Aaaah... Sob... Sniff..."
The sudden impact left my head spinning. Was it from losing too much blood?
"Ugh... It hurts quite a bit. I can't even twitch a finger."
Let's try to recall what just happened...
First, there was Shena, slicing off my fingers as casually as chopping green onions for ramen. Then came the golden lightning that struck both Shena and me simultaneously, driving me to the brink of madness from the pain...
Thankfully, Eve seems to have arrived... but our compatibility is terrible.
Eve Meitner is a Magician, boasting unparalleled raw firepower. Unfortunately, she's also the weakest class in close combat.
No wonder the High Goblin Magician, an A-Rank Monster at the time, was defeated by the protagonist, who only had B-Rank stats in the story.
The healing must be finished already.
I slowly wiggled my fingers, watching them move perfectly as I willed.
Part of my frantic reaction to the torture-level pain—the first I'd experienced since possessing Yun Se-a's body—was due to the sheer intensity of the agony. But the fact that I hadn't died of shock despite having holes blown through my body and my fingers sliced into thin strips like waves suggested my body had already been conditioned to withstand such pain.
"Hoo... It's so quiet."
I scanned my surroundings. No Demonic Beasts were present.
...
All that remained before me was the massive corpse of something.
That light back then... it must have been the entrance to a Gate. A Two-Layered Gate...
While entering a Dungeon through a Gate was common, finding another Gate within was extremely rare.
Two-Layered Gates typically occurred for two reasons: first, to conceal hidden rewards within the Dungeon; second, to seal away powerful monsters from another dimension.
The Dungeon beyond this Gate was likely originally intended to house monsters ranging from C-Rank to B-Rank.
However, the Demonic Energy emanating from the ominous space beyond this Gate was now spawning A-Rank Monsters.
With such a menacing aura, who would dare approach?
If these A-Rank Monsters were simply lurking within the Dungeon, it might be manageable. Unfortunately, the energy radiating from the corpse was far from ordinary.
Even the newly spawned C-Rank Demonic Beast, after surveying its surroundings and spotting the massive monster corpse, panicked and fled through the Gate. It must have been the A-Rank Monsters that escaped through the Gates who completely wiped out the lower-tier monsters originally inhabiting the Dungeon.
And this corpse, radiating such overwhelming energy that even A-Rank Monsters fled... I've seen something like this before.
Could it be a part of the Demon King's body?
Shena had visited to find a Gate containing a remnant of Mephisto, the Final Boss. I learned this by eavesdropping on her conversation.
The trigger for Shena's earlier-than-expected visit, compared to the original timeline, was likely my killing of Yun Seong-ho. Discovering this Gate deep within the Dungeon must have been a genuine coincidence.
At least for now, I'm safe.
The pain still etched into my body left my mind hazy, as if I were under anesthesia.
"Even if this place is safe, I need to get reinforcements out there quickly..."
Outside, Eve was locked in a life-or-death battle with Shena.
She's probably going to lose.
Assuming the dungeon can't collapse now that I've fallen through this unknown gate...
Eve Meitner excels in battles against multiple opponents, not one-on-one duels. Against Shena's swift and agile movements, she's clearly at a disadvantage.
Though her powerful magic would protect her from Shena's mind control, she'll inevitably lose in close combat and end up as Shena's blood bag. Shena is a madwoman who delights in consuming the blood of those with strong mana.
We need to bring in a Sword Demon or Sword Saint. That was my conclusion.
What should I do...? If things continue like this, Eve Meitner and I will both end up as blood bags for that bastard...
Based on what I know of Eve's abilities, she can only hold out for about an hour at most. After that, Shena, having drained all of Eve's blood, will use the Gates to retrieve a portion of Mephisto's remains intact.
How can I achieve my goal of obtaining something from Mephisto's corpse to enhance my Demonic Eye of Suggestion...?
Just as I was despairing, something shimmering caught my eye near Mephisto's fallen body.
Even in death, it radiated the aura of a final boss. Though merely a fragment of Mephisto's body, it had assumed the complete form of a Demonic Beast—a colossal serpent that swiftly approached the fallen Mephisto.
As I approached, I saw that one of Mephisto's eyes had been crushed against a rock on the ground, but the other eye still glimmered with a lifelike spark.
Using a nearby rock fragment, I pried out the glittering eye. To my astonishment, the fragment of Mephisto's corpse began to shrink, inexplicably reducing itself to the exact size of my own eye.
Fragment of ???Use will cause severe mental corruption. Detailed information can be found after equipping.
"...Ha ha, what am I doing? Am I going mad?"
The insane idea of removing one of my eyes and replacing it with this one seemed like something that could only happen in a game.
Despite having a Demonic Eye forcibly implanted by Yun Seong-hun, who knew nothing about monster eyes, Yun Se-a managed to remain relatively unscathed. This was likely thanks to her Blunted Senses (B).
In moments of intense pain and desperate circumstances, it's difficult to make rational decisions.
I remembered a lecture from my university days, perhaps in a safety engineering class. The professor had told us that even in a panic during a fire, people could easily open doors with lever handles. However, those with round, twist-style knobs often failed to open them, suffocating from the smoke.
At that moment, I realized I could pluck out my own eye with my fingers, jam the Demonic Eye into the socket before my eye healed, and then use Recovery to connect the newly inserted eye to the partially healed original.
Though it was just a corpse, it was part of Mephisto's remains, radiating such overwhelming power that even B-Rank to A-Rank Demonic Beasts would cower and flee.
There was no telling what side effects might occur. I could die instantly from the excruciating pain the moment I inserted it into my eye.
What choice do I have? If I just sit here twiddling my thumbs, we'll all die.
I had to clear this scenario somehow. To face Shena, the Demon before me... this was the only method that came to mind.
It's a simple game: succeed and survive, fail and die.
Using Psychokinesis, I gripped my left eye and yanked it out.
"Uwaaaaaaah...!! Guh...!!"
Then, I transferred Mephisto's ominous eyeball directly into the empty socket where my own eye had just been.
Fzzzt...!!
"Aaaaaaaah!!!"
It hurt.
Damn, this hurts like hell...!!
The pain surged through me like a molten iron ball, heated to 1,000 degrees Celsius, being shoved directly into my eye.
"Ugh... Aaaah! Aaaahhh!!"
But I had to endure it. Only by enduring could I help Eve escape this dungeon.
Perhaps this was my punishment for failing to anticipate such a sudden variable.
"Ugh... sob..."
Any sane person would have prayed or remained still, firmly believing that Eve Meitner outside the gate would prevail.
But I was in a state of self-hypnosis and panic, incapable of rational judgment.
The result of this insane clinical trial?
"Sob... Fucking hurts."
Quite successful, actually.