Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Purifier (3)
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“It actually worked?”
“...”
“...”
Silence spread around them at Eliya’s words.
They were probably all sharing the same sentiment.
Man-eaters lay scattered on the ground, writhing.
‘...They were all against it at first.’
Eliya smirked as she slung her sword over her shoulder.
When Talion first explained the ‘plan’ to everyone, they all thought he was crazy.
Even Eliya, who had been urgently summoned here, would have reacted the same if she hadn’t been told that Dawood Campbell wasn’t the one who devised it.
In an emergency like demonic beasts appearing inside the city, the standard solution was to call the knight order and hold out until they arrived while evacuating civilians.
No matter what anyone said, the empire’s strongest force was the knight order, and there was always a unit stationed inside and around Elpante.
But what about Dawood’s plan, as relayed by Talion?
‘...A dozen students, a few knights, and some academy professors to take down this many?’
Eliya let out a hollow laugh as she recalled the absurd plan.
To put it bluntly, it was like scraping together whoever happened to be nearby ‘by chance’ to fight the beasts.
In short, suicide.
Now that the demon’s power had fully manifested, demonic beasts were classified as humanity’s enemies.
Even if their intelligence had degenerated, they possessed brute strength that even superhumans wielding abilities found overwhelming.
That was why fighting demonic beasts always presupposed ‘more humans’ against ‘fewer beasts.’
So.
The fact that fewer than twenty humans had unilaterally crushed nearly a hundred beasts was nothing short of a miracle.
And the motive behind that plan was even more ridiculous.
‘...Too many casualties otherwise.’
Waiting for the regular knight order to arrive while evacuating civilians would inevitably lead to deaths.
But if they subdued all the beasts first, they could eliminate that risk entirely.
What a consistent guy.
Sometimes, seeing his conviction to save people first no matter the situation, she thought he was more hero material than she was.
‘Does he have some special reason?’
As she tilted her head in thought.
“Indeed. It actually worked.”
Knight Faculty Dean Konrad Baltador approached and patted her shoulder.
He was one of the few who had supported the plan, alongside Chancellor Atalante, among those who joined the fight.
Their authority had pushed the plan through despite the opposition.
“I’m glad the Dean and Chancellor were here. Without even one of you, this success might not have been possible.”
It was true.
No, precisely—if even one person here had been absent, this outcome would have been impossible.
“...Impossible without even one.”
Konrad’s eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, that’s the thing. Do you know why the Chancellor and I were nearby?”
“Pardon?”
“That guy recommended it. Told us to grab dinner around here.”
“...”
Eliya frowned.
“Seriously?”
“He even got the tickets, so no reason to refuse. And then this happens ‘by chance.’”
“...”
Suddenly, a hypothesis flashed in Eliya’s mind.
It grew more concrete with each of Konrad’s words.
“And that spineless kid over there. From the Demonic Beast Research Department.”
He pointed to Evan Kramer, a second-year in the Demonic Beast Research Department.
Eliya remembered his face.
He was the student who had emceed the mock battle with Dawood during orientation.
Apparently, Dawood had specifically told Talion to find this student too.
“Without him, we wouldn’t have achieved this.”
True enough.
Demonic beasts had as many bizarre traits as their overwhelming combat power. Even knights, whose main job was fighting them, couldn’t memorize every single one.
Unless they were the freaks who studied them ‘professionally.’
Without Evan pointing out the right weaknesses, everyone’s battles wouldn’t have ended so smoothly.
“He said that guy lured him to the festival too. Preferably around here. Couldn’t refuse his benefactor.”
“Benefactor?”
“The Demonic Beast Research Department is the least popular in the Knight Faculty. They were considering closure within the year.”
“...”
“But I ‘happened’ to check the mock battle stages and saw some capable ones. So I stopped it.”
Eliya’s pupils trembled slightly.
Yes, this ‘coincidence’ he mentioned.
It happened because Konrad visited due to ‘someone’ he had his eye on.
And a student from that preserved department ‘happened’ to be nearby.
At a terrifyingly perfect timing.
Because of someone’s request.
“...”
The hypothesis solidified.
The students from the ‘House of Purification’ foundation who joined the fight—apparently, Dawood had done something to prevent them from mutating into monsters.
The knights dispatched here were also ones Dawood had asked the Chancellor to summon in advance.
“...Ha.”
At a glance, it seemed like a chain of unrelated coincidences, but one common denominator tied them all together.
“Dean.”
“Yeah.”
“Was that guy preparing for this from way back?”
Instead of answering, Konrad chuckled.
All his actions so far, the people he’d met through them, the results—they all pointed to it.
Dawood Campbell had designed a response to this unnoticed threat from the start.
Everyone here.
He had assumed such an event was inevitable and meticulously gathered them.
‘Impossible without even one.’
The setup was flawless from beginning to end!
Eliya spoke in a deflated voice.
“...What the hell is that guy?”
“No idea. Could all really be coincidences.”
Konrad scratched his head.
“But if it was, I doubt he’d have ordered one more.”
“Pardon?”
“You didn’t see Talion during the fight, right?”
She hadn’t.
He would have been a solid asset, so his absence had been odd.
“Where do you think he is now?”
“...”
Eliya’s expression hardened.
“Is that guy plotting something else here?”
Laughter answered instead.
The hearty tone needed no explanation.
“Seriously.”
What kind of person is this?
Eliya sighed and tilted her head back to shake off the battle fatigue.
“Hm?”
That’s when she spotted the ‘gray’ overwhelming her vision.
Like smoke billowing from somewhere, it expanded endlessly. Covering the sky, the space, eroding everything.
Then.
Everything stopped.
●
Time froze.
Not figuratively—literally, as the words implied.
“...”
Her consciousness was clear. Her chest pierced, yet the world registered with unnatural clarity.
But.
Everything except her consciousness had halted.
The Riverback Marquis with his bizarre expression before her. The blood dripping from her pierced chest to the ground. Even the wind felt absent. The air itself had stopped flowing.
Everything dyed gray.
Frozen like a photographed landscape.
“...”
But among it.
One thing moved.
Something ‘descended’ at the edge of her vision.
Unaffected by gravity, floating down softly from above, defying the world’s physics in an alien manner.
Snow-white hair reaching her ankles. Crimson eyes redder than blood. Flawless pale skin. Utterly nude, without a thread.
A familiar sight, if familiar.
Age Elnor a few years, and she’d look just like that.
But this wasn’t Elnor. She could tell at a glance.
Elnor. No, any human.
Couldn’t exude this level of ‘malice.’
‘Gray Devil.’
In the game, it never appeared directly. It only descended into Elnor’s body for the final boss fight.
So the form before her now was a ‘fragment.’
The demonic essence the Riverback Marquis had implanted was just a vessel with devil remnants, but devil fragments could summon the real devil when gathered.
The Gray Devil’s fragments scattered in the scenario numbered several, inevitably converging on Elnor through various events.
In other words, what this man held was but a tiny portion.
Its ‘authority’ wouldn’t reach a tenth of the Gray Devil’s full power, and materialization wouldn’t last long. Maybe a few dozen seconds at best.
Yet.
[A crisis situation has been detected.]
[It is judged to be a level posing a direct threat to life.]
[Skill: Desperate Situation is applied at EX rank.]
Just having this thing before her.
Reactivated Desperate Situation, which had been disabled.
“...”
Absurd, damn it.
Its mere appearance halted the world, and meeting its gaze threatened her life.
In short.
Simply staring it down too long would kill her.
That vast the gap.
As she thought that, the ‘devil fragment’ taking Elnor’s form stepped toward her.
And simultaneously.
[The situation is...]
[Direct threat to life...]
[Desperate Situation at EX rank...]
The window before her shattered.
Part of her ability ‘torn away.’
“...!”
The Purifier had downgraded Desperate Situation, but this was different.
Just standing before this thing.
Felt like the entire ‘system’ was neutralized.
“...”
Right, the Gray Devil was depicted with such power in the lore.
A transcendent being that warped even the world’s fundamental laws just by existing.
Another step, the devil fragment approached.
Now at arm’s reach, it grabbed her cheek.
Its expression: a brain-melting, feverish smile. Eerily alien on Elnor’s usually expressionless face.
And.
Those eyes brimmed with bottomless desire, sticky and clinging.
As if screaming into her ear that its entire existence was for loving her.
After gazing down at her for a while, it leaned to her ear.
Then its lips parted.
“I love you.”
Hearing it felt like her brain matter splattered. Such pressure.
Her skin burned. Veins throbbed with revolting heat snaking through her nerves.
If she could move freely now, she’d probably collapse, vomiting endlessly.
As that horrific, body-rending sensation tormented her, it dropped those words with a still-smiling face.
Then reached toward her chest, twisting its hand as if turning a dial there.
And.
Time ‘rewound.’
That spot alone—like excising and reversing a video clip—her chest, pierced by the Riverback Marquis’s magic, healed.
“...”
Pain vanished. Vitality surged through her body.
Simultaneously.
A tattoo etched onto her healed chest.
[You obtain ‘Seal of the Fallen Heavens.’]
[The Seal of the Fallen Heavens has the effect of...]
“...”
Couldn’t you make this readable?
Absurd, staring at it— the devil fragment covered its mouth, giggling.
Soon, it rested its chin on its hand, squatting before her with a playful spin, as if asking, ‘Anything else?’
“...”
Even a fragment of the world’s top powerhouse acting this chummy felt bizarre.
She’d half-expected something like this.
[Skill: Fatal Charm] [Rank: ???]
[You easily gain favor from those with evil tendencies. Effect strengthens with extremity of alignment.]
Effect strengthens with extremity—meaning the Gray Devil, whose existence was a catalyst for world destruction, couldn’t help but show extreme affection upon seeing her.
The problem.
How this would play out in the future, she didn’t know.
Just advancing relations with Elnor and Eliya had twisted the scenario from Chapter 1 this much.
If she bonded with this thing too, what then?
‘...When have I ever cared about that?’
She smirked and checked the window.
For now, without its help, she couldn’t survive. She’d take what she needed.
[Use ‘Skill Copy Ticket’!]
[You can copy 1 skill from target ‘Elnor.’]
This thing had descended via Elnor’s body.
Game-logic wise.
Using the copy ticket now let her copy a skill from this systemically identical entity.
“...”
Absurd, sure.
Worst case, copy one from Elnor. Still no loss.
Manipulating the window, a list of copyable skills scrolled up.
‘Indomitable, Peak Talent, Insight, Master of Battle...’
Elnor’s cheat skills she remembered flew by, scrolling to the end.
And at the bottom.
[Skill: King of Pandemonium] [Rank: A]
[-Worship the great sovereign!-
Displays the dignity of hell’s ruler to all under heaven. Grants advantage against demon types for 5 minutes upon use.]
Yes. As expected of a world built on game systems—hypothesis confirmed.
No way Elnor would have this. It was standard for all ‘demon’ bosses in the game.
‘...So many tempting ones.’
From the Gray Devil’s fragment, no less. Powerhouses galore.
Excluding this, all other skill descriptions were garbled, heightening unease.
Could drain her life force massively on use, or require killing an ally—irrevocable if malicious.
‘And what I need now...’
A skill mandatory at a certain point.
Only possible with this. Useful immediately too.
With that, she copied it.
[Copied ‘Skill: King of Pandemonium.’]
As the window appeared, the devil fragment’s eyes widened.
It didn’t know details but sensed her status change in that instant.
Glancing between itself and her, realizing she’d taken part of its power.
“!”
It clapped gleefully, beaming. Congratulatory.
A more mature Elnor acting like a childish girl—jarring dissonance.
But recalling its true nature sobered her.
This thing.
Could end the world with that giggling smile.
“...”
And time was up.
All manifestation time exhausted, it spotted itself crumbling from the toes, scattering around her—and smirked.
Lifting its gaze to her once more, still smiling, the devil fragment spoke.
“I love you.”
A radio-static voice, frequency warped, drummed her eardrums again.
“So wait for me, wait for me, because.”
But.
“I’ll see you again later.”
Its form fully dissolving, the unfinished final line.
“Next time, definitely. You—”
Was crystal clear, unforgettable.
●
Gray receded from the world, time flowed again.
Back near the academy’s outer wall entrance. Riverback Marquis before her, Elnor embedded in the wall.
〚...What the hell just...?〛
The Riverback Marquis looked around in bewilderment. Something had appeared and vanished—he sensed it, but had no clue what.
Visually, nothing had changed.
Except one thing.
[Activate Skill: King of Pandemonium.]
[Absolute advantage against demon-type enemies for 5 minutes!]
[Deletes opponent’s unique ability ‘Skill: Purification.’]
[A crisis situation has been detected.]
[It is judged to be a level posing a direct threat to life.]
[Skill: Desperate Situation is applied at EX rank.]
Rising, she slammed an uppercut into the Riverback Marquis’s jaw.
〚...!〛
Like a bomb exploding, his body launched several meters into the air.
Hm, yes.
This chilling, heavy sensation. It’s been a while.
“Hey.”
She smirked at the Riverback Marquis hastily regaining balance midair.
Vitality overflowed her body. Like being reborn.
“Round 2. Come at me.”
No more pathetic days showing her back.
Back to Dawood Campbell, who one-shot hero candidates.
Time to teach this guy manners.
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