Mock Battle (4)
Holding Hugo's measuring device in hand presented a slight problem.
"It has to make contact with the skin, right?"
Kunter's limbs bulged and swelled, growing massively until he reached about four meters tall—less a man now and more like a stone golem.
"■■■■!!"
His wordless roars made him seem like a wild beast. If those hands grabbed me, my head would crunch like a peanut in a nutcracker. Getting close would mean death.
"Just press it against him?"
Tanya asked during a brief opening, even as she staunchly defended against Kunter.
"Needs thirty seconds of contact."
"Leave it to me."
Tanya snatched the device from me and leaped high onto Kunter's shoulder.
—Kardduk!
She landed and raked her sword across his body, shattering his balance. Her movements flowed like a dance. Dodging his wild haymaker punches, she pressed the attack up close—like a cheetah on the hunt.
"■■■!"
Each swing of Tanya's blade twisted Kunter's face in shock. It was a dull sword without cutting power, but laced with her sharp sword aura, it had to sting down to the bone.
Kwadduk. Tanya mounted his back and choked his neck with her blade. After a few seconds, at her signal, the other knights rotated in to engage him.
Tanya sprang high from his back, creating distance before landing beside me. Kagak. She crouched, scraping the ground with one hand to brake. Her boots kicked up pebbles.
Like a cat.
"Here."
Tanya stood and handed back the device.
"Already? I didn't even see you use it."
"Your eyes are slow, sir."
She tilted her head lightly and dove back into the fray. All I could say was impressive.
"Let's see."
The test strip on the measuring device, which had absorbed the curse's remnants, was stained black. Embedded gems of various types glittered, producing colors.
"Red and green. This means…"
I quickly scanned Hugo's manual.
[Rage] spell. Life force absorption and conversion type. Upper grade.
It was a skill demons often used. When the tide turned against the Demon King's army, they'd trigger rage on their minions to make them rampage. Being contagious made it dangerous.
'Kunter's power draws from life force—his lifespan, essentially.'
Rage granted brief strength at the cost of imminent death. Par for the course with vile demons.
"That's enough for now. First things first."
I shouted to Tanya and the knights in the thick of battle.
"Kunter's curse is contagious! No one touch his skin directly!"
Confirming their hearty acknowledgments, I moved to the removal process.
Jinggrak.
I gripped the amulet and infused it with mana. My skill window activated [Spell: Curse Manipulation].
Curse Manipulation
No need to cast separately—the amulet read my intent and formed the circle automatically.
"Legendary artifact indeed. Lets me use spells I have zero proficiency in."
Pat. I extended my hand, seizing the spell's target. Kunter, of course.
"Curse Manipulation."
—Hwaak!
Streams of mana shot from my hand like ropes, striking Kunter directly. Handling spells with mana required kid-gloves delicacy. Recalling Seymour's instructions, I clenched my fist.
—Kwaak!
Like reining a bucking horse, the mana ropes in my grip bound Kunter as a bridle.
"■■■■!!"
With his arms and neck constricted, Kunter bellowed hugely. Amid the gusts of wind pressure, I focused to halt the curse devouring him.
'Multi-stage mechanism. Absorbs mana, converts it, spreads it. The cursed spell's anchored across his skin.'
I felt the seized curse scream.
'Cut off the source—mana absorption.'
Yanking the ropes like commanding the curse itself. Thud, thud. Kunter thrashed wildly with each pull.
"Teacher!"
"Just a bit longer!"
Replying to Tanya's urgent cry, I twisted my arm. Severing the curse's link to his mana circuits to starve it.
—Paaang!!
The backlash exploded Kunter's pent-up mana, flinging the knights away.
"■■, ■■…!"
Kunter staggered, weakened. Mana leaking from his skin ignited, shredding his clothes and melting his armor.
"Mana sublimation! Dangerous—stay back!"
At Tanya's shout, the knights fell back into alert formation.
"Time to finish."
It felt like forcibly dragging a beast from its den. Fierce resistance.
"Upper grade after all…!"
Higher rank meant stronger tenacity. Still, separation proceeded smoothly. My mana ropes bound only the black mass, dragging it out. Grab this thing and…
"Cough."
Blood trickled with the cough—overdid the mana, maybe.
"I'm fine."
Still had stamina to spare. Manageable.
Then—
[No. 101: Mana Overload 7% → 85%]
"What the—?"
The system window's alert startled me. I whipped around to see Asella charging at Kunter.
"Princess!"
I dropped the spell and ran after her.
To Asella, Ras suppressing Kunter looked perilously fragile. Knowing his body was weak only heightened her anxiety.
He was pouring all his focus into ripping out whatever curse or spell had turned Kunter into that monster. He hadn't even noticed his heavy armor peeling off in the storm or the wounds opening on his body.
"Ras!"
He didn't hear her shout, yanking the ropes harder. With each pull, heat radiating from Kunter intensified.
'Mana sublimation.'
It happened when you abruptly halted a spell after over-compressing mana. The mana, meant as fuel, lost direction, burned, and dissipated into the air. The heat was immense—get too close, and you'd melt.
'Wait.'
Asella spotted danger. The garnet brooch adorning Kunter's chest—its gold filigree melting in the heat.
She glanced back at Ras. He had no clue how vital that brooch was, how it could heal him right now.
Then—
"Cough!"
A thin line of blood trickled from Ras's mouth. Asella's heart plummeted; she bit her lip.
Without even that brooch, Ras—pushing his wrecked body so hard—would self-destruct. Just like the foresight visions: death as the price.
'Not like that.'
Resolve hardened, Asella charged Kunter without hesitation.
"Princess!"
Ras called out at last, but she had no time for him. Approaching Kunter, blistering heat gaped like a maw to devour her.
'This much is nothing…!'
Her upper garment shredded and heat-seared at the chest—the brooch dangled precariously. Asella thrust her hand out, snatching it with desperate force.
—Chiiik!
"Ugh."
Her hand sizzled with burns. And then—
—Hwaaak!
The spell embedded in his skin shifted, invading her. Direct skin contact gave it the contagion vector.
"Agh…!"
The black mass crawled up her arm. Revolting.
"Princess!!"
Asella felt arms wrap her waist. Ras yanked her shoulder violently.
—Thud!
They tumbled together into the dirt. Amid crashing pains, Asella checked her hand first. Clutching the brooch tight, as if she'd never let go.
'Not damaged.'
She felt its life force emanating. Asella exhaled in relief—but only for a moment.
"Eut…."
Brain-piercing agony made her stifle a scream. Her fingertips blistered red and raw. Above them, curse remnants slithered up her arm, intent on infecting her.
"Princess, just hold on."
Ras knelt before her, immediately casting via amulet to manipulate and peel the curse from her arm. He fetched a canteen, cooling her hand with cold water simultaneously.
"Ras."
"Talk later. I'm scolding you afterward."
"Not fixing him?"
Asella nodded toward Kunter, swelling massively behind Ras. With Ras halting the spell to rush to her, the curse had reclaimed him, rampaging anew. Knights darted to contain him.
"You always drop everything for a patient."
Asella let a touch of petulance slip. Truth be told, she sometimes wondered if Ras loved his patients more than her—his professionalism was that intense.
"You're the priority, Princess. Curse removal first, then burn treatment."
His firm reply oddly pleased her.
"Why me first?"
She knew the reason but asked again, savoring the joy.
Ras didn't disappoint with an instant answer.
"I'm your personal physician."
Her hand—and heart—must have been exposed to the heat. Asella felt a warmth like illusion. Instinctively, she offered him the brooch.
"Yours."
"Giving it to me? Don't tell me this is why…"
Ras chuckled in understanding as he took it, wrapping gauze around her hand.
"Lucky—it's not severe. First-degree burn. Initial treatment and dressing done. Intensive care after."
"Young master, what about you?"
Ras stood, turning to Kunter—now pitch-black and on the verge of explosion.
"Not my patient, but I'll do my best."
His spell resumed. White mana ropes seized Kunter again, dragging out the curse. Finally, the black mass detached.
—Kwaaang!!
Kunter's mana detonated in a blinding flash that stabbed Asella's eyes.