Chapter 180
Chapter 180
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 180
Chapter Title: Believer (4)
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[Authority]
With that single word, the test tube shook violently, scattering its contents into the air.
The emotion, having undergone some special processing, didn't dissipate even as it floated in the air. Instead, it made contact with Marie's emotion, merged seamlessly with it, and soon fused together as if hooked onto a ring.
Under Marie's influence, the emotion broke into tiny particles like mist from a spray bottle, spreading to fill the surroundings.
For hundreds of meters around.
Because of it, the world took on a faint black tint, as if someone had sprinkled graphite powder over a painting.
"Hmm..."
Oliver swept his hand through the emotion particles drifting in the air, observing them.
"...This isn't Marie's emotion."
"No, Master. It's the faith of pure believers like myself."
"Believers?"
"It's the faith extracted in appropriate amounts from those who have received your teachings and truly worship you."
Hmm... Clearly, this emotion wasn't from a single person. It was a composite of at least eight people's emotions blended together.
Yet they didn't repel each other; they merged as naturally as if they'd always been one.
The medium for that was...
"—Faith, huh."
"Yes."
"Fascinating. Blind emotions directed at one target can be wielded with such finesse even when mixed from multiple people. It's an intriguing and astonishing discovery. I've read plenty of books, but I've never come across any theory or hypothesis on this. Impressive, Marie."
"You're too kind. There was never anyone like you before, Master."
Marie attributed even her own discovery to Oliver.
She seemed ready to die gladly if he asked.
Yet, ironically, she couldn't stop worshiping Oliver or live her own life as he told her to.
It was a truly difficult, complex emotion. To think that believing in and serving someone could outweigh one's own life or achievements.
An emotion Oliver simply couldn't comprehend. But its sincerity was undeniable.
A sudden doubt crept in.
Did he have the right to block Marie's faith?
Perhaps things had turned out this way because of his own selfish actions.
'No, even so, this is... tricky.'
"Master."
Marie spoke.
"Yes, Marie."
"I beg you once more. Could you not show mercy to this foolish one, just this once? I don't want to harm you, Master."
It was half a threat, but astonishingly, Marie meant it sincerely.
She harbored not the slightest desire to hurt Oliver.
Quite the opposite.
It pained her to her core. Yet she attacked because she wanted to take him with her that badly.
"I'll do anything for you, Master."
"I've already told you what I want. Still, I'm curious—what will you do?"
"I'll make you wealthier than anyone in the world and grant you more power than anyone else."
"I can earn all the money I need, and I don't want power."
"I'll gather all the knowledge in the world and offer it to you. I'll uncover the truth of that beautiful light you once mentioned and present it to you."
"I can seek out knowledge myself. The process holds its own value and joy. The beautiful light is the same. If you do everything for me, what am I left with? I'd be no different from livestock or a pet trapped for our amusement. Is that what you want for me?"
Marie wavered at his words. Honestly, Oliver hoped she'd understand and back off at this point.
He just wanted them to part peacefully like this.
But things don't always go as planned. Marie shook her head.
"Urgh... Then I'll do whatever you desire."
"I've said it many times already. Please stop what you're doing and live your own life."
"This... this is already my life, Master."
Marie steeled her resolve again and thrust her hand toward Oliver, then clenched her outstretched fist tight.
Kuuk!
A pressure gripped Oliver's throat, from some unseen source.
It wasn't ordinary force. The Black Suit creaked under the immense pressure.
Without it, his windpipe would have been crushed instantly.
'Particles... She's manipulating the emotion particles in the air.'
The emotion particles enveloping hundreds of meters around didn't just darken his vision—they exerted physical influence by surrounding everything.
How to describe this?
Not perfectly accurate, but it felt like fighting inside the palm of Marie's hand.
Oliver touched his throat with his hand, but the tiny emotion particles scattered briefly like a swarm of flies before resuming their work.
"This is pretty dangerous."
Having consumed eight pure faiths, the technique was as perilous as it was powerful.
Judging that, Oliver clawed at his throat to break free from Marie's control momentarily, then fired a Hate Bullet at her.
Papapang—!!
The short, precise Hate Bullet flew toward Marie but gradually lost momentum and stopped.
Countless tiny emotion particles had clumped together to halt Oliver's shot.
Like a bullet fired underwater.
Oliver instinctively sensed disaster.
Oliver detonated a bomb of rage at the tip of his quarterstaff and slammed it into the ground.
An enormous explosion flipped the earth, sending a small shockwave and dust swirling around.
Thinking it had stolen his vision, Oliver bolted out of the emotion particle zone.
He didn't know its full power, but inside, everything was under Marie's control. Black magic was effectively sealed.
Given the amount of emotion used, there had to be a limit to reusing it, so he planned to fight her from outside the area.
Until a tree twisted like a living creature and whipped at him first.
Thwack! Zzztzzztzzzt—crack!!
The tree trunk groaned grotesquely as it moved, bending like tentacles to lash Oliver.
The Black Suit protected his body from direct impact, but he was sent flying backward, crashing to the ground.
"...Not just emotions, but objects too?"
"Yes!"
Marie answered, soaring through the air on emotion particles, claws extended.
Oliver barely stood and dodged.
The constant pressure from the particles made his movements sluggish and unnatural, like fighting underwater.
'This is bad. Ranged and close range are both disadvantageous.'
His actions were restricted, while Marie moved freely—using the particles like currents to aid straight-line motion like flight.
As Oliver rose and narrowly evaded another attack, Marie slashed with her claws again.
Kyakyakyang—!
Oliver swung his quarterstaff at an angle to block, then tried to fire a Hate Bullet at close range.
"Tch..."
The myriad particles in the air seeped into his forming Hate Bullet, disrupting the black magic.
Like salt, sugar, or dirt sprinkled into cooking food.
Not something to ignore—it slowed his casting enough to ruin his combo.
Chwararang!!
Marie swung her other hand, clawing at him.
He barely pulled back, but the grazed spot tore open.
He thought he could tank a couple hits, but no. One solid strike from those claws would sever limbs.
"It'll hurt, but don't worry. A skilled black mage will reattach any severed parts. Even if not, we'll fit you with the finest mechanical or golem prosthetic. Losing a limb won't diminish your value, Master."
"Haa... This feels a bit off, but maybe I'm imagining it?"
Oliver tilted his head, re-extracting the ambient emotion.
If he couldn't win, stealing it was an option.
Fortunately, the particles were still emotions. They gathered in his hand, yielding control.
With this—
—Chwaang clang!!!
A ear-piercing screech rang out, and the emotion gathering in his hand burst apart harmlessly into the air.
Not a failed extraction. Marie had interfered from afar.
Had her control surpassed his?
No.
From their prior clashes, Oliver's skill outmatched hers.
The reason lay elsewhere.
In the nature of the emotion itself.
"I'm sorry, Master. This is a special emotion bound by faith. Even you won't easily wrest control from me!"
Not arrogance or blind faith—an undeniable fact.
Marie had a profound, unbreakable link to this vast, potent emotion.
One transcending black magic technique, rooted deeper.
The identical emotion of worshiping the same target with the same feeling.
That powerful bond made it hard for Oliver to seize.
Oliver found it amusing.
Being worshiped still felt off, but it created an ironic, indescribable sensation.
The emotion worshiping him was hard for him to handle.
Perhaps faith and worship didn't depend on the target. Maybe the emotion itself was what mattered.
"...The more you know the world, the more you live, the more interesting it gets."
Marie asked with hope.
"Ah... So you'll acknowledge our faith?"
"Who knows. I'm not great enough to judge you or those around you, so it's hard to say. Honestly, I'd prefer we reconcile now, part ways, and live our own lives."
Marie's expression darkened again.
Oliver wondered if he and Marie might never truly understand each other.
And that might not be so bad.
Marie gritted her teeth.
"Then—"
Before Marie could finish, Oliver extracted mana and injected it into the ground.
The empowered earth surged up, forming a hemispherical barrier that enveloped and protected him on all sides.
Startled, Marie tried to grind the Toad House to pieces by shaping the emotion particles into tiny blades.
Like a massive blender.
Viiiiiiiing—!!!
By the time half the Toad House was shredded, a massive explosion and flames erupted from within.
The particles weren't invincible; they took damage from the intense heat and firepower, pushed back by the thermal wave.
"...!!"
Marie recoiled from the huge blast and fire right before her eyes.
But she was shocked again seeing Oliver emerge unscathed from the flames.
Wearing the Black Suit infused with artificial souls blending emotion, mana, and life force, Oliver rocketed out of the emotion particle zone at tremendous speed.
"Kuh!"
Visibly panicked, Marie manipulated the particles to grab him.
But this time was different.
He could only make them bean-sized for now, but the artificial souls' power defied imagination, ignoring the tiny but pervasive emotion interference in the air.
She even tried shoving particles into the Black Suit to wreck it from inside, but that failed too.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Marie panicked. Outside the area, catching Oliver would be tough.
So she chased him personally.
The soul-infused Black Suit ramped up output naturally, achieving blistering speed, while Marie pushed her limits to keep up.
Leaping tree to tree, then creating particle platforms to bound through the sky like a hawk hunting prey, she pursued.
The terrain favored her slightly—or so she felt.
As they reached the outskirts where particles thinned, an excited Marie lunged at Oliver.
"I won't let you escape!!"
Obsessed with the prey in reach. Was that why?
Marie didn't notice the greed and flame clutched in Oliver's hand.
Oliver chanted, blending flame and emotion.