Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Mana Devourer
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[Mana Devourer]: You can interfere with, steal, or absorb others’ mana, magic, curses, enchantments, and powers.
/ You are a monster that grows by devouring the knowledge, mana, and magic of others.
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“Kraaak, kreeeeak!!!”
“Ah, that’s gotta hurt a little, right? But man, what a mess.”
“W-what?”
“Control. It’s completely botched. You gonna let someone just snatch away the gift from the god you serve that easily?”
This precious high-purity mana, just worn around the body like some show of strength?
The processes of control, absorption, refinement, mutation, and reconstruction—tossed out the window. Might as well be a primitive savage burning oil to light a campfire.
“You bastard…!”
Whoosh!
His fist comes flying. But compared to before, it’s noticeably slower.
I dodge it lightly and swing my fist toward the Ghoul Sorcerer.
Thwack!
The moment my fist connects, I drive mana into his body.
Condensation, reconstruction, conversion, and explosion—all happening simultaneously.
“Get lost!”
[Fireball]
[Spell Enhancement: Maximized]
Ruuuuumble……
A fireball loaded with lethal firepower forms inside his body.
“S-stop! Stop it! Uggggh… Kraaaaa!”
Crimson flames erupt from every orifice in the Ghoul Sorcerer’s body.
His entire body splits open……
BOOOOM!!
Ashes, flesh chunks, and bone fragments scatter everywhere.
The Ghoul Sorcerer vanishes from the world without even leaving a corpse worth calling one.
Clink, tink.
A silver bell drops to the floor.
“Phew…….”
I could’ve moved more efficiently, but honestly, he caught me off guard a bit, so I wasted some effort. No more ghouls will be summoned now, so that’s that?
I approach slowly and pick up the artifact the Ghoul Sorcerer had been wielding—the silver bell.
[Silver Bell of the Underworld (S-rank Magic Tool): A ritual tool crafted from pure silver mined by ghouls.
It provides its owner with immense mana alongside horrifying madness.
This belongs to the Abyss. The more you use it, the more your body and mind will evolve into a fitting form.
Underworld’s Gift: The blessing bestowed by the Father of All Ghouls takes hold. While active, all stats increase by 50~700%, and effects like stun, shock, confusion, and pain are ignored. However, you cannot use magic, psychic powers, spiritual abilities, or holy powers while this effect is active.
Dominion of Pure Silver: Automatically casts ‘Voice of Authority’ on a designated target and boosts ‘mental’ spells by 100%.
Allure of Pure Silver: Charm +2 against ghouls, undead, and demons.
Madness of Pure Silver: Grants summoned creatures ‘Madness - Violence,’ increasing attack power by 100%…….]
“All stats up by 700%?”
What kind of broken artifact is this?
Definitely the first time I’ve seen something like it.
I’ve seen a few ghoul-related items, but nothing with power like this.
“Not bad at all…… but the drawbacks are the issue.”
The madness, confusion, and dominion of the abyssal being and Great Old One known as the [Father of All Ghouls] can be ignored with my unique trait [Abyssal Madness], but I can’t stop the physical changes.
A grotesquely mutated face and grotesquely twisted limbs……
A bit more use, and he’d have turned fully into a ghoul.
No matter how good the abilities, I have zero interest in ending up like that.
I blow a breath infused with a complex magic formula onto the silver bell in my hand.
[Breath of Severance]
A 1st-circle sealing spell. Bluish frost-like crystals form over the silver bell where my breath touches.
This thing’s too closely tied to an abyssal entity.
I’m already plagued every night by spam-like nightmares from the [Ring of Corrupted Flame]. No desire to add another obsession trigger.
After layering on a few more spells for extra safeguards, only then do I stuff the [Silver Bell of the Underworld] into my backpack.
This’ll do for now.
Once I set up a proper workshop, I can handle it more securely.
I straighten my backpack and speak toward the spot where the Ghoul Sorcerer had been…… now just a few coal-like fragments and scorch marks.
“You’re done. Come back.”
At my command, the wriggling mass in the Ghoul Sorcerer’s ashes—the Devouring Beast—reacts with a strange noise.
“Grrrk…….”
At a glance, it resembles an octopus.
But the head-like part sports multiple human-like mouths—an utterly grotesque monster.
“Grrrgrrr……!”
It had gorged on the mana and ‘blessing’ imbued in the Ghoul Sorcerer’s body, ballooning far larger than before. It was palm-sized at first, a tiny squidling. Now it’s easily soccer-ball big.
Has its swollen size boosted its intelligence, or has it gained self-awareness? It ignores my words, backing away slowly while baring teeth from the mouths on its head, growling.
Getting bitten by that maw would hurt.
“Hey, cut the attitude and come here.”
I glare at the Devouring Beast, drawing up my mana.
I grimace so hard my facial muscles strain, but the mask hides it anyway.
Whether from the mana or just sensing my anger, the Devouring Beast flinches and approaches.
“Guk…….”
I place a hand on its head and utter the pre-set command phrase.
“You’ve fulfilled the duties and orders I imposed. Cease to exist.”
Squish…… squish…… grrrumble……
The octopus-like body slowly deflates and hardens…… transforming into something entirely different.
The vital force and mana it held, plus the ‘blessing’ stolen from the enemy—all refined into a crystal.
A mana stone.
“Didn’t expect it to turn out this well…….”
Insanely pure mana stone. And this size and weight.
Touching it feels a little intimidating.
Wonder if it can even be exchanged? No clue what price it’d fetch.
Anyway, I tuck it into my backpack and slowly turn around.
One cleanup done…… now to rescue the survivor Moon Seung-hee was looking for.
The protective barrier guarding the survivor is still active.
As I check its status and turn my head, Kwak Dae-yong approaches from behind and speaks up.
“You, you…… really…….”
What nonsense is this?
I turn to look at Kwak Dae-yong, and he’s wearing an utterly unexpected expression.
“You!”
“Huh?”
“You’re amazing!”
“What?”
“I’ve seen plenty of half-baked tourist wizards who talk a big game! But you—no, you, sir—I’ve never seen a wizard like you before!”
I almost burst out laughing.
Kwak Dae-yong’s face is full of admiration, envy, awe…… that sort of thing.
“If you hadn’t hidden your skills like this, I wouldn’t have misunderstood you from the start…….”
Kwak Dae-yong keeps rambling, but it’s all just repeating the same point.
“Who hid their skills? And misunderstanding? Nah, it was Team Leader Kwak Dae-yong’s rotten personality.”
It’s straight-up insulting, but his expression doesn’t change.
“Hey, c’mon. Cut me some slack, yeah? Anyway, I really see you in a new light now. Wanna keep working together going forward? Huh? You got a business card or something?”
“Nope. And anyway, Team Leader Kwak Dae-yong doesn’t have hiring authority for contractors, right?”
“Aw, c’mon. If I just put in a word with HR, right? They’d think about it, wouldn’t they?”
Can’t even speak up to Moon Seung-hee, and he’s talking big.
I came in to show him with actions, but this attitude flip? Well, I did save his life a few times in this short span, so if he hadn’t changed, that’d be annoying in its own way.
“No need. If you have something to say, go through Basilissa to the person with authority. Work’s not done yet.”
“Work? You smashed all the ghouls and obliterated the Ghoul Sorcerer who summoned them like that, and now you’re saying there’s more?”
“…….”
I pause and look at him.
“What? Why’re you looking like that?”
I’m staring like he’s an idiot, but the mask must be blocking my contempt and disdain.
“Team Leader Kwak Dae-yong, are you an idiot? We have to save the survivor.”
“What? Survivor?”
Well, it’s been about 24 hours since the ghouls appeared.
Hard to imagine anyone surviving 24 hours in a sealed space swarming with over a hundred ghouls.
But there is a survivor.
They were definitely alive when I arrived at this apartment complex.
And…… I cast magic to save them.
Since my spell is still holding…… they should still be alive.
“Over there.”
“There…… you mean that…….”
The survivor’s location is, naturally, the deepest part of the underground parking lot where we found the bizarre wall painting, ritual traces, and pile of corpses earlier.
“That’s…… I mean…… corpses, right? Corpses?”
“Yeah. I was protecting the one hiding among those corpses.”
“With…… with magic?”
“Team Leader Kwak Dae-yong, you know you sound just like that cultist we killed earlier, right?”
“N-no, I mean…… uh…….”
Anyway, I drag Kwak Dae-yong along and approach through the pile of corpses.
“About thirty bodies, roughly?”
“A person…… you’re saying there’s really a live person in there……?”
“Probably around there?”
The innermost part of the corpse mound.
That’s where the protective ward I remotely installed earlier remains.
To go further in…… I’ll have to step on corpses. Namu Amida Butsu.
Squelch, squelch……
I step in spilled blood and unidentifiable flesh chunks.
“Urk…….”
Kwak Dae-yong trembles slightly and steps back.
“Squelch…… squelch…….”
A voice with slurred pronunciation comes from between the corpses.
“There it is.”
Looking closely, a person huddled tightly is hiding among the corpse pile.
“Squelch…… squelch…….”
‘Hiding among the corpses must’ve let them survive longer than the others.’
Three survivors in total.
If I hadn’t cast my spell right when I arrived, they probably wouldn’t have made it this far.
Coincidence? Well, one of them is a woman, just as Moon Seung-hee wanted.
‘Or maybe not coincidence…….’
Could be some contrived setup someone prepared on purpose. This is a game world, after all.
“Heh heh…… heh heh heh…… hee hee, kuh heh heh…….”
I helped with magic right away when I got here, but they’d survived at least a full day in this underground parking lot swarming with over a hundred ghouls.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t in one piece.
“Hn heh…… all dead…… please, all dead…… die…… die already……. Heh heh heh…… heh heh hn…… hee hee…… kuh heh heh…….”
I draw a little closer, but she doesn’t register me. She just mutters in a low voice—sobs or laughter, impossible to tell.
‘This development is a first.’