The Six Apostles of the Evil God (3)
Right after the deal was struck.
Tick.
A crack split through frozen time, and the world that had been standing still began to reclaim its life.
"Now, DoD!!"
"......DoD?"
"It means Dark of Darkness!!!!"
"......Son of a bitch."
Whoa. Is a Spirit King even allowed to swear?
Dark's reaction was a beat slow for some reason, but the power flowed in right on cue.
The Spirit King of Evil — Dark of Darkness — is injecting Ancient Aura into Eugene's body.
At the same time, a dense, ink-dark fullness surged through me.
Ancient Aura?
I understood it on instinct.
This is actually my power.
Until now, I'd been using a rental pass to borrow what belonged to someone else. This Ancient Aura, though, felt like it was being absorbed as something entirely my own.
......How, though?
Uncle Nahan had told me that Eugene's resistance to both aura and mana was exceptionally high. That meant strong defenses — and that it was nearly impossible to accumulate aura or mana of my own.
But it's accumulating.
If Rania's aura was a vast reservoir, then I was a sprawling desert. Using the rental pass was like a reservoir appearing in the middle of that wasteland; the skill lasted only until every last drop had evaporated.
But now, a torrential rain was falling on that desert. Before it could evaporate, the water soaked down into the deepest places the heat could never reach, carving out a vast underground aquifer.
The sun rose again. The wet ground dried, and the surface turned back into desert.
Ancient Aura has synchronized with part of Eugene's body (the heart).
Ancient Aura Heart (C-) has been created.
The aura that had seeped into the deepest parts of my body fused with my heart and did not leave.
The quality of the aura is different.
If Rania's, Vivian's, and Charles's aura was water of the highest purity, the aura that had settled in my heart felt like a galaxy brimming with starlight.
"......So you have been chosen by the Ancient Aura."
"What's that?"
"The aura the ancient humans once wielded. Deeper and denser, you could say... Well. I shall explain the rest once this situation is resolved."
I smiled and nodded.
"Thanks, DoD."
"Do not address this body in that manner."
"Then how about Dada?"
"You son of a... Fine. Just go with DoD."
Guess it grew on him after all.
Regardless. Thanks to Dark, I had formed an Aura Heart.
▸ Admiration (Ex)— Bloom
▸ Martial God's Physique (S+)
▸ Ancient Aura Heart (C-)★ NEW!
The displayed rank was C- — the entry threshold of Sword Expert Intermediate — but as Dark had said, Ancient Aura ran deeper and denser than ordinary aura.
If it's at this level...
In terms of total volume alone, I could reasonably be considered an aura user on par with Charles, at minimum.
Which means the bet with Eldora is as good as over.
If I recommended Yuria as a scholarship student, she wouldn't turn into a villainess anytime soon.
So now, at last, I could focus entirely on the enemy in front of me.
"Let's hurry up and die, Number Two."
"Don't wanna."
......There's a lot I need to find out.
So I would subdue them. After a moment's thought, I decided not to finish Number Four off — I would overpower them instead.
"Don't worry. I'll kill you even if you don't want me to."
"Ooh, so scary."
"We'll see how long you can keep acting so relaxed."
The hell kind of line is that.
That's actually terrifying.
In any case, I figured I might as well test my newly acquired power. I gripped my sword and started walking forward.
"I shall assist you."
Dark approached, trailing black mist.
"It appears you absorbed the Ancient Aura well enough, but you will not yet be able to apply it."
I snorted a laugh.
"I know how to apply it, actually."
"What...?"
Ah. If that's the eyes, then this would be the brow.
Dark's brow furrowed.
"Your body had only a single strange energy in it. No aura. No mana."
"I've used it before."
"I believe you are mistaken. What spirit goes swimming where there is no water?"
"There is such a person."
Right here.
The next instant.
"Die."
The very moment Number Four's scythe hooked its pale-pink blade around my neck, I activated a skill, and smiled.
CRACK.
......Wait. Fuck, that's fast.
A smile bloomed across Number Four's face.
"......Got him."
They'd swung the scythe so wide from sheer tension that a cloud of dust had billowed up, but the grim, bone-deep sensation of a direct hit came through their fingertips with absolute certainty.
"I killed Number Two."
But it wasn't enough. Right after they had been formally appointed as Apostles, the remaining six had thrown themselves at Number Two together — and even then, they hadn't been able to bring this one down.
So they had to be sure.
CRRRUNCH.
As if delivering a coup de grâce, Number Four seized the scythe with both hands and wrenched it toward themselves with everything they had.
"Die. Just die already!!!"
Number Four was intimately familiar with the sensation of tearing through bone and muscle, of crushing even a sturdy cervical spine. That was how they knew.
"......Tek."
They had failed to kill Number Two.
"......kai."
They had poured every last scrap of ki into the swing. They had struck the most vulnerable point — the neck — dead on.
"Tekkai."
Number Two was still standing there.
"How in the world......?"
Number Four froze without realizing it.
Imitating Skill — Taesan (S+)
Number Four could cut through steel. Given enough time, they were confident they could shear through diamond, even cold-forged iron.
But.
Imitated Taesan (B−) has been activated.
The Number Two standing before them was a mountain. A colossal mountain of earth whose soil had not yet packed hard — the blade could sink in, but it could never cut through. They had succeeded in splitting the skin. Below that, the scythe was stuck fast, as if it had been driven into stone.
Which meant they had failed to kill Number Two.
"......I'm losing my mind."
Number Two had said it once, a long time ago.
"If you don't want to die, kill."
"......What if they're stronger than me?"
"Kill them anyway."
Because if you failed—
"The one who dies will be me."
Number Four felt their own death settle over them like a certainty.
Pffah.
So they laughed, without meaning to.
A pure, white, almost innocent madness shimmered vividly in those pale-pink eyes.
"And by YOUR hands, Number Two!! Right!? You're going to kill me!! Aren't you!?!"
They had become an Apostle to stay alive, and they had willingly taken this thing into themselves to survive in that place. Number Four closed their eyes, accepting the madness, and thought of the name they had lost — and of the Eugene who had once been kind.
■■... I'll protect you, at least.
Ah. That's right.
"......I'm glad."
This goddamn madness that had tormented them their entire life hadn't even vanished at the moment of death. Thanks to that, dying had become a little less frightening.
But then—
Tug.
Number Two pulled the scythe from their skin with one hand, as if plucking out a splinter.
"......It's the scythe. It's the scythe. Fatigue is from the li— no, it's the scythe~."
Humming something under their breath even as blood poured down their front, Number Two walked out of the dust cloud.
"Fatigue is because of the scythe."
They shoved their face in close to Number Four.
"Uru... wait, that's a different commercial."
At last he revealed himself, coated in blood, a nasty little grin on his face.
Click.
He pulled a small pill bottle from his coat, fished out a tablet, and popped it in his mouth to chew.
"From head to toe..."
Crunch. Crunch.
Covered in blood, humming a jingle, chewing something — Number Two.
"Oronamin C, and..."
The moment he let the words trail off and locked eyes with them, Number Four froze solid.
"Ty— no, Dawiraenol."
Number Four's legs gave out.
"D-don't come any closer......"
"Hm?"
"You monster!! Stay away!!"
Watching Number Two give them a thumbs-up, Number Four understood it in their bones.
......So my madness was a fake all along.
That deranged look in his eyes. That was it.
"Got it. Then I'll ask you from right here."
True madness.
"Where did you get that brooch?"
"Ah......"
For the first time in a long while, Number Four was afraid of dying.
Simply put, activating a skill was a lot like playing a fighting game on a console. Input the right command, and the character moves. In the same way, a skill fired when you sent aura along a set formula.
Of course, in this world they wouldn't call them skills — they'd be techniques and magic.
And in this body I'd possessed — Eugene's — I could feel that flow with startling clarity. If a skill was a machine, then the method of activating it was the blueprint. Every time I used a skill, I learned the blueprint, and if I tried to recall it, it came back.
Until now, I'd had no electricity to run the machine. No aura at all.
Imitated Taesan (B−) has ended.
Now it was overflowing. I was still inexperienced, so the quality dropped several ranks below the original skill. But the result was that I survived.
"Time to do what needs doing."
I walked toward Number Four.
"D-don't come any closer......"
"Hm?"
"You monster!! Stay away!!"
Who's calling who a monster.
"Got it. Then I'll ask you from right here."
Number Four looked ready to faint on the spot, so I stopped walking. And I asked.
"Where did you get that brooch?"
Finally, the main event. I had no idea why Number Four was holding Rania's brooch, but if anything had happened to her, I was not going to let it slide.
Just hang on a little longer, Rania.
Whoever laid a hand on you, I'll smash that bastard's skull into tiny little pieces.
That was the vow I was making when Number Four's expression went rigid.
"......Have you actually lost it?"
I turned my head.
"They're asking if you've gone crazy?"
"......Anyone can see they were asking you. I am only visible to you in the first place."
"Oh. Really?"
Didn't know that.
I turned back to Number Four and put on the gentlest smile I could manage.
"I'm not crazy."
"Eek!! I'll talk!! I'll tell you everything, so please just don't kill me horribly!!"
"What did I even do."
The next instant, Number Four pulled out the brooch and shook it.
"Th-this brooch — you left this with me yourself a long time ago, Number Two!!"
"Huh?"
When did I?