Chapter 96: Let’s All Watch Over Hansol Orphanage! (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 96: Let’s All Watch Over Hansol Orphanage! (6)
What exactly is a Dragon Vein in the world of this novel?
It is a special type of terrain where pure mana has permeated the land itself. Its value varies wildly depending on the amount of latent mana, but even a Dragon Vein with the bare minimum required for formation is enough to be called a treasure.
Now, what does a Dragon Vein react to?
A person’s goodness? Courage? Oh, that’s not entirely wrong.
Dragon Veins react to those with an intense will and possess the property of sharing their power. They inherit the trait of pure mana being drawn to strong convictions. The problem, however, is that this “strong will” isn’t limited to things that are strictly good.
Well, it’s not like everyone is a protagonist. When you think of human will, don’t dark, sharp desires often leave a more intense impression than soft, virtuous ones?
That’s why, in the original story, villains actually end up hogging most of the Dragon Veins.
Indeed. This is a twisted world where power-up events triggered by being cornered happen to villains more often than to the protagonist.
What am I getting at? It means that piece-of-trash villain just gained the power of a Dragon Vein and leveled up.
He probably received power from the Dragon Vein through a desperate survival instinct or something similar. He couldn’t have received much, yet he was still putting up a decent fight against the War Demon.
It wasn’t just a simple amplification of energy. Seeing that murky, black demonic energy surging around him, he probably didn’t have enough power from the Dragon Vein alone and sold out his dead villain comrades through black magic.
“Tsk…!”
The villain was pathetic to begin with, so normally he wouldn’t be able to face the War Demon even with that much of a boost, but he was using his head.
He kept his distance from the War Demon and fired mana from long range, targeting us or the mountainside where the orphanage was located. Because of this, the War Demon couldn’t easily switch to the offensive and was focused entirely on defense.
Wait, I get the orphanage, but why is he protecting us?
“Do not worry. I will never let you be harmed.”
As if sensing my gaze, the War Demon spoke with a solemn attitude, his eyes still fixed forward.
…Um, I said this once before, but why are you acting so friendly, Mister? It’s creepy. I’m going to take you down too once this is over.
Knowing the War Demon’s personality, he was probably moved by the fact that I’d set up safety measures for the orphanage, or perhaps because I’d “yielded” this villain to him.
But if he was going to change his tune and listen, he should have done it earlier.
It’s a bit annoying how he’s acting like this now after refusing to even pretend to listen before.
A torrent of surging black mana spread in all directions, but the War Demon steadied his breathing and thrust his fist toward the incoming mana arrows.
The sight of him shattering every single arrow in that wide-range attack with his fists was a divine feat beyond human technique, but it didn’t look like it would last long.
“Is it poison?”
“No, to be precise, it is a curse created through black magic!”
Oh, so he is a black mage?
His fists began to be eroded by a vicious curse that bypassed his protective aura.
“I guess even an S-rank can’t do anything about curses? Ah, you have particularly bad compatibility with them, don’t you?”
It’s the same for Professor Cathy, but martial-type Awakened tend to have poor compatibility with curses or sorcery.
The War Demon is actually worse than Professor Cathy in that regard. His setting is that he fights using his traits and a trained body without using any Talents at all, making him extremely vulnerable to concepts like curses, even if he can handle poison.
“And what of it?”
However, the War Demon suppressed that absurdity through sheer force of will. Ignoring his skin, which was rotting as it was consumed by the curse, he threw another punch.
Blood flowed as the curse gnawed at his fists upon impact with the mana, but he took another step forward, ignoring the pain.
“If it is a curse made of black magic, it will eventually end once you run out of the grudges of those who died here.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Maintaining such a vicious curse couldn’t be easy.
“Then I simply need to endure until then and crush you.”
“…You madman.”
The villain, who had been gleefully scattering the curse, looked at him with a face full of disgust.
To be fair, it was a mad statement. Even a single hit from a curse like that would cause enough pain to drive someone insane. What kind of lunatic decides to endure all of it just to crush their enemy?
But the man known as War Demon Seo Tae-ho had always stuck to that method.
He was a man who couldn’t be satisfied unless he smashed whatever stood in his way with his fists and kept moving forward.
His back, as he silently countered the mana surging with terrible curses using his own fists, held something immense—something that would make any man feel a certain way.
“…So-hyun.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you going to help him?”
“No? Why would I?”
I might feel something, but that’s that. I’m not helping.
He pissed me off.
If his life were in immediate danger, it might be different, but the War Demon I know isn’t the type to succumb to something like this. Besides, even though he’s acting friendly on his own, a guy who doesn’t listen and just charges ahead needs to be taught a lesson.
Wouldn’t it have been better if he’d just listened when I tried to speak in the first place?
“Right?”
If it were Lilac, he would have stepped in to help anyway, but Ha-ni and I aren’t exactly the “ultimate good” types.
Besides, despite appearances, the War Demon wasn’t actually in that much of a disadvantageous position.
“S-ranks aren’t much after all!”
The villain didn’t seem to notice, but his mana, which had been continuously increasing, was starting to weaken again.
Dragon Veins grant power in response to will.
Conversely, if the will that caused the power to be lent weakens, the connection thins and eventually snaps entirely.
In his case, the reason the Dragon Vein lent him power was likely his survival instinct or the humiliation of defeat. Looking at his current state, it didn’t seem like much of those emotions remained.
The Dragon Vein wouldn’t take back the power it already gave, but it wouldn’t lend him any more. And power with a fixed total amount disappears quickly when wasted like that.
He’d put up a good fight for someone who was just an extra-tier villain in the original, but this seemed to be his limit.
He was currently drunk on a sense of omnipotence and hadn’t noticed, but he would soon realize.
That the moment that power ran out would be his end.
The villain poured out mana indiscriminately.
The War Demon neutralized the mana, his fists already stained purple and oozing blood.
His skin was torn, but he stepped forward as if he didn’t care.
The villain took a step back.
The War Demon advanced another step.
The villain finally seemed to sense something was wrong, his expression turning anxious.
It was only natural to panic when the power that had been filling him endlessly suddenly hit a wall.
Even the demonic energy he’d supplemented by sacrificing his comrades was starting to reach its limit; the curse was gradually fading.
His face turned pale, realizing that the moment either his remaining mana or the curse ran out, his head would be crushed.
“I see it is almost over. You were nothing special.”
“…Urgh!? What—what kind of monster are you! This makes no sense…! It’s an absurdity!”
Why is a superhuman complaining about absurdity…?
Wait, wouldn’t that cause the Dragon Vein to lend him power again in an infinite loop?
No, Dragon Veins almost never lend power again to someone whose connection has been severed once.
And even if, by some miracle, it was willing to lend power again, there was no way the War Demon would miss the moment the power cut out.
It’s over.
Just as I thought that, something incomprehensible happened.
Blood splattered in the air.
The villain, who had been floating in the sky while inflating his unnecessarily vast mana, had stabbed his own heart with a dagger.
I mean, if he wanted to commit suicide, that’s fine, but what he did wasn’t a simple suicide.
Intense demonic energy began to swirl again, centered around the dagger piercing his heart.
That dagger must have been an Artifact as well; it began to emit an even more intense aura as it devoured the remaining Dragon Vein mana and the remnants of black magic within him.
Was it because of the unavoidable death approaching? Or did he think he couldn’t end like this after sacrificing his comrades? Or did he just want to go out in a blaze of spiteful glory?
I knew that humans pushed to their limits sometimes make incomprehensible choices, but I didn’t expect him to pull a stunt like this.
What kind of mindset leads a guy who made a Dragon Vein react because he didn’t want to die to then throw his own life away?
The dagger, having greedily devoured everything from the sacrifice, glowed with a red light.
The boundaries of reality collapsed, and the air began to crack.
“Hey, So-hyun, the atmosphere over there is looking a bit suspicious.”
…Huh?
“…Wait.”
I hadn’t thought much of it until now, but Ha-ni’s line just now reminded me of an Artifact with those traits.
What Ha-ni just said was exactly like the line Lilac said in the original when he saw that Artifact.
…But if that’s what I think it is, isn’t that an Artifact Baek Seol uses in the original?
Among the Artifacts she uses in the original, there is a dagger called the “Touch of the Devil,” which she obtained after defeating a villain who used black magic.
This dagger, which ranks quite high among Legendary-grade Artifacts based on performance alone, is a simple yet powerful item that grants a corresponding amount of power from a devil in exchange for a sacrifice.
The truly terrifying thing about this Artifact is that the sacrifice doesn’t necessarily have to be your own.
Using that trait, Baek Seol once exterminated villains using a crazy tactic: when fighting a large group of enemies, she would stab an enemy with that dagger and offer their blood to use the devil’s power.
…Anyway, was he the original owner? I suppose it’s not that strange since he seems to be a black mage.
It’s an unexpected development, but I’m not particularly worried.
The entity finally began to emerge from beyond the dimension, having claimed the vast mana, the existing demonic energy, and even the corpses of the dead villains.
Ha-ni looked wary and tried to raise her sword again, but when I stopped her, she sheathed it with a questioning look.
What appeared was a being that boasted an absolutely overwhelming presence.
Shrouded in a demonic energy that was ominous even to the eye, it tried to emerge into the world through the passage opened by the dagger.
The first thing to squeeze through the distorted space was a giant arm.
The hideous red arm tried to force its way through the gap to pull its true body out.
Key word: tried.
Gods and devils naturally exist in this world, but to summon one of a decent size, a sacrifice of that level is nowhere near enough.
If it were a mediocre devil, it would have come out long ago without all this show, and for a decent-level devil to manifest directly, it would have to take a loss.
It probably has no intention of actually manifesting at a loss; it’s likely just putting on a show because it received a payment before leaving.
If no one picks a fight with it, it’ll probably just show off for a bit and then disappear on its own.
Ah, shit.
“…Hmph.”
Things always go south when I think like that.
The moment I saw the War Demon stomping the ground to take a stance, I reflexively shouted.
“Don’t you dare touch that…!”
“Do not worry. I have no experience fighting such a thing yet, but…”
No, dammit, I’m not worried about you…!
“I am a man of my word.”
…Your word? What word?
“Do not worry. Neither you nor the orphanage. I will never let it lay a hand on them.”
Ah, that. Right. Yeah, I perfectly understand.
You crazy troll.
“Don’t do it…!!!”
Forcing his scarred fists closed, the War Demon leaped.
Dammit, can’t things just end peacefully for once…?
Thump.
But miraculously, the War Demon’s punch didn’t reach the devil.
It was blocked by a golden mana barrier that suddenly appeared.
“…Hya, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on here, but the timing seems to have been perfect. Could you please not think about touching something that dangerous here?”
My god.
Golden mana shimmered from the fingertips of the Little Witch, who was floating in the air.
“This is private property, so it’d be troublesome if something like that went on a rampage.”
To be honest, until just a moment ago, I was having some very rude thoughts like, ‘You said this place was precious, so why are you so late when an accident happened? Dammit!’ or ‘If you’re a hero, you should stop incidents before they happen; what kind of hero shows up after everything’s blown up?’ But I was a fool.
This is a hard carry.
A true hero is someone who shows up and performs at the most critical moment, no matter how late they are.
Professor Park A-ram…! I believed in you…! Dammiiiiit!!!!
…Honestly, even I think I’m changing my tune a bit fast, but I can’t help it. She looks so cool.
“So, I haven’t fully grasped the situation yet, so Kang So-hyun, you tell me.”
The professor was playfully swirling her mana, but her aura was anything but a joke.
“Who and what are the enemies here?”
This is what a hero looks like.
Witnessing a true hero, I was moved and had no choice but to tell the truth.
“Except for that big guy and the floating hand, everything is pretty much wrapped up.”
“…Huh? Me!? No, that’s not right…!”
What do you mean it’s not right, you punk? I never said I’d forgive you.
“Aha, clear and simple. I like it. You students take a break then. It’s not very cool to say this since I arrived so late, but…”
Haha, Seo Tae-ho, you bastard. You’re in big trouble now.
“The adults will handle the cleanup.”
In terms of raw power, the professor might lose since she hasn’t broken her seals, but the War Demon is currently far from being in top shape.
“You there, big guy. Only I’m allowed to bully my model students, okay? You’re screwed, so just know that.”
She’s seriously so cool.
Whether it was just my imagination or not, both Ha-ni and I—and even the devil’s hand—were watching the sweating War Demon with great interest.