Chapter 223: The Abyss (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 223: The Abyss (3)
In the beginning, there was Adam, the first man.
He lived in happiness, spending peaceful days in the Garden of Eden with Eve, the first woman, born from his rib.
Until the ‘Serpent’ appeared.
That day was no different from any other.
As Eve happily ran through the garden under the warm sunlight, a bizarre-looking serpent appeared before her.
The serpent approached Eve and spoke thus:
-Did He really say you must not eat the fruit of any tree in the garden?
Eve shook her head.
The serpent deliberately twisted God's words to make Eve doubt, and lied to her, saying that if she ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge, she would become like God.
In the end, Eve succumbed to the serpent's temptation and ate the fruit. Afterward, Adam, at Eve's urging, also ate it.
When God learned of this, He was enraged and banished them from the Garden of Eden.
Because of the original sin they committed, humanity came to experience pain, labor, death, and separation from God.
*
「The avatar of 'The First Tempter' has manifested.」
「A penalty mission has been generated.」
「Intruder of the Abyss (無底坑)
You are an intruder who has set foot in the prison.
Survive against the avatar of The First Tempter.
Failure means death.」
A screen appeared before my eyes, but I had no time to study it.
My instincts were screaming at me.
Warning me that if I looked away for even a moment, I would die.
On reflex, I pushed my senses to their peak and stared at the 'something' beyond the darkness.
I tried casting a Light spell, but the surrounding darkness was so thick I couldn't see a thing.
I wasn't sure, but it was probably some kind of ability.
I didn't know its exact identity, but I could tell that 'The First Tempter' was the term referring to it.
If my guess was correct, it was undoubtedly a Constellation, a being that always appears in fictional works about climbing towers.
Divine, or transcendent beings of a similar caliber.
When I first met Lucifer, the message window had also referred to her with the epithet 'Fallen Star'.
In mythology, Lucifer was a fallen angel cast out of heaven. So, Fallen Star was a fitting name.
The important thing here was that I could discern the enemy's identity through these epithets.
But I had no time for such leisurely thoughts.
“?!”
Fwoosh!
Something shot out of the darkness and struck my barrier.
It was so fast I had no time to dodge.
Szzzzzle—
A glob of purple slime clinging to the barrier made an unsettling sound as it dripped to the floor.
Anyone could see it was poison. A highly corrosive acid-type poison, at that.
As expected of a Constellation's poison, the damage to the barrier was significant. It seemed to have corrosive properties, as the damage on the front began to spread across the entire barrier.
A cold sweat broke out on my skin without me realizing.
If I hadn't had my barrier up, I might have been hit directly by the poison.
'I don't think even the Rosary's poison immunity would work on that...'
Of course, since the Rosary was consecrated by a saint, there was no doubting its performance.
But I couldn't rely on something uncertain in a combat situation. More importantly, I had no desire to take a glob of that slime with my bare body.
I'd rather roll around in a mud pit.
Besides, even for me, spamming barriers would drain my magic power quickly. In a place like this where natural mana was scarce, dodging was the best option.
Hssssss...
Displeased that its attack was blocked, the creature made a threatening sound. It was like the sound of air escaping.
It was a sound I was sure I'd heard somewhere before.
'A snake...?'
I was certain.
Above all, there was the distinct, fishy stench of a reptile that had been assaulting my nose, and the sound of something slithering across the floor.
The moment I thought I had a grasp on its identity, lights flickered in the darkness.
Pew, pew, pfft!
Globs of slime shot through the darkness. At a glance, there were more than ten of them.
I immediately used Formless Step to evade. If my reaction had been just 0.3 seconds slower, I would have been grazed.
I decided to save Thought Acceleration as much as possible for emergencies. I couldn't afford to overuse a skill that consumed mental power instead of stamina or magic.
The attack didn't stop there.
The next volley came before my feet even touched the ground.
Sizzle!
The floor, which hadn't even been scratched by my attacks, was melting from the slime. I was glad I hadn't decided to test the Rosary's performance by taking a hit.
I kept moving, dodging the attacks.
No matter how fast and threatening the attacks were, as long as their trajectory was set, dodging them was no big deal.
That was why guns weren't effective weapons against superhumans.
After all, it's a human who decides where to point the muzzle.
As time went on, dodging became easier and easier.
'What a dirty way to fight.'
But easy as it was to dodge, I didn't appreciate it just chipping away at me from a distance.
That was strictly my job as a mage.
Fwoosh.
Magic circles appeared in the air, brightly illuminating the area as each one formed a spear of flame.
[Fire Spear]
Not one or two, but a total of twenty flame spears took shape.
Fire Spear is a 1st Circle spell, but thanks to modifying the magic circle, its power is comparable to a 2nd Circle spell.
It's less stable as a result, but that was nothing I couldn't handle.
This should be enough to keep it busy.
HSSSSSS!!
The creature let out a threatening cry and began to charge toward me. It seemed it had no intention of sitting still and taking my magic.
Swiiish—
But the twenty flame spears were already streaking through the air toward it.
BOOM, KABOOM, BOOM!!
Explosions erupted and flames scattered in all directions, but the creature's presence didn't diminish in the slightest.
If anything, it only seemed more enraged as it charged through the swirling dust. I had expected this, so I immediately began casting my next spell while moving.
[Chain Lightning]
A single bolt of lightning shot out from the magic circle, flew toward the creature, and discharged.
Bzzzzzt—
HSSSSSS!!
An ear-splitting shriek echoed through the chamber.
It must have done some decent damage, because the creature's movements stopped.
That wasn't all. The thick black mist enveloping it also dissipated slightly.
Revealed through the gap were black scales that looked like they could deflect most magic, a massive body easily exceeding twenty meters, and vertically slit red pupils.
Only then did I become certain of its identity.
“...The Serpent of Eden.”
The serpent of sin from Genesis that tempted Eve, the first woman, into eating the forbidden fruit, and was cursed for its crime to crawl on its belly for the rest of its days—the enemy of mankind.
「'The First Tempter' is indignant.」
「"How dare a mere mortal speak my True Name!"」
At that moment, the mist surrounding it cleared, revealing a serpent with its maw wide open, ready to swallow its prey.
As if reacting to its menacing presence, the Rosary began to emit a radiant light.
[You are temporarily imbued with divine power.]
Power surged through my body.
Even the backlash from overusing support magic to break the chains vanished.
The output was incomparable to when the World Tree's divine power had imbued my magic.
「'The First Tempter' is astonished.」
「"That divine power...! Could it be?!"」
Ignoring the voice echoing in my head, I took Gilenium out of my inventory.
A pure white aura shimmered around the sword.
[Facing a great evil, the demon-breaking energy surges violently.]
“I heard snake meat tastes like a mix of fish and chicken...”
I saw it in a documentary once.
The snake meat they were grilling in the desert looked pretty tasty.
“But you look a bit tough. I doubt you're good for anything but your hide.”
「'The First Tempter' is enraged.」
「"I'll kill you!!"」
Its eyes glowed as it charged straight at me. I couldn't believe how fast it was for something without legs—it was incredibly quick.
CRASH!
I used my footwork to dodge.
The floor where it crashed caved in.
Despite missing me, it paid no mind and immediately moved again.
CRASH, CRASH, CRASH!!
I didn't even have time to let my feet touch the ground.
At this rate, it was obvious I'd be caught soon. Of course, that didn't mean I was just dodging without a plan.
[Lightning Spear]
[Mega Flare]
[Fire Burst]
[Lightning Strike]
BOOM, KABOOM!
BZZZZT—
RUUUMBLE—
CRACKLE!!
Whenever I had an opening, I cast spells and launched them at it. But it only faltered for a moment; I couldn't do any real damage.
My brow furrowed at the sight of its unscathed scales.
I hadn't expected to land a decisive blow, but seeing it completely unharmed hurt my pride.
'Is this the best I can do with spells below the 3rd Circle?'
I wanted to use Thought Acceleration to buy time and cast a 5th Circle spell, but I had to refrain from using magic of the 4th Circle or higher in case the ceiling collapsed.
Well, seeing as the ceiling is fine despite that massive body rampaging around, it probably would've been okay.
'It's not like I'm out of options. No need to rush.'
I took a large leap back.
I landed right next to Lucifer.
“Don't just stand there watching. How about you give me a hand?”
Even chained up, a Constellation is still a Constellation.
I thought I might be able to get some help, one way or another.
But that hope was shattered in an instant.
「Penalty mission in progress.」
「Intervention from Constellations is restricted.」
I clicked my tongue at the screen that appeared.
Lucifer was saying something, but I couldn't hear her. Does even conversation count as intervention?
“Isn't that thing a Constellation, too?”
I pointed at the snake's head, which was glaring at me as if it wanted to kill me.
「This is part of the penalty.」
In response to my complaint, the message window basically told me to shut up and fight.
Who's sending these? The replies are instant, so someone must be watching me.
“Another question to add to the list.”
I punched the chains.
Vwoom—
Unlike before, an unknown, opaque barrier appeared, blocking my fist from touching the chains.
Just as I thought.
Just as Lucifer couldn't intervene in this situation, I couldn't intervene with her either.
A smile crept onto my lips at the sight.
“So I don't have to worry about what happens over here.”
The fact that nothing I did could affect her meant that even if I fought hard enough to bring the ceiling down, the chains and Lucifer would be unharmed.
In other words, I could go all out without worrying about the consequences.
I raised my internal energy and charged toward the creature.
A massive amount of Vajra Qi circulated through my meridians. It goes without saying, but circulating ki like this damages the meridians and causes internal injuries.
Normally, it was a reckless act I wouldn't even dream of attempting.
But right now, I was being assisted by divine power.
Meaning, minor injuries would heal on their own.
A golden Sword Qi, not a blue one, bloomed from Gilenium's blade.
HSSSSSS!!
The creature opened its maw once again, trying to swallow me. Its momentum was like that of a train. A mere collision would shatter an ordinary person's body to pieces.
Soon, the creature and I collided.
But the result was almost anticlimactic.
「'The First Tempter' is flustered.」
The 'me' that it collided with vanished into smoke.
The flustered creature frantically looked around until its eyes met mine.
I was still standing next to Lucifer.
A 3rd Circle common magic, 'Hallucination'.
“Just like a reptile. What are you going to do if you can't even tell what's right in front of you?”
Snakes have poor eyesight.
But they can detect infrared, so it doesn't hinder their hunting much.
That's why I infused the illusion with Vajra Qi to replicate body heat. Thanks to that, I was able to save the mental power for Thought Acceleration and finish casting safely.
The magic circuits throughout my body heated up.
Amidst the pain, which felt like being burned, I gave a wry smile.
“I wonder if this will work on you?”
The creature lifted its head and looked at the ceiling.
It was horrified by the two magic circles that had formed there and hastily tried to escape.
But it was too late.
[Thunder Crash]
A bolt of lightning filled with the will to destroy.
[Hellfire]
And a superheated blast that could melt anything descended upon the creature.
