The Great Mana Energy Flood (8)
Kwaaaaaang……!
“Wow. That kid really knows how to put on a show.”
Far in the distance, light erupted. For a split second I thought the sun had risen. Only moments later did I realize it was flames detonating against the rocky mountain.
This crazy bastard…… Was that even human? It was more like a siege engine.
I had no idea what the old me had been thinking, handing such absurd power to a mere side character like Ainz. But he wouldn’t stay a side character anymore. The third-rate villain wrapped in arrogance and inferiority had taken a step forward into heroism.
If I saved him, he would surely become a reliable ally. With that thought, I sprinted through the rugged forest.
“Graaaawr!”
“Shit.”
The deeper I pushed into the woods, the larger the Fenrirs grew. There was no time to kill them one by one. The silver lining was that the further I went, the fewer monsters there were.
“Cough……! Ugh. Fuck.”
The downside was that the rate at which Mana Energy accumulated sped up just as dramatically.
I hastily pulled an antidote from my bag and gulped it down. One bottle…… should be enough. I thought I could make it to the lake that was my goal.
“This really is a masterpiece of a blade!”
At first I had aimed only for vital points, but there was no need. Even swinging roughly at the legs of the charging beasts sliced them clean apart. Of course their insane speed helped, but such cutting power was still extraordinary.
That old woman—was she a renowned blacksmith? I didn’t remember leaving anyone famous enough to leave a name behind in the Wist Forest.
‘She must have been a fairly skilled smith.’
Excellent, but not enough to influence the main story. Still, discovering a blacksmith of this caliber was a find. I would have to remember her. If I ever needed a sword forged later, I would seek her out.
Shaaaaaaa……!
Raindrops began to fall, quickly turning into a downpour so heavy it was difficult to keep my eyes open. If rain was coming, all the better for me. With this much water around, I might not need to reach the lake at all.
Ainz was probably wearing a miserable expression right about now. All his flames would have been extinguished.
This should be far enough.
“Go back, Ainz.”
I stopped in place and stretched my arm toward the sky. Even with only a thousand mana, there were a few things I could do. Flash magic was one of them. By pouring every last drop of my thousand mana into it, I could launch a flare that burned brightly for a short time.
But it wasn’t a simple launch. I mixed the light with highly concentrated Mana Energy.
No matter how intelligent the monster, none could resist that combination. Whatever they were doing, the moment they saw it they would instinctively swarm toward it—like a cat’s gaze being stolen by a twitching feather.
Boom……!
The Mana-Energy-infused flash soared into the sky with a thunderous roar, illuminating the darkness so it could be seen from anywhere in the Wist Forest. Hell, they could probably see it from the village too.
“Direct hit.”
In an instant the entire area began to shake. When every monster started converging on one spot, it could generate tremors like this. I felt a little sorry for the scholars who studied monsters. I was about to wipe out their entire population.
“Fuck. There are so many.”
As the horde rushing in from afar filled my vision, my teeth began to chatter. Just being trampled by that many would kill me instantly. I couldn’t see from a high vantage, but it was clear that at least tens of thousands of monsters were converging. Naturally—all the creatures of the Wist Forest had gathered.
“Ainz, that bastard. He should have gotten out by now.”
I could only believe he had left the forest. I couldn’t wait any longer.
‘Selection and Concentration. Five seconds on Mana Adaptation.’
The moment I activated the skill, I began converting every trace of surrounding Mana Energy into mana. The substance that could melt blood vessels and destroy organs in mere seconds was no longer poison to me—it was power itself.
In other words, this place saturated with high-density Mana Energy was the most optimized battlefield for me to run wild. I had saved the skill for this very moment. To squeeze out even one more second of Selection and Concentration. To convert as much Mana Energy into mana as possible.
Fortunately, there was no limit to the amount of mana and magic power my body could store.
‘Convert mana into magic power.’
In the blink of an eye, the magic power flowing through me surpassed the previous maximum of one thousand and shot well past one hundred thousand. Strength flooded my entire body until it felt like it was spilling out. Once magic power exceeded its limit, it would gradually drain back down, so I had to act before the loss grew too severe.
“Spell deployment……”
The monsters tangled together, then the pressure from behind drove them forward until they formed a towering wave. It was literally a monster wave.
I closed my eyes and focused on the spell. Attribute: lightning. Since it would carry an unprecedented amount of magic power, I reinforced it to endure the load. And if I didn’t want the spell to explode midway, it was best to keep the formula as simple as possible.
The completed spell’s effect was electric discharge.
“Discharge!”
The spell meshed together and my hair stood on end. My whole body glowed white—then cracked!
White lightning erupted in every direction. The monsters that had closed in turned bright red in an instant, then burned pitch black and crumbled into white ash. The lightning rode the raindrops, spreading outward in a radial spiderweb. It had probably scorched the entire Wist Forest.
……If my calculations were off, maybe even the village.
“Cough……!”
“……”
My knees buckled and I drew in a ragged breath. The ground was already covered in fine white ash. Realizing it was all that remained of the monsters nearly made me vomit, but I forced it down.
“I did it……”
I had really done it. I had protected the village from the monster wave and ensured the entire first team, Ainz, and even the teaching assistant returned alive. I had accomplished it without that damned Hurtlocker.
Seeing that I could do it, maybe that bastard wasn’t all that special. The story might have rolled along just fine even if I had replaced him with a chimpanzee.
Then again…… without that fraudulent face of his that unconsciously seduced women, it might have been difficult after all.
“Heh heh……”
I couldn’t overcome the magic-power exhaustion and collapsed on the spot. Was this also an effect of the exhaustion? My whole body burned with heat and sleep pressed in.
“Cough……! Damn it……!”
It wasn’t exhaustion. Blood sprayed from my mouth.
Fuck. Mana Energy poisoning.
“The antidote……”
It was empty. Seems I really was an idiot. I hadn’t thought about the return trip at all.
What about a recovery potion? No, that wouldn’t work either. It would restore the damaged body immediately, but the accumulated Mana Energy inside would remain, destroying me again in seconds. Pouring water into a bottomless bucket.
“Ah, fuck…… After doing everything perfectly……”
I had been rejoicing over having no victims just moments ago…… This idiot…… To make a mistake at the very last second.
Ah. If Bappe was going to reveal itself, perhaps it would be now, when I was on the verge of death.
“Useless piece of……”
Just in case, I raised my right hand, but Bappe remained silent. This ill-mannered bastard…… Its owner was dying and it wouldn’t even show its face.
“Ughhhhh……”
I crawled. In the direction I had come from. But before long, sensation vanished from my limbs, then my entire body refused to move. Even my sixth sense was slowly collapsing, and my vision blurred.
Even so, I kept moving. Or at least I thought I was moving. I couldn’t feel anything anymore.
Still, I didn’t give up. At some point my vision filled with bright light.
Ah. Had I arrived?
***
“Good heavens……”
Dozens of white lightning bolts slammed down on a single point in the Wist Forest. No—actually it was the opposite. The lightning had surged upward from the ground all the way into the clouds.
For a moment the entire Wist Forest was flooded with blinding light, then it plunged back into darkness as if nothing had happened.
“What in the world……”
Sergei’s mouth hung open. In all his years he had never witnessed magic on this scale. He had seen flame magic that could erase an entire castle, but never lightning magic that blanketed a whole forest. He had never even imagined it was possible.
“It’s Ainz! Ainz is coming back!”
“Ainz!”
Students rushed forward as the figure trudged out of the forest. He already looked terrible, heavily eroded by Mana Energy.
“Professor. Schluss…… Schluss went into the forest a little while ago, didn’t he?”
“Uh…… yes, he did.”
“It was him. He lured the monsters in and self-destructed.”
“I understand. Drink an antidote first.”
Gazing at the Wist Forest, Sergei felt his chest tighten. He wanted to run in and find Schluss immediately, but the place where the light had erupted was too deep. Even now the Mana Energy concentration was rising in real time. If he went in there, the odds of running out of antidote and never returning were far too high.
If he had been alone he wouldn’t have hesitated, but right now he had students and villagers to protect……
‘Damn it. Schluss, you bastard.’
Now that he thought about it, Schluss had been the one who asked him to protect the residents and students. Had he known from the beginning that it would come to this and chosen to sacrifice himself alone……? No, that couldn’t be. There was no way he could have predicted this far.
Sergei clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“The fog is clearing!”
“Ugh, it’s too bright……”
The black fog that had stained the sky began to recede. Breathing had become noticeably easier; the Mana Energy concentration seemed to have stabilized considerably.
There was no more time to waste. Sergei immediately led the guards and students who were still in good condition and set out to search.
“Schluss!”
“Schluss Heinkel!”
As the students pressed forward calling his name, the look of shock never left their faces. At first the monsters looked as if they had been electrocuted and fainted. But the deeper they went, the more they found creatures burned pitch black, their forms unrecognizable. The trees were charred and scorched as well.
The sight vividly displayed the power of the magic they had witnessed earlier, leaving the students’ mouths permanently agape.
Meanwhile, the worst-case scenario kept flashing through Sergei’s mind. The possibility that Schluss was nowhere to be found. That he had been burned white by his own magic and reduced to ash along with the monsters.
In that case……
‘He wore a ring.’
Only a single ring would remain at the scene. Sergei steeled himself in advance. As a former soldier he was used to such things, but he didn’t know how the other students would handle it.
Just as Sergei’s anxiety was reaching its peak—
“I found him! It’s Schluss!”
“What?!”
A bright voice rang out from somewhere. Sergei and the students all rushed to the spot.
There stood Ainz, smiling brightly as he propped up the unconscious Schluss. His clothes were blackened, but no serious external wounds were visible. Seeing how deathly pale his face was, Sergei felt his heart drop.
“Ah, but his body feels really cold. Someone light a bonfire with flame magic! I’ve used up all my mana……”
“Ainz. Move your hand aside for a moment.”
“Ah, yes, Professor.”
Sergei placed his hand on Schluss’s chest. His expression darkened. Next he checked the wrist, then the neck. Slowly withdrawing his hand, Sergei stood up and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Why? Professor, what’s wrong?”
The students grew agitated. Sergei could not bring himself to lie to them.
“Schluss is……”
Calmly. Matter-of-factly. He had to deliver the cruel truth.
“Dead.”
His heartbeat, his pulse—everything had stopped.