Chapter 48
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Discharge
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A deafening ring, a massive shockwave.
The first thing Rireu registered as she belatedly came to her senses was the melting gold and her own body, covered in dust from rolling dozens of meters.
“Hah…!”
Rireu’s head was burning hot.
The immense shockwave created by the white-haired boy had mercilessly torn through the barrier she had hastily erected as if it were nothing.
The shockwave, having shredded her barrier, slammed directly into Rireu, sending her body tumbling dozens of meters across the floor.
The ringing in her ears pressed down on her, threatening to shatter her skull. Even as the ringing tormented her, she unconsciously brought a hand to her ribs. The pain suggested a fracture, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly where it was broken.
Her arms and legs began to tremble simultaneously. The sheltered flower, who had grown up her whole life under her master's protection, let out a low groan at the sharp pain of a fracture, a sensation she'd never felt before.
Pssss…!
As Rireu groaned from the unprecedented pain, the sound of crackling electricity reached her ears.
Even in this moment, as her limbs trembled and a chill ran through her body, something began to burn within her chest.
“Let’s begin.”
Where she struggled to lift her head, the white-haired boy stood with a lofty expression, emitting a vast current of electricity.
“…Hah, hah…”
Even while struggling to breathe, she couldn't take her eyes off the boy.
Because a conviction that a scene a mage must never miss was about to unfold before her made her heart race.
Psssss….
The air ignited.
An immense light gathered at the boy's fingertips. The spider-faced giant shouted something and began to charge toward the boy.
Rex and Trian raised their arms to shield their eyes, afraid of being blinded, but Rireu could not tear her gaze away from the light gathering at the boy's fingertips.
Even if it meant going blind, she didn't care.
She didn't want to look away from that light for even a single moment.
Whoosh—
A massive amount of energy shot out in a perfectly straight line, as if drawn with a ruler, and pierced through the giant's heart.
The air burned. With the burning air and ionized oxygen as a medium, lightning branched out like twigs.
A great flame began to erupt around the white-haired boy, who stood at the origin of the electric shock.
“The smell of burning is as disgusting as its face.”
Oxygen in the air spontaneously ignited, singeing the boy's black robe.
Even as flames burst forth from thin air, the boy didn't even blink.
Its skin beginning to boil, the giant let out an even louder roar and charged violently at the boy.
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
Even with its heart pierced by a massive pillar of light, the spider-faced giant didn't know how to stop. As its feet splashed through the molten gold, the liquid metal shot up into the air.
The molten gold clung to the massive giant's arms and legs.
The boy retracted the pillar of light from his fingertips and raised his other hand, snapping his fingers.
A single bolt of lightning erupted from between his thumb and forefinger, then rode the ionized oxygen, splitting into dozens, hundreds of branches.
The spider giant charging at the boy was ensnared in a skein of lightning.
The pure white skein emitted a massive current, burning every one of the spider giant's peripheral nerves. Soon after, its colossal body began to convulse.
The lightning that shot from the boy's hand continued to branch out, spreading throughout the entire dungeon.
Spiders that had started to emerge from the collapsed walls in the distance were struck by lightning as they foolishly approached the storm's center, flipping onto their backs and convulsing.
“…You, you arrogant…!”
Just how many hundreds of millions of volts was it being subjected to?
Even while being doused in an immense amount of electricity that Rireu couldn't even begin to fathom, the spider-headed giant continued to move.
The skin on its blackened arm boiled. Fingers that had turned completely to ash fell to the floor and mixed with the molten gold.
The feet standing on the floor also melted away. With every step the giant took, its feet and legs melted, causing it to shrink in height.
It was a situation where it wouldn't have been strange for it to die from the pain or shock, but for the sake of its one driving instinct—slaughter—the monster reached out a blackened hand toward the white-haired boy.
Crush. Smash. Knead into a paste and devour.
This monster, designed solely for that purpose, did not stop, striving to fulfill the calling for which it was born into this world.
Its fist tore through the air, which was covered in thousands of lightning bolts, and continued onward.
Its arm was melting and tearing apart, but the giant paid it no mind.
Its fingers were long gone, and next its palm melted away and its wrist collapsed, but the spider giant paid it no mind.
Because the reason it was born into this world was not for survival, but for slaughter.
“Discharge.”
And the white-haired boy.
Brought death to the life born bearing the terrible burden of slaughter.
The world, which had been bathed in white light, was seized by darkness in an instant.
The lightning that had spread in all directions vanished in a flash. Everything went black before Rireu's eyes, and it was the same for the others.
Rumble….
A massive vibration reverberated through Rireu's body, an afterimage of the lightning still seared into her vision. The surroundings shook as if in an earthquake.
BOOM!
The sound of thunder rattled her broken ribs.
Light.
Strangely, it reached Rireu after the sound.
No, the light must have arrived much earlier. It was just that her optic nerves were overloaded, delaying the signal to her brain.
Rireu's skin burned with a stinging heat.
In Rireu's eyes, which had just begun to function properly again, the boy's form came into view. The boy was standing farther away than he had been before her vision went dark.
Her body had been unable to withstand the shockwave and had been thrown back even further. She didn't even know when she had been blown back again.
Simply processing the immense light entering her eyes was overwhelming for her brain.
“This is….”
Rireu gasped in awe at the scene unfolding before her. Pain wracked her entire body, but her brain had no time to spare for such things.
She had to etch every single detail of this magnificent spectacle deep into her mind. A few broken ribs, bruises, and burns from the hot air were of no concern to her right now.
The ionized oxygen and flames scattered all around, and the current they held, followed the boy's command and engulfed the spider giant's body.
The monster, which had silently swung its fists according to its instincts despite the agony of its limbs burning black, was finally turned into a pile of white ash by the massive shock, far exceeding hundreds of millions of volts. Only its gruesome, half-burnt head remained on the floor.
“Hah…”
Rireu couldn't help but sigh at the fact that she had been pushed so far away from the boy by the shockwave.
She had wanted to see it from as close as possible.
The magic of the genius who would save the world.
In this moment, Rireu keenly felt a truth she hadn't truly grasped before, because he usually played lighthearted pranks, showed a quirky side, and boasted of his terrible stamina.
An overwhelming talent that left no room for feelings of frustration or emptiness.
“…”
Some might witness this overwhelming talent and be consumed by a sense of emptiness or powerlessness.
It wouldn't be strange. The appearance of a monster who surpasses a lifetime of effort in a single moment has a way of plunging those who strive into despair and self-loathing.
*…This is it.*
However, among them are those who, upon seeing such overwhelming talent, let out a gasp of admiration rather than a sigh of despair.
*Gold, heat, light. No, that's not it. Not a broad term like light, but something more specific….*
The word 'genius' was a term for those who, even after seeing a monster far superior to themselves, would resolve to one day reach that level… no, to surpass it, if only for a moment.
It was a word to describe those who lived with such an absurd passion in their hearts.
*Flash? No, a flash has too strong an image of being momentary. A more appropriate expression….*
The ember that had sparked in her chest flared into a great flame in an instant.
Inspiration. Yes, it would be right to call this inspiration.
The immense light brought by the boy had kindled a flame called inspiration in the heart of another genius named Rireu.
What this flame could forge was now entirely up to her.
***
To the mages of this world, a newly created spell was nothing short of a time bomb.
Like an egg in a microwave, or a child holding a loaded pistol, it was something that could cause an accident at any moment… such was a freshly made spell.
This situation was nothing short of a miracle.
One might question how someone with only 1 Luck could experience a miracle, but there was no other way to explain it.
A brand-new spell.
My spell, which I had never once tested, worked beautifully, and I could feel an unprecedentedly powerful force exploding from my entire body.
“You crazy bastard, couldn't you have held back a little!”
Trian shouted at me, showing his skin, which had turned bright red from the hot air. For some reason, the longbow on his back was broken.
Looking around, the place was an absolute mess. The golden walls that had surrounded us had completely collapsed, and the massive door lay strewn on the floor. Where the spider giant had stood, a vast, empty plain now stretched out, and beyond it, the corpses and remains of spiders were scattered haphazardly.
“Indeed, General! We were almost in big trouble ourselves.”
Rex, who approached while dripping with cold sweat, also spoke as if he'd been in a bind.
…Well, I didn't expect the spell to be this powerful either.
I'd never tested it before, you know. Honestly, I had no idea it would be this effective….
“…”
From behind Trian and Rex, Rireu appeared, her blonde hair fluttering.
Her eyes were fixed on me, but her mind seemed to be focused on some strange place.
“…Discharge, no, that's not it… Rather than the word discharge….”
…I have no idea why she's suddenly lost her mind. Did she get hit by a stray bolt of lightning or something?
“Let's get out of here. Not that there's anything left, since you annihilated all the surrounding monsters.”
Trian touched his own reddened skin and spoke with irritation, then approached the treasure keeper's corpse, which had been turned to ash.
Drrrk, drrrk!
Afterward, with the sound of metal plates grinding against each other, a massive, bottomless hole opened up beneath the treasure keeper's corpse.
The white ashes began to be sucked into the void, making a soft sound like sand. Immediately after, the massive head with its forty-two haphazardly embedded eyes also fell limply into the void.
After a moment, a door that looked as if it were made of darkness rose up from the black hole that had consumed the treasure keeper's body.
The golden room was a complete mess, and in its center stood the new door.
Trian opened the door without delay.
A void the same color as the one that had just swallowed the treasure keeper's corpse awaited us beyond the doorway.
Shining a light into it revealed nothing, just like the dungeon entrance.
“…Let's get out of here quickly. It's damn hot, thanks to someone.”
Trian shook his head as if he'd had enough and stepped into the void first.
Rex also followed him, about to squeeze his body into the black void.
His back still felt like it was boiling; it was a situation where he'd be in real trouble if he didn't see a priest for treatment soon.
“Rex, wait.”
I knew time was of the essence, but I stopped Rex anyway.
Rex, who had one foot halfway into the darkness, pulled it back and looked at me.
“What is it, General?”
“That.”
Where I pointed, there was a massive pile of gold coins, jeweled accessories, and a pure white horn.
They were the rewards from the dungeon the treasure keeper had been guarding.
“…Why are you trying to grab treasure at a time like this? Besides, we don't have a bag to carry that much gold. General… you're more materialistic than I thought.”
“Everyone should get paid for their hard work. Trian already left, and Rireu… is not in her right mind at the moment, so you're the only one I can ask, Rex. As for a bag… well, maybe we can stuff some gold into the horn? We all went through so much; it'd be a shame to leave empty-handed.”
“Well… it doesn't really matter to me. But I understand.”
Though he was covered in wounds and poisoned, Rex followed my request without complaint. He reached for the white horn to try and scoop up the chunks of gold scattered in the middle of the ruined treasure keeper's room, and….
The moment he touched it, the white horn instantly disintegrated into molecules, flowing up Rex's arm and seeping into his chest.
Stunned by the sudden development, Rex repeatedly touched his chest with his thick hands.
…He was already poisoned, and now some unknown object had just pierced his skin and entered his chest. Anyone would react that way.
“It's payment for risking your life.”
It's useless to me as a mage, but it's an extremely useful artifact for a barbarian.
And if that barbarian is Rex, I'm sure he'll find a good use for it.
“G-General! This is….”
“It's not life-threatening. I know because I've used it before. As for how to use it… well, you'll get a feel for it, right?”
I grabbed the robe of Rireu, who was still muttering to herself like she'd lost her mind, and exited the dungeon first.
“Hurry up, you need to get treated.”
Just like when we entered, a black darkness enveloped me.