Dark Moon

A high-pitched whine filled the air.

Listening to the howl of my mana roads, I prepared my magic.

Vinous did not stand idle like a scarecrow. Gripping an ice spear in his right hand, he kicked off the ground and charged straight at me. Bang! An explosion erupted beneath his feet. He had wrapped his feet in a barrier and deliberately triggered a small blast for propulsion—a technique for instantaneous acceleration.

No matter how many times I see it, his mastery of barrier magic alone is incredible.

I controlled the Attribute Sword with telekinesis. The blade locked onto Vinous and shot toward him like a bolt.

I could not allow him to close the distance. Vinous was a Battle Mage incomparable to No. 202, whom I had faced earlier. If No. 202 had been a mage playing at being a warrior, Vinous was a warrior who happened to be a mage.

Vinous swatted the Attribute Sword aside with his ice spear as he closed in.

Vinous wrapped himself in a barrier just before I activated the spell, enduring the air explosion as he charged forward. Reaching me, he swung his ice spear.

I hastily generated a barrier. Crash! The ice spear's impact shattered it.

"Truly a pity, No. 211. You possessed talent greater than anyone I've ever seen. Specimens like you will be hard to find again. Truly… a pity."

The ice spear's form shifted into a massive stake.

"Ice Strike."

Vinous chanted.

The ice stake hurtled toward me.

In the slowed world, I calculated the formula.

Just as Instructor Vinous had blocked my Thunder Bolt earlier, I created a barrier smaller than half a palm to stop the ice stake. Crack. The moment barrier and ice stake collided, both cracked simultaneously, generating a shockwave. Caught in the blast, I was thrown back and slammed into the wall.

I immediately got back up.

Thanks to Overload's effect, the pain was mild. Even if the pain were severe, I could not stay still. The moment I let my guard down even slightly, Vinous would take my life.

"From the summit of the Crimson Snow Mountain."

Vinous spoke. He was not talking to me. I felt the fierce mana pouring from his body. His mana was responding to his voice. This was a chant.

"I looked down upon the world."

"…A chanted spell of at least three verses. He was hiding something absurd."

Vinous's right hand flickered with flame. He swung his fist at me. A wall of fire flew toward me.

This isn't the chanted spell. Just a restraining attack.

I stomped and cast the spell. A current of water rose from the ground, canceling out the wall of fire. A massive amount of steam erupted all at once.

"The world was filled with nothing but screams."

Vinous's calm voice came through the steam. He was continuing the chant. His mana filled every corner of the space.

"I sighed and swore an oath there."

His mana began converting into a formula.

Dangerous. Cold sweat running down, I raised my hand toward the front. Crackling. Lightning sparked from my hand.

I fired the lightning. Compared to Lightning Strike, another 4-Class spell, its power was lower, but it had the advantage of faster casting.

The Lightning Spear cut through the steam, aiming for Vinous's head. Vinous swatted the lightning away with his right fist.

…He wrapped a barrier around his fist? But what about this.

I flash-froze the steam into hundreds of ice shards.

The ice shards transformed into sharp metal fragments.

Hundreds of metal shards moved simultaneously, surrounding Vinous. I clenched my fist. Hundreds of metal shards poured down on him.

Vinous raised his right arm to shield his face. He made no attempt to dodge, using barriers to protect only his vital points—his head and heart.

The metal shard attack was effective, but it did not penetrate deep into his body. His physical durability was far higher than I had expected. His body was the product of training, not magic.

"That I would erase every scream in this world."

The mana filling the space transformed into a formula in an instant and seeped into his body.

The metal shards that had dug into Vinous's body fell out onto the floor, and every minor wound on his skin vanished completely.

"Oath of the Crimson Snow Mountain."

Vinous's skin turned red and his pupils turned green. A red horn reminiscent of a unicorn sprouted from the center of his forehead.

…A secret necromancy-type spell? It's not even in my original game knowledge. Crimson Snow Mountain… it's not completely unfamiliar, but…

There was no time to ponder Vinous's magic. Because Vinous did not stay still.

"……!!"

Vinous closed the distance to me in an instant and raised his right fist. My reaction was a beat too late. He was so fast I had lost track of his movement.

In the slowed world, I wrapped my body in telekinesis and slid sideways. Vinous's fist struck the wall. The wall shattered and collapsed with a crash.

"To think you'd dodge that. Remarkable. To wield something as trivial as telekinesis magic to that extent."

"…Is that necromancy?"

"So you recognized it immediately. Yes. Necromancy. I summoned a resident of the ancient Crimson Snow Mountain and possessed my body with them."

"Your mana flow has changed. You probably can't use magic in that state."

"This body is the magic."

Current raced across the ground toward Vinous. He did not even dodge. As if intoxicated by power, he walked slowly toward me. The electricity failed to stop his legs.

Electric resistance… no, closer to magic resistance.

I could understand Vinous's arrogant attitude. He was currently the natural enemy of mages.

Still, there must be limits. If that state were truly invincible, Vinous would hold a higher position than the 667th Unit.

I got up. I glared at the approaching Vinous.

"On second thought, No. 211, you might have value as a specimen. Don't even dream of dying peacefully."

"A specimen… Good idea. It would be a waste to just kill you, after all."

A high-pitched scream filled the air.

The mana roads howled and glowed. I felt a pain as if electricity were coursing through every corner of my body. Still, it was more bearable than when I had been injected with Mana Essence.

The Attribute Sword flew in, aiming for Vinous's lower back. Vinous knew. But he did not react. Because he did not need to. I curled the corner of my mouth into a smile, mocking his arrogance.

I converted the Attribute Sword's material to mithril. The mithril Attribute Sword drove straight into Vinous's waist.

"A mere sword like this…!"

The shocked Vinous grabbed the Attribute Sword.

"Crimson Snow Mountain. I remember now. Half-demons lived there. And like all demon-kin, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they can't handle the sacred."

I changed the Attribute Sword's property to ice. Crack! In an instant, his waist froze solid. Vinous's face contorting in pain was a sight to behold. The ice began to melt. Still, I had bought about five seconds.

The Attribute Sword leisurely flew over and floated in midair.

"You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bastard, No. 211…!!"

"This is my victory, Vinous. I'll show you what hell is, so look forward to it."

I used the last Charna.

I briefly held my breath. Resetting my thoughts for the calculations I was about to perform.

I calculated the formulas. Vast spell formulas filled my mind. I cleared away the confusing ones and recalculated the mistaken formulas from scratch. Eventually, my mind held twelve magic circles and three spells.

Even so, twelve magic circles might be excessive. But without going that far, I could not reliably subdue Vinous.

Vinous is a formidable opponent. Half-measures will get me counterattacked.

I had already steeled my resolve long ago.

A piercing scream filled the air.

Fifty mana roads overloaded simultaneously.

The scream climbed higher still.

Mana raced madly through the mana roads. As a result, some of the mana roads began to tear. I gritted my teeth. From the moment I had doped with Overload, I had planned to sacrifice a few mana roads.

Twelve magic circles were drawn throughout the space.

"You crazy bastard…! There's a limit to multi-casting! Never mind the astral body—your mana roads… Wait. How is this level of output even possible?"

"You're not the only one with a trump card."

I raised my right hand. My right hand trembled. Putting force into my unbearably heavy right hand, I extended my index finger toward the magic circle glowing blue in front of me. The index finger pointed at the hilt of the Attribute Sword at the center of the magic circle. Naturally, the tip of the Attribute Sword was aimed at Vinous.

Tap.

My index finger lightly pushed the hilt.

The Attribute Sword shot forth beyond the speed of sound. It pierced Vinous's right shoulder. A magic circle floating at an angle in the air behind him flicked the Attribute Sword's trajectory. At its end ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was another magic circle. The Attribute Sword that touched the magic circle this time sliced through Vinous's left thigh. Continuing on, the Attribute Sword that severed his remaining limbs and torso all the way to his neck shot upward, smashing through the ceiling into the sky.

In truth, I could not see the Attribute Sword's movement. It simply moved as I had predicted. The moment I launched the Attribute Sword as a railgun, I moved forward. By then, the Attribute Sword had already punched through the ceiling.

I barely caught Vinous's head as his body collapsed in gruesome pieces.

I stacked three spells to freeze Vinous's head. Then I immediately wove a barrier formula to seal his head.

…Success. With the brain frozen and sealed by a barrier, he won't die immediately.

A day or so should be fine.

And that was enough time to take follow-up measures.

"Hah…"

I let out a sigh. Ignoring Vinous's corpse sprawled on the floor, I turned around. My mission was not over yet. I needed to secure the Mana Essence. And my targets for revenge also included the researchers from the Alpha Tier pharmaceutical company working in this lab.

I discovered twenty-one researchers hiding within the laboratory.

"…Time to create a hell."

Bang!

The laboratory door burst open roughly, and armed soldiers poured out in a rush. I sat in a chair watching them. They looked around, then opened their mouths in shock. There was one man maintaining his composure—a short gray-haired man with a scar on his face.

"…Did you do this, Yujin?"

"That voice. The brown lizard who was giving orders. Well, is there a problem?"

"No problem. It's just… a bit hard to look at."

What the soldiers saw and were shocked by were the researchers writhing in front of me. I had twisted their limbs with telekinesis and injected them with a tiny amount of Mana Essence. That alone left the researchers unable even to scream, thrashing in agony while spraying every kind of bodily fluid. The way they flailed their twisted limbs ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked exactly like insects with their wings torn off, wriggling about.

"Captain. At this rate, even if they don't die, they'll become idiots… Wouldn't it be better to just kill them here?"

"That's not for us to decide. The employer will figure it out. Yujin. Where are the Mana Essence and research materials?"

I pointed at the right wall with my chin. Mana Essence and research materials were piled haphazardly there.

A smile formed on the brown lizard's face.

"Plenty. With this much, we can expect a bonus."

"Oooooooh!"

The soldiers cheered.

It had nothing to do with me. When I quietly stood up, their gazes turned to me. They swallowed dryly at the sight of Vinous's frozen head in my left hand. Ignoring their fear and wariness, I headed outside.

"Where are you going?"

"To rest."

"Hmm. You do look pretty rough. Need emergency treatment?"

"No."

"Keep the radio in your ear. The extraction craft arrives in fifty minutes."

I roughly nodded and went outside.