Chapter 324
Chapter 324
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 324
Chapter Title: It Was Inside -5
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There was one question lingering.
I peered into the suspects, and since they weren't under illusion magic, their insides were clear. But upon closer inspection, that Chal-whatever senior's body had been taken over.
In other words, after I turned the enemy's toolbox against them and landed a counter, that's when the body possession happened. I hypnotized the senior again and made him jab the syringe into his own neck.
So that means...
"Yes. Even in this syringe, in liquid form, I maintain my consciousness. My mana efficiency drops sharply without a human body... but I can still cast spells like this."
"You fucking psycho."
Chills ran down my spine.
The thick liquid sloshing inside the syringe was no different from a human melted and trapped within. And it was enduring that state in silence.
Self-replication was one thing, but performing self-inflicted torture for efficiency or whatever? That wasn't normal. This guy was truly unhinged.
He smiled nonchalantly.
"What? I'm just a bit more accustomed to pain than most. If anything, you're the crazy one... daring to let a god possess your own body. If it failed, you'd have endured hellish agony."
"You seem to know quite a bit, huh?"
"Yes. And I acted accordingly. I worked so hard to shatter your shell and free the god. If it weren't for Yuna Yurensuto's experimental subject, it would've ended long ago."
I see. So he knew it was sealed in my head and was gunning for my life.
Back when I first entered the Magic Tower, I was a complete novice in combat, my fighting strength near zero. There was probably the 『Promise』 inside even then, but with it fully suppressing the evil god at 100%, it couldn't emerge recklessly.
But Yuna never left my side, so he couldn't kill me. She had been protecting me all along.
Now that the Violet Magic Tower's bastard was exposed, more charges piled up against him.
"...The human trafficking in Mountain Marten Village, my hometown—was that you too?"
"Black mages need a lot of sacrifices. While the 『Corpse Flower』 handled the Academy, and the 『Boy Virgin』 and 『Lasso』 managed the Empire, I led the sacrifice procurement unit."
"Then the hypnotic statue that spread through Crown Hall was your doing too. You deliberately used the scarred-face senior's magic to frame him."
"I thought I could kill Lorelei then. Once Yuna Yurensuto's experimental subject raged and turned her into an idiot, I'd have used her empty shell. It didn't go as planned, though."
Most of the dark shadows reaching out until now were this bastard's schemes. That much was clear. Now the question was 'why.'
The succubus queen seemed desperate to escape something, and the red-flavored duke acted for his own power and authority.
And this guy...
"I'm... reminiscing about the past."
"......"
"When the god was free, the world brimmed with joy. He delighted in people's suffering... and as his servant, I indulged in my hobbies in his name. How beautiful is that? The endless happiness heaven promises."
"Dressing up your desire to torment others under the god's name, huh? That's enough. Time for you to die."
Keening—
I drew up my mana. I'd confirmed everything I needed: his devotion to 'that,' his targeting of my head.
I couldn't reopen the evil god's toolbox again. I'd just signaled Aisha. She was probably clamping down on its entrance.
Without Succession Sublimation, there was no way I could lose.
"Can you even kill me? I'm not unique. There are countless more outside this Magic Tower."
"I'll lop off your head, run it through the analyzer, and create an algorithm to find matches. Then I'll make a 『Lamb』 tracker and tour the nation. Done."
In truth, there were more ways.
The elf forest community, for one. Using their soul-linking method, crafting a contagious info-bomb targeting only the 『Lamb』 wouldn't be hard.
If it weren't illusion magic, he'd be a nightmare to handle. But in this world, the trickiest mage to fight is me. I can say that confidently.
"True. You... could do it. You're a monster descended to the mortal realm."
"Got your last words ready? Consult with your syringe buddies and pick a line. No time—hurry up."
"Well, the one running out of time is—"
"『Illusion Shredder』."
The moment that ominous line hit, I fired the spell on reflex. Guys spouting lines like that always pull some trick.
"—A bit hasty. 『Ectoplasm』."
Crash! Spploosh!
One syringe shattered, its liquid—Lamb—bursting out and spreading wide. Using its own body as a shield. Tougher durability than expected.
No big deal. I advanced.
Every footstep's rhythm, finger twitch, rustle of clothing turned into incantations and fired. All movements became chants for spellcasting.
Cuckoos disrupting consciousness, blue mires inducing depression, memory-wiping light blasts. Like a beast tamer leading packs, I unleashed illusion magic from all directions.
Thud thud, grrrrind, screeech, screeech, rrrrk.
"Not even giving me a chance to counter...?"
I'd crush him like this.
His attempted spells, I hijacked midway and turned back on him as my own. He seemed to realize escape was impossible.
Blood streamed from his eyes as he abandoned defense. My illusions battered him in myriad ways.
"Ah, that hurts. Thrilling... ngh..."
Instead of countering with the time bought, he kept talking. That wasn't a dying wish. The realization chilled my spine.
"I'll die, sure. Or get captured. You'll sift through the info remnants I left and find... a way. But will you have the time?"
"......"
"All my info has a self-destruct process. It erases after a week. Sure, you'll crack it in a week. But I think... something urgent will hit you soon."
"Shut up and die, you bastard!"
Could I shut him up? No. He dropped his guard, taking every spell full-force, yet protected his mouth. Desperately spilling words.
Don't get rattled. I can't afford to.
No matter what spews from that mouth, stay unshaken.
"All unstable things are vulnerable to attacks from within. You know that well. The dreamworld of the 『Pleasure-Drinking Boy Virgin』 shattered so pathetically because it was an inside assault."
Right.
From inside, out.
I'd screwed Rodrus via session by exploiting the Paranoia Implant buried in him.
Same with the succubus queen. Yuna used the door implanted in Third Prince Sledo's mind to drive a direct 『Subtraction』 inside, making it effective.
"When the Violet Magic Tower was right and proper in the god's eyes, twelve boys and girls gathered for the greater cause. They linked their minds through sturdy mental doors, sharing the pain."
The story of Yuna's human experiments.
Mental doors. I knew of them.
I'd commissioned session NPCs with self-awareness to explore Yuna's mental world. Their last regular report mentioned finding 『doors』 there.
Traces of her mind once connected somewhere.
...But the NPCs found only ten doors.
"Yuna Yurensuto's experimental subject thought the other eleven were all dead. But what if one survived? And the door linked to her mental interior... still works perfectly?"
"Warning you—don't."
"I've long prepared to make Yuna Yurensuto's experimental subject rampage, saving it for now. I wanted a more decisive moment, but... I promised to trigger it if anything happened to the 『Lamb』 staying at the Magic Tower."
"I said don't—!!"
A long-laid trap. A bomb planted before I even met her.
He grinned wide.
"The me outside already did it. All the tragedies in the 'village' I manage, the twisted society's endless suffering from families trading kin... poured inside. To the deepest depths."
"......"
Something snapped inside.
I felt numb.
"Ha, hahahaha! What a sight. Perfect fit. That's the face I wanted... angry? Want to torture me? Fine. I'll gladly take it!"
"......"
She's sensitive enough as is.
If I'm late for a promised research session, she doesn't get mad at me—instead, she agonizes over whether I've come to hate her.
For such a Yuna, not just dredging up the past but flooding her mind with pain? She must be suffering terribly. I could imagine it.
I'd... implanted Paranoia in my own head before. It's something you'd never want a loved one to endure.
But it happened.
I need to rush to Yuna. Figure out what's happening, comfort her. That's first. Thinking later.
"Or bow your head to me? Beg with all your heart, and I'll contact the 『Lamb』 switch-handler. Tell them to halt the plan. Tempting, isn't i—"
Still, I couldn't let this bastard go.
"『Promise』."
"......?"
"Grant me a fleeting moment."
Just briefly, release all the power holding 'that' down. Let me use 100% of myself.
A boy's sigh echoed. But the inner 『Promise』 didn't stop me. Instead, with Aisha, it'd cling tight to 'that,' urging me to do it.
Click.
With a release, omnipotence flooded in instantly. An intellectual omnipotence where I could disassemble the world into grains and read each motion.
But the euphoria didn't lift my mood. No matter how mighty the power, what good if I can't save one lover?
All I felt was rage and hatred. I wanted this bastard to regret. Track him down, eradicate the entire 『Lamb』 breed.
This was the groundwork.
I formed a black arrow and fired.
"......"
That sufficed. I returned the computational power to the 『Promise』.
Only after being hit did he realize he'd been struck...
He didn't know the effect. But he'd probably die. Fine by him. Seeing the mad mage's agonized face? That was enough.
The rest, other 『Lamb』s would handle. They'd revive the god, bask in joy under his wings forever.
The Lamb accepted death with relief...
"......"
Thus 10 years passed.
Like the lone soul left in a frozen world, his body rigid, only consciousness moved.
Something was wrong, he sensed. That arrow slowed subjective time to extremes? But limits existed. Fine. Waiting was familiar.
Just boredom wouldn't torment a 『Lamb』. Too easy.
"......"
By year 120.
The 『Lamb』 realized the spell's deceptively complex structure. Prolonged pain risked triggering sublimation.
When target's suffering or knowledge neared madness thresholds, it splintered a tiny consciousness fragment, transferred info, and erased it.
The 『Lamb』 grasped he'd remain pinned in stalled time—neither mad, sublimated, nor escaping via insight.
"......"
By year 3,000.
The 『Lamb』 yearned to know when this life ended.
He strove to die. Believing a counter-spell existed, racked his brain to break free. Or pondered offloading pain to another self.
Regret came too.
Real-world pain had limits. Die under torture, end. He'd mocked it.
His innately ironclad mind shrugged off skewers or crucifixions. He thought he'd mock others even in death.
But illusion magic's pain was boundless.
He regretted.
Desperately regretted.
He prayed to anyone, god—no, goddess—to free him. Hated his past self, screamed desperately to others: Touching the mad mage was a bad choice.
You mustn't make him an enemy...
"......"
Realizing this 'time-slow' was endless fractal dream-in-dream spirals burrowing inward? That came much, much later.
Crack.
With a small snap, Chal-whatever senior toppled backward. The 『Lamb』 in his head dead, he'd live his own life upon waking.
The kid detective asked cautiously.
"...The 『Lamb』... is dead?"
"Yeah. The one you saw today died of old age. But the whole flock's still out there. I'll handle that later. Right now, I've got a real emergency."
I sealed the rolling syringe ampules, entrusted them to scarred-face senior, and left the kid too.
The senior nodded readily.
"Yes, uh... got it, junior. I'll guard them."
"Thanks."
Clutching my throbbing head, I hit the road. Destination: the Academy where Yuna was. Money, mana, any resource—I'd pay to get there fastest.
Teleport circles, hypnotized horses spurred on, mad dash to Academy outskirts.
There, in the distance.
A colossal tower reaching skyward shimmered like a mirage.
Academy, mad mage's lab.
Yuri Lanster jolted awake from an eerie aura. Cold sweat soaked her back instantly; soul-binding chains of 『Soul Net Bind』 draped her arms.
Instinctively activating transformation, battle-ready.
Her honed instincts screamed at reason: Danger here. Imminent catastrophic disaster nearby. Something's there.
Enemy raid?
No, something bigger... Like when the divine city readied goddess's wrath. Confrontation? Off the table. Evacuate.
But fleeing meant taking sub-tower master. She headed to the simulation room. Yuna was crafting a surprise gift for the mad mage's return.
A 'thank you' present for magnificently resolving tower affairs. She'd asked Yuri and Selvia for advice, poured effort into the session.
The mad mage had seemed eager to play too.
Yet pressure thickened nearing the room. Fingertips trembled; back shirt drenched in sweat.
Screech.
Door open.
"......"
Yuna Yurensuto sat head bowed on the floor.
Behind her, a cross-shaped rift spewed blinding white light. Yuri knew: Yuna's sublimation phenomenon.
Grotesque, writhing illusions pulsed within, ready to erupt.
That. The pressure's source.
Floor bore bloodstains, broken nails, claw-marks from desperate endurance.
Yuri swallowed dryly.
"...Yuna? Intruder... inside?"
"......"
Yuna looked up.
Tears streamed pitifully.
"I tried to hold on."
"Yuna?"
"But it didn't work. Alone in that prison, I could endure more... Guess I got spoiled. Should've grown stronger..."
Her face twisted in pain. But those eyes swirled with guilt over agony. Mana churned wildly.
Rampage. The word flashed in Yuri Lanster's mind.
"Yuna, I'll save you soon. Mad mage is coming. So—"
Whoom.
Yuna used her last thread of control to shield Yuri Lanster. A giant soap bubble enveloped her, floating away opposite.
Boing. Boing. Strikes on the bubble's wall yielded no burst. Yuna's final wave to drifting Yuri.
"Sorry."
Kiiiiing—!!
Instantly, unstable sublimation devoured the entire simulation room.