The Second Fragment (1)
Brockton’s western outskirts. A small village where dozens lived had stood here. But no longer.
Whoosh. Houses blazed with black flames. Bodies littered the streets. Corpses torn apart as if by savage beasts. The village was a scene of horror.
“You know, if you’d just helped when I asked, none of this would’ve happened.”
A man stood in the village center. His hair slicked back in a pomaded style. A luxurious black coat and black leather gloves. In one hand, a black staff embedded with a skull ornament.
The man prodded a fallen old man with the staff.
“P-please, spare me... I d-don’t know why, b-but... I w-won’t say anything...”
“Any fuss like this, and they’ll come running anyway. Whether you talk or not, doesn’t matter. They go nuts just seeing those black flames.”
“P-please...”
“Please, huh. About twenty years ago now. Remember the kid begging to save his parents from being stoned as devil spawn in the village square?”
The man squatted, bringing his face close to the elder’s.
“Take a good look. A bit of that kid’s face is still there.”
“...D-Descartes?”
The old man recoiled in shock upon seeing the face. Impossible to forget.
“Lucky for me. I get to crush you before you go senile.”
“D-Descartes... Th-that time...”
“Ah, save it. I know what happened now. Never dreamed my parents actually carried the devil’s blood.”
Fwoosh! Black smoke rose from Descartes’ back. His eyes soon turned pitch black.
It’s not for killing my parents that I slaughter you now. How dare lowly humans defy us!!!
A eerie, androgynous voice emanated from Descartes’ mouth. It filled the terrified elder with even greater dread.
Starting with you scum, I’ll crush all of Brockton for daring to touch me—make you feel my pain!!!
“S-spare...”
Feast.
-Kirrurrr!
With a gesture from Descartes, black shadowy beasts erupted from the ground.
Crunch! Crunch crunch!
“Gah, aaagh!”
The shadowy beasts devoured the elder. Head, arms, legs. They savored him slowly, prolonging his agony.
“Ugh, this blood...”
Descartes grimaced at the splatter on his clothes, as if offended by even a single drop.
He wiped it off with his black glove, then sensed an unpleasant aura.
“How annoying. I feel holy power. You Divine Guards?”
“We’ve found you at last, you filthy devil spawn.”
Silver-uniformed men with long blonde hair appeared before Descartes. The Divine Guard.
“Dozens of you just for me? You’ve got other places to protect.”
“Worry not. We’ll purify you here and drive out every last demon.”
The leader pointed his slender longsword at Descartes. One against dozens of Divine Guards—an unfavorable matchup for Descartes at his current level.
Yet, for some reason, he covered his mouth with a faint smile.
“...That smile mocks us?”
“Tch, who knows. This situation’s just hilarious. You’re already short-staffed, and sending dozens... I wonder how exposed Brockton will be after losing you here.”
“You talk like you can take us alone. Think that’s possible?”
“Before? Maybe tough. That’s why I didn’t bother. But...”
Fwoooosh!
Black smoke billowed again, thicker, engulfing the area. The Divine Guards immediately unleashed holy power.
Vuuuung— Golden auras erupted from dozens of them. The two forces clashed.
“No need for your worries. Purify the devil spawn, all of you.”
“Yes.”
Short, resolute replies conveying their dignity. The Divine Guards charged.
But—
KNEEL BEFORE ME, ALL OF YOU!!!!!
Descartes’ androgynous roar exploded. Black smoke instantly enveloped the Divine Guards.
“Guh, kuhuk!”
“I-impossible...”
“Mercy... s-spare our lives!”
“Ugh, uuuugh...”
Some clawed at their throats, trembling. Others crawled, urine staining their pants. Some banged their heads on the ground, tears and snot streaming. They discarded their nobility for raw terror.
What a fantastic power. Kuhahaha!
Descartes leisurely slaughtered the trembling Divine Guards. His new power, Fear, obtained from fresh intel. With it, nothing scared him. All would kneel before him.
* * *
I probed Bovui’s memories. Mostly routine monster transports for experiments. Occasional links to Descartes, but nothing special—just hunting users with new info, same as before.
‘In the end, only got Kethar out of it.’
No real leads on Descartes. But my ultimate goal in checking his memories was info on the Yodo Barseto fragments and magic.
‘Let’s dig deeper into the lab memories.’
Someone at his position should know about the fragments. Scanning lab events, as expected, he occasionally oversaw fragment research.
‘There it is.’
Found the fragment’s location in the memory. A place I’d never visited in-game. Saved time thanks to this.
Anyway, first goal achieved. Time for the second.
I focused on his magic use.
‘Definitely different from transference.’
Delving deep into magic revealed previously hidden details. How he cast it. The formulas. Implementation methods. Magic knowledge flooded my mind naturally.
‘So that’s how it works.’
Was it Damian’s genius? Stuff I’d never grasp in reality clicked instinctively. Observed his casts dozens, hundreds of times.
Flash!
Ended the memory. Messages appeared.
Weapon's Memory has greatly increased your understanding of protective magic.
Your understanding of Wall Creation magic has greatly increased.
* * *
The train proceeded smoothly toward the lab. Second car cleared. Left: third car with sedated monsters, and the first car with the driver.
“What’s the plan for the front car?”
Jackson asked about my plans. No changes.
“Plenty of time till arrival, so leave it. They haven’t noticed, and not many up there anyway.”
“What about those monsters?”
Jerome pointed to the rear car. Front needed for driving, but rear monsters had to go—key was not delivering them to the lab.
“Drop ’em.”
“Got it!”
Left disconnecting to Jerome. One of his tools cut thick metal cleanly, silently.
“Like this...”
He sprayed the thick coupler. Ice magic spray.
Hiss— Crack! Crackle!
The metal froze solid instantly. Finish with two-handed sword, but waited for the tunnel.
“Tunnel soon. Boss!”
Michael signaled from the window.
Now!
Whoosh! Shatter!
Glass-like, the frozen coupler shattered. Third car detached. No detection risk in the tunnel.
“Alright, rest till arrival.”
“Whew, big fight soon. Need a smoke.”
“I’ll check ETA, bosses!”
Bodies from me and Kethar littered around, but Jackson’s crew ignored them. Kethar... brooding alone in the corner. Dark expression, hands subtly shaking.
‘Still confused. Let him think.’
Anyway, prep done. Clear first car, head straight to lab for fragment and Kethar’s gear.
‘Then deal with him.’
Esperro’s first boss, Descartes. His death triggers big changes. Core lab destroyed, Orion accelerates plans—preps for corporate war.
That’s canon.
‘They’re creators, so they knew... but left him be.’
Too bothersome to recruit? He resented Orion from the start. Or scheming for the corporate war? Or...
‘Avoiding story changes?’
Sharp thinking. Logical inference. Likely.
Then I’ll end it my way. The one they’d hate most.
‘Anyway.’
Leveled up thanks to Kethar’s concession. Got skill points. Normally assign immediately, but hesitated.
‘Options: upgrade existing skills, or level Weapon Manipulation for new one.’
‘Space Shift.’
Next level skill: “(On direct hit) Chance to summon your weapon for strike.” Attack trigger, requires direct hit. Useless now.
‘Hold off on skills.’
Watch situation. Might need to boost others.
But priority: check skill from Erven via Weapon's Memory.
Used it. But...
Wall Creation skill precondition not met.
Acquire protective trait first.
Hm, learned it fine. Unexpected snag. Magic affinity allowed learning, but trait required for use.
‘...No easy wins.’
Shame. Endless potential if it worked. Won’t give up easy. Hooked on gaining new power.
Stubborn now. Brain full of solutions.
Think. Can’t waste this chance. Learned magic, but precondition fails? Then...
‘Change the precondition?’
Odd idea. Can’t use because it’s protective magic. Full Wall Creation info in head.
Then...
‘Not use as-is—combine with my skills to make it mine?’
Desire sparked ideas. Solutions always exist. Make them if not.
Try it. ‘Wall Creation forms mana directly into shape.’
Not casting, just theorizing implementation. Might fail. No try, zero chance. Try, some hope.
Swoosh. Imperfect, but shaped mana into boxy wall.
“Hey, oppa? What’re you doing? Isn’t that the mage’s spell from before?”
“Kinda looks like it, but just shape—no real wall. Mimicking?”
Resting allies stared. No time to reply. Tough to maintain.
“No way... Copied it just by watching? M-magic isn’t that easy... I-impossible.”
April, the magic expert, gaped.
Hm, yeah. Tough. Dunno real-world impressiveness.
Anyway...
‘Implemented, but not perfect Wall Creation. So add...’
Erven’s unusable. But reskin?
Swoosh. Overlay my skill: Weapon Revive.
Change as expected.
“What? Sudden like that? Boss? W-what’d you do?”
“Impossible... This possible?”
“W-what, boss? Not seeing things?”
“...N-no... way.”
Jackson’s crew jumped up.
New skill implementation successful.