Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Chapter 34
EP11 - Professor Assassination: Illusion Magic (5)
Elise's Spirit Beast Dogs live throughout Zone 0.
Dogs like Moong, Mini Moong, MiniMini Moong, and so on.
They are usually allowed to roam freely. The dogs spend all day wandering around the vast Zone 0.
That evening.
Interesting information came from a MiniMini Moong.
"Huh? Really?"
"Moong!"
Such an interesting story?
Elise rushed over and knocked on Gray's door.
"What? What's with the sudden visit?"
"Want to go see Professor Dante's Illusion Magic? Now?"
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Let's go see it. We can see it now. How good Professor Dante is at Illusion Magic."
"Why would I—"
Before Gray could finish, Elise grabbed his wrist and started running somewhere, her strength monstrous.
"—ait! Hold on!"
Gray, being dragged out of Hidden Dragon Hall, repeatedly hit Elise on the head. But she had a thick skull.
Before he knew it, he was on the back of Elise's companion Spirit Beast, the giant wild dog "Moong."
"Moong, run."
Elise tilted her head slightly and sniffed. Then, using a sense of smell even better than a wild dog's, she found Dante and figured out the direction.
The transparent wild dog ran through the night sky.
To an abandoned forest at the edge of Zone 0.
* * *
There is a concept called the uncanny valley.
It is the idea that the more closely an artificial object resembles a human being, the more revulsion it arouses.
According to a theory in evolutionary biology, humans evolved to be able to distinguish minute differences in the faces, voices, and actions of their own kind.
The reason for this selective pressure was to distinguish between things that looked similar but were 'something completely different' that had threatened them for hundreds of thousands of years.
I don't know if that is reflected in this game world. But right now, in front of me. Something completely different was wearing a skin and pretending to be human.
Whether it was because of that or because of my fate as a possessed player, from the moment I first saw 'it,' I felt a disgust bordering on murderous intent.
Then it said something.
"...But, Professor Dante. Why are you saying such harsh things when we've just met? I only came here to help the children in danger. If you suddenly act so threatening..."
But I couldn't hear it. What was it saying? Frankly, I didn't care. I just felt an urge to kill it.
"Professor Toksin."
"Yes?"
"There's no need to beat around the bush. I don't even understand what you're saying."
"...That's a regrettable attitude. People should communicate and resolve misunderstandings."
"I'm sorry. Even as I say that, I don't really know what you're saying. Even if it's all made up, I want to listen, but my head refuses to understand."
"......"
"However, I will make you a proposal here."
"What is it?"
I asked the Demon whose eyes were slightly out of focus.
"Won't you commit suicide?"
It's a reasonable proposal. Isn't it? Filth should disappear, but if it can disappear on its own, why should I dirty my hands?
"If you do, I won't kill you painfully."
Then, its eyes became even more unfocused. The corners of its mouth twisted at an impossible angle. It answered.
"...You're different from other humans. I'll have to kill you with all my strength in advance."
Immediately after. A pair of skin-like wings burst out from behind its back, tearing through its flesh.
Flap-!!
At the same time, black Mana burst out, crushing the forest and the whole world with immense pressure.
Thud —— .
Even a Hornless Demon Toksin, the lowest of Demons, cannot be compared to a human. Each individual is a monster with more power than an entire unit. It flaunted that fact, pouring out its power without restraint.
"I see."
I took out "Liberator⁺₊⋆" from my [Inventory].
Because I finally understood one thing.
"...You refused."
* * *
"Kuh-uk!"
It was because murderous intent had taken over his body. Because of the murderous intent suddenly unleashed by the monstrous professor, he couldn't escape properly.
The Students, watching the situation with trembling legs, had no choice but to sit down when the Demon spread its wings.
Fear.
A primal fear descends there.
Demons turn humans, who have prided themselves on being the masters of all things, into mere prey animals.
Derek felt overwhelming fear, making the relief he had felt just moments ago when Professor Dante approached seem meaningless.
'Ah... what kind of monster is that...'
'I, I have to run, but my legs won't move.'
Immediately after, the Demon spread its wings and flew in with its sword.
Clang clang clang!!
"Heuk!"
A swift attack that swept through the area in one blow. Half a dozen trees are chopped down and fall in one hit.
But Dante, who seemed to have been caught up in it, had disappeared without a trace.
He appeared somewhere else. The Students followed the Demon's gaze and found Dante there.
"You rat——!"
The Demon flew out again as if bouncing, aiming for Dante, and it was so fast that it was difficult to follow with the eyes at night.
But how on earth was it possible that Dante was so calmly crossing space, confusing the Demon?
As if waiting for something. Calmly. But the Students could not know what he was thinking.
"We, we have to help too!"
"Ah, right!"
The Students thought that they had a role to play in this subtle standoff.
It was the beginning of a tragedy. Fortunately, it was blocked before it even started.
"...Do not move."
By Dante's "Phantasm" that appeared right in front of them. Thus, the Students stopped and calmed down their excitement.
At this time, Dante was deploying a "Mana Distortion Field." Spherical blue spaces were spread everywhere, but the Demon flew tens of meters in one step and avoided them.
When the number of "Mana Distortion Fields" increased, it flew high into the sky. It jumped up nearly 50m. Then, it spread its wings wide and began to glide.
"Where do you think you're doing such dirty tricks!"
Only then did the Demon realize something. It was impossible for an assassin, not a mage, to deploy "Mana Distortion Fields" in such a large space. All of this was [Illusion Magic].
『 Mana Overflow 』
After figuring out the opponent. The Demon began to pour out Mana, using the mysteries of the [Throwing-type]. It was to cover the entire vicinity and destroy all [Illusion Magic].
Crack crack crack crack―!!
It was indeed an excellent judgment. The entire "Mana Distortion Field" in the area began to shatter and disappear like broken glass. What remained was Dante, who had been hiding behind the Distortion Field.
"Can you keep avoiding me——!"
The Demon finally made its move. A jet-black and purplish Radiance burst out from its mouth.
Black masses began to be born, receiving the purplish light. They were Summon-Tamed creatures like bats.
'……[Summon-Taming] was it.'
And it didn't know it, but that was Dante's aim.
The reason Dante had been scattering Phantasms everywhere and continuing meaningless attacks was to confirm its main power.
Demons also imitate human forms, so they use the 12 Supernatural Power Systems. Thus, currently.
He confirmed the Superpower that it had been hiding even though it had applied for the [Throwing-type] as a professor. It was [Summon-Taming].
The problem was that it was its 'main power.'
The number of Summon-Tamed creatures was too large. At least 100 bats, each the size of a human torso, revealed a pair of dagger-like teeth.
They all began to pour down to the ground. To tear apart the necks of all the Students, including Dante.
Screech screech screech screech!!
"Keuk!"
"Aah! Damn it!"
Thwack- Blood splattered as teeth pierced Dominic's back. Derek also had blood splattered as a flying blade grazed his head.
"Get out! Get out!"
Hwaru hurriedly cut off the bat on Dominic's back with a knife, but that was just the beginning. A black cloud covered in starlight poured down. Someone had to stop it, and here, it was only Dante.
Whirring──
When something covered the space once. The bats that were rushing at the Students all turned their bodies and began to fly into the air.
"What are you doing! Why are you avoiding!? Kill the humans!!"
Hornless Demon Toksin shouted.
It was Dante's intention.
It was a Superpower that could not be heard by human ears, so it could not be created with ordinary human [Illusion Magic]. But Dante could create it with Taboo.
『 World Fabrication : Phenomenon Fabrication [Ultrasound] 』
In addition, it was also a disadvantage of the [Summon-Taming] system. Summon-Tamed creatures cannot communicate directly with the summoner and are separate living beings from the moment they are placed on the field. If used in reverse, it could even interfere with the summoner.
─── !
When the whole world felt like a wall due to the [Ultrasound], the bats that flew in in a panic covered the vicinity of Toksin. 'Keuk! You morons!!' Still, they didn't attack their master, but it bought the children time to escape.
"Hey! What are you doing!? It's dangerous!"
"Don't just watch, run!"
Successive bursts of [Ultrasound].
The Students, who had been blankly standing there, belatedly began to run. Some of them succeeded in getting out of the battlefield, but by that time, Toksin had also come to his senses and began to respond.
"Kill them—!!"
『Fear』. He mixed the tearing roar of a beast and blew away the [Ultrasound].
At this moment, Dante took a step.
Until now, he had been faced with a difficult problem. It was a very difficult problem.
Dante's weapon, the Bright Star's rifle "Liberator⁺₊⋆," can only fire two shots.
The bullets spread out like buckshot. But no matter how wide the range, it can't cover the sky. There was no way to eliminate Professor Toksin, who was flying high and gliding, and the many bats that covered the sky all at once.
Not with two shots, not with three shots.
The problem was still unsolved.
"Keuk! H, he's coming!"
"Damn it—!!"
Meanwhile, the Students were also in danger. All the Students could do in front of the red-eyed bat swarm that was pouring down again was to run with their legs shaking.
"Augh!"
Then, a kind-hearted girl tripped over a root after being crushed by the Demon's Mana…….
"Hey! Hwaru—!!"
"Run! Get up and run!!"
A slowly raised head. Despair fell on Hwaru's face. It was because she could now see the bats pouring down right in front of her.
At this moment. Dante finally completed the fabricated space that he had created in advance from the moment he realized the Demon's existence, using the time he had bought by firing [Ultrasound].
"World Fabrication: Space Fabrication [Kaleidoscope]"
Mana burst out from the ground, covering the entire forest and soaring into the sky.
Buzz buzz buzz buzz──!!
The entire space, 40 meters wide and 120 meters long, the size of a skyscraper, is fabricated.
The space of the boundary surface extending from slightly above the ground to the sky was unfolded.
A tower made of tens of thousands of mirrors. The angles at which each one refracts and reflects the other exquisitely.
Hornless Demon Toksin was gliding, so he could not escape the range at this point.
This was the solution that Professor Dante had found in the face of the difficult problem.
So now it was Dante's turn. He fired the first bullet containing the stigma of the god of light, [Bright Star⁺₊⋆].
——— .
The bullet, which is Radiance itself, extends in dozens of directions, hitting the mirrors and being refracted, then reflected by other mirrors.
It covers the entire ground from 5 meters above the ground and rises to the sky, creating a giant pillar of light.
The pillar swept away and ground up over a hundred bats, and still did not lose its power, crushing the Demon floating in the air.
—————— .
The Students, who belatedly raised their heads, witnessed the surreal scene unfolding above them.
Light that soared as if to smash the sky.
A monster that shattered, burned, and fell.
…A world like a miracle had unfolded.
* * *
Illusion Magic of overwhelming scale that covered the night sky. A truly surreal and overwhelming sight.
If God had commanded that there be light when he created the world in the darkness, would it have felt like this?
"……."
In the afterimage of a reverse meteor shower that seemed to extend towards the universe. He didn't want to admit it, but there was no way around it.
Because his heart was naturally swelling.
"……."
Gray bit his lower lip.