Chapter 80: A Game of Chicken (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 80: A Game of Chicken (2)
During the first semester of the second year in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, a man named Malrog suddenly makes his appearance as the head of the Red Elephant, one of the Four Constellations.
To a first-time player, he would seem like nothing more than an "evil senior with a shitty personality" who comes into direct conflict with Ian Fairytale.
However, players would soon find themselves puzzled as they watched the members of the Red Elephant turn into emotionless puppets. I had been perplexed, too. In reality, they had all fallen under the sway of Malrog’s illusion magic.
Eventually, Malrog would reveal his true identity through the use of [Mad Banquet].
Ian would then be forced to invade the space Malrog created, engaging in a desperate, bloody battle for his life. This very space—where the ceiling and walls merged into a convoluted black labyrinth—was Malrog’s aforementioned domain.
Incidentally, entering Malrog’s space was easy. Much like Leafa the Illusive’s [Fictional Hell], one could enter freely, but leaving was the real challenge.
Furthermore, since Divine Power—an attribute of the light element—possessed the ability to dispel the dark element, Ian’s swordsmanship was the key to forcing Malrog to reveal his true form.
Malrog the Envious could maintain a human appearance, but he could never truly become human.
At his core, he was a demon. If he ever let his guard down, his human transformation would inadvertently slip.
Malrog’s deepest wish was to become fully human. He yearned to integrate into human society and experience the full spectrum of human emotion.
He craved this because he was lonely. It was the same reason he had decided to become sworn brothers with Leafa.
He believed that playing house with humanity—while occasionally murdering or consuming them for his own pleasure—would bring comfort to his hollow, lonely existence.
His human transformation would become nearly perfect if he possessed the Cherubim’s Necklace. With it, his disguise would almost never unravel.
It would make him indistinguishable from any other human.
“…”
The bloodlust in Malrog’s eyes was as cold as ice.
Fragments of rock conjured around him, beginning to hover in the air.
Malrog’s mana surged toward me like a gale, pressing heavy against my skin. It was utterly suffocating.
A bead of cold sweat rolled down my cheek.
I had intentionally set the stage to threaten him, but now I was frantically fighting just to stay alive.
Currently, Malrog was still classified as a "human." Despite that, his level was 155.
This meant I couldn't trigger the activation conditions for [Hunter].
Malrog would only be forced to reveal his true form if he was struck by a light-element attack, as it had the power to dispel darkness. Unfortunately, Ian was currently lost within an illusion.
That was why I was trying to steal the one thing Malrog wanted most—to stand on somewhat equal footing against him, even if only by a fraction.
A single mistake would cost me my life.
My heart hammered against my ribs like crazy, but it quickly steadied as the effects of my passive skill, [Frozen Soul], kicked in.
“I don’t know how you managed to escape my spell… but that belongs to me. Hand it over.”
Malrog held out his hand.
His voice was commanding, laced with the sharp thorns of malice.
Blood was oozing from his right eye.
I was certain his magic circuit for illusion magic had been ruptured when [Ice Sovereign’s Majesty] deflected his spell.
In other words, he could no longer cast illusions.
“I don’t think so.”
I continued our war of nerves, refusing to back down.
“You intend to fight me with that measly scrap of mana?”
“My measly mana is still more than enough to destroy a single necklace.”
“You hopeless fool,” Malrog spat, a sigh escaping his lips.
Whoosh—!
A light-brown magic circle, glowing with a sinister black light, began to manifest above Malrog’s head.
Rocks began to orbit his outstretched hand.
“Know your place.”
[Malrog the Envious]
Psychology: [Believes that if he tortures you, you will surrender obediently.]
Wait, what the hell?
“If this is how things are going to end anyway...!”
I felt a surge of panic the moment I read Malrog’s thoughts and raised my voice.
My shout echoed throughout the venue.
“Then I might as well screw you over before I die!”
Internally, I channeled my inner veteran actor.
‘I’m clearly about to die anyway, so I’d rather make things harder for you before I go’—the resolve was a facade, but I played it as if it were my absolute truth.
My voice would have been trembling if [Frozen Soul] hadn't been chilling my emotions.
“…”
It seemed to work, as Malrog’s magic circle began to dim.
[Malrog the Envious]
Psychology: [Nervous because he thinks you're capable of breaking the Cherubim's Necklace.]
“Tch.”
Malrog clicked his tongue in irritation.
He was likely weighing the risk. He couldn't afford to let the Cherubim’s Necklace be destroyed just because a human like me interfered.
After all, that necklace was the only thing that could grant his greatest wish.
“…What do you want?”
“Do you finally feel like talking?”
Malrog’s thick eyebrows arched as he glowered. He clearly didn't appreciate my tone.
Then again, to him, I was the weakest of the weak. He was likely furious that someone so insignificant had managed to get under his skin.
The air grew unbearably heavy as tension engulfed the room.
I kept my eyes locked on Malrog as I continued.
“Leave this place immediately without touching anyone here. If you do that, I won’t break the necklace—for now.”
Obviously, there was no way he would ever accept such terms, but all I needed to do was stall for time.
Malrog squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, heaving a heavy sigh.
“That’s not even worth considering.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“If you don’t hand over the necklace right now…”
He extended an arm, pointing not at me, but in a different direction. The magic circle above his head followed his gesture.
He was pointing at the crowd of students, who were standing as still as mannequins.
“I’m going to kill them all.”
Is that supposed to be a threat? You were planning to kill everyone anyway.
On the surface, I likely looked as if I wasn't the least bit afraid of Malrog. But the truth was, I was absolutely terrified.
Since I didn't look scared, Malrog had likely concluded that he had to provoke my guilty conscience instead.
This was a game of chicken.
We would keep racing toward one another until we finally crashed, and both of us would suffer for it.
Malrog had decided to keep advancing, even after taking the risk of the necklace's destruction into account.
“Everyone will die, and it will be all because of you.”
More importantly, Malrog’s pride likely wouldn't allow him to back down.
I swallowed hard. The negotiation table had been flipped far too quickly.
I was cornered. I had nowhere to run.
Suppose Malrog actually killed someone just to test me.
If I held onto the necklace and continued this war of nerves, he would simply slaughter the students one by one to break me.
And, though it likely wouldn't come to that, what if I actually destroyed the necklace?
Malrog would kill me instantly and go on a blind rampage in a fit of rage.
“Phew…”
I took a deep breath.
I never let my gaze wander from Malrog. The bastard would notice my plan the moment my eyes strayed.
‘Please… please.’
I couldn't afford to drag this out any longer.
This was a battlefield.
Isn’t it about time…?!
[Master, I have succeeded.]
An elegant, beautiful female voice resounded in my head.
It was Hilde.
‘Finally!’
A grin spread across my face.
I knew I could count on you.
“What are you laughing at…?”
「Radiant Wing Slash (Light Element, ★5)」
Swooooooosh—!!!
In that instant, a pure-white sword aura pierced through the air.
Malrog saw the attack coming from his flank and tried to dodge, but—
Clang—!!
The sword aura slashed through his leg, scattering a rainbow-colored refraction of light.
Malrog’s expression twisted in agony. Light-element attacks were the ultimate weakness of demons. Had that hit his torso, it likely would have been a fatal blow.
Malrog collapsed onto the floor after losing his leg.
Alarmed, he spun around to stare at the black-haired man who had unleashed the light-element strike.
“I… found… you…!”
Ian Fairytale. The protagonist of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.
Ian gripped his sword, which was now wreathed in radiant mana, and glared back at Malrog. His eyes, however, were still vacant.
He was still trapped in Malrog’s illusion. He had simply managed to locate the version of Malrog that existed within that false world.
“How did you even…? Huh?”
Malrog’s jaw dropped. He had spotted the necklace hanging around the neck of Ian, the Child of Light.
As if it had found its rightful master, the Cherubim’s Necklace emitted a brilliant white holy light from its engraved magic circle.
Ian had fainted during the [Mad Banquet], but the Cherubim’s Necklace had awakened and amplified his Divine Power.
The fight against Malrog the Envious during the first semester of the second year...
The bastard was capable of using illusion magic at will, yet Ian had fought him and won regardless.
How was that possible? It was all thanks to Divine Power.
Normally, Ian would have been helpless against [Mad Banquet], a dark-element illusion spell, if he were alone.
But Ian had been equipped with the Cherubim’s Necklace.
The necklace amplified his Divine Power, allowing him to resist the dark-element illusion. Not only did it cause the illusory world to fade, but it also allowed him to perceive the caster in the real world.
Because of this, Ian was able to move his body.
He could face Malrog the Envious while straddling the line between reality and illusion.
‘Sorry, I had to pull aggro to set this up.’
Was the Cherubim’s Necklace’s buff seriously this strong?
So, how did the necklace end up around Ian’s neck? Fortunately, my plan had worked perfectly.
I had been standing in a spot where there were no lamps, and I had purposefully stretched my arm behind my back while holding the necklace.
It was all to ensure Malrog never figured out my strategy.
In short, the necklace I was holding wasn't the Cherubim’s Necklace.
It was just a counterfeit I had prepared in advance.
‘I’m glad it worked out…’
I gently squeezed the fake necklace and shrugged.
A few days before the gathering, I had tracked down Eva Hielov—the one who had sold my information—and grilled her.
With [Psychology Insight], it was a simple matter to read her secrets and apply pressure.
To make matters worse for her, Eva had sold my info to the Red Elephant, and she was terrified of the potential backlash. It was easy to ensure her silence.
‘Eva the Lurker’ was a minor mob character who appeared in [Act 5, Chapter 3: Blue Wolf vs. Red Elephant].
Eva specialized in the [Stealth] spell. [Stealth] ensured that only a minuscule amount of the caster’s mana leaked out. Unless one had incredibly high mana perception, sensing Eva while she was hidden was nearly impossible.
‘Moreover, Eva is a character whose entire identity revolves around [Stealth].’
At Märchen Academy, Eva was unrivaled in sneakiness.
She wasn't a difficult enemy to deal with in-game because she’d still get caught in AoE spells, but for my plan, she was invaluable.
I had instructed Eva to go to the hallway as soon as the Atla Hall gathering began and wait for Hilde’s instructions.
Once there, Hilde blackmailed her using the script I had written.
Hilde had likely also convinced her that it was safe to enter Malrog’s space to make her more compliant.
As a result, Eva had entered Malrog’s domain, approached me in secret while I was unconscious, and waited on standby.
Then, once I broke free of the illusion and pulled out the counterfeit necklace…
I took the real Cherubim’s Necklace and sneakily handed it to Eva, who was waiting right behind me.
Eva’s [Stealth] made it impossible to perceive any objects touching her body. This was why her glasses and clothes also turned invisible.
The spell was limited in that it couldn't hide other living beings she touched, but that didn't matter here.
The Cherubim’s Necklace turned invisible the moment Eva took it.
She then snuck over to Ian Fairytale and hung the necklace around his neck, exactly as I had instructed.
That was the reason Ian was able to resist Malrog’s illusion.
On top of the stage, beneath the spotlight, Malrog was utterly bewildered.
“What just…? A-argh…!”
Divine Power was the ability to cast light upon the darkness. It forced Malrog to shed his disguise.
Malrog’s eyes turned a deep crimson. Black wings sprouted from his head.
His head swelled rapidly, his muscular body being swallowed by the expanding mass. He began to look like a bizarre, fleshy rock.
The host and the students who had been pulling the wagon were thrown off the stage.
One after another, dozens of human heads pierced through his skin, their teeth grinding audibly.
[Crunch, crunch—.]
His eyelids ripped open with a sickening sound.
His crimson eyes grew to nearly three meters in diameter.
His vestigial black wings fluttered uselessly atop his head.
His mouth tore open all the way down to his chin, revealing rows of jagged teeth. The bastard was grinding them without pause.
Crunch, crunch. The sound echoed gruesomely. He was the demon who forever gnashed his teeth in envy and seethed with inferiority—‘Malrog the Envious.’
He had finally revealed his true form.
[Malrog the Envious]
Lv: 160
Race: Demon
Elements: Dark, Rock
Danger: Extreme
Psychology: [Wantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyou...]
[You’re just a weakling.]
Crunch.
[You’re just a weak little bug!!]
Crunch.
[And yet…]
Crunch.
[You’ve angered me, you bastard.]
Crunch—. Crunch—.
[I’ll kill you.]
Crunch.
[More painfully than anyone else.]
Crunch.
[I’ll kill you—.]
Crunch—. Crunch—.
[I’ll drive skewers through your mouth,]
Crunch.
[And I’ll use rocks]
Crunch.
[To grind your limbs to pulp.]
Crunch.
[And even if you scream with regret,]
Crunch.
[I will still kill you.]
[More painfully than anyone else—.]
Crunch—. Crunch—.
Malrog conjured a massive magic circle.
This is the first time I’ve ever been happy to see a demon’s hideous face…
“Hic!”
Eva, still hidden by [Stealth], let out a frightened hiccup. Oh, so that’s where she was hiding.
Regardless, Malrog was clearly enraged that someone as weak as me had managed to provoke him.
[The demon has been recognized as an enemy.]
[The unique trait [Hunter] is activated!]
[Your level and stats are temporarily greatly enhanced!]
[Your skill tree temporarily becomes +10!]
Finally.
Well, I guess it’s time to show him the difference in our respective strengths.
I began to walk slowly toward Malrog as ice and rock mana began to surge from my body.