The Fraudulent Protagonist's Story Demands Grandeur (1)

Ju Joyeon silently wiped the dust and blood from Arty's body for a while. Clack.

"Master, according to House, her wounds have already been treated. She simply fell asleep from exhaustion after seeing you and feeling relieved, so please don't worry too much."

"...Right."

In the meantime, Ju Joyeon's followers who had emerged from the pit stood around awkwardly before most of them returned inside, leaving only a few behind. Clatter.

"Master, we have also retrieved the artifact Lady Arty brought for you."

Jack, who had gone back up to the prison where Ju Joyeon had been held during that time, returned and handed over the gift from Arty that Ju Joyeon hadn't been able to receive earlier. Ju Joyeon stared at it for a moment before reaching out. The artifact that had been resting on Jack's hand floated up on its own and began orbiting around him.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The black gem Arty had borrowed from Ju Joyeon, the Nuclear Mana Reactor, had changed so completely that it could no longer be called a gem. It now took the form of a heart, just as its new name suggested. It wasn't merely carved into a heart shape. Countless tiny, millimeter-scale heart-shaped hooks interlocked with one another to form a perfect heart. Because it wasn't simply carved, the hooks created chaotic reflections, making the unmistakably black heart emit both black and silver light in a wild display. The black 'heart' was so beautiful and awe-inspiring that anyone who saw it would be overcome with a profound thrill at the thought that Arty alone had created it.

"...A heart."

Ju Joyeon touched the ring on his finger as he looked at the artifact that had transformed so drastically from the last time he saw it.

"Ability God, could you use Appraisal Magic for me?"

-......

"I know you're watching. There's no way you wouldn't be after Arty almost died. This is my artifact anyway, so you can at least appraise it, right? You did it last time too."

-...... You think of me as nothing more than a convenient tool, don't you?

"I don't think of you that simply."

-Tch. If you can't even say it. Fine, I'll do as you want this time. It's repayment for throwing your body to save Arty.

'Appraisal.'

Whether because she gave high marks to Ju Joyeon for saving Arty by throwing his body, the Ability God grumbled but still used Appraisal Magic as requested. A new notification window appeared before Ju Joyeon's eyes.

The Mana Reactor, which had previously only been capable of storing the wearer's mana and returning it when needed, now possessed abilities as vicious as its new appearance.

"Another heart, huh..."

...Shrrrrk.

At Ju Joyeon's words, the heart began to beat. Composed not of a single piece but of countless tiny fragments interlocked together, the heart sucked in the ambient mana. As mana flowed through its interior, it began pulsing like a real heart.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Influenced by the 'heart' that had begun beating at the same rhythm as Ju Joyeon's real heart, the surrounding air started moving in strange directions.

'Mana vacuum state? What does that mean?'

Ju Joyeon questioned as he watched the heart orbiting around him at a steady rhythm. The answer appeared quickly. The dizziness that had persisted until now gradually faded, and his mana, which had felt completely blocked and unrecoverable, began restoring itself naturally.

'This... is it nullifying the artifact?'

The silver choker was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still around Ju Joyeon's neck, but thanks to the heart's effect, it couldn't exert any power.

Ju Joyeon felt mana rapidly filling his body, a sensation so overwhelming it bordered on omnipotence.

KUOOOOOOH!!

Yet, as if to shatter Ju Joyeon's reverie, Wortroll's—Pon's—roar echoed from the bottom of the abyss. Having finished restoring his body, he had instinctively let out a threatening roar upon seeing the undead scattered around him. Ju Joyeon frowned at Pon's voice.

"Jack."

Clatter.

"Yes, Master."

"Arty's sleeping right now."

Clatter.

"I will immediately order Pon to shut his mouth."

Jack swiftly threw himself into the abyss to prevent Arty from waking. Whether he had conveyed Ju Joyeon's intent properly, Pon's roar soon vanished completely.

"May, is there anywhere Arty can rest?"

Clack.

"Unless we go outside..."

"Figures. We'll have to leave this place first."

Clack.

"Master, Lily Cubus is apparently preparing to enter here with the knights."

At May's words, Ju Joyeon gritted his teeth, his expression twisting. Killing intent toward the fundamental culprit who had created the current situation transformed into a deathly aura, filling the interior of the abyss.

"That bitch, no matter what it takes, I'll k—"

Clatter.

"Master."

Jack and Pon rushed over to Ju Joyeon, who had been about to voice his murderous intent toward Lily Cubus.

"...What's going on?"

Clatter.

"Well... it seems you should come down below for a moment."

"Below? Why below?"

Clatter.

"I don't know how to explain it either... You'll have to see for yourself."

Seeing Jack hesitate with a troubled expression, Ju Joyeon picked up Arty from the ground, holding her in a princess carry, and ordered Jack to lead the way.

****

Following Jack's guidance, Ju Joyeon arrived at the bottom of the abyss and witnessed a strange sight.

"What the hell? Why aren't these guys reacting at all?"

The 100,000 undead filling the bottom. Not only Ju Joyeon's followers who weren't their comrades, but even Ju Joyeon and Arty, living beings, approached without eliciting any reaction. They merely groaned and wandered about. Ju Joyeon found it odd and poked the nearest undead, but it only glanced at him briefly before ignoring him completely once more.

Clatter.

"Personally, I believe they have entered a standby state according to Lily Cubus's orders, as she is the one who created this place."

"Yeah, that seems most likely. So? Did you call me just to show me this?"

Clatter.

"No. It's not them. It's because of Tiasia."

"Lara? Ah, right, she fell here. Why hasn't she come out? Her body should've been restored by now."

Clatter.

"Well... her restoration isn't progressing."

"What?"

Jack pushed through the densely packed undead and guided Ju Joyeon to the center of the abyss floor before pointing. There lay Tiasia, who had fallen while saving Ju Joyeon and Arty, with a black spear impaled through her abdomen, radiating intense presence.

"...A spear?"

Clatter.

"According to House, that spear and the right arm statue that was embedded in it are what created the undead here. Lily Cubus said it's a sacred relic of the cursed Curia Church."

"Sacred relic...? Where's the right arm statue?"

Clatter.

"It seems to be pinned beneath Tiasia's body."

"Hmm~? Did she unluckily fall onto the relic while crashing down?"

Ju Joyeon approached the fallen Tiasia more closely.

The fallen Tiasia was continuously draining Ju Joyeon's mana, restored thanks to the heart, while the black spear was siphoning that mana from Tiasia's body.

"...Is this spear stealing her power?"

Clatter.

"It appears so. It seems we'll have to do something about this spear..."

"Can't the heart's effect solve it?"

Ju Joyeon moved Tiasia into the heart's mana vacuum range. Then, as if stealing Tiasia's energy, the 'heart' began siphoning something red and viscous contained within the black spear.

'Huh. Is it okay to absorb that bright red, ominous-looking stuff?'

Ju Joyeon felt slightly worried about the unexpected situation, but the red energy sucked into the 'heart' circulated several times inside before transforming into pure mana.

'Hmm, no need to worry, I guess. Well, it's something made by two gods and Arty. There's no way ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it'd have problems this easily.'

As Ju Joyeon expected, the mana vacuum state eliminated all the energy contained in the black spear, but another problem arose.

When Ju Joyeon tried to restore Tiasia's body again with his mana, the black spear emitted black light once more and began stealing energy from Tiasia.

"Vacuum state... Ah, I see. To give mana to Tiasia, I have to exclude her from the vacuum state..."

The mana vacuum state's effect was to suck up all ambient mana and create a space without mana. The silver choker around Ju Joyeon's neck couldn't activate because it was a mana-consuming artifact, but the black spear impaled in Tiasia's body absorbed mana through its own ability rather than magic. Therefore, the mana Ju Joyeon supplied after excluding Tiasia from the vacuum state was immediately absorbed by the black spear again.

"...Even so, the heart isn't that all-powerful, huh."

Clatter.

"This is bad. How are we supposed to save Tiasia..."

"......"

Ju Joyeon pondered how to resolve the situation but couldn't come up with a suitable solution. He just wanted to take Arty somewhere she could rest comfortably, but being stuck in this strange predicament irritated him. And Ju Joyeon was, after all, the 'careless Ju Joyeon.'

"...This is annoying."

When Ju Joyeon pointed at the spear with his finger, the Book of the Dead flew out from his inventory, emitting a bloody aura.

Dozens of spears and teeth appeared around the black spear.

Cl-clatter..?

"M-Master..?"

"Break it."

At Ju Joyeon's command, his magic surged toward the black spear.

KWAGAGAGAGAGAK!

Now free from mana constraints, every time Bone Spear and Bite disappeared, he created more, endlessly hammering the black spear. The most ignorant method, without thinking ahead.

KAGAGAGA....

CLANG!!

Having had all its mana drained and subjected to the endless barrage of attacks, the black spear finally couldn't withstand it and snapped.

"Good. It's broken."

Cl-clatter.

"M-Magnificent, Master."

The helplessly bisected spear fell to the ground before turning to dust and vanishing completely.

"Yeah, it's restoring."

Ju Joyeon was satisfied as he watched Tiasia's body slowly begin restoring now that the obstacle was gone. However, there was one being who was not.

-You idiot!!!!

The Ability God's clear voice rang out in Ju Joyeon's mind.

'Huh? Ability God? What is it. I didn't even call you.'

-What if you break that spear without even knowing what it is!!

'What do you mean. From what I heard, it's something that had a curse placed on a sacred relic.'

-Wrong! You dummy! It's the opposite!

'What? The opposite?'

Twitch.

The fallen Tiasia's body began to tremble as if something was moving it.

"Lara?"

POOF!

Tiasia's body shot upward, and a black arm bounced out from beneath her.

"...An arm?"

-Finally!!! It's finally here!! The seal is finally broken!!!

The right arm statue that had soared into the sky. No, the right arm that had appeared to be a statue began writhing and speaking.

"What... is happening."

Ju Joyeon stared blankly at the right arm.

****

The pure white space.

"Kekeke! That guy's amazing! He really went and did it!"

"To think he'd act so thoughtlessly."

"Idiot! He's an idiot! The word 'idiot' isn't enough for him!"

"Ahaha! He's really a friend without a care in the world! Breaking it so recklessly without even knowing what it was! Hahaha!"

The gods looking down at the surface each offered their impressions.

"Kek! To awaken the demon race sealed by Curia's spear in this manner. Well, since it had turned black from containing the demon race's power, one could think that way."

"This is going to complicate things. Should we make an announcement? His appearance wasn't scheduled yet."

At Magic's suggestion, Modern pondered briefly before shaking his head with a smile.

"No. Let's just leave it be. That'll be more fun."

"Ha?! Are you crazy, Modern?! A demon race?! There hasn't been a demon race appearing on the surface in hundreds of years even in the magic world!"

"Huh? Ability, that's unexpected. I didn't know you'd know so much about the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magic world."

"Because it's the world Arty was supposed to go to! Anyway! Demon races are dangerous! If you're not going to make an announcement, I'll speak through the ring!"

"Do as you like. But you know this too, right? What you can say through the ring is limited. Be careful."

"Eeeek!"

Thinking that continuing to talk with Modern was a waste of time, Ability spoke to the ring on her finger again. Meanwhile, Martial, who had been watching the situation, called out to Magic.

"Hey, the world I manage doesn't have a race called demon race. Is it such a dangerous existence that Ability reacts so sensitively?"

"Huh? Well, yeah. Simply put, they're a race born for battle. They all use magic, and their physical abilities surpass human limits."

"Hmm~ Such existences are common when viewed on a world scale, aren't they?"

"That's true. But the problem is, the demon race Curia sealed isn't an ordinary demon race."