Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: The First (2)
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Before Jamie emerged outside.
The two could only exchange greetings after unburdening their hearts from the past days.
"It's good to meet again like this."
"I too am thrilled to learn that my lord is alive."
"Soon, we'll meet the others as well."
"...Others?"
Jamie strolled around with his hands behind his back.
The inside of the Chaos Ocean was pitch black, but to them, this darkness was as bright as midday.
"Behemoth is alive. Jormungandr is presumed alive as well."
"...Those guys!"
"And..."
Jamie spread his right hand, and black mana bubbled up like foam before a bat with large eyes popped out with a puff!
Seeing it, Trika's eyes widened, and he rushed over in one bound.
"Black!"
Kiiieeeek!
Spotting Trika, tears welled up in Black's eyes, and it flapped toward him with its characteristic cry.
Black slapped onto Trika's face and wailed pathetically.
"Hahaha! Who would've thought we'd meet again like this!"
Kueek... kueek!
"I still can't understand a word you're saying! Hahaha!"
Only fellow familiars Behemoth and Jormungandr could communicate with Black.
Trika had always seen Black as a cute pet bat.
Look at him now—not treating it as one of the three great familiars, but kneading its squishy body in his arms.
"Still so plump, Black!"
Poke!
In the past, Trika's antics would send Black into fits, but now, equally delighted, it accepted the touch.
Watching them, Jamie suddenly recalled something.
'If I'd shown Black from the start... maybe Trika wouldn't have beaten me senseless?'
He'd been too flustered to think of summoning it.
If he'd shown it right away, Trika would've recognized him as Diablo Volpir immediately.
The thought made his whole body ache.
'Can't heal this easily, huh.'
That Trika.
How excited must he have been to crush him with that much force?
He was recovering quickly with holy power and black mana, but he'd need quite a long rest once back.
"Anyway, Trika."
"Speak."
Trika replied while rolling Black around like a ball in his hands.
"What happened with the demonic energy?"
"Well... I'm not entirely sure myself."
"Not sure?"
"Yes."
He tossed Black into the air and continued.
"A thousand years of losing my reason and fighting like a monster. I barely remember any of it, but it seems something changed in my body."
"Did the demonic energy fuse with black mana?"
"Not fused... more like the black mana absorbed the demonic energy."
Black mana was the power of the Shadow Realm—the dimension ruled by the King of Dark Spirits.
Demonic energy, on the other hand, had existed in the Demon Realm since its birth.
Their only commonality was a dark aura.
Yet powers from entirely different dimensions and origins had merged within Trika.
'This... needs research.'
Even Jamie, the creator of black mana, hadn't anticipated this.
Or perhaps Trika himself was special.
'But I created Trika.'
Something might have happened to his body in the Demon Realm, but conclusions required study.
"Take this."
Then Trika pulled something from his subspace and handed it to Jamie.
It looked like an ordinary black stone, but oddly, a single character was embedded inside.
"What's this?"
"A dimension stone from the Demon Realm."
At 'dimension stone', Jamie's eyes widened.
"You mean the one I know?"
"Yes."
"Something this precious..."
"A Demon King can get as many as needed."
"Heh. You've risen in the world."
Jamie examined the dimension stone closely.
A dimension stone was a fragment of a 'dimensional core'—the heart and compressed energy forming a dimension.
In the Middle Realm, akin to a 'magic stone'. Common magic stones were mere shards; the core sustaining the realm was guarded by dragons, the strongest race.
'In other words, in the grasp of the 12 Gods.'
Dragons were the limbs of Dragon God Brahman among the 12 Gods.
With him around, the Middle Realm's core was untouchable, and mana couldn't oppose it.
That was why Jamie created black mana.
"It contains demonic energy condensed over a hundred years. More than enough for research."
Though over 60,000 years apart, undead Trika remembered his lord's nature.
He'd have sought demonic energy himself for study, even without this.
Jamie nodded with a smile.
"Thanks. This'll speed things up."
"It also has communication functions with me."
"Oh ho."
"But... since it's infused with demonic energy, those serving the 12 Gods will notice it immediately nearby."
"Heh. No worries there."
"Pardon?"
Jamie grinned and raised his left hand.
Pyro Goddess's holy power flowed out, enveloping the dimension stone.
The emanating demonic energy vanished like a lie.
Sealed with holy power.
Trika gaped at the sight.
"Holy power... how...?"
"Ended up making a deal with Pyro. Useful pawn."
"An alliance with a god?"
"As you know, the 12 Gods are on the brink of fracture. Pyro's at the center. Quite the asset."
"Hm. Makes sense."
"No holding back on means or methods. Even if it means bedding the enemy."
"Wise words."
At that moment, the Chaos Ocean began to tremble faintly.
"Time's up."
"The 12 Gods intervening?"
"They haven't detected me yet. But better to leave before they do."
Even as a Demon King, surviving in the Middle Realm under the 12 Gods' influence was impossible.
Trika looked at his lord with regret.
His lord was still too weak compared to him, but he knew.
The lord would soon regain his prime.
No—surpass it and judge the 12 Gods.
'No idea how many years, but compared to the time waited, it's a blink.'
One year or ten—didn't matter.
Trika could wait joyfully.
"My lord. I'll await our next meeting."
"When that day comes..."
Jamie finished as he saw the ceiling's darkness split.
"We'll savor true freedom."
"I look forward to it."
Trika's form vanished into the darkness.
Jamie gazed at the shattering darkness.
Light poured through the cracks.
The fatigue of the past days crashed over him at once.
The Chaos Ocean fully shattered.
His darkness-accustomed eyes faced the blinding light, and he murmured softly.
"Think I'll live."
His consciousness cut off there.
When Jamie came to, three days had passed.
He hazily surveyed his surroundings with bleary eyes.
'Hospital room.'
A private room—no other beds around his. A small desk and vase sat beside, with two yellow tulips in the vase.
Jamie clutched his stiff back and forced himself upright.
"Ugh!"
His whole body screamed in pain.
Aching joints were basic; his muscles felt torn, and unnatural pain throbbed from his organs inside.
"Hoo..."
Lying back, he barely quelled the pain, wondering what this was.
Couldn't even twitch a finger.
His head spun beyond dizziness, feeling like it would split.
'That damn Trika...'
All Trika's fault.
Because he tried to crush him with brute force, mistaking him for someone else, his body had literally crumbled.
Back then, black mana, holy power, and maxed adrenaline let him endure without realizing the agony.
'This guy's body...'
Couldn't even wiggle a finger, let alone call for help—voice wouldn't come out.
Grimacing, Jamie channeled mana into his index finger.
Through his spread cores, mana flowed along his meridians.
"Kuhk—"
His wrecked body's meridians were far from fixed.
Barely gathering mana at his fingertip, he cast a spell.
An amplification spell.
It worked—the outside grew noisy instantly.
"Young Master!"
Siegfried burst in first.
Whether he'd stayed at the hospital or arrived just then, he grabbed the bed rail roughly in an instant.
"Are you alright, Young Master?!"
"Kuhk!"
The bed shook violently, and Jamie blacked out again.
A little later, regaining consciousness, Jamie heard an unfamiliar voice alongside a familiar one.
"Elder 7. No matter how urgent, you can't shake a critical patient's bed like that."
"S-Sorry. But I didn't shake it that hard..."
"Then why did the patient faint?!"
"I'm sorry."
Opening his eyes quietly, a middle-aged doctor was scolding Siegfried.
An elder in the magic world held near-absolute power, yet this doctor boldly reproved him—impressive.
"Anyway, he can speak with magic, so don't touch him and keep talk short. Jamie needs absolute rest now."
"Understood. Thank you, Doctor."
"Ahem."
A doctor maintaining such poise even with an elder—too cool.
Jamie watched the doctor leave, lost in idle thoughts.
"Whew. She's really scary."
Siegfried shook his head and turned to Jamie.
Their eyes met.
They stared silently, until Siegfried chuckled first.
"Good you came to."
Siegfried pulled a chair and sat by the bed.
"Hard to talk?"
Jamie nodded, and Siegfried sighed, casting recovery magic on his lungs.
"Puha!"
His blocked airways cleared, a dizzying shock hitting his head.
His tensed body relaxing at once—natural reaction.
Jamie panted roughly for a moment.
"Temporary recovery magic."
"Priest-level healing."
"Making jokes means your mind's sharp."
"Feels like dying."
"Don't. Anyway, your body's in such bad shape, full recovery takes at least three months."
"...Three months?"
"No idea what you did inside, but when you emerged from that black sphere, you were practically a corpse. Waking after three days is a miracle."
The black sphere was the Chaos Ocean.
"Cleanup?"
"What cleanup? It was in the forest anyway. Ah, the Academy had a minor issue."
He'd fought Javelin and Serpent there.
Main battle in subspace spared the Academy major damage, but Siegfried blasting a corridor section to rescue Jamie was the problem.
"So you cleaned up your own mess, Elder."
"'Mess'? I went to save you."
"And got sealed right after."
"Ahem. Didn't expect such thorough prep."
True.
They'd planned even against grand mages.
Just didn't account for the variable Jamie Welton.
Had they known his identity, their plan might've succeeded.
"These flowers? Your disciple left them."
"Anne stopped by."
"Why skip Lennon?"
"That guy's not the flower-buying type."
"Fair. But he and his father visited."
"Speaking of, is Simon Count okay?"
"Fine. Someone pulled double duty as DPS and tank."
"Ahem."
Siegfried eyed Jamie reproachfully for the overexertion.
Jamie coughed awkwardly, at a loss.
"Elders came and went. Bustling for three days."
"How do you know all that, Elder?"
"Uh... nurses told me."
Truth was, Siegfried had guarded the room as protector until Jamie woke.
He didn't want to admit it, but couldn't fool Jamie.
Jamie chuckled and thanked him.
"Thanks."
"I was resting at home? Nice and rested~."
"Sure, sure."
"'Sure'? Didn't learn not to tease elders?"
"Didn't learn not to hit patients?"
"Slave background—no lessons."
Tch, guard-breaking move.
Jamie conceded defeat.
"Slave card's cheating."
"Ultimate invincible technique."
They eyed each other and chuckled again.
But soon, Siegfried dropped his smile, casting soundproofing to seal noise outside.
Ears popped like pressure rising.
Siegfried spoke gravely.
"Young Master."
"Yes."
"What... was that?"
Siegfried vividly recalled Jamie using black mana.
Different from black sorcerers', but unmistakably black magic—eerie power undeniable.
"Tell other elders?"
"Just me and Elder Simon."
They'd kept silent as requested.
As mages, curiosity must've burned, yet they hadn't probed his unconscious mind—great respect.
"Thanks for keeping it secret first."
"Not foolish enough to blab and see what happens."
"Where to start..."
No choice but black magic then.
Without it, all three would've died to Dragon Mage Berias there.
Better exposed than dead.
Fortunate Siegfried and Simon were trustworthy.
'Not sure how they'll react to the truth...'
No regrets.
Jamie faced Siegfried seriously.
"I am the reincarnation of the first..."
Yes.
I am the first.
"Black Sorcerer, Diablo Volpir."
Silence fell between them.