Chapter 100
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Chapter 100
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Dance of Black Spears
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"Young Master Leon."
Just as I was about to leave.
He calls out to me.
"Yes."
"I wish you good fortune. Please save the people of this city."
He flashed an endlessly gentle smile.
[Your heart rate is different from usual.]
"No, I just don't vibe with people like that."
[From a general viewpoint, no significant abnormalities detected in the individual.]
Generally speaking, sure. But it reminds me of Mom and Dad for no reason.
Gazing at people like that dredges up memories of my late parents, and it doesn't sit well with me.
In that sense, Luna and Melissa really suit me well.
They both stick to a reasonable level of common sense while staying true to their own desires.
I was lost in such idle thoughts, trudging along, when suddenly the wall along the quiet path I was walking shattered, and someone came flying out.
"Kuhk?!"
The figure who tumbled out, gasping for air, was a woman clad in an odd robe.
She gripped a short sword in one hand and a dagger in the other, her body covered in wounds.
Chasing after her and launching attacks was a grotesquely twisted giant insect monster—and atop it, a figure in black robes.
Ah, that robe. That emblem hidden within, barely visible. I know it. Impossible not to.
Cultist.
As Prince Dorn had said, I was now certain these bastards were behind this mess.
"Damn resilient bitch of the Rigid Moon. No more places to run."
Whether commanding the insect monster or not, the cultist scattered death mana recklessly, radiating murderous intent.
The moment the woman steadied her stance.
Sensing something amiss, both halted and turned to stare at me.
Their blank stares carried a clear sense of bafflement, like What the hell is this?
"Why. Keep doing what you were doing."
If the woman had been ordinary, I'd have jumped in to save her right away.
But unless you're completely clueless, it's obvious.
The one riding the insect monster? Cultist, no question.
And facing him off? Moon Surveillance Team.
Neither group is worth getting tangled with.
"What the hell is that lunatic blabbering..."
"Hey! You! You're strong, right?! Help me out here!"
Ah, show's over.
I fixed the woman with a serious look.
"I don't work for free. What's the pay."
"Huh? Kyaaak!!"
She blinked in confusion, failing to process my reply, and got blasted away by the cultist's attack.
"You think that guy's interference changes anything? Hey, I don't have the spare attention right now, so forget what you saw and scram."
Oh, pretty humane for a cultist.
So I decided to treat him humanely in return.
"Don't be like that. Spill what the cultists are scheming here, and I'll let you live."
My words twisted the cultist's face into a grimace.
"You're no random bystander, huh."
He doesn't recognize me. I knew intel didn't flow smoothly even within the cult, but not this badly.
In an instant, the cultist unleashed death mana, enveloping the surroundings as he conjured a black spear.
He hurled it at me without hesitation.
The spear rocketed like a bullet, but the moment I took a light step back, it slammed ferociously into my former spot.
And rapidly decayed everything around it.
Third-circle death magic: Spear of Corruption. I'd devised something similar myself back then.
"Hmm? Dodged that? Fine, then. Black Spear!"
Paang!!
With those words, he cast again, firing two black spears my way.
One flew straight and true; the other twisted grotesquely, as if predicting my dodge.
But both spears sliced through empty air.
"Not bad? Good. Let's play a game."
Atop the insect, he casually began casting more black spears.
On the surface, he seemed like one of the more competent cultists I'd encountered.
"I throw these, you dodge. Turns into a beautiful dance. Simple, right?"
I pondered his offer briefly, then nodded.
"Looks fun."
Satisfied with my response? He flashed a sinister grin and launched a black spear.
Kwa-chang!!!
But his black spears embedded in the air near me with a sharp crunch!, then whirled around as if seized by another will—aiming right back at him.
Before hurtling toward him.
"Hup?!"
Shocked as his own magic boomeranged, he flung himself aside to dodge.
In his panic, he tumbled off the insect monster and rolled ignobly across the ground.
"What the—?!"
"Game's no fun if it's too easy. Rules stay the same. Hit me, and I'll dance."
If you miss, you dance instead.
Twenty black spears materialized around me in a flash—no incantation needed.
"What the fuck?! How are you using my unique magic!?"
For a "unique" spell, similar ones already exist, making it feel like pointless effort overall. Magic theses are full of near-duplicates or less efficient variants, after all.
Gawking at the sheer number of incantation-free black spears, the cultist went wide-eyed.
"Uwaaaak!!"
He hastily threw up a defensive spell, but my black spears hacked through it, corroding as they went.
Unique magic isn't their exclusive domain.
All my spells qualify as unique. Reality was, they differed slightly from the continent's magic system.
"Wh... what is this?!"
Far more efficient than he'd known, he panicked with a shriek.
Not that he was exercising or anything—he bolted in desperation, but the non-corrosive spears pierced his limbs in a heartbeat, pinning him to the wall.
The non-corrosive ones skewered his limbs; the corrosive ones embedded in constellation-like patterns, unfurling a massive sealing spell.
At the same instant—as if his mental domination snapped—the insect monster he'd brought screeched grotesquely and lunged at him.
Like it was unleashing pent-up fury on its former master.
"Uh... uhhh?! Stay back! Stay back!!"
Kwaduk!!
"Kuaaaaak!!"
His screams rang out as the giant insect chomped his arm clean off in a flash.
At the same time, multiple corrosive black spears riddled the insect's body, fully dissolving it and snuffing out its life.
"Kuhk?!"
"Now, hope those lips of yours loosen up."
He desperately flared death mana to resist, but as I hijacked and nullified every spell, hollow despair etched across his face.
"What kind of bullshit..."
"Don't make this complicated. What the hell are you cultists up to here."
Cultists had pulled the same crap before.
They'd torn apart the Barta Kingdom capital's dungeon to awaken a lich—and cursed the king in the process.
Tried capturing a kraken to harness its power, only to get utterly wrecked.
At this point, their goal was crystal clear.
Claiming hidden great powers for themselves.
Hell, they'd already turned that hazardous lifeform, the Demon Tree, to their side.
"Wh... what nonsense."
"What are you after this time to pull shit like this."
He groaned in agony at my question, then let out a derisive chuckle.
"No idea what delusion you've got, but you think I'll just— Uwaaaaak!!"
He started screaming.
I'd lightly flicked my finger; one hijacked black spear burrowed into his gut like a branding iron.
Its corrosive tip rapidly ate away at his flesh from the inside out.
Pain no normal person could endure.
"Hahk... hahk!..."
As he heaved ragged breaths in torment, I stared him down—then branded him anew with another black spear.
"Kuaaaaak!!!"
"Chunsik, shut his mouth."
At my command, the dead insect crumbled to dust, wraithified, and rose once more.
"Wh-what kinda undead is that?!"
It manifested raw physical force, clamping his mouth shut with one massive leg.
"Mmph!! Mmmph!!"
"Blink if you're ready to talk."
"Mmgh!!"
I jammed a black spear into his wounds and twisted. Corrosion spread through his body; bloody tears streamed from his eyes.
Fanatical as he was, he held out longer than most—but how many truly withstand torture?
In the end, he blinked like a madman, silently begging for mercy.
I released his mouth. He gasped for air.
"Won't ask twice. Miss it, and I stop listening altogether."
Terror-stricken, he shrieked at the top of his lungs.
"Heard rumors of a powerful artifact circulating in this city—came looking!!!"
"Sounds like bullshit."
"I-it's true! No lies! I swear!"
"Then what's this? You think my eyes are fucked?"
"Don't know... don't know! Really don't! I didn't cause this phenomenon!"
"Sure. Your boss or buddies did."
I floated the black spears again; he wailed.
"Uwaaaak!! Please! Believe me! It's true!"
His frantic desperation didn't scream "liar."
"That's not a lie."
That's when the woman he'd fought limped over, clutching her wounds.
Moon Surveillance Team, right?
Unlike cultists, no real reason to make them enemies—but they slaughter royalty, nobles, commoners without discrimination. Hardly trustworthy.
"Not a lie? Explain."
"Our Surveillance Team had the same intel. That's why I came to the city."
What? The cultists didn't do it?
The cultist nodded furiously, looking utterly wronged.
"Anyone else?"
"Kuhk... ugh... a few.... but that damn bitch wiped 'em all out..."
Then who the hell created this fog?
Or was it even induced by someone? Recalling my chat with the sage, this was too bizarre for any lone human.
Prince Dorn had only heard they'd entered the city—not that they were confirmed culprits.
"Nothing else?"
As he nodded, I drew my ghost sword.
"Quickly... just kill me quick..."
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