The Black Magician (2)
“Here I go!!”
Groaning through the throbbing headache, Tiny continued gathering mana. Using Wolrang's space step, he hurled his body into the black mist surrounding the Kraken.
The good news was that the barrier from the Humani tas relic in his hand was pushing back the black mist. It made his mana breathing much easier, but he couldn't afford to relax.
'This has to work.'
From his experiences that day, he'd concluded the Kraken definitely had intelligence. If that was right, it would recognize this holy relic's barrier.
The barrier covered the entire inner castle of Carun's royal palace—a vast area. If he played it right, maybe the Kraken would sense its light and back off.
...That was the hope.
And sure enough.
- Grroooo...
There was a reaction. Though not quite the one he wanted.
- Krrrrrrrk.
“Ugh!”
Was this what it felt like when killing intent took visible form? A dark crimson energy thickened the air around him, making even his mana breathing labored.
'Damn it, it's not working!?'
His desperate gambit, born of racking his brain, seemed to have triggered the worst possible outcome.
But then.
A soul-shaking wave reverberated through the entire space where he leaped.
- Retreat......
- Contractor......
“Hup!”
It was less a voice and more a wave—so immense it dominated the space, resounding in Tiny's already pounding head.
But for now, surprise outweighed the pain.
“It can speak!?”
The Kraken's words felt awkward, like those of someone who hadn't spoken in ages, stammering them out. Yet their meaning burned into his mind regardless.
- Retreat......
- Even if...... contractor......
- I won't...... spare you...... anymore......
The follow-up waves were easier to understand, and the headache seemed to ease slightly.
He wasn't sure why it called him "contractor," but he had a guess.
'...The relic, probably.'
But titles could wait. If he could communicate with the Kraken...
“Please stop the attack! The culprits are the Demon Worshippers! The people of Carun down there have nothing to do with it!!”
Tiny shouted with all sincerity.
- I know......
A response that lit up his face.
But relief was short-lived.
- That doesn't mean......
- I must endure......
- The relic isn't there......
His heart sank at those words, as an overwhelming surge of demonic energy rose from the Kraken's body.
“Innocent lives will be lost! Please interpret the promise from the Mythic Age a little more broadly!”
Tiny had no idea what that promise entailed, but he screamed until his throat burned.
Yet.
- To exterminate world-corrupting evils......
- Killing a few humans...... doesn't violate the contract.
- So don't force me, contractor.
The Kraken's will was firm, and the demonic energy, now raging wildly, began flowing toward the palace along its tentacles.
Tiny's heart grew urgent as he watched.
“Stop! Stop, you damn squid!!!”
The curse slipped out unbidden, context be damned.
Absurdly, the demonic flow halted.
Before Tiny, who froze in surprise, could speak.
- Contractor...... are you telling me......
- to endure the grief of losing my child!?
A wave of profound rage and sorrow slammed into him.
*Cough.*
“...Kuhk.”
Reeling from the massive shock, Tiny spat blood but steadied himself and gazed at the colossal form in the black mist.
His eyes held complex emotions and questions.
Why was the Kraken listening to him? Was it really just the relic?
...It didn't feel that way.
For a moment, he sensed it might actually stop if he asked.
But there was no time for deeper thought. The sorrow in that wave was too heartbreaking; he couldn't help raising his voice.
“I'll catch the bastard! Just... just wait a little! Please!!”
He poured his heart and desperate wish into the cry.
Then.
- ...With your current power, it's impossible, contractor.
The Kraken's will came through, slightly calmed.
“I know. But still, I'll make it happen somehow! So just a little! Wait just a little!”
A baseless claim, utterly groundless.
Yet at those words, the Kraken's killing intent visibly waned.
And soon.
- Then...... I'll lend you a little power.
With that, the demonic energy began moving again.
Tiny's face paled at the massive flow.
“No...!”
But too late.
Kaboom!
He'd received this help once before. Words died in his throat as the colossal black energy surged toward the palace.
“...It'll work! It'll work! Awesome!”
Dizzy-headed, blood streaming from mouth and nose, he wiped it roughly and grinned in satisfaction.
“I promise! Just wait a bit! I will!”
Then he space-stepped toward the palace again.
* * *
- What is this......!?
Kaboom!
The black energy blanketed the palace skies like a waterfall of darkness, sweeping away the black mage's shadows in an instant and engulfing everything.
The viscous demonic aura within was chilling, but Jenas, who'd benefited from it before, could only smile.
'Kraken!'
That dense malice and poison could slaughter everyone in the palace if fully unleashed—but his senses clearly felt it targeting one thing alone.
'A legendary beast indeed!'
Even as he cheered inwardly, something felt off. If it could control its energy so precisely, why had it blanketed civilians earlier too?
Sure, only the demon worshippers took fatal hits, but the elderly and weak among the people would have died regardless.
But those thoughts vanished as the black mist overwhelmed his vision.
“Kwaaak!”
“Ugh, ugh!”
“C-can't... breathe...”
Gurgle.
He saw people collapsing everywhere, but now wasn't the time to worry about them. This poison was fiercer than before, yet its deadliest concentration targeted the enemy.
So here.
'Time to end this.'
Jenas heightened his mana senses to the extreme, abandoning useless sight, and surrendered to the black mist.
'I am the lion of the north wind, the cold gale itself.'
Visualizing his attribute at its peak, his body became a silver wind slicing through space.
'What... is this...'
The black-robed leader of Malum felt the demonic energy invading his body and fell into chaos.
Even he, who prided himself on knowing demonic energy best among humanity, couldn't shake it off easily.
It seeped minimally into civilians but became lethal poison for those with demonic traces.
Even he, a 7th Circle black mage, felt his wounds worsen and his mind reel, unable to maintain attribute dominance.
'Damn it all...!'
Only one being here could wield such energy.
- Kraken!!
There was a limit to absurdity. He couldn't fathom why the Kraken targeted him specifically.
He had Husel's cooperation, who'd killed the hatchling—but Husel was a Superior wielding pure mana.
'No demonic traces left behind?'
But no time for questions. His subordinates would all die if he endured alone.
He had to escape...
'No, wait. The expendables aren't responding...?'
As complex thoughts coalesced into a plausible conclusion amid the poison struggle, a blindingly pure white beam pierced the thinning mist.
'What?'
BOOM!
His brief distraction cost him—a fierce impact shattered his auto-defense barrier, hurling him back.
- You bastard!
“...Close, but no cigar.”
The silver-haired foe vanished into the mist after his arrogant taunt. Rage boiled over as the black mage unleashed a storm of demonic energy in all directions.
- How dare you!
Thud.
He felt the foe bounce back from the heavy shockwave.
Or so he thought.
Crack!
Another barrier shattered with eerie speed. Only then did he see the ice shards bursting into human form ahead—while killing intent closed from behind.
He spun, facing the foe's sneer.
“How dareyou. Filth who sold your soul to demons!”
The cold voice faded back into the mist, snapping him alert.
'Me? Losing to a mere Challenger?'
Unacceptable for a black mage. The holy barrier restricting his power and senses was gone now. Even with Kraken-induced wounds and tangled demonic energy from surprise attacks...
Superhumans were superhumans. Struggling against this pest was due to the chain of bewildering events.
- Hooo...
He needed calm. With a cold exhale, black lightning, flames, and winds swirled around him, pushing back the mist.
“Tch.”
He ignored the foe's nearby tongue-click, focusing on the palace view clearing ahead.
'Thinking back, things went wrong after throwing the relic to Husel.'
No, they'd been twisted before. He didn't know why, but his subordinates were mostly dead.
Then...
'No time for this.'
The Challenger wasn't the issue now. With things this botched, the organization's exposure was imminent—he needed at least some payoff.
'...Chaos in Carun.'
Kill the king and his spawn, the high nobles. Ortus's fall would follow naturally.
But if all that failed.
'Grab the minimum goal.'
As resolve hardened.
Wind stirred behind. A blinding silver sword aura slashed crosswise through space.
Powerful, skilled. The youthful skin peeking from the mask marked a future threat.
No more games. End this farce with the trash.
- Scatter.
Pressure on the air disrupted the wind attribute.
“Ugh!?”
- Bind.
Demonic vines from the demon realm summoned around the falling foe. Using trace pure Kraken demonic energy, he'd cast summoning magic in a flash.
And.
- Die.
Black lightning and flames intertwined chaotically, the reaper's hand descending to kill one man.
Kaboom!
“Not a chance!”
Pure white azure light surged crosswise, severing the vines and charging the falling magic.
'Pathetic...'
As he sneered coldly at the sight, a massive grayish-white sword intervened.
No...?
“Haaap!”
Unlike the masked redhead, this wielder was familiar: the veteran knight, Liam von Peterson.
Even the black mage's face twisted at the sudden arrival.
Kaboom! CRASH!
His intricate composite spell detonated midair.
'The Rock Wall Knight, eh? Heh, in that case...'
In the cleared mist, no trace of the black mage remained.