Became the Heroines' Trauma (4)
Mana is a power that doesn't exist in the real world. Having fallen into a world where it does exist, I had no choice but to keep researching how to wield it.
If this had been a virtual reality game, I would've known the in-game methods right away. If yelling "Status window!" had brought up a blue screen in front of me with instructions like "How to use," I would've followed them to the letter.
But neither was the case, so I leveraged my position as the count's young master to summon mages or pore over the family's magic tomes, studying magic that way. And in doing so, I had a realization.
The most important thing was envisioning how to use that power. Whether through fantasy, conception, or imagination, the "manifestation of thought" was the fundamental way to freely handle mana.
Thanks to that, I gained confidence. I'd never actually used it before, but I knew exactly how magic was implemented in the original game—all the effects and everything.
[Be careful, Contractor? Looks like attacks are incoming soon.]
Not just my own techniques, either.
[Direction—]
"Below."
Just like the ice pillar surging up from right under me now, I had a perfect grasp on the enemies' techniques too.
[Keeek!!]
[Hmm, precognition, maybe?]
Ratatosk let out a monstrous screech as its attack sliced through empty air, while the Archduke of Hell—Chang Yeom—began pondering me.
Not precognition.
I couldn't read the future. I just knew a few things that were coming.
But I'd rather she didn't say that out loud.
If Chang Yeom mistook my special ability for precognition, that giant squirrel freak might make the same assumption.
[Kehihit, you idiot! Spilling your contractor's powers like that!]
[.......]
Chang Yeom clamped her mouth shut. We'd been speaking in demonic tongue, but the vibrations echoing in my head must've leaked out for Ratatosk to hear. That was the downside of fully tapping into her power.
Blue Flame Array.
Summoning the blue flames of the demon realm down to the mortal plane. Normally, it would've incinerated my flesh, with the flames then infusing the ashes to manifest a "devil incarnation."
But not this time.
[Contractor?]
Right now, Chang Yeom wasn't possessing my body.
[Go ahead and use my power to your heart's content. You know how to deal with that squirrel, right?]
Instead, she was lending me her full strength, hoping I'd take down Ratatosk. She no longer saw me as some seven-year-old kid—and neither did Ratatosk.
[This time's different!]
Ratatosk thrust its paws forward, forming icy orbs in its grip like acorns.
Through Chang Yeom's eyes, I could see at a glance that those orbs weren't mere ice—they were clumps of hundreds, thousands of ice crystals.
[If you can see the future, then watch!]
Ratatosk spread its arms wide.
[Watch yourself freeze to death!]
The mana in the crystal orbs detonated. Ice spikes erupted from within, firing in every direction.
[Be careful. This is to seize control of the area... Hmm.]
Chang Yeom tossed me a bit of advice, just in case.
[Should I just watch?]
"Do whatever."
I already knew that technique inside out, so the moment I spotted the orbs, I was ready.
Fwoosh.
I flicked my fingers forward.
Blue flames bloomed in front of the ice spikes hurtling toward me—and the entire battlefield.
[Wh-what?!]
The blue flames spread in a circle through the air, spinning like a vortex. The moment Ratatosk's ice spikes touched the rotating blue flames, they melted away.
"Lucky for me you're an ice type."
S-rank boss Ratatosk. SS-rank demon Archduke Chang Yeom.
The level gap was obvious, but the matchup favored us hard.
Fwoom.
Above all, Ratatosk's ice spikes couldn't deal me a scratch. I didn't even need to fold my wings forward as a shield—my body, ablaze with Chang Yeom's flames, decomposed and melted the spikes with sheer heat before they could touch.
[Kee, keehehe...!]
Even as its ice barrage went to waste, Ratatosk just grinned wickedly.
[I know...! You're at your limit now!]
Ratatosk raised a single claw at me.
[About a minute left, right?! You're not summoned by a "true name" like me, so an archduke of hell can't stick around in this world forever!]
[.......]
Chang Yeom had been summoned by her true name. But she kept her mouth shut to avoid tipping off Ratatosk.
Fwoosh.
Irritated blue flames flickered from my right hand. She wanted to say something but couldn't refute it outright.
Half right, anyway.
Chang Yeom could maintain her presence if she wanted, but I only had about a minute left. Not because of the contract or Ratatosk, but due to the goddess watching us intently from the heavens above.
[Hahaha! Looks like the goddess won't acknowledge your existence! Get out of the mid-plane, Archduke of Hell!]
Ratatosk pointed gleefully at the countless gleaming pillars of light beaming down on us.
[Come forth, angels! Slay this Archduke of Hell!]
"You think you're safe?"
[Heh, hehehe...! Me? I've been sealed for centuries, so I've lost most of my demonic energy...!]
This world didn't run on game logic, but system-wise...
"The angels will target just me, so you'll escape in the chaos?"
[Escape? Ha, don't make me laugh! I wanna watch you get torn apart by them!]
Since the goddess's angel forces would prioritize me—Chang Yeom—first, Ratatosk was banking on me taking heavy damage fighting them.
[I'll just lie back and enjoy the show! Hehehe, all that's left is revenge on that damned clan...!]
"Hapsderk?"
[Kyaaahhh!!]
Ratatosk reacted violently the instant I said the name.
[That rotten bloodline! Heh heh heh, he had no idea before sealing me! But I saw it! My curse carrying down to this era!]
"Curse?"
[I cursed them so their kids couldn't mix blood with outsiders! Keehihit! Must've been hell having children! The despair when they realized they had to breed within the family... Kyahahahat!!]
"......."
My knowledge grew. I had no idea there was this backstory between Hapsderk and Ratatosk.
I thought I knew 100%, but hidden details like this keep popping up.
If I'd known ahead... would things have changed? Nah.
"Ratatosk."
It only made things clearer.
"You're dying by my hand."
[Keehihit, you—a mere contractor without the Archduke of Hell—think you can do anything...!]
"I'm Regiph Hapsderk."
The name stopped Ratatosk mid-retreat.
"The last blood of the founder who slammed you into this earth and sealed you."
[......Kee, keehehe, hehihit...!!]
Humans in this world, averaging sixty years per generation, might not get it.
[I-I'll kill you!! With my own hands!!]
But to demons and fiends, centuries were enough to see the sealer and their descendants as direct lineage—grandparent to grandchild.
[You were that scared of me! Enough to contract with the Archduke of Hell?! Keehihit!]
Ratatosk's eyes burned red. Ice around it began glowing crimson, red ice spikes blooming in the air like spears aimed at me.
[Can't let the angels have you! Die, Archduke of Hell and you accursed bloodline!!]
Whoosh.
Ice spears rained down like light. And behind me, more armored angels emerged from the light pillars, all unleashing mana to impale me. I quietly closed my eyes.
Pfsh, pfssh, psh.
Ice spears and holy light pierced my body. Holes punched through me like a paper doll under a flurry of punches.
[Keehihit! So what if you have the Archduke's power? Your contractor's this weak!]
Ratatosk laughed at my hole-riddled form. In its red eyes, my body was crumbling apart.
"Yeah."
[Puhuhu.]
I laughed. Or maybe Chang Yeom did. Or both of us.
[Guess that's how it looks to you.]
[Wh-what's so funny?! Your contractor's...!]
[Ah, right. You can't see it.]
I took a light step forward.
[The moment the first flames burst, you were already under hypnosis.]
[Hyp...nosis...?]
[Yep. Seems my contractor's better with mental magic than direct attacks... Hehehe.]
I landed on Ratatosk's shoulder—its back—and extended a finger forward.
[Time to wake from the illusion?]
Click.
[!!]
The world engulfed in blue flames. Ratatosk's body ignited.
[The angels targeted your illusion, not you—because all your malice was purged from this world.]
The red ice melted, Ratatosk's fur disintegrated, exposing the bones beneath.
[You've been dead from the start.]
The first Blue Flame Array.
Ratatosk had been dead since then.
[Not even realizing you're dead... 'Hypnosis' at its finest. But we'll chat details soon enough.]
Ratatosk's skull turned sideways. It still thought itself alive, maintaining its massive frame—but not for long.
[Wh-what's... happening...?]
"If I had to say..."
Fwoosh.
"You just mistook when you stopped being dead."
[Kyaaaaah!!]
Another flick of blue flame, and even Ratatosk's bones melted.
"I've been on your shoulder from the beginning. What you saw was an afterimage. Residual flame, you could say."
[Kuh, haaaah...!!]
More precisely, its soul. Even if it had rebuilt a body here, its essence was mana—and before the power that burned mana, it was just a giant rabbit pelt.
[Th-this... impossible... I...!]
"Tell me about it."
I leaped from its crumbling shoulder, spreading my wings in front of Ratatosk.
"That's why I contracted with the Archduke of Hell."
[Kuh, krahht...! One bloodline, defeated not once but twice...!]
"You were gonna die anyway."
I wouldn't have let it slide if I didn't know—but now that I did...
"Begone. Source of the curse."
[Kee, keehihit...! Ah, yes...! I see it! My death...! And... you too!]
Ratatosk, collapsing from below, spat its curse at me.
[You're already dead! Your body burned up summoning the Archduke!]
"Yeah."
[Now the Hapsderk bloodline ends...!]
"I got a little sister."
[.......]
I shoved a hand in my pocket, kicked one foot forward, and stomped toward Ratatosk's forehead.
"You believe that?"
[Kee, kyaaahhk!!]
Thud.
I crushed Ratatosk's brow. Normally, that weak spot triggered phase two in boss fights—but...
Strong stuff.
The Archduke of Hell—Chang Yeom's power—skipped phases entirely. It was just too strong.
And I couldn't endure it much longer.
[Contractor.]
Chang Yeom pointed skyward.
[The heavens are opening.]
The storm clouds parted, a rainbow hole gleaming vividly as something descended.
[Oh my. You must've really pissed her off. Sending a top-grade angel right away...?]
Opening the sky, dispatching an angel. The power source the goddess granted heroines to fight the Demon King in the original story.
[Watch out. That woman's got a nasty temper. She'll give the angel's authority to whoever can hurt you the deepest emotionally.]
And among those nearby who could awaken to angelic power—heroine candidates—there were three.
[She's always been like that.]
Esta, Yurha Silverstar, and Seia.
[It'll turn into a kill-or-be-killed fight. One angel falls, another descends. Until the power vanishes from the mid-plane.]
They'd come for me one after another. As the goddess's vanguard.
[What'll you do?]
One option.
"Decided from the start. From the moment we contracted."
I clasped my hands.
[Hehehe, no final farewell?]
"It's fine."
I twisted them.
"We'll meet again when you climb back from hell."
Ability release.
Blue flames enveloped me, and I lost consciousness.
[Puhuhu.]
And that consciousness...
[Welcome to hell—the underworld. My contractor.]
Was sucked somewhere, sinking into the abyss's deepest depths.
Hapsderk.
Monster Zone.
The moment the soaring blue flame pillar tore a hole in the sky.
A vast blue expanse and silence settled over the world.
Along with a faint scattering of incinerated ash.