Haps? Haps?! Haps!! (1)
As a self-proclaimed Hand of the Sun, what's the most reliable way to assist with mana? Obviously, physical contact. Anything like clothing or fabric in between interferes with mana transmission, so to achieve near-100% efficiency, skin has to touch skin.
In that sense, with zero ulterior motives, I slipped my hand inside Ludbekia Marchioness's dress.
"!!"
Ludbekia Marchioness jolted in surprise.
"Focus, Marchioness."
"Ah, uh, y-yeah...!"
Just like with Unia, Ludbekia Marchioness pointed her staff forward with a trembling voice.
Squeeze.
"Ugh, nngh...!?"
"Feel it carefully. I'm going to channel mana through your core now."
"Hoo, huu...."
Ludbekia Marchioness is a grand mage. If there had been even a hint of ulterior motive in my touch, she would've said something. But right now, she's sensing the mana flowing through my ten fingers, supporting her own mana flow—she's not pushing my hand away; she's just feeling the mana.
"Ah, th-there...?!"
"Focus."
"!!?"
I gripped it firmly to let the mana flow properly, but Ludbekia Marchioness's concentration wavered just a bit.
"I heard the story. That monster's your target for revenge."
"......."
"This is your chance to cut off those bad ties. With your own hands."
"...I'm not entirely sure what this feeling I'm having right now is."
Ludbekia Marchioness pointed her staff forward.
"Later, we'll talk about it separately with 'Mom,' okay?"
"......."
I didn't answer. Instead, I gripped her core and channeled the mana.
"...Hoo."
With a single breath.
"O flames."
"S-rank magic"
⟨ Flare Blast ⟩
Her staff, aimed straight ahead, unfurled a massive magic circle that spewed a towering pillar of fire toward Ratatosk.
I slipped in just a little extra power—the kind that could wipe Ratatosk out for good.
Flash.
The shell cracked open, and Ratatosk's eyes snapped awake.
The monster Ratatosk could never forget the events from ten years ago.
How much effort had it poured into breaking free from centuries of sealing? It had cursed the most promising bloodline. It had driven them to incest alone, and ensured no negative effects from it. That's how they were born—inescapably.
The mate of the man who would be called the first Hapsderk was none other than a clone Ratatosk itself had created.
Clone? Or daughter? All memories and monstrous instincts wiped clean, programmed to focus solely on breeding.
With each generation, the factors diverged further from itself, but eventually, as they diminished and the lack set in, they would seek it out. That was the plan.
Decades or centuries—it didn't matter. It lured beings carrying its factors to awaken it.
Even mixed with inhuman elements, incest was incest. Ancient lore said generations of it ended in ruin. Mana's influence or not, repeated breeding with the same genes twisted the traits, wrecking the body.
Mana's power had somehow kept human growth on track. Thanks to inheriting Ratatosk's factors, there were no issues like crooked noses, twisted jaws, scurvy, hemophilia, or endless bleeding.
Just a slightly shorter lifespan. While S-rankers lived to 80 or 90, those with Ratatosk's factors topped out around 70.
They were missing something essential. Having Ratatosk's factors instinctively drove them to seek Ratatosk to fill the deliberate gap.
And it worked. The head of Hapsderk at the time found the sealed temple with adventurers, broke every restraint, and undid the seal.
So it devoured him. Hapsderk lore, human knowledge, history it hadn't grasped during sealing—all absorbed by consuming the man's body, knowledge, and soul.
What remained for Ratatosk? Eliminate the rest carrying its factors.
Before they got "taken" elsewhere, just wipe out the other factor-bearers first.
That was the plan.
Until Blue Flame Array.
Until that "son" ruined everything.
Regiph Hapsderk. An ordinary Hapsderk boy at first, but then his mind went strange. The head even wondered if a demon possessed him.
Judgments defying common sense. Hostility toward Hapsderk. Like he wanted it destroyed right then—or at least twisted beyond recognition by outside influences.
Ratatosk realized: demonic possession enabled that judgment and behavior.
Hell Archduke. Ancient demon god. Among the seven, the most dangerous—with authority over annihilation of mana itself.
Blue Flame, Vesta.
No idea how it ascended from the demon realm to influence the boy, but Ratatosk had nearly been annihilated by that blue flame.
Body burning, mana melting, soul on the verge—yet angels nearby helped it cling to self barely.
A mere E-rank, no, F-rank pest. Possessed by a trifle, yet for revenge, Ratatosk suppressed its ego and used remaining power.
Curse and parasitism. Instead of sustaining ego as a core, let its core be consumed and absorbed by others to grow stronger.
It had endured sealing for ages. What was a decade or century more?
Revenge was certain. Boy might be dead, but his blood kin would pay.
With that vendetta, it severed ego, waited ten years for mana recovery.
Revival was at hand.
Mana absorbed from countless monsters had reshaped its body beyond original form—but now it could manifest one.
Even if some weird energy prickled—
Crack, craaack.
The moment it broke from the egg, Ratatosk would finally reclaim its—
[????]
Ahead.
A massive vortex of flames surged into the egg the instant it cracked.
The heatwave enveloped Ratatosk's body in a flash, scorching toward its soul with incinerating fury.
What the hell? Right after regaining consciousness, awakening, coming to—and this happens?
Impossible.
Born into this luck? Unbelievable.
Absorb it. Absorb, absorb, absorb.
Heavy on wind attributes now, but Ratatosk's foundation was fire. Absorb this blaze, harness pure S-rank mana, reclaim original form—
Pop—!
Lungs exploded.
The moment it absorbed the mana, the flames detonated inside.
Impossible again. Heatwave magic on awakening was a fortunate anomaly; this was straight-up wrong.
Not just explosion.
Something slipped from the absorbed heatwave, slashing from inside like blades carving flesh.
Block mana absorption. Better to burn than let freshly formed organs get shredded by those blades ravaging inside.
Shuuuwaaaah—!
Ratatosk reverted ego to core form. Under attack now meant potential eternal annihilation, but human-world assaults weren't that threatening. Suppress ego, hide again—nothing could kill it now—
Only a wielder of wind authority.
Clank.
The self-proclaimed Kim Penril, a cute girl, drew her longsword from her waist and raised it high.
Death.
One hit from that blade wind, and it was over. For real.
Gale Wind (切風). Wind-attribute monsters existed as wind. Sever the air flow, and they died.
Incomprehensible. Ratatosk couldn't accept this.
Ratatosk looked up. Just like when it first saw the blue flames long ago.
Whoooosh.
Slash.
Ratatosk's world split in two.
"Phew."
I fired Kim Penril with the heatwave magic and took out Ratatosk.
Probably couldn't recover the core, but wiping out a monster that huge was victory enough—
"Ahh...."
Thud.
"Hm?"
"......."
Ludbekia Marchioness collapsed into me, and I caught her.
"......."
She'd used a ton of mana, sure, but there were... multiple ways to interpret this.
"No choice."
I steadied my grip on Ludbekia Marchioness and scooped her up princess-style.
"......."
Her faint breath tickled, but Ludbekia Marchioness had passed out. Cold.