Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: The Day the World Turned Upside Down
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Splash!
“I don’t know. I just smelled it.”
“Smelled it...?”
Phiren’s wildly rolling eyes froze for a moment before going limp. Dabi flicked the yellowish mucus off his sword onto the ground and let out a sigh.
“Yeah. This smell.”
The smell.
The prince hadn’t mentioned it specifically, but ever since absorbing the Ancient Wolf core, his sense of smell had sharpened dramatically.
And the moment that sense combined with his accumulated experience and insight, a whole new realm opened up—one he’d never even imagined before.
He could see everything.
The three-dimensional flow of space, senses, and even time, all predicted in a立体 structure.
Thanks to that, he’d dodged and sliced through the dozens of tentacles unleashed at the end, burrowing right into the enemy’s embrace. He could read every single time difference and interval.
Of course, the enemy’s carelessness played a big part too. Phiren had believed until the very last moment that Dabi was poisoned by the fear toxin.
But Dabi had been fine from the start.
He’d just faked it to deceive the enemy.
-Eating the Ancient Wolf core makes you immune to most poisons.
Was this another stroke of foresight from Prince Claude? Naturally, the Terror Lord’s poison had no effect either.
On top of that, the core’s effects had expanded his joint range of motion, which proved crucial. Dabi twisted his shoulder back at an angle that would’ve been impossible before and sighed.
“My body’s changed just a bit, and yet...”
He’d gotten stronger.
Incredibly so.
He hadn’t felt it much when he first consumed the core. But fighting an enemy this extreme made him realize just how much stronger he’d become.
‘And I didn’t even use a knight skill at the end.’
Was it okay to neglect technique when he valued it more than anyone?
Joy mingled with bitterness. Dabi gave a wry smile and turned his steps toward the opposite side, where the battle still raged.
Technique had reached its limit.
To climb higher, was physical prowess the answer after all? To survive on a battlefield overrun by these absurd monsters?
* * *
Bomb mines, Chimeras, Corruption Lords.
Catching the three strongest didn’t end things. There were still plenty of other monsters left.
“Die!”
He exploded the Infection Lord’s flesh in a hyper-regeneration state, then used Reverse Gravity to hurl its skeletal main body high into the sky before slamming it back down.
He’d laid down frost magic on the ground beforehand. If he hadn’t wasted Lukkar, he wouldn’t have needed this complicated process.
Crack!
The Corruption Lord’s emaciated body collided with surging ice chunks, shattering into pieces that scattered everywhere.
Phew. Good. One more down.
Come to think of it, what happened to that initial swarm of Deathworms? Without a countermeasure, even a Tier 1 knight order would suffer massive casualties.
But when he looked back, piles of Deathworm corpses were stacked in layers around the assembled Guardian Knights.
The Guardian Knights took those down?
Squelch!
Just then, a new Deathworm slithered overhead like it was surfing. And shields? The knights were using shields to surf the Deathworm?
At the same time, he saw the crouched knights slashing wildly through the gaps in their raised shields!
Whoa!
Was this for real? How were those ragtag Guardian Knights pulling off such perfect coordination?
It was exactly like the countermeasure from the 9th regression, when the final gate opened. Like they’d gathered intel a year early and drilled nonstop?
“Great! Got another one! Don’t relax—shift positions! To the right! Too many corpses piling up; we need to create space! Hold! Stop here! Too many holes in the ground around us!”
“Kyle!”
He recognized the voice instantly—it was Kyle. The guy was making full use of the elemental lecture Dabi had given him just days ago, at 120%.
But this went beyond just Deathworm counters...
“Knights who felt the vibrations, raise your hands! Good! Left flank, fall back 30 paces! No rushing—keep formation!”
“The ground’s about to collapse! Hurry now! Run!”
“Friendly forces, go prone! Flat on the ground! Shields over heads! Deathworm incoming! Brace yourselves!”
...What was this?
Of course, it wasn’t the first time he’d seen Kyle command.
But in this frantic battlefield, in a situation that had even caught him off guard, to perform this well?
With that half-baked motley crew of knights, they’d already sent ten Deathworms to the afterlife.
Thrilling. This regression keeps getting fresher. Good subordinates are the best.
Then he couldn’t lag behind—he had to ramp up too.
While Kyle handled the Deathworm swarm, he’d clear out the other monsters in advance.
The Terror Lord... and the Berserkers.
The Terror Lord had gone toward the Blue Knights?
It was a fearsome beast, no doubt. But according to their pre-set threat priority, it ranked below the Berserkers.
Kaboom!
Just then, he saw Berserkers swarming the Flanged Mace Knights unleashing bio-projectiles. Perfect. Handle those first?
He flew in with flight magic, landing between the Berserkers and knights, and erected dozens of ice walls as a barrier.
Craaaack!
The surging ice walls solidly blocked the barrage of bio-projectiles. They’d break through eventually, but it bought time.
“P-Prince Claude!”
The Flanged Mace Knights’ captain cried out in alarm. Dabi replied without missing a breath.
“You’ve held out great so far! Pull the knights back now! As far as possible! *Cough*! Ugh, haven’t done much and my throat’s already hoarse?”
“We can’t! Imperial knights don’t retreat from the enemy! Especially leaving Your Highness alone on the battlefield...”
Dabi formed fireballs in both hands and warned gently.
“No nonsense—get out of here! *Cough*! *Cough*! This is Tempest! You’ll die if you get caught in it!”
“A-Ah! Yes! All forces! Retreat! Get away from here as fast as you can!”
Good. They got the message.
Boom!
Boom!
Kaboom!
Ice walls shattering behind him. He’d set up forty, but over thirty vanished in seconds.
The Berserkers, their bio-projectiles ineffective, were charging and smashing through directly.
Bio-projectiles only unleashed full power after absorbing the attribute they were hit with.
Thanks to the time bought, he used the lich’s mana crystal to conjure three more Tempests.
Double magic plus triple magic.
This time, pure firepower overwhelming. Not orthodox, but if his guess was right...
Kaboom!
The enemies smashed the final ice wall line, spines like tentacles sprouting from their bodies in unison.
Squelch!
At the same time, Dabi fired all five Tempests at them.
Five ultra-compressed whirlwinds of flame.
The flames spread wings, instantly incinerating the incoming tentacles to ash.
Whoosh!
They engulfed the main bodies, charring their skin black in a heartbeat.
Then the bio-armor swelled, activating fire resistance.
But the five Tempests overpowered even that, burning away the bio-armor itself in flames.
Firepower.
Overwhelming firepower that surpassed everything.
“Phew!”
Wait! I’ll die too at this rate!
When did my pre-cast Protection Magic vanish? Damn! This exceeds my expectations...
Then the explosion hit.
If he’d cast the new Protection Magic a second later, he’d be gone too.
“...Ah.”
It took rolling backward across the ground for a while before he could stand. Damn, this was the power of quintuple magic with fire? He thought a volcano had erupted.
Worlds apart from when he faced the Queen of Fire. Why so much stronger? Just fire vs. ice difference?
Anyway, whatever—it worked. Perfect.
No life signs from the charred, shrunken Berserkers in the distance. Nice, took out three at once in one go.
Of course, five Tempests guzzled mana like crazy.
Still way more efficient than picking them off one by one orthodoxly. Especially without Lukkar, which would’ve spiked the mana cost for standard methods.
Surprisingly, though, one fallen Berserker on the right rose amid swirling black ash.
...Wait a sec.
How’d you survive? No—how are you moving without life signs?
Life detection magic confirmed it was dead.
Yet it staggered toward him, the epitome of ominous. But its body was already wrecked...
He timed an ice wall in its path.
Crack!
A sharp ice wall pierced its abdomen, shooting out from head to toe in an instant.
No bio-armor? Piece of cake. Dabi examined the skewered Berserker as he walked slowly.
“Moving even after dead... Some new breed?”
It looked no different outwardly.
But the moment its shadow overlapped his, something pale burst up from the ground.
Patron.
It jammed what looked like an animal fang into his side in a flash.
Stab!
Right into his flank.
Ah, damn.
Didn’t see that coming.
“This blade is laced with a deadly poison that could kill even a Berserker in one hit.”
“......”
“Technically not a blade, but a Chimera fang. One of its many heads is a snake...”
It had extracted the fang, and without hesitation, Dabi curled up.
“Anyway, no tech from this world can antidote it. Elixirs or holy magic won’t work, at least not short-term.”
“......”
“Cat got your tongue? That’s the paralysis setting in before death. Painful, I know—just endure a bit. In 30 seconds, your central nervous system shuts down, breathing stops.”
“......”
Dabi looked up at its face and activated Emotion Null.
Race: Magic Creature.
Current Strength: A
Current Shadow: B
Current Dimensional Ability: A
Magic Creature? What’s that? Shadow? Dimensional Ability?
Wait—magic in the race type...
“Prince Claude. I wanted a calmer chat with you. You’ve personally impressed me.”
“......”
“Ah, plotting a counter even now? Magic? Pathetic wriggling. But magic doesn’t work on me. At root, my very existence is magic.”
“......Really?”
“Indeed, but...”
“Perfect.”
Dabi smiled and unleashed the completed spell at its torso.
Spell Breaker.
Or Pure Magic.
A transparent marble-like mana crystal bored a huge hole through its body.
“It’s called Pure Magic.”
“Keeekeeekyakyakya!”
It collapsed, screeching grotesquely.
Upper and lower body nearly severed... Yet the separated halves kept writhing toward the vanishing torso, shriveling endlessly.
“And I’m immune to all poisons. That Chimera fang too.”
“Keeekyakyakya...”
“Stung like hell, though.”
Dabi cast recovery magic on his flank wound and sighed.
“If you’re stabbing, might as well gut me properly. With that strength. Wanted to brag about your fancy poison? Saved your life, though.”
“Kya... Pure Magic...”
“Yeah. Pure Magic. Dismantles all magic. And you’re magic incarnate.”
“A human... how can you use Pure Magic...”
The patron’s lower body had fully vanished; the upper was down to head and neck, nearly gone.
Even through bandages, Dabi read the terror on its face.
But then.
“...Think I’d be surprised?”
The expression vanished from its bandaged face.
“...Huh?”
“Phew. That Pure Magic. Worried you might not use it. Kya, kyak.”
“What? What’d you say?”
“Heh, urk, kyak. Damn, one hit took out over half my existence. The rest’s fading. Worth taking it on purpose.”
“On purpose?”
“Yes. Kyak. Worth dropping all those hints. Already confirmed you could use Pure Magic.”
A chill ran down his spine. What was this thing saying? Dabi grabbed its... no, no collar left. He seized the head with both hands.
“You’ve been watching me?”
“No. I can only monitor those tied to patrons.”
“Then...”
That moment he tried assassinating Tollar.
Probably then. It was the only time in this 10th regression he’d used Pure Magic.
“Now then... Before I vanish... I’ll report.”
“Report?”
“To-to the Ald-Stra-Gen dimension—abbrev Ald Dimension. Patron 01, granted interference permission pre-final test in Ald Dimension, scheduled for deletion.”
“What?”
“This means Ald Dimension has shown potential to eliminate patrons. Thus, the 9-year grace period from this dimension is shortened to 1 year.”
His head rang like it’d been hammered.
“...What? What do you mean? 9 years? No, 1 year?”
“Phew... Re-report complete. You heard?”
“What the hell! What was that?!”
Dabi shook its head wildly. The patron smiled relieved.
“Originally, 9 years from now, we’d open a dimensional gate and invade your dimension en masse, just like...”
“...Like?”
“B-but. Kyakyakya! Ugh, excuse. Almost out of time.”
“Hey! Finish what you started! What’s going on?!”
“Y-your dimension looked tough. My call, but. Facing potential like yours, in a dimension this rich... Giving 9 more years was risky.”
Words failed him. Meanwhile, the patron’s remaining head faded.
“So I devised this... plan. Didn’t expect you’d crush the sampler so perfectly... Of course, planned for if you did... Sacrifice myself... Shorten your time... For our dimension’s final victory... Me rambling too much...”
That was it.
Just empty bandage scraps left in his hands.
And then, from afar, Kyle’s cheer echoed.
“Got ‘em! All the Deathworms are down! No more ground vibrations! Our victory!”
“Woooooo!”
“The remaining monsters are all cleared by Prince Highness and the Knight Master! Everyone, cheer! We won! We won!”
No.
This time, it seemed they’d lost.
Won, but lost.
How the hell did this bullshit happen?