Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: The Third Method
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The Book of Hell, the foundation of black magic.
There are three main ways to utilize it.
The first is contracting with demons. Inscribe the contract into your soul to learn black magic, then add more contracts to enhance its power.
This is the most basic method of use, and also the most efficient.
Before his regression, Damian had used most of his Books of Hell to contract with demons. Unlike the other two methods, growth accumulated with this one.
The second is summoning. Not the demon's true body, of course, but phantoms that possess a portion of their power.
It consumes a lot of Books of Hell, but the power is reliable.
Summoning demons directly carried too much risk to use often.
Encountering a demon reawakens humanity's forgotten terror. The primal fear, buried across generations, revives upon witnessing the demon and black magic.
In other words, it would expose Damian's secret. So everyone present would have to be killed.
The third is enhancement. Temporary, but it improves black magic without any contract conditions.
That was the method Damian chose now.
Shaaa. Damian's right arm was entirely engulfed in green flames.
The limit of Hellfire he could currently handle was the size of five fingers. He had now boosted that amount to his peak condition.
Moreover, it consumed no mana. Possible only because he burned a Book of Hell.
"Haa... haa..."
Sweat beaded on his forehead. Bloodshot veins marred the whites of his eyes. His lips twisted, his breathing ragged.
Everything came with a price. Controlling this immense power temporarily by consuming a Book of Hell brought corresponding agony.
He wanted to collapse to the ground and scream. If his arm had actually caught fire, it might have been easier.
But he had to endure. Bite his tongue if needed to stay conscious. He had to wipe them out in one go.
Green flames traced a circle around Damian. Beyond it lay the forest where the Hashashin hid.
"..."
Even the drugged Hashashin sensed the shift in atmosphere. For a moment, all their focus locked on Damian, freezing them in place.
But their mission remained unchanged.
Assassinate the target, Agnes Schubert. An exceptional knight, so they opted for ranged poisoning over close combat. They judged it the surest way.
If they'd known it would come to this, they would have cut her throat immediately.
Damian's presence was beyond their expectations.
A mage who had recently awakened his talent. His only spell was fire magic with a unique color. No aura, but excellent swordsmanship.
That was what their investigation showed. Who would have thought he could wield healing magic to neutralize poison as well.
But the target, Agnes Schubert, was dying bit by bit. Time was on their side. Just keep Damian from treating her.
"Why hesitate?"
A weary voice mocked the Hashashin.
Snap. Damian flicked his fingers, unleashing a massive heatwave beyond the green circle that tore through the surroundings. Even the Hashashin, accustomed to desert swelter, felt the pain.
A charred stench filled the air. But something was off. No flames were visible to their eyes.
"Ah..."
One Hashashin let out a dazed sound. Understandably so—watching his fingertips turn to ash would stun even a seasoned assassin.
It didn't stop there. The forest beyond the circle, everything including the Hashashin inside, crumbled to ash and slowly settled. The piled ash formed another circle.
Yet beyond a certain line, there was no effect whatsoever.
The flames were too overwhelmingly powerful, incinerating everything beyond perception. No time for the fire to spread.
"Haa."
Damian exhaled, and his raised right arm dropped.
Drip, drip. Water droplets hit his nose. Soon, heavy rain soaked the Teya Mountains. The Hellfire's heat had formed rain clouds over the area.
Anna would have nagged him about catching a cold, but right now, the rain felt good. It dulled the burning pain, if only slightly.
But Damian's fight wasn't over. No—this was the main event.
He placed his hand on Agnes's body at his feet again. Used Absorption to extract the poison, then Hellfire to burn it away. Fortunately, he still had mana to spare.
"Damn..."
Even after removing all the poison, Agnes's condition hadn't improved much. Her body had already sustained severe damage from it.
Killing all the Hashashin meant nothing if he couldn't save her.
'That thing still has...'
Damian's eyes fell on the fallen ogre corpse. Awkwardly draped over the Hellfire, its upper body remained intact.
An ogre's defining trait: its robust vitality.
That vitality lingered for a period even after death, allowing quick blood extraction for various uses.
Damian placed his hand on the ogre's corpse. Purple mist seeped into the monster's body, assessing the extractable power.
As expected, massive vitality remained. That explained why half-decapitated ogres claimed victims every time.
Damian picked up Agnes's body and placed it right beside the ogre. The real challenge came next.
Transferring power extracted via Absorption to someone other than the caster. Before regression, he hadn't had time for such research.
Was transfer even possible? Would it harm Agnes? Would Damian himself be safe?
His mind swirled with worries, on the verge of bursting.
[Hmm. You seem to be in a bind.]
Gremory's voice echoed from his soul. Then, a massive girl hugging a camel doll appeared before him.
Contracted demons could communicate with black mages at any time. Though it wasn't common.
Only when something piqued the demon's interest.
Gremory, like Ishtar, spoke to him now and then. Not to fully possess him like Ishtar, but simply because she wanted to see his face.
This time, though, it wasn't just that. She seemed intrigued by the scene unfolding before her.
[Transferring the power you've absorbed to another? It's possible. Want me to tell you how?]
Some demons shared knowledge with black mages. Gremory was one of them.
Usually, knowledge required a trade. But if Gremory wanted to give it, she asked for nothing in return.
The method to materialize absorbed power was something she had taught him herself.
'Though she didn't share any proper ways to use it.'
[Now, focus.]
Gremory's eyes sparkled. Within them stretched a vast night sky, and Damian saw himself reflected there.
Starlight pierced him. Suddenly, knowledge of Absorption's new application flooded his mind, as familiar as old habits.
Damian placed his hand on the ogre's corpse. Pink mist rippled, absorbing vitality. Soon, the body shriveled like a desert mummy.
Damian materialized the extracted vitality and enveloped Agnes with it. She looked trapped in a giant soap bubble.
He steadied his breathing and reviewed Gremory's knowledge.
Whoosh. The materialized vitality shrank, absorbing into Agnes's body. Her breathing normalized, color returning to her face.
The poison damage wasn't fully healed, but with rest and care, she'd recover soon.
In contrast, greasy sweat dripped from Damian's forehead. His mana was nearing its limit.
Reverse Absorption. Even normal Absorption demanded high focus; this required even more.
The pouring rain stopped as if a hole in the sky had sealed. Intense sunlight pierced the clearing piled with ash.
His soaked body dried quickly. For the weakened Agnes, he pulled a blanket from his Subspace Pouch and draped it over her.
"But why help?"
[Because I didn't want that girl to die.]
Gremory poked Agnes's cheek with a finger. As a phantom, it had no physical force.
Damian didn't press for reasons. Demon logic was incomprehensible, and he had no desire to understand it.
A woman loved by swords—and demons alike. Agnes could never imagine it.
After Gremory vanished, Damian collapsed to the ground. He had come to secure Books of Hell casually, not expecting it to drag on like this.
"Hm?"
Rustling came from the bushes beyond the ash. Approaching, he found a surviving Hashashin gasping for breath.
Not in normal condition. His lower body was gone without a trace, forcing him to drag himself with his arms.
Whether skill or luck, he had leaped in time, saving part of his body from the transcendent flames.
No blood flowed. The intense heat had cauterized the wounds.
"...!!"
Eyes met Damian's, and he instantly pressed a dagger to his own throat. But Damian was faster. He kicked the dagger away, then crushed the hand to seal further action.
"Interrogation. Won't. Work. Nothing. To. Gain."
He already knew that. No intent to interrogate. Instead, he grabbed the Hashashin's head and used Absorption.
If words failed, Damian would read the memories himself.
This required more focus than absorbing vitality or mana. A mistake could cost his sense of self.
He only needed the most recent memories. Who placed the contract.
'Where is this?'
The client wore a mask, face obscured. Likely a proxy anyway.
Damian focused on their meeting place.
Flashes of vegetation native to the eastern regions. Yet northern mountain ranges were visible too.
Eastern region bordering the north. The family ruling there: Clarent.
'Rubia's faction.'
Something that madwoman would do. A family like Clarent surely had means to contact the Hashashin.
But the motive was unclear. Rubia hadn't reacted specially to Damian and Agnes's relationship.
'She treated me like I didn't exist.'
For such a woman to act so aggressively. Thinking deeper, though, he found the reason.
'Because of me?'
The only change before and after regression was Damian. Back then, he was a fool fumbling replies to her letters.
Not anymore. He burned them in the fireplace without response. The frail illegitimate child cowering in the annex was gone.
Had that change inflamed Rubia's possessiveness?
'Hm?'
An unintended memory flowed in. A village in the southern great desert. A castle atop a hill caught his eye.
'Meidiran?'
No direct visit, but he'd glimpsed it while wandering the desert. As he recalled, it was an ownerless ruin.
But the scene shifted inside the castle. A secret mechanism led downward to a vast chamber.
One of the Hashashin's hideouts.
'This is?'
An assassin read a book in the study. An ancient tome in characters no one could read.
The assassin shook his head and shelved it. Similar ancient tomes lined the surroundings.
No one else could pronounce the script within.
Except Damian.
Mem: two volumes. Gimel: one. He: one. Dalet: one.
From his investigations, Books of Hell weren't abundant in the south. Far scarcer than other regions.
Now he understood why. The Hashashin hoarded them, keeping them from the world.
Why collect tomes they couldn't read? Didn't matter. Grateful they gathered them in one place.
What truly surprised Damian was something else.
'Book of Hell—Nun!'
Unlike the others, one he hadn't acquired before regression.
He knew nothing of what demon it summoned or black magic it enabled.
That very unknown excited him. New power meant new possibilities. Not just growing stronger than his past self, but gaining entirely new paths.
Damian used black magic as a tool, but he didn't deny the thrill it brought. The more he trained, the more he craved greater power.
The Hashashin spasmed for seconds after the memory extraction, then collapsed.
A side effect of Absorption. Better than torture and execution, in any case.
"Young master!!"
Anna's shout echoed from afar. Multiple footsteps suggested guards with her.
Hearing it, he finally relaxed. A surge of elation came too.
'Next destination: the south.'
Sorting future plans in his mind, a smile crept unbidden onto his lips.