Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Black Magic: Predation
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Crunch. Crunch. Chomp chomp chomp. The demon's mouth voraciously devoured the maze walls.
Black Magic - Predation.
A power obtained through a contract with Valefor.
It creates a small mouth on the palm, devouring everything it touches.
Right now, he was using it aggressively for offense, but Black Magic - Predation truly shone in defense.
Especially against narrow-range, high-powered attacks.
For instance, the lump of light he faced during his first encounter with Ezekiel.
He had defended with Stone Scales, but still took internal damage.
If he had devoured it with Predation, that wouldn't have happened.
However, like all black magic, it came with a corresponding price.
'I'm hungry....'
Black Magic - Predation imposed an immense hunger on the user.
Appetite, one of the so-called three great desires.
It wasn't as agonizing as Hellfire or Stone Scales, but it greatly disrupted his focus.
Because it was such an everyday sensation.
The food from the banquet hall shimmered before his eyes. He even recalled the dishes Dylan had made.
Clack. His teeth clacked together reflexively, but it did nothing to help.
It wasn't something that could be satisfied by eating anyway.
[Hmm~. So this is the current top mage, huh? Excellent, excellent. The taste is definitely similar to that bizarre man's magic.]
Though Predation allowed him to consume all sorts of things, Valefor favored magic above all.
The higher the level of magic, the better it tasted, apparently. Damian couldn't comprehend the concept.
[Why not eat the entire space while we're at it? I'm curious about the flavor.]
[Not yet.]
Damian cut in firmly, and Valefor clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
[You grant Gremory's requests without hesitation, yet you ignore mine.]
[Of course. How much time have I spent with this child by now, you glutton?]
It hadn't been that long. If counting from his regression, it was barely half a year.
[That's why you should've been nicer from the start. I've done plenty for the child, so this is just repayment.]
[Black mage. About that question I wanted to ask last time, if you'd just grant it....]
[No.]
[Ahem....]
Valefor, whom he'd thought was purely cynical toward humans, surprisingly had a clingy side.
[Hehe. It's because you're too greedy, glutton. My request is for the child's sake.]
Gremory had been quite favorable toward Damian, both before and after his regression.
All because of his looks. For a demon, she had a very human side.
She had taught him Partial Absorption without any conditions. This time there were terms, but the Tear of Eternity itself would belong to Damian.
'Come to think of it....'
A demon who had been even more obsessed with him than Gremory came to mind.
'The Queen of Hell, Ishtar.'
There had been no notable contact yet.
Was it simply a matter of timing? In his previous life, Damian hadn't first acquired black magic for a few more years.
But rumors about Damian had already spread far and wide in Hell. They must have reached Ishtar's ears by now.
She would have knowledge from before his regression too. Her silence was unnatural.
'I can't just ask the Lords of Hell about it.'
There was no hierarchy among the Lords of Hell, but Ishtar received treatment a cut above the others.
Even the Lords of Hell couldn't speak freely about her.
He decided to set it aside for now. Pondering Ishtar before defeating Michael and Rubia was pointless.
Crunch. Crunch. Chomp chomp chomp. Damian bored a hole through the maze walls and pressed onward.
He had already pinpointed the exit with Black Magic - Surveillance, so he didn't hesitate.
-Professor Cadrel likes that sort of thing? Well.... To be honest, he dislikes a lot.... D-Damian? Please don't tell him I said that. I beg you!
According to Dylan, Cadrel had a hobby of collecting artifacts and relics. Especially items related to mages.
-Oh, and he showed interest in the Tear of Eternity that the Tower Lord possesses. He said it would be difficult for him to acquire it, though.
The fact that the original owner was Ariella was one issue, but Ezekiel coveting it was the bigger problem.
Yet when it appeared as a prize at the banquet, Ezekiel showed no reaction.
He had no choice but to chalk it up to good fortune. There was no reason for him to refuse.
So he would never imagine it was a trap.
* * *
“Dean Cadrel?”
“Well, if it isn't Guardian Dennis.”
The two men crossed paths at a maze intersection.
Convinced no one could be faster than them, they walked toward the exit together.
“My impression of you has changed quite a bit today, Dennis. You're more sociable than I thought.”
“I didn't expect the dean to participate in something like this either, given your love for research.”
The Mage Tower's dean and its guardian.
Both held important positions, but they shared a subtle tension.
They kept each other in check to maintain balance.
“I apologize once more regarding Dylan. I failed in my duties as guardian. It must be worrying as his mentor.”
“No need. The boy isn't entirely blameless.”
“Is that so? Well, after that incident, he's been keeping his distance, which felt a bit odd.”
Cadrel's expression stiffened slightly, but he didn't show it much and kept walking.
-Our initial target is Dean Cadrel. There's a good chance he orchestrated the chimera incident.
Even before Damian mentioned it, Dennis had suspected Cadrel. Rumors about him abounded in the tower.
The Mage Tower, which pursued magical advancement and freedom, had dark undercurrents beyond its bright side.
Illegal experiments. Ties to criminal organizations. Slander among rivals.
These deep-rooted evils were beyond even the Tower Lord's control.
Such issues had erupted multiple times in the tower's history.
It was only because of Ariella, hailed as the greatest Tower Lord in history, that they hadn't surfaced recently.
If even she suddenly went missing.... Dennis didn't want to imagine the consequences.
'Why didn't you tell me from the beginning?'
Dennis still didn't fully trust Damian or Ezekiel. He was cooperating only because of Ariella's orders.
He wasn't without resentment.
Ariella had said her reason for resisting the precognitive dream was Damian.
In other words, she had no intention of telling Dennis about the dream originally.
[I've noticed it before, but your gaze toward the Tower Lord isn't ordinary.]
Cadrel suddenly sent a telepathic message. He didn't want their conversation overheard.
It probably wasn't with good intentions, but Dennis replied telepathically out of courtesy.
[The current greatest mage. Every gesture of hers inspires an ordinary mage like me.]
[Is that so? It doesn't seem like that's all there is to it.]
[What do you mean?]
[Well.... The Tower Lord may be advanced in age, but her beauty could stir any man's heart. Isn't it enough to inspire affection in someone your age, Dennis?]
[You must really want the Tear of Eternity to resort to such cheap provocation.]
[Your reaction suggests it's quite effective. In the end, it will be between you and me....]
Their steps halted just before the exit. Someone had arrived ahead of them.
““......””
They couldn't react.
The gap between them and the other participants was too vast to compare. They hadn't even considered someone beating them.
“You're both a bit late.”
It was clear from his expression. Damian shrugged at the stunned pair.
* * *
“Oh, breaking through the walls really is the fastest way. That's a fresh approach.”
Only a knight like Agnes could react that way.
“....”
“....”
The other mages gathered in the banquet hall couldn't take the situation lightly.
Ariella's dominion over her mental world was absolute.
In a space where only the mind could exist, she was like a god.
“Tower Lord? I-Is this a fair competition? You're not giving Damian Renekht some special advantage, are you?”
Finally, one of the Mage Tower deans couldn't hold back.
It was a highly impertinent question.
Implying she was granting favoritism to her own nephew.
“Why would I do such a thing? The twenty inside are competing on equal terms.”
“That means....”
Damian had influenced Ariella's mental world with his own power.
The mages gathered here couldn't believe it even seeing it.
'To this extent....'
Ezekiel had already experienced that magic of Damian's. A mouth formed in the palm that devoured anything.
At first, he trained with Dylan, then asked Ezekiel for help. So Ezekiel had held back appropriately.
-Isn't there something stronger?
But Ezekiel's magic vanished the moment it touched Damian's palm.
Of course, stronger spells damaged him before the mouth could fully devour them. And he couldn't sustain it long.
Still, seeing his magic dissolve like that was a huge shock.
Now he was devouring the mental world itself.
Even if just a portion of it, this was no ordinary feat.
[You live and learn.]
Ariella shared her thoughts telepathically.
[Even if you ask me, I have nothing to tell.]
[I know. You couldn't have taught him that. You barely taught him anything properly to begin with.]
[...Wasn't what you said earlier for my sake?]
[What are you talking about? I said to build a more proactive relationship and communicate. Not to neglect him like you did.]
[No, I did teach him something....]
[Yes, yes. Your precious 'way of seeing.' Sigh.... Your master instilled some strange habits in you.]
Ezekiel glanced sideways. He saw Ariella smirking.
[Don't bother teaching him unnecessarily. Let him seek knowledge on his own. Too much attention can spoil him.]
Haha. Ezekiel laughed along with Ariella.
In terms of overall ability, Damian still fell short of Dennis and Cadrel.
That's why he'd been worried.
If the plan failed and the Tear of Eternity fell into their hands, it would be a great loss for Ezekiel.
He no longer had such concerns.
He decided to think of it as temporarily holding the Tear of Eternity. As his master, a earnest request should sway him.
'It doesn't make logical sense.'
It was just intuition. But Ezekiel's intuition was reliably accurate.
'What an entertaining guy.'
He couldn't picture Damian losing this contest.