Chapter 70
Chapter 70
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Slave Number 44
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Damian had steadily purified primal mana bit by bit from Micaela's subspace pouch throughout the subjugation period.
But he couldn't use it on the demon worshippers. There was no point in wasting it on those lunatics—he wouldn't gain anything meaningful from them.
‘Perfect opponent.’
A massive ruin golem blocked his path ahead. It was the ideal target for testing primal mana.
Swooo. Indigo mana gathered at his fingertips.
The black magic he cast was Stone Scales. With it, he would pierce the golem's core.
In truth, striking it directly wasn't efficient. The core at its center was the toughest part.
In the previous battle, he had targeted the relatively vulnerable joints before shattering the core at the end. That was the most orthodox way to handle a ruin golem.
But this time, he ignored that. Efficiency didn't matter.
This was about more than just defeating the ruin golem. It was a chance to gauge the true power of primal mana.
“That’s…”
Kwarrr rumble!!! The massive boulder of Stone Scales crushed the golem's armor before detonating its inner core.
The impact sent shards and sparks flying in all directions.
But none reached Damian. Rubia's mana barrier blocked them.
‘Its power… is beyond imagination.’
The strength of black magic—Stone Scales depended on the time and mana invested.
Damian had formed the boulder instantly using just a small amount of primal mana.
If it had been the same quantity of regular mana, it would have had the durability of a mere sand spike from the great desert.
It would have crumbled the moment it touched the golem's armor, let alone broken it.
“You… that mana…”
Everyone was shocked by Damian's power, but none more so than Rubia.
She was the only one among them who understood even a fraction of what Damian had just demonstrated.
“The gift you gave me back then was a huge help.”
At those words, Rubia's eyes sharpened. It was an expression Damian had never seen from her before.
Her obsession with Damian was matched only by her fanaticism for magic. The fact that Damian wielded a power even she didn't fully comprehend had rattled her deeply.
“…I'm glad it helped.”
Rubia turned her head away and gripped the hem of her dress tightly.
She had to have a million questions. Ancient civilizations were one of her main interests, after all.
But she didn't ask Damian.
It was pride. She could offer help to Damian, whom she saw as beneath her, but she couldn't accept help from him.
‘Even if she asked, I wouldn't give her a straight answer.’
In the first place, saying her research had helped was just empty flattery. The way Damian handled primal mana had nothing to do with her studies.
‘It’s definitely different.’
The primal mana Rubia had extracted and the primal mana Damian had purified differed in purity. Their power wasn't even comparable.
“Sir Damian! Are you alright?”
But it wasn't without drawbacks.
As he crossed the golem's wreckage, his body swayed violently. Without Agnes's support, he would have collapsed.
“You pushed yourself too hard.”
“You could've just cooperated like before.”
“I wanted to test something out.”
Damian waved off Anthony and Lien's concerns.
As Damian stood straight with Agnes's help, her worried expression eased.
‘I get why I shouldn't overuse it.’
Primal mana was the origin of current mana, but it was still a fundamentally different power.
Inevitably, using it brought it into contact with the mana in his body, causing overload.
It wasn't a big issue with lower purity, but with the high-purity primal mana Damian had used, the backlash was significant.
‘Using it repeatedly will be tough. I'll have to experiment to see how much my body can handle.’
Still, it held limitless potential. He had secured a way to strengthen his black magic without relying on the Book of Hell.
-Borrowed power or not, you're the one wielding it.
The old mage's words echoed in his mind. It was demonic power, but a human wielded it. The key to strengthening it lay with him.
[You… that power. Heh heh heh. Looks like you've stumbled into an interesting stroke of fortune.]
Hagenti's voice rang out from his soul. Through their contract, he had sensed the primal mana too.
Damian had pondered how to respond if asked about the old mage, but the lord of hell showed no interest in that.
[Yes. Such power suits this great lord of hell, the mightiest gargoyle Hagenti perfectly. An excellent choice.]
He seemed greatly pleased that Damian had first used black magic—Stone Scales with primal mana.
‘Stone Scales was the only useful option in this situation.’
The demon's thinking was as incomprehensible as ever.
* * *
“This seems to be the end.”
Agnes pointed ahead. As she said, the path didn't continue any further.
There had been no major threats since defeating the ruin golems.
But there were no gains either. Not even an artifact, let alone a decent relic. Just moss and the smell of water.
“This is… it?”
Rubia's expression twisted oddly. Ahead lay only a single small crystal orb.
He tried black magic—Gaze in case it was a magic device or puzzle, but nothing stood out.
Rubia investigated with magic too, but found nothing. It was just an ordinary crystal orb.
“Take this at least… What, what is this?”
“Read the room, will you?”
Lien frowned at Anthony's actions. He was wrestling with the small crystal orb.
“I'm not kidding. Something's off with this. It shouldn't be this heavy…”
“Seriously… Let me help.”
Even with Lien joining in, the orb didn't budge. Not even when Damian and Agnes added their strength.
‘What the hell?’
Black magic—Gaze showed no special anomalies. Yet no method could move it.
“Let's back off for now.”
Sensing something amiss, everyone put distance between themselves and the orb. It could be a trap.
“Let me take a look.”
Rubia stepped forward. If it required manipulation like this, it either held great value or concealed another artifact.
With her personality, she couldn't leave empty-handed after coming this far.
Shaaaa. As Rubia placed her hand on the orb, the surrounding air churned.
The massive mana pouring from her hand swirled chaotically, with nowhere to go.
‘She's going with brute force.’
Pump in mana and observe the reaction—that was the plan.
It stemmed from her confidence that she could solve any magic-related issue.
‘Hm? This is…’
The Tear of Eternity vibrated. He thought it was from the wind pressure at first, but no. It was moving on its own.
“Wait, stop!”
A trickle of indigo mana leaked out. Soon, the mana storm shifted to the hue of primal mana.
Damian shouted, but Rubia didn't react. He pushed through the gusts and grabbed her shoulder.
Crack. Fwoooosh!!!
The crystal orb split in half, devouring the surroundings in light. Even sound vanished.
Drip drip. The sound of water quietly echoed through the ruins once more.
All that remained was the shattered orb.
* * *
-----!!!
-----!!!
A deafening noise battered his eardrums. The flash left his vision spinning.
He could hear voices, but couldn't make out their meaning.
“You lazy bum!! The sun's high in the sky and you're slacking off here?!”
Splash!! A roar accompanied cold water slapping his face. It snapped him back to awareness.
“Who… are you?”
A man with long braided black beard loomed over him. It looked like ropes dangling from his chin.
His clothes were unfamiliar too. Why was the man wearing a skirt? Was he actually a woman beneath that appearance?
“This guy's still out of it!”
Crack!! A thin switch whipped Damian's arm. The man's eyes burned with fury.
“This, this bastard!!”
He didn't know the situation yet, but he couldn't just take it lying down. Damian rose and grabbed the man's collar.
“Hm?”
He was wearing a skirt too, with his knees exposed. His subspace pouch and the Tear of Eternity were gone from his waist.
“Let go!! I said let go!”
Ignoring the bellowing man, Damian fell into thought.
‘Rubia force-fed mana into the crystal orb…’
And primal mana had mixed in during the process.
‘Did contact with primal mana trigger some anomaly?’
Besides the old mage in the pure white space, there had to be others in the ancient civilization era who used primal mana.
If the orb required primal mana like the Tear of Eternity, it made some sense.
‘But something still feels off.’
The bizarre man glaring at him with spittle flying, the unnatural clothes, the unknown location.
This vividness and realism went beyond any illusion. Even Ariella's mental world couldn't achieve this.
He needed more information. Damian dropped the ranting man to the ground and pressed on with questions.
“Who are you?”
“You damned slave… Hit your head or something? Forgot the overseer's face?”
Slave? Overseer? Apparently, this man didn't see him as Damian Renekht.
Conveniently, a mirror peeked from the man's pocket. Damian pulled it out to check his face.
‘My appearance hasn't changed.’
Comparing them, the differences stood out. Thick eyebrows, prominent nose bridge—an ethnicity unseen anywhere in the empire.
Yet the man saw nothing unusual in Damian's looks. He was just furious at the insolence.
“A slave?”
“Yeah. Slave No. 44. Sold to the Nuransika estate yesterday. You… really not feeling well?”
Slavery had been officially abolished with the empire's founding.
Sure, slaves existed quietly in the shadows, but not so openly spoken of.
“Damn. If the slave I bought yesterday's defective, the missus will have my head later… Hey, let's get you to a doctor first.”
The man, the overseer, grew serious about Damian's condition. The anger faded from his eyes, replaced by worry.
‘No matter how I look at it, this isn't a normal illusion.’
The emotional responses, the actions—it was beyond what magic could replicate.
“Hey! I said stop!”
Ignoring the overseer's concern, Damian headed outside.
Blazing sunlight poured down mercilessly. It felt like the southern regions.
But the buildings were different. Not the low mud huts common in the south, but massive structures carved from stone.
And far off, a building soared toward the sky, pale blue-gray, adorned with artificial waterfalls and lush greenery.
A place he'd never seen. Yet it felt familiar. Like intact ancient ruins.
“Can't leave you like this. Hurry and follow before I call someone… You okay? Why're you suddenly laughing?”
Damian let out a hollow chuckle, making the overseer edge away warily. He looked like a madman.
But Damian's conclusion wouldn't have been out of place for one.
‘This is someone's memory. A world built from it.’
From someone who lived in the ancient civilization era. Damian had become Slave No. 44 from that time.
Pop! The moment he realized it, a translucent window appeared before his eyes.
[Find the owner of the memory.]
This world's trial for him.