Chapter 40
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Here to Save You (For Real)
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The inside of the cave reeked of dampness and rotting mold. The ground was slick and muddy, and unidentified black liquid dripped from the ceiling in steady plops.
"Ugh... the smell..."
Dane pinched her nose shut as she cautiously followed behind me. She stared at my back for a long moment, hesitating, before finally giving in to her curiosity.
"Um, Senior."
"What? Scared and want to go home already?"
"That's what I wanted anyway. But I'm really just curious."
Dane hopped lightly over the mysterious bones scattered across the floor as she asked,
"Senior... you were part of a hero party, right? Humanity's hope and all that. So how did you end up making black magic your main thing?"
Normally, heroes swung holy swords or cast light magic—that was the standard. A hero party that blew up corpses and cast curses? Talk about shattering childhood dreams.
"Oh, that?"
I swept aside the spiderwebs blocking our path with my demon sword and continued.
"Simple reason. It doesn't let me die."
"Huh? Doesn't let you die? Stab 'em with a sword and they drop dead."
"If demon scum died that normally, I wouldn't have gone through all this trouble. The higher up the hierarchy they are, the more their regeneration makes cockroaches look amateur."
"......"
"Sure, blasting them with holy magic stops the regen... but that wasn't my specialty, and Lucia couldn't purify that many on her own."
Of course, I didn't start out as a black mage tech tree climber either.
I used to be your typical, flashy magic swordsman prospect, mixing lightning spells with swordplay.
"At first, we did it by the book. Slash, burn, purify... But that's fine for one or two. When thousands, tens of thousands swarm in hordes, when do you have time to hack them all? Mana potions are running dry."
The longer the fight dragged on, humans were the ones who ended up withering away.
"Ah..."
"So we changed our approach. Instead of burning mana, why not base our spells on the demonic energy lying everywhere?"
"And that's how those horrific things were born."
"Back then, dimensional rifts meant demonic energy overflowed. Now I rely on what this demon sword emits, but the principle's the same."
"Easier said than done... Normal people take in demonic energy and either corrupt or go insane."
"Just tough out the mental strain. Plus, I had a saintess right there—if things went south, she'd purify me."
I shrugged it off casually.
"Of course, every time she'd call me a filthy heretic bastard, dump holy water on me by the bucket, and bash me with her mace. Nearly died for real."
"......"
"Something about snapping me out of mental corruption with physical pain..."
"That saintess sounds unhinged too..."
"Yeah, she's logged in the holy kingdom's records as their mad dog. One hell of a temper."
"Not a sane person in that party... How did you save the world with that lineup?"
"Gotta be crazy to catch crazies. But hey, I took some flak and stayed corrupted so our soldiers got to go home with all their limbs intact."
Dane had no comeback and just clicked her tongue. It was persuasive.
As we chatted, the cave suddenly widened.
A plaza-like space lit by sporadic torches appeared, and dozens of robed cultists spotted us, raising their weapons.
"Intruders!!"
"Offer them to the Great One!!"
Arrows flew, crude black magic spells sliced the air.
"Their lines haven't evolved a bit since back then."
Dane instinctively reached for her sword.
"Step back. You wanna hack 'em one by one?"
I stepped forward and snapped my fingers.
Snap.
Black Magic: Invisible Hand
Invisible hands seized their ankles, snaked up their thighs, and in an instant wrapped their entire bodies like mummies.
"Wh-what did you... Mmph?!"
Their mouths sealed, they stared at me in terror.
I lightly thrust my demon sword into the heart of the frontmost one and snapped my fingers again.
"Bye."
Black Magic: Chain Explosion
BOOM!
The lead cultist's body ballooned like a balloon before exploding outright. Blood and flesh sprayed everywhere. But that was just the beginning.
Boom! Bang! Crunch!
It was a chain explosion. Fragments from the burst corpse hit nearby comrades, triggering chain reactions that blew them apart one after another.
No time even to scream.
The cave turned into a slaughterhouse raining blood mist and flesh chunks in seconds.
"Gaaahhh!!"
"S-spare... Aaaagh!"
Those trying to flee got tangled in shadows and tripped, only for spikes to erupt beneath the fallen.
In just 30 seconds, the spot where dozens of cultists had stood was now an unrecognizable red puddle.
"Nice and clean. Cleanup done."
I dusted off my coat and turned back. Dane gaped at the carnage, mouth wide open.
"Eww... They're the pitiful ones now..."
I dipped my demon sword into the puddle. It let out a triumphant howl as it sucked up the blood from the floor like a vacuum cleaner.
"Fork ahead. Fire up the navigation. Which way's right? Guide us to where that protagonist stinks from."
'......Where am I?'
Alice struggled to lift her heavy eyelids. The first sensations were biting cold and the nose-stinging mold stench.
"Ugh..."
She tried to sit up, but her hands and feet were bound tight with rope—she couldn't budge.
Looking around, rough stone walls enclosed her on all sides, with rusted iron bars blocking the front.
"Ah..."
Memories flooded back. Last night, heading into the forest for tomorrow's practical supplies. She'd just reached out for some moonlight moss when someone covered her mouth from behind... and she'd blacked out.
'Kidnapped...?'
Alice's pink eyes filled with fear. Her usually neatly combed pink hair was a tangled mess, her clothes caked in dirt.
"Awake, huh."
"Prime sacrifice material. The great archdemon will be pleased."
Voices of men in black robes murmured beyond the bars.
"Hic..."
Alice hugged her knees, trembling. She was terrified—tears welled up. But she desperately held back sobs.
'It's okay, Alice. Don't cry. You can do this.'
She clasped her hands and prayed fervently.
'Someone... will come save me. Someone surely...'
That moment.
BOOM-!!!!!
A massive roar shook the prison entrance. Dust poured from the ceiling.
"Wh-what?! Earthquake?!"
"No! Intruders! Who dares come here?!"
The robed cultists panicked, drawing weapons and staring at the entrance.
Then, through the thick dust, the door burst open.
Creeeak-
It was one of their own, a fellow cultist. He staggered in like he was dancing.
"Hey, Jacob! What happened? How's it outside—?!"
One guard approached in relief, reaching for his shoulder—when the guy's head snapped at a grotesque angle, his mouth ripping open wide.
His whole body ballooned like a balloon. Crimson mana pulsed beneath his skin.
"......Huh?"
BOOM!!!
A red flash, and the cultist's body exploded literally.
"Gaaahh!! My eyes!!"
Sharp bone shards and mangled flesh from the burst body sprayed like shotgun pellets. The narrow cave became a blood-soaked hell in an instant.
Plop. Splatter.
Blood, organ bits, and flesh rained from the ceiling like precipitation. Fragments of what had been human moments ago splattered against the bars in front of Alice and slid down.
"Kyaaah!"
Alice screamed and collapsed.
Through the blood mist and dust cloud, someone strode in. A man in a black longcoat splattered with gore, one hand holding a blood-red sword, the other casually tossing aside a human head.
"Damn humans always in such numbers. Such a pain to clean up."
"You know you're wiping out all the mid-bosses the four male leads are supposed to grow by fighting over the next two years, right?"
"I know."
He crushed the skull of a gasping cultist on the floor with his bloodied combat boot as he approached Alice.
Their eyes met through the bars—his red ones.
"Hey, this the one? You've seen her more than me."
"Urk... W-wait a sec..."
Another figure pushed through the blood fog behind him.
A pale blonde woman, nose pinched, dodging the human remains littering the floor.
"Eugh... the smell... gonna lose it..."
The woman grimaced, fighting dry heaves.
"Senior, I don't mind you killing black mages, but can you kill them cleanly? No need to blow them up. Guts everywhere... urgh."
"You're word-for-word like that ancestor of yours."
The man clicked his tongue.
"He nagged too—don't mutilate corpses, slice clean, bad for aesthetics, harms kids' mental development. Bloodlines don't lie."
"......"
"But he said you're fair game to kill? Kyle wanted to talk them down first."
"Why talk to kidnappers? Waste of breath."
"Right? Always wondered that myself."
The man grinned like they were on the same page.
"Best way against humans. Psychological pressure too. Blow one up, the rest panic and botch their chants."
"That cost-performance is gonna flip my stomach..."
The woman scowled and approached the bars. She checked the terrified, shaking Alice.
"......"
Pity flashed in Dane's eyes.
[Alice von Luminous]
The heroine of the original novel [Shining Romance Academy]. The ill-fated spirit mage meant to overcome all trials with love and friendship, graduating peacefully amid everyone's blessings.
By the original plot, the door should've burst open with sparkly light, handsome male leads swooping in.
They'd stylishly crush the foes with flashy magic, then scoop her up princess-style: "Sorry we're late, Alice."
But reality? Just a pitiful heroine trembling, splattered in blood from some bizarre black magic mess.
'You really... have the worst luck.'
Dane swallowed the words, nodding bitterly.
"Yeah... that's her. Alice..."
"Good."
Kasian nodded satisfied, then—caring not a whit if Alice got PTSD—raised his bloodied demon sword at the rusted lock.
Shing-!
A sharp metallic ring, and the lock sliced like tofu, clattering to the floor. The barred door creaked open, and Kasian strode inside.
His massive shadow engulfed Alice.
He crouched, extending a gore-covered hand to the terrified girl too scared to even breathe.
"Here to save you."
"Please... spare me."
Alice sniffled, scrambling back.