Finding the Mage's Weak Spot -1
This is solo mission time for the Smart Tentacle.
In a way, it's like I've been stuck handling the most headache-inducing and dangerous job all by my lonesome, but whatever.
'Maybe we should've just holed up together and lived quietly...'
The more nervous I get, the more I can't help resenting that conditioning tentacle who started this whole mess in the first place.
Of course, given the tentacle's trait of absorbing info and knowledge from its surroundings, it's hard to pin the blame solely on that one.
'Argh, if only I'd gobbled up a little more back then.'
Kkumteul...
Even transforming into something fast like a horse made it pretty damn tough to dodge human eyes.
Still, getting there wasn't a big issue.
"The real problem starts now..."
Turning into a human? Piece of cake.
But will I get caught at that checkpoint I'm passing through?
No way the City of Mages is unprepared for monsters.
'Even if I send in a clone...'
The moment I get snagged once, my existence will be broadcast everywhere.
Then infiltration's obviously off the table.
"As expected..."
There's this tactic from a book I read before.
The Trojan Horse, right?
"Next person, come on in."
"Here you go."
The merchant flashes his ID and shows off his carriage.
"Man, looks like a ton of folks doing monster research applied this time."
"Thanks to that, we're eating good and living well."
Making a monster not trip the Monster Detector? Tough.
But passing through while being recognized as a monster?
Easier than you'd think.
The difference between a human getting pinged by the Monster Detector and a monster getting pinged is like night and day.
So my conclusion was simple.
Disguise myself as one of the monsters already being transported.
This city's all about magic experiments, so monster trading's booming—plenty of carriages to sneak into.
Just pick a suitable one and mimic it.
I can adjust my size, so only the outer appearance needs changing.
"You know dangerous ones need extra checks, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. These are all newbie monsters—even a casual adventurer stepping on 'em would squash 'em flat, so no worries."
I ate one of the monsters already in the carriage.
Then disguised myself as it.
We're tentacles that keep our promise not to harm other folks, after all.
And just like that, I enter the City of Mages.
Now—
Hwiririk.
I shed the basic monster disguise and slither like liquid from the cage, sticking to the carriage.
Just in case, I smash the cage a bit to make it look like the monster escaped on its own.
'Now's the time.'
From the carriage, I dart quick into something like the city's sewer system.
Infiltration complete.
...
"What the? When did this one get loose?"
A bit later, the merchant notices the slightly bent cage bars while unloading.
"What? Did a dangerous monster escape?"
"Nah, ha... This thing would've gotten stomped flat under someone's foot if things went wrong."
"Good enough. Monster escapes happen all the time here—some other mage probably scooped it up."
And just like that, this critical incident gets brushed off as a total non-event.
Belisa Erlschte.
No matter what anyone says, she's treated as the absolute top mage right now.
A brilliant mage with a history in the Hero Party, but...
"Ugh, such a pain~."
Her shitty personality is infamous far and wide.
"Does it even mean anything to teach these losers magic?"
"Ahaha... But you never know."
"Never know my ass."
A magic circle expands from Belisa's fingertip.
One becomes many, swelling like a tangled ball of yarn to draw out the magic circle.
Not simple spells—these are all high-level ones whipped up in seconds.
But she's not even casting them.
"How 'bout it? Pretty, right?"
Dozens of magic circles overlap.
Forming a picture.
The skill to weave magic circles themselves into art, not for any practical purpose.
"These idiots who can't even do this—what're they gonna learn and do?"
"Yes..."
"You're wasting money on the Academy too. If you can't cut it, you can't."
She says it straight to their faces—mage stuff I wouldn't get as a human.
If her face wasn't so gorgeous, someone would've slapped her already.
Though the price for slapping the strongest mage might be losing your head entirely.
"Ah, but it's class time."
"Already that late?"
She stands, draped in her ornate, luxurious robe.
"Ugh~ What a drag. Having to show off to idiots who can't keep up even if they try."
"Feels like I'm a zoo animal."
Today's another full stack of unlikeable points for the mage.
The mages' research labs are heavily guarded.
But outdoor practical sessions? Different story.
'Finally, a peek at that face.'
First face-to-face for the tentacle.
'Whoa...'
She hasn't even shown herself yet, but the mana radiating around her is no joke.
The Female Knight Bersia was already wrecked before I arrived, so I didn't know, but yeah—she was a core member of the Hero Party.
You can tell she's an insane powerhouse even before she appears.
"Yeah, yeah, everyone's gathered."
"Ah, Belisa-nim."
"Right, what magic should I show?"
"That's—"
"As if your level could even comprehend."
She asks first, then brushes off the answer and makes her entrance.
'Insane powerhouse...'
First impression: seductive but arrogant beauty.
Long jet-black straight hair and purple eyes that scream deep mana reserves.
That signature bored smile shows exactly how much she's looking down on everyone else.
And the mana pouring out...
'Even if the main body absorbed everything combined, we couldn't handle it all?'
On the flip side, that means it's super nutritious mana.
"Alright, I'll show you a spell I made recently."
She swings her magic wand lightly.
And boom—a Giant-type monster appears right in front of Belisa in an instant.
"How 'bout it? How do you kill a Giant-type in full plate armor that blocks physical attacks?"
"Uh... Fire magic?"
"Fire magic? Hahaha."
Belisa laughs and draws a magic circle.
Something totally different from basic elements—high-class stuff.
"Watch closely~"
Then she flicks the wand, sending it at the monster.
"Die."
The spell pierces right through the physical barrier.
And—
Kuung!
The massive monster drops dead without a peep or struggle.
"W-What?!"
"Super-fast time magic?"
"Silence magic plus other attacks?"
The students buzz, guessing at the spell.
But to Belisa, it's just monkeys chattering nonsense.
"Totally wrong."
"It's a spell that sends you straight to the afterlife~ Something like that."
'No way that's possible?'
The tentacle, having grasped the spell's true nature, freaks out.
With the info load from devouring an entire Demon World library, I could tell what it was.
'Soul-severing Magic.'
No doubt.
Top-tier magic—or beyond—that blasts the target's soul straight to the afterlife or equivalent.
Acts directly on the soul, ignoring physical stuff.
That's why the armor's intact, but the monster's dead.
Soul rips from the body the instant it's hit.
No chance for screams or resistance.
'Might not be able to handle her solo—'
"Ugh, what a class with these morons."
"Hm?"
Belisa frowns, sensing something off.
And her magic...
'Huh?'
It flies straight at the tentacle.
Pinpoint accurate to my position, an unavoidable destructive formula—
Kugugugugugugu!!!
In a flash, the forest where the tentacle was hiding evaporates entirely with it.
"W-What?!"
The students panic at the sudden outburst.
"Nah, no biggie."
"Just a bad vibe."
And so, the Smart Tentacle dies.
...
Not really.
"Whew, that was close as hell."
Clone body, after all—I'd split off another clone and was remote-viewing it.
If it'd been me instead of the clone, I'd have been obliterated.
'Her instincts are creepy-good.'
That proved if I'm anywhere nearby, she'll insta-gib me with that mage.
'Getting close is the first hurdle...'
The tentacle's worries about how to take her down grow bigger.