The Unraveling of the Abyss
The phenomenon that had been sucking in mana had vanished.
As Mea had analyzed it.
I still didn’t know what the thing actually was, but I’d been greedy enough.
I sent a solemn farewell to whatever had grown fat from devouring the full measure of the two great demons’ mana until its belly burst.
Well, it wasn’t exactly a living creature so much as some kind of system.
That didn’t matter. It was the harvest of someone’s effort, and I’d just paid my respects.
*Truly… there’s no end to it, Roman.*
I clicked my tongue in admiration as Teresa approached.
Mana had recovered enough for her to stand straight, and the frantic edge that had clung to her had largely faded.
Unlike demonologists who pulled mana from outside, Teresa was a true magician who refined natural mana into her own. The amount was tiny.
Yet zero and one were not the same.
Where zero meant absolute helplessness, one meant the faintest spark of hope—however slim—still existed.
“I was too slow to speak earlier, so I won’t say it again. Go somewhere and don’t tell her.”
“Fine. I can keep my mouth shut.”
Ah.
In the training camp I’d seen Teresa as completely lacking in common sense, ignoring everyone around her without a second thought.
“Can I tell Fiona?”
“No.”
“…She’s going to chew her out even harder.”
“Don’t give me that look. Think of it as paying for a life. This is the second time, right?”
Teresa’s face, which had been full of helpless sorrow, cleared instantly.
Her gaze still held an almost unbelievable reverence, but something more final had been etched there as well.
“Anyway, what do you plan to do now? You could just leave quietly like this.”
I pointed upward where Mea and I had come from. The terrain had been brutal; anyone would want to rush back as soon as possible.
Teresa was different.
Even though her expression stayed calm and emotionless, the warmth and faint playfulness that had been there vanished in an instant.
She wiped away every feeling, blanked her face, and painted it over with only one emotion.
Revenge.
Cold fury toward the comrades who had stood with her in that place, and toward the one who had pushed her into a corner.
Teresa spoke in a chillingly clear tone.
“I’m taking that thing down.”
Of course. I’d expected nothing else.
People tend to gather with their own kind.
We were the same.
More precisely, all of us had the same background.
How had only the ones who couldn’t fight back survived?
Or perhaps the experience had changed them.
I couldn’t say which was right.
It was like asking whether the chicken came first or the egg.
But the result was the same.
On the final day of the training camp, when everyone had poured out their grievances, I had seen the bitterness in each of their eyes.
Even Philon, the sixth who had always been kind and cheerful, had cursed that day.
Teresa was the same. She rarely showed anger, but when she did, she gave it back.
If something was taken from her, she took twice as much.
If someone took her life, she would make sure they never took theirs again.
Something so insignificant dared to strike the apex of the food chain?
I would make it regret it.
“…Roman.”
“Mea. Um… sorry, but even though I’m a trainee…”
“No. I’m not going to stop you.”
What?
Something about Mea’s tone had shifted.
It was hard to put into words, but the change in her mood was unmistakable.
“I’m coming with you too. I’m still a trainee, after all.”
I’d known she was interested in me for a while, but this was open and clear.
Even if I told her to stay away, she would probably follow in secret.
‘Is this a problem?’
I hadn’t planned to push Mea away in the first place.
“Having Mea with us is reassuring. It almost feels like we won’t even need to move.”
“I’m treating this as insurance. I’m going to protect her first.”
“Ah… right. She was there too.”
Priscilla, her name was.
While Teresa regained her confidence with recovered mana, Priscilla remained curled in on herself like a ball.
“Then let’s wait until Teresa finishes recovering mana.”
I would keep an eye on the other one as well.
But the one who knew both of their conditions best was the one who spoke up.
“No. This is the best time.”
“Are you sure? No matter how much the mana absorption has stopped, it’ll still take time compared to us. You’ll probably move faster after drinking a potion.”
“Yeah. Mana is still under ten percent… but it’s fine.”
Teresa said this and looked up at the hole in the ceiling.
The light filtering through was growing dim.
“Nearly night.”
When Teresa spoke those words.
The sun had finally set. The light suddenly cut off.
At the same moment, Teresa’s lavender eyes, which had held an unusual silver tint, shifted.
From soft pink to deep purple.
As the light from above faded, her eyes grew brighter, glowing with a new, vivid light.
Scarlet. A very deep red.
“You forgot? I’m a dhampir.”
Teresa smiled, revealing her sharp fangs and pressing her lower lip against one.
§
The four of us moved carefully, keeping our footsteps light.
Mea led at the front.
Teresa could have taken the lead despite her mana shortage, but I didn’t want to ask her to risk herself when we didn’t know what would come.
Because anything could spring out at any moment, constant vigilance was required.
For the same reason, I took the rear.
“This way on the left.”
“Yeah.”
Teresa had memorized every path she had taken.
Even in that chaotic situation, her memory was astonishing.
“Is it because you’re a dhampir?”
“That’s racist, Roman.”
“…I was complimenting you.”
“It’s not because you’re a dhampir. It’s because I remember the place.”
Ah.
I see.
I knew she had fully recovered her confidence, but hearing it out loud made it feel real.
“…Almost there.”
“No signs of anything.”
Failing to sense an enemy was within expectations.
Even Priscilla, a senior like Mea, hadn’t reacted.
At that time the mana absorption was active, but even accounting for that, it was impossible to miss a senior’s detection.
‘Leraje, how are you?’
[The feeling I get is no different from the one you feel.]
Of course.
I’d expected Leraje to respond differently, but Seir wasn’t here.
After all, most demons were bound to gods from other pantheons.
And the one Leraje answered to was Artemis.
There was even a claim that she corresponded with Cupid, but as a hunter who dealt with plagues, Artemis fit perfectly.
Yet with detection limited to me, it seemed Leraje had no choice.
[You shouldn’t have chosen the wrong authority!]
[The contractor must respect us.]
Of course.
I always worshipped the two great demons.
Since I kept the contract open while using the mana system, we kept chatting.
As a result, our detection had been meaningless.
The thing Teresa had described had been right in the middle of the disaster scene, openly revealed.
It wasn’t some hidden culprit who would come back.
It had done its work, turning the entire area into a sea of blood, and was now just standing there as if nothing had happened.
Describing its form in one word was impossible.
It looked like a chaotic collage of mismatched elements forced together, as if a child had drawn everything he could imagine and pasted them together.
Its body surface resembled a reptile, but its overall skeleton and structure were closer to ungulates like cattle or deer.
In fact, the feet weren’t claws but split hooves.
Even the hooves were pointed and sharp.
Could something with six legs and an insect-like split jaw be classified as either reptile or ungulate?
Something with horns from the dried blood of mages it had devoured?
“There’s no mistake.”
Mea spoke its name.
“It’s a chromatic fiend.”
The name was in my dictionary too.
I had learned it at the training camp.
Chromatic Fiend.
A monster that changed its body color as if it were a chameleon.
The top predator of the first floor was said to be so powerful that even regular teams had trouble catching it without being wiped out.
Mana absorption was an exception.
I finally understood why Priscilla had been taken down.
“That’s…”
“Teresa saw it too?”
“Yeah. It’s not something you see easily.”
It wasn’t easy to see.
Correct.
Besides chromatic fiends, there were a few other top monsters on the first floor, but this one was especially difficult to spot.
That was probably why Teresa hadn’t thought of the chromatic fiend even after being attacked by it.
Top predators were rare.
The chromatic fiend was even rarer, and there was a clear reason.
Its skin.
Even after being peeled, the color changed.
“…I’ll peel its skin for you.”
The moment Teresa showed her killing intent.
The thing’s head snapped toward us.
Its eyes were two dark circular orbs, like the eyes of an ant.
It had seen us.
Immediately after.
The thing vanished.