Dark Fantasy Genius Demon Hunter

To the End

“We’ll soon be arriving at the area expected to be the Shadow Dwarf’s territory,” Gaon said.

“Really?”

“Yes. As you know, the Shadow Dwarfs are seasoned assassins who excel at exploiting weaknesses, so from here on out, it’s best to refrain from talking.”

“Hmm, right. Got it.”

Aver, who had been incessantly chattering next to Gaon, acknowledged and took a step back.

Seeing this, Gaon let out a sigh of relief internally.

It wasn’t a particularly long distance from the place where they encountered the Firetail Fox to here, but it felt longer because of Aver’s nonstop talking.

The reason he emphasized staying quiet wasn’t solely for that, but it certainly played a big part.

They entered a forest filled with mutated trees covered in a slimy substance.

The sky, once dimly colored with purple mist and dark clouds, began to fade away.

As the visibility rapidly shrank, Gaon reached for a torch he had prepared, intending to light it, when Jaal spoke up.

“Do you really think a cheap torch will improve your visibility?”

Jaal rummaged through his belongings and threw something towards Gaon.

“It’s a glowstone. I made it myself.”

When Gaon looked over, he saw Jaal grinning mischievously.

“Oh, you’ve never seen one before? Well, of course, someone like you who only uses torches wouldn’t have.”

Jaal nodded knowingly and then grabbed another glowstone, shaking it up and down.

“You shake it like this and say ‘Light,’ and it activates. The internal mana powers it to emit light.”

The glowstone began to emit light as Jaal demonstrated.

“I see,” Gaon replied quietly.

“That’s it?”

“What else do you need?”

“…Ha! Fine, just turn on the glowstone.”

Jaal reacted irritably.

He had expected Gaon to be amazed by the glowstone, but he had missed the mark by quite a bit.

For Gaon, who had lived in a world where science was advanced, the glowstone, which was little more than a lantern, wasn’t particularly impressive.

“‘Light.’”

Gaon followed Jaal’s demonstration, shaking the glowstone and speaking the activation word.

It was supposed to glow, but instead,

Thunk.

The glowstone made a weak popping sound and developed cracks on its surface.

“Hm?”

Gaon turned to look at Jaal, observing the malfunctioning glowstone.

“Eh?”

As Jaal handed out glowstones to Reina and Aver as well, he noticed the malfunctioning one and was immediately flustered, showing signs of confusion.

“It seems like a defective one got mixed in. Here, use this one instead.”

Jaal quickly handed over another glowstone, his voice slightly trembling.

He acted nonchalant, but the redness creeping up his neck was beyond his control.

Gaon saw this but didn’t show any reaction, as his mind was filled with other thoughts.

As Gaon quietly examined the glowstone he had received, he shook his head briefly.

“I think it’s better if Jaal keeps this one.”

“What’s the meaning of this? Are you doubting my skills because the first one was defective?”

Jaal’s face twisted in displeasure, his irritation clear.

Gaon shook his head again.

“That’s not what I meant. This glowstone is too much for use as a simple torch substitute, don’t you think?”

“Haha… So now I’m being treated like a beggar? What’s it to you if I have some extra money in my pocket?”

Jaal chuckled in disbelief.

However, Gaon firmly continued his reasoning.

“After all, you brought the glowstones to make hunting the Shadow Dwarfs easier, didn’t you? It’s to account for their ability to move through shadows.”

“And?”

Jaal’s eyes, once sharp, softened slightly.

“I was just suggesting that we focus on the more essential purpose. Also, with this amount of light, it should be sufficient to illuminate the surroundings.”

Gaon’s argument was clean and reasonable enough to convince Jaal, who had been rather uncooperative.

“…Fine.”

Without saying much more, Jaal walked past Gaon.

Aver, with a slight smile, gently tapped Gaon on the shoulder before following Jaal.

Gaon, watching them, let out a quiet sigh internally.

Although he had presented a fairly reasonable argument, the truth was that it was just quick thinking on his part.

The real reason Gaon had refused the glowstone was something else.

‘The problem isn’t the glowstone; it’s me.’

His talent for mana.

The talent that had dwindled to zero had caused him to reject even the mana embedded in the glowstone as soon as it malfunctioned. Gaon had sensed this the moment the glowstone burst.

‘The next glowstone would have exploded the moment I tried to activate it too.’

The relief from avoiding suspicion quickly faded.

And in the emptiness left behind, another feeling sprouted—irritation.

‘Damn it. It’s coming to this now.’

Gaon’s expression twisted.

Wasn’t this going a bit too far?

He had never expected to be able to accumulate mana or aura in the first place, so there was no regret there.

But he never anticipated that he wouldn’t be able to use magical tools either.

Handling mana within his body and activating mana contained in objects were two completely separate, distinct issues.

Gaon tried to hide his frustration.

‘…Wait. Why did the Calling Leaf work fine?’

The question suddenly struck him.

It was enough to make Gaon stop in his tracks.

Perhaps Reina, who was walking ahead beside him, sensed Gaon’s pause.

“What is it?”

“Is something wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

“Let’s keep moving.”

Gaon could only shake his head. He couldn’t discuss his personal issues openly.

‘The Calling Leaf successfully blocked the Lightning of the Thunder Mole, but the glowstone became useless the moment it activated. What’s the difference between the two?’

‘Is it the difference between passive and active? I activated the glowstone myself, and my lack of talent in mana caused the glowstone to break, but with the Calling Leaf, my will wasn’t involved in its activation, so…?’

Gaon’s mind was in turmoil, but he wasn’t lost in thought, neglecting his responsibilities.

He was fulfilling his role as a vanguard and guide.

As Gaon’s thoughts became more tangled, turning into an irreparable knot, he suddenly stopped thinking entirely.

‘…!!!’

Without thinking, his body instinctively jerked back.

A dark shape barely visible.

“Battle preparation!”

Reina’s sharp voice echoed.

Gaon regained his balance, and only then did he realize what had set his senses tingling.

“Shadow Dwarf!”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

The creature that had been trying to pierce through Gaon with its pointed shadow now revealed itself.

Perhaps because it was made of shadow, its eyes and mouth continuously shrank and expanded, and its upper body kept swaying back and forth.

It pointed its fingers at Gaon in a mocking manner, its gesture so trivial that just watching it made Gaon feel an unexpected irritation.

“That bastard is mocking us, right?”

“It seems like it.”

“That mere beast dares to—”

Jaal, who was already hot-headed, immediately reacted.

Then, the creature’s finger-pointing shifted from Gaon to Jaal.

It seemed to have sensed Jaal’s emotional volatility.

“That bastard!”

Jaal shouted in rage.

He then quickly activated a glowstone and threw it at the creature.

It was to hinder its shadow movement.

“───!!”

The Shadow Dwarf’s face twisted like Edvard Munch’s The Scream.

“Catch him!”

Jaal’s shout.

And Reina, who had already been moving before Jaal even spoke, quickly closed the distance.

Reina gripped the hilt of her sword in her right hand and the scabbard in her left, tightening her hold.

“‘Gust’”

Reina’s soft incantation caused the scabbard to faintly glow.

Whoosh.

The wind generated inside the closed scabbard pushed the sword forward.

With the added strength of Reina’s oak-down grip, a terrifyingly fast draw was completed.

Swoosh.

The sound of the wind being cut through.

Whooosh!

Her sword pierced through the Shadow Dwarf.

“Did we get him?”

Jaal muttered the inevitable spell.

Reina shook her head.

“No. It escaped.”

Though it seemed like the Shadow Dwarf had been pierced, it dissipated into faint smoke and vanished into the air.

“Where to?”

“I don’t know.”

“Anyone see it?”

Aver asked, looking at everyone, but there was nothing but silence.

Gaon was no different.

With his heightened senses, he tried to track the Shadow Dwarf’s movements, but all he could discern was that it had blended into the surrounding shadows like mist.

‘It’s difficult to pinpoint its location…’

Gaon clicked his tongue inwardly.

“It doesn’t seem like it hid in a specific spot. It just scattered and blended into all the surrounding shadows.”

“Damn.”

“Hmm.”

A deep furrow appeared between Jaal and Aver’s brows.

“Let’s move for now. Now that we know this is its territory, we might run into it again as we move,” Reina said, sheathing the sword she had drawn.

“Damn, this is a huge loss,” Jaal muttered.

“A setback, sure, but think of it as an investment toward our goal,” Aver reassured Jaal.

“That’s true, but… it immediately ran away, so we couldn’t really use it as we intended,” Jaal replied.

“What can we do? Still, we need to deal with the glowstones.”

“…”

“If we leave too much light, the Shadow Dwarf will definitely not show up again.”

“Ugh… I can’t do anything right.”

Jaal scowled, kicking the ground in frustration.

Some torn flesh flew up into the air before falling back to the ground with a dull thud.

“Calm down, friend. We’ll catch it for sure,” Aver said, lightly patting Jaal on the shoulder as encouragement.

Then, he stepped on one of the broken glowstones that had fallen to the ground, crushing it.

“Gaon, can you take care of that one?” Aver asked, pointing to another glowstone nearby.

Gaon nodded and walked over to the glowstone that was slightly off to the side.

He bent down and picked up the glowing stone.

Crack.

As expected, the glowstone cracked and lost its power.

“…”

Gaon looked at the lifeless glowstone with a somewhat grim expression.

At this point, it was clear that the problem wasn’t with the glowstone, but with Gaon himself.

Not only was he unable to activate the magic tools, but even those that had already been activated malfunctioned.

“Once you’re done, let’s move out,” Aver called out.

Gaon dropped the glowstone he was holding and turned around.

He couldn’t control mana, divine power, or any other special abilities.

But this flaw was something he had to overcome.

So, as one way of compensating for his deficiencies, Gaon had been considering using magic tools infused with special abilities.

And today, he realized that before he could properly test this method, he had already failed.

Still, Gaon wasn’t as discouraged as one might expect.

The sense of exhaustion that came with the disappointment was fleeting.

There has to be another way.

His strengthened mental stat helped shake off the feeling of depletion and kept him from sinking into despair.