NOVEL NEXT Chapter 260
As I made my way to the hangar beneath the Bride Ship, there were no enemies to hinder me.
“Lucius’s nemesis! Die!”
“Why don’t you die instead?”
Puh—uhk.
In truth, there was no enemy capable of stopping me.
Rosmas, Droniel, Yan.
It was the Holy Sword of Illusion that was creating the three ‘clones.’
Even though the Holy Sword of Illusion was still showing visions to the three, it was probably continuing to create clones through the mana already bestowed within my body.
“Get mixed up, Keias.”
I awakened the Holy Sword, Keias, to be mine, and with every swing I took, the ether clones blocking my path disappeared.
“Mana recovery.”
Every time I swung the dagger wide, the three party members turned to dust.
“I should’ve given birth to Lucius’s child!!”
“Not these ones.”
I lightly dodged Droniel’s sword lunging at me and stabbed a dagger into Droniel’s neck.
Thunk.
Even though I was piercing a body made of ether, I could genuinely feel the sensation of stabbing.
This was likely due to the ether clone being so vividly created, and this body being sensitive to mana.
But still, I couldn’t just sit back and take it.
“Lucius’s wife is me!”
“What are you saying?”
Pook, pook.
I tilted my head slightly to dodge Yan’s spear rushing at me, gripping the dagger in reverse, and drove it directly into Yan’s collarbone.
An ether body where collarbones or ribs were even realized?
With overwhelming force, it didn’t matter whether it was there or not.
Puh-wak.
Mana began to burst out like blood from the hole I pierced.
“Die!”
Just as I thought of simply pushing him away, I grabbed Yan by the collar as he was about to fall and held him in front of me like a shield.
Pook, pu-bu-buk!!
Gray arrows rained down into Yan’s back as he was dying.
Ten Rosmas who had come up the path to the hangar poured arrows my way, and I used Yan as a corpse shield to avoid the attack and threw myself to the side.
“Ha.”
It was taking too long to kill them one by one.
I had also fallen for an illusion, and perhaps Lucius had too.
Or maybe he was trapped in a prison of water, unable to escape.
As my side was quickly settling, I needed to hurry and assist Lucius.
‘But it ended suspiciously quickly.’
Asmodeus had given me the Magic Core far too easily.
Her Magic Core was linked to me in real-time now, and my hair reflected Asmodeus’s azure upon the blade of Keias—
“Huh?”
“Just die—!!”
No matter whether Rosmas’s arrows flew beside me, I checked my own situation.
“Not azure?”
It was a clear red.
In the past, when I used mana from the Demon King’s Magic Core, my color would quickly tint to the Demon King’s mana color, but now there was none of that.
“…Was it like this last time?”
Thinking back,
It seemed that after taking on Asydia’s body, my hair color hadn’t changed particularly.
‘Maybe it’s because Asydia’s color is strong.’
Perhaps Asydia’s body is much more saturated in ‘color’ than that of the Demon King from the Demon World.
Or maybe since I’m inhabiting Asydia’s body, I can now freely use the Demon King’s power without changing my hair color.
If that’s the case,
Then the magic cores of other Demon Kings are just ‘sub mana tanks,’ and I can use mana freely.
More efficiently.
“Keias. Begin transformation.”
True to a Holy Sword with the attribute of transformation, it morphed into the weapon I desired the moment my command was issued.
Buuuuuuuuung.
The sound of the mana motor revving resonated thrillingly.
One of the weapons from the ‘comic book’ inside the Bride Ship, a ‘chainsaw,’ began to spin with mana.
What was it called again…
“A perfect conversation tool.”
Buuuaaaang—!!
I fervently poured mana into this magnificent conversation tool that devoured mana vigorously.
“One down.”
Puh-wak!
I decapitated Rosmas’s neck as he dashed toward me, using the cover I had.
As soon as the chainsaw’s blade touched, Rosmas’s body exploded into ether, and I dashed forward with the blade held out.
“Wind.”
Power to blow away all those bug-like distractions blocking my path.
Buuuuung!!
The moment the golden light burst forth, I drove the chainsaw into Rosmas’s abdomen who was daring to swing his bow at me.
Puh-wook!
Rosmas’s etheric mana splattered across my face.
Thanks to the shield I had up, the sticky mana didn’t cling to me, but to others, this world would surely seem extremely brutal.
It’s fine.
This is merely me slicing through clone-like projections made of mana.
“One more.”
Kagakakang!
The Rosmas behind me was instantly cleaved in two.
Raising the chainsaw that pierced his abdomen high, I swung downward, and the pinned Rosmas fell to the ground while two halves of him appeared before me.
“Die, you filthy traitor!”
“Who are you calling a traitor?”
I lightly turned my body and swung the chainsaw diagonally.
Getting a grip on the motor part felt a bit awkward, but it was no different than swinging a short-handled sword.
“I’m not the traitor; you all couldn’t even eat properly if I served you.”
This was not something I intended to say to the actual parties involved.
It was directed toward the clones, and I certainly didn’t mean it toward themselves.
“How much have I fed you until now, huh? Don’t you see the problem lies with you?”
Puh-uhk.
I kicked away Droniel’s sword that was trying to stab me, then raised my leg toward the flung sword.
Kwa-deuk!
The moment the handle faced downward, I stomped the sword downwards.
The sword stabbed straight into Droniel’s heart, and I hurled the chainsaw forward—
“Explode, Keias!”
The spinning chainsaw obliterated all of the ether clones trying to obstruct my path, and I lightly shook my foot and advanced again.
“Explode.”
Kwa—an!!
Chaos exploded.
It was called illusionary mana, but all mana that was hard to classify was simply lumped together as illusionary mana.
Since it was still ‘mana,’ exploding it was no hassle at all.
“Ha.”
Thanks to the explosion, the Bride Ship suffered no damage.
I had thrown the mana chainsaw solely targeting the ether clones, and the exploded chainsaw obliterated the three women caught within its blast radius.
Thud, drip.
The entire hallway was drenched in mana as if gray blood had burst forth.
It just so happened to fall like liquid, giving a genuine feeling that someone had died.
Was that red?
“Ugh. I don’t want to think about it.”
I walked forward, stepping through ethereal blood.
As I reached out sideways, the gray mana flickered in my hand, and Keias was back in my grasp.
“What are you doing standing in front of the elevator like that?”
Click.
I placed my hand on the elevator button—
[Access Denied.]
“…….”
Click.
[Access Denied.]
“Ha.”
Whose doing is this?
I placed my hand over my chest.
Wiiing.
Six colors were spinning in a circle around my thumping heart.
From the outermost red to the innermost purple, rings of six colors excluding the rainbow sparkled and pulsed out mana.
What I was searching for was the azure mana.
This situation contained the clues of Asmodeus’s mana.
How to reclaim the access authority that Asmodeus interfered with…
“Is this really insane?”
All I had to do was say one word loudly.
But that really was a crazy idea, and I could not comprehend what on earth Asmodeus was thinking.
The Guardian of Pure Love.
The Guardian of Love.
It had been said that she was on the side of the beloved, thus when I defeated her, it surely meant she willingly entrusted her Magic Core to me because she knew ‘love.’
“…My beloved is something else. Hmmm.”
I placed my hand on the button and recited the ‘authority release’ word that Asmodeus had prepared.
“[Carmen].”
Carmen.
In the Demon World, the protagonist of the opera organized by Asmodeus.
Some call her a light woman, while others call her a villainess who flirts with men.
However, Asmodeus referred to her as the embodiment of passionate and free-spirited love.
[Security Release.]
…I have no idea why she used that for the control of the Bride Ship, but for now, I stepped into the elevator.
My destination was the hangar.
I prepared for any unexpected situations, checking inside as soon as the elevator door opened—
“Lucius!”
“…Master.”
Lucius was in a terrible state—
“Please help me.”
He was fending off a multitude of party members charging at him, all in the likeness of naked ether shapes, like mannequins.
Not truly naked.
Just ether forms missing major parts.
“Where’s Liriez?”
“I subdued her. I managed to subdue her, but…”
In the direction Lucius pointed, Liriez was barely breathing, pierced by a golden spear in front of Celcius.
“Did you win?”
“Of course I won. It’s been a while now.”
Lucius’s voice was deceptively calm.
“She fell for the Demon King’s temptations because she didn’t have the confidence to fight me. Now that she lost, she has nothing left to say.”
“…That’s a relief.”
“Master, did you really think I would be defeated by Liriez?”
“No.”
I pointed to one side of the hangar where three party members were still trapped in a nightmare.
“Thinking they couldn’t break the illusion they were caught in and suffering?”
“…Then, will you help me?”
“Of course.”
I flicked my fingers towards Keias.
“That’s why I came.”
Snap.
As I snapped my fingers, all the ether illusions were sucked into Keias.
Thud.
In less than a second, all the clones were absorbed, and Keias tumbled to the ground.
“…Ha. Master.”
Lucius scratched his neck with a look of relief.
“Truly, we cannot do without you, Master.”
“……Heh.”
Unintentionally.
I felt a sense of pride.
Magic is truly the best.