Episode 240. Invading! (1)
After Diora fired that roar, the sky brightened for a moment.
Originally, a shower was expected to fall tonight, but the explosion is said to have dissipated all the dark clouds.
With a single blow, they can cause disasters and change the weather. The spirits of the highest rank are beings of a different standard.
What would have happened if this had been shot at the ground instead of the sky?
`Hmm… .`
I can’t even imagine it, so I can’t speak. I don’t know about anything else, but the conclusion that comes to mind is that this entire area disappeared.
While it is very scary to see such terrible destructive power… it also brings great benefits.
The user of that brute force was none other than me.
It was as if I had now obtained the power of the highest spirit.
There is a setting where even the most skilled shamans or spirit shamans lose their lives in the process of making a contract with a top-level entity.
The reason was none other than the side effect that occurred during the contract process, namely excessive consumption of magic power.
The moment it became 0, I would have gone to the other world, but I was lucky to have accumulated a lot of stat points.
So now the knights were looking at me in surprise.
Of course, you’ll keep it a secret that you saw me here.
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Once this mission is completed, you will be able to enjoy the following benefits:
[Acquire “Last Chance”!]
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The mission completion window that appeared right after the contract. I received a reward for succeeding in something that was considered impossible.
`Last chance?`
I’ve been playing Devil Aka for a long time, but this was the first time I’ve seen this reward.
It’s not a skill, it’s not an item, and it’s not even a recipe.
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[Last Chance]
It is automatically activated when a certain state is reached.
You will be given another chance to continue.
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The description is like this, so I can’t tell what function it has.
I even question whether this system existed in the product that the developers created in the first place.
I don’t know what it is, but I hope it’s useful… I entered the ruins with my body worn out from fatigue.
“Are you okay? Your complexion has looked a bit off since earlier.”
“are you okay.”
[Erosion rate decrease: -2%]
[+200 Credits]
Ruska, who was walking next to me, looked at my facial condition and worried.
Honestly, it made sense. He had just collapsed for a moment after Diora fired that destruction beam at him.
I had exhausted all my strength to fight with just that one shot.
I managed to stand up, but every time I walked, it felt like gravity was doubling on my body.
“It’s hard, but I have to find out when I get the chance.”
“You could just rest today and come back tomorrow morning.”
What Ruska said is not wrong. The lost strength will quickly recover after a night.
But what if something happens to the ruins while we’re away? Who will take responsibility?
If someone like Harkel or Grisha comes while you’re resting for a night, all your hard work might go down the drain.
Of course, it could just be my sensitivity. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with roasting beans in a flash.
but….
“You should go in while the door is open.”
There were no visible traps or barriers outside.
I walked around the inside with my ‘eyes’ wide open, but nothing like the kind of scenes you’d see in an intruder-suppression device or an exploration movie happened.
It was nothing more than a passageway made up of nothing but dark paths.
“But that spirit… how on earth did you tame it? Even if I were to transfer my power to you, the contract seemed difficult.”
“If you think about it, it’s thanks to connections.”
Aisha half-appeared and made a V sign with two fingers.
It is also true that the opportunity to sign a contract arose because of her presence.
“But it would be better not to use it often. If your magic power was even a little low, then it wouldn’t have ended with you collapsing.”
In spirit studies classes, we often talk about top spirits.
It is said that spirit masters who contract with such big names often die from abusing their spirit power and exhausting their strength.
If the rank is the highest, the amount of magical power consumed will be enormous.
The same goes for the spirits. Diora’s destruction beam should never be used unless it’s an emergency.
“But I’m okay.”
“what?”
[Erosion rate decrease: -2%]
[+200 Credits]
“I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m in great shape. I’m healthy enough to pierce the heavens. Do you understand?”
[Erosion rate decrease: -3%]
[+300 Credits]
[Erosion rate decrease: -2%]
[+200 Credits]
[Erosion rate decrease: -2%]
[+200 Credits]
“Haha… Okay, I got it.”
Even though I was talking nonsense, Ruska sighed and let it go for good.
She could understand, because she also learned about the Liar’s curse.
I guess they allow it because they are in a position where they have to lie often.
“And Ruska’s face….”
“hey.”
As I spoke, Ruska opened her icy eyes and glared at me.
Her red eyes looked like they were going to tear me to pieces at any moment, and I felt like I was walking on thin ice.
“….”
“….”
silence.
silence.
I quickly turned my head to avoid a situation where I could literally be torn apart by the beast’s teeth if I opened my mouth wrong.
So, we came up with such a solid answer.
“You have a really pretty face.”
“How pretty.”
“just.”
“Don’t be so quick, just say it.”
I felt a subtle threat that if I didn’t speak, his fist would go up.
But this is something I did. So I have no choice but to handle it myself.
“Pretty than Jenny.”
“Me, really?”
[Erosion rate reduction: -8%]
[+800 Credits]
“It’s not a lie?”
“huh.”
[Erosion rate reduction: -9%]
[+900 Credits]
“Oh, I see.”
Only then did the fearful aura disappear from Ruska.
It’s strange that when it comes to Jenny, I have to say that she becomes sensitive.
He was a friend with unique thoughts in many ways.
“Is this the end?”
As I walked to the end of the hallway, a huge door appeared before my eyes.
This time, there were no hidden traps, so I opened the door without hesitation.
Inside, books and other paper materials were tightly lined up on the bookshelves, and all kinds of magic circles, from small to large, were drawn on the floor and walls.
It was full of traces of some kind of magic being studied. Looking at this, it seemed closer to a secret research facility than a relic.
“There’s nothing wrong inside either.”
“What is all this?”
Ruska looked around, feeling the bookshelf.
Even Ruska, who was unfamiliar with this field of study, could tell just by looking at it that it was a confidential research facility.
It felt like a secret laboratory that might be revealed in the basement of a horror game mansion, but it felt different.
Because there were no obvious signs of inhumane behavior, such as biological experiments.
But I could tell by the writing on the high wall in front.
Even without playing with human lives, it is clear that a considerable amount of crazy research has been conducted.
『God of Destruction.』
“what?”
“It is a ritual that invites the indescribable evil spirit into this land.”
When Aisha appeared and began to chant, Ruska responded.
And I could tell what that text was just by looking at it.
The final chapter of Chapter 6. Because it was the word that came to mind when Machia, who had crossed the line to the end, summoned the God of Destruction.
The idea of summoning a god of destruction seems to have come from Grisha.
The traces of this research are none other than evidence, and Aisha seemed to know this because she had inherited this knowledge from her father.
“Destroyer? What is that?”
Ruska couldn’t help but not know because she had never heard of it in class.
But just hearing the word ‘God of Destruction’ made me wonder what it was, so I had a worried expression.
『Destruction God Endless. Once summoned, he is a type of evil god that will not stop until he destroys everything. In mythology, he is described as a natural disaster that no one can stop. He is so dangerous that most people take the information about him to their graves.』
The summoned Endless moves through Machia, who called them to this land.
To be exact, he would be following the Demon King Machia, who made a contract 300 years ago.
However, the guy’s summoning route can be seen as blocked for now.
It was now absurd, since the most important medium, Machia, had been arrested.
『Ah, here is some recently written material. Hwangtapju… . It is definitely my father’s handwriting.』
“what?”
“It seems like the plan changed because my suicide operation was over.”
Perhaps because they were of the same bloodline, Aisha specialized in finding traces of Grisha.
I checked with Aisha what was inside.
After checking the contents, I furrowed my brows.
This is because it contained the content that a new medium had been discovered after the medium, Machia, had been completely blocked.
* * * * *
“It’s been a long time.”
“….”
“Is the tea not to your taste?”
A mansion in Silver Town.
Housewife Scylla Crowler offered tea to a guest who came to her house.
Grisha, who arrived as a guest, looked down at the tea with a pitiful expression.
And said.
“Has it been a few decades?”
“….”
“That was when our hometown burned down.”
It has now been turned into a magic stone mine.
It was not pleasant to see the forest, once a place of abundant nature, reduced to a place to satisfy human desires.
“At that time, humans invaded under the pretense of rescuing a girl. It was so sudden that we didn’t have time to investigate, but I think we know better now.”
“….”
The girl was none other than the housewife in front of me.
It wasn’t a very welcome news for Scylla herself, as she still felt guilty about that day.
Scylla said, making a guess because the person involved at that time had come to her in person and brought up the painful past.
“I see you still resent me.”
“….”
“It’s understandable, considering that he’s not only surviving on his own, but also building a healthy family.”
If you look at it from a different perspective, you could say that Scylla was the culprit behind the village’s disappearance.
There was even a time when he cried so much that the ground collapsed because his friend Aisha died.
but….
“What good will it do to resent you now? In fact, it was doomed because it deserved to be destroyed.”
“What does that mean?”
“Literally. Do you know what our clan has been worshipping?”
My memories of living in the Elf Forest are still vivid.
I remember there being a strong feeling of a group protecting something, as with certain tribes.
They even performed group rituals at a giant tree that seemed sacred.
“Isn’t it the World Tree?”
“The sacred tree… we thought so at first. We worshipped it without even knowing what it was.”
It was only when the forest burned down and the giant tree known as the World Tree was destroyed that the truth was revealed.
At that time, Grisha approached the tree in order to protect it somehow.
However, the tree was already on fire and eventually collapsed.
The situation was such that they had to retreat because humans were chasing them from behind. However, Grisha was miraculously able to come back to life.
“At that moment, from the tree…, a strange power came over me.”
It seemed as if the World Tree was repaying Grisha for worshipping it to the end.
But it wasn’t a sacred tree called the World Tree.
“Destroyer Endless. Have you ever heard that name?”
“yes?”
“Well, I don’t know. Even our tribe had no idea.”
What was contained within the World Tree was the ideology of a powerful evil god.
What was once revered as the tree of God turned out to be the tree of the evil god.
When I realized that fact, it was too late.
This is because the thoughts of the God of Destruction have already taken hold of Grisha, the last survivor.
“The rituals we have performed on the World Tree so far were not for the revival of our tribe. In fact….”
It was a ritual to seal the thoughts of the God of Destruction.
I realized it too late, but Grisha had already been consumed by that thought and had turned his surroundings into scorched earth.
Thus, he was reborn as a different being.
The image of the kind elven chieftain disappeared, and he was reduced to a puppet that moved as his thoughts dictated.
“That’s why… humanity doesn’t exist in me now.”
“What is your purpose?”
“It’s obvious.”
Bringing the Endless, who can be called the main body, down to this land.
It didn’t matter what form it took, as long as there was a medium.
“The original medium was the emperor… but now that it has come to this, I guess I will have to use another medium.”
“Who is that?”
A most eerie aura ripples around Grisha.
A foul voice came out of his mouth.
“If you say you are of the same bloodline as that emperor…, wouldn’t you know?”
“….”
“Well, they themselves wouldn’t know. Where their genealogy comes from.”
The ominous aura radiated powerful magical power and spread in the form of waves.
The framed picture of Crowler’s family photo was cracked.
Surviving as an Academy Fraudster
