Chapter 1944 – 1944. Dark Moon
“Let’s meet again next time. But next time, prepare proper offerings, not trash like this.”
Astaroth deliberately waved at the camera before disappearing. The heavy air vanished in an instant. The absence of pressure was almost refreshing. Instead, the stench of blood from 167 people assaulted my nose.
‘Haa.’
I sighed inwardly.
The summoning of the 72 demons ended quietly.
This was an achievement that would go down in history. The underworld would probably be buzzing about this for a while.
‘How many viewers are there?’
About 12 million.
The corners of my mouth curled up as soon as I saw the number. I didn’t bother holding it back. I was wearing a mask, after all.
I also checked the donations. Excluding the donation from ‘Black Serpent,’ it totaled 17 billion credits. There were over 20 VIPs who donated more than 500 million. They all sent secret messages.
「IronGolem has donated 500 million credits!」
「I am preparing to summon a demon. I plan to summon one of the 72 demons. I have three sponsors lined up. The sacrifices are being prepared diligently. Would you like to join us?」
「SOFT has donated 500 million credits!」
「I would like to do some indirect advertising. It shouldn’t be blatant, but subtly exposed.」
「ColdBlue has donated 1 billion credits!」
「I really like the broadcast.」
「WeaponCompany has donated 1 billion credits!」
「Would you use our company’s weapons during the battle royale? We will give you more if you use the weapons we specify.」
‘I’ll ignore all the demon summoning-related stuff for now.’
I was lucky this time. It was as if Astaroth appeared on her own, rather than me summoning her. And she was favorably disposed towards me. I can’t be sure that the other 72 demons are like Astaroth.
‘Astaroth might change her mind again at any time.’
I decided to accept all the advertising-related offers. I could make a fortune with just a little effort. There was no reason to refuse.
‘The viewers’ reactions are… good, as expected.’
-Wow! Astaroth!
-Demon noona!
-I got an erection as soon as I saw her.
-I’m a girl, and I got wet right away.
-But what was that sudden five-colored lightning? Did Astaroth really play a prank? It looked too real to be acting.
-There are a lot of people who don’t know anything about the 72 demons. The 72 demons are just called demons, but they are practically gods.
-Anyway, damn it. Astaroth really appeared! This is amazing!
-If you had prepared the sacrifices properly, you could have destroyed a kingdom.
-What is the host’s real identity? I saw Astaroth getting close to you earlier. I wish she would get close to me too….
-There’s an elemental mage who is more loved by demons than a black mage?
-When is the next broadcast?
-This broadcast will be legendary.
The number of viewers would probably drop by more than half now. Astaroth wouldn’t be appearing in the next broadcast. I also had no intention of summoning demons.
‘I shouldn’t show my face from the second broadcast onwards.’
It was obvious that VIPs and viewers would ask me to summon demons.
‘It doesn’t matter. After all, the prisoners are sent here after receiving mana removal surgery. And the viewers recognize me as a 7th-grade mage. Plus, Astaroth openly showed favor towards me.’
Those who coveted this show or held a grudge against me would have no choice but to give up. Especially those who knew even a little about the 72 demons.
‘I just need to keep getting a supply of prisoners.’
But I don’t even need to do that myself.
‘I’ve got money now.’
Now that I had money, I could subcontract it out.
‘I can hire mercenaries to capture criminals.’
That’s how the system would be completed.
‘Later, I’ll just be able to suck up the money.’
I ordered the host and staff to wrap things up and returned to Neo London using the world door.
• • •
Neo London mansion’s underground workshop.
I quietly closed my eyes in the center and began self-introspection.
The five-colored lightning that struck me from Astaroth. That lightning forcibly expanded my astral. The method of expansion was like detonating a bomb to create space. Originally, it should be expanded slowly and carefully. So that the astral wouldn’t collapse, and so that my body could handle the astral.
I began self-introspection.
The expanded astral was stable, contrary to my worries.
‘It’s too stable for an astral that was forcibly expanded. Hmm?’
Something was bothering me. It felt foreign. I focused on that part.
Then, knowledge flooded into my mind.
Magical knowledge that I didn’t possess. There was no such knowledge in my memories of the original work from my past life.
‘Forcibly imprinted knowledge.’
I slowly savored the knowledge and was shocked.
‘This is Astral Vision?!’
Among mages, there are extremely rare individuals with unique astrals and mana roads. Some are born with it, and others acquire it later. Those who acquire it later are those who have trained their astral and mana roads using a method called Astral Vision, which has been secretly passed down since ancient times.
You can’t buy it with money, and even if you’re lucky enough to find it, you can’t learn it if your constitution and other conditions don’t match.
‘This Astral Vision is perfect for me. It’s like a vision made just for me.’
That’s why it was a bit suspicious. I wondered if it was Astaroth’s doing.
But it was too tempting to not learn this Astral Vision. Just by learning this, I would never lose a 1v1 battle against a mage of the same grade.
‘Because I’d be able to exert power similar to a 7th-grade mage.’
I weighed the pros and cons of learning it and not learning it. No matter how many times I thought about it, it was more beneficial to learn it, even if it meant taking the risk of the knowledge coming from an unknown source.
‘I’ve done countless dangerous things. There will be more dangerous things in the future. Do you think I’d give up every time just because it’s dangerous?’
The name of the Astral Vision imprinted on my astral was Phase Astral.
It was about creating and operating a virtual astral and mana road simultaneously.
It was an impossible feat. Astral is the mind. To create another astral? It’s the same as creating another mind.
‘It’s not about dividing the mind in half. It’s about using one mind to operate two bodies differently.’
It was absurd.
The human mind is weak. It’s common sense that it collapses or shatters if you touch it too much. Phase Astral ruthlessly burdens the mind. It forces the creation of a Phase Astral by overworking it as if it doesn’t care whether the mind breaks or not.
I was confident that I would succeed. Why? Because I was already creating a Phase Astral. My mind was fine. So fine that it felt like a dream.
‘Now, I’ll create a Phase Mana Road.’
Although my eyes were closed, I could clearly see the Phase Astral.
It resembled a small universe. It would be more accurate to say that it was a universe compressed to the size of my head.
The shape of the astral is different for each mage. Astral is also a kind of mental image. The reason I shaped my astral as a universe was because when I played as a mage in the original game, the astral appeared as a universe image.
Soon, small starlight leaked out from the Phase Astral. The starlight arrived at its designated place and formed a path by connecting the lights.
I succeeded.
Without a single hitch or mistake. It was so easy that I wondered if it was right.
[Phase Shift]
Switches between the existing astral and the Phase Astral. I can put aside my worries about the burden on the original astral and mana road.
‘If I use the 6th-grade auxiliary magic, Memorize, I can unleash magic in an instant.’
I smiled wryly. My astral was forcibly expanded, and I reached the 6th grade, but my mana road remained the same, so using Memorize was disadvantageous compared to other mages. Memorize stores spells in the mana road.
‘The mana road required for storage differs for each spell. The higher the spell, the more mana road is needed for storage. It’s difficult for me to use it with my small number of mana roads.’
It was a different story with the Phase Astral and mana road. In game terms, it was like changing skill sets in an instant. And without any cooldown.
[Phase Overlap].
Overlaps the astral and the Phase Astral. My concentration increases rapidly, and the output of the mana road increases.
‘The burden on my body is accumulating quickly. It seems difficult to maintain for long.’
I opened my eyes. I was planning to use a simple spell, but I was surprised by my face reflected in the knife on the desk.
Starlight was embedded in both of my pupils, sparkling.
Just like the other me who was forcibly dragged away by the five-colored lightning.
‘…I see.’
Astaroth’s attitude and the Astral Vision that was too perfect for me.
I became certain of what I had been vaguely guessing.
‘Astaroth saw the future me, and the future me, somehow, used Astaroth to call me.’
To give me the Astral Vision, Phase Astral.
‘……Is that even possible? The future Astaroth saw is just an unstable future with possibilities, right?’
In this world, the concept of parallel worlds only exists in theory. Actual parallel worlds do not exist. So, there is no such thing as a future parallel world.
‘No matter how much I think about it, I don’t know. Anyway, this power is mine.’
Phase Astral had another ability. It was difficult to try it right now. There were issues such as proficiency.
‘More importantly, it’s the future me. The future me was definitely on top of Metatron’s corpse.’
In other words, I killed a transcendent being.
‘Is the future me achieving transcendence? That’s awesome.’
A chuckle escaped my lips. I had to create additional mana roads as soon as possible, but it was hard to concentrate.
• • •
Time passed, and it was the day of the visit to the Maid Academy.
