Chapter 1906 – Dark Moon
Sparrow monsters hurl themselves at the electrified barrier. Bang, bang, bang! The sturdy barrier holds, repelling the sparrow monsters’ attacks. Though the barrier trembles, it won’t break immediately. There’s enough time, as calculated.
“One day, I realized my power had grown stronger.”
I recalled that day, not long ago.
It was truly a strange occurrence.
I hadn’t undergone any special training, nor had I made any breakthroughs in my magical research.
I simply realized that my power to manipulate lightning had grown stronger.
I could control lightning without using magic, and even imbue it with special properties. My innate ability had strengthened.
If I touched this lightning with magic, it could become even stronger.
“What nonsense are you spouting? Trying to stall for time? Not going to happen! Do you think that barrier will protect you forever?!”
From the ground, flames erupt, trying to melt the barrier.
This was also expected. It’s only natural that Gillian, becoming impatient, would use his own power. As a consequence, both of Gillian’s arms are now ablaze.
“I’m just saying it’s really strange. Who knows, maybe you’ve experienced something similar. Judging by your reaction, I guess not.”
I look at the lightning crackling in my palm. It has formed a ring shape, spinning around.
“I couldn’t find the cause, no matter how hard I tried. One thing’s for sure, it’s been beneficial. There haven’t been any downsides.”
I throw the completed lightning at the closest sparrow monster. The ring breaks apart, shooting out like a fierce snake, electrocuting it.
[Chain Lightning]
It electrocutes one sparrow monster and absorbs its life force and mana. Originally, Chain Lightning didn’t have the ability to absorb life force, but I recently imbued it with that ability through the special properties of lightning I’ve discovered.
Chain Lightning splits into five, rushing towards other sparrow monsters. It spreads rapidly among the monsters. Chain Lightning is a spell that becomes more powerful the more targets there are. Even if there were tens of millions of people gathered, one Chain Lightning could clear them out in five minutes.
Chirp, chirp, chirp!
The sparrow monsters are terrified, trying to escape the Chain Lightning. However, the speed of the Chain Lightning’s splitting and transfer is much faster than their flapping wings.
Crackling, crackling, crackling!
Within a minute, Chain Lightning has dealt with all the sparrow monsters and is about to move on to its next target. Normally, it would immediately move towards Gillian, but…
‘He’s too far away.’
The Chain Lightning, having lost its path, is about to dissipate into the air.
That won’t do. Unlike the original Chain Lightning, this energy mass, which has grown larger by absorbing the life force of the sparrow monsters, can’t just be let go.
As I reach out my hand, the Chain Lightning begins to gather.
“You! Were you hiding your power?!”
“Hiding my power? You just didn’t recognize it.”
“That’s not it! How could a Level 5 use a Level 6 spell… Is it an artifact?!”
“You fool.”
I change the shape of the Chain Lightning into a long spear. I remove the Chain Lightning’s formula and imbue it with a new one. I also remove the life force absorption property and imbue it with extreme cold.
‘Changing the properties of magic is something only a Level 7 can do, but… thanks to my innate ability, I can use it, at least for lightning-based magic. Other mages would be shocked to learn this.’
Additionally, I infuse my mana and will into the lightning spear.
Lightning Spear. Normally, it’s just a Level 4 spell, but this spear in my hand is comparable to a Level 6 spell in terms of power.
Before the barrier completely melts from the flames, I throw the Lightning Spear. I don’t think I’ll miss. If nothing else, I’m confident in my throwing accuracy.
The lightning spear pierces through Gillian’s torso. Gillian’s barrier is easily shattered. Then, the lightning spear embeds itself into the maple tree.
Crack!
The Lightning Spear explodes, scattering electricity and cold in all directions. The surrounding area is plunged into an extremely low temperature, where even the air freezes. The blazing maple leaves instantly extinguish, becoming faded.
Electricity races through the frozen Gillian and the maple tree. The environment is temporarily in a state of extreme cold, causing a superconducting phenomenon.
Then, the electricity disappears, and the temperature begins to rise slightly. It was then that Gillian, who was either frozen or dead, screamed.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
It was a scream that felt utterly desperate.
“I’ll kill you! I’ll give everything! My body, my soul! I’ll kill him!”
The maple tree didn’t die. The flames on the maple leaves were extinguished, and the inside of the tree was torn apart by the electricity, but it was still alive. In human terms, it would be considered critically injured. If there were fuel, it would burn again like before.
“If there were fuel, that is.”
The maple tree’s presence fades.
“What? Why? Why are you trying to disappear?! The contract? Keep the contract! I’ll give you my soul!”
I landed on the ground.
I realized why Gillian, whose torso was pierced by the Lightning Spear and frozen by the extreme cold, was still alive and moving. It’s simple. He had modified his body into a chimera.
However, it’s undeniable that death is near. Chimeras aren’t immortal.
“Is your body, which is already as good as a corpse, worth anything? If I were that tree, I wouldn’t want it either.”
“My soul! I’ll give you my soul!”
“Mages and warriors, those with power, make a mistake. They think their souls are special. Unless it’s a special case, human souls are all the same. Your body was worth hundreds of times more than your soul. But not anymore.”
“You bastard!”
Gillian clenches his fist and rushes at me. But he immediately collapses, writhing on the ground. Gillian was already at his limit.
I looked down at the fallen Gillian and prepared a spell.
“I told you. I’d fry you with lightning.”
Lightning Strike.
Lightning falls in front of me. Gillian, struck by the lightning, trembles in pain before dying. I angrily drop lightning two more times and kick his head, crushing it. Gillian is a chimera. There’s a less than 1% chance, but he might come back to life, so I made sure he was dead.
‘I’m a bit tired.’
But I couldn’t go back right away.
It was time to collect the spoils of victory.
‘He was going to buy a factory, so he must have money. If not, there will be things worth money.’
I head to Gillian’s underground workshop. I use detection magic to check Yuria’s location. Yuria was sitting on top of a ruined building, resting.
‘Looks like she’s safe for now.’
I drop into the underground workshop. It was a mess. Human heads, monster arms, beast torsos, and so on were visible. They were the materials for chimeras.
I wasn’t interested in the chimeras.
‘Are there any magic books? There must be research logs.’
If nothing else, there must be research logs. Just like me, mages record their research.
‘Computers are too risky to hack, so they write by hand in paper or books.’
While wandering around the workshop, I soon found a book. One was a chimera research log. Gillian had recorded everything about the chimeras he had created.
‘It started with combining mice and hamsters. Then he gradually increased the size of the chimeras, and about a year ago, he modified his own body into a chimera. He replaced his organs little by little.’
After skimming through it, I could also understand Gillian’s goal.
To combine creatures from the Beast Realm with himself. That was Gillian’s ultimate goal.
‘He was collecting items related to Beast Realm creatures while working as a smuggler.’
For example, claws of cat beasts or feathers of flame birds. They had value as magical materials, but they weren’t that great.
‘The summoning book is interesting… but it’s nothing special.’
The summoning formula was simple. If prepared, even a Level 1 mage could use it. The problem was making a contract with the summoned being. In this process, over 70% of summoners die. There aren’t many creatures in the Beast Realm that are friendly to humans.
‘That’s why summoners need a mentor to mediate in the middle.’
The annoying thing about summoning is that it’s completely random when you summon for the first time.
‘I memorized the summoning formula. Not that I plan to use it.’
Summoned creatures aren’t limited to Beast Realm creatures. In theory, spirits, demons, and angels could also be summoned. But the possibility is close to zero.
‘It’s possible to specify the summoning target by linking it with ritual magic. The problem is that, unlike the summoning formula, ritual magic is extremely complex, and there’s a lot to prepare.’
I took the book for now.
I looked around the underground workshop. There were quite a few interesting things.
‘A magical tool for analyzing materials. I should use this.’
Besides that, there were luxury goods from foreign countries, as befitting a smuggler. From my perspective, they were stolen goods, so it would be hard to sell them for their full value, but I could still get at least 100 million credits.
‘I’ll burn the drugs. If I handle them wrong, I’ll be dragged to jail, so it’s easier to get rid of them cleanly.’
I entered the deepest part of the underground workshop.
On one side, there was a pile of cash and gold bars. It was worth at least 400 million. Just this alone was a windfall. But the items next to it caught my eye.
Three 1-meter-sized, high-end preservation capsules.
Inside each of them were different saplings. I was quite surprised to see the sapling in the first capsule. It was a tree that felt very similar to the maple tree I had just seen. Of course, its presence was worlds apart.
‘I trust my senses. All these saplings… they’re trees from the Beast Realm. How did he get them? He wouldn’t have gone to the Beast Realm himself at his level…’
In the first place, if they were summoned from the Beast Realm, they would be reverse-summoned after a while. In other words, these were brought from the Beast Realm in a way other than summoning.
‘They’re treasures. Their research value is more than enough.’
I swallowed hard.
I recalled the majesty of the maple tree. Gillian, who used the power of the maple tree, was similar in power to a Level 5 fire mage. Although, he didn’t use that power properly because he hadn’t trained formally.
‘If I can research and understand the tree and use its power properly…’
Even if there are no research results, I can sell them for hundreds of millions. The value of trees from the Beast Realm is that high.
‘……Could Gillian have been trying to plant these in his body?’
I don’t know the answer, but it felt like it.
I scanned the saplings in the capsules. The first one is definitely that maple tree. The second and third ones look slightly different, so I can tell they’re different kinds of trees.
Among them, the third sapling caught my eye. The reason was that it felt somewhat familiar.
‘I should see it directly.’
I opened the capsule. I didn’t feel any immediate danger from the tree. If it were a dangerous tree, it wouldn’t have been managed so simply. I reached out my hand towards the tree.
Zap.
As soon as my finger touched the tree, a spark flew. It was too strong to be static electricity. Surprised, I reflexively tried to control the spark. The moment I raised my mana, it resonated with the sapling.
Crackling.
Lightning occurs. Strangely, the sapling absorbed the lightning. A change occurred in the sapling. It grew larger than before and began to bloom.
The light pink petals were a type of flower I knew well.
‘Cherry blossoms?’
The cherry blossoms glowed faintly.
