Chapter 1266 – 1266. Dark Moon
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Beyond the wooden fence, a being that looked like a grown man magnified tenfold was approaching. Each step the monster took sent a loud tremor through the ground.
It was a corrupted being based on an ogre. Its skin was a dirty orange, and its right arm was disproportionately large. Upon closer inspection, one could see what looked like iron rods embedded in its right arm.
A Class 4 Corrupted.
It was the one I had to subdue.
“It’s a gruesome sight, no matter how many times I see it.”
Max grumbled beside me.
“There’s no need for you to be by my side. Wait at the town hall with the villagers.”
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just want to see that damn thing die. I swear I won’t get in your way, so please don’t tell me to leave.”
“……”
I found arguing with him tiresome, so I decided to let it slide. As long as he didn’t interfere, I didn’t care.
I refocused on the Class 4 Corrupted.
Corrupted beings were those that had been affected by waste and pollutants, and then mutated under the influence of the Dark Moon.
The most significant characteristic of the Corrupted was that they didn’t necessarily have to be living things. Corpses, waste, or scrap could also become Corrupted.
They were almost devoid of intelligence. Even small animals were more intelligent than them. The intelligence of a Corrupted was about the same as a zombie.
“When did the Class 4 Corrupted first appear?”
“It first appeared three days ago. We weren’t prepared at all back then… Two villagers were eaten by it. At dawn, it brazenly came and defecated in front of the village. …My drinking buddy was mixed in with that damn poop!”
I wasn’t interested. I asked a different question.
“How have you been dealing with it since then?”
“…That thing is incredibly strong, but it’s slow and stupid. We lured it with a motorcycle. It wouldn’t go outside the village, so we had to circle around the village all night. Then, when the sun rose, it went underground.”
“Didn’t you think about getting rid of it yourself?”
“Of course, we did. Bullets and even bombs didn’t work. We had no choice but to hope for help from someone else.”
“So, it has immense strength and durability. I understand.”
I got on my motorcycle and sped towards the Corrupted. Max followed behind me.
“What are you going to do?”
“First… I’ll try burning it.”
[Fireball]
A fireball, leaving a red trail across the night sky, flew towards the Corrupted. The fireball struck the Corrupted’s massive body and exploded. Crimson flames engulfed the Corrupted’s body.
The Corrupted didn’t even scream as its body burned. It couldn’t feel pain itself.
I narrowed my eyes and checked the Corrupted’s condition. The flames were burning, but they weren’t actually burning the Corrupted’s body at all. The night wind blew, and the flames gradually died down and disappeared.
‘It’s not resistant to fire or magic. It’s just not made of a material that can burn.’
[Torrent]
A large amount of water appeared from beneath my feet and flew towards the Corrupted. It soaked the Corrupted’s body.
[Ice Spear]
An ice spear struck the Corrupted’s chest. Cold air burst out and covered the Corrupted’s body.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The Corrupted’s body froze instantly.
The Corrupted nonchalantly lifted its leg and walked forward. The ice shattered and scattered everywhere. Fire didn’t work, and neither did ice.
“Don’t you have any more powerful magic? Magic that can get rid of that thing in one go!”
“Shut up. Don’t rush me.”
I used telekinesis to pull a stone rolling on the ground towards me.
[Material Conversion]
I turned the stone into metal and drew a blue magic circle. After adjusting the angle, I finished activating the magic.
[Railgun]
With a deafening roar, the railgun fired. The projectile, far exceeding the speed of sound, pierced through the Corrupted’s abdomen. A huge hole appeared in the Corrupted’s abdomen.
“Oh, oh, oh!”
Max was impressed by the significant hit.
On the other hand, I stared at the Corrupted with a hardened expression.
“This is a pain in the ass.”
“Why? It’s as good as finished, isn’t it?”
“It didn’t fall. And look closely at the wound.”
“It’s healing…?! This is absurd….”
The gaping hole in the Corrupted’s abdomen was rapidly healing. In about three minutes, it would be completely healed without leaving a single scar.
“Don’t you have any more powerful magic?!”
“No.”
“……Are we doomed?”
Leaving the despondent Max behind, I rode my motorcycle towards the Corrupted. As I got closer, I could smell the stench emanating from the Corrupted. Thump, thump, thump. The Corrupted approached me.
‘It’s clear that it has super regeneration.’
It was one of the characteristics that Corrupted beings had in the original game. The proper strategy was to use skills or items that reduced regeneration. If you didn’t have those, there was only one answer.
‘DPS check. If I overwhelm it with firepower before it can regenerate, it’ll be fine.’
The railgun worked. That was enough.
Three stones that had been lying on the ground shot up into the air.
[Material Conversion]
The stones turned into projectiles. I then completed three magic circles.
[Railgun]
Three railguns fired simultaneously.
The dark space flashed, and the aftershock swept across the ground. At the same time, the Corrupted’s body was shattered and fell to the ground in pieces.
“Oh, amazing. Is this the magic of a Class 5 mage! I’ll deposit the 5 million credit commission into the promised account!”
Ignoring Max’s chatter, I rummaged through the Corrupted’s corpse with my attribute sword.
“…Do you perhaps have a hobby of playing with corpses?”
“I see traces of black magic.”
“……What do you mean?”
“Look here. There are traces of a black magic circle inside the intestines.”
“To my eyes, it just looks like black spots….”
“You have no eye for detail. Look at these intestines. The formulas of black magic are split and engraved on each and every intestine. Each formula engraved on these intestines can be combined to complete a black magic circle.”
“Even if you say that… I’m not a mage, so I don’t really understand. However, I understand that a black mage is involved in this. What effect does the black magic circle have?”
“I don’t know.”
Max looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.
I said to him confidently.
“The intestines are severely damaged. The black magic circle has to be intact to be interpreted. With this, I can only speculate that there was a black magic circle.”
Even I couldn’t tell what kind of black magic circle it was just from the traces of it.
“Damn it. Does that mean a black mage is targeting us? Should we report this to the council and hope for support to arrive as soon as possible….”
“I’m intrigued. I’ll track down the black mage.”
The black mage had probably artificially created the Corrupted. Judging by the fact that they just released the Corrupted, they must have been trying to gather research data. I became interested in the black mage’s research data and black magic.
Additionally, it was also an opportunity to kill the black mage and extract the Dark Hole. I couldn’t just pass by a bonus that was right in front of me.
“Do you know where the black mage is?”
“Didn’t you say it yourself? The Corrupted came out of the ground and went back into the ground. The black mage probably set up a workshop underground.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“It probably is.”
I put my hand in my jacket pocket. I could feel the Overload Ampoule. If an emergency occurred, I was planning to use the Overload Ampoule.
“But I’m still going.”
“…Why? Why are you deliberately courting danger?”
“I’m not courting danger, I’m trying to seize an opportunity.”
I was quite confident.
If it was a Class 5 or higher black mage, there would be no reason to set up a workshop in a place like this. They probably couldn’t handle the ogre Corrupted, so they released it outside.
“You go back to the village.”
“…I will. It’s obvious that I’ll only be a hindrance if I follow you any further…. I’ll go back and protect the villagers. And… thank you.”
“There’s no reason for you to thank me. I’m just moving in a direction that benefits me.”
“Still, thank you. I just wanted to say thank you.”
Max got on his motorcycle and returned to the village.
I knelt down on one knee on the ground. I placed my palm on the ground and used magic.
[Detection]
Mana waves spread out in all directions like ultrasound. Just as I was about to stop the detection because I didn’t feel anything, I felt the presence of an underground space at the far west end. I moved immediately. I rode my motorcycle towards the west.
[Detection]
I could feel it clearly. I could feel an empty space underground. I also tried to find the black mage’s location, but… there was a barrier, so I couldn’t pinpoint their exact location.
[Dig Out]
The ground caved in. After using the Dig Out magic three more times, I was able to enter the underground space.
The underground space was dark and quiet.
[Light]
I created a sphere of light above my head and walked straight ahead. Of course, I didn’t forget to use detection magic as well.
I carefully moved forward and then stopped abruptly. An invisible wall blocked my path right in front of me.
‘A barrier. The barrier itself is low-level. At most, Class 3.’
I carefully touched the barrier with my hand. I let out a little mana and interpreted the barrier’s formula.
‘Easy. If I just properly decipher the slightly twisted formula….’
Zzzzzzz.
The barrier cracked. I entered the barrier.
In the passage where nothing had been visible until now, traces of people began to appear. Human footprints, trash that seemed to have been discarded by people, and so on.
‘They probably noticed that I’ve infiltrated. They’ll attack me as soon as they see me, so I’ll block it with a barrier… and then seize the space with an electric field….’
I was imagining the battle with the black mage as I walked. Then, I smelled blood. It wasn’t fresh. There was a rotten smell mixed in. It seemed to be at least three days old.
I quickened my pace. After gaining combat experience against monsters and humans, I was able to somewhat distinguish between the smell of monster blood and human blood. And the smell of blood I was smelling now was human blood.
A chamber appeared.
Looking at the books and experimental tools scattered everywhere, it seemed that this was the center of the black mage’s workshop.
I found the black mage. They were dead on the experiment table. The abdomen of the corpse was empty. A monster was sitting on top of the corpse. It had bat wings, a monkey’s body, and a goat’s head.
It wasn’t a monster.
It was too alien to be called a monster. It was something else.
The monster, upon seeing me, turned its goat head 180 degrees.
“Human? What is it? I feel a sense of familiarity. Are you a contractor?”
Upon hearing those words, I realized what it was and let out a soft groan.
“A demon, Bior. And you?”
“I have no name to give to a demon.”
“Oh. Won’t you contract with me?”
