Clack, clack, clack.
Each time the girl walking beside me descended a step, a high-pitched sound echoed from her shoes. The narrow spiral staircase amplified the noise. I, on the other hand, was floating (……..) so I didn’t make a sound.
“So, did Fiss-chan finally forgive you?”
“Well, it worked out somehow.”
“That’s what happens when you don’t come clean sooner.”
A few days ago, Fiss was furious after I revealed that I was a Demon Beast.
She also seemed to have noticed my magic training with Paula, and keeping that a secret was apparently a bad move. We were awkward for a while.
However, we managed to reconcile, so the fact that only Paula is beside me now isn’t because we had a falling out, but simply because that’s how the roles were divided.
Fiss and Xanthos are waiting in the city in case I lose.
“I’m going to make a slight detour, unlock.”
I used 〖Mana〗 to interact with the door-shaped Artifact cleverly disguised as a wall on the inner side of the spiral staircase, and unlocked it.
Beyond the sliding door were countless monitors and instruments, and one human… no, a Pseudo-Golem Machine.
“If you don’t hurry, we won’t be able to teleport together.”
“That’s none of your concern. I was just doing a final check, I was going to move when the time came.”
The Sage, as he was called, was there.
To be precise, his main body was here even on the day we first met, and what we met was a terminal (a body double), or so he said.
“…So, the main body is really a Pseudo-Golem Machine.”
“Please don’t analyze me without permission, that’s bad manners.”
“I didn’t analyze you, my 〖Skill〗 just automatically detects the location of Artifacts. Besides, you’d know if you were being analyzed, right?”
A general-purpose Calamity-Class Pseudo-Golem Machine. That was the true identity of the ageless Sage.
It had a highly advanced calculation circuit that could even house a soul, and had been ruling the Etha Kingdom for a thousand years while pretending to be human.
“Again, the Great Sage was an amazing person. To be able to imitate a human so precisely.”
“Indeed, Master was a unique and unparalleled sage. And you are about to undo the great achievements of such a person. Failure is not an option.”
“Yeah, I’m prepared. I’ll put an end to this pathetic festival, so you can start preparing for the victory celebration.”
“…Then I have nothing more to say. Your combat strength is rated as Class F, equivalent to a Tsuchimikuchi. It’s not an unwinnable battle. …I pray for your victory.”
Having finished his business, the Sage stood up from his chair and left the hidden room.
We turned our backs to her and started descending the stairs again. After a while, we could see the end.
The long spiral staircase that continued from the first basement floor of the Sage Tower ended just before the landing.
Beyond the tightly closed door was a vast hollow space.
It wasn’t as big as the Great Cavern, but it was a space that could easily fit ten soccer fields.
“Phew, I can finally stretch my body.”
Due to my 〖Evolution〗, I had become a giant the size of a school building, so the inside of the Space Expansion Bag had become quite cramped.
I crawled out of the Space Expansion Bag and stretched.
My entire body, which had appeared, was a sphere like a crystal ball.
Its smooth curves were without any distortion, and its body color was like lightning melted into a spring.
A translucent golden sphere. That was the simple way to describe my appearance.
“The sealing device hasn’t changed.”
In the center of the hollow space was a lone Artifact for maintaining the seal.
However, its size was out of the ordinary. It was a large Artifact equivalent to a detached house.
“So, the Tsuchimikuchi is inside that, right?”
Paula’s gaze turned upwards.
Above the sealing device floated a distorted object that looked like several crystal pillars stuck together.
I called it a sealing device, but to be precise, the Artifact itself wasn’t doing the sealing.
Its official name was the Soul Offering Furnace (Devil Kettle).
It was an Artifact that could supercharge magic at the cost of the caster’s soul, and extend the duration of the magic by offering additional souls.
I moved through the air alone towards the sealing maintenance device.
“Alright, let’s begin.”
“Okay.”
“〖Territory〗, activate.”
As a start, I brought the surrounding space under my control.
My 〖Zone Control〗, which had transformed into 〖Koushou〗, would turn everything within its range into Mana Crystals.
But since I had applied ‘Identification’, it wouldn’t affect the sealing device. Paula was originally outside the range.
I waited for Paula to get ready while focusing on making the 〖Zone Control〗 permeate the hollow space more deeply and intensely.
“I’m ready too. Can I go ahead?”
“Go ahead.”
With the range of 〖Telepathic Communication〗, we could communicate even at distances of several hundred meters.
And with my permission, Paula placed her hand on the Artifact she had and activated her magic.
“–Here I go, 〖Area Sync〗, 〖Area Edit: Reinforce〗… 〖Area Isolation〗!”
Paula’s magic was activated along the outer edge of the 〖Koushou〗.
My perception of space, which had become more acute after becoming a 〖Calamity Beast〗, told me that the walls of the hollow space had become much farther away.
〖Area Isolation〗 was a magic that separated space.
Even if something looked like it was right there, if it was separated by this magic, you would have to move hundreds… or even thousands of meters to reach it.
This magic was necessary to prevent the aftermath of the battle between 〖Calamity Beasts〗.
Normally, activating it on this scale would quickly deplete 〖Mana〗, but Paula was using the fragments of the Sunstone as a base for her magic.
She had learned this advanced technique of pushing 〖Mana〗 consumption onto matter in just a few days.
“(But we don’t have enough to waste, so I need to start soon, Electrification)”
I used my 【Unique Skill】 to apply buffs and focused my consciousness on the sealing device.
The Tsuchimikuchi wasn’t physically trapped inside the crystal. It was under a more conceptual seal. That’s why it hadn’t starved to death even after not eating for a thousand years.
And because it was a conceptual seal, the moment the sealing maintenance device and the crystal disappeared, the Tsuchimikuchi would be released.
“(〖WWW (Waning and Waxing Wisdom)〗)”
I activated the new 〖Skill〗 I had gained through 〖Evolution〗.
With this 〖Skill〗 that could store Artifacts and Mana Crystals in another dimension, I erased the crystal and the sealing device.
Immediately after, an immense presence arose. The sensation of my 〖Zone Control〗 being pushed back made it clear that it was more than a 〖Feral Beast〗.
A powerful shockwave was generated by the collision of 〖Zone Controls〗,
“Gishuo—”
“(〖S (Sparkle) U (Aproot)〗)”
At that moment, I unleashed the attack 〖Skill〗 I had prepared at maximum output.
A perfect sphere, considered ideal in terms of magic stone studies, but impossible to reproduce with current technology.
What was output from it was a full-power 〖Mana〗 beam. Countless such beams were fired in all directions above the horizontal.
“Gyu—”
“(〖L (Lock-on) AIM〗)”
First, the beam fired from the front directly hit the Tsuchimikuchi.
Next, the beams from the sides, and finally the beams from the back, launched a wave attack.
Even attacks that were aimed in the wrong direction would have their trajectories corrected to hit the target.
That was the power of 〖L (Lock-on) AIM〗.
“Gishaaaaaa!”
The Tsuchimikuchi, a Demon Beast that looked like a snake-like dragon with a forked head.
It quickly moved its eight legs and rapidly gained distance while being bombarded by the rain of beams.
However, it didn’t seem to have any intention of fleeing, and glared at me with a strong gaze, pressing its 〖Zone Control〗 against mine.
“Gishishishi…!”
“(Sorry to wake you up, but you’re going to become 〖Experience Points〗)”
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Race: Distant Radiant Jade Wheel (?) (NEW)
Beast Rank: Calamity Beast
Soul Accumulation Value (Level): 264
Stats
Life: 6325/2530
Mana: 776496/315343
Power: 1482
Toughness: 19886
Resist: 1641
Speed: 1610
Skills
Cover, Climbing, Block, Fleeing Instinct
Whip, Compact Whip, Folly
Slash, Compact Slash, Gesture
Weapon Body, Flee, Flash Step, Cross Counter
Challenge, Focus, Accumulation, Transport
Weapon Storage, Replicant Form, Bewitching Sparkle
Thrust, Antibody, Compact Thrust, Shoot
Decomposition Fluid, Charge Thrust, Charge Slash, Compact Shoot, Stealth
Mollusk, All-Out Throw, Parry, Tear
Wave Slash, Wave Thrust, Capture
Heavy Slash, Heavy Thrust, Heavy Shoot
Precision Shot, Poison Hand, High-Speed Regeneration
Arms Craftsman, Escalating Warfare, Multi-Weapon Style
Thousand Blades Burst, Territory, Parry
Swing, Compact Swing, Heavy Swing
Charge Swing, Quake Swing, Dance Fighting
Assassination, Storm Strike, Last Stand
Raging Skill, Submerge, Clairvoyance
Reverse, Perforation, Strangulation, Super Leap, Staff of the Gods
Blast Dash, Terrain Awareness, Mimicry
Telepathy, Trajectory Prediction, WWW (Waning and Waxing Wisdom) (NEW)
S (Sparkle) U (Aproot) (NEW), L (Lock-on) AIM (NEW), U (Update) (NEW)
COM (Perfect Body) (NEW), Repair Moonlight (NEW), Familiar (NEW)
Unique Skill: Thunder Harvest Scythe