Chapter 65: The Conclusion of High Risk, High Return
In the accelerated world, Kazuma faced Amrutat.
Just when it seemed the two would engage in a fierce battle in a world where the surrounding time appeared to have completely stopped, Amrutat died anticlimactically from the magic Kazuma unleashed.
Feeling let down, Kazuma let out a deep sigh, wondering what all that tension from before had been for.
“What in the world was that…”
It had been thought that an unprecedented, fierce battle awaited, one that would put an end to the long-standing feud with the Ivera Church, but it was an anticlimactic end.
Even Kazuma was so dumbfounded he couldn’t say a word.
“Hey, hey, what makes you think it’s over?”
“Ah, so you used Proliferation to increase the number of accelerated individuals…”
“That’s right. With this—”
While he was still speaking, Kazuma mercilessly unleashed magic and obliterated Amrutat.
Although Amrutat could increase and enhance Gifts, he could possess a maximum of only two Gifts. Therefore, with only the Gifts of Proliferation and Acceleration, he couldn’t possibly defeat Kazuma.
A moment ago, it was simply because Kazuma had let his guard down, and he was caught off guard by the Miniaturization Gift, but now he had a Barrier around his body and was completely prepared.
In other words, Amrutat no longer had any chance of winning.
“Let me tell you, you’d better not think you can fight me with just Proliferation and Acceleration. I was careless at first, but you have no chance of winning now.”
“It seems that way, doesn’t it~. This is troubling…”
A new Amrutat appeared, making a gesture of being troubled, hand on his chin.
Seeing that, Kazuma didn’t think he was truly troubled, and it bothered him.
“Are you really troubled? You look quite composed, though.”
“Ah, do I look that way? But I really am troubled, you know?”
“I wonder about that. Don’t you still have a trump card up your sleeve?”
Towards Amrutat, who was acting playfully like a jester, Kazuma looked at him suspiciously.
Kazuma suspected Amrutat was still hiding a trump card.
In contrast, Amrutat’s attitude didn’t change even when faced with such a look, and he was grinning foolishly, getting on Kazuma’s nerves.
Of course, since Amrutat was wearing Ibinom’s Mask, his expression couldn’t be seen, but one could guess he was laughing because he was swaying his body erratically and his shoulders were shaking.
(Even if he can react to my accelerated self, he shouldn’t be able to fight me properly… but that composed attitude of his is unsettling~)
Amrutat’s Proliferation, Gift Amplifier, and Gift Enhancer were all extremely troublesome.
Increasing his numbers, then using drugs to gain two Gifts and enhance them—normally, he would be an opponent impossible to defeat.
Even if you defeated one, he would proliferate into ten, a hundred, a thousand, and on top of that, they would possess Gifts they didn’t have before, and those would be unbelievably powerful.
If it weren’t Kazuma, anyone else would have immediately accepted defeat.
“Ah~, this is troubling~, really troubling~.”
Kazuma’s suspicions grew even stronger at his blatant attitude.
There was no point in defeating the Amrutat in front of him with magic.
However, he couldn’t just leave him be any longer.
To maintain his mental stability, Kazuma gathered magic power in his palm.
As if to dispel his irritation, Kazuma unleashed magic at Amrutat.
“My, my, what a cruel thing you do.”
“I’ve been wondering for a while now, why does your way of speaking change so much? Are you trying to create a character or something?”
“Ah, this is a side effect of Proliferation. Due to the nature of my Gift, I created many versions of myself. As a result, I’ve lost sight of my original self and have become something else like this.”
“Hmm.”
As if he couldn’t care less, Kazuma let Amrutat’s words go in one ear and out the other.
It was an outrageous attitude, especially since he was the one who asked.
Anyone would be annoyed if they went to the trouble of explaining something only to be met with an attitude like Kazuma’s.
However, Amrutat didn’t get irritated by Kazuma’s attitude and calmly continued speaking.
“Well, it doesn’t matter if you don’t understand.”
He answered because he was asked, but he didn’t particularly want to be understood.
For Amrutat, who had already lost his original self, individuality wasn’t that important.
“More importantly, I’ve thought of a way to defeat you.”
“What?”
Kazuma had been letting more than half of Amrutat’s words pass him by, but at those words he couldn’t ignore, he showed a proper reaction.
“What do you think happens if one takes an excessive amount of this Gift Amplifier?”
“…Wouldn’t they die?”
Just being able to increase Gifts is an exceptional ability, but if one were to take an excessive amount of such a thing, the risks would surely be great.
Indeed, there should naturally be a risk of death, just as Kazuma thought.
“Kukuku, you’d think so, wouldn’t you? But actually, you’re wrong.”
“What? Then, is it something like losing one’s sanity?”
“Half correct…”
Kazuma grew impatient with his pretentious way of speaking, and asked for the answer in an irritated voice.
“What in the world happens? Tell me quickly.”
“Don’t be so hasty. I’ll show you now.”
Saying so, Amrutat proliferated the Gift Amplifier he held in his hand.
Then, he stuffed a large amount of the Amplification Pills into his mouth, and without washing them down with water, he crushed and swallowed the Amplification Pills in his mouth.
It was an incredibly violent way of swallowing them, but it was probably unavoidable if he was to consume a palmful of Amplification Pills.
“Puhaaaah!!!”
Amrutat, having swallowed a large amount of Amplification Pills, let out a huge breath.
At first glance, seeing no change, Kazuma frowned suspiciously.
(There’s no change, but…)
Then, the next moment, Amrutat’s body jolted violently.
Seeing Amrutat’s body convulse greatly, Kazuma heightened his vigilance and watched to see what would happen next.
“It’s here, it’s here, it’s heeeere!”
Amrutat was highly agitated, but something strange was happening to his body.
Even knowing this, Amrutat began to explain to Kazuma what was about to happen.
“Let me tell you one last thing! With this Amplification Pill, if you take one, you get one Gift. If you take two, naturally, you get two Gifts! However, there are individual differences; some can only take one, while others can take two or more. Unfortunately for me, I can only take one. And the greater the merit, the greater the risk.”
Even while he was speaking, Amrutat’s body continued to swell, making creaking sounds as his form distorted.
At this sight, a bead of unpleasant sweat trickled down Kazuma’s face.
“This scene right now is the result. If taken in excess, the user… transforms into an Ibinom. And a monster is born, possessing as many Gifts as the number of Amplification Pills consumed. However, by that time, my reason and emotions will be completely gone.”
With those words as his last, the human known as Amrutat vanished.
Before Kazuma’s eyes, an Ibinom, a grotesque monster, was letting out a repulsive cry.
“Kieeeeeeeeeeeeh!!!”
The Ibinom, whose number of Gifts was unknown, let out its first cry, and lunged at Kazuma who was right in front of it.
Kazuma was astonished by the utterly unbelievable sight, but he wasn’t the kind of man to be paralyzed by shock.
Kazuma tried to blast away the attacking Ibinom with magic, but the magic passed right through the Ibinom.
“Huh?”
“Kieeeeeeeeeeeeh!”
“Gubuh!”
Kazuma, who received a powerful body blow, was sent flying.
Twisting his body in mid-air and landing on the ground, Kazuma glared at the Ibinom and began to ponder the phenomenon from before.
(The magic passed through? I can see its form, so is it the Invisibility Gift? It can pass through walls and stuff, so I get magic passing through it too, but… isn’t this difficulty spike a bit too much? Their attacks hit, but mine don’t—isn’t that cheating? Well, it probably deactivates the Invisibility Gift the moment it attacks, so I just need to strike at that instant, but…)
Kazuma was fed up with this Ibinom that had acquired yet another troublesome Gift.
Proliferation alone was a pain, and now it had Acceleration and even Invisibility.
Moreover, it still possessed more Gifts that hadn’t been revealed yet.
Kazuma had to confront an Ibinom even more fiendish than Mahito.