Chapter 103: Spoiler (1) (1/2)
“A worm? I am superior to you.”
Decalane’s personality answered dryly.
“Abandoned like garbage, you don’t even know your place.”
I laughed with disdain and checked the inside pocket of my suit. I couldn’t bring the cane because it was too large, but there was a part of the Snowflake Obsidian that I could [Understand] to some extent.
“I’ll help too.”
Yeriel moved closer, but I pushed her back with Psychokinesis.
“You go out.”
“Why? I’m still fine.”
Yeriel wore a confident expression. However, her complexion had already changed. It was a precursor to dark energy poisoning.
“I’ve enough mana to do at least one spe-“
“Be quiet.”
“…”
“Don’t disturb me and get out.”
Yeriel shut her mouth. Angry and upset, her dissatisfaction was plain on her face, but I couldn’t help it. Yeriel shouldn’t be in this situation.
Whoosh–!
Then Decalane sent out his tentacles. Dark red energy swirled around their edges, staining the very air as they moved.
‘Thank you.’
I would convert the guy’s magic into my mana. The mana purified by my blood rose by one level, and the rapid amplification was a torrent that even I could not easily handle. I felt my head aching as if it might explode as I activated the Snowflake Obsidian.
A chunk of metal the size of a ping-pong ball that spread out like a net. The thin and narrow lines intersected each other to form a grid. At a glance, it appeared to be precarious from the protection that was only 1mm thick. However, Decalane’s tentacles froze and burned away the moment they touched the net.
This contradictory phenomenon was caused by the mysterious metal named Snowflake Obsidian.
──────────!
He continued to swing his tentacles, emitting thick dark energy. The concentration of the energy alone was already lethal. If it were an ordinary human, they would melt as if doused with hydrochloric acid the moment they were physically hit. However, I took all of it with ease while calculating the consumption value of the Snowflake Obsidian, which was still only a prototype.
The mana consumption was more than ten times that of ordinary steel. When the operation of Psychokinesis was added as a complication, it was amplified by close to five times more. Therefore, the total mana consumption was, at a minimum, ten times, to a maximum of fifty times that of wood steel.
The current Snowflake Obsidian was too unwieldy to use unless I was in a space full of dark energy. It was still an unfinished special move.
“You’re dealing with weird stuff.”
Decalane’s attacks stopped. He seemed to have realized that he could not pierce the Snowflake Obsidian. No, it was because doing so would be too costly. As I watched him, I suddenly became curious.
“…Were you made by Decalane?”
It was pure curiosity. His fuel was dark energy. No, he was too radical to be produced by a demon-hating wizard of Yukline. Updated from lightnovelpub.c​om.
“I am the learning intelligence of Master Decalane. I was born to replace you.”
That was how he responded.
─At that moment. A red parabola soared from behind, drawing my attention. It came from Yeriel.
“Ha!”
She manifested her magic into the destructive ‘Fire Line’ spell, advanced magic that harmonized the element of fire and the concept of space. It was a fairly difficult technique, condensing superheated flames into a thin line and detonating them around the target in an unavoidable burst. The Fire Line reached his face, and a moment later, flames exploded around his head.
“…I can help too.”
Cough—! Cough—!
Despite her rough coughing, she was making an expression like, ‘I did well, huh?,’ but I felt furious.
“What do you think? I-“
“Didn’t you hear me tell you to leave?”
Yeriel’s expression hardened. Gulping, her jaw clenched tight. She took a deep breath before pounding her chest.
“…Gosh. I was leaving anyway!”
Yeriel shouted and turned away.
“Don’t even think about calling me for help!”
She walked with that, opened a door with her last remaining mana, and disappeared with the key.
Swooooosh–!
I belatedly turned back to my foe. Decalane was burning inside the magic fire. After all, Fire Line was a notably lethal type of destructive magic. Yeriel had been working hard on her magic so far, all while keeping it a secret from me.
“…Not bad.”
I polished the Snowflake Obsidian into a different shape. With a sharp metallic sound, the net broke apart into several smaller fragments. The particles flooded the air toward Decalane, piercing Yeriel’s flames to cut apart Decalane. Burning, freezing, cutting, Decalane was being torn apart.
“…”
Still, Decalane did not scream. He stretched out his tentacles in all directions in a rage. For him, there was no pain. I whispered to him softly.
“You have no feeling. So, you are a failure.”
“No… I am the learning intelligence of Master Decalane…”
He repeated the same thing over and over.
“I was born to replace you…”
Dark energy flowed out from him. His body was decomposing, so now the fuel inside him was leaking out.
“I…”
Simply put, he was dying.
“De… ca… lane… Master’s…”
His hoarse voice suddenly cut off as his body was shattered into ash.
“Garbage, it’s fitting.”
I slowly walked toward where he had been standing. Something solid remained among the ashes, a bizarre object beating like a heart. I examined it with Vision.
───「Artificial Nucleus」───
◆ Information
: An artificially created nucleus.
: An organic compound that consists of dark energy.
: An unfinished product.
─────────
“「Artificial Nucleus」?”
I frowned, checking the structure of the artificial nucleus with [Understanding]. Of course, the living things were integrated into it. It was a core made of dark energy.
“Decalane…”
Staring at the artificial nucleus, I muttered his name. Why did he create these things? What was his reason for using dark energy despite being a Yukline wizard? No matter how I thought about it, the only ones who could do this were…
“…The Altar.”
Could it be that the Yukline family had something to do with the Altar? Or was this a result of Decalane’s dogma?
“I don’t know yet.”
I lifted the artificial nucleus with Psychokinesis. Although disgusting and dirty in appearance, it was well worth studying.
* * *
Meanwhile, Yeriel, who left first, grumbled to herself while waiting for Deculein.
“It’s ridiculous.”
A word of praise is enough? She already knew it all, so if you were more honest… it would be weirder indeed. It felt right that Deculein was still like Deculein. They said that if you suddenly changed, it meant you were going to die soon.
“Cough, cough. Oh, my throat hurts.”
Yeriel leaned against the wall for a moment and checked her body. Her mana was almost empty, and she had some minor symptoms of dark energy poisoning.
“Wait a minute.”