Chapter 101 (2/2)

Arthur tried his best to struggle.

Despite his efforts, the whip remained still, tying him up.

Arthur was caught, but the other SS-Ranked invoked magic as if it were an opportunity.

I didn’t think he had many options left because he knew that I was immune to heat, electricity, and cold.

So the spell he chose was–

[Acid cloud (Rank: S)!]

Tssss!

Acid started to spew out from his hand, but…

“No way!”

The green mist couldn’t spread far.

Instead of liquefying continuously, it completely froze and dispersed in the air like snow sleet.

Of course, that wizard didn’t use that magic in that situation because he was a dumbass.

Theoretically, the boiling point of the acidic substance produced by magic was minus 120 degrees, and the melting point was far lower than that.

“… Ah!”

Only then did he realize the problem.

He didn’t expect that the temperature had dropped to that extent.

Due to the cold storm, the current temperature had fallen to a level that humans had never experienced before.

It had reached the point where the acidic mist froze even though it would’ve remained unaffected even in the coldest region of Earth.

Furthermore, Arthur’s SS-Class [Cold Resistance] spell had been suspended due to the whip, so the wizard’s protection was handled entirely by his own Mana Barrier.

“No!”

Only then did he notice that his Mana was rapidly being consumed while he was focused on the battle.

He took out a Mana potion from his arms in a hurry, but my spell was faster.

[Enhanced Gravity Field (Rank: SS)]

Shatter!

“H-huh?!”

The wizard, who was creating a flame in his hand to melt the frozen Mana potion, panicked when the bottle suddenly broke.

The material’s durability couldn’t hold out due to the glass bottle’s density, which increased more than a thousand times due to the magic effect.

My magic didn’t stop at just breaking a small bottle.

Riiip!

“A-Arrrgh!”

A strong force crushed the Mana barrier and drilled its way in all over his body.

“Keup!”

No matter how strong the SS-Class hunter’s body was, it wouldn’t have been able to withstand its weight that had been increased to more than 100 tons.

His body started to crumble because of its own mass.

Puhk!

Crush!

Soon, the figure of a human disappeared where the wizard once stood.

Instead, the entire body’s bones were twisted, and the organs were crushed, leaving a flattened flesh on the ice.

The bitter cold quickly froze it.

“What the hell are–!”

Arthur’s eyes, which were staring at me, were dyed with despair.

Usually, people would lose their minds due to the Mana exhaustion at that level, but he managed to hold on.

‘If he’s that strong-willed…’

I went up to him and put the handle of the devil’s sword on his tied hands.

As I waited for a while, his face displayed shock and surprise.

“This voice is?!”

It’s not the reaction I wanted.

As I took back the handle of the devil’s sword and held it in my hands, the cognition in the sword spoke even before I asked the question.

‘I can’t do it on this man.’

The [Whisper of the Sword], which had a 50% success rate against hunters, failed.

“I got no choice then.”

I pressed the edge of the sword against his neck.

Arthur began to shout as he struggled even harder.

“W-w-wait! Wait! Wait! Please!”

I looked down at the man struggling while he’s tied up.

“Don’t kill me! No! How I managed to survive until now–!”

It was greed that drove him there, after all.

Due to his vigilant nature, the moment he identified the environment there, he was more likely to give up chasing inside the dungeon and go back out of the gate.

That’s why I purposely set up a fake [Vital Flame].

It was all to bring him to the perfect battlefield I had prepared.

The only thing that could beat Arthur Clifford’s vigilance and carefulness was his greed.

“Wait for a moment!”

He panted and continued.

“I-if you kill me this way, the secret of the Matap guild will also be blown away!”

I ridiculously laughed and answered him.

“You mean the Shepherd 2 Dungeon?”

“Yes! People only know that there’s something special about the dungeon that allows us to get our hands on an S-Class card easily. The ‘exact location’ and ‘method’ are known only to a few in the guild!

He started begging me for his life with that as his reason.

He must have thought I would fall for it, so he was also mixing up lies.

“If you spare me, I will supply you with all those cards from now on.”

I tilted my head.

“I don’t need S-Class magic cards, though?”

He must have already seen the scene where I demonstrated SS-Rank magic.

“N-no… If there is an SS-Rank or higher ranked card, then–!”

His eyes shone.

“Yeah! You surely know how to get your hands on even SSS-Class magic cards, right?!”

If it was resistance power that could overcome SS-Class electricity magic, there was only SSS-Class. That was a natural analogy.

Knowing that I couldn’t ‘copy’ that from anywhere, Arthur seemed already convinced.

His eyes were bloodshot.

He spoke as if he didn’t want to miss that opportunity.

“In Shepherd 2 Dungeon, there is a treasure that can upgrade all magic cards to the next level!”

He begged and cried out in a hoarse voice.

“If you ever get another SSS-Class card, imagine what it would be like to upgrade it through ‘Shepherd 2 Dungeon!’ You’ll be able to get your hands on a level of magic that no one has ever experienced! I’ll help you with that!”

He mentioned an EX-Class card that had never been revealed globally and had never been proven.

‘That’s a trap, considering that I would suck up all the information and leave him dying.’

At that moment, getting out of that position and saving his life was the priority.

I softly spoke.

“Oh, yeah? There is such a treasure in the Shepherd 2 Dungeon?”

“Yeah!”

“Not really.”

“… ?!”

He made a face as if he couldn’t comprehend.

“There was a treasure in there in the past.”

I held my sword up again.

“There was, but there isn’t anymore.”

He looked blankly into my eyes.

And it seemed like he realized something.

How would I have known from the beginning? About the victims of the sacred beast trapped in the basement of the Matap headquarters.

His face, as he grasped the situation, became distorted like a demon.

He intuitively sensed that I had touched his treasure in Shepherd 2 Dungeon in one way or another.

He struggled crazily while still wrapped around with the whip.

“Y-you! That thing! No way… You bastaaaaaaaard!”

I fired the sword energy towards the shrieking man’s throat.

Pshk!

Arthur Clifford’s broken head soared into the sky amid the bitterly cold storm.

I retrieved the whip and threw the beheaded corpse far away as if I was spinning it in the air.

Arthur’s body swirled around in the gust of wind like a pinwheel missed from hand.

Blood splattered like black and red ice crystals, spraying along the body’s path before falling gently on the white ice and leaving a shiny trail.

“Now, then.”

There’s one that was waiting in front of the gate.

There were also four remaining members of the Matap Guild on their way towards the house.

I could finish the guy at the door off quickly, but it’s the ones at home that left me a little concerned.

“There wouldn’t be anything wrong if they did as I prepared them to…”

Those who were handling the four Matap members on the other side were only Nate and Hibiki.