Chapter 57: Olivia’s Daily Special Lecture

A strange sound echoed.

Changes occurred inside the dungeon.

The magic energy rapidly began to drain.

It seems that Zerato on the fifth floor is trying to use the Dungeon Core to fight against us.

Now that I think about it, there’s really no reason to fight.

To be precise, there’s no reason for the students from Atlerina to fight.

“Hmm, now that I think about it, there’s really no reason to fight.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Syria, who had been silent until just now, responded.

“The students are running low on mana. Zerato is probably leading dark mages.”

“Ah, that guy brainwashed people and turned them into dark mages.”

That’s right.

He’s a crazy bastard who brainwashes people.

“Exactly. They’re nothing but husks, their original souls destroyed. Their bodies have been modified to the point where even the Atlerina students can’t handle them.”

“That’s true.”

They’ve already done enough, so there’s no need to insist on clearing the dungeon.

“Thank you all for your hard work. The way out is safe, so everyone should retreat. Syria, you too.”

“Eh? Retreat? After coming this far?”

“We can still make it.”

It seems like the students want to fight a bit more.

At that moment, magic energy erupted from the fifth floor.

They were planning to use the Dungeon Core to fight against us.

“There are dozens of dark mages on the fifth floor. You’re out of mana, so you’re not asking me to protect you, are you?”

[Realistically, think about it. Guys.]

“Then go back. This is an order. The Dungeon Master has extracted the Core, so the door should be open.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”

“It’s fine. If you stay, you’ll curse me.”

“Tch.”

Syria and Croissant retreated, taking the students with them.

After all, Zerato is not an important figure.

To be honest, if he only touched the Kingdom, I’d have no intention of helping unless I was dispatched.

But since he touched the Empire, that’s a different story.

So I entered alone.

***

“What? You came in alone?”

Entering the fifth floor, I saw Zerato and the dark mages I hadn’t seen in a while.

It was a stale reaction.

Right. I was stale too.

All I had to look forward to were dozens of dark mages.

“About twenty, I guess.”

Looking at their condition, they weren’t in their right minds.

The purple symbols on their foreheads were proof that they were puppets.

There was no saving their souls.

“Whatever.”

“Stupid girl. You thought you could handle this alone? How foolish.”

“Capture her right now!”

The purple prison bars rose up from all directions, trapping me.

It was one of the dark magic spells—”Dark Prison.”

It’s good for binding people.

If they were ordinary humans, it would be effective.

But the opponent made a mistake.

I lightly wrapped my mana around my hand and flicked it, causing the bars to break apart.

Crash!

The hollow dark mages were taken aback.

“You’re making a mistake.”

“What?”

“You’re the foolish one. You came down here thinking your vast mana pool would be enough to handle me. You probably planned to capture me by turning your companions against me, then embedding cursed stones to transform me into a demon or puppet.”

That’s the usual trick, isn’t it?

In reality, they’re weaklings who can’t even put up a decent fight in direct combat.

They’re too incompetent to even perform battle mage tactics.

“What?”

“Stop acting like you know everything. You’re a fool who thinks you’re the best in magic. You can barely manage mana fusion, and you’re acting like you’re some kind of genius.”

That strange two-tone hair of theirs looks dumb.

Maybe they think just because they tried mana fusion, that makes them strong.

“What nonsense. How do you know I only did half of the mana fusion?”

“Simple. You’re a dumbass with no learning ability.”

At this point, the bastard was mentally unstable.

“Why?” Because this was the same thing I told him every time we met.

And every time we met, he never fixed his flaws.

He had too much pride, and despite knowing he lost to me, he never wanted to change his ways.

He only accepted the power Clanis gave him and wielded it like a fool.

“Kill her!”

It was too predictable.

His intelligence had clearly dropped.

His combat power had declined, so now all he could rely on were the mages.

But even that was nothing to worry about.

“Yaaaaahhh!”

“You’re not going to kill one of your own, are you? Even as a saint, you wouldn’t kill someone from the same empire.”

“I see.”

Snap!

I snapped my fingers, and pillars of fire erupted from the ground, engulfing the dark mages.

“Ughhh!”

“You crazy woman! You’re going to kill an imperial citizen? Are you really a saint?”

‘He calls me a saint now, huh?’

Although I am a saint, hearing that title always annoys me.

In many ways, it reminds me of other saints.

“A saint? No, I’m a mage.”

“Even if you’re a mage, what you’re doing is…”

“Aren’t you just forcing soulless bodies, shells, to move?”

Basically, it’s an undead body.

No, it’s more like a puppet.

‘So what’s the problem with killing them?’

In fact, it’s better to kill them now, as their souls will never be able to achieve peace.

“A mage’s main trait is thinking they’re superior to others, but most of them are idiots who can’t even use mana manipulation. And if they can, it’s only for dark magic. You’re one of those idiots, so you’re a dark mage.”

Snap!

I snapped my fingers again.

“Ughhh!”

It’s burning nicely.

The dark mages screamed as they collapsed one by one.

“You… who are you?”

“The reaper who will kill you.”

“No! What are you doing? Attack that woman!”

Boom!

The mages flew toward me and exploded mid-air.

They didn’t just run toward me—they flew.

That’s proof they’re no longer human.

“No, I’m telling you, your attacks won’t work!”

Thud

Thud?

Something strange was happening inside my body.

My chest, specifically around the solar plexus, felt tight.

I glanced down and saw a strange black stone embedded in my body.

No, it wasn’t just any stone.

Its appearance was strangely different.

“Huh?”

“Saint. You let your guard down, didn’t you?”

“Wait, this—”

Something was creeping into my body.

This wasn’t a normal magic stone.

It wasn’t just a stone that contained mana and corrupted the mind.

If it was that kind of stone, it wouldn’t affect me.

But if a stone of this caliber was embedded in my body…

“Is this… the Demon King’s shard?”

“Oh, you know about it. Well, that’s fine. With your mana circuit being what it is, you might be able to handle a fragment like this.”

The shard of the Demon King began to root itself inside me.

The shard lodged in my chest and began to merge with my flesh, mixing with the white skin as it fused.

I’d seen creatures that parasitize and merge with human bodies long ago.

The mana, filled with malice, began to flow into me.

“This is my modification. It’s a fragment of the Demon King, but the spell embedded in it is meant to make you submit to me.”

“Even if it’s not, it doesn’t matter. If you die here, a potential person like Noah will be removed in advance.”

Hahahaha!

“The sight of you turning into a demon is truly delightful!”

This wasn’t good at all.

The Demon King was a being filled with hatred for humanity.

If a fragment of him entered me, it meant I was becoming the same kind of being.

The malice flowed into me.

Strange scenes appeared before my eyes.

The world was engulfed in flames.

Around me, the corpses of people piled up, and blood covered the earth and rivers.

“S-s-save me!”

“Please don’t kill me!”

“Aaaaahhh!”

***

I killed people with magic, hearing their screams for mercy.

With every life I took, a thrill and an unknown pleasure consumed me.

And every time, I killed more people.

“Hehe. Isn’t it fun?” If you become my servant, you can do this forever.

I’ll use you until the day we destroy Armeria.

Malice flooded my mind, and I was whispering to myself, “Loyalty to Zerato…”

This would be the end for normal mages—they’d explode and die.

High-level mages would either fall into corruption or, like this idiot said, be brainwashed.

But there was one problem.

The idiot who kept repeating “loyalty” had been the one to get beaten by me all this time.

There’s no way I’m going to be loyal to him.

I placed my hand on the shard embedded in my chest.

“Do you think you can pull that out now that it’s already starting to take root inside me? My body is already changing.”

“I was going to put it inside you.”

I pushed the shard deeper into my body.

Thud

The tightness in my chest deepened.

The shard, which had only been rooted, now sank further inside, carrying with it the seeds of corruption.

“What? What’s going on?”

“Yeah, it’s surprising, isn’t it?”

“I’m doing something crazy, but I’m oddly calm.”

“If you think this will brainwash me or corrupt me, you’re mistaken.”

“If there’s something to compliment, it’s that Olivia noticed my potential and placed this fragment in me.”

“The problem is, she doesn’t realize that I was Noah.”

“It’s true I let my guard down, but this isn’t such a bad situation.”

This is the Demon King’s fragment—something Clanis had been researching.

It’s used to either turn someone into a vessel for the Demon King or to awaken the Demon King’s powers in them.

‘How do I know this?’ Because I saw Clanis’ experimental reports when I was tracking her down.

It’s surprising that they’d try to use this on me.

“Mages are always interested in magic knowledge, especially anything related to the Demon King. It’s not just famous in the Kingdom, but even among the Imperial court mages. Even an enemy wouldn’t ignore it, since the Demon King is an unknown entity. If it’s a fragment of the Demon King, people will go crazy. It’s not such a bad thing if I can learn more about it.”

“You crazy woman. Is that really the only reason?”

“You couldn’t even take it out, could you? It’s certainly humiliating that I let my guard down, so I kept quiet until just now. Demonification?”

Demonification doesn’t really matter.

Now, let’s start the special class for our incomplete Zerato.

“You… what do you mean?”

“During the process of turning someone into a demon, a massive amount of mana is released. It’s injected into the person all at once, driving them mad, and then the malice and magic energy invade their brain, starting the process of corrupting their body.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“What am I trying to say? Let me give you a special lecture just for today.”

“The tuition fee is your life.”