Berserk Phenomenon of the Evil Spirit Orb
Jun was already well-acquainted with this phenomenon.
The Fragment of Destruction… Did he use that?
It was a catalyst that nurtured the corrupted spirit implanted in the Evil Spirit Orb and also the very item that triggered the Berserk state.
But… it’s not complete yet.
The phenomenon Jun had seen in the game hadn’t fully occurred…. not yet.
It was highly likely that this incident had merely been a test run triggered by “that guy”.
Right… Even in the game, it took years for the full effect to happen.
The collapse of the so-called “sanctuary” known as the [Checkpoint]. That disastrous event hadn’t occurred yet. Which meant, with high probability, this Berserk incident was still just an experiment.
Given the situation, we probably can’t expect help from the outside. And since we can’t pinpoint Aden’s location, that means it’s up to us to find and kill the real body.
But that was easier said than done.
The poisonous spores had already spread too far. Stepping outside the [Shield] was out of the question.
And even if they somehow managed to maintain the [Shield], holding it up during a battle with the berserk Poison Master would be even harder.
Jun was deep in thought, trying to figure out how to overcome the situation, when—
“Um, senior… would this help by any chance?”
“…What?”
Aiden took something out of his pocket.
It was a top-grade antidote.
“You…where did you get this…?”
“Uh… Prince Javier gave it to me.”
“Ah!”
Jun carefully took the antidote and examined it.
Then—
“…Yes. This might work.”
“Really?!”
Aiden’s face lit up. He’d pulled the item out just in case, and it ended up being useful to Jun.
He was visibly relieved and happy.
But then—
“Uh… hey. Something’s moving over there.”
Something was writhing in the midst of the pure white spore mist.
Looking closer, they saw something squirming its way up from the mushroom’s roots.
“…What is that?”
“A monster?”
A monster had appeared at the [Checkpoint].
Its form was grotesque beyond belief.
Like an undead, its body was made of bones and instead of flesh and muscle, a violet liquid pulsed through it like a grotesque substitute.
“…I don’t sense a soul. It’s not exactly a monster. It feels more like one of his clones.”
“But it has a physical body. That’s… weird.”
The clone the Poison Master had summoned before couldn’t deal any real damage. But this new creature was different.
“It’s multiplying…”
“What should we do?”
As the two asked, Jun’s mind raced.
A berserk phenomenon caused by a corrupted spirit changes drastically in difficulty depending on the host’s abilities.
Just by looking at the giant mushroom and poisonous spores filling the cavern, it was clear: the Poison Master’s traits, especially his poison-handling abilities, were in full effect.
That means the clone will likely reflect those traits as well…
Jun clicked his tongue and cast a spell.
[Wind Cutter]
The blade of wind sliced through the clone like tofu. But a second later—
Booom!
A purple explosion erupted.
Fssssssss—!
“Damn it. It’s acid poison.”
Worse yet, the acidic purple poison began corrupting the surrounding spores.
“This is messed up.”
Eleanor shook her head in disbelief at the sight.
To make matters worse, oxygen inside the [Shield] was starting to run low.
“Eleanor, keep the [Shield] up for now. I need to figure out how to make use of this antidote.”
“Got it.”
“Maya, throw only the daggers you don’t need to retrieve. Conserve them as much as you can.”
“Yes.”
“Senior, what should I do?”
“…Hmm. Aiden, you just sit and rest.”
In an environment like this, what could a melee fighter even do?
Aiden slumped down, dejected, hanging his head.
***
Meanwhile, things outside the mine weren’t looking any better.
A giant mushroom had suddenly emerged.
And from it, clones began to form one after another.
Each of these clones strengthened the poisonous fog, adding further strain on the artifacts used to hold it back.
“Whew…”
Even Venner Tobias, who had been conjuring storms with his sword, was catching his breath.
He had already cut down the huge mushroom spores ten times….and still, they were regenerating.
So the real body must be somewhere else…
It seemed the magical power needed for regeneration was being replenished through the magic stones in the mine.
And on top of that, those strange monsters keep appearing without end.
If only the enemy’s true body showed itself, at least they could settle things in a proper fight. But instead, he had to protect the two royals while battling.
And yet, if we go underground, the disadvantage is clearly ours.
Now that the passage was blocked by mushrooms, there was only one thing he could do.
The former commander should be here by now.
Aden had gone underground to kill the one called Poison Master. But something must have happened to him as well. There had been no word from him at all.
“Tobias.”
The one who broke his train of thought was none other than Dexter. He pulled out a cylinder filled with a blue liquid and handed it to Tobias.
“Drink this.”
“What is it?”
“An item still in secret testing. It’ll restore your mana.”
“A mana potion?”
“Not in the form I’m familiar with… but its effects are far superior.”
“…Thank you.”
Though he accepted it, Tobias felt a heavy sense of doubt inside.
For someone like me, a mana potion won’t be very effective.
Mana potions generally worked by helping the user gather magic within their body.
But for a fighter of Tobias’s caliber, the mana gathered through a potion was far less than the mana he could naturally recover through breathing.
Still, when he opened the cylinder and took a gulp—
“….…!”
To his shock, the mana that had dropped below half was visibly recovering.
A man who was rarely surprised now stared at the cylinder in disbelief, then slowly turned his gaze back to Dexter.
Dexter simply pressed a finger to his lips.
So this is the item he said was in secret testing.
If it worked like this, then secrecy was only natural.
But Tobias thought no further.
He was a knight.
And right now, he had to wield his sword.
“Do you perhaps have more of this?”
“There’s a fair supply.”
“…Then, understood.”
Just as Tobias was about to step outside the barrier, Dexter called out to stop him.
“You’re saying you’re going into that poison cloud?”
“Yes. I’ll go in and land a big one.”
“Hmm.”
This was coming from an eighth-level fighter.
It meant he believed he could hold out even inside that toxic fog.
“I’ll trust you.”
“I shall live up to your trust.”
With that, Tobias stepped outside and began drawing mana throughout his entire body.
The Blackguard Commander, Thaerdin, saw this and his eyes quivered.
My god. Were all his previous attacks just a diversion?
The immense aura and the will contained within it seemed to shatter the very framework of the world Thaerdin had known until now.
“Let’s see if I can still stand firm before the force that can crush mountains.”
Gripping his sword with both hands, he raised it high into the sky. A terrifying level of aura surged around the blade as it came crashing down.
Slow.
An endlessly slow strike.
But it felt heavier than anything else. He had a vague but certain feeling….nothing could block that sword.
KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHH――――!!!!
Faced with this overwhelming difference in power, the mushroom burst apart as if crushed by a hydraulic press, and all the clones it had spawned were slammed to the ground.
What was even more astonishing was that the phenomenon didn’t fade….it persisted.
[Will Manifestation – Reversal Release: Strength that Lifts Mountains, Spirit that Covers the World]
Tobias’s will was devoted solely to the pursuit of power.
But this will was still incomplete. It was difficult to maintain and consumed an immense amount of mana.
Still not fully trained…
Looking down at his trembling arms, Tobias stepped back into the barrier.
***
The Poison Master.
The creature that was once known by that name had now fallen to its knees.
Parts of its body that extended beyond the barrier were being relentlessly destroyed, and on top of that, it was being crushed by an overwhelming force.
That mushroom didn’t merely burst poisonous spores.
It existed for a reason.
Its role was to destroy the sanctuary.
It was supposed to spread its roots across this entire area and bring down the sanctuary.
But even maintaining that now felt like a struggle.
“…….”
In that case, should it change its approach?
The creature, still without a fully formed ego like a newborn baby, remained silent for a moment.
Impossible.
The premise was wrong.
It could not destroy the sanctuary in its current state. It was not yet a completed being.
Up until now, it had been using it out of instinct, but that mushroom was nothing more than a useless appendage that merely scattered poison over the area.
Having made that judgment, the creature gave up on maintaining the mushroom. It was difficult enough to sustain it against the surface’s powerful beings.
Instead, it left behind a seed.
So that in the future, something capable of destroying the sanctuary could be born in its place.
“…….”
But the problem wasn’t over yet.
It was a failure.
However, there was still a reason it had been created.
To kill the special humans outside.
At the very least, it had to leave behind the cause of its failure for its comrades on the surface.
But there were too many obstacles to fulfilling that purpose.
One of them was the powerful being on the surface who had been suppressing its poison all this time.
That one had to be dealt with.
Inject the poison directly into their body.
Poison was difficult to control but all the more deadly because of it.
Just one mistake… just one was enough for even a being of that caliber to fall.
A head-on fight is certain defeat.
In that case, all it needed was to create an opening.
It drew mana from the magic stone buried underground and even split its own body to send part of it to the surface.
By the time it had created two bodies and sent them upward—
“Ugh, what the hell is all this?”
A group of four humans had found it.
***
The top-grade antidote Aiden had handed over.
As soon as he received it, Jun immediately began memorizing the principles behind it.
Understanding the exact mechanism in a short time was difficult, but memorizing the pattern itself wasn’t. At least not if given a bit of time.
After all, he had the [Excellent Memory] skill.
In that short time, he memorized the pattern of the top-grade antidote and passed it to Illusia.
Perhaps it was thanks to having encountered Illusia directly at the ancient tower. Now, even without sleeping, short communication had become possible.
– Master… It’s ready…
At the drowsy signal from Illusia, whose voice always sounded half-asleep, Jun immediately began chanting a spell.
It was a temporary measure, but its effectiveness was certain.
He transferred the entire magical pattern contained in the antidote and infused it into [Shield].
Of course, this wasn’t possible through ordinary means.
The low-rank [Shield] couldn’t possibly contain the intricate, high-level magical pattern of the antidote.
So Jun resolved it by using ancient magic and embedding the pattern into a spellbook, linking them together.
It was a crude method, relying purely on volume to brute-force it, and the mana consumption was enormous.
But that issue was solved through his own mana, Eleanor’s staff, and the “transformation” ability of the End of Sorrow.
As long as he was simply drawing out mana, there was no need to worry about overheat effects.
And so, with safety secured inside the underground space filled with poisonous spores, he followed the roots of the mushroom buried within the mycelium—
And finally came face-to-face with the Poison Master—
Or rather, what used to be the Poison Master.
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