Chapter 71: Old Crone Part 6

As if a cocoon were cracking open, the white energy enveloping Bishop Elias began to fracture.

Crack—

With the sound of splitting energy, something emerged from within.

“……”

A large figure over three meters tall.

Its long form was draped in pure white robes resembling those of a priest.

Yet, despite the pristine appearance of its robes, a dark purple energy seeped ominously around it.

What had once been Bishop Elias now floated low in the air, gazing down at Jun.

“The spawn of an Outer God…”

Among the game’s players, such a creature was referred to as an “Aberrant”. Normally, it was a monster that only appeared in high-level content.

And yet, here it was, descending upon a mere level 3 field.

“What kind of crazy game is this…”

The absurdity of it all was overwhelming. There was no one to complain to, no one to seek justice from.

But as Jun stared at the creature, his brow twitched slightly.

“You….”

However, the charm of the game Blackout lay precisely in its absurdity. Even in madness, the game maintained its balance.

“You’re incomplete, aren’t you?”

Jun instinctively realized that the creature before him wasn’t fully formed.

There had to be a reason for it.

And soon enough, Jun figured it out.

“Ah.”

Bishop Elias who was offered up as a sacrificial vessel.

He had already been partially melted by Jun’s [Flare].

In other words, because the sacrificial medium for the ritual had been compromised, the spawn of the Outer God was also incomplete.

At that moment, the creature shifted its gaze to Jun.

――.

It seemed to be speaking, but the sound didn’t reach his ears.

It was as if an unauthorized being had dared to open its mouth.

Yet, Jun instinctively understood what it was saying.

The words weren’t heard but interpreted as text within his mind.

[Welcome the great upheaval.]

“Great upheaval, my ass.”

Jun immediately summoned his magic.

[Fireball]

Whoosh!

The fireball rapidly formed in midair and was launched toward the spawn of the Outer God.

The creature that was wielding a sword as tall as itself swung its arm in response.

Slash!

The fireball was torn apart and extinguished in an instant, leaving the creature entirely unharmed.

But instead of panicking, Jun let out a sigh of relief.

“As I thought, it’s incomplete.”

Rather than using the abilities it should have had, it relied on its sword to block.

That alone was enough to satisfy Jun.

“Golem, it’s your turn.”

Wooooong!

The golem, which had been standing guard next to Jun, pounded its massive fists together and braced itself for action.

The golem and the spawn of the Outer God moved at the same time.

With a powerful kick off the dark, polluted water, the golem swung its large fist toward the creature.

The spawn that was floating in midair evaded the attack with a fluid motion, like water flowing effortlessly around an obstacle.

The golem had overlooked one crucial detail: the creature was hovering above the ground, even if only slightly.

Woong—?!

The spawn bypassed the golem entirely and flew straight toward Jun in a direct line.

[You fool!]

From the skies above, the old crone watched the situation unfold and sneered at Jun.

Sending the golem first had been a poor move. Without knowing the enemy’s true abilities, he had removed his only shield capable of protecting him.

Jun was fully aware of this fact.

There’s no way I can escape by running.

Even setting aside the old crone’s curses of [Exhaustion] and [Drought], there was no viable method to evade an opponent moving at such a speed.

Of course, that might have been true for the Jun of the past.

Whooong―!

A longsword, nearly three meters in length, swung upward from below, aiming to slice Jun’s body clean in two.

[Burning Step]

In an instant, Jun’s figure vanished, leaving only a flicker of flames in his place. The spot where he had been standing was engulfed in fiery remnants.

A wavering path of fire spread across the surface of the dark, polluted water. Following the trail with one’s eyes, it became clear that Jun had somehow moved behind the spawn of the Outer God.

[Flare]

Jun who was standing directly behind the creature pointed his finger at it and unleashed a burst of energy imbued with the power of the sun.

It had been fired hastily, without any deliberate shaping.

However, the spell was packed with immense magical power, amplified by the full release of his incantation.

[……!]

The spawn of the Outer God turned and tried to block it, but its reaction was too slow.

The [Flare] pierced straight through its body.

The energy blast shot far into the distance before vanishing without a trace. Jun’s eyes locked onto the creature as it turned back to face him.

He had aimed for the heart, but the spawn had twisted its body at the last moment, which ended in only its shoulder being obliterated.

Under normal circumstances, this would be enough.

But this was no ordinary opponent.

The creature glanced briefly at its melting shoulder before raising its free hand, the one not holding the sword.

In its grasp was a bell, roughly the size of a human head.

Daaaaang―

The bell’s ominous chime reverberated, and in the next instant, the dark purple energy seeping from the creature’s body exploded outward and dispelled the remnants of [Flare]’s power.

“…As expected, this won’t be easy.”

If he wanted to succeed, he had to aim for the heart and kill it in a single, decisive strike.

Thanks to [Burning Step], I’ve finally gained the mobility I wanted.

But the Spawn of the Outer God wasn’t going to let that slide.

When it rang the bell again, something strange happened.

Earlier, the dark purple energy had exploded outward as if in a violent burst, but this time, it spread like ripples, cascading across the area.

Jun felt like he couldn’t breathe.

The [Burning Step] beneath his feet, which had been sustaining him until now, lost its power.

It was the aftermath of the surrounding magical power being thrown into chaos.

[Did you really think such petty tricks would work against the might of an Outer God?]

There wasn’t even time to panic before the old crone who was watching from above burst into mocking laughter.

The Spawn of the Outer God was a monster from high-level content.

As such, it had numerous difficult attack patterns and this was one of them.

Mana Destabilization.

As its name suggested, it spread energy across the area and twisted the flow of magical power as it pleased.

For mages, it was a death sentence. Forcing a spell under such conditions would result in magical power running wild and ultimately self-destruction.

[Face the dawn of destruction.]

The Spawn of the Outer God charged straight at Jun, who had frozen in place.

Like a knight charging on horseback, it aimed its long sword forward in a piercing strike.

With [Exhaustion] and [Drought] weighing on him, even lifting his legs felt impossible.

Just as the creature’s sword was about to pierce Jun’s abdomen―

Wooong―!

The golem intervened from the side by swinging its huge fist to strike the blade’s surface.

The golem then twisted its body and followed with another blow from the opposite side, slamming its huge fist into the head of the Spawn of the Outer God.

Thud―!

The blow landed cleanly.

If it had been a human, every bone in their body would have shattered from the impact.

But.

[Face the dawn of destruction.]

The creature quickly adjusted its stance and swung its sword at the golem’s head.

The golem immediately withdrew its fists and raised both arms in a defensive guard.

Rumble―!

The sword buried itself deep into the golem’s arms.

However, it didn’t manage to split them completely.

Had the creature been in its fully complete state, it would have sliced through the golem entirely and split Jun in two along with it.

Wooong―!

Although both its arms were pinned by the sword, the golem continued to move.

Pulling its arms back, it lifted its huge leg and kicked the Spawn of the Outer God.

The creature’s body bent at the waist as it was sent flying backward.

In midair, it slowed its momentum and straightened its posture again.

“Damn physical immunity.”

Jun had hoped that, being incomplete, the creature might not yet have its physical immunity ability.

But it seemed that particular power had formed perfectly.

To fight something like that, at the very least, aura or divine power was necessary.

If only I had Eternal Ruin….

It would have been far more effective, but in the spiritual realm of the Forest of Life and Death, it was unusable.

This was a truly desperate situation.

[Kirrurururuk!]

From above, the old crone’s unpleasant laughter echoed across the space as she observed the scene.

“Hoo.”

Jun let his arms fall limply to his sides.

[Have you given up? Kirrrrk!]

Seeing this, the old crone cackled mockingly once more.

At last, it seemed she had succeeded in eliminating the troubling variable.

But that was nothing more than the old crone’s wishful thinking.

[Kirrk?]

When Jun raised his previously bowed head, his eyes reflected faint irritation and a firm resolve.

“Golem. Protect me no matter what it takes.”

Wooong―!

With a resolute voice, the golem slammed its fists together with a resounding bang.

The golem’s arms had long since been restored by Jun’s magic.

“Hah.”

Jun focused.

In truth, he had neglected [Mana Body] lately.

He had to admit it.

If he were to make excuses, it was because he’d been too busy.

Who else would have learned new magic and mastered it? Was he supposed to believe his ancestors would have done it for him?

Of course not.

Jun had done it himself.

And he had done it without a teacher by his side to guide him, relying solely on his own research.

If he didn’t succeed, he’d die.

That was the kind of world he lived in, and so Jun had thrown himself into studying magic.

Was that all?

In what little time remained, he trained his body to build stamina and carved out whatever moments he could spare to plan for the future with Chloe.

Every single day was packed to the brim. Even if he had twice or three times the 24 hours in a day, it wouldn’t have been enough.

Even after reaching the fifth circle and reducing the amount of sleep he needed to put less strain on his body, it only gave him a few extra hours to work.

In the midst of all that, I didn’t have the time to focus on [Mana Body], did I?

No, he admitted it. He needed to be even more honest with himself.

The truth was, he had only focused on lifting the influence of the Odyssey of the Lazy Pilgrim. He’d assumed the rest would take care of itself.

And to be fair, just weakening the Odyssey of the Lazy Pilgrim had drastically increased his magical power reserves and made it far easier to control his magic.

But the skill [Mana Body] wasn’t something you used for that kind of poor performance.

Looking back now.

Back in the Black Forest, just by lifting 13% of the Odyssey of the Lazy Pilgrim’s influence, he had cast magic powerful enough to threaten the Fairy Queen.

And now, with an even greater portion of the influence lifted, could he deal a critical blow to his current foe?

It was possible; if he put all his focus into it.

But wasn’t that laughable?

The best I can do is threaten them?

No.

The limits of [Mana Body] didn’t end there.

It was simply because Jun hadn’t honed the skill.

Skills didn’t grow on their own just because you acquired them. There was no such convenient function.

If it were that easy, why would Aiden have crashed into walls over and over just to improve his mastery of the [Charge] skill?

What a ridiculous situation. I even explained this to Aiden myself, and now I’m the one stumbling over skill mastery issues.

Until now, he’d neglected it, using the excuse of being too busy.

That fact came back to haunt him with regret.

No matter how busy he’d been, his very foundation was rooted in [Mana Body].

“Haah…”

They say regret is always too late, no matter how quickly it comes.

Jun shook off the bitter emotions.

Rather than dwelling on regret, he needed to focus on what he could do right now.

He turned his gaze.

It seemed as though he was staring into empty space, but Jun’s eyes were fixed on a clear target.

Mana.

Look.

Even with its master right in front of it, it was trembling so erratically.

If [Mana Body] had emotions.

“Heh.”

It would probably let out a dry laugh, just as Jun did now.

“Who dares to disturb my mana?”

The master of mana.

The Mana Body.

The master of mana was him, and he was mana itself.

And so, if mana was trembling under the influence of an external force, it would have been normal for him to waver as well.

Yet Jun remained unshaken.

The five rings embedded in his heart were still spinning fiercely, weren’t they?

If that was the case.

“Then you shouldn’t be trembling either.”

He needed to establish discipline with his mana.

Just as an army cannot function without its commander, mana also needed to be reminded that it had a master.

However, it wasn’t possible at his current level.

His lack of skill mastery was the obstacle blocking his way.

Even so, Jun instinctively understood.

The limits weren’t with [Mana Body] but with himself.

If that was the case, all he had to do was break through those limits.

[The influence of the spell, ‘Odyssey of the Lazy Pilgrim’, is reduced by 30 percent.]