Chapter 30

When Ego left for the northern metropolis, Otto had made the following request—refer to Chapter 22.

"Can you somehow get me a lot of metal mirrors?"

And to Kamui, who was curious, he replied,

"What do you need metal mirrors for?"

"I need them for something next year. I'll figure out how to use them when the time comes."

Metal mirrors.

That was the method to easily deal with Angelus.

In other words, Otto had been preparing almost two months in advance to face Angelus.

"Get, get rid of them... Get rid of them all!!!"

Angelus was in agony, looking at his reflection in the mirrors.

'He must be suffering.'

Otto looked at Angelus with a cold smile.

In the past, Otto had repeatedly knelt before Angelus while playing <Feudal War>.

Since Angelus was an incredibly powerful dark mage, there was no way to defeat him no matter what he tried.

After fighting Angelus about 500 times,

Clang!

Otto realized that Angelus would smash anything that reflected his image, such as glass or mirrors.

'What? Why is he breaking the mirrors instead of attacking me?'

Otto soon began his research and eventually succeeded in finding a way to defeat Angelus.

Angelus's weakness was none other than <seeing his true appearance>.

* * *

"Mirrors! Mirrors! I have to break them all! All of them!"

Angelus tried to smash the mirrors as if he had gone mad.

He didn't even pay attention to his actual enemy, Otto.

- What is that ugly monster doing?

The soul of Kairos, embedded in the mace, asked Otto.

'Can't you see? He's trying to break the mirrors.'

- Why is he trying to break the mirrors?

'He must hate his appearance.'

- Hmm?

'I would too, if I were him.'

- Indeed. That monster is the ugliest and most hideous creature I've ever seen in my life.

Angelus's true appearance was incredibly terrifying.

His body, which must have weighed at least 150 kilograms, was a mass of flesh.

His breasts hung down almost to his hips.

Moreover, he was balding, with very little hair, a flat nose, eyes that looked like buttonholes, and a mouth that was torn to the ears.

His skin was covered in yellow pus, which mixed with blood and dripped down.

- But if he's a monster, shouldn't he not care about his appearance? Why is he acting so out of character?

'Ah, that's because...'

Otto answered Kairos's question.

'He's a severe appearance supremacist.'

- Hmm?

'Well, you see...'

Otto explained the background of Angelus to Kairos.

Originally, Angelus was born as an extremely ugly woman, with a severe complex about her appearance.

However, she had an outstanding talent for magic and met a teacher who recognized her talent, leading her to enter the world of magic.

Once she entered the world of magic, Angelus quickly stood out and began to grow into an excellent mage.

After acquiring a certain level of magical skill, Angelus immediately set out to improve her appearance.

At first, it went quite well.

She managed to make her appearance somewhat beautiful through magic and cosmetic surgery.

But Angelus didn't stop there.

"Be more beautiful... more..."

She became increasingly obsessed with improving her appearance.

It didn't take long for her obsession to turn into madness.

In her quest to improve her appearance, she eventually resorted to evil dark magic and human experimentation.

But as the saying goes, too much of anything is bad.

Angelus became the terrifying and repulsive monster she is now due to the side effects of dark magic.

"I'll kill them all... all of them..."

In the end, the corrupted Angelus killed all the students she studied magic with, including her teacher, and fled to the western forest near the Iota territory.

- Tsk tsk. Despite having such a good talent, she ruined her own life. How foolish.

'Anyway, I need to finish him off, so lend me some strength.'

- When are you going to let me rest? I'm getting tired of being trapped in here.

'I'll free you within six months.'

- Understood.

A powerful force then erupted from the mace, lending strength to Otto.

'I'm going in.'

Otto immediately charged at Angelus, swinging the mace wildly.

"You bastard!"

Angelus seemed to want to counterattack Otto, but soon became distracted by his reflection in the mirrors.

"Ugly! Too ugly! No! That's not me!"

Even while attacking Otto, Angelus would glance at the mirrors to destroy them.

His pathological obsession and disgust with his appearance prevented him from focusing even in such a critical situation.

Thud! Bang!

Thanks to this, Otto was able to beat Angelus like a punching bag.

The room of mirrors itself was trapping Angelus.

Thud! Bang!

"Ah! You dog... No! Mirrors! I have to break the mirrors!"

Bang!

"You damn bastard! I won't let you... No! That's not me!"

Bang!

"You really... Please, get rid of the mirrors! Please!"

After a while,

Thud!

Angelus finally fell.

"Mirrors... Mirrors... I have to break them... Mirrors..."

Even with his head half-crushed and on the verge of death, Angelus was still obsessed with his reflection.

"Tsk tsk."

Otto looked at Angelus with a sigh of contempt.

"In this situation, he's still like this. That's why I can easily win."

If they weren't fighting in the room of mirrors, Angelus would have been an unbeatable opponent.

Even with the soul of Kairos lending strength, it would have been impossible to win.

It was fortunate that he knew Angelus's fatal weakness.

- Finish off that hideous monster. I can't stand to look at him.

"I will."

Without hesitation, Otto swung the mace at Angelus.

"Kya!"

Angelus let out a final scream and collapsed, never to move again.

[Notification: You have defeated <Witch Angelus>!]

A notification window appeared.

Swoosh!

Otto's body began to glow gold due to the class change impact.

[Notification: The curse <Extremely Ugly> has been lifted!]

The curse was lifted.

[Notification: Your level is being normalized!]

[Notification: Level 1 achieved!]

The level, which had been fixed at -99, returned to normal.

Not only that,

[Notification: Your experience has increased by 350,000!]

With the curse lifted, the experience points that wouldn't come even when defeating powerful enemies now came in normally.

[Notification: Your level has increased!]

[Notification: Level 2 achieved!]

(omitted)

[Notification: Your level has increased!]

[Notification: Level 30 achieved!]

Thanks to the experience points from defeating Angelus, Otto grew from level 1 to level 30.

Finally, he could act like a human being, no longer a -99 level trash character.

'Now I can finally act like a proper human.'

A smile appeared on Otto's face.

Although he hadn't become dramatically stronger before his awakening, he was grateful just to have the potential to grow.

* * *

Kairos was the first to notice Otto's change.

- You... have changed.

'Huh?'

- Were you cursed?

'Oh? You can sense that?'

- What do you take me for? My discernment is unmatched.

Indeed, the experience of the emperor who had conquered a third of the continent was still with him.

- But you're still trash.

'What, man?'

- At least you can grow now, which is fortunate, but a flea will always be a flea, no matter how much it jumps. You should focus on ruling...

'Shut up!'

Otto shouted at Kairos in his mind and approached Angelus's corpse.

Above Angelus's corpse, a red bead was floating.

[Orb of Hatred]

A bead possessed by the powerful dark mage and witch, Angelus.

It's unclear what it's used for.

Type: Gem (Bead)

Grade: Unique

Durability: Infinite (∞)

Note: You might find information about this bead in ancient texts.