Chapter 4

EP.4 What is this? Give it back! (3)

“Cough...”

With a loud thud, the Black Knight Dyke's massive body falls. Dyke, spitting out a mouthful of blood, bows his head deeply.

His once-prided black armor is dented. His greatsword, broken in half, lies embedded in the ground. This clearly signified Dyke's complete defeat.

“Ah...”

Raphael blinked in a daze.

In just one strike. All of this happened when Raniel released the spell on his forearm and struck in a single blow.

Did he release all the spells on his forearm?

No, if that were the case, it might have been less frustrating.

Raphael saw clearly.

The spells Raniel activated were only three in total.

Double-Spell.

Spell-Reinforce.

Smash.

Three spells.

A single spell reinforced by two others.

The first strike split Dyke's raised sword in half. The second strike crushed his armor and struck his bare flesh. And that was it.

No flashy magic or tricks were needed.

Dyke, pushed back by the impact, slammed into the wall and didn't move afterward. It was uncertain if he was even alive.

*Click.*

Raphael swallowed hard and slowly turned his gaze.

There stood Raniel. The monster, showing no signs of fatigue, was looking at Raphael.

“...”

Narrowed blue eyes.

Meeting those eyes, Raphael instinctively realized:

There was no place to run.

He might really die.

Thud, thud.

In sync with the light footsteps that echoed, Raphael's heart pounded wildly. His teeth chattered as he tried to think of a way to escape.

‘The bead.’

The first thing that came to mind was the ‘bead.’

The item entrusted to Raphael by the Grand Commander, the ‘Immortal Knight.’

-Store the essence you absorb inside it.

-Do not question what is stored inside. All you need to do, you cheap girl, is store the essence in the bead.

Raphael didn't know what was inside the bead.

However, one thing was certain: the bead contained the essence Raphael had accumulated over the past few years. For a succubus, essence is equivalent to mana.

‘Perhaps...’

Perhaps decades' worth of mana could stop that monstrous mage. Thinking this, Raphael reached into the air and gripped the bead hidden deep within.

The dark energy (暗氣) inside the bead churned.

Raphael clenched the bead tightly.

*Crack.*

Cracks appeared on the bead. Through the cracks, Raphael absorbed the essence. She felt the mana filling up.

“Ah?”

But that was only for a moment.

“Screeech!”

The black mist that seeped out from the bead enveloped Raphael.

* * *

‘Black mist?’

Narrowing his eyes at the black mist that enveloped Raphael, Raniel saw a spell he had never seen before.

‘There are spells to dispel fog, but...’

The mist was strange.

Unlike spells that obscure vision or release toxic substances, this mist moved as if it were alive.

‘It seems familiar, but...’

He couldn't remember where he had seen it.

Sighing, Raniel extended his left arm forward.

“I have to do something.”

The spells stored in the tips of his middle and index fingers.

Spell-Capture.

Smite.

Raniel snapped his fingers, causing the spells to collide. The two spells merged into a double spell.

Spell-Smite.

A grayish mana spread from the snap of his fingers. However, nothing happened. The grayish mana, unable to find a target, dissipated into the air.

Raniel frowned.

‘Not a spell, then?’

Meanwhile, the black mist continued to envelop Raphael, swirling around her body. The mist seeped out from the gaps in her inverted eyes and slightly parted lips.

“...”

The black mist thickened. It didn't rise; it only crawled along the floor. It looked like a swarm of insects. Raniel followed the source of the mist.

At the source of the mist was Raphael.

Completely enveloped by the mist, she raised her arm like a broken doll, making a *snap* sound. The mist rose from her arm.

It was a terrifying sight.

“Really, this is driving me insane.”

Raniel sighed deeply.

Whatever the situation, it was clearly not good.

“■■.”

Raphael, enveloped by the mist, mumbled in an unknown language. It sounded like a spell, but the texture was different.

“■■-■■(■■■■-■■■■).”

“What the hell are you saying? Crazy bitch.”

Raniel readied himself. He had a gut feeling that he shouldn't let her finish the spell.

‘Approaching is dangerous.’

Without knowing what the black mist was, rushing in would be foolish. There was no need to get close. Raniel wasn't a warrior; he was just engaging in close combat to reduce waste.

Raniel extended both arms forward.

The spells stored in his forearms glowed.

No matter what it was, he had more than enough spells to counter it. If one didn't work, he could use ten; if ten didn't work, he could use a hundred.

‘Spell Reinforce...’

Just as Raniel was about to release the spell,

“Cough.”

A dry cough.

Raniel, clutching his chest, fell to his knees.

Thud.

A mouthful of dark red blood gushed from his lips. The blood was clotted. At that moment, Raniel realized.

‘Damn it.’

The black mist.

‘What the hell does that crazy woman carry around?’

Raniel remembered the true nature of the black mist. It was natural that he couldn't recall it; it wasn't originally in the form of mist.

Three years ago, in the black field, he encountered a monster.

The turning point that led to his falling out with Kyle.

A collection of curses, the Demon King.

The black mist resembled the flesh of that monster. Despite the different form, Raniel was certain for a reason.

“Cough, cough. Cough...”

The curse in Raniel's heart.

The curse left by the Demon King was reacting with the mist. His heart constricted, and his eyes turned bloodshot. His blood seemed to boil.

“Huff, huff...”

Raniel, breathing heavily, strained his eyes.

“■■...”

Raphael's spell was almost complete.

However, Raphael's body was also in bad shape. At most, she could only manage one more. Once she finished the current spell, she wouldn't be able to move.

‘One more time.’

He just needed to block it once.

Raniel bit his tongue to stay focused.

“■.”

The completed spell spread from Raphael's hand, carried by the mist. With bloodshot eyes, Raniel glared at it, reading the spell contained in the mana.

Physical mutation.

Mental corruption.

And one unknown element.

Of course, he had more than enough spells to counter these. He had dozens of spells stored. However, the problem was the black mist.

The mist couldn't be countered with ordinary spells.

All spells lost their power in the face of the black mist.

He had experienced this before.

Raniel didn't waste his spells needlessly.

“Cough, spit.”

Raniel spat out the clotted blood in his mouth, wiped the blood from his lips, and extended his arm. Then, he clapped his palms together.

*Clap.*

The spells etched on his fingertips, knuckles, and palms collided and rubbed against each other. Grayish mana boiled.

‘I didn't waste three years for nothing.’

Three years ago, when he faced the Demon King.

Raniel's life was negated. He was brutally trampled. The magic he had built up crumbled before the curse. The spells he was proud of couldn't even scratch the darkness the Demon King wielded.

It had been three years since that defeat.

While others might have wasted those three years in despair, for Raniel, they were three years of grinding his teeth and seeking an answer.

And now,

It was time to show that answer.

*Crack.*

The grayish mana that rose from the clapped palms swallowed all the stored spells. Like the black mist, it moved as if alive.

“Spell with spell.”

Raniel smiled with a pale face.

“Curse with curse.”

Cursed Mana.

The black mist and grayish mana mixed. The grayish mana was incomplete. The mist it missed seeped into Raniel's body. However, it swallowed more than it missed.

*Crack.*

The grayish mana greedily devoured the mist on the floor. It tore apart the clotted mist. Like a predator tearing into its prey, it probed the mist.

Moonlight streamed in through the broken window.

Under the pale moonlight, the ash devoured the darkness.

2.

Blink.

“Ugh!”

The moment he opened his eyes, Raphael felt a burning pain all over his body. He frowned and looked down at his body.

His arm was broken.

His skin was charred black.

Breathing was difficult.

‘What... the hell?’

His memory was incomplete. He remembered breaking the bead containing the essence, but not what happened after.

“Huff, huff!”

At the sound of someone's voice, Raphael turned his head.

There, Dyke, the Black Knight, was crouched and trembling, having regained consciousness at some point.

“Hey, Dyke. Are you okay?”

“H-H-H!”

He didn't seem to be okay.

He was looking at something with eyes that seemed to see a monster. Raphael followed his gaze.

“...”

Raphael gasped.

A grayish something was staring at him. It was indescribable, truly something that could only be described as ‘something.’

It moved in response to Raphael's movements.

Raphael belatedly surveyed the room. It looked as if a giant beast had torn through it. It was a miracle that anything was still standing.

Click.

Raphael swallowed hard and looked for the man who had caused this destruction. He soon found the man.

A pale, bloodless face.

A robe soaked in blood.

Raniel, looking like he could die at any moment, was leaning against the wall. Raphael blinked.

‘...What the hell is this?’

He couldn't understand.

‘He's... not dead, I think.’

But trying to finish him off was risky with the grayish presence in the way. He felt an ominous sense that he shouldn't get too close.

“Dyke.”

“H-H-H!”

“Stop it and get up. Let's escape while we can.”

The grayish presence only glared at Raphael but didn't chase him. Raphael woke Dyke and hoisted him onto his back.

‘I don't know what this is...’

Raphael felt he shouldn't stay there any longer.