Chapter 62

The transformed Mute roared.

As Linus listened to that shrill sound, his vision wavered and distorted.

"Connect"

"Into one"

"You are me, I am you"

"Do not resist"

"Your sin is life"

"Offer it"

"Offer it"

"Offer it"

"Place it where it should be—"

The moment his consciousness relaxed, an ear-piercing noise flooded his mind.

“Gah... Aaaaaah!”

Linus clutched his head and fell to his knees, screaming in agony.

He was being taken.

He was being dragged into something other than himself, becoming a part of it.

It was undoubtedly the power of the thing before him, making a sound.

He resisted.

No—telling himself to “resist,” Linus braced himself.

Even so, with his strong will, the will of the monster was still overpowering.

If he let go now, death awaited him.

Or perhaps a fate even more miserable and cruel than death.

He had no intention of risking his life just yet.

Because he had something to do.

He had to cleanse the darkness that still lingered within Maria.

“Maria... chan...!”

He thought of his beloved.

Suddenly, the noise that filled his mind and threatened to erase his consciousness weakened.

“Guh... Ooooooh!”

Pulling out a dagger from his waist, Linus charged at Mute.

As he approached, the power she emitted grew stronger.

But as long as he thought of Maria, his will did not falter.

“Oooooooh!”

He surged forward, brandishing the dagger.

The moment the blade struck, Mute’s scream stopped, and the invasion of his mind ceased.

Her face-like feature turned toward Linus.

“Ooo... O?”

She tilted her head as if noticing his presence for the first time.

Then, as Mute raised her hand—something blocked the sunlight, and the already dark alley was filled with shadows.

Looking up, Linus saw a massive rock floating in the air.

“Hey, are you crazy? This is the middle of town!?”

To Origin, such things were irrelevant.

On the contrary, for them, who sought “peace” in a world where only they remained after eradicating all life, the fewer people, the better.

Linus turned his back to Mute and took a full step back.

“Ooooh...”

Mute emitted another strange sound.

Then, a whirlwind formed between her and Linus.

It gradually intensified, and a strong wind blew as if trying to pull him in.

Linus shielded his face with his arms but held his ground.

However, his heels scraped the ground, and he was being pulled closer.

Meanwhile, the rock in the air was falling, getting closer to the ground.

“Wind magic too... a rare attribute!? Damn, if that’s the case—Sonic Raid!”

Linus wrapped himself in wind and charged forward through the air.

As the name suggests, it was a spell used to accelerate rapidly and close the distance to the enemy in one swift move.

Using it to escape was humiliating, but he had to survive.

Gagoooon!

The falling rock crushed the houses on both sides of the road.

He was not directly under it, but countless fragments approached from behind.

Timing his jump, he landed on the roof of another house, escaping unharmed.

From his high vantage point, he looked at the destroyed buildings and muttered,

“What a mess.”

However, it was strange. If the damage was this extensive, Mute should have been caught in it.

Of course, he didn’t think she would die from self-destruction, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Even when Linus focused his senses, he could not detect her presence.

In the first place, did the transformed being even emit a presence?

“Ooo—”

At that moment, that voice tickled Linus’s eardrums.

He felt goosebumps all over his body.

The voice was too close.

Tilting his head slightly, he saw a swirling red vortex at the edge of his vision.

“Uoooooh!”

He screamed and swung his dagger as he turned around.

It was partly to mask his fear.

Even if he was an S-rank adventurer, it was difficult for anyone to approach Linus unnoticed.

His senses were that sharp.

He was confident in his detection ability.

Yet—this creature had attached itself to his back without any presence.

“...O?”

Mute easily deflected the full-force strike with her twisted arm.

It seemed more like she accidentally blocked it, and it had no effect.

She showed no intention of defending herself.

Understanding it was futile, Linus still pulled out another dagger and launched a barrage of attacks.

“Huff, Haaa!”

Of course, he was no match for Gadio in swordsmanship, but he was one of the people called heroes.

His strength exceeded 3000, and his agility surpassed 8000, allowing him to launch sharp and swift attacks with overwhelming power.

Such attacks would have reduced an ordinary person to pieces.

But they had no effect on the enemy before him.

His resolve wavered, and his attacks slightly weakened.

At that moment, Mute reached out and lightly pushed his chest.

“Gah—”

A shock like being hit by a massive bull slammed into Linus.

And—

Goooon!

His body was blown away at a speed that would tear it apart.

He could not slow down with the wind and was helplessly slammed into the wall of a house.

Doooon!

His body broke through the wall and, without stopping, penetrated it again, landing on the road.

Just before the impact, in a daze, he managed to wrap himself in a cushion of air, avoiding fatal injuries.

But his entire body ached.

Especially his chest—his ribs were probably broken.

He could still breathe, so it seemed his lungs were not punctured.

Still, the pain was more than enough to slow his movements.

“Don’t... play around. What... is this...”

No matter how much, it was absurd.

The overwhelming power left him no choice but to complain.

She had always been unusually strong for a child, but not to this extent.

The “second core” she had absorbed must have given her this power.

Using both arms, he lifted his body and, with trembling knees, stood up.

He then witnessed the bizarre scene around him.

“People are dead... no, that’s not it, they’re unconscious?”

Dozens of people lay on the ground with their eyes open.

Their chests rose and fell, indicating they were still breathing—

Confused, he looked around and discovered even more victims.

All the people in the street seemed to have lost consciousness in the same state.

It was clearly a phenomenon caused by Mute.

“What the hell, what did she do!?”

Linus was enraged.

She still did not appear before him.

He gripped his daggers in both hands and scanned the area.

Whoosh—

He felt a cold wind at his feet.

It was clearly different from the natural breeze.

Kicking the ground hard, he leaped back.

Immediately after, the spot where he had stood froze.

Looking down from the air, he clicked his tongue.

Landing, he exhaled.

But he had no time to rest.

Zoooom!

This time, countless fireballs rained down from the sky.

He deflected some with his daggers and rolled to avoid the rest.

Some of the stray fireballs hit the bodies of the unconscious people, but they showed no reaction, like corpses.

Rolling to his feet, Linus ran without stopping.

Mute was still not in sight, but her attacks were accurately targeting him.

She must be watching from somewhere.

His feet froze again.

Jumping back, the spot where he landed warped and turned into a black swamp, sinking his feet.

It was a dark attribute magic.

The sensation of being corroded and burned—Linus immediately used wind to lift himself.

This time, a rock the size of his body launched an assault.

“Guh... Ah...!”

He crossed his daggers to defend.

He avoided a direct hit, but the impact was still overwhelming.

Linus was blown away.

Ahead of him—sharp rock spears protruded from the ground, ready to impale him and cause instant death.

“Nooooo!”

Twisting his body in mid-air, he threw his dagger.

The magic embedded in it activated upon impact, causing the air to explode.

He threw another dagger, completely destroying the rock.

Landing on the ground, he immediately faced a spear of fire from the front.

Turning to retreat, he saw a row of light swords behind him.

And in the sky, a massive rock, and countless black hands grabbing his ankles.

“Using all six attributes... even more than Jean...!”

It was a statement that would anger Jean if he heard it.

But in reality, Mute was more adept at using magic than Jean, who controlled four attributes.

She was not supposed to have such power.

Did she gain it from the second core, or for some other reason?

Linus had no time to consider the reason.

The sides were blocked by buildings, and the top, bottom, front, and back were filled with magic.

There was no place to run—so he thought,

“I can’t let you underestimate my tenacity.”

He still had the composure to smile.

Or rather, it was more like bravado.

Regardless, he was not giving up.

“Sonic—”

Focusing on the approaching spear of fire,

“Raid!”

He charged into it.

As Linus wrapped himself in wind, the black hands that grabbed his feet were blown away.

His body, now at a speed uncontrollable by a normal human, glided through the air.

It was more like he was launched.

Despite this, Linus, in a speed beyond human limits, weaved through the gaps in the flames.

His feet screamed in protest.

He felt something snap, but he ignored the pain, relying on the adrenaline to numb it.

Breaking through the flames, he leaped onto a roof and dodged the approaching light swords.

Immediately after, a rock fell from the sky, crushing the ground.

Of course, this was no longer Linus’s concern.

As expected, magic rained down from above, this time as ice.

Drawing his bow, he quickly nocked an arrow and fired.

Paaan!

The arrow shattered mid-air, colliding with the falling ice.

Doooom!

All the attacks were neutralized, and the ice fragments fell, glowing fantastically.

“You can’t think you can defeat me with this!”

Saying this, Linus rallied himself.

Then, Mute appeared before him.

She had also moved to the roof and stopped about twenty meters away.

Linus readied his second arrow.