Chapter 48

Part 23: The Gift Seems Strange (1)

In the midst of the monsters surging forward, the hallucinations and auditory hallucinations were disorienting.

Moreover, the arrogant auditory hallucinations were so overwhelming that they left me speechless.

"Do you desire power?"

In this state, it was difficult to even respond, let alone engage in battle.

Even when I cut off my mana, the hallucinations didn't disappear, and even when I sheathed the dagger at my waist, nothing changed.

I couldn't tell if this was a curse or a lingering effect from the repeated deaths.

But for it to happen at such a critical moment.

As I wandered, unsure of what to do, I heard the cry of the phoenix hunter.

"I'll take care of the red ones, so please handle the rest! Just buy me some time! I'll finish them quickly and come to help."

Her instructions were very reasonable.

The gray monsters were coming, one, two, three.

If I had met them for the first time, I might have found it difficult to run away, and even now, after several encounters, I could only run and buy time.

Still, I could follow her instructions.

If I were in my right mind...

But it was difficult to run with hallucinations clouding my vision and auditory hallucinations ringing in my ears.

Still, I couldn't just stand there and be attacked.

Whether it was a curse or a lingering effect, it didn't matter.

I shouted with all my might.

Whatever it was, if I couldn't see it, it was fine.

"Okay!"

A clear, young voice echoed through the stone chamber corridor.

The approaching monsters flinched, and the phoenix hunter also seemed surprised.

"Oh, that's refreshing, then I'll leave it to you!"

The problem was that she misunderstood.

Not what I said to her...

The misunderstood phoenix hunter ran towards the red monsters.

At the same time, the gray monsters pounced on me.

Even as the monsters swung their claws at me, I couldn't run away.

At that moment, the illusion of a burning bird enveloped my entire body.

My body was on fire, my flesh was burning, my bones were cooking, and my blood was boiling.

The pain of imminent death covered my entire body.

But even in the pain, I could still assess the situation around me.

'Is this some kind of phantom pain? And why did the monsters attacking me stop?'

The pain was truly intense, but it wasn't fatal.

Having experienced death multiple times, this level of pain was manageable.

Perhaps it was a form of adaptation, or maybe it was a form of resignation...

This thought briefly crossed my mind, but in any case, this experience was helpful now.

My body was burning and I could feel the pain, but the skin beneath the flames didn't change.

Indeed, this was a continuation of the hallucinations and auditory hallucinations, now in the form of phantom pain.

Thinking of it as phantom pain made the pain more bearable.

Moreover, the movement of my body and the surrounding objects didn't stop.

The claws of the monsters were approaching very slowly.

It was like the movement of a slow-motion camera, extremely slow.

The slow movement wasn't limited to the monsters.

The mercenary running towards the monsters, the wind, and the hair fluttering in the wind were all moving very, very slowly.

No, everything wasn't just slow. My mind was moving dozens, even hundreds of times faster.

While enduring the pain and observing the unfamiliar situation, I gradually felt a change.

Not from outside my body, but from within.

Rustle.

The flames that were burning me seeped into my body and burned the mana within.

The calm mana began to boil and gradually changed.

The mana, which was originally translucent and colorless, began to turn red, from under my skin to deep within my body, from my limbs to my chest and head. All the mana was boiling and changing.

At the moment all the mana was boiling.

Snap!

The mana inside my body surged towards the dagger.

The burning mana flowed through my arm and hand into the dagger, which trembled as if it were enjoying a delicious meal, accepting the mana.

Squish.

As more mana flowed in, the length of the sword gradually increased.

No, it wasn't that the sword was getting longer, but the mana I pushed in was extending from the tip of the sword in the shape of a sword.

It looked like a lightsaber from a famous sci-fi movie, but it wasn't visible to the eye. I knew it was extending because my mana was growing.

To the naked eye, it just looked like a slight ripple in the air.

The hallucinations disappeared, and the auditory hallucinations were no longer felt.

The intense heat and pain also vanished.

Only the changed mana flowed through my body and the dagger.

And at that moment, time returned to its normal flow.

Kyaah!

The claws of the monster, which had been moving like a snail in front of my eyes, started moving again.

The wind cut through my skin, and the monster's breath warmed my face.

At the same time, I swung my sword.

Although the short dagger couldn't block all the claws, I wasn't worried.

Squish, squish, squish.

As expected.

The claws the monster swung were cut off along with its front legs and flew backward.

I didn't feel like I had cut anything, and there was no blood on the dagger.

Of course. The front legs of the monster were cut not by the dagger but by the mana sword that was overlaid on the dagger.

The blade, made of mana about three times the length of the dagger, instantly cut through the hard front legs of the monster.

I didn't know how it happened, but I immediately knew what to do.

With this newfound power, there was no need to run and buy time.

The reasons and other issues could be considered after dealing with the current situation.

I cut off the neck of the monster whose front legs had been cut off with the invisible blade.

Then I swung my sword at the gray monster that was charging at me.

Squish, squish.

An invisible blade was an even more formidable weapon than I had imagined.

The monster, thinking I was just swinging a dagger in the air, didn't stop its charge and was instantly cut down by the mana sword.

I quickly defeated two monsters.

The last monster seemed to realize something was wrong and stopped to assess the situation.

But if it didn't attack, I would.

Indeed, it was a smart monster.

It seemed to realize that the dagger was different from other swords and tried to avoid it more actively than the other monsters, but it was impossible to avoid an invisible blade.

The monster quickly became a bloody mess, just like the one that fought the phoenix hunter earlier.

'Oh, my mana is already running low...'

Perhaps because the mana had changed, I felt it was depleting quickly after a brief fight.

Of course, it couldn't be all good.

I immediately clung to the monster, swinging my sword while being drenched in the gushing blood.

Grrr!

Fortunately, I managed to defeat the monster before my mana ran out.

The red mana still coursing through my body.

I looked at the dagger, which was not stained with a single drop of blood. Although it wasn't visible to the eye, rough mana was rippling on the dagger.

Could it be that all my mana had changed?

While I had obtained a good weapon, it was a problem if my original mana changed.

If my inherited abilities also changed, it would be a big issue.

I sheathed the dagger at my waist.

Sssssss.

Fortunately, my mana started to change back.

The red mana receded, and my original transparent mana gradually returned.

It quickly returned to its original state, and my mana began to replenish.

I grabbed the dagger again.

The mana turned red again, and the replenishing mana seemed to stop.

I repeatedly grabbed and released the dagger.

Each time, the mana in my body changed.

"Besides the mana, it seems my body is changing a bit too..."

I couldn't describe it precisely, but it seemed that my muscles and nerves were changing to match the movement of the mana.

"Does holding this sword change my abilities?"

Or is it like a class change item in a game from my previous life?

I recalled the hallucination I saw earlier. The burning bird and its question.

-Do you desire power!

It was a chilling statement, but what followed made it difficult to dismiss the hallucination as just a hallucination.

The mystery only grew, but there was someone beside me who could help solve it.

I sheathed the dagger at my waist and looked at the phoenix hunter, who was still fighting.

Despite her words to me, she was engaged in a tense battle.

I had seen it before, but these red monsters were on a different level from the gray ones.

Like the difference between a lynx and a leopard.

Stronger skin, faster movements that didn't match their size, and the intelligence to avoid her invisible sword.

They were completely different from the monsters I had seen during my travels.

I even recalled the words of an old knight I had heard during my journey.

"The monsters in places like this are the stragglers from the Great War and their offspring. The proper ones either returned to the Demon World during the Great War or gathered in the Sealed Lands. They wouldn't remain in such places."

Could it be that the monsters that remained here couldn't leave the cave?

Raising weaker offspring in this dark cave?

Is that why they were so angry?

Clang!

After all the monsters around me fell, the red monsters were becoming even more frenzied.

They might have a tragic backstory, but as enemies, I had no interest in it.

I should help the phoenix hunter.

Even in their rage, the monsters were methodically fighting her.

They seemed to have figured out the gaps in her invisible sword, even as they became bloody.

One monster faced her, while another waited for an opportunity from the side.

They had already switched positions several times, and she was panting, unable to land a proper blow.

She seemed to be running low on mana.

"Damn it! Damn it! What a mess I've made!"

She was berating herself as she swung her sword, loud enough for me to hear.

It seemed she thought I had either run away or died when the sounds from behind stopped.

She might think she took too much time.

I walked towards her, drawing the dagger again.

Whoosh!

The mana changed instantly, and the red mana began to boil.

Standing behind her, who was fighting hard, I spoke.

"Need some help?"

Startled by the sudden voice, she quickly moved away and turned to look at me.

"Eh? You're alive?"

Turning her head during a fight, my voice must have surprised her a lot.

She widened her eyes when she saw the fallen monsters and the unharmed me.

"How...?"

She seemed shocked to see me.

Perhaps because of that, she didn't notice the monsters silently charging at her.

"Danger!"

She barely regained her senses from my shout and managed to block the claws of the monster charging at her with her sword.

But she missed the other monster that was waiting for an opportunity.

The claws came in quickly.

She gritted her teeth.

At that moment, she saw a ripple passing by the claws.

Clang!

The claws were deflected, and she narrowly escaped the danger.

"Phew, I'm not too late. What were you doing in the middle of a fight? Get a grip!"

Despite my shout, she stared at me blankly.

No, she was staring at the dagger in my hand, which was rippling with the same mana as hers.