Chapter 75 Monster Outbreak [3]
At first, I thought that the Demon who tried to pass itself as a Human was either the Demon that Tina saw in prison or the one who infiltrated the Academy, but… I was wrong.
After the Demon got hit by my Light Attribute Mana Arrow, it turned back to its real appearance. I observed the Demon's transformation and realized that the Demon was, in fact, the original Demon that appeared in the novel.
That Demon was strong. Zaiden wouldn't be able to take care of it himself. If he tried to fight it with his current strength, he would be trashed or insta-killed.
I looked around again and noticed two Demons exiting the dungeon. Once again, the Demon described by Tina wasn't among them.
'Is it hiding inside the dungeon?' If that was so, then he was the one who controlled the monster using a monster breeder. Possibly, he also controlled the boss monster, if there was any, that was.
Five Awakeners noticed the Demon on the back line. They ran toward Zaiden, trying to help him to slay the Demon.
'Oh? Are they going to…'
Alas, right before I finished saying something inside my mind, the Demon fired a single Magic Ball that exploded, creating a surge of lightning that instantly killed the five Awakeners.
'Nevermind. They died… But, that will serve as a little trauma for Zaiden. I bet it's the first time he saw people die on the battlefield.'
As I thought, Zaiden suddenly was enraged and lunged into the Demon without any plan. His movement was faster than when he had a spar with me, but it was too simple.
He was blinded with rage. If the Demon was serious, Zaiden would be defeated under a minute or possibly longer, if he was lucky.
Seeing his fight, I quickly descend from the mounting while maintaining Stealth by using the effect of my coat.
I traversed through the forest without following the path down; it was too slow. I quickly reached the hill located near the place Zaiden fought the Demon.
Unexpectedly, Zaiden could hold his ground for a while. When I stood atop the hill, Zaiden's body had been battered too much. His body was full of bruises, and blood dripped from his mouth.
He was desperate, and he frowned. His usual kind smile was nowhere to be seen. Looking at him like that, my lips curved into a smile behind my mask. I took off [Horus' Sunglasses] and put it inside my magic bag.
It was not within my plan, but… Zaiden seemed to understand this world better. He wasn't like the original Zaiden that I created. He was not the introverted Zaiden who only cared for his loved one.
This Zaiden cared for everyone. He was kind.
'So what I thought was correct. He will, no matter what, try to save everyone even more so because of his Trait. He will be forced to save and grieve those who he cared for. Even for a stranger.'
Realizing it, I was glad that I found this side of him. My plan was to make the people he cared for disappear from his life. I plan to take things rather slowly. But I didn't need to do that. I would save his loved one for the last.
As my mind wandered in thoughts about my future plan, the Demon put Zaiden unconscious. It was about to end Zaiden as it raised its sword.
I couldn't let that happen. If that bastard died here, who would stop those terrifying Witches? I was afraid to fight those things from a close distance. I would leave them to him.
So I fired an arrow toward the Demon's sword, shattering it. Of course, I used Light Attribute Mana Arrow to get his attention. Demon's natural enemy was the Hero and Awakeners who could use Light Attribute Mana.
Hence, they would try to get rid of anyone who could use Light Attribute Mana.
I lifted the Stealth effect and showed myself as the Demon traced my arrow trajectory. I prepared another arrow as it saw me. It quickly flew toward me, trying to get close. However, I fired a Mana Arrow made of Hell Flame that I learned just a few days ago.
I read the Master Fire Magic Book when Zaiden was sleeping yesterday. Written in the Master Fire Magic Book was a way to reduce Mana consumption.
The way to reduce Mana consumption was different for each Attribute, as it needed an Artifact with that certain attribute to reduce a Mana consumption needed to use Magic.
Thankfully, [Arash Bow] was an Artifact with three composite Attributes, and that was: Light, Fire, and Dark.
Hell Flame was a composite Magic of Fire and Dark Attribute Mana, and because of [Arash Bow], it was possible for me to use Hell Flame in battle even when my Mana had yet to reach C Rank.
The Demon was fast. It managed to avoid getting hit directly by my arrow, but it was still hit nevertheless. It fell in front of me, and I intended to end its life directly.
However, the Demon looked at me with no fear. No, instead, it looked at me with surprise? and some respect was written on its face.
Strange. Was it because no Human could ever use Dark Attribute Magic? Thanks to my Talents and knowledge to avoid the curses, I was fine, but I knew that no Human ever managed to use Dark Attribute Magic without being cursed.
Next, the Demon suddenly raised its head and shouted, "I found h-!" But I quickly released Light Attribute Mana Arrow to pierce its heart.
I had a feeling that it would be bad to allow the Demon to finish its sentence. Probably, it was about to tell its comrade about my existence, a Human who could use Dark Attribute Magic without being cursed.
It probably misunderstood what I was, so it was best to shut its mouth before it became troublesome.
After killing the Demon, I approached Zaiden and picked him up. I then used the Shapeshift effect of my coat to cover Zaiden before using the Stealth effect.
Running, I made my way back toward Mountain Peak. I could cross a 1KM distance in around 1 to 2 minutes. I put Zaiden down before deactivating the Stealth. I wore [Horus' Sunglasses] again, as I needed it this time.
Zaiden's wound was severe, so I used Healing Magic on him to at least keep him alive before sending him to the hospital later when the monster outbreak was over.
My mastery of Healing Magic was the worst, so the wound healed slowly. In the meantime, I observed the situation on the battlefield around the dungeon, scanning the corpses of female Awakeners to find the Witch Factor.
I found some and proceeded to observe the battlefield.
The Awakeners managed to take one Demon down, and now they were focusing on defeating the other Demon. Frank was the only Awakener I was familiar with, and he had injuries all over his body.
Blood dripped from his right hand as he confronted the Demon face to face. It had already been a few minutes after the monster outbreak, maybe 15 minutes after they asked for reinforcement.
I guessed that the reinforcement would arrive in five minutes, and they would start to attack the dungeon.
The reinforcement that would arrive was probably Jaro himself, as he was in Los Angeles. If it was him, then he would be able to kill the Demon, who hid inside the dungeon, with no problem.
"I guess this is enough," I muttered as I looked at Zaiden.
His bruises were healed, and his expression became better. However, I didn't fix his broken bone.
'Well, the next stop is the hospital again. Poor him, he just got discharged yesterday, yet he needs to go to hospital again. Not that I care, though.'
Next, I created a ball of water using Magic and dropped it on Zaiden's face.
Splash!
As soon as the water hit his face, Zaiden's eyes opened, and his body jolted.
"No!!" He shouted loudly as he raised his body, only to be met by pain. "Ugh!" He grunted as he held his stomach, where the damage was the most severe.
"You have been roughed up by the Demon, huh? Why are you so weak, Zaiden?" I asked with a mocking tone.
Zaiden turned to me slowly with a pained look. "T-This is? You saved me?"
"Indeed I am." I nodded, standing up to look down on him.
"Why?" He asked, clearly confused. "Why did…" Before he finished his sentence, I cut him off.
"I saved you?"
He nodded. Each time I met with Zaiden in Rai's clothes, I gave him the impression that I hated him. It was no wonder he was confused about me saving him.
It would be better if I left him dead, or so he would think. Naïve, Zaiden. You were too naïve.
If I really wanted you to die, you wouldn't be able to breathe from the first day I transmigrated to this world. But I needed him if I wanted to survive in this world. Saving the world was his job, not mine.
At this point, I did admit that his growth was faster than the original Zaiden, but I didn't forget the Artifacts in the Academy that he secured.
Maybe he didn't wear it because I suddenly kidnapped him, but if he did wear those Artifacts, his growth would be explosive.
I knew he wanted to keep the plot the same as the original and didn't wear the Artifacts in fear of changing the plot any further, but he should've known today that the plot had been turned into a mess because he saved Lily. It became nonexistent.
"Funny question, Zaiden. I saved you because I hate you." I answered with a low laugh, befitting a villain. "Don't you think it's too early for you to die? I will slowly kill all future Witches. Let's see…" I took out a notebook that I used to write about important events and pretended to read it.
"Oh!" I exclaimed loudly. "I found it. The name of the Witch that I will kill is…"
Zaiden looked at me in horror. He shook his head slowly as he muttered. "No… P-please don't tell me about it!"
"The first on the list kill is…" I said slowly as I leaned toward him.
"Fortunately, they are not related to you. Hahahaha, so you do know about it, the future! What are you trying to do, Hijacker? With that puny strength of yours. I bet you won't be able to do anything to stop me." I laughed loudly as I put my notebook back into my magic bag.
"I…" Zaiden muttered.
"I,... What?" I asked, putting my hand behind my ear as I crouched in front of him. "I can't hear it!"
"I will save them! I will definitely not let them die!"
"Really?!" I said in a shocked voice as I rose up, taking five steps away from him, holding [Arash Bow] in my left hand.
Without saying anything, I turned around and pointed my bow toward the dungeon.
I found a total of seven Awakeners below C-Rank who carried the Witch Factor. All of them had already woken up, and their faces were pale, realizing the change in their statuses. In other words, they were vulnerable.
I pulled my bowstring, creating three Hell Flame Mana Arrows as I targeted the nearest three that unexpectedly stood near each other.
Knowing what I did, Zaiden shouted.
"It can't be?! No! Please stop! We can still save them!!" He desperately tried to stand up to stop me.
Indeed, those with Witch Factor still could be saved. But, the sacrifice needed to save the girl was immense. A permanent loss of the ability to use Mana.
Of course, there was an item that could extract the Witch Factor too. But, it wouldn't show up until the Demon King was revived. The only ones who could use that item were Demons, who were hostile toward Mankind.
I certainly would choose to kill the girls who carried Witch Factor instead of sacrificing myself or trying to ask a Demon for help. My goal was to survive and find a way to return to Earth.
Fuck this world. This trash world that I made was dangerous. I love the peaceful Earth more.
So, I paid no heed to Zaiden's attempt to stop me and released the bowstring. Following this, I created two more Hell Flame Mana Arrows and shot them toward the other target. It didn't end there, though, two more Hell Flame Mana Arrows followed suit, and seven arrows flew toward the direction of the Awakeners who carried Witch Factor.
The arrow landed right on the Awakeners' bodies, right on their chest. The Hell Flame immediately burned them to ash, as no normal Awakeners could handle the curse of Dark Attribute Mana, leaving no evidence behind except some witnesses, who certainly wouldn't believe what they saw.
I didn't feel a single bit of guilt as what I killed was not Humans, they were corpses of Humans that the Witches used to revive themselves.
I could deal with them later, but for now… I had more pressing matters.
"Nooo!!!!" A shrill scream resounded on the mountain peak.
I turned around and saw Zaiden slumped down on the ground, seemingly lifeless. I noticed a trail of tears on his face.
'Hmm, perfect.' I thought.
He had fallen into a little despair. I called it little because it would be the start. He would definitely crawl up, and he would be stronger than before.
So, as Rai, I would act as his nemesis. His rival and his worst enemy. To accomplish that, I would be the worst villain in his life.
"See?" I said playfully as I put [Arash Bow] back into my magic bag. "You can do nothing."
Zaiden didn't say anything. It seemed like what I did earlier hit him harder than I thought.
As one of my objectives was complete, I approached Zaiden, took my Party Bracelet back from his wrist, and walked away, leaving him alone on the ground as I had found the rat that I searched for.
'Time to hunt a Witch. But well, before that…'
I took my phone out of my magic bag and called someone. As usual, a second later, the other party picked up my phone call.
"Ah, hello? Can I ask you for something, Miss Rosa? It's related to Sacred Gear golden chick."
***
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