Chapter 79: - A Game of Chicken (1)

༺ A Game of Chicken (1) ༻

The first demon I ever defeated, Trevion the Evil.

That bastard appeared.

“Kyaaah!”

“De-demons?!”

“Prepare for battle, now!”

Suddenly, a panic-struck female student let out a scream.

A cold sweat broke out among all the students as they roused their mana and unsheathed their swords from their waist.

In response to this, a group of Trevion’s appeared from behind the stage. As they lined up on the stage, their expressions exuded grotesque smirks.

While the students appeared terrified, they showed no signs of backing down or running away. As expected of top-ranking students, they were prepared to fight.

The students from the Magic Department started first, preparing their long-distance elemental spells to attack.

「Water Wall (Water Element, ★4)」 + 「Black Water (Water Element, ★5)」

= 「Abyssal Wall (Water Element)」

Fwoosh———!!!

The black water created by the mob of Trevion’s whirled violently as it completely neutralized the students’ attacks.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[HelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHelloHello?]]]]]]]]]]]]]

The Trevion mob continuously squirmed in a rapid manner as they repeated their creepy greetings.

Their greetings rang in the students’ eardrums with no intention of ending. It was enough to make anyone go mad.

“There is another demon!!”

“Block it!!”

「Ice Spear (Ice Element, ★4)」 + 「Black Ice (Ice Element, ★5)」

= 「Black Ice Spear (Ice Element)」

Schwook-!

Schwook-!

Schwook-!

In a flash, a demon in a royal blue outfit, ‘Pernicus the Contemplative’, jumped out from behind the curtain and began throwing an onslaught of black spears at the students.

[Hm─, Hm─, Hm─, Hm─, Hm─, Hm─.]

Pernicus breathed out sighs from his nostrils, the rhythm resembling a song that no one in their right mind would ever want to hear.

The students combined their strength to block the numerous [Black Ice Spear]’s with defensive spells.

However, because their defensive spells were easily neutralized, they had to continue to expend their mana without rest, casting one spell after the other.

[Shaaaa──!]

[Ssseuuu──!]

「Tidal Wave (Water Element, ★6)」 + 「Black Water (Water Element, ★5)」

= 「Black Wave (Water Element)」

Fwoooo─────!!

From out of absolutely nowhere, the shark demon, ‘Orpheus the Submerged’, proceeded to drench the students with its water magic.

Kwaang—-!!

Crash—-!

Kkeeuuu——!!

A huge demon in the form of a humanoid queen ant, ‘Garzia the Hermit’, broke through the outer wall and seemingly posed with threatening splendor.

None of the students were impressed by this display. Instead, their pale faces reflected fear as they trembled in its wake. Even as they shook and trembled, they continued to cast one defensive spell after the other.

[Buong, Buong, Buong───♬]

[Buuu, Oong───♪ Buong───♪]

Past the half-broken outer wall, thorn trees illuminated with a deep-red sky could be seen.

In that glimpse behind, something stomped into the walls.

A herd of pink elephants walked on their hind legs in single file as if they were carriages connected to a train.

They sang in an unknown language while dancing to their own beat. As if they were some dance troupe, their weird choreography had no flaws and only perfect synchronicity.

Kwaaaang——!

[Buooooong────♬]

Behind the disgustingly blinding performance of the elephant herd, an even bigger red elephant followed.

The behemoth stood 10 meters tall, and the wall that was already broken by Garzia was completely demolished by its entrance. Behind the demon, the thorn trees and hell-like surroundings were further accentuated like a sea of fire.

The head of the huge elephant was shaped like a red brain, its hips swayed to the rhythm of samba. It was ‘Elphelt the Evanescent.’

All of this happened simultaneously within a short amount of time.

Before I knew it, Ian had fainted as if it was a given. His head has blood spurting out but I currently couldn’t care less.

“This is one hell of a party...”

All the demons I had defeated in the past joined up like some sort of tea party for a princess, creating a scene of chaos like no other.

The dark elemental magic of ‘Malrog the Envious’, [Mad Banquet].

It was an illusion spell that affected the minds of those within a certain radius, causing previously encountered demons to emerge and gradually consume the target’s psyche. If multiple subjects were simultaneously affected by the magic, they would all share the same illusion.

As a result, demons that manifested outside of the radius of the magic, such as Vera the Summoner, Leafa the Illusive, and Heinkel the Hoarder were not present in the illusion.

Anyway, since Elphelt joined the party, it was the end of this nightmare regiment.

In these illusions, one was projected identically as themselves. The students using elemental magic was enough evidence of this. Additionally, just like when I played ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, the [Vs. Demon Combat Power] buff was also amply applied.

Basically, all of this boiled down to one important detail for me.

‘I’m the Demon-Limited Hunter.’ [The demons have been recognized as enemies.] [The unique trait [Hunter] is activated!] [Your level and stats are temporarily greatly enhanced!] [Your skill tree temporarily becomes +10!]

I swung my hand nonchalantly as I activated my rock magic. My target? Towards the students that were struggling against the demons.

As pale blue mana clumped together, a deep blue outline of a scythe appeared in my hands.

I surrendered my body to the chill of the Frostscythe.

「Ice Generation (Ice Element, ★1)」

I created a huge icicle above the Trevion that was desperately crawling away.

At the same time, I raised Frostscythe and let it impale the floor.

The Frostscythe’s active skill was activated.

「Ice Sovereign’s Majesty (Ice Element, ★7)」

Hwaaaaaak——!

[Ice Sovereign’s Majesty], a magic that repels any magic used on the caster.

My body glowed with a pale blue light as it burst out completely.

Hwooooo—!

Kkung—!!

The icicle made by [Ice Generation] fell on the Trevion and impaled it.

And in the glow that filled my view,

I closed my eyes in silence.

* * *

A black magic circle big enough to engulf the entirety of Atla Hall was present. It was because of the dark element spell, [Mad Banquet].

A black maze covered the entirety of the hall from the chandelier hanging from a beautiful ceiling to the wide walls.

[Mad Banquet] was a spell that created a new ‘Illusory World’.

It was similar to [Fictional Hell] used by Leafa.

Outside the illusory world, mana could not even be perceived, so no one knew what was going on.

The students stood like mannequins with lifeless eyes.

With a sporty red haircut, Malrog the Envious practically salivated as he headed towards the stage.

Luigi, the host, and the ordinary male students who brought the luxurious carts were all unconscious.

Malrog began to examine the treasures exhibited on these carts.

There, he found a necklace with an oval-shaped coin. Subtle magic was engraved on the mysterious white gem embedded into the necklace. It was Cherubim’s Necklace.

Malrog let out a wide smile as he reached out towards it.

It was then.

———Rip.

“Kkeuk!”

From his right eye, a sharp pain was paired with an eerie sound. Malrog hurriedly pressed his right eye as he groaned in pain.

Blood dropped like tears.

Each target of the illusory magic was connected to various nerves all around his entire body.

Therefore, this meant that someone was able to escape the [Mad Banquet]. As if they couldn’t be bound by mere illusion magic, the spell completely bounced off this existence.

‘How?!’

How is this possible?

Malrog wasn’t given enough time to contemplate this dilemma.

「Rock Wall (Rock Element, ★4)」

Crack—!

“...!”

Suddenly a [Rock Wall] shot up onto the stage and blew the cart away as various treasures flew into the air.

[Kyuu!]

Suddenly, a small golem familiar, Eden, appeared out of nowhere and leapt towards Malrog.

Malrog was stunned.

Before he could react, Eden snatched the necklace while quickly putting distance between him and Malrog. He then threw the necklace to someone in one swift motion.

As the Cherubim’s Necklace traveled across the air, it curved before landing in a man’s hand.

「Rock Prison (Rock Element, ★4)」

Kudududu—!

Malrog hastily casted [Stone Prison] in an attempt to capture Eden.

At that moment, Eden was unsummoned as he disappeared in an outline of rock mana.

Intense killing intent oozed from Malrog. Wondering who would dare interrupt him, he turned his gaze towards the man holding the necklace. A deep sense of rage seethed within him.

In a dark corner where no light shone from any lamps.

A man with tousled silver-blue hair glared at him with his sharp eyes. It was a stark contrast to the mild impression he had when he first appeared.

In comparison, Malrog shone in the spotlight on top of the stage.

He glared at the silver-blue-haired man as if he killed his entire family.

“Who the fuck are you, you bastard?”

It was a deep and resonant voice that suited his huge physique.

The silver-blue-haired man, Isaac, didn’t answer. He simply lifted the arm that was holding the Cherubim’s Necklace.

Clink—.

The Cherubim’s Necklace appeared from under Isaac’s hand.

Next to it, a light brown magic circle was conjured. It was rock magic.

Malrog squinted his eyes.

“If you so much as breathe wrong, I’m going to destroy this, understand?”

An icy voice echoed, slicing the air like a guillotine.