Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Artificial Rift (2)

The Ozen Serpent, a mid-rank snake-type monster.

It was naturally not the sort of creature that should appear at the entrance of a Rift.

Hissss……!

The giant serpent's yellow eyes turned toward Viole and me as its long tongue flicked through the air.

"Use the blessing on me."

"What?"

Before her startled reply could even finish, I immediately stepped forward and crossed both arms.

Mana Forging.

Mana Shield, Single Forging.

THUD!

The instant a rectangular Mana Shield fastened itself to my right forearm, a heavy impact slammed into it.

The monster had whipped the tip of its tail like a lash.

It possessed enough strength to have sent me flying backward, yet I only slid back about a meter.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

A golden haze was already shimmering all across my body.

Because Viole, who had been behind me, had cast her blessing on me without delay, I was able to brace my feet and barely hold my ground.

A rush similar to the exhilaration of wearing a Demonic Armament spread through my body.

Still—

'As expected, it's not as effective as when I coat myself in a Demonic Armament.'

Viole spoke from behind me.

"Whew……. For now, I strengthened the muscles in your body."

The types of physical enhancement could be divided in detail into several branches.

Durability enhancement, strength enhancement, agility enhancement, and so on.

Whereas a Demonic Armament comprehensively increased the physical abilities of the body part it covered, Holy Magic, unlike Demonic Armament, required each blessing to be cast separately in detail.

Some might think that sounded cumbersome, but unlike a Demonic Armament, blessings had the major advantage of not leaving the body stiff even after the enhancement ended.

Keeping the Mana Shield thrust forward, I opened my mouth.

"Nice. Stay back."

"What? We should run instead—"

"You think that thing's just going to let us go?"

Ssssss……!

The Ozen Serpent, its attack blocked, writhed its body as it watched Viole's movements and mine.

That was the Ozen Serpent's trait. 

Unless the situation was urgent, it would first assess its prey's skill as a hunter by instinct.

Once it finished gauging us, it would lunge in immediately.

"Since a monster like that showed up at the entrance of the Rift, the Headmaster will have noticed something is wrong with the Rift. We just need to hold out until she gets here."

"Are you crazy? No matter how you look at it, that isn't an ordinary monster. It would be better if the two of us fought it together—"

"Have you ever fought a monster like that before?"

"That's……."

She could not answer properly.

This was probably her first time seeing a mid-rank monster.

"I have."

"You have?"

"Just keep the blessings on me from the back. If all we need to do is hold out, I think I can manage somehow."

"...If you're going to say it that firmly, all right."

When I spoke with such stubborn certainty, she held her tongue as well.

As expected of someone from the Order, she was quick to judge the situation.

Viole kicked off the ground to put a little more distance between us, and the monster, reacting to her movement, opened its jaws wide and shot its body toward her like an arrow.

Not happening.

Having already anticipated the monster's move, I shifted sideways and cut in front of it.

BANG!

Yellow poison dripped from the Mana Shield where it had collided with the fangs.

"You can play with me."

SIZZLE!

The part that came into contact with the venom began corroding, rapidly eating away at the Mana Shield's durability.

I hurriedly poured mana into the shield and somehow repaired it, but the amount of mana being consumed was no joke.

I can't drag this out for long.

Hissss…….

The monster, whose second attack had also been blocked, narrowed its eyes and began glaring at me fiercely.

'...Huh?'

I swallowed a short breath.

It was not because I felt pressured by the monster's venom.

Fwoooosh…….

'The Sacred Mark......'

It was because heat was once again spreading from the back of my right hand.

I had not used Black Magic, nor had I even tried to call forth Holy Power.

And yet this was happening again.

Come to think of it, Viole had said something like that when we entered the Rift.

That in order to draw forth Holy Power, one had to pour an Earnest Wish into it.

I had poured in the wish, 'I want to change the future.'

Could it be......

'Does the Sacred Mark react even when I take action to change the future?'

Good thing I was wearing leather gloves. Otherwise, I might have shown Viole the Sacred Mark glowing right in front of her eyes.

I would have to practice controlling the output of the Sacred Mark later.

Of course— 'For now, this is even better.'

A vicious smile curled at my lips.

Originally, I had only planned to hold out until Lloyd and Yulia made it here, but if the Sacred Mark was reacting this strongly, that changed things.

There was also something I wanted to test with Holy Power.

"Viole, can I ask you for one favor?"

Without taking my eyes off the monster, I told Viole what I wanted, and behind me, a breath of disbelief slipped out.

Even without looking at her face, I could picture the expression she was making.

"That, is possible?"

"Probably?"

"It isn't impossible, but......"

"Then that's enough."

Having made my decision, I gripped the Mana Shield tightly.

***

Lloyd and Yulia walked toward the exit with frowns on their faces.

"This is all because of you."

"Ugh......"

Lloyd followed behind while looking at the map, and Yulia, at the very front, cleared away the brush and vines with the sword in her hand.

The one fortunate thing was that Leviathan had put a map of the Rift into Lloyd's back pocket when she had forcibly teleported them.

Because of that, the two of them would not have to wander around unable to find the exit.

Slash!

The silver arc traced by Yulia's sword cleaved the goblin that had leaped out in front of them clean in two.

Watching that smooth motion, Lloyd was genuinely impressed.

"So you weren't just all talk. Your skill with a sword is quite good."

"Are you not going to help? Why am I the only one working?"

"You caused trouble when you should have been making up for the damage you did to someone else's goodwill? The reputation of the Holy Empire would weep."

"Ah, damn it......"

Struck by Lloyd's criticism, which was pure fact, Yulia could not come up with a proper response and merely bit her lip.

"None of this would have happened if you hadn't picked a fight at the reception desk."

"I didn't know it was going to turn out like this either."

"Tch. At the very least, while we're in this academy, we'd better put our positions aside."

"Ha....... I agree."

A moment later, Lloyd's complexion brightened as he studied the map and pointed in one direction.

"If we keep walking that way, there's an exit. Judging by the distance, it should take about thirty more minutes."

Hearing Lloyd's words, Yulia also felt relieved and was about to pick up the pace, but—

"...Hm?"

"...Huh?"

The two of them stopped at the same time.

Rrrrrr…….

A bizarre sound, as if something were dragging itself across the ground.

"I wasn't the only one who heard that, right?"

"No. I heard it too......"

FWOOOSH!

Before long, a massive shape rose up from the forest some distance away, and the two of them threw their eyes wide as they looked up at the enormous shadow.

"A-a monster?"

"What's something that huge doing near the entrance of the Rift......"

Hissss......!

The gigantic serpent flicked its tongue as it twisted its body this way and that.

"Is someone fighting that monster?"

Because of the distance, they could only make out the general situation.

"...Wait. Let me check."

Yulia halted and narrowed her eyes in the direction of the monster.

The brown in her eyes was dyed gold.

Thousand-Mile Vision.

Yulia enhanced her eyesight with Holy Power.

As a result, the person fighting the monster looked as clear as if he were right in front of her.

And when Yulia followed the monster's gaze, she saw a familiar face.

That man was definitely......

"Damon?"

The lunatic who had wrecked the testing grounds during the Entrance Exam.

Her question of 'Why is he here?' lasted only for a moment.

When she spotted the woman standing behind him and blessing him, Yulia's eyes widened.

"...Viole?"

Viole was extending her hand with an anxious expression, continuously blessing Damon.

Yulia bit down on her lip as she took in the situation.

Viole's blessings were renowned even within the Holy Order, but her combat ability was quite poor.

The Damon she had seen at the Entrance Exam had shown remarkable skill in handling weapons, but the only magic confirmed was Mana Forging.

He was managing to hold on for now, but how much longer could that stalemate really last?

She drew on her Holy Power.

"I'm going ahead."

"Wha— Hey, wait—!"

Before Lloyd could say anything more, she kicked off the ground toward the place where the two of them were.

Please let them be safe until I get there.

***

By the time I had already been driven back more than twenty times while blocking the Ozen Serpent's attacks with the Mana Shield—

Hissss…….

The monster flicked its tongue once as it stared at my shield, then curled up the tip of its tail and violently lashed the Mana Shield.

"...!"

This one landed cleanly.

Driven back by the monster's attack, I slammed my back into a tree and coughed dryly.

A mid-rank monster was still a mid-rank monster. 

Even with a strength blessing on me, its raw power was considerable.

Whiiiiine…….

Still, because Viole kept her distance and continued to cast blessings on me, it was at least bearable.

CRACK!

The Mana Shield that had been protecting me finally shattered, unable to withstand the impact it had just taken.

"Tch."

I had used most of my mana blocking the Ozen Serpent's attacks.

I could not use Mana Forging anymore.

The Ozen Serpent slithered through the trees in winding curves as it closed the distance.

It intended to drive its fangs into me without missing the opening created when my shield broke.

'Ha……. I really want to use Black Magic.'

If I used Black Magic, suppressing that mid-rank monster would be easy, but Viole was here, and if I used Black Magic, the aftermath would be unmanageable.

Well, I had nearly exhausted the mana in my body anyway.

Sliiide… Swooosh…….

The monster's body abruptly straightened as it opened its maw toward me.

"Damon!"

Viole's shrill voice rang out from behind me.

Anyone watching would think I was about to die.

"Hah……."

But this was the exact moment I had been aiming for from the start.

This moment, when the monster looked down on my abilities and charged at me carelessly, completely exposed.

I stretched out my right hand toward the monster.

The more I exchanged blows with it, the more the heat radiating from the Sacred Mark had continued to rise.

That meant Holy Power had been steadily generated from the Sacred Mark throughout the fight.

And that meant I could use the Holy Power created by the Sacred Mark freely, without burden.

Golden aura bloomed from my right palm as I drew on Holy Power.

'Come on, you bastard.'

The Sacred Mark might be special, but ordinarily, Holy Power was created by refining the mana in the heart.

That was why I had judged that, unless it was high-level Holy Magic, low-level Holy Magic would not be much different from using mana.

Mana Forging.

Transformation.

CRUNCH!

The Holy Power that had only been wavering a moment ago rapidly gathered and took form.

The form of a spear glowing gold.

Holy Light Forging.

Holy Light Spear, Single Forging.

I gripped the Holy Light Spear firmly in my right hand.

"Now."

At my signal, Viole used Holy Power and once more cast a strength blessing on my body.

A blessing of this level would be more than enough to support me even if I enlarged the Holy Light Spear.

Whoosh.

I brought the Holy Light Spear level with my body in my right hand, then grasped it with both hands.

I aimed the spearhead straight at the Ozen Serpent's gaping maw.

Kiiiieek?

The monster sensed something was wrong and hastily sprayed venom from the tips of its fangs, but it was too late.

Were you happy because you thought you'd won?

Now it's my turn.

Holy Light Spear, Giantification.

The Holy Power generated by the Sacred Mark was absorbed without reserve into the Holy Light Spear, increasing its size.

The poison the monster had fired stained the tip of the Holy Light Spear, but this weapon had been created by condensing Holy Power in the first place.

Holy Power had the property of purifying curses and poison, so venom like that meant nothing.

SSSSIZZLE……!

With a crackling noise, the monster's venom was purified the instant it touched the Holy Light Spear.

BOOOOM!

The Holy Light Spear, stretching out long, pierced straight through the Ozen Serpent's maw before it had even a chance to scream.