Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Problem Child Damon (1)

Sssssss........

The barrier the worshipers had created from blood was undone.

Watching the Undead Serpent level the ground with the tip of its tail, I let out a sigh of relief.

“That was close.”

This was an incident that had not happened in the previous round, so if it became publicly known, there was a possibility that the future I knew would be thrown completely off course.

That was why I had given the Undead Serpent an order before the barrier disappeared and had it clean up the surroundings.

Since there was blood everywhere, and corpses were scattered all over the place, I had the Undead Serpent overturn the entire area where the barrier had been spread out and erase the traces.

“As for the Headmaster, I can lie and say this happened because I was still clumsy at handling a Mid-Rank Undead.......”

I could practically hear the trust I had barely built up being shaved away in chunks, but that was still better.

It would be far more troublesome if Levia found out that demon worshipers had appeared.

Chirr?

“Hm?”

The Undead Serpent, having completed its task, slithered toward me and began staring at me intently with its head pressed against the ground.

What is this? 

I did not order it to come closer.

In that case, it meant this undead had judged on its own and come to me.

I furrowed my brow.

“Did a bit of the monster’s nature remain?”

This had become troublesome.

When a monster was turned into an undead, depending on the undead’s degree of completion, a faint amount of intelligence could remain.

Usually, it was influenced by the memories it had experienced just before death, so most of the time it held a grudge against the one who had killed it.

And the one who had killed this monster was me. It was not likely to view me favorably.

Making an undead too well was also a problem.

If its nature remained, it could become an obstacle when I gave orders later.

I should probably make a few adjustments.

I raised my mana and tried to reach my hand toward the undead’s head, but things did not go as I intended.

Chirr......!

Because the Undead Serpent that had been looking at me suddenly straightened its upper body.

It even lifted its head high and stood there proudly.

“Oh?”

Keeeeeek......! 

Chirr......!

There was no way for me to understand a monster’s language or thoughts, but its body language conveyed enough.

It seemed to be saying something like... ‘Did I do well?’

Chirr.

Seeing it excitedly shake its head from side to side, it did not seem to dislike me in particular.

What is wrong with this thing?

“Ah, is it because it was being controlled by the worshiper?”

I had killed this monster, but at the time, it had been under the control of Valak’s authority.

It seemed this creature had not liked being controlled against its will.

And somehow, it also seemed even happier because it had ended up eliminating the worshiper who had controlled it.......

“In that case, this is a different story.”

If its attitude toward me was favorable, there was no need to adjust it.

Rather, it meant it would follow me well even if I did not give it orders through mana. 

In such cases, I could reduce a considerable portion of the mana consumption required when handling an undead.

“Not bad.”

I had obtained an undead that was easier to handle than I had expected.

Then... should I store this creature now?

I placed my right palm against the undead’s body.

Along with the draining sensation of a large clump of mana leaving me, a violet mist bloomed from my palm and wrapped around the Undead Serpent’s body.

Void Storage.

A Mid-Rank Black Magic spell that stored undead created from the caster’s mana inside the caster’s subspace.

There was a restriction that only undead could be placed inside the subspace, though.

‘Void Storage’ was a Black Magic spell mainly used by Summoning Type Black Mages, but because it involved using subspace, it was quite difficult to learn.

Before the Return to the Past, I got scolded quite a lot by old hag Rienna while learning this.

Before long, the mist that had thickly gathered enough to cover the undead’s entire body gradually grew faint, and soon, the Undead Serpent vanished into the mist.

Lurch.

“Ah, shit.......”

My vision swayed, and when nausea rose inside me, I grimaced.

A mana depletion symptom.

Whew....... My internal mana had been barely enough.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that I had wrung out every bit of mana stored in my heart.

Damn it, how many times have I suffered from mana depletion already?

Every spell I used devoured an absurd amount of mana, yet my internal mana was as small as a rat’s tail. 

It was frustrating enough to drive me mad.

The gap between this body and my body from ten years ago was far too great.

“I need to improve this damned body condition first or something, seriously.......”

After grumbling, I looked at the back of my right hand, where I had cast ‘Void Storage.’

It was clean.

Even though I had just cast Black Magic with my right hand, the Sacred Mark engraved on the back of it remained quiet without giving off any golden light.

“To think the effect would be this immediate.”

Just a while ago, I had been so furious at the demon-worshiping old man for spewing nonsense that I had not noticed it, but when I faced the demon worshiper, golden light had not risen from the Sacred Mark.

I stroked my chin.

“If I inject mana into the pattern of the Sacred Mark... does the Sacred Mark not react even when it comes into contact with Black Magic?”

All I had done was bring the Sacred Mark into contact with mana, yet the effect was this good.

Thanks to the demon worshipers, I had learned something useful.

In that case, I did not have to go through the trouble of wearing leather gloves to hide the Sacred Mark.

If I came into contact with powerful Demonic Aura or Black Magic, that might be another matter....... But that was something to think about when the time came.

“Well, that aside.......”

Before leaving the Artificial Rift, I looked around the part of the forest where I had buried the demon worshipers underground.

To think the demon worshipers serving Valak had been doing something like this behind the scenes.

In the previous round, Valak’s name became known one year from now.

Moreover, Valak at that time was a being who viewed the existence of Saengterminum positively, despite being a demon.

Because of that, I had assumed that the worshipers who followed Valak would not try to harm Saengterminum either, so I had not paid them much attention.

However, judging by how the worshipers had controlled the Ozen Serpent today, that did not seem to be the case.

No matter how much of a demon he was, I suppose he could not control every worshiper who had fallen into madness... but this was going a little too far, was it not?

It seemed I would need to find the headquarters of the worshipers serving Valak soon.

Temperamentally, I wanted to go there right away, but I at least knew what condition my body was currently in.

Going alone to the headquarters of demon worshipers without any preparation would be suicide, so it was right to train my body to a certain extent first.

Even so, the preparation period would not be very long.

Holy Power was closely tied to blessings.

And what did that mean?

It meant I could use Holy Magic to dramatically raise my physical abilities.

If I used Holy Power, I could probably resolve this irritating mana depletion symptom to some extent as well.

This Sacred Mark really is quite the thing. 

Quite the thing indeed.

It was enough to make me develop a faith I had not possessed even by the smallest amount.

“Heh heh heh.......”

Looking down at the back of my right hand, I let out a wicked snicker.

***

The next morning.

The corridor of the boys’ dormitory was crowded with students heading to breakfast.

I also walked toward the dormitory entrance while rubbing my heavy eyelids.

It was because I had not gotten enough sleep.

“Ugh... that damned Headmaster.......”

Pressing down on the area around my hollow eyes, I recalled what had happened yesterday.

After coming out of the Artificial Rift, I had gone to the Headmaster’s Office and informed Levia that I had created the Undead Serpent and stored it with Black Magic.

Of course, I left out the part about the demon worshipers appearing.

‘You are quite something, are you not? I thought you would fail because it was the corpse of a Mid-Rank Monster.’

Just as I had expected, Levia had not noticed that demon worshipers had appeared inside the Artificial Rift.

‘Well, I nearly did fail, you know?’

‘...What?’

The moment I brought up the excuse that the ground throughout the forest had been destroyed because I had been trying to create and handle a Mid-Rank Undead, Levia’s barrage of scolding poured out like rapid fire.

‘Are you insane? If that happened, you should have given up immediately and come out.’

‘Why are you trying so hard to use a Mid-Rank Undead when you cannot even handle one properly?’

‘The ground was that badly damaged, and you still did not think to stop?’

‘What would you have done if the undead had broken free of your control, attacked you, and killed you? Do you only have to live for today? No. Should I just kill you myself right now?’

She worried too much. 

I had even blocked the undead from almost being stolen by the demon worshiper with a defensive formula.

Then again, she probably could not imagine that I was this proficient in Black Magic, so Levia’s anger was reasonable.

Someone might look at this and think Levia had a kind heart.

But could they still say that after being forced to sit in a chair and listen to a lecture for over an hour?

‘Are you listening to me? Oh? You are avoiding my eyes?’

Damn it, how is that thing a Dragon Hatchling? 

Does she not sleep?

If she is a hatchling, she should act like one and sleep a lot so her body can grow. 

That is why even when she uses Polymorph, she only looks like she is in her early twenties.

‘...Did you just curse me in your head?’

‘Oh, of course not.’

The insight of a damned dragon.

In the end, the lecture continued for another hour, and having reached a state beyond enlightenment, I gave up on thinking.

‘Whew....... Fine. Go.’

Only around three in the morning was I finally released.

“My luck is filthy.”

I had experienced sleep deprivation plenty of times in the previous round, so I was used to it, but there was a significant difference in stress between experiencing it voluntarily and being forced to experience it.

My nerves had become sensitive in various ways, so I could feel the gazes around me even more clearly.

“Hm.......”

I turned my head to the right.

Whip.

The students whose eyes met mine turned their heads the other way.

“Hmmm.......”

I turned my head to the left.

Whip.

The students whose eyes met mine pretended to look elsewhere.

Ha, well now.

During the Entrance Ceremony, it had been the Holy Magic Department students who had taken the exam with me who paid attention to me. 

This time, however, nearly all the freshmen were conscious of me.

It seemed the conversation I had with Yulia in the dining hall yesterday had spread quite a bit.

In the sense that a freshman had entered who, despite being a Holy Magic Department student, did not hate Black Magic or Black Mages.

There was nothing strange about it. 

Even across the entire Holy Magic Department, I was probably the only Holy Magic Department student this unusual.

I was aware that I had said something conspicuous.

It was not for nothing that Yulia had worried I would be called a heretic.

After all, sane Holy Magic Department students would not look kindly upon a fellow department student being an advocate for Black Mages.

“What are those people over there?”

“Right....... They look like seniors.”

The closer I got to the dormitory entrance, the more the students ahead of me began whispering.

Hearing the students’ words, I also turned my gaze toward the entrance.

Near the exit leading out of the dormitory, about twenty students were carefully examining the faces of the students leaving the building.

Judging by the atmosphere, they were definitely not first-year freshmen.

At Saengterminum, each year used a different dormitory.

...I knew you bastards would be waiting.

I would bet on it. 

Those were second- and third-year students from the Holy Magic Department who had come to see me.

I considered leaving through the back door, but I stopped myself.

If those students did not meet me here, they would come all the way to the classroom I was in.

It would be better to end this here.

Having made my decision, I walked toward the exit.

“Ah.”

The seniors noticed me and focused their gazes on me. 

Then, as if their movements had been choreographed, they blocked the path I was about to take.

The freshmen passing by also stopped walking, as if wondering what was going on, and began watching me.

“Platinum-blond hair and green eyes....... Are you Damon?”

“That is true, but what are you doing, suddenly blocking the path of someone who was on his way?”

“We are second- and third-year students of the Holy Magic Department. It would be proper to call us your seniors.”

With everyone’s gazes gathered on me and the seniors, one of them spoke harshly.

“I heard you were the heretic bastard who said Black Mages and Black Magic were fine.”