by Yuu Tanaka
Did that work?
If only that were enough to cure him.
“GUAAARRRGGH!”
Brook’s body began to swell. His muscles grew at a visible rate. His skin turned dark, not the shade of sunburn, but pitch black as ink. His veins bulged and pulsed visibly under his skin like squirming worms. His face, however, remained mostly unchanged, making him look all the more unsettling.
Gross!
“Hm.”
Fran reeled back at the sight of Brook’s metamorphosis. He no longer looked human. Were we too late administering the cure?
When I Identified him, his status screen looked like a monster’s. His name was gone, and in its place was the Type field which revealed his species. Corrupted Human. He was strong enough to kill the average goblin or soldier now, but still no match for us.
He had gained the Class Skill, Fiendmancy. I remembered seeing that kind of title on certain Goblins and Kobolds. It seemed exclusive to Fiend types. They had the Corrupted prefix in their names too, and their skin was the same inky black. Brook had even gained the title Slave of the Evil One, which looked eerily similar to Servant of the Evil One. There were too many similarities.
I thought that the Fiend Water only made its victims go into a frenzy? I didn’t expect it to turn them into actual Fiends.
What the hell is going on?
No matter how reckless Brook was, I couldn’t see him ingesting the dangerous Mana Water. At least, not by himself.
Was he being played by a third party? That left Zelyse the rogue alchemist and the old mage Linford…
I had no time to think about it now. We needed to deal with the Fiend in front of us.
In truth, I wanted to cut him down and get it over with, but doing that in front of his father might earn his ire. Besides, there was still a chance that he could be cured. If we could get him talking, maybe we could get information from him. It was in our best interest to let him live, but…
As we mulled over what to do, the people outside the manor were beginning to transform, too.
“Gaaaaargh!”
“Roaaafrgh!”
We could hear the same screams come from the garden.
“Well then.”
This is bad.
A civilian like Brook transforming was bad enough, but what if it happened to trained fighters? They would be exponentially stronger as Fiends.
As the screams outside grew louder, I felt an incredibly strong presence rising. Then came the agonized cries of the city guard. The people outside had undergone the same transformation.
“Brook! Brook, talk to me!”
“Stay back!”
“Br—hurk!”
Marquis Christon ignored Fran’s warning and rushed to his son, still pinned under Jet’s feet. His concern was rewarded with a powerful kick.
“Count Rhodus! Are you all right?”
“S-somehow.”
The Count was still reeling from the pain and shock as the guard captain helped him to his feet.
“Aaaargh!”
Brook struggled fiercely under Jet’s front paws. He had lost his mind and wasn’t about to calm down. We fed him more curry and used Healing Magic, but all to no avail. When someone afflicted with Possession turned, the curse was lifted and the natural state of the creature took its place.
Fran, see if you can stop him moving.
“Hm. Jet, get off.”
“Woof.”
“Stun Bolt.”
“Grr—gaahng!”
That worked. Brook rolled on the floor, freed from Jet’s grasp. He was conscious but Paralyzed. Lightning Magic seemed really powerful, especially against the living.
Now, just sit on him, Jet.
“Woof.”
Let’s go, Fran.
“Hm.”
We ran down the hallway and leapt out of a window into the garden.
They’ve all transformed!
The captured criminals of the Ythra Trade Association had become Fiends. They’d broken free of their bonds and were now on a frenzy—ten of them against thirty soldiers. The difference in power was too great. The city guard were overwhelmed.
“What do we do? Capture them all?”
Let’s…just cut them down. Saving all of them is impossible with how much they’re thrashing around. Even if we managed to cure them, they’d still get a death sentence.
They were guilty of conspiring to treason, after all.
Fran Air Hopped, kicked the air above her, and shot straight down like a bullet. I cast a wind spell, chopping off two heads on our way down.
Having been thugs in their former lives, these Fiends were stronger than Brook. From a Threat Level perspective, they were at least E-Threats.
However, their skills weren’t anything special, and their equipment broke when they bulked up during transformation. They were no match for us, and it took a little under three minutes to take care of them.
Unfortunately, none of them had formed a crystal, despite being strong enough. No use complaining about it now, I supposed.
When the monsters were defeated, the city guards sat down, exhausted. However, the guard captain would have to postpone his rest. We had something to ask him.
“H-hey.”
“Y-yes?”
The old captain had seen Fran’s raw strength, and he was nervous. He had gained something of a fearful respect for her.
“Was this everyone in the mansion?”
“Yes, ma’am! The only ones left are the girls over there!”
He pointed towards the cowering slave girls. They hadn’t seen the light of day in a while. I Identified them and found nothing physically wrong with them.
“Have you seen an alchemist called Zelyse or an old man called Linford?”
Were they among the Corrupted Humans we killed? None of them seemed old enough to fit their description.
“No, ma’am.”
I’d hoped the guards would apprehend at least one of them.
“We would know if they’re in custody.”
“You’re familiar with them?”
“Zelyse is the alchemist who conducted human experiments on unwilling slaves. I won’t soon forget him, especially when we let him get away.”
Danan would’ve known if the alchemist was among the Corrupted or if he had been caught in the manor, which meant that Zelyse took advantage of Brook and then abandoned him. He left the Corrupted time bombs behind, either as a diversion or as a means of killing us.
Maybe he was controlling them from afar. Whatever he was doing, it was bad news for us. Even Brook might have been an unwitting pawn in his plans.
What now…?
Should we trust Jet’s nose, or should we look for more clues inside the house?
Teacher.
What’s up?
Look at that.
Fran pointed to a gatekeeper. He was tied up, and the slave girls were keeping away from him.
He hadn’t transformed, and yet he was still suffering from the Possessed ailment. Was there a difference between him and the others? It might have something to do with the amount of Fiend Water he consumed. The difference between a drop and a cup was huge. If that was the case, the unwitting Possessed in town would have different transformation times, too.
That didn’t mean we could sit on our hands.
Marquis Christon was still in a dumbfounded stupor from seeing his own son turn into a monster. We turned to the old guard captain, his second-in-command.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes. If what you say is true, and I’m sure it is, things might end up terribly for the city.”
We didn’t know how many civilians would undergo the Fiend transformation, but there had to be at least ten to twenty. If they morphed in a crowded area, the city might break into a full-scale riot.
“Call in the guards.”
“I understand. I’ll call in the Knight Guard as well. This is an emergency.”
We told Danan how to tell if som
eone was Possessed.
“Identify, you say? So we are looking for the Possessed ailment.”
“Hm.”
“Understood. I’ll send a call for everyone with the Identify skill. We’ll post an emergency quest in the Adventurers’ Guild, as well.”
There had to be someone who could use Identify in a big city like Bulbola.
“The question now is how many people we should mobilize.”
Danan was trying to decide how to end things quietly. If this whole thing came to light, the Count might have to step down. He needed to take Brook and Weint into custody quietly, without raising alarm, and find a way to cure the Possessed before they went beyond the point of no return. Then we could apprehend Zelyse and Linford. In an ideal world, we’d end this matter without raising suspicion.
I thought it was downright impossible. We had no way of finding everyone in time to cure them, and the Possessed were guaranteed to cause unrest. The best we could do was to bring the masterminds into custody and try to keep the situation under control.
“May we ask for your continued assistance?” the guard captain asked.
“Of course,” said Fran. “I’ll go after that mage and alchemist.”
“Thank you. It means a lot.”
“I’m also going to check out the manor to see if there’s any clues left behind.”
“Of course,” the guard captain agreed. “Who knows how many hidden chambers a mansion of this size would have.”
“Hm.”
Now we had the authority to legally investigate. It was Jet’s time to shine.
Do you smell anything funny, Jet? Secret labs, hidden paths, anything?
“Woof!”
Jet started sniffing as he padded through the mansion. His clever snooping eventually led us down the stairs and into the basement. He stopped in front of a door.
“Bark, bark, bark!”
I didn’t feel anyone inside.
Here?
“Woof!”
“I’m going in,” said Fran.
Be careful.
She opened the door to reveal an alchemical lab filled with a myriad of tools. We found nothing we could understand among the documents. This had to be Zelyse’s quarters, but the alchemist had scrubbed it clean of any clues.
I was disappointed, but the lab wasn’t Jet’s final destination. He sat in front of a wall next to a bookcase and began scratching it. Had he found a hidden path? I saw nothing of interest.
I knocked on it with Telekinesis. It sounded hollow.
Was there some kind of hidden mechanism to open it? The bookcase seemed suspicious. Or maybe there was a subtle indentation in the wall itself. The mystery got me excited.
“What is it, Teacher?”
There’s a hidden door here, but I don’t know how to open it. Could you—
“How about this?”
Bam!
Fran gave the wall a big kick. I was sure that the entire room was reinforced with magic, but she managed to shift the wall enough to reveal its seams.
Fran?
“One more time.”
Boom!
A roundhouse kick this time. Strong enough to shake the entire room. The wall collapsed, revealing a staircase leading down into the darkness.
Of course. We don’t really have to open it.
“Yeah? Let’s go.”
“Arf?”
Fran and Jet tilted their heads, not understanding my disappointment.
It was all right. We were in a hurry. Lives were at stake. There was no time for me to play out my childish detective fantasies.
Jet took the lead as we went down the stairs. The path soon became a dirt tunnel. No traps so far. Whoever made this escape path saw no use for them.
Our trip would not be without interference, however.
“Someone’s here…”
Yeah. He’s not even hiding his murderous aura.
My Danger Sense tripped, even though the Corrupted humans had failed to trigger it. This was no mere thug.
Get ready for a fight.
“Hm.”
Jet, stay in the shadows for an ambush.
“Woof.”
We carried on carefully and soon reached a room around twenty meters wide. In the middle of it was the source of the aura. A lanky man with an annoyingly smug grin.
“I was wondering who found that escape tunnel. Didn’t expect a little girl.”
“Are you one of Zelyse’s cronies?”
“What? You think I follow that good-for-nothing drama queen?!”
He must be one of Linford’s, then. He was strong; about the same level as the C-Rank we ran into earlier. His Spear Mastery and Spear Arts were at Level 8, and he had Stealth, Aura Sense, and Assassinate along with Dull Pain. He was a capable fighter and a spy.
His titles were what really caught my eye. Serial Killer and Sadist. He wasn’t an upright citizen, that’s for sure. And of course, we had Servant of the Evil One to worry about, too.
Brook had been a Slave of the Evil One. This guy, and the myriad Corrupted Goblins and Kobolds were Servants of the Evil One. What was the difference? With no further elaboration, Identifying didn’t help. He was still human, though.
“You’re not one of Zelyse’s? So are you working for Theraclede?”
“What the hell are you talking about now? You must be dumber than you look if you think I’d work for that idiot meathead!”
Fran’s innocent questions were hitting the mark. He knew Theraclede, but it didn’t sound like they were friends.
“I am Luzelio! Servant of the great Fiendmancer, Linford! Unlike that hulking idiot Theraclede, I am Lord Linford’s right-hand man!”
Fiendmancer. Never heard that one before. Maybe Linford was the one pulling the strings behind this incident, not Zelyse. So what was Linford’s right-hand man doing in a place like this? The old wizard must’ve been content to put his confidant on stalling duty.
“You’re going to die painfully, you little bitch. I’ll strip you of more than your clothes and make you cry for mercy.”
“You wish.”
“Oooh, I like my girls feisty. They scream a lot louder!”
Awful words seemed to be part of his usual demeanor.
Well, let’s beat him up and see what we can get out of him.
“Ha ha ha! You ready to go, you little brat?!”
“That’s my line, you little bastard.”
There was little Fran could do but return the favor.
With that final expression of hostility, the two of them clashed. Luzelio was set on killing us, while Fran was holding back for the sake of information. She needed to incapacitate, not kill.
“Tch!”
“Raah!”
Fran swung me, and I clashed with Luzelio’s spear. She was the better swordsman, although the reach of his spear proved troublesome. It seemed the two were evenly matched, but Luzelio knew the score.
“Just die, you little bitch!”
“No.”
“Crap, crap, crap! How is this brat matching me?!”
“Not even close.”
“Aaargh!” Luzelio roared in frustration.
He had wanted to make Fran hurt, but reality wasn’t obliging him. None of his hits landed, even though she was holding back.
Fran gained an inordinate amount of experience fighting people back in the Seedrun Conflict. She was much stronger now, although her skills and stats remained the same. Luzelio, meanwhile, relied on brute force. She wasn’t going to lose to him.
I wanted to wrap up this fight soon so we could find out about Linford. Luzelio had Paralysis Resistance, though, so a Stun Bolt might not be enough.
Fran, incapacitate him with your next hit. Just remember not to kill him.
All right.
“Die!”
Luzelio twisted his body, adding torque to his spear thrust, but I put up a Wind Wall as a countermeasure. The lack of incantation surprised him and sent his spear flying out of control. His eff
orts to reel it back in made him stumble towards Fran.
“Wha—?!”
“Sloppy.”
Fran took the chance and knocked the spear out of his hands. Jet rose out of Luzelio’s shadow and bit his leg.
“Grrr!”
“Gaah!”
Jet tore into his right knee, ripping the lower part of his leg off. Luzelio lost his balance and fell on his rear. He looked at what remained of his leg in shock.
“My leg!!!”
He gnashed his teeth and glared at Fran and Jet with pure malice.
Fran pointed me at his face, and although he had pulled out a dagger, he hung his head, defeated.
“Tell me all you know about Linford.”
“What…?”
“Who is he?”
“Heh. The most powerful mage there is. He has infused his human body with the power of the Evil One and has promised the same power to us! We can finally shed this pathetic mortal coil and achieve the next step in evolution!”
The power of the Evil One… After witnessing Brook’s malevolent transformation, I had reservations about calling that progress. Did he actually want to lose his reason? I didn’t know what this pervert wanted.
“What’s Linford after?”
“Lord Linford is after ultimate power!”
“Not the resurrection of the Evil One?”
“Are you stupid? If that thing ever comes back, it’s the end of the world as we know it. How am I supposed to rape and murder to my heart’s desire, then?”
So Linford was only using the Evil One’s powers to further his own ends? But would the dark lord give such power to a nonbeliever?
“The Evil One’s the root of all villainy. He’s more than willing to offer his power to a crooked man like myself!”
I guess the evil god was as wicked as his name suggested. The bad people of the world were all legitimate candidates for his power.
“Where’s Linford?”
“At the new safehouse Brook provided.”
“Where’s that?”
“Right next to the Count’s estate. It’s the newest building there, you can’t miss it. It’s a conduit that will blast the entire city of Bulbola with magic.”
He sure was chatty about his master’s plans. As I wondered about his stupidity, the ring on Luzelio’s finger cracked and enveloped him with a dim light. He started fading quickly.
