The Academy’s Weakest Became A Demon-Limited Hunter
chapter-126

༺ Nameless Hero (2) ༻

After the 1st-Year concluded in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, some enemies appeared during winter break.

Among them was a rival-like character. I occasionally bickered with them whenever I visited the guild but I could ignore them for now.

What I actually needed to pay attention to was a colossal demon known as the Devil Pillar.

The Devil Pillar had been slumbering beneath the lands of the Astrea Duchy in the form of dark mana since long, long ago; a demon that had gradually accumulated power little by little over the eons.

If I were to simply let this winter break pass, the Devil Pillar would descend in its full-blown demon form and bring about a large-scale catastrophe.

However, if a specific condition were fulfilled, it would be forced to appear prematurely.

That condition was just one thing; the approach of a being who held Divine Power like Ian Fairytale.

In ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, if some commission was received, the player could reach the location where the Devil Pillar appeared.

‘I was nearly too late.’

My [Clairvoyance] had become so powerful that I could inspect an immeasurably vast radius around me. This was all thanks to the steady increase in proficiency.

Using that power to its limits, I continually observed the Astrea Duchy, the location where the Devil Pillar would make its appearance. I couldn’t predict which commissions Ian would take on first and which ones he would hold onto for later.

As such, as soon as the Trial of Sandstone ended, I told Gormos that I would see him later, before leaving the trial location and activating [Clairvoyance] once again.

And I ended up witnessing Ian passing through this area…

‘Out of all the times, why was it when…’

…I was taking the trial?

In the end, I abandoned the bridge connecting Märchen Academy and the mainland…

And I secretly summoned Hilde, thus flying high above the clouds. Of course, I summoned her at a size that was reasonable enough to ride on. After all, I wasn’t ready to handle Hilde’s original size just yet.

After arriving at the destination and inspecting the surroundings with [Clairvoyance] again, I judged that I didn’t need to worry about someone discovering my identity. People in this area would all be inside the beads floating around the Devil Pillar.

When [Hunter] activated, I deliberately emitted ice mana imbued with a chilly aura; it was to attract the demon’s attention since Kaya seemed to be in danger.

In my current [Hunter] state, I was Level 200, the MAX level.

I felt like I was floating. It was a sensation of omnipotence, as if I could do literally anything.

“Sir Isaac…?”

Kaya was floating in mid-air, wrapped in a light green wind; a single bead of cold sweat ran down her face. It seemed she was astonished at the sight of me.

I knew that Kaya would come when the Devil Pillar emerged. This was the Astrea Duchy. In ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, it was an inevitability that she would fly all the way here, no matter when the Devil Pillar made its appearance.

Fortunately, Kaya had arrived safely without any hiccups and was able to protect Ian and Amy. She did well holding out.

Originally, in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, a makeshift party was formed to face the Devil Pillar; in it, Kaya was the tank, Amy was the support, and Ian was the damage dealer. However, considering that Kaya was holding out on her own, there was no real need to mention the fact that Ian had fainted.

“…”

When I began to ruminate over the scenario of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ after undergoing the Trial of Sandstone, everything felt incredibly out of place.

Was it appropriate to even call it the ‘original scenario’ anymore? My mind was in utter chaos as I tried to decipher what information could be trusted and what contents should be discarded.

However, since predicting the future through the lens of the ‘original scenario’ was still effective, it was best to save my doubts for later. Well, even if it is different, let’s at least maintain the title of the game for now.

I stopped in my tracks. The land of death was trying to devour my life force.

However, its power was ineffective against me. After all, my mana was much denser than that of the Devil Pillar. It was the same logic as trying to break a massive piece of steel with a tiny mouse trap; utterly futile.

“Kaya.”

“Y-yesss…!”

“Thanks. You held out well.”

Although it felt like a line that would come from a shonen, it was completely sincere.

A shining brilliance of color lingered in Kaya’s pupils. Using [Psychological Insight], I found that she was deeply moved, joyful, and had an intense feeling of relief, all at the same time.

“Get out of here.”

I calmly flipped the hood of the wizard robe over my head.

Now that I wore the hood, my clothes would activate the function that disrupted any recognition of me. Even if others saw me, they would not be able to discern my exact physical appearance.

With a determined look, Kaya nodded before transforming the crimson arbor gigantes into its mana form.

I felt a gaze piercing the back of my head. By simply activating [Clairvoyance], I could use a mere smidgen of my mana to inspect the area behind me without turning my head.

As the crimson arbor gigantes turned into shimmering dust and faded away…

At that moment, Amy, who was holding an unconscious Ian on her knees, was looking around with an utterly bewildered expression.

“Who…?”

「Ice Generation (Ice Element, ★1)」

Dudududdudek──!

A wall of ice rose behind me, blocking the space between me and Amy.

Since she was in a thick tree, it was unlikely that she heard the contents of the conversation between Kaya and I.

Without even a chance for Amy to properly see me, Kaya lifted Ian and Amy up in the air with wind magic.

“Ah, w-wait! Kyaaaaah!!”

Soon after, they sliced through the air, immediately displacing themselves from this location.

Amy, who suddenly found herself floating high in the air, had a terrified expression as she screamed. Oh yeah. She had acrophobia.

Anyway…

Now, only the demon and I remained in the vicinity.

The Devil Pillar glared at me intently. It probably didn’t want to lose Kaya’s group. However, it seemed way too wary of me to pay attention to them.

I brought forth the status window of the demon.

[Babel the Corrupted] Lv: 165

Race: Demon

Elements: Dark, Fire

Danger: Highest

Psychology: [Feeling utterly overwhelmed by you.]

Babel the Corrupted.

This bastard was the perfect punching bag to test my new strength.

Right now, I was perfectly capable of rational thinking and discernment, but my mind was also muddled as if I had just woken up in the middle of the night.

This had occurred after a massive influx of rock mana flowed into me. It was similar to when I acquired Frostscythe. Perhaps my body was adapting to the new-found power.

When using my senses, I felt two storage spaces deep inside my body.

In one, a fierce chill swirled, with Frostscythe at its center.

In the other, a stone wall, towering as high as a mountain, stood, with a heavy greatsword embedded in its center.

I extended my right arm in front of me.

Rock mana gathered and with a light brown glow, a single greatsword was clenched in my right hand. The rock mana gently coursed through the blade, illuminating the ancient inscriptions etched into the hilt.

The Ultimate Weapon of the Rock Element, Gormos’ Obsidian Blade.

I was greatly pleased by the grip and weight of it. It seemed like it would be satisfying to swing.

I slung the Obsidian Blade over my shoulder. Light brown rock mana and topaz-colored stone fragments erupted out of me.

───────[Kiriririririk─────!]

The Devil Pillar screeched.

From the outskirts of the land of death it had created, black-red mana slowly rose and extended toward the sky.

The air grew heavy. A colossal wall of flames radiated heat, engulfing the surrounding area.

Subsequently, after a brief ‘Oooong’, black-red magic circles were densely engraved on the wall of flames.

‘It’s using the final pattern of Phase 1 right away.’

Naturally, I expected it to be like this. Had I not already gone through this when facing Orpheus the Submerged?

The mana seeping out of me was far superior to that bastard. It must have felt a threat to its survival, so it probably guessed that it would die if it didn’t pour out its full power from the start.

Every single one of the magic circles were aimed at me…

And with an eerie wailing that went Kiriririk, all the magic circles began to spew out a massive onslaught of dark blades made of black-red flames.

The bombardment filled the entire area without a single gap as if dying it in its color.

From the sky, it sliced the air.

From the ground, it cleaved the land.

Countless dark blades simultaneously aimed at me, as if both heaven and earth surged to reach each other.

Pa-a-a-at─────!!

Kwagagak─────!!!

The dark blades rushed towards me. The ground was distorted, shattered, and torn apart, as all the remaining life in the vicinity was drained away.

A relentless onslaught. I felt it when I was especially singled out. At the very least, if we were at similar levels, it would have been my complete defeat.

“…Impressive”

Whooooosh─────!!!

As I swung the Obsidian Blade, light brown rock mana surged like a storm, dispelling the dark blades…

And my rock mana aggressively extended in all directions akin to a seismic wave.

The giant eye of the Devil Pillar widened in surprise. It seemed astonished by the fact that none of its attacks could even touch me.

「Eclipse (Rock Element, ★7)」

The passive skill of the Obsidian Blade, [Eclipse]. Behind my back, rock mana formed in the shape of a ring.

It could be applied while the Obsidian Blade was drawn and its effect was that it covered me with mana armor that had an exceptionally high defense.

As long as the armor made of my rock mana was not broken, even the onslaught of dark blades launched by Babel the Corrupted would never be able to harm me.

My half-opened eyes started to emit a mysterious topaz light.

The high-density rock mana flowing through my entire body gave me a pleasant sensation of weight.

Clang─!

I plunged the Obsidian Blade into the ground. The tip of the sword dug into the earth, creating cracks.

Shall I only test the power of this greatsword?

‘No.’

No. I can’t stop at just that.

There’s a level even beyond my current reach. I can feel it.

I was in a realm where if I tilted my head even just a little, I could gaze upon the pinnacle of the ice and rock elements; I could faintly see the vague silhouette of this new level right in front of my eyes.

My mana circuits rotated at an even faster speed. My once-cloudy mind gradually regained clarity.

A cold yet heavy sensation.

The extremity of Mana Mastery was trying to awaken something deep within me.

The rock mana of the Obsidian Blade added a vivid color to that something.

Through thousands and tens of thousands of repetitions of elemental magic training without rest…

Through all the blood I had shed until now…

I had piled up experience and accumulated my proficiency…

And now, with the power of [Hunter], I drew out the very limits of this sensation, etched so clearly that it was no different from breathing to me.

And so…

The two forked paths of two elements, ice, and rock, converged at a singular point.

Kugugugugu───.

A topaz rock armor overlaid the ring of rock mana formed on my back.

With that, several rock rings floated behind me, fixed in place.

Subsequently, a massive amount of rock mana gathered from behind. Various topaz rock fragments were generated in the air as it floated and then─.

“Now it’s my turn.”

I cascaded ice mana into the Obsidian Blade clenched in my hand.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaahooooooosh──!

A chill billowed out like steam. Rock mana and blizzards raged. My hair and wizard robe fluttered fiercely.

Ice mana gracefully mixed with the immense rock mana imbued in the Obsidian Blade.

The ground trembled. In succession, tremendous rock mana erupted behind me in a brilliantly grand manner.

Within it, a colossal golem, even larger than a mountain range, took shape before standing upright.

A massive rock ring floated behind the golem’s back.

A pale blue light flashed in the brilliance of its eyes. Ice mana radiated intensely.

In its hand, a rock greatsword, emulating the power of the Obsidian Blade, was clenched.

The Synchronization between the colossal golem and me was at its maximum. It felt like we had become one.

It had stepped into a lofty realm of ice and rock elements alongside me.

Majestic grandeur.

Golem Familiar, Eden – The Breaker.

He overwhelmed the battlefield.

Kuooooooo━━━━━━━━━━━.

A familiar’s abilities and growth rate were greatly influenced by its master.

Perhaps because Synchronization was at its maximum, unlike with Frost Dragon-Hilde, I could freely bestow my new power, enhanced by [Hunter], to Eden.

As a result, his level had temporarily increased to 175.

And I had succeeded in awakening an unprecedented second element in a magic beast.

“Eden, get rid of it.”

With my one command, Eden – The Breaker raised the rock greatsword. His motion alone sent a fierce wind in all directions.

Babel the Corrupted unleashed dark blades like a raging storm, but it couldn’t even inflict a scratch on Eden – The Breaker, who had the effects of [Eclipse] applied onto him.

Crash───!

When Eden took a step forward, the ground shook, generating a thunderous noise akin to an explosion.

A heavy shockwave roared out. Eden swung the massive rock greatsword diagonally, drawing a light blue trajectory.

A whirlwind of light blue blizzards and rock debris unfolded.

A blinding flash of light.

Babel the Corrupted was divided, its torso instantly turned into a chunk of ice, as it started to collapse onto the ground.

However, this was not the end. The next phase still remained.

The large eye engraved onto Babel the Corrupted rolled back, displaying only its red pupils. And suddenly…

Kwang─, Kwang─, Kwang─, Kwang─!

As if rocks were colliding with each other, a rhythmic roar echoed. Babel’s body folded like a piece of paper and condensed into a single point.

In an instant, Babel had transformed into a 3m tall ash-gray monster; it was a muscular one-eyed giant with black flames flickering on its arms and back. Its lipless mouth, clearly revealing its teeth, was torn all the way to the bottom of its ears, giving off a grotesque appearance.

Babel the Corrupted, Phase 2.

A magic circle with roaring flames unfolded around it.

In a flash, black flames spread out of the magic circle as if dozens of whips lashed out uncontrollably, but…

At that moment, I had already reached it after kicking off the ground.

[…!!]

I could see the flow of mana. I could see all the attacks in slow motion.

“Let’s finish this.”

In that split second, I squeezed my way through the gaps of the fire magic and swung the Obsidian Blade, sounding a whiz in the air.

A light blue flash of light rushed at it.

With a tremendous explosion, Babel’s body split in half.

Kwagagagang──!

Vibrations infused with ice and rock mana spread out, creating a terrifying wind pressure that sent the bisected body of the bastard flying.

Within the wall of black-red flames, where an intense cold raged and devoured the heat…

I slung the Obsidian Blade over my shoulder and exhaled a breath infused with an icy chill.