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Chapter 39
Riman’s loose, pale-green long hair fluttered listlessly with the movements of the demonic beast. Her long eyelashes were caught in her hair. At a glance she looked exactly like a fairy-tale princess under the curse of eternal sleep, lying in a glass coffin in the forest.
Only that coffin was not pretty, sparkling glass — it was the black, viscous flesh of the beast.
Except for her face and parts of her arms, Riman’s body had been swallowed by the humanoid monster.
“Why the hell is that thing there?”
No matter how she thought about it, that was the root cause of this mess.
“You blame me but I’m the one who caused the accident?”
It was a petty satisfaction, but the situation wasn’t good. Silia squinted and inspected: Riman’s chest was rising and falling slowly.
‘She’s breathing.’
That was at least something to be thankful for. Silia locked eyes with the tower master and slowly spoke.
“Master of the magic tower, are you all right?”
“Yes. The children inside here are fine, too.”
“I’ll help—”
Krrak!
The humanoid beast swung its massive arm. Silia quickly pushed off the ground and dodged one arm; the other arm came down fast behind her.
‘Oh.’
Faster than expected. Realizing it, Silia raised the sword she was holding and blocked the claws. Clang! After the loud sound, the beast gave a guttural cry.
“Aiyah….”
That sound — just now—
“…Did it say ‘aishwo’?” (lit. “aishwo” or “ah, that’s a pity” — a plaintive mutter)
Even though it was probably just a random noise, it sounded like a human mumble.
A strange chill crept up Silia’s nape.
‘Is it because it looks human?’
Of course she’d faced many monsters on the battlefield: the weakest and the most vicious. Monsters, being living things, could be provoked or show anger and displeasure. Sometimes they seemed to feel pain.
Seeing a humanoid monster do that felt odd.
‘Why would something like this appear?’
But this wasn’t the time for such thoughts. Silia slipped quickly beneath the beast’s arm and pushed the thought away. Maybe she’d misheard. The monster let out another impossible sound — grroar — and swung its arm again.
“Stop moving so much, will you?”
A magic seal for restraint rose from the tip of Silia’s sword. Following the sword’s arc, red and silver mana wove out like cloth.
As the beast staggered and turned, Silia gave a sweeping strike. The net of mana unfurled from the sword and snapped down, enveloping the monster and pinning it to the ground.
Graaah.
As the net constricted the beast, Silia cast an augmentation on her fist and struck immediately. She aimed for a small area, avoiding the part where Riman’s body was being held.
Bang!
A single blow tore open the beast’s flank. Silia then used her sword to sever its legs and arms.
“Tie its movement down until it regenerates—”
The monster regenerated in a flash and rose to its feet. The tower master watching shouted.
“Silia! Get Riman first!”
“Damn!”
‘I see.’
Silia quietly gathered her realization.
The beast regenerates by converting life force into mana. But if it’s in the process of swallowing a wizard who is essentially a mana potion, it doesn’t need that cumbersome process. That’s why it could regenerate so instantaneously.
Blood glossed Riman’s lips. In the next instant, seeing the beast’s arm rush in with terrifying speed, Silia cast a defensive spell. The descending arm struck the barrier and was stopped; from behind, Akla spoke up.
“That kind feeds on people, takes over their bodies, and devours their life force or mana.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“It’s not something that occurs naturally.”
The tower master seemed to know something. Rather than pry, Silia listened to him.
“It uses the absorbed person as its body’s engine. Without that person, it cannot survive. In the end it absorbs them completely into its body. So if you remove the person who forms its base…”
“Remove them?”
“…it will immediately try to fill the void by trying to get that person back, or…”
The tower master looked at Silia.
“It will try to swallow other nearby people.”
Silia understood: Riman would become a target again, or she herself might become one.
“You know a lot about these beasts.”
Akla smiled lightly.
“I’ve seen monsters like this a few times myself.”
“Seen them? The kingdom had monsters appear—”
“Yes. More than a hundred years ago.”
So it wasn’t a lie that she was over a hundred years old. Akla saw Silia’s expression and, incongruously, adopted a prim look.
“Still, I’ve passed one hundred and fifty years.”
“…You don’t look it at all, so don’t worry.”
“That’s the problem! You look too young to command respect! Being too powerful in magic is a bother too!”
‘That’s more about conduct than appearance…’
Thinking that, Silia felt some of the tension she hadn’t realized she was holding ease off. Facing a new type of beast and seeing a hostage made her subconsciously sharp. Her fingers loosened from the tight fist.
‘Master of the tower didn’t just want to give information about the monster.’
He also intended to relieve Silia’s tension.
“Thank you.”
At Silia’s thanks, the tower master smiled. One could never tell what someone hid beneath an unassuming exterior.
“You probably won’t be charmed, but the longer you engage it, the more it adapts to your mana. That increases variables, so be careful.”
As he said that, Akla raised a hand. Something black seemed to be staining his palm as if the thing were consuming his hand. Silia frowned slightly.
It wouldn’t cause the tower master a huge problem, but Akla had been pouring all his magic into protecting the others — not just this lab, but everyone in the entire tower.
“In the end, I’ll have to do it.”
“All right. I’m truly—”
Akla smiled brightly.
“You’re a relief.”
Why did that make Silia’s throat tighten? It wasn’t her first fight with a monster.
Graaah!
The downward pressure of the beast’s weight intensified. Silia intentionally broke her own barrier and leapt back. Riman swayed inside the monster’s grasp.
“Idiot.”
‘Annoying as hell, says nothing but pisses people off, and thinks she’s the only one who matters in her tiny world—’
“Die somewhere I won’t see you, okay? Just die another way.”
Silia couldn’t stand to watch someone die right in front of her. At that moment Akla chimed in.
“Oh my. What a scary thing to say.”
“……”
“Get along with your peers, will you.”
That was not the best time for someone who was adding fuel to the fire to lecture them.
Anyway, they had to finish this quickly. Akla was right: the longer they had to deal with it, the worse it became, and the more Riman’s life force would be drained.
‘Finish before that happens.’
The problem was that every time they hurt the beast, Riman’s life force would be consumed to repair it. The faster they killed it, the faster Riman’s life slipped away. It was a dilemma. They had to pull Riman free from the beast first.
“But how do we get her out?”
It was a tough problem either way. Silia thought that as she pushed off a wall to charge at the beast.
Quiver.
“!”
Riman’s delicate eyelids trembled. Silia cried out sharply.
“Riman!”
“Ugh….”
“Riman Jaycal!”
“Hah….”
A labored breath burst out. Under long, fragile lashes, her pale-yellow eyes appeared. Her face, drained of color by stolen mana, lips turned blue.
“Hey!”
After several shouts she finally opened her eyes, her fingertips trembling, then tried to close them again.
“No, you brat! Wake up!”
“…re.”
“What? I can’t hear you!”
“My head echoes…”
“If you faint you’ll keep echoing, so hold on! I’ll smash the bell in the capital’s cathedral with your head!”
Silia shoved her sword into the joint between the beast’s arm and shoulder while shouting. A sticky sensation wrapped around the blade. She wanted to simply cut off the arm, but if she did the beast would just regenerate using Riman’s life force.
Riman still seemed confused. She shook her head as if she hadn’t fully come to.
“…What is this situation?”
“What do you mean, it’s….”
Silia struck down a hand that flew at her and continued.
“…you’re being eaten by a monster.”
“Me?”
As Riman answered, the beast was shoved backward.
‘I…’ could be heard close up, but ‘me?’ echoed faintly from afar.
‘That must make one dizzy.’
Thinking that, Silia rushed after the beast and noticed Riman had gone even paler.
“You’re still coherent?”
“…I guess so.”
Graaah!
“I’m providing the monster… with energy.”
“Yes.”
Dodging the beast’s attacks, Silia replied. It was fortunate Riman could still think despite the situation; if she’d panicked it would have been much worse.
“Now that you understand the situation, I’ll get you out — brace yourself—”
“No.”
A calm voice cut the air.
“Kill me.”
