Chapter 48 : Chapter 48

Chapter 48: The Foolish and the Great (2)

“Who are you?”

Artier asked as soon as he saw the lord.

Red-hued skin, a high nose bridge, and clear eyes that were fixed on Artier.

Viscount Hol responded to the question as if it were absurd.

“Are you asking the master of the castle for his identity? Human mercenaries have no manners.”

“But you can’t be the lord.”

“……What did you just say?”

A crack began to form in Viscount Hol’s smile.

However, Artier merely watched him calmly.

‘It was a good thing I listened to that man.’

Illusion magic is very easily seen through by someone who is aware of its existence.

In Artier’s eyes, the illusion magic cast on that man’s face was clearly visible.

“You’re not Cordius Hol.”

Cordius Hol was the name of the lord currently ruling the city.

And his most prominent feature was.

“Cordius Hol uses area-of-effect magic, not illusion magic. You’re Codis Hol, Cordius’s son, aren’t you?”

As Artier pointed his finger and spoke, Viscount Hol chuckled and snapped his fingers.

Snap!

Then, surprisingly, the viscount’s face melted away as if disappearing, and his reddish skin turned a pale silver.

“I’ll give you credit, I didn’t expect you to figure out my identity.”

“Codis?”

Hearing the name Codis, Bow sighed and adjusted his mask.

“What is it, Bow.”

“That guy, he’s a famous scoundrel.”

“A scoundrel?”

“The viscounty’s scoundrel who didn’t inherit any of the lord’s good points. But why is he acting as the lord? Lord Cordius should still be in good health, shouldn’t he?”

“You say he should be in good health, I take it you haven’t visited Gigas Hall in a while?”

Codis twirled a quill in his hand and said.

“I am the lord of Gigas Hall now. The former lord passed away after falling from his horse during a hunt.”

“He… fell from his horse during a hunt?”

Bow muttered, then clicked his tongue and raised his middle finger.

“You should be reasonable with your bullshit. I’d sooner believe a passing rat than your words.”

“Your mouth is foul, which means it will be fun to pull out your tongue.”

Thwack!

As soon as Codis finished speaking, the quill he was twirling was sent flying by an arrow.

“Your illusion has been seen through, but do you even have the strength to pull out a tongue?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Bow immediately shot another arrow.

This time, it was aimed at Codis’s arm.

Clang!

The arrow did not reach its intended target.

A large, lizard-like Hellmorph had appeared and protected him by extending its tail.

“What?”

“A Hellmorph……”

“Hellmorph, is that what you call them?”

Only then did Codis rise from his seat.

He gently stroked the Hellmorph’s head, his expression unable to hide his delight.

“These are the apostles of the World Tree. God’s creations, descended from beyond to save us, the cornered non-human races.”

“There is no way such a murky and contaminated being came from the World Tree!”

Collie swung his staff wide.

An ice wall that formed from the floor began to block the attacks of the Hellmorphs approaching from the darkness.

“Attack!”

Simultaneously with Gerard’s words, everyone charged toward the Hellmorphs in front of them.

“Ropin, this way.”

Artier mercilessly cut down all the Hellmorphs approaching Ropin.

Ropin looked at the charging monsters with a complicated expression and asked in a weak voice.

“Are those Hellmorphs?”

“That’s right.”

“You were right. Those are not beings of this world.”

Artier noticed that Ropin’s hands were trembling.

His eyelids drooped as if he would fall asleep at any moment.

“I’m sorry. I’m not in a condition to fight right now.”

“Did you use Divine Shield?”

“I did.”

Almost no mana could be felt from his body.

Normally, he would have collapsed since his mana was depleted, but Ropin seemed to be desperately holding onto his consciousness.

“You used a mana potion.”

When one consumes all their mana, they are guaranteed to faint.

Conversely, if even a sliver of mana remained, one could maintain consciousness in a state of utter exhaustion.

‘He drank a potion right as the Divine Shield ended to recover his mana.’

It sounded easy, but it was something that required superhuman mental strength.

He had to drink the potion in that fleeting moment, just before fainting.

“Please recover. I’ll handle things here.”

Artier charged forward.

When he clad himself in Wild Protection and swung his sword, the lizard’s tail that was trying to crush him was fiercely repelled.

“Artier, be careful!”

Gerard watched the charging Artier and placed his hand on his grimoire.

“This is my first time in a real battle. Arcane Barrage!”

[Gerard uses a skill.]

[Arcane Barrage (Lv.1): Creates multiple small projectiles of compressed mana and scatters them over a certain area.]

Papapang!

A palm-sized circle formed between the pages of the opened grimoire.

When Gerard closed the book while aiming at the Hellmorph, dozens of mana bullets poured out like a shower.

“Kyaaak!”

The lizard cried out as if in pain.

Each one had a small impact, but as their number exceeded a dozen, it was by no means a level that could be ignored.

“What the! Hurry up and take care of those guys!”

Codis seemed to feel a sense of crisis in this situation.

Unlike a moment ago when he was calmly observing the situation, he urgently badgered a nearby Hellmorph to knock over the bookshelf behind him.

Thud!

When the bookshelf fell, another small, crudely made passage appeared.

In the meantime, one Hellmorph fell at Artier’s hands.

Codis glared at Artier, grinding his teeth, then disappeared into the newly created passage.

“That guy is running away again?!”

“He sure loves secret passages, like the little brat he is.”

“If we leave him, we might lose him!”

“…….”

Artier checked the condition of his wrist.

It was a little sore, but it was much better than he had expected.

“Be careful, Artier.”

The moment he was about to follow Codis, Bow spoke to him.

“The most dangerous thing to do when dealing with illusion magic is to follow someone into an unknown place like that.”

“……I understand.”

Artier hardened his resolve and entered the passage.

Unlike the path so far, which showed some intention of construction, this was a passage that was simply dug through the ground like a tunnel.

“To follow me all the way here, you foolish fool.”

As he went a little further, Codis’s mocking laughter was heard from all directions, and with a rough wind, a curtain of black light enveloped Artier.

“Fear the inevitable future!”

Artier opened the eyes he had closed.

He was standing on a hill filled with blood and corpses.

“…….”

No matter where he looked, there were no living humans.

The only living things he could see were Hellmorphs gathering corpses.

Beneath his feet were his dead comrades and Artier himself.

‘It stings.’

Even knowing this was not reality, the air was sharp.

It felt as if the entire world was hostile to him.

“Kuhahaha! Despair! Despair at your powerlessness!”

Codis’s voice was heard.

At the same time, the surrounding Hellmorphs rushed at him all at once.

‘It’s certainly a scary scene. This is one of the bad endings I absolutely never want to see.’

Artier calmly held his sword in a reverse grip and immediately struck his surroundings with the hilt.

Thwack!

“Keok!”

Then, something in the empty air suddenly staggered and collapsed.

“What?! How!”

The surrounding illusion blurred and disappeared.

Artier was back at the entrance of the secret passage.

“How did you break my magic!”

“Oh, that?”

Artier grabbed Codis by the collar and met his gaze.

“I know how to prevent that future.”

Codis was unlucky.

If the person he had met wasn't a gamer who knew the tactics of this world, he could have deceived his eyes with a terrible illusion and driven a dagger into his heart.

“But this is strange. How did you, a scoundrel, learn illusion magic?”

“How… did you?”

“Just answer my question.”

In the game’s world, Codis was an idiot who had learned no magic or skills.

The original boss who was supposed to appear in Gigas Hall was his father, Cordius Hol.

But Cordius was dead, and the scoundrel Codis had appeared, freely using illusion magic?

‘There are more than one or two strange things.’

At this very early stage, for Hellmorphs to appear in the south.

And for the scoundrel Codis to suddenly be commanding them.

Events that were different from what Artier knew were continuously happening.

“Kuhuhuhu…….”

Codis laughed as if he had lost his mind.

“How did I learn it? Shouldn’t you be the one telling me that from now on?”

“What?”

Boom!

With a loud noise that grazed his ear, Artier could confirm that a magic circle was forming beneath his feet.

“Hahaha, you fool! My coming here wasn’t just to run away! It was to activate the ultimate artifact! Now! Hurry up and give me that power…….”

Whack!

“Kuek!”

“Using a magic skill so openly……. You’re singing a song asking me to cancel it.”

Artier left the unconscious Codis as he was and headed for the wide passage that was open behind Codis.

“But an artifact? Was there an artifact here?”

As he went a little further, just as Codis had said, there was a large altar, and on it, a pair of beautiful bracelets was emitting light.

Approaching the altar and checking the information, Artier blinked his eyes with a dumbfounded expression a moment later.

“……Why is this here?”

[Fairy’s Eye (Unique)]

Defense: 10

Options: Critical Hit Rate +5%, Attack Power +5

Hidden Option: Can copy a skill from a consenting target once and permanently acquire it at 150% performance (Remaining uses: 4)

The bracelet, in the shape of two intersecting rings, shone brilliantly in the darkness.

Like its name, ‘Fairy’s Eye’, two navy-blue magatamas that looked as if they had been scooped from the deep sea were embedded, one on each side.

‘It’s supposed to be a Rare grade, so why is it Unique? Is it because there are still many uses left? No, before that, why is it here? Wasn’t the Fairy’s Eye a lost artifact of the elves?’

The Fairy's Eye that Artier remembered was supposed to be tucked away in a baron's treasure vault to the east of here.

Could it be that it was scheduled to be stolen in the future?

‘It’s good that I saved time, but…….’

Artier, who had been scratching his head, first equipped the bracelets on both arms.

The bracelet, as befitting the name of an artifact, shrank to a size that fit his wrist as soon as it touched his arm.

“So this is how you gained the ability…… You borrowed the power of an artifact.”

This artifact possessed an overpowered ability.

To be able to acquire another person’s skill at 1.5 times its performance.

It seemed that the reason why Codis, who had no abilities, could expertly use illusion magic, and why the elves, who did not believe in the doctrines of Rata at all, could use their holy magic, was thanks to the power of this artifact.

“How annoying……. He probably didn’t even know there was a usage limit.”

But because Codis had used the artifact recklessly, the usage limit of the hidden option was now only four.

After that, this artifact would become just an ordinary bracelet.

‘Still, I’m glad I found it quickly.’

After looking all around the altar, Artier turned back.

It was the most futile and uninteresting boss battle since he had come to this world.

By the time he dragged the fainted Codis outside, the situation outside the tunnel had been sorted out.

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