Chapter 61 : Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Erosion (3)

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The man walked slowly toward me and Eidon.

His demeanor was as leisurely as if he were taking a stroll.

He was so thin that the robe he wore seemed overly large.

His hunched, unsteady gait would, under normal circumstances, have made one think he needed support to walk.

But considering that he stood in an erosion site, the situation was entirely different.

The man in the robe whispered softly.

“How is it?”

“What do you mean, how is it?”

Eidon, his face tense, asked back.

He was already drawing magic circles with both hands.

But the man continued speaking, as if he didn’t care.

“This place, I mean. Isn’t it beautiful? It’s on a different level from the filthy outside world.”

I secretly suspected he might be a demon like Derix, wearing human skin.

But the aura emanating from him told me my suspicion was wrong.

This guy was human and a dark mage.

I questioned the dark mage.

“Did you cause this situation?”

I didn’t mention the word “erosion.”

There was no need to let him know I was aware of Luphtel’s research.

The term “erosion” was only used in Luphtel’s writings and wasn’t publicly known.

Even Eidon didn’t know what erosion was until I explained it to him.

“That’s right. I opened this paradise.”

The dark mage spread his arms with exaggerated gestures as he spoke.

He seemed utterly intoxicated with himself.

Though his outward appearance was comical, he surely hadn’t appeared before us just to boast about his deeds.

I kept my eyes on him and whispered to Eidon.

“We only meant to investigate.”

“Can’t be helped.”

Then Eidon swiftly shot an ice spear.

Boom!

It wasn’t as powerful as it would have been outside Myeolji, but it was strong enough.

The defenseless dark mage was pierced by the spear and slammed into the ground.

Eidon didn’t stop there and cast the ice magic he had prepared with his left hand.

Ice spikes struck the dark mage’s body with precision.

At the same time, I gripped the Branch of World Tree and rushed forward.

I swung my sword down at the fallen figure.

The dark mage’s head fell to the ground with a thud.

I caught my breath.

The unpleasant sensation of cutting through bone and flesh lingered at my fingertips.

Killing a demonic beast was one thing, but killing a human was another.

Yet, regardless of my feelings, it was something that had to be done.

It was fortunate that we could eliminate the dark mage responsible for the erosion so easily.

But why did it feel so unsettling?

The dark mage was weaker than the demonic beasts within the erosion site.

If he was only this strong, there was no way high-ranking guild members wouldn’t have returned.

With that thought, I examined the dark mage’s corpse.

But no trace of life remained in it.

Eidon, also feeling uneasy, shot another ice spike into the dark mage’s head.

“Could there be another one?”

“There might be, or there might not. Let’s get out of here for now. If we report the situation, the Empire will handle the rest.”

We began to exit the forest, glancing back cautiously.

The erosion site was still teeming with ferocious demonic beasts.

We calmly dealt with them as we retraced our steps, but Eidon suddenly muttered coldly.

“The terrain has changed.”

Only after hearing his words did I realize the source of the unease I’d felt while passing through the forest.

As Eidon said, the terrain itself had shifted.

Even setting aside the disappearance of the demonic beasts’ corpses we had killed on our way in, we were certain we were retracing our path, yet somehow we were moving deeper into an area with denser demonic energy.

“From now on, let’s not retrace our path. Let’s detect the areas with thinner demonic energy and escape that way.”

“Yes, understood.”

Demonic energy was already thick all around us.

We compared the density of the demonic energy where we stood to that of the areas ahead and moved forward.

Growl!

Even amidst this, demonic beasts drooled and targeted us.

Having to constantly calculate mana was admittedly exhausting.

Still, driven by the determination to escape quickly, we pressed on.

Thud, thud.

From beyond the thick darkness, footsteps echoed again.

The erosion site had never been quiet, with the cries of demonic beasts and the rustling of branches.

Yet those small footsteps rang unnervingly clear in my ears.

Despite our preparations, we couldn’t help but be shocked.

It was unmistakably the dark mage whose head we had just severed.

He approached again, still hunched and unsteady.

“How is it?”

How was he alive?

As Eidon and I struggled to shake off our shock, the dark mage began muttering to himself.

“This place, I mean. Isn’t it beautiful? It’s on a different level from the filthy outside world.”

Something felt off.

He spoke as if seeing us for the first time, acting as if this was our first encounter.

Eidon used a high-powered spell.

A blade of ice sliced through the dark mage’s neck once more.

The dark mage, again, didn’t resist and lost his head.

We examined the corpse again but found no clues about this situation.

“It doesn’t seem like magic. The body remains, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, and it’s not an illusion or some other spell either. It’s definitely… human.”

We used every method available to investigate but found no leads.

We looked at each other with grim expressions.

“…Let’s get out of here quickly.”

“Just in case, I’ll take the head.”

“That thing?”

Eidon looked at me as if it were grotesque but soon nodded.

I wasn’t thrilled about carrying a severed human head either.

‘Could he have used [Painter of Deception]?’

A tune’s ability I had seen while playing the game came to mind.

To confirm it, I needed to take the dark mage’s head.

We began to hurry a bit more.

It seemed that heading toward areas with thinner demonic energy was the right choice, as the number of demonic beasts blocking our path gradually increased.

Eidon was visibly struggling the longer we stayed in the erosion site.

“Eidon, I’ll take the lead.”

“It’s fine. Let’s keep going as we are.”

“No. We don’t know what might happen, so please conserve your strength.”

Eidon tried to step forward, perhaps feeling guilty, but I couldn’t let him.

Since swinging my sword while carrying a human head under my arm was inconvenient, I handed the dark mage’s head to him.

And then, the anomaly repeated itself.

“Polarin, stop! The head, it’s gone!”

The head I had entrusted to Eidon had vanished without a trace.

I had seen him tuck it securely under his arm.

It wasn’t something he could have dropped or lost.

As we froze in this unexpected situation, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed again.

A thin frame in an oversized robe, a hunched and unsteady gait.

It was the same dark mage we had just beheaded.

“Eidon, we can’t keep killing him. Let’s just get out of here.”

“Alright.”

[Painter of Deception]

My guess was correct.

The opponent seemed to possess the infamous tune.

A tune that sacrificed five clones to boost one’s stats.

If all five clones were killed by an enemy, the user could temporarily wield power three times their original strength.

He must have sent the clones one by one to make us lower our guard and use the tune’s ability efficiently.

It likely also aimed to heighten our anxiety, narrowing our focus.

He was a clever one.

As he intended, Eidon and I were psychologically cornered.

But things would be different now.

Realizing his trick wouldn’t work anymore, clones of the dark mage began approaching from other directions as well.

Thud, thud.

Thud, thud, thud.

From front, back, and both sides.

We were suddenly surrounded.

[Painter of Deception] could create five clones.

Since we had killed two already, one of these must be the dark mage’s real body.

Killing more clones was dangerous. I needed to find the real body and catch him off guard.

I activated my Dragon Heart fiercely, releasing mana into the surroundings.

Eidon asked in a strained voice.

“We’re blocked. Which way should we break through?”

“Just a moment.”

My mana didn’t falter even in the dense demonic energy and relayed information about everything it touched.

“How is it?”

The four dark mages approaching from all sides asked in the same voice, with the same face.

I didn’t respond and spread my mana even wider.

Pushing back the aura of Myeolji, my mana finally reached them.

Only then did I grasp their essence.

The beating of their hearts, the aura they held.

But the clones, crafted by the mystery of the tune, were indistinguishable from humans.

One of the four must be the real one.

If I could just find the one that felt different.

“Isn’t it beautiful? It’s on a different level from the filthy outside world.”

Eidon and I decided to ignore the dark mage’s repetitive lines.

Instead, we exchanged information in whispers.

“Eidon, any guesses on which is the real one?”

“Not a clue.”

They began to close in, step by step.

Their leisurely demeanor was as if they were begging to be killed.

“He’s at least Sixth-Rank. Can you handle him alone?”

Eidon asked calmly.

Sweat was beading on his forehead.

He had likely reached his limit long ago.

“I have to. It doesn’t seem like we can resolve this with words now.”

Eidon nodded.

Then, as if resolved, he said,“If I fight alongside you in this situation, I’ll only be a hindrance. It won’t be easy for you to fight while protecting me.”

“No, I can manage.”

But Eidon shook his head, as if my words were wrong. Then, with a smile, he added,

“The magic of the Frost Magic Tower is better suited for protection than attack.”

Eidon stretched his hand toward the dark mage.

He gathered what little mana he had left.

“I’ll make sure to hold one of them down. Finish this quickly.”

Eidon shot an ice spike in one direction.

The dark mage, as if inviting death, leaned into it.

“That one’s definitely a clone.”

Eidon gave a faint smile and charged forward.

I worried it was dangerous, but the ice spike never reached the dark mage’s body.

Boom!

A rectangular block of ice, like a coffin, swallowed Eidon and one of the dark mage’s clones.

“I’ll wait and trust you.”

With those words, Eidon’s body was frozen in the ice.

The dark mage’s expression twisted for the first time.

Though it must have been a tough situation for him as a mage and a senior, Eidon showed his faith in me.

Now it was my turn.

I raised the Branch of World Tree and swung it at the figure who had closed in on me.

The sensation of cutting through bone and flesh came through.

The dark mage’s head fell off.

Without delay, I thrust my sword toward the next one.

Crack!

The second target, no, the dark mage, blocked my sword by gathering black demonic energy.

The real body.

I found it.

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