Chapter 74
[Jupiter]
The outline of the only technique I possessed and had given a name to was surprisingly simple.
Convergence and expansion.
A concept as simple as could be.
It was an attack that crushed the enemy with the impact released when I expanded my mana and smoke after converging them to their limit.
"Surprisingly simple, isn't it?"
Azak.
[Ghk!]
Azak was panting as he regenerated the upper half of his body, which my technique had blown apart.
I had said it crushed the enemy with impact, so why had his upper body been blown apart?
Someone might ask why he had not simply been pushed away when struck by that expanding force.
But he could only be pushed away if he was capable of resisting that expanding force in the first place.
Didn't I tell you?
It was a simple concept.
To put it another way, it was the result of honing such a simple concept until I could call it a technique.
Moreover, this was the first time in my life I had gone all out, utilizing every ounce of my power along with [Restriction].
Naturally, [Jupiter] was stronger than usual.
[You have revealed information about the ability [Jupiter].]
Before long, a message window I had not seen in quite some time appeared in my vision.
Resting my chin on the carpet of smoke as I flew, I began calmly examining the message.
[Confirmed that the opponent knows about [Restriction].]
[Mana consumption for using Jupiter has decreased. The technique's manifestation has increased.]
...
Hmm.
This was unexpected.
I thought back to the messages that had appeared when I had just revealed my ability and my other ability, [Restriction].
[You have revealed your ability.]
[You have explained your essential ability in detail.]
[A considerable bonus will be applied to all actions when using the ability.]
[The ability's destructive power, manifestation, and total mana have been temporarily enhanced.]
[You have revealed the essential power of your ability.]
[Investigating the user's mental image. The ability has been named [Restriction].]
[You have explained [Restriction] to the opponent.]
[Extreme enhancement to all actions.]
[Furthermore, due to [Restriction], additional bonuses will be applied to the disadvantages that arise from this point onward.]
That was definitely how it had gone.
"Ah."
Right. I see.
[Restriction].
Until now, I had never revealed anything about [Restriction] to anyone besides Mist.
That was why I had not known.
If I explained my ability to an enemy who knew about [Restriction], I would receive an additional benefit in return.
Come to think of it, it was only natural.
Between someone who knew nothing about [Restriction] and someone who knew about [Restriction],
it was obvious that the latter would provide a greater benefit when I revealed my ability.
"Wow, this really is an unexpected discovery."
[...]
I spoke to Azak, who had finished regenerating completely and was staring blankly up at me without reining in the mana erupting wildly from my body.
"It's all thanks to you."
Both the fact that I had gone all out and the unexpected discovery I had made because of it were thanks to Azak.
But.
"That is that, and this is this, right?"
I began converging my mana in one place.
The prototype of [Jupiter], formed with my finger as its reference point.
"I said I would kill you a hundred times, didn't I?"
I had plenty of time.
It was only around midnight, after all.
"All right, then. Let's begin."
[Jupiter]
----!!!!
Once again, a massive weapon of mass exploded outward.
[Uooooo!!]
Before long, Azak began colliding head-on with that enormous weapon of mass.
[Jupiter] expanded without end, while Azak desperately tried to suppress and shatter its expansion with his ability.
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble!!!
The sound of their collision was so loud it could destroy a person's eardrums.
If we had been on the ground instead of in the air, the shock wave would have been powerful enough to destroy even the city.
Swoooosh.
The shock wave was so intense that I could see the sea below Azak's position rippling from its force.
[Aaaaaah!!!]
Azak let out a battle cry that could only be called a scream.
He was pouring his blood, his power, and everything he had into blocking that attack.
He had felt it too.
Abel's attack was far too dangerous. Especially for him.
['Damn it!!]
His awakened ability, and the second awakening that ability had undergone.
The immortality he had gained through those two awakenings.
But that immortality was highly unstable.
If the immortal cores Azak possessed were destroyed, he would lose his immortality.
That was why Azak gathered blood and continued increasing the number of his immortal cores.
Blood was the currency of life.
And Azak's twisted, insane conviction, born from manipulating that blood and deluding himself into believing he was a vampire, had twisted his ability as well.
He had awakened the ability to steal other people's lives and store them like life coins in a game.
[Aaaaaah!!!]
The total number of lives he had gathered was 666.
They were Azak's new lifeline, created by sucking dry all the blood of the humans and other races he had obtained from the mysterious organization he had worked with—not from Saria Island.
But the number of lives blown away by the [Jupiter] Abel had just fired was twelve.
Massive mass.
[Jupiter], which attacked with the kinetic energy of that expanding mass, and Azak's ability to regenerate the instant he was injured were natural opposites.
Of course. He had been blown apart by the immense mass, and it was still there, so there was no way his regeneration could proceed smoothly.
He would regenerate, only to be blown apart again by the enormous power of [Jupiter] still occupying the site of his regeneration, repeating the process over and over.
That's right. His overwhelming regenerative power was hindering Azak now.
Therefore, from Azak's perspective, he had no choice but to resist the attack of [Jupiter].
Otherwise, his death would surely be right before his eyes.
Rumble-rumble-rumble.
[Ghk!]
Hold it back.
Resist!
I have to resist that irresistible calamity!!
[Aaaaaaaaah!!!]
---!!!
[Gasp... pant... pant...]
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Wow, amazing. Truly amazing."
Azak's body trembled from the backlash of drawing out his mana to its limit.
I looked at Azak and offered him my sincere congratulations.
Swoooosh.
As I heard the sea, driven away by the clash between Azak and the [Jupiter] I had fired, return to its original position in the distance, I did not stop applauding.
Clap.
He really was amazing.
Indeed, absolutely.
Even if he was my enemy, even if he was a piece of trash who had brutally tortured my subordinate, I was the kind of man who acknowledged what deserved acknowledgment.
How could I insult an act in which he had staked his soul and poured in everything he had?
Ah, of course, he probably considered the very fact that I was applauding him an insult, but what could I do? That was how I felt.
Clap.
Thinking that, I stopped applauding, slowly spread my palm wide, and continued speaking to convey my sincere admiration.
Hummm.
"All right, then. The opening skirmish is over."
[The opening skirmish...?]
"Then, the opening skirmish."
Did you really think that attack was the end?
Thanks to the information about [Jupiter] that I had revealed, the technique's cost had decreased considerably.
So this was possible too.
----!!!
The atmosphere began to scream.
The source of that scream was above the five fingers from my thumb to my ring finger.
Hummm.
Before long, five small spheres of smoke took shape.
They were the prototypes of [Jupiter].
"All right, shall we begin?"
[Jupiter]
Once again, this time five enormous stars began erupting in the sky above the waters off Saria Island.
.
.
.
Death. Regeneration.
Death. Regeneration.
Death. Regeneration.
Death. Regeneration.
Tens, hundreds of deaths.
Of course, his upper body was blown apart.
His entire body burst apart, regenerated, and burst apart again and again.
Crushed to death.
And when a single death was repeated dozens of times over, Azak's mind rapidly began to wear away.
[Aaaah...]
I looked at Azak, fixed motionless in the air and appearing to have lost his mind, and slowly raised the corners of my mouth.
An interesting idea occurred to me.
Hummm.
Planting my mana inside another person's body.
Normally, this was impossible. The resistance possessed by someone as powerful as Azak made it impossible.
But Azak's mind and body were now on the verge of collapsing.
It was possible. Especially now, when I possessed overwhelming power after revealing all my information.
"..."
I closed both eyes and began carefully refining my mana.
I split a single thread into dozens of strands, then reshaped that mana once again.
The image was a needle.
A needle honed with enough precision for surgery, capable of gently piercing another person's skin.
Bellias's technique.
But it was a technique I had been unable to use until now.
Yet now, it was possible.
It was possible now that [Restriction] had strengthened me without limit.
"Good grief..."
I looked at the dozens of incredibly thin threads of magical power shaped like surgical needles in my hand and gave a hollow laugh.
The name of the technique Bellias had thought and thought about after I told her that a technique like this needed a name.
[Micro Needle]
It was a technique that could only be used in this state, so how had Bellias...
After briefly marveling at Bellias's genius control of mana, I used [Micro Needle] to naturally inject my mana into Azak's body.
[Ugh... what is this?!]
Even if his mind had gone, perhaps the strange mana he felt inside his body naturally brought him back to his senses.
Looking at Azak, who was flustered by the sudden change in circumstances, I slowly explained the situation.
"Ah, it's nothing much, Azak. I just have an experiment to conduct."
So I left a [Jupiter] inside your body for a while.
[What... did you say?]
"Hmm? Couldn't you hear me?"
Of course not. All of this had been an act.
Everything, from deliberately speaking in such a friendly tone to refraining from inserting the mana more covertly even though I could have done so, had been intentional.
"I told you. The starting points of [Jupiter] have been inserted inside your body."
As I said that, I raised three fingers to tell him how many [Jupiters] I had inserted.
[Aaaah... no... please, please...]
"..."
[Save me.]
He wanted me to save him?
Who was asking whom to save?
Thinking that, I looked at the blood covering Azak.
The enormous amount of blood that had been underground.
He probably had not been killing people for just a day or two.
A murderer like that was begging to be saved.
How amusing.
"Hahaha. Yes. You want to live?"
The reason he was saying this was probably that even his enormous regenerative power had a limit.
Or perhaps he was immortal, but his mind had already broken and he did not know that.
I had no need to know the details of his circumstances.
But.
"Then scream."
[What...?]
"Scream. I said scream."
I had come here to avenge my subordinate, who had been sacrificed by that bastard.
My subordinate's blood was probably mixed into the blood covering that bastard even now.
"I'll give you three seconds. If you scream loudly enough for your voice to reach Saria Island from this sea, I'll let you live."
[...]
"3."
[...]
"2."
Wooooooom.
Only after I began releasing mana did Azak's mouth, which had been staring blankly at me, slowly begin to open.
[Aaaaah...]
Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!
Before long, a scream with enough volume to make the sky tremble erupted from Azak's mouth.
"Hahaha."
It was so overwhelmingly loud that my eardrums would have burst if I had not blocked my ears with smoke.
It was enough to make me wonder whether sonic attacks might actually suit him better.
"1."
------!!!
The moment my mouth moved again, another scream burst forth.
This is a requiem.
A requiem for my subordinate, who had been tortured and murdered by that bastard here.
I said I would take revenge, didn't I?
If I was going to do it, I had to do it thoroughly.
"0."
-----!!!
Azak desperately screamed to the very end.
He had screamed so much that merely continuing to do so had left him on the verge of losing his voice.
"Mm-hmm. Yes. This should be enough."
[Ah. At last.]
"So, farewell."
[What did you say?]
Azak stared blankly at me.
Looking at him, I slowly began injecting mana into the smoke I had sent flowing into Azak's body.
[Aaaaaah!! That wasn't the deal!!!]
Azak's body began to swell.
[You said you'd let me live! Then why?!!!]
"Ah, right. I did say I'd let you live."
[Why on earth?!]
Looking at Azak, who had fallen into despair, I spoke with remarkable cheerfulness.
"Why would I?"
[What?]
"Why should I let you live?"
No, no. That wasn't it. More importantly.
"You believe the words of someone trying to kill you?"
[Aaaaah...]
He finally understood. Everything that had happened up to this point had been mocking him.
Looking at Azak's body, which had now grown to the size of a boulder, I smiled and waved.
"Bye-bye."
[Jupiter]
-----!!!
.
.
.
Shhk.
Sitting on the carpet made of smoke, I cut a cigar and slowly began lighting it as I took in the distinctive scent of the sea at night.
"I've taken my revenge."
Slowly extinguishing the dozens of planet-shaped clouds of smoke floating around me, I looked up at the sky.
It was a spectacular sight, with thousands of stars densely packed across it.
Fwoooosh.
I looked up at the night sky, exhaled cigar smoke, and opened my mouth.
"So rest in peace."
Richard.
***
That day, the residents of Saria Island saw it.
"Mom... the stars..."
The countless enormous spheres erupting over the waters off Saria Island.
They looked remarkably similar to the stars in that distant place called outer space, visible only with an astronomical telescope.
That's right.
That day, everyone on Saria Island said the same thing.
[The stars have descended to the ground.]
Some time later.
A certain festival began being held every year on Saria Island.
[Starfall Festival]
The fact that this festival drew people in and improved the lives of Saria Island's residents was another story.