Chapter 37
"I can't see it..."
I hadn't withdrawn my magic vision for even a moment since leaving the room.
It wasn't just simple camouflage but perfect magical assimilation.
That, too, was close to a kind of magic.
If Mea's invisibility magic was like putting a cover over us that withdrew attention from us, the Chromatic Fiend seemed to have become the background itself.
It was an assimilation that even Senior rank experts couldn't detect without concentration.
Does it even hide the color of its mana?
Indeed, it was the apex predator of the first floor.
If that’s how it's going to act, we have a method on our side to find it.
Wheeee—! Bang!
First, one shot.
I fired at where it had been, but the magic bullet passed through and hit the wall.
As expected, it had moved.
Right? Left?
I couldn't tell.
Then.
I'll just shoot in both directions.
I raised both hands to summon mana.
Dual control of mana was something I couldn't do when I only had a pact with Seir.
However, with the addition of another pact seal, my mana pathways had expanded to two.
I indiscriminately fired magic bullets from both hands in random directions.
I just need to hit it once.
A simple, brute-force strategy that was only possible due to there being no limit to the amount of mana I could summon.
While it could hide its presence perfectly, it couldn't erase its physical existence.
The Chromatic Fiend wasn't a ghost-type monster, after all.
However, this method had its gaps too.
In the end, I could only fire two magic bullets simultaneously.
With good evasive maneuvers, this could be rendered ineffective.
I still can't use magical detection.
Magical detection, which spreads one's mana externally to create a detection field, was still beyond my ability to cast.
It was one of the weaknesses of Devil Sorcerers.
After all, the mana that Devil Sorcerers mainly handled was borrowed.
Since it wasn’t my own mana, its extensibility as part of my sensory system was inevitably weak.
It was said that skilled Devil Sorcerers overcame even this difficult condition, but I wasn't there just yet.
"It's okay."
"Teresia?"
"Keep shooting. I'll tell you the location."
Saying that, Teresia cut her palm with the dagger she was holding.
The wound was deep.
Blood immediately gushed out.
But Teresia swung her arm widely as if she felt no pain at all.
Droplets of blood scattered.
"Even if you stain it with blood, that will change color too."
"I know."
"Rather than that, maybe we should try magical detection..."
As if she had no intention of listening to me, Teresia quietly chanted an incantation.
"Bloom, my lifeblood."
With Teresia's incantation, the scattered blood droplets began to sprout.
The movement of the blood, freely changing shape as befitting a liquid, was like watching the pulsation of life.
Like plants taking root in the ground and sprouting with intense vitality, it spread blood vessels around, firmly gripping the earth.
And just as plants bloom beautiful flowers at the peak of their lives.
The blood droplets that had become seeds also bloomed bright red flowers.
Red spider lilies.
It was the appearance of flowers that were also known as higanbana.
Can this be called magic too?
A combination of magic and innate racial power.
Just as Rei had the instincts she was born with as a beast-folk, Teresia also has control over blood as a Dhampir, a half-vampire.
The moment the blood touched the hidden Chromatic Fiend, its location was conveyed to Teresia.
"Left. Three o'clock with the stairs at twelve o'clock."
"Confirmed."
Wheeee!
The magic bullet I loaded was formed by Leraje's mana.
A Devil's mana was a curse in of and itself.
And among them, Leraje's mana was particularly special.
"It moved. Four o'clock. Coming this way."
"Straight ahead at four o'clock, you mean."
It would be strange if I somehow missed.
The compressed magic bullet signaled the end of its loading time.
At the same time, I pulled the mental trigger.
Wheeeeee—!
The magic bullet raced with a piercing force that felt different from the start.
It stretched out in a straight line towards the invisible enemy.
Bang!
Hit.
With the impact sound, the Chromatic Fiend's color change was disrupted for a moment, revealing part of it.
"Roman, it doesn't seem to have taken any damage?"
Perhaps surprised by being attacked, the Chromatic Fiend stopped its charge and distanced itself again.
However, its revealed outer appearance showed no signs of damage.
The creature seemed to belatedly realize that my magic bullet couldn't penetrate its tough hide, as it let out an eerie growling sound for the first time, expressing its anger.
Once again, it melted into the space with a swish.
"Don't you have any stronger attacks?"
"That was my max power."
"...That's troublesome."
"Don’t worry, the next attack will be stronger."
Teresia narrowed her eyes and glanced at me as if to say, "What nonsense is that?"
I guess she was questioning what I meant when I said my next attack would be stronger despite saying I had attacked it with my max power.
It might sound contradictory at first glance, but it was undoubtedly true.
"It’s already been affected by my magic, Teresia."
"What? Your magic is... No. You can't have just that one. Okay. I'll believe you."
"Location?"
"It's circling. Six o'clock."
Wheeee—
Once again, a magic bullet was fired.
But the Chromatic Fiend didn't stop.
It came charging.
Fiercely, without even caring about its color change anymore.
Convinced that these attacks couldn't harm it, the creature now had neither fear nor caution.
Thud! Thump!
The impact sounds carried weight.
Two hits.
But the creature didn't budge.
Just before it crashed into me, Teresia grabbed me and leaped to the side.
"What are you doing, Roman? You should have dodged. Tele—I mean—why didn't you use that?"
"I'm already using another magic. Simultaneous casting is still tricky for me."
And it's not like I was just standing there without a plan.
"I had room to dodge. Just look at it."
At my words, Teresia noticed the difference she hadn't realized due to her previous experience of being overwhelmed by the Chromatic Fiend.
"Come to think of it... it was slower."
"That's right."
The first charge and this charge.
The Chromatic Fiend had clearly slowed down.
Even more so each time it was hit by my magic bullets.
The magic I had created through my pact with Leraje.
My second magic, Exhaustion.
[For the last time, it is not Exhaustion, it is Die Gezeichnete. Is that not a good name?]
[Why? Exhaustion is fine. It's intuitive.]
This time, it's 2 to 1, Seir.
Just accept my naming method.
This is the trend of the times, you know.
Anyway, Exhaustion was exactly what the name implied.
This magic was derived from Leraje's authority to slow down prey's movements.
Just as Blink had the limitation of sight, Exhaustion had the limitation of the prey needing to be directly hit with my mana.
Instead, it gained the advantage of stacking its effects with every hit.
In that respect, the Chromatic Fiend's mindless charge was the worst move possible.
Until now, it probably had no match as the apex predator.
Even so, it was quite surprising for it to show caution at the beginning.
However, the creature had hastily judged its enemy. And that would be the last mistake it ever made.
It was nothing short of the carelessness befitting a mere insect.
On top of that, Leraje's mana is poisonous as a passive effect.
I wonder how many more times it can endure…
Until it can't even move an eyelid, that is
10 times? 20 times?
I'll hit this damn thing as many times as I need to.
And after making it completely immobile...
"Teresia."
"Yes?"
"We’ll only get the best quality If we skin it alive, right?"
At my words, Teresia stretched her lips into a smile.
Flashing her protruding fangs, Teresia answered as if she had been waiting for this, "Of course."
§
I sat on the stairs, watching Teresia skin the still-living Chromatic Fiend.
The Chromatic Fiend had put up quite a fight.
It took 17 magic bullets before its movements completely stopped.
Still, just to be sure, I placed my hand on its body and directly injected Leraje's mana into it.
Interestingly, the toxicity contained in Leraje's mana could be freely adjusted.
While the maximum toxicity had a set limit, within that range, it was freely controllable.
To strengthen this further, I'd probably need to create a magic by borrowing Leraje's authority of poison.
But even at the current level of paralytic poison, it was enough to rob the Chromatic Fiend of its physical freedom.
Not to mention Exhaustion.
Teresia, completely relying on me for protection, was focusing solely on the butchering work.
"By the way, Teresia, is it okay to leave Priscilla like that?"
"...It'll be fine."
Swish— thud.
Teresia spoke while skinning, without even looking back.
"The Chromatic Fiend's color change isn't just simple camouflage, you know?"
"Ah, you mean that eye-straining color change from earlier?"
The creature's last struggle was a rapid emission of light, changing its entire body into various colors.
It was a visual assault reminiscent of that one Pokemon episode. [Hello, Vassal Bear (Yes, I’m a polar bear) here, author is referencing the episode: Dennō Senshi Porygon, which caused the hospitalization of 600 kids via seizures due to the episode featuring a scene with rapid flashing lights.]
I thought it was an attack aimed at blinding us.
"That's part of it, but it's said to cause mental disturbance with intense colors. The senior most likely bore witness to it while we were escaping. She must have thought she needed to protect the others."
She must have been a senior with a strong sense of responsibility to protect them since she was the leader.
Come to think of it, Teresia was friends with Fiona, so she was the most important promising talent of the Blostma School.
They must have chosen reliable personnel for Teresia's training.
"...It's not permanent. She couldn't defend her mind at all due to a lack of mana, but as time passes and her mana recovers, her mind will naturally recover as well."
"Hmm, is that so?"
I turned my head to look towards Priscilla, who Mea was guarding.
For a very brief moment, I thought our eyes met.
It was too fleeting to see properly, but her focus seemed to have returned.
It should be fine. Teresia said so.
With that, I turned my attention away from Priscilla.
§
Teresia's words were correct.
Priscilla's mental breakdown wasn't just because her mental strength was too weak but due to the overlap of several other reasons.
With the loss of mana, all defensive magic was dissolved, and the juniors she was supposed to protect were dying right before her eyes.
She, herself, had only escaped with the help of a junior.
Her mind, already pushed to the limit, was utterly defenseless against the disorienting light emitted by the Chromatic Fiend.
Teresia's analysis was accurate, but there was something she failed to notice.
Priscilla's mind didn’t function like a spell being dispelled, ending at a specific moment and returning to normal, but rather, her mind was slowly recovering over time.
Her collapsed mind desperately craved a protector, and for that, even in a hazy state of consciousness, she clearly observed everything happening around her.
Priscilla saw.
She remembered.
She clearly engraved in the cracks of her split mind.
A Devil Sorcerer who wielded near-infinite mana.
Priscilla, thus, silently watched Roman.
Endlessly.