Chapter 58 - Judgement
Not minding the actions of Chris and the other half-dozen or so students watching him, Jae activated Greed for the first time.
Choose ‘3’ [Enhanced Unique Skills] to integrate:
1. 「Adaptability」 - Otherworlder
2. 「Angel's Touch」 - Seraph
3. 「Belladonna」 - Dryad
4. 「Demonic Magic Absorption...
5....
In alphabetical order, all the Unique Skills Greed had stolen throughout his life were presented to Jae, amounting to an amount that even he didn’t expect.
With a selection of dozens of special, non-human skills to choose from, he could only pick three. It certainly wasn’t something in which he could act in haste even if he wanted to, and nor should he.
Greed said there was no need to choose all three right away; I should make use of that and only pick one now. The other two should wait until I really need something.
That was what felt like the smart thing to do, but because he could now only choose one among the many, Jae felt pressured to make the best decision he could so that he would be left with no regrets.
Fortunately, there was one thing he could use to his advantage in this situation to ensure that only the best skill was chosen.
An unexpected but very welcome function of the Greed skill itself.
'Skill description'.
「Angel's Grace [Enhanced]」 - Allows the user to [Purify] a target other than themself during contact. [Purifying] a target cleanses all negative status conditions and recovers all wounds, diseases and illnesses.
If the target is an [Undead] of a lower level than the user, [Purification] brings the target's HP down to 1 and applies a [Weakened] status condition. The [Undead] may not revive once afflicted [Purify].
Costs 40% Current HP, 15% Total MP.
Only usable by a [Seraph].
Enhancement: Can be used regardless of Race
Reading the description of the second skill on the list, which Greed seemed to have once acquired from defeating and stealing from one of the Seraphim, Jae realised just how close he was to experiencing ‘true death’ back at the castle.
‘The Undead may not revive’... Fuck...
It almost made him shudder just thinking about what could have happened, but regardless, this skill was not something he needed right now, and so he moved down the list.
「Belladonna [Enhanced]」 - Allows the user to [Brand] a visible target’s soul. [Branded] targets have their link with all existing sources of magic energy completely cut by the power of the Spirit King until the [Brand] is removed by an equal or higher spiritual authority as the user.
Additionally, [Branded] targets will be unable to enter the Spirit World under any circumstances and will have a forced favourability of Spirits to be permanently significantly lowered.
Cannot be used on those with a considerable favourability of Spirits.
Costs 10% Current MP.
Only usable by a [Dryad].
Enhancement: Can be used regardless of Race
This time, the skill was something Jae could consider taking. Although it might not have seemed like much judging purely by the vague description, Jae, who had been indoctrinated with boundless magical knowledge, knew exactly what something like this 'Brand' might entail.
If I’m reading this right, doesn’t it mean I’ll be able to prevent anyone I see from using magic? Isn't that broken?
There was no requirement for contact and no limit on how many targets could be Branded, meaning Jae could effectively Brand as many people as he wanted, cutting off all of their magic energy sources and obstructing the use of magic entirely.
If there was one downside, it would be that such a skill wasn’t really necessary for Jae.
Since I already have a far greater grasp on magic than any human, and even most Demons and probably low or mid-ranking Spirits, it’s definitely a real ‘edge case’ skill. There are so many other ones here I can take that I would use far more often, so this one’s probably a no-go too.
In the end, he wasn't a blockhead warrior with a weakness of being kited by mages, so it was probably useless.
「Magic Erasure [Enhanced]」- Allows the user to negate any visible magic by sacrificing a [Demon]'s horn. Must be in contact with a [Demon]'s horn to use.
Costs 50% Total MP.
Enhancement: Does not require the sacrifice of a [Demon]'s horn
Fourth on the list was a Unique Skill belonging to Demons. Jae was not surprised to see this skill here, and he had in fact learnt about this skill previously at the Demon Queen’s Castle, realising that it was this very skill that was the key to the Demons’ unparalleled magical defence.
The skill itself was rather self-explanatory, but although it was extremely powerful, it was no more than a two-time-use for most Demons unless they could somehow get their hands on another’s horns.
Unlike the prior two skills, Magic Erasure was not something only Demons could use, but it was something all Demons were born with, and supposedly, no other race had access to acquiring this skill, so it effectively worked the same way.
Nevertheless, just as with the Belladonna skill, this was not something Jae needed.
In the first place, there’s no reason for me to take this over Belladonna if I can choose between the two; this one takes half of my total mana to use even once, and it can only negate one instance of magic. It’s worse in pretty much every way, so this definitely isn’t something I’ll be picking.
Scrolling through the rest of the list, Jae passed by various memorable and potentially significant Unique Skills such as several different kinds of Evil Eyes, the Succubus’ skill Greed mentioned, a skill related to what sounded like death magic, and many more.
Having reached the end of the list after quickly reading through most of the descriptions, Jae understood with a brief glance that Chris and the others’ patience was dwindling.
Out of the vast pool of options, he had to choose one, but there were so many juicy picks that Jae couldn't tell which fruit was best.
So, in the short time he had left until Chris’ temper snapped and his holy magic-coated sword came flying for his neck, Jae narrowed the choices down.
What he needed right now was two things:
First of all, a way to swiftly and cleanly deal with his former classmates here.
Secondly, a way to return to the castle faster than spamming Sloth with Amy harboured in his shadow.
It would be something he could rely on from this point onwards, and ideally, it would be something with not too great of a cost.
Could there be such a convenient skill that appropriately fits all of the above conditions?
Hm...
As Jae continued to push his brain to think of everything available, his eyes were continuously drawn to one skill in particular.
I wonder... No, there’s no way that would work... Right...?
“Magic Enhancement: Holy.”
Suddenly, Jae’s ears pricked up at the sound of magic, following which Chris’ blade exploded with a golden aura. Observing the sword, which was yet to come vying for his neck, Jae’s eyes narrowed.
If it’s holy magic, a sword that high quality might even kill me in a single hit if it’s in the wrong place. I’ll probably come right back afterwards, but... It’s not something I can guarantee when it comes to holy magic.
Since Jae was classified as Undead, he had no choice but to be cautious around divinity. Despite the danger, however, the end of his mouth curled up.
This guy... He said he wouldn’t stand still if I kept my mouth shut, but look at him. Is he too softhearted to attack someone who isn’t showing hostility, or...?
Finding Chris’ evident hesitation to start a fight with him amusing, something unrelated suddenly occurred to Jae.
Wait... Since he uses holy magic, does that mean he’ll be on friendly terms with those angels? They haven’t met yet, but since he’s the Hero, I’m sure it’ll happen eventually. At that time, I doubt they’ll stay quiet after hearing he knows who I am. In that case, would it be better to treat this a bit more seriously?
Speaking frankly, it was alright to treat Chris as no big deal at the moment, but in the future things were bound to change.
When he inevitably grows up to become a Hero of unknown strength, perhaps unparalleled thanks to his lack of a level limit and an accelerated growth rate, there is a very real possibility that he could become someone Jae could no longer handle.
...No, that’s ridiculous. Even if he spends every day fighting monsters to level up for the next ten years; even if he can use holy magic or some other Hero-class skill with massive advantages against me, it will never be enough. I already have such a vast head start, and besides, there are still five more Dungeons I have left to clear.
Be that as it may, he couldn’t deny that treating this first encounter with a tad more gravitas was probably the smart thing to do. Even if Jae felt it difficult to be sincere in going all out against people who were exceptionally weaker than him, he couldn’t deny the need to show them exactly where they stood.
If I show them the disparity between us, and the fact that I don’t intend to kill any of them, then they should calm down about trying to get in my way.
Although he worried for a moment if something like that would really work, especially against the Hero, Jae thought it his best bet and contemplated the best way to go about it.
“God, if you’re not going to actually do anything, get out of the way.”
“Huh? H-hey, what are you doing?!”
Hm...?
Out of the blue, someone pushed past Chris and stepped forward.
“Hey.”
Calling out to Jae without minding her classmates making a fuss behind her, Julie Silva glared.
“Open your goddamn mouth and answer me. Did you do this?”
Feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sudden show of hostility, Jae awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.
Maybe I shouldn’t have used the scythe after all... Even if no one ended up dead, with the palace destroyed, of course they’d be mad. But, I mean, it’s not like I ever intended to ruin everything...
“...I may have used a bit too much force than was necessary. That’s my bad.”
Although he felt it was undoubtedly inconvenient for the people who frequented the royal palace, and for that he was sympathetic, it's not like Jae bore any major feeling of regret. After all, aside from the king, no one had been gravely wounded or killed by his actions; Amy’s shadows confirmed it, so there was no real problem.
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...At least, that’s how it was from his perspective.
Unfortunately, the summoned classmates felt very differently about the situation.
“You...”
Seeing the girl clench her teeth and fists both at his words, Jae immediately realised something was wrong; and although he didn’t understand what the problem might have been, he had an inkling that knowing wouldn't have made a difference.
Because, at the end of the day, the palace was blown away, with Jae being the one responsible.
“...oom...”
Her head lowered towards the ground, Julie muttered something under her breath. Then, her face rose just enough to glimpse her eyes, glaring fiercely.
“You destroyed my room... Everything I own, gone, just like that.”
...What?
At that moment, Jae realised why he had made a mistake. It wasn’t the palace as a whole they were concerned about being gone... But rather, their own living space and even personal belongings that had been erased. Suddenly, he felt like he could understand their anger.
Of course, feeling bad didn’t change his response, though.
It’s already been destroyed; there’s nothing I can do about that. Sure, I maybe shouldn’t have gone about it in the way that I did, but now that it’s happened, there’s no going back.
So, although he could understand where Julie’s anger was coming from, it wasn’t like Jae could do anything to make it up to her. Nor did he care to.
“If you don’t have anything else to say, I’m just gonna go.”
Throwing those words out, Jae turned around. It seemed that Amy had already disappeared into his shadow at some point, and the class could only stare at his departing back as he slowly walked away.
“No.”
Then, Julie muttered once again―
Fwooaar~!
―and a fierce blaze erupted from her body. Flames brushing past either side of Jae's figure, his feet halted.
“You’re not getting away that easily.”
Even beneath the pelting rain, it seemed to do no more than stoke the flames further. Turning around, Jae glanced at the storm of fire enveloping Julie and scanned over the faces of the quiet others behind her before looking her in the eyes.
Now that an attack had been launched, there was no reason to just walk away as is.
“...Are you sure you want to do this?”
Julie’s pupils appeared to quiver slightly under the calm pressure he emanated, but her will remained firm. Rather, her fury had already peaked. Realising this would soon become a far more dangerous situation than any of the previous “bouts” with the knights, Jae also steeled himself. He held absolutely no doubt in his mind that he would come out of this victorious, but there was no guarantee that he would be able to do so whilst simultaneously preserving the lives of everyone here.
Depending on what kinds of Unique Skills they possessed, he might be faced with no choice but to defend himself in the most extreme manner.
Even if he was acquainted with the opposition, it made no difference.
With that in mind, he stared directly ahead at the inferno surrounding Julie’s body.
Some petty flames like that... Even if it’s your specialty―
Her, a B-rank Otherworlder whose Title was Blazing Berserker.
―Using something like that to try and intimidate me―
To Jae, it was laughable.
―Don’t even bother.
Pftshh~!
In an instant, all of Julie’s flames were extinguished.
"......"
Jae hadn’t even moved an inch, and yet one of her main weapons was neutralised in the blink of an eye.
“That all?”
Those two words seemed to be all it took to provoke the student completely, as right then, she flew into a frenzy. With Julie being the first to jump forward, she swung her sword, mercilessly aiming for Jae’s face.
Woosh--Thud.
Then, just inches away, something appeared from thin air to block the blade. As a dull sound like a thick tree trunk being hit resounded, Julie backed off to see Jae wielding a bizarre weapon taller than his whole body; a white, slightly curved sword, like the tooth of a mythical being.
Her eyes briefly widened, but she regained composure, instead circling around to Jae’s back.
He didn’t need to keep his eyes on her to know where she was―sensing her body’s natural magic energy emission was enough for that―so he continued to watch the actions of the rest of the group, waiting for another to join the fight.
And join the fight they did.
“Haa!”
Shouting, one unimpressive student charged from the front with a claymore. At the same time, two came from each the left and right side, wielding daggers and a rapier respectively.
Julie was also about to strike from behind, making for a four-way assault.
Still, Jae did not panic.
Raising lumps of earth in the ground, rapier tripped.
Twisting his body, Jae then evaded the daggers, stepped to his behind, and kicked the student’s back to swap positions.
Now, not even a second before claymore and Julie would have reached him, they hurriedly withdrew their weapons, but unable to completely erase their momentum, collided into daggers together with their bodies.
“Solidify, Earth Shield!”
“Ignite, Pillar of Flames!”
Not allowing Jae any rest, two more students chanted magic from a distance―a pair of magic circles appeared beneath him, and a sphere of solid rock shot out of the ground, imprisoning him. Immediately after, the barrier shook and shone an incandescent red.
Following a short beat, a certain Yamato Kawasaki stepped forth; the highest-ranked pure magician of the class ever since Ryan left and someone Jae used to cringe at behind his back. Perhaps today was the day he would get back at that inward, silent mocking, as he raised his staff and began to chant.
“Once with us, now you serve no purpose. Rising, falling, return to whence you belong.”
Ensuing a brief incantation, Yamato slammed his staff down on the ground, and a grand magic circle appeared around the red-hot Earth Shield.
“Disappear, lost, and crumble into the past for eternity―Tomb of the Forgotten!”
At that moment, everything quaked violently as the ground moved like water, swirling around itself and caving in. The others could only watch the ground spiral and churn like a whirlpool, swallowing up the Earth Shield that had captured Jae and burying it deep beneath the surface.
Soon enough, the earth slowed, ceased spiralling, and returned to the shape it held before.
“Fuuh...”
Waiting a few seconds and feeling no response from the ground beneath them, the class assumed everything was over and one by one, began to spew sighs of relief.
“Is that... It?”
However.
Rumble...!!
Of course, they couldn’t have been more wrong.
As if nothing had ever happened, a small hole opened up in the ground, through which Jae rose, completely unscathed.
“Hey, that was a neat spell.”
Deciding to exclude the latter part, ‘for a human’, Jae smirked. Naturally, for someone who had witnessed Aphy’s magic and even learned directly from her, there was no way he could be taken down by something like that, but he couldn’t deny that it was a decent attempt.
Hearing his taunting words, and seeing him act as if all of this was no more than child’s play, the students’ faces turned grim.
Even if he didn't mean to harm anyone, it couldn’t be argued that he was exceedingly dangerous, and as the one who had already gone and wiped off the royal palace from the map, no one knew for sure what might happen if he was allowed to continue any further.
For that reason, they couldn’t afford to hold back any more.
Even if the opponent was an acquaintance.
“...Jae.”
Taking the lead, Chris stepped forward.
“I’ll stop you. So face me.”
Seeing the seriousness on his face only made Jae feel awkward again, and he frowned.
Still, they don’t want to let me go about my day? What’s the big deal...
They were adamant about defeating him here, that much he could tell just by taking a look at the glint in their eyes. What's more, only a portion of the class was present, but that only gave more of a reason for them to show their all.
It’ll be getting late soon, but it’s not like I can just knock them all out just like that...
Thinking he might have to resort to that skill he found through Greed, Jae was about to open the System menu when Chris suddenly darted towards him.
What is this cheap trick...?
Summoning the dragon’s tooth from the Inventory, Jae blocked the incoming blow and kicked Chris, who blocked and swung in retaliation―missing.
Keeping in mind Julie, who seemed to try and keep a low profile behind him, Jae twisted his body to face both directions halfway the moment she launched an attack, swinging the tooth.
Slam-!
“Gh-!?”
Bearing the brunt of the tooth with her torso, Julie was sent flying, rolling metres across the ground before coming to a halt. Without waiting even a second, however, she raised herself back to her feet. That’s when Jae noticed something.
“Hm...? Oh...”
Julie’s eyes were gradually glazing over, and as hot steam emanated from all over her body, her pupils shone a faint crimson.
Her Status is increasing... Obviously. ‘Berserker’, huh. I should’ve known.
It took longer than he would’ve liked to realise it, but in short, she was similar to the first-floor Minotaur from the Sloth Dungeon, except that guy was already in a berserker state when Jae found him. On the other hand...
Bang-!
“Ngh!”
“Hey, cheeky boy.”
Slam-!
“Ghh, ahh...!”
“It’s not nice to attack when I’m dealing with someone else.”
Thud-- Slam-!
“Wait for your turn. If you’re that desperate, ask politely.”
“Ngh...! You can be arrogant for now, but things won’t stay that way for long...!”
“Really? Oh, hold on.”
Pausing the “conversation” momentarily, Jae waved his arm to the side, hitting Julie in the stomach and knocking her to the ground once more. As expected, she simply rose to her feet and brandished her sword again, with another increase in stats.
“Hm...”
One fortunate thing about fighting in close range like this was that none of the magicians could afford to risk harming their teammates by casting wide-area magic. At the same time, they understood they were not skilled enough to weave in single-target magic whilst expertly avoiding bombarding their allies, which left them as no more than useless spectators.
Similarly, no one weaker than Chris or Julie, two of the strongest melee fighters present, was confident enough to step forward and assist, knowing they’d be beaten and toyed with, with no chance to resist.
Compared to earlier, they’ve definitely learned something. Still...
“Grah-!”
Julie dashed towards him with a cry like that of a zombie. Although her flames had returned in full, making her appear like a raging fireball, it had no measurable effect on Jae, who merely punted her away with a single kick.
Thud.
“Ah. What did I say?”
“Ghuh...! Th-that’s enough...”
“What’s that?”
Slam-!
As Chris was sent to the ground for the nth time after attempting a sneak attack on a distracted Jae, he clenched his teeth and fists tightly. His Fighting Aura had been building up all the while, enhancing his strength significantly, but it didn’t make a difference large enough to change anything.
“I said... That’s enough.”
“You’re giving up?”
That's quicker than I expected.
But, Chris didn’t lose hope.
“No... I’m getting serious.”
Oh. Serious?
“Is that right?”
Because, although Jae might have overlooked it.
“Yeah. You’ll see.”
Until this moment, Chris had actually...
“Huu... Limit Break.”
―Not used any of his Hero-class skills.
Fwooosh...!!
All of a sudden, at that single utterance, harsh wind pressure burst out.
Jae gazed at Chris, whose stats had exploded. The Hero’s skin adopted a pattern of luminescent red lines, similar in description but not appearance to the Death God’s Scythe, and bringing to mind memories of the monsters found within the Cursed Zone of the Great Forest.
So it was a Hero skill after all...
Recalling those monsters, who had also undergone some kind of similar Limit Break ascension, Jae looked at the Hero with newfound suspicion.
I wonder if that miasma is somehow related to the Hero... Or, is the Hero’s Limit Break something distinctly unnatural...? Well, I guess this isn’t the time for theorising.
“Aaargh...!!”
“Alright, that’s enough.”
Slam-!
“Hhaaa...!”
Once again, the frenzied Julie rushed in only to be smacked and thrown down on her back, knocking the wind right out of her lungs. This time, as she struggled to breathe, Jae placed a foot on her stomach to prevent her swift recovery. A strange magical energy flowed around her body, and a few moments later, her spasming body attempting to remove Jae’s foot abruptly stopped moving. Like that, Julie was unconscious.
Taking his foot off of her body, Jae crouched down beside her.
“Take her to a safe place.”
Muttering that to seemingly no one, Jae watched Julie’s body sink into the shadow beneath her. Rising back to his feet, he turned again to face Chris and raised the dragon’s tooth.
“That Limit Break is quite strong.”
It wasn’t a lie; comparing Chris’ current Soul State values with the numbers he saw earlier, it wasn’t something Jae could ignore so easily.
On the other hand, not knowing what Jae’s goal was, Chris replied, his eyes narrowed.
“It’s got a long way to go.”
Taking that to mean the skill was still relatively low-level as of now, Jae wondered how strong of a buff it would become in the future.
...If this guy really is going to join the sides of those angels, maybe it’s best to get him out of the way now after all.
Of course, Jae didn’t want to kill someone he thought of as a good person if he could help it, but when it came to the Hero, he thought there might not be a choice.
Even if I just leave him as is... It might get more out of hand than I thought.
Not knowing how to deal with Chris, Jae turned his gaze slightly to the left, where Yamato could be seen finishing his incantation for another fourth-tier, or Saint-tier, spell.
“―Be swallowed, devoured, consumed by the flaming maws of the great Lord of Fire himself! Wrath of the Blazing Lord!”
With Yamato finishing his incantation by slamming his staff on the ground, a tremendous magic circle appeared in the sky above Jae, emitting a vivid scarlet hue.
But then, he commanded again.
“Now alter, Reverse Magic!”
Suddenly, the magic circle changed; in the blink of an eye, what was once magic belonging to the elemental tree of fire transformed into something else entirely.
“Dawn of the Ice Age!”
Within an instant of the words leaving his mouth, the magic activated, and a mystical sonorous sound like that of a creaking ice lake resonated across the sky above the ruined palace grounds.
“Oh...!?”
Jae exclaimed as he witnessed the world around him turn snow-white within moments―ice crept in from every angle, and even the air itself began to freeze as he quickly found himself lost in an endless expanse of frost.
Simultaneously, whilst Jae appeared cut off from the rest of the world in an isolated age of sheer cold, Chris approached the winter barrier and took to one knee.
Bringing his hands together, he closed his eyes.
And he recited a chant.
“The Holy God declared all evil, all sin, banished.”
Ever so slowly, a golden energy began to emanate from Chris’ body.
“―Whether it be dark, light, fire, earth, water or wind; no one would be unaffected.”
Purest divinity arose from every pore of his skin, rising and flowing like a golden, resplendent flame that reflected off the bleak surroundings.
Hm?
“―Lightning, space, time; they were all the same in that they were not excluded from sin.”
As the divinity intensified and grew ever stronger, even Jae, trapped within a magical ice age, could sense it.
This is...?
“―Equal upon all, sacredness was declared, and evil expunged.”
...This isn’t good...
“―However, evil is sticky; it is dreadful and it is dogged.”
It keeps getting stronger... Wait. If this hits me, aren't I dead for sure...? Shit...!!
“―Even with all the Holy God’s might, He could not eradicate it all.”
Instinctively realising that he didn’t have much time left, Jae moved quickly.
「Greed」 has activated
“―Thus, he summoned groups of holy helpers.”
Opening the skill selection menu of Greed, Jae hurriedly scrolled down to the Unique Skill he had his eye on since earlier.
“―Angels, apostles, ambassadors of the righteous to assist in the sacred goal.”
Fuck! Move faster, you bastard! Confirm!
“―Ultimately, the Holy God chose a single successor, a Hero to carry out His divine wish.”
Option 1 - 「Perfect Imitation [Enhanced]」 has activated
“―I, Chris Rowe, take on the role of that very Hero.”
Imitation target confirmed
“And as the Hero, I declare upon you, Jae Kang, foul dreg of sin―”
Disparity in Status is too wide; strain will be placed on user
At that moment.
“――「 Judgement 」.”
Rumbleee...!!!
Summoned by the Hero's utterance, the absolute might of a god thus came crashing down from the Heavens, and the world trembled before its holy wrath.
And at the same time, a single notification reflected in a certain person's eyes―one that would affect the fate of the world for the rest of time.
Imitating target: 「Aphyllanthes」
For today was the day that the fabled Dragon God descended upon the earth.